shed through the bottom of the boat,
carrying down one of the enemy with it. It did not make a round hole in
the bottom of the boat, it was afterwards ascertained, as it might if
it had been fired from one of the broadside guns, but it tore off the
planking, and made a hole as big as the head of a flour-barrel.

"Lay hold of that man on the accommodation ladder!" shouted Christy,
without waiting to observe the effect of his shot, for the man who had
succeeded in mounting the side was armed with a dangerous weapon, which
he was likely to use as soon as he found the opportunity.

The men forward of the point where the boat had come alongside had been
ordered aft, and a couple of them dragged the venturesome officer, as
his frock-coat indicated that he was, to the deck. Christy was almost
sure this man was Haslett, who had certainly set a bold example to his
companions in the boat. He was quickly secured, and by no gentle hands.
His hands were tied behind him, and he was made fast to the rail, where
he was likely to be harmless during the rest of the trip.

It was no easy matter for a boat to make fast to a steamer going ten
knots an hour at least, and if the painter of the boat had not been
carelessly left where it could be of service to the assailants, the
affair would have ended with Boxie's unsuccessful cast of the shot. But
as soon as the painter was let go, an order which Sampson hastened to
execute, the enemy's hold upon the ship was lost, though they were using
boathooks and other implements to make sure of their grasp. The boat was
left behind by the ship, though not till the hole had been stove in her
bottom.

"Beg pardon, Mr. Passford, for missing my heave with the shot," said
Boxie, on the deck; and the veteran's heart seemed to be almost broken
by his failure.

"You are very excusable, Boxie; one can't expect to hit every time,
and you did very well," replied Christy, who had suddenly passed from
painful doubt and uncertainty to exultation and exaltation at the
victory achieved. "We are all right now."

"But the enemy are not," added Sampson, who had mounted the rail after
he had secured the prisoner. "They are all afloat."

"They will get ashore in some way, or back to the Vampire," replied
Christy, and he descended to the deck, and hastened to the engine-room.

CHAPTER XII

THE PRISONER OF WAR

"What in the world have you been doing, Christy?" asked Mrs. Passford,
as her son entered the e