"
Before Fernando could answer, Sukey came running along the breastwork
and said:
"Fernando! Fernando--he is there! Captain Snipes is aboard that ship!"
Sukey's face was deathly white, and his fingers convulsively clutched
the air as if grasping at an imaginary throat.
Fernando was standing on the parapet, when a wreath of smoke curled up
from the ship's side, followed by the boom of a heavy gun, and a ball
came whizzing through the air, and struck the breastwork.
It was nine minutes after ten o'clock when the first shot was fired.
This shot was the signal for a broadside, and a shower of balls with
three or four shells came screaming through the air striking the walls
of the fort, or exploding over it. One of the shells buried itself in
the sand but a few feet from Fernando, and burst, scattering sand and
gravel over him.
"Fire!" cried Fernando, without moving from his position.
Immediately the thirty-two pounder and four smaller guns belched forth
fire and thunder. Fernando watched the effect through the glass. The
thirty-two went wild, and the shots from the smaller pieces fell short.
He turned and gave some instructions to the gunners, while a shell came
screaming over his head and burst a short distance away, killing one of
the marines.
"Fernando, there ain't no need of you standing up there!" cried Sukey.
"You ain't in the game, till we get near enough to use rifles.
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