ossible from her guns. He was to board on the starboard hand of the
enemy, and he was working nearer to her all the time. Mr. Ambleton the
gunner had greatly improved his practice, and the commander was obliged
to check his enthusiasm, or there would have been nothing left of the
Arran in half an hour more. Christy considered the final result as fully
assured, for he did not believe the present enemy was any more heavily
manned than her consort had been, and he could throw double her force
upon her deck as soon as the two steamers were in position to do so.

"Are you doing all you can in the engine room, Mr. Sampson?" asked
Christy, pausing at the engine hatch.

"Everything, Captain Passford, and I think we must be making sixteen
knots," replied the chief engineer.

"Is Mr. Bockburn on duty?"

"He is, sir; and if he were a Connecticut Yankee he could not do any
better, or appear to be any more interested."

"He seems to be entirely impartial; all he wants is his pay, and he is
as willing to be on one side as the other if he only gets it," said
Christy. "Has any damage been done to the engine?"

"None at all, sir; a shot from one of those broadside guns went through
the side, and passed just over the top of one of the boilers," replied
the engineer. "Bockburn plugged the shot hole very skilfully, and said
it would not be possible for a shot to come in low enough to hit the
boilers. He knows all about the other two vessels, and has served as an
engineer on board of the Arran on the other side of the Atlantic."

Just at that moment a shot from the Arran struck the bridge and a
splinter from the structure knocked two men over. One of them picked
himself up, but said he was not much hurt, and refused to be sent below.
The other man was Veering; he seemed to be unable to get up, and was
carried down by order of the boatswain. This man was one of the
adherents of Hungerford and Pawcett, though so far he had been of no
service to them.

Christy hastened forward to ascertain the extent of the damage done to
the bridge. It was completely wrecked, and was no longer in condition to
be occupied by an officer. But the pilot house was still in serviceable
repair, and the quartermaster had not been disturbed. By this time, the
Ocklockonee had obtained a position on the port bow of the Arran, and
the commander directed the quartermaster at the wheel to run directly
for the other side of the enemy.

The time for decisive and fi