still capable of being fired; and the marksmanship was so
excellent that every missile again struck the _Covadonga_, while at the
same moment the _Union_ again started firing with her bow-guns, and a
100-pounder shell struck the gunboat full upon the stern, blowing a huge
hole in it, killing four men, and shooting away the ensign-staff and
flag.

When the smoke cleared away Douglas saw that their flag was gone, and at
the same time heard the sound of cheering coming across the water from
the _Huascar_--the Peruvians were under the impression that the gunboat
had struck! But they were soon to be undeceived, for Jim rushed out of
the conning-tower and down below, presently reappearing with another
ensign under his arm. He then ran aft and proceeded to fix the spare
staff, under a perfect hail of rifle-bullets from the monitor and
corvette, and, having done so, ran up the flag amid cheers from the
_Covadonga_. Then he went forward once more to his place in the
conning-tower, which he reached just as Condell gave orders for the
battery of 70-pounders to be fired again.

"Bravely done, gallantly done, my young friend," said the skipper, as
Jim made his appearance; "I won't forget that action of yours if we come
through all right."

Both of the _Covadonga's_ shells at this moment burst on board the
monitor, one of them blowing her short squat funnel clean over the side,
while the other, by one of the strange happenings of war, entered her
hull through the same gun-port as the previous shell, working still
further havoc in the _Huascar's_ engine-room.

The gunboat had by this time drawn considerably ahead of the monitor,
and Condell soon saw that the latter was too seriously crippled in her
engines to pursue. Yet she still continued firing with deadly effect,
and the _Union_ was slowly but surely creeping up astern. The skipper
therefore ordered his men to turn their whole attention to the corvette
and try to disable her also, since they would soon be beyond the range
of the _Huascar's_ guns. Every weapon was thereupon trained astern, and
the accuracy of the little gunboat's fire was soon apparent, for on
board the corvette one of the forward 100-pounders was dismounted and
silenced, several Nordenfeldts were damaged and put out of action, and a
luckily placed solid shot struck the _Union's_ foremast full upon the
cap, wrecking it and bringing the upper spars down, with disastrous
effect to the men on deck below.