t the _Argyll_.
But it was badly aimed, and the hissing bubbles passed under her stern.
Before another could be discharged, the torpedo-room, located by the
_Argyll's_ officers, was enlarged to the size of three by the
succeeding bombardment and the explosion of the remaining torpedoes.

Twelve-inch armor cannot keep out thirteen-inch armor-piercing shell,
and torpedoes cannot explode on board without damage to machinery,
steering-gear, and vital connections. The _Warsaw_ yawed, slackened
speed, and came to a stop, her turret-guns still speaking, but the
secondary guns silent. The _Argyll_ circled around her, sending her
thirteen-, eight-, and six-inch shells into her victim with almost
muzzle energy. The two military masts of the _Warsaw_ sank, and dead
men in the fighting-tops were flung overboard. The forward turret
seemed to explode; smoke and flame shot out of the ports, and its top
lifted and fell. Then the _Argyll_ turned and headed straight for her
side.

There was little need of gun fire now; but the forward-turret guns
belched once during the charge, and the more quickly handled eight- and
six-inch rifles stormed away while there was time to reload. Smoking,
rolling, and barking,--ten thousand tons of inertia behind a solid
steel knife,--she pounced on her now silent enemy. There was a
crunching sound, muffled and continuous. The speed of the _Argyll_
seemed hardly checked. In went the ram farther and farther, until the
slanting edge began cutting above the water. Then the _Warsaw_, heeled
far over by the impact, rolled back, and the knife cut upward. The
smooth plates at the _Argyll's_ water-line wrinkled like paper, and the
pile of shattered steel which had once been her forward deck and
bulkheads was shaken up and adjusted to new positions; but not until
her nose was actually buried in the wound--until the _Warsaw_ was cut
half in two--did the reversed engines begin to work. The _Argyll_
backed out, exposing for a moment a hole like a cavern's mouth; then
the stricken ship rolled heavily toward her, burying the sore, and,
humming and buzzing with exhausting steam and rushing air, settled
rapidly and sank, while out from ports, doors, and nearly vertical
hatches came her crew, as many as could. They sprang overboard and
swam, and those that reached the now stationary _Argyll_ were rescued;
for a cry had gone through the latter from the central station in her
depths: "All hands on deck to save life! Bring l