just inside the reef; but it fell a good way short,
and I turned to my own gun again.

But now, when I wanted actually to hit the mark, I found that it was not
quite so easy as I had imagined. To aim straight was easy enough, but
even where they were the boats presented but a small mark, and they were
constantly disappearing in the trough of the swell. It was therefore
necessary for me to wait until my particular target reappeared before
firing, and although the next two shots went very near indeed they did
not actually hit. Meanwhile the junk was firing rapidly, making short
tacks to keep as nearly abreast of us as might be, and her shot were
gradually dropping nearer to us. Seeing this, I insisted that the
ladies at least should go below, as now a shot might at any moment come
aboard us. Julius begged hard to be allowed to remain, and, his mother
raising no objection, I willingly consented, as there was no knowing
when I might be glad of his assistance.

The three boats were now so close to the passage through the reef that
they were obliged to alter their formation to "line ahead" in order to
pass through it; and it was at this moment that, with my fourth shot, I
caught the leading boat fair and square, and literally blew her to
pieces. I thought that perhaps this might check the advance of the
remaining two boats; but not a bit of it. They did not even pause to
pick up any of the survivors of the leading boat's crew--probably there
were no survivors--but came on with a blood-curdling yell that evoked a
faint shriek from, I thought, somewhere in the neighbourhood of the
companion. Almost immediately afterward a round shot from the junk
struck the water at a little distance away, and then went humming
directly over my head, so close that I felt the wind of it.

At this juncture I became aware of the fact that the wind, what little
there was of it, was falling lighter; our ensign was drooping from its
staff all but dead, while the junk's sails were flapping with her every
roll, and the little curl of water about her bows had all but
disappeared. This afforded me a grain of comfort, for she could not
draw very much nearer, though, to be sure, she was near enough already
if her gunners' eyes were but straight enough to hit us; my great hope
was that her heavy rolling would distract their aim, and so cause their
shot either to fall short of or to fly over us. But I had no time to
meditate at length upon these