was not a man on board so indifferent to
danger that he did not feel a keen thrill of apprehension as this
strange and menacing antagonist came slowly onward.

The crew at once beat to quarters, and every preparation was made for a
desperate defence; but to the undeniable relief of all, the engagement
did not then take place, as the Confederate ironclad, after clearing
Sewell's Point, turned due west, and headed for Newport News, where the
wooden frigates _Congress_, of fifty guns, and _Cumberland_, of thirty
guns, were swinging lazily by their anchors. Their boats were hanging
to the lower booms, and rows of washed clothing flapped in the rigging,
showing plainly that those on board were quite unconscious of their
danger and expecting no attack.

It was not until the _Merrimac_ had approached within three-quarters of
a mile of the two frigates that the boats were dropped astern, the
booms got alongside, and fire opened upon the intruder with the heavy
pivot-guns. In this cannonade the batteries on Newport News also
joined lustily, and the ironclad was the target of many well-aimed
cannon.

But although the solid shot were smiting her black sides and the shells
bursting upon her exposed deck, she kept steadily on, in sullen,
appalling silence, until within close range of the frigates. Then her
forward pivot gun, a heavy seven-inch rifled piece, was fired right
into the stern of the _Cumberland_, and at almost the same instant the
_Congress_ received the starboard broadside, with dreadful damage in
both cases.

Terry had never before seen cannon used for any other purpose than the
firing of harmless salutes on the Queen's birthday and similar
occasions; and although the _Minnesota_ was still some distance from
the combat, and taking no part therein, still the almost continuous
roar of the cannon, the shrieking of the shells, and the jets of spray
springing up from the water where the balls ricochetted madly across
the waves, made him realize how utterly different were his surroundings
now.

His first impulse was to seek the lowest recesses of the hold, and
there cower out of reach of cannon-ball and bullet until the firing had
ceased. But curiosity got the better of this at the start, and
presently there came to its aid that love of battle which is in all
manly natures, and he determined to stay on deck and see the fight at
any risk.

In his heart he hoped for the success of the Confederate ironclad, ugly
a