The Havelock lay at anchor quite close to these men.
"If I were running the show," the China Doll suggested confidently, "I should——" But how success could have been achieved will never be known, for "eight bells" struck, lunch waited down in the gun-room, and the China Doll knew the disadvantage of a late start, so flew away like a "rigger".
Many of the gun-room officers came up again after a hasty meal, and began examining the details of the extraordinary Havelock, when, all of a sudden, a spout of water flew up close to her.
"Hello! What's that? There goes another! Someone's having a "go" at her. Look! Look at those two puffs of smoke amidships! She's been hit! Ah! She's getting under way—about time too."
Her cable came in, and she slowly moved out of the way, signalling that three men had been wounded. One or two more spouts of water sprang up, but then they let her alone, and the water spouts began creeping towards the Cornwall—past her—over—back again—short. The Cornwall hastily got her anchor up, and circled away from that unpleasant spot; and then the little shells began falling quite close to the Swiftsure, at anchor only some four hundred yards away from the Achates.
"Short! Short again! Hello! that hit—on her starboard quarter! I saw it bounce off—it's close to her ward-room! There's another! That went in! Look! you can see the hole—close to the water-line."
"Look! Look! Look!" cries came from all round—it was getting exciting now—as three shells, one after the other, burst close to her for'ard funnel and the smoke of them drifted away.
"She's getting it hot. She'll be off in a minute. Ah, she's shortening in!"
They heard the Swiftsure's buglers sounding "Action".
"It will be our turn next," they laughed—a little nervously, as the Swiftsure circled away towards the line of submarine-net buoys; and, sure enough, in a couple of minutes there came a loud, wailing, rushing noise, which seemed to pass between the foremast and next funnel, and a "flomp" as a shell fell into the water on the other side, some sixty yards away.