the enemy, or very near it; and this was the
point where old Blumenhoff, the captain of the gun, had been directed
to aim. He was a German, but he had served for twenty-one years in
the British navy, and had won a brilliant reputation in his present
position.

It could not be immediately determined whether or not the Armstrong had
been disabled. The Tallahatchie had swung round again and resumed her
flight; but her commander must have realized by this time that he was
getting the worst of it. Paul Vapoor had not left his post in the engine
and fire room, to ascertain how the battle was going, but still plied
all his energies in driving the Bellevite to the utmost speed she could
possibly attain. The log was frequently heaved, and the last result had
been sent down to him by Midshipman Walters, and it was twenty-one
knots.

During the next hour the long gun of the enemy was not again discharged,
and the officers of the loyal ship were assured that it had been
rendered useless by Blumenhoff's only shot.

CHAPTER XIV

THE PROGRESS OF THE ACTION

The tremendous speed of the Bellevite had been telling with prodigious
effect upon the distance between the two steamers, which was now reduced
to not more than a mile and a half. Captain Rombold could not help
realizing by this time that the American-built vessel outsailed the
English-built. If the Trafalgar was good for twenty knots an hour, as
represented, she had hardly attained that speed, as Captain Breaker
judged by comparison with that of his own ship.

The Armstrong gun was still silent and it was pretty well settled that
it had been disabled. In this connection Christy recalled something he
had read in Simpson about the "inability of the Armstrong gun to resist
impact," and he sent Midshipman Walters to bring the volume from his
state-room. When it came he found the place, and read that three shots
had been fired into one of them from a nine-pounder, either of which
would have been fatal to the piece; and the section described the effect
of each upon it.

He showed the book open at the place to Captain Breaker; but he had read
it, and carried the whole matter in his mind. The gun quoted was weak,
though the one on the deck of the Tallahatchie was vastly larger; but a
correspondingly heavy force had been brought to bear upon it.

"I am satisfied that the enemy's long gun has been disabled; and while
she continues the attempt to run away from us, she is un