“Aye, aye, sir!” Frank answered.
“Fire!” came the command.
“Fire she is!” echoed Frank.
And the big gun boomed.
CHAPTER XIX—ASHORE
The great ship trembled with the vibration of the immense gun, and when the smoke had cleared away and the gases been blown from the cannon by the compressed air, Ned looked out of the turret, which had not been completely closed on account of the heat, and cried:
“A hit, Frank! A hit!”
What he saw was a cloud of dust flung into the air, and slowly drifting about in the wind.
“Well, I couldn’t very well help hitting that,” said Frank. “It was a big enough target, and it was stationary and so were we.”
As yet none but the officer who had given the direction for the training of the big gun, and his superiors, knew why the hill had been shattered by the shot.