“My lads! the prize that we have been seeking, the Sea Scourge, is before us. And please Heaven she shall be ours before night!”
Tremendous cheers from the seamen responded to the captain’s pithy speech, and proved their good will to the work before them, and their confidence of victory.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE FLIGHT.
“Stand to your guns men!” thundered the captain of the Xyphias.
And the deafening cheers sank into silence, and the order was promptly obeyed.
“Mr. Ethel!”
The young lieutenant came quickly at the captain’s call.
“Pass the order to fire at the enemy’s mizzen mast. Strike at as low as possible; for the lower you carry it away the more unmanageable the Sea Scourge will become. The heavy press of sail she carries forward will then lift her stern high out of the water and render her less obedient to her helm.”
“Ay, ay, sir!” responded the cheerful voice of the young officer, as he touched his cap and went forward to see the order executed.
The gunner in charge of the lee-bow chaser was an old and experienced one.