"Do you know who that ship is?" asked the admiral.
"The 'Numancia,' sir," replied the captain; "her armament is immensely better than ours. She has twenty-five Armstrong guns."
Crash! crash! Two more shells struck the wooden hull of the "Franklin" between the fore and mainmasts, tearing a great rent in her side and literally annihilating the crews of four guns.
"There is three feet of water in the hold, sir and it is gaining!" shouted the carpenter at the pump-well.
Men were sent at once to the pumps.
Crash! This time a double explosion, followed by dense clouds of steam.
Men, scalded and horribly burned, climbed up the ladders from below.
"Our boilers are gone," reported the captain.
"Keep her broadside toward the enemy, sir," returned the admiral.
The guns of the "Franklin" were now firing slowly. Their smoke overhung the vessel so that the Spaniard could not be seen, but the reports of his cannon sounded closer and closer.
Suddenly the huge prow of the "Numancia" loomed up close aboard the
"Franklin."