"Thank you, Mr Fortescue.  You appear to have executed your mission very effectively, and to have done everything that I should have done, had I been there.  Of course I should have preferred to have been there myself; but--well, I have no doubt the result would have been precisely the same.  Now, having found the _Virginia_, I am minded to send you after her, to keep an eye upon her and also to drop a friendly hint to any Yankee cruiser that you may happen to fall in with; for, although you cannot touch her, they can; and they ought to be exceedingly grateful for a hint that will ensure them against making any further mistakes.  Yes; you shall follow her up, every inch of the way; go into the Congo with her, and, unless there is some very strong reason against it, come out again with her and follow her right across the Atlantic to her destination, wherever it may be.  And while you are doing that, I-- confident that you are keeping the _Virginia_ under observation--will look out for the _Preciosa_, and endeavour to nab her.  Go and have a yarn with Mr Hoskins while I prepare your written instructions."