Dick was interrupted by a hoarse boom!
Four cannon commanded the river side of the fort, and four the bay side. It was one of the guns on the river side that had spoken. A round shot plunged into the water on the port side of the boat, sending a jet of spray high into the air.
“I told you so!” yelled Dick, and shook his fist at the fort.
As he looked upward he saw three soldiers on the wall getting ready to shoot.
Two more cannon were fired, almost at the same time. The solid shot plunged into the water altogether too close to the boat for comfort.
“Up with the colors, Dick!” shouted Bob Steele; “let’s see if they dare fire on that flag!”
Dick hauled up the flag. As the gay little banner caught the breeze and opened out, a crack of rifles was heard from the fort.
The flag fluttered sharply.
“What do you think of that!” roared Dick, once more shaking his fist upward in the direction of the fort; “they’ve put a hole through the flag. Oh, strike me lucky! If it was the British flag they treated like that, an army would march through the country before the scoundrels were a month older.”