“Stay there!” he panted. “You will be as safe as anywhere.”
At this moment a terrible shape loomed out of the darkness making straight for the gunboat. A shout went up from the crews of the gunboat and the transport as the rebel ram Arkansas was recognized. Determined to make a grand effort to escape, Captain Leathers ordered all steam to be crowded on, thinking to run down the river while the gunboat engaged the ram.
The Gem responded nobly to the appeal and her prow cut the waters until they rolled from her in one mass of foam. But the Captain’s design was penetrated instantly by the enemy, and shot and shell sizzed through the air like hail. It seemed miraculous that the transport escaped being riddled.
Meantime the gunboat saw that the ram designed to run her down, and swinging round, welcomed the visitor with a full broadside. As the sound of the guns and their tremendous reverberations ran along the shore, the answer came in a terrific onslaught from the batteries above. Pandemonium seemed to have broken loose. Shot and shell whistled and sang through the air carrying death and desolation in their wake. Shouts and cries added to the confusion of the moment.
The ram, foiled in her first attempt to run down the Yankee, withdrew a short distance and turned again upon the boat. This time she got her sharp bow full in upon the heavy iron sides of the gunboat but her headway was not sufficient to cause any very serious damage. Before she could get away the Captain of the Yankee vessel rushed upon the hurricane deck and seizing a pistol shot the rebel pilot dead. The rebel crew retaliated by shooting him down. In the meantime the ram prepared for another blow, withdrawing for a terrific onslaught.
Just at this moment a shell struck the magazine of the plucky gunboat. There was an instantaneous explosion and the boat was blown to atoms, her gallant crew perishing with her.
“We are doomed,” groaned Captain Leathers. “Nothing can save us now. Are you ready to die, little girl?”
“Ready, Captain,” came from Jeanne’s pale lips, and she arose from her place behind the cotton. “But I want to die standing. I wish we could shoot, Captain.”
“So do I. But we are at their mercy. It would be a relief to do something, but to die without a chance for a shot. Ah!”
The exclamation was caused by the fact that the light of the bonfires was dying down, and the transport was nearing the turn of the lower bend. The shadows grew deeper and longer, and soon only a pale flickering flame remained of the brilliant light of a short time before. Then the blackness of night settled once more upon the river and a cheer broke from the crew as the transport rounded the lower bend of the great loop upon which Vicksburg stood, and passed out from under the batteries of the modern Gibraltar.