Suddenly a string of bright flags broke out on the Calvo’s signal halliards between the fore and main masts.
At the same instant a bright flash showed at her quarter, followed by a sharp explosion. Captain Gomez, in his faded old uniform, trembled with excitement as he raised his glasses to his eyes and scanned the signal.
“They want us to heave to,” he announced.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE SEA FIGHT OFF SANTA ANNA.
“Shall we obey the signal?”
It was Ned who asked the question, his hand on the engine-room telegraph; for at the minute the Calvo had issued her request—or rather order, backed up as it was by the report of the gun—the Dreadnought Boy had been standing at the instrument.
“Yes,” ordered the captain; then, in reply to a questioning look from the others, he added:
“They will send a boat, and then we can put into execution a little plan which has just occurred to me.”