. Not a shot was
fired before the enemy anchored, and then the whole of the
batteries that commanded them opened fire, to which the battering
ships and the artillery in their lines at once replied.

Bob was standing on the roof of the house, with his sister.

"What a magnificent sight, Carrie!" he exclaimed. "It is well worth
all the waiting, to be here to see it."

"It is terrible!" Carrie said. "It is like one great roar of
thunder. How awfully the men must be suffering, in the batteries!"

"I don't suppose it is as bad as it looks," Bob said. "At any rate,
you needn't be uneasy about Gerald. All the troops except those
working the guns are in shelter, and won't be called out unless the
enemy attempt to land.

"I wonder their fleet don't come across, to help their batteries. I
suppose they are afraid of the carcasses, and red hot shot.

"Well, there is one comfort, Carrie: none of their shot are coming
this way. Their floating batteries, evidently, are firing only at
our batteries by the water. As to the others, we know that we are
safe enough from them though, certainly, the shot do make a most
unpleasant noise as they fly overhead.

"I wish there was a little more wind, to blow away the smoke, so
that we could see what effect our fire is having on those hulks. I
shouldn't think that we had begun with red hot shot, yet. It takes
three hours to get them hot enough. As far as I can see, whenever
the wind blows the smoke away a little, our shot and shell roll off
the roofs and sides, without doing any damage to speak of."

About noon the enemy's mortar boats and ketches attempted to come
across, and assist their battering ships; but the wind had changed
and had worked round to the southwest, blowing a smart breeze and
bringing in a heavy swell, so that they were prevented from taking
part in the action. Our own gunboats were hindered, by the same
cause, from putting out and opening a flanking fire upon the
battering ships.

The northern batteries, by the water, suffered heavily from the
fire of the Spanish lines; which took them in flank and, indeed,
some of the batteries in reverse, causing many casualties. The
Artillery, however, refused to let their attention be diverted from
the battering ships.

By two o'clock the furnaces had heated the shot in all the
batteries and, although some of them had been firing these missiles
for upwards of an hour, it was not until two that their use became
general. Soon a