feet high, which fell splashing back. We all
felt immensely relieved.

"That didn't come within three hundred yards of us," said Kit.

"They'll give her more elevation next time," said Wade. "I don't
believe that was an Armstrong slug, though: it acted too sort of
lazy."

"Look out, now!" exclaimed Raed. "They are going to give us another!"

_Puff_--one--two--three--four! The ball struck near the edge of the
ice-field, rose with a mighty bound twenty or thirty feet, and,
describing a fine curve, struck spat upon the water; and again, rose,
to plunge heavily down into the ocean two hundred feet off the port
quarter.

"That was better," said Raed. "They are creeping up to us! The next
one may come aboard!"

"But that's nothing more than an ordinary old twenty-four-pounder,"
said Wade. "Bet they haven't got a rifled gun. Lucky for us!"

"I wish we had a good Dahlgren fifty-pound rifle!" exclaimed Kit: "we
would just make them get out of that quick! Wouldn't it be fun to
chase them off through the straits here, with our big gun barking at
their heels!"

"There they go again!" shouted the captain. "Look out!"

We caught a momentary glimpse of the shot high in air, and held our
breaths again as it came whirling down with a quick _thud_ into the
sea a few hundred feet astern, and a little beyond us.

"Gracious!" cried Kit. "If that had struck on the deck, it would have
gone down, clean down through, I do believe!"

"Not so bad as that, I guess," said the captain. "That heap of
sand-ballast in the hold would stop it, I reckon."

"Think so?"

"Oh, yes!"

There was real comfort in that thought. It was therefore with
diminished apprehension that we saw a fourth shot come roaring down a
cable's length forward, and beyond the bows, and, a few seconds after,
heard the dull boom following the shot. The report was always two or
three seconds behind the ball.

They fired three more of the "high ones," as Kit called them. None of
these came any nearer than the fourth had done. Then they tried
another at a less elevation, which struck on the ice-field, and came
skipping along as the first had done; but it fell short.

"Old Red-face will have to give it up, I guess."' said Kit. "He wants
to hit us awfully, though! If he hadn't a loaded ship, bet you, we
should see him coming up the channel between the islands there,
swearing like a piper."

"In that case we would just 'bout ship, and lead him on a chase round
this i