"The frigate has changed her course, sir," Harding said; "she is heading straight for us now. She must have heard the guns, and she looks as if she was bringing down a breeze with her."
"I hope that the gunboats will not get sight of her until it is too late for them to escape; but I fear that is too good to be even hoped for. I feel sure we can manage to keep them at bay until she comes up, unless indeed they knock away some important spar; and we are more likely to hit them than they are to damage us, for you don't get so quiet a platform in a boat that is being rowed as you do in one moving with sails only. Now then, Jamieson, suppose we give them a taste of your quality. I should lay both guns on the same craft, for if we can but cripple one we can fight it out with the other."
The first shot passed through the gunboat's sails. The second was received with loud cheers by the crew of the Alert, for striking the water some twenty yards in front of the gunboat, it ricochetted along the line of oars on one side, smashing the whole of them short off.
"Well done," Peter exclaimed. "That is almost as good as if you had knocked one of her masts over."
Several more shots were fired, but with less success. At last one struck the foremast just above the deck and brought it down.
"That puts them out of it, Harding. I don't say that if they cut the gear away at once, and rowed with half their oars on each side they would not go faster through the water than we are doing, but it must cause a delay, and as, no doubt, they think the other fellow strong enough to do the work alone, it is likely enough that they will set to work to get up a jury-mast before they do anything else."
The other gunboat was now fast closing up. Jamieson had knocked two or three holes in her bow, and they could see by the confusion caused that two of the shot at least swept the whole length of the deck—one of the guns having been dismounted, and several men killed. To Peter's satisfaction he saw from the course that the gunboat was taking that her commander intended to fight him broadside to broadside before endeavouring to board. As she came nearly abreast, the oars were laid in, and for half-an-hour the two craft lay to and hammered each other, at a distance of fifty yards apart.
As soon as the gunboats had been seen, Peter had run below, and called through the doors for the ladies to get up and dress at once, as two gunboats had come out from Marseilles.
"They won't be within gunshot for another hour," he said, "and the steward will have breakfast for you as soon as you are ready, and after that we will take you down to a place in the hold where you will be quite out of reach of shot."