That same night, there steamed from Funchal in the Island of Madeira, the _Victor Hugo_, _Condé_, _Gloire_, and the _Edgard Quinet_ of the French Fleet; the _Roon_, _Yorck_, _Prinz Adalbert_, and the battleship _Pommern_ of the German Navy, with sixteen destroyers, and followed a parallel ocean path.
After three days' steaming, the _Doro_ turned sharply to starboard, and the unseen fleets that dogged her turned too. In that circle of death, for a whole week, the little Spanish steamer twisted and turned, and, obedient to the message that went from destroyer to cruiser, the fleets followed her every movement. For the _Doro_ was unconsciously leading the nations to the "Mad Battleship." She had been slipped with that object. So far every part of the plan had worked well. To make doubly sure, the news of Zillier's escape from Devil's Island had been circulated in every country. It was essential that, if they missed the _Maria Braganza_ this time, they should catch her on the first of June at "Lolo."
"And where that is," said T. B., in despair, "Heaven only knows."
Wearing a heavy overcoat, he was standing on the narrow deck of the destroyer as she pounded through the seas. They had found the southeast trade winds at a surprisingly northerly latitude, and the sea was choppy and cold.
Young Marchcourt, the youthful skipper of the _Martine_, grinned.
"'Lolo' is 'nowhere,' isn't it?" he said. "You'll find it charted on all Admiralty maps; it's the place where the supply transport is always waiting on manoeuvres--I wish to Heaven these squalls would drop," he added irritably, as a sudden gust of wind and rain struck the tiny ship.
"Feel seasick?" suggested T. B. maliciously.
"Not much--but I'm horribly afraid of losing sight of this Looker-ahead."
He lifted the flexible end of a speaking-tube, and pressed a button.
"Give her a few more revolutions, Cole," he said. He hung up the tube. "We look like carrying this weather with us for a few days," he said, "and, as I don't feel competent to depend entirely upon my own eyesight, I shall bring up the Magneto and the Solus to help me watch this beggar."
Obedient to signal, two destroyers were detached from the following flotilla, and came abreast at dusk.