opportunity was not long in arriving. Three Japanese cruisers could be seen in the distance, and about noon the whole fleet of sixteen fighting ships hove into sight. When still three miles away they opened fire on the Russian fleet and on the forts of the harbor. “Now they are going to have it hot and heavy,” Gilbert told himself and his prediction proved correct—the bombardment lasting over an hour. Being shelled by the Japanese ships, the Port Arthur forts replied as vigorously as they could, thus compelling[Pg 49] Admiral Togo’s vessels to keep their distance. In the meantime some of the Russian ships advanced to the attack. These included the Poltava, Novik, Askold, and Diana. All of them proved to be no match for the alert Japanese, and each was so badly damaged it had to return to the harbor as speedily as possible. In this engagement the Japanese lost no ships and less than sixty men killed and wounded. What the losses were to the Russians is not known, but they must have been heavy. [Pg 49] To Gilbert, who had spent so much of his time as a soldier, the scene was a most absorbing one, and with his field glasses to his eyes he took careful note of every movement within sight. The booming of the ships’ cannon came to him distinctly, as well as the roar of the land batteries closer at hand. Presently some sounds below him reached his ears, and he knew that a number of persons had entered the building and were talking excitedly among themselves. He glanced over the edge of the tower and saw that the courtyard below was filled with Russian soldiers, who had just arrived in Port Arthur, and were going to make the building their temporary quarters. “I wonder if they’ll try to stop me when I go down,” Gilbert asked himself, and then, hearing more firing from a land battery not far away, he[Pg 50] turned his attention once more to the battle. Shot and shell were flying in all directions, and the air of the harbor and the sea beyond hung heavy with black smoke. [Pg 50] Just behind Gilbert was a small point of the tower, built of rough stone. The young American was just wondering if he could mount this and get a still better view, when a strange noise close to his ear caused him to drop his field glasses in a hurry. “That was a shot as sure as fate!” he muttered. “Perhaps I had better get out of here!” For a moment he
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