In Port Arthur the consul and the constable were treated with true Russian hospitality, the consul at the tables of the great men of the place, the constable in the sculleries. The consul saw Mr. Plancon, the head of the Diplomatic Bureau in Port Arthur, and had an interesting conversation with him. He lunched with the Governor of Kwantung Province. Some of the military and naval leaders of the Russians were present at this lunch, and, in the good old Slavonic style, a considerable quantity of champagne was consumed in toasts.
Consul Midzuno beamed with delight, but insisted on going away early. He probably knew what Russian luncheons mean. Besides, important work remained for him to do. Accordingly, he left by the Foochow in the afternoon, went to Dalny, got all the Japanese who had been left in Dalny aboard, and then steered for Chefoo.
Eighteen miles off Port Arthur he met the Japanese squadron and, when abreast of the flagship, the Foochow lowered a boat, and in a short time the consul and his constable were in Admiral Togo's cabin. Here the constable laid before the admiral a chart on which the positions of all the Russian vessels were marked, and told him of the careless watch that was being kept.
The admiral asked many questions about things which only a naval man will think of, and these questions were answered with remarkable lucidity by the " constable." No champagne was consumed, no
" sake" " even; but as the Foochow steamed away, her cargo of refugees cheered for the Mikado and his fleet. That was all the show of enthusiasm there was, and I dare say it was unsatisfactory from a European point of view, for the Japanese do not know how to cheer.
In fact there was a hard, businesslike air about this remarkable meeting, which must have contrasted strongly with the enthusiasm of the Russian officers in Port Arthur, when, at about precisely the same time, they drew their legs under Admiral Starck's hospitable table in order to commemorate Mrs. Starck's birthday.
Admiral Togo kept the chart the constable had given him, and it soon turned out useful. Meanwhile the consul went home, and when the Columbia came flying full-speed from Port Arthur the following evening, neither he nor his constable was astonished at the news it brought.
However, in order to celebrate the occasion worthily, the constable laid aside his humble garb and appeared in the consular drawing-room in the uniform of a Japanese naval commander. And he is a Japanese naval commander. He had been for a long time stationed at Chefoo, picking up hints, visiting Port Arthur himself, and sending trustworthy agents out in all directions, with the result that in the end he got to know more about the Russian fleet than Admiral Starck knew himself.
On the evening of February 9, the consul told the present writer the above story, and the constable nodded corroboration. The latter afterwards got a pencil and a piece of paper, and, without reference to any maps, drew, in the bold, sweeping style of drawing that the Japanese have all got, a remarkably accurate chart of Port Arthur, afterwards jotting down the ships — names, tonnage, armament and all, without an instant's hesitation. He then explained to me all that had happened, and how it had happened. I had been there and he had not, but he knew considerably more about the fight than I did. All I could tell him that he didn't already know for certain, was the number of the ships actually torpedoed.
" Constable " Mori remained at Chefoo for a long time after, very quiet, but with his eyes and ears open. Owing to his command of the Chinese language, to his system of espionage, whose ramifications extended even among the Chinese junk-men and sampan-men, and, above all, to the superhuman zeal with which, like all Japanese, he threw himself into his work, he thwarted almost every plot hatched by the Russians in Chefoo, and having for its object the maintenance of communications between that place and Port Arthur. A friend of mine, an employee of the Chinese Maritime Customs, once discovered, by accident, a link in his marvellous intelligence system.
He was sailing in a steam-launch at some distance from Chefoo, down near the headland which is crowned by a Chinese fort, when he observed a large, black object in the water. It was evidently a boat, but it showed no lights, it was in an unusual place, and it was of unusual shape for a merchant vessel.