Then came the flash of burning powder; the mighty roar of big guns; the hurtling shot striking the water on every side, and the pungy reeled and quivered as if she had struck a rock.
"One ball went home that time!" Darius cried, and I knew by the sound that he had leaped to his feet, running with all speed into the cuddy.
From below I made out the tiny gleam of the match as Darius lighted a lantern, and did not need to be told that he was gone to learn what injury our vessel had received.
Immediately the cannon had been discharged Captain Hanaford was on his feet, grasping the tiller as if it was possible to steer the pungy while the blackness continued so dense that one might fancy he could feel it, and then came the glare of more rockets.
This aided the helmsman of ours more than it did the British gunners, since it gave him an opportunity to see exactly where his vessel was; but as to that I gave no heed. All my mind was centered on the distance between us and the enemy.
I could have cried aloud with joy, and am not certain but that I did, on seeing that we were drawing away with more speed than I had believed was in the clumsy craft, and, what was of greater importance, the pungy was rounding a bend which, once passed, would put us beyond reach of the guns.
The rockets had been fired just in the nick of time, otherwise we would have gone ashore on the western bank.
For the third time we heard the thunder of the guns; but the shot must have passed astern of us, for I did not hear either the splashing of water or the splintering of our wood-work to tell where they struck.
Then Darius came on deck with an announcement that relieved me of nearly all my fears.
"The pungy has a solid shot above the water-line well forward; but there's no need of pluggin' it, for the ball didn't get through the timber. I reckon we've done the trick, eh, captain?"