Knock its head out.

"Now tie a pistol to those hooks just above, so that its muzzle
points at the powder.

"Now for a piece of cord."

"But it will blow us into smash, Master Rupert."

"I hope not, Hugh; but we must take our chance. I would rather that
than be drowned gradually. But look, the water is up nearly to our
waists now; and the boat must be pretty nearly sinking. I will take
hold of the cord. Then both of us throw ourselves down to the
floor, and I will pull the string. Three feet of water over us
ought to save us; but mind, the instant you feel the shock, jump up
and rush for the opening, for it is pretty sure to sink her.

"Now!"

The lads dived under water, and the instant afterwards there was a
tremendous explosion. The deck of the boat was blown into the air
in a hundred fragments, and at the same moment the boat sank under
the water.

A few seconds later Rupert and Hugh were swimming side by side. For
a while neither spoke--they were shaken and half stunned by the
shock.

"It is a thick fog, Hugh. All the better; for if those scoundrels
come back, as is likely enough, there is no chance of their finding
us, for I can hardly see you, though I am touching you. Now we must
paddle about, and try to get hold of a spar or a bit of plank."

Chapter 12: The Sad Side Of War.

Before firing the keg of powder, Rupert and Hugh had rid themselves
of their jackboots, coats, and vests, and they therefore swam
easily and confidently.

"Listen, Hugh! Here is the boat coming back again," Rupert
exclaimed. "This thick mist is fortunate, for they can't see twenty
yards. We can always dive when they come near. Mind you go down
without making a splash. We are all right at present; the boat is
going to our right, let us swim quietly in the other direction."

Presently they heard a voice in English say, "It is no use our
troubling ourselves. It's a mere waste of time. The young rascals
are dead. Drowned or blown up, what matters it? They will never
trouble you again."

"You don't know the villains as well as I do. They have as many
lives as cats. I could have sworn that they were burned at that
mill, for I watched till it fell, and not a soul came out; and to
this moment I don't know how they escaped, unless they flew away in
the smoke. Then I thought at any rate the chief rogue was done for,
when Muller wrote to tell me he was going to finish him for me the
next day. Then they both got through that day'