noon
I was discharged shortly after eleven o'clock in the morning , and was conveyed in a hand ambulance down to the landing-place , where my boat was waiting for me , having been semaphored for , the instant that I obtained my discharge . I was glad to find myself aboard my own little ship once more ; and the crew seemed to be as glad to see me as I was to see them ; for it appeared that during my absence the _ Kasanumi _ had been employed upon nothing but patrol work , which was not at all to the taste of my lads . Young Hiraoka , my lieutenant , seemed keenly disappointed when he learned that our most exciting work , for some time to come , was to be the construction of the long boom ; but philosophically remarked that no doubt as soon as the Russians learned what we were about , we should have a few of their destroyers paying us a call , when we might hope for a little fun . By the time that I got aboard , it was noon ; and I at once signalled the transports , asking how soon they could be ready to start . The reply was that , not expecting to be called upon to go to sea so soon , their fires were all out -- but boilers were full and fires laid , and they could have steam in three hours ; whereupon I made the signal to light fires at once , and report when they were ready to move . Then I got into a reclining chair under the awning aft , and , having partaken of a hasty luncheon , treated myself to a snooze , since I expected to be up all night . We all got under way shortly after three o'clock in the afternoon , and , having cleared the harbour , headed away north-west for the Elliot group .