"By the great Constitution!" exclaimed Captain Pecklar, before Christy could cover the Belle with his glass. "I have hit her!"
"Where?" asked the other, elated at the intelligence.
"Right on the bow! There is a hole big enough to roll a wheelbarrow through," replied the captain, greatly excited. "She has stopped her wheels."
"That's a nice hole!" added Christy, as he got the glass to bear on it, and his hopes began to rise again. "It is just about big enough for a small wheelbarrow. But they have gone to work on it, and are putting mattresses over it."
"That craft is finished for to-day, and we needn't worry any more about her," said the captain. "She will not get that hole stopped up for an hour or longer, and I hope this affair will be over before this can be done. Shall we give them another shot? What do you think, Christy? She holds still now, and I believe I can hit her every time."
"Decidedly not: she is disabled for the present, and that is all I care for. We are not in war trim," replied Christy, as he turned his attention in the direction of the other vessels.
"As I told you, the Dauphine is fast; and she will be down upon us in less than five minutes more," said Captain Pecklar.
"I wonder that she don't fire upon us," added Christy.
"I doubt if she has any guns on board, though she may have a field-piece or two."
"The Bellevite is waking up, I think," said Christy.