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still capable of being fired; and the marksmanship was so excellent that every missile again struck the _Covadonga_, while at the same moment the _Union_ again started firing with her bow-guns, and a 100-pounder shell struck the gunboat full upon the stern, blowing a huge hole in it, killing four men, and shooting away the ensign-staff and flag. When the smoke cleared away Douglas saw that their flag was gone, and at the same time heard the sound of cheering coming across the water from the _Huascar_--the Peruvians were under the impression that the gunboat had struck! But they were soon to be undeceived, for Jim rushed out of the conning-tower and down below, presently reappearing with another ensign under his arm. He then ran aft and proceeded to fix the spare staff, under a perfect hail of rifle-bullets from the monitor and corvette, and, having done so, ran up the flag amid cheers from the _Covadonga_. Then he went forward once more to his place in the conning-tower, which he reached just as Condell gave orders for the battery of 70-pounders to be fired again. "Bravely done, gallantly done, my young friend," said the skipper, as Jim made his appearance; "I won't forget that action of yours if we come through all right." Both of the _Covadonga's_ shells at this moment burst on board the monitor, one of them blowing her short squat funnel clean over the side, while the other, by one of the strange happenings of war, entered her hull through the same gun-port as the previous shell, working still further havoc in the _Huascar's_ engine-room. The gunboat had by this time drawn considerably ahead of the monitor, and Condell soon saw that the latter was too seriously crippled in her engines to pursue. Yet she still continued firing with deadly effect, and the _Union_ was slowly but surely creeping up astern. The skipper therefore ordered his men to turn their whole attention to the corvette and try to disable her also, since they would soon be beyond the range of the _Huascar's_ guns. Every weapon was thereupon trained astern, and the accuracy of the little gunboat's fire was soon apparent, for on board the corvette one of the forward 100-pounders was dismounted and silenced, several Nordenfeldts were damaged and put out of action, and a luckily placed solid shot struck the _Union's_ foremast full upon the cap, wrecking it and bringing the upper spars down, with disastrous effect to the men on deck below.
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