earer they swept, until the torpedo-boat was only a hundred
yards away, and then the _Union_ fired her first gun, a large 8-inch
rifled weapon, loaded with a shell which screamed horridly as it swept
past and plunged into the water just astern. The riflemen raised their
pieces, levelled them over the corvette's high sides, and, at the word
of command, which all aboard the torpedo-boat could hear, they sent
their volleys hurtling aboard that devoted craft. Jim felt a sharp
twinge in his left shoulder, and knew that he was hit; two other men
fell to the deck, limp as empty suits of clothes. The _Janequeo_ was
now abreast the _Union_, and, as she drew level, the latter ship
discharged every gun that she could bring to bear.

It was simply impossible that she could miss. There was a ripping and
tearing of iron as the shower of steel struck the torpedo-boat. Both
her funnels were blown completely out of her, and the hissing roar of
escaping steam, followed by the screams of the scalded stokers down
below, told all too plainly that a boiler had been pierced. The
quartermaster at the wheel let go the spokes and collapsed on deck, and
Jim staggered to the helm just in time to prevent the _Janequeo_ from
crashing into the mole. Then, still floating, and with smoke, steam,
and flame billowing along her decks and blinding her gallant skipper,
the maimed little vessel staggered forward. But escape was not for her.
The _Union_ had a smart man for captain, and he did not intend the
little Chilian hornet to go clear. The forward 8-inch gun bellowed out,
and its shell struck the Chilian fair and square on her stern, exploding
as it passed into her hull, and literally blowing the after-part of her
away.

Her stern plunged downward; she rolled heavily once or twice, and then
turned right over, throwing Jim, in a state of semi-unconsciousness,
into the water of the harbour. Then she sank, and the bottom blew out
of her as she plunged beneath the surface. At this precise moment, to
Jim's fast-failing senses there came the roar of a terrific explosion,
followed almost instantly by a second, and he knew that, though his own
ship was lost, he had done his duty and succeeded in destroying three of
the enemy.

Just as he was on the point of sinking, however, for the last time, a
hand shot out, grasped his collar, and hauled him roughly into a boat,
while a voice growled out in Spanish, "This is the only one afloat,
senor; the rest