oses stifled with clouds of scalding steam, the crew of
the _Susquehanna_ could hardly realize that their marvellous escape by a
few feet from instant and certain destruction was an accomplished fact,
not a frightful dream. They were still engaged in trying to open their
eyes and to get the hot water out of their ears, when they suddenly
heard the trumpet voice of Captain Bloomsbury crying, as he stood half
dressed on the head of the cabin stairs:

"What's up, gentlemen? In heaven's name, what's up?"

The little Midshipman had been knocked flat by the concussion and
stunned by the uproar. But before any body else could reply, his voice
was heard, clear and sharp, piercing the din like an arrow:

"It's THEY, Captain! Didn't I tell you so?"

CHAPTER XXI.

NEWS FOR MARSTON!

In a few minutes, consciousness had restored order on board the
_Susquehanna_, but the excitement was as great as ever. They had escaped
by a hairsbreadth the terrible fate of being both burned and drowned
without a moment's warning, without a single soul being left alive to
tell the fatal tale; but on this neither officer nor man appeared to
bestow the slightest thought. They were wholly engrossed with the
terrible catastrophe that had befallen the famous adventurers. What was
the loss of the _Susquehanna_ and all it contained, in comparison to the
loss experienced by the world at large in the terrible tragic
_denouement_ just witnessed? The worst had now come to the worst. At
last the long agony was over forever. Those three gallant men, who had
not only conceived but had actually executed the grandest and most
daring enterprise of ancient or modern times, had paid by the most
fearful of deaths, for their sublime devotion to science and their
unselfish desire to extend the bounds of human knowledge! Before such a
reflection as this, all other considerations were at once reduced to
proportions of the most absolute insignificance.

But was the death of the adventurers so very certain after all? Hope is
hard to kill. Consciousness had brought reflection, reflection doubt,
and doubt had resuscitated hope.

"It's they!" had exclaimed the little Midshipman, and the cry had
thrilled every heart on board as with an electric shock. Everybody had
instantly understood it. Everybody had felt it to be true. Nothing could
be more certain than that the meteor which had just flashed before their
eyes was the famous projectile of the Baltimore Gun Cl