e at the
best speed of which he was capable, and in a couple of minutes was
standing on the boom once more. The seven of them made short work of
unlashing the spar and getting it back to the torpedo-boat, and the
_Janequeo_ was soon under way again and stealing up the harbour once
more.

The _Atahualpa_ was the next ship they came to, and to their unbounded
satisfaction they found that she was unprotected by a boom. The
Peruvians probably thought that a hostile craft would never get so far
without being discovered. The _Janequeo_ was therefore run right under
her stem, and the torpedo was affixed without any difficulty, a fuse
timed for an hour and a half being lighted. This fuse, too, Jim
noticed, seemed to be burning away much faster than it ought, but there
was no time to watch it, and the torpedo-boat swung off once more on her
mission of destruction.

These two craft were, with the exception, perhaps, of the _Union_, which
was a fast ship, the most formidable in the Peruvian fleet, and Jim
experienced a thrill of satisfaction at the thought that the _Manco
Capac_ and _Atahualpa_ would, at any rate, not trouble the Chilians
again. There was another ship lying close at hand, which Douglas judged
to be the fast transport _Oroya_, because of her paddle wheels, and he
made up his mind to attend to her before running back to blow up the
_Union_. He selected her paddle-box as the best place to which to
attach the torpedo, and as she, too, was unprotected by any boom, he
soon had the bomb fixed in position and the fuse lighted.

"Now, men," he whispered excitedly to his delighted crew, "we will run
down and attend to the only other ship of theirs which is of any use--
the _Union_. Hard over with your helm, quartermaster, and we will get
down the harbour again."

The wheel spun round in Pedro's sinewy grasp, and the _Janequeo's_ nose
was presently pointing down the harbour.

"Full speed ahead," Douglas whispered down the tube, "we haven't much
time to lose." And the little engines began to throb more rapidly,
while the screw thrashed the water up astern. They soon passed the
_Atahualpa_ again, and Jim could plainly make out the jumping sparks
which came from the fuse and hissed into the water, but the sight was
hidden from any one up above by the overhang of the ship's counter, and
he felt fairly certain that it could not possibly be discovered before
the bomb had exploded and done its deadly work. As they s