he ladder, a short distance from the old man, who stood watching.
He held his handspike in readiness. The cannon seemed aware of it, and
without taking the trouble to turn, it rushed backward on the man, as
swift as the blow of an axe. The gunner, if driven up against the side
of the ship, would be lost.

One cry arose from the crew.

The old passenger--who until this moment had stood motionless--sprang
forward more swiftly than all those mad swirls. He had seized a bale
of the false assignats, and at the risk of being crushed succeeded in
throwing it between the wheels of the carronade. This decisive and
perilous manoeuvre could not have been executed with more precision and
adroitness by an adept in all the exercises given in the work of
Durosel's "Manual of Naval Gunnery."

The bale had the effect of a plug. A pebble may block a log; a branch
sometimes changes the course of an avalanche. The carronade stumbled,
and the gunner, availing himself of the perilous opportunity, thrust
his iron bar between the spokes of the back wheels. Pitching forward,
the cannon stopped; and the man, using his bar for a lever, rocked it
backward and forward. The heavy mass upset, with the resonant sound of
a bell that crashes in its fall. The man, reeking with perspiration,
threw himself upon it, and passed the slip-noose of the tiller-rope
around the neck of the defeated monster.

The combat was ended. The man had conquered. The ant had overcome the
mastodon; the pygmy had imprisoned the thunderbolt.

The soldiers and sailors applauded.

The crew rushed forward with chains and cables, and in an instant the
cannon was secured.

Saluting the passenger, the gunner exclaimed,--

"Sir, you have saved my life!"

The old man had resumed his impassible attitude, and made no reply.

* * * * * *

The man had conquered; but it might be affirmed that the cannon also
had gained a victory. Immediate shipwreck was averted; but the
corvette was still in danger. The injuries the ship had sustained
seemed irreparable. There were five breaches in the sides, one of
them--a very large one--in the bow, and twenty carronades out of thirty
lay shattered in their frames. The recaptured gun, which had been
secured by a chain, was itself disabled. The screw of the
breech-button being wrenched, it would consequently be impossible to
level the cannon. The battery was reduced to nine guns; there was a
lea