l
pretty thickly about her. Terence immediately ordered his guns to be
fired in return, when the Cossacks, wheeling about, retired to a safe
distance.

"I can't say much for the gunnery of those fellows," said Tom; "not a
shot has struck us yet."

"Wait a bit, my boy," answered Desmond; "they'll get the range
presently. It's more easy for them to hit a big object like our ship,
than it is for us to reach those little gimcracks of guns."

The Russian riflemen having in the meantime advanced, their bullets kept
whistling through the air, close to the heads of the crew, who, however,
took no more notice of them than had they been pellets from pop-guns.
At last a shot from the _Flash_ struck the earth directly in front of
one of the Russian guns, which at the same instant was fired, and the
next, when the dust and smoke had cleared away, it was seen upset with
its carriage broken, and several gunners lying stretched on the earth on
either side of it. The other guns, however, still kept their position,
and fired away as briskly as before.

"They'll be after getting tired of that," observed Desmond, "if we can
manage to send another of our pills down their throats like the last."

The firing was kept up for some time on both sides without intermission,
no apparent effect being produced on the enemy, while the ship was
frequently hulled by their shot. Still Adair did not despair of getting
her off, and as soon as the tide began to rise, he set to work with
renewed energy. He and his crew seemed to bear charmed lives; for
though the shot caught the rigging above their heads, and came plunging
into the ship's side, not one of them had been hit.

"There's a fresh body of the enemy coming down, sir," said Tom, pointing
to the north-east.

"If they are only Cossacks they'll not harm us," answered Adair, taking
a look in the direction Tom pointed through his telescope. "I am not
quite certain about that same," he observed to his first lieutenant.

"They appear to me to be artillery," answered that officer.

In a few minutes more this became evident; up came the officers,
galloping at full speed, with four more guns.

"They are not of very heavy metal, or they would not come along so
fast," observed Adair. "We'll be ready for them," and he ordered one of
the after-guns to be trained so as to give them a warm reception as soon
as they came within range. As they approached, however, the guns
separated, and took up p