"It may be the destruction of us!"
"It may sind us all to glory by th' farrust express."
"Nonsense! Don't be foolish! Swing her to the left, I say. I am going to shoot, and that settles it."
It was useless for them to urge him not to fire; he was determined, and nothing they could say would change his mind. The canoe drifted round to the left, and the rifle rose to Frank's shoulder.
Spang! The clear report rang out and echoed through the cypress forest.
The bullet tore through the white canoe, and the weird craft seemed to give a leap, like a wounded creature.
"Hit it!" cried Frank, triumphantly.
"Hit it!" echoed the professor, quivering with terror.
"Hit it!" groaned Barney Mulloy, his face white and his eyes staring. "May all the saints defind us!"
"Look!" shouted Frank. "She is turning about—she is going to leave us! But I'll put another bullet through her!"