Men came running from all directions at the sound of the detonating thunder. The rolling roar reverberated along the river-front for miles. People at a distance saw a huge waterspout rise from where the ship had been a moment before. Splinters, ironwork, rigging, spars and a piece of her smoke-pipe rose to an appalling height. Then the scene settled itself under a pall of dust and smoke.
The levee was destroyed for a distance of fifty fathoms. The dock had melted into the surrounding air. Trees, fences, and houses, everything at a distance of a quarter of a mile was razed flat. Men were knocked stunned and senseless who had been within this radius and the whole place seemed to have been shaved as with a mighty razor. Only a bit of the ship's stern, a tiny piece of her turtle-back, floated awash to show that there had ever been anything like a ship in the vicinity. The Enos, loaded with dynamite, had blown up with all on board and had almost totally disappeared.
A few hours later McDuff came lurching down to his ship. He was comfortably drunk and was in high good humour.
"I'll trim Meester James—ah, yes, I'll trim him guid an' fine before we gie th' dock at Colon. 'Tis a fine thing to be th' boss—— What, am I drunk, or has the knave run away wid me ship? He has run away—yes, yes, he has run away. Ah, weel, what'll I do— The rascal has stolen me ship," said McDuff, looking about him and seeing nothing to indicate the whereabouts of the Enos. "Ah, weel, it was not my ship—but I will have the police after him. I will have him in th' calaboose. I'm fair drunk, I'm fair drunk—but na sa drunk I canna see a ship."
Mr. Booker read the cable despatch and handed it to his partner.
"That man James was certainly a genius," said he. "I'm half sorry for him. I guess he must have been too zealous—'twasn't like him, yet he must have been too anxious to please me."
"He'll turn up in time," quoth his partner, the amiable Mr. Benson. "The fact that he was aboard of her does seem a bit out of the ordinary, but there's probably some mistake about it. It'll straighten itself out later. He'll be here to see you, or I'm clean disappointed in him."
"I reckon we might as well attend to the underwriters without waiting for any complications," suggested Mr. Booker.
"Oh, yes, get the insurance. We've had a bit of luck—that's all."
THE END.