pward glance--his last look at anything! The black railing
towering above his head was swarming with men. Flashes of light
punctured the darkness. Bullets pattered like rain on the iron. One or
two tore through the flimsy shell. A jet of water struck him in the
face.

The next second there was a terrific concussion. The torpedo struck the
ship just forward the mainmast and exploded, tearing a great hole in
the side, extending far below the water-line. In the blaze of light
that followed, the men in the _David_ cheered wildly, and the next
moment blackness overwhelmed them.

On the frigate there was the wildest confusion as the sleeping men
below came swarming up on deck. Some of them never succeeded in
reaching the hatchways and were drowned where they slept. Some were
killed by the explosion. The officers, however, quickly restored order,
and as a last resort ordered the surviving men into the rigging, for
the water where she lay was shallow, and there they could find safety.

The ship was hopelessly lost. Indeed, she began to sink so soon as the
torpedo exploded. The water poured into her vitals, and soon the crash
of exploding boilers and the hiss of escaping steam added their quota
to the confusion.

Some of the cooler among the officers and men lingered on the decks,
small arms in hand, searching the sea on every hand, until the decks
were awash. They were looking and hoping for a chance at the boat which
had caused them such a terrible disaster, but they never saw her. She
had disappeared.

Signals had been burned instantly on the shattered ship. Far up and
down the line the lights of moving vessels burning answering signals
showed that they were alert to render assistance. Boats, ships'
cutters, dashed alongside to render help, and they, too, sought the
torpedo boat, but in vain. She was not to be found.

At the same time the ships of the fleet did not move from their
appointed stations, and when the blockade-runners came dashing down
through the Swash Channel in the hope that the vessels usually
stationed there would be withdrawn in the excitement, they were met by
a deadly fire from the rifled guns, which rendered it impossible for
them to proceed. They turned tail and fled. Two of them succeeded in
returning to the harbor. One of them never came back. She was set on
fire and burned by the shells of the ships. The monitors and ironclads
joined in the battle, the forts returned the fire, and the quiet nig