iery furnace, while from time to time the
boom of a loaded gun, or the crash of an exploded shell, gave startling
emphasis to the superb spectacle.

Having no duty to perform, the captain and Terry could give themselves
up to watching the destruction of the noble vessel, and they stayed at
the bow until presently a monstrous sheaf of flame rose from her to an
immense height. The sky seemed rent in twain by a blinding flash, and
then came a loud, deafening report that told the whole story. The
flames had reached the powder-magazine, and their work was complete.

In the silence that followed, Captain Afleck, taking Terry's hand, said
with a profound sigh, "Come, Terry, let us get to sleep. It breaks my
heart to see a fine ship blown to bits like that."

They went below, and finding a quiet corner, threw themselves down to
get what rest they could before facing the dangers of another day.

On going on deck the next morning, Terry's attention was at once
attracted by the sailors bending over the bulwarks of the ship,
evidently much interested in something that lay alongside. Following
their example, he saw below an extraordinary-looking craft, which might
not inaptly have been compared to a huge tin can set on a gigantic
shingle.

It was none other than the famous _Monitor_, an even more remarkable
vessel than the _Merrimac_, which had come post-haste from New York,
and arrived just in time to do battle with the hitherto irresistible
rebel ram.

Little as Terry pretended to know about war-ships, he felt quite
competent not merely to wonder but to laugh at this latest addition to
the Federal fleet; she seemed so absurdly inadequate to cope with the
big powerful _Merrimac_. A flat iron-plated raft with pointed ends,
bearing in the middle a round turret not ten feet high, also plated
with iron, and at the bow a small square iron hut for use as a
pilot-house; while from the round port-holes in the turret projected
the muzzles of two eleven-inch rifled guns, which constituted her
entire armament. Such was the _Monitor_.

He was still engaged in studying this queer-looking craft, and feeling
sorely tempted to ask some questions of the men who were busy about her
decks getting her ready for action, when the crash of a heavy ball
against the other side of the _Minnesota_ told him that the _Merrimac_
had already come over from Sewell's Point to complete her unfinished
work.

It was also the signal for the _Monitor_ t