par remained upright for a second or two, then it swayed slightly
forward and to one side; the rigging, which had been badly cut up by
fragments of flying shell, suddenly parted; and the mast went over the
side with a crash that was plainly audible aboard the Chilian ships; and
high above the crash of rending wood rang, loud and painfully clear, the
agonised shrieks of the poor maimed wretches who had been crushed by its
fall.

"Now's your time," shouted Jim, "they are lumbered up with the wreck of
the foremast, and will not be able to fire their big gun until they have
cleared it away. Fire into her now with every gun that will bear, and
keep at it until she strikes. _Miraflores_ ahoy! pass under my stern
and take up a position on the _Union's_ port side when we come level
with her; I will engage her to starboard. That's the style, lads," he
continued enthusiastically, as a couple of 12-pounder shells exploded,
one on the corvette's navigating bridge and the other at the base of her
conning-tower,--"that's the style! Keep it up, and show them how the
Chilians fight."

The Peruvian skipper, however, was quicker in getting his wreckage
cleared away than Jim had anticipated, and the _Angamos_ had not fired
many rounds before the cumbersome spar was cut adrift and went floating
astern, and Villavicencio got his guns to work again. Their recent
disaster, moreover, had not disturbed their aim; for the next 8-inch
shell fired by the _Union_ blew away the _Miraflores_' funnel, and
killed her helmsman, with the result that she turned sharply to port,
with smoke and flame sweeping along her deck from the cavity which the
shell had blown in it, and very narrowly escaped ramming the _Angamos_.
The latter had by this time approached to within half a mile of the
_Union_, and now got her machine-guns to work, mowing down the Peruvians
who were not under cover as with a scythe, for the deck of the corvette
was crowded with men.

After ten minutes of furious bombardment, and with the _Miraflores_
crawling slowly up to take part again in the encounter, Villavicencio,
brave as he was, realised that he had walked into a trap and had caught
a Tartar; for he now recognised the _Angamos_ for what she really was--a
cruiser. Something had happened to the _Huemul_, that was perfectly
clear, and the _Miraflores_ was also in Chilian hands; he therefore
considered that he was not justified in risking the _Union_ any longer
in an engagemen