The whaleback was still half a mile away from the scene of operations when suddenly the officer in the cutter sat down, and the instant following there was a loud explosion.
A column of smoke and flame shot into the air, and when the smoke cloud rose, only a few harmless splinters on the surface of the sea remained to show the former position of the wreck!
And then, when it was too late, the officer in the small boat discovered the approach of the whaleback.
Number Three was still driving ahead at full speed, and when her steam was shut off she had such headway that she nearly passed the cruiser’s cutter.
Caleb, his voice trembling with apprehension, leaned over the rail and shouted his question to the officer who had just “touched off” the charge that had blown the derelict into atoms.
“What craft is that you blew up?” he asked.
“That was a derelict,” responded the officer, who was an ensign, in surprise.
“What was her name, d’ye know?”
“She was sunken so low at the stern that we couldn’t read her name.”
“But can’t you guess?” cried Caleb, in great exasperation.