"Get two of the guns well aft," Peter ordered, "so as to fire over the taffrail. I hope we shall have some wind soon; and at any rate they are likely to find that they have caught a tartar."
In an hour and a half the gunboats were near enough to open fire, and two balls struck the water at a short distance from the schooner. Peter called the men in from the boats. "We have got to fight now, my lads, and you may as well rest your arms for half-an-hour, for you will want your strength if they get alongside."
"Shall we open fire, sir?" Jamieson, who was in charge of the two guns, asked.
"No, I think their guns are heavier than ours; we had better wait till we are sure that they are well within our range."
"There is a sail ahead, sir," the man at the mast-head shouted down. "I think it is the frigate."
"Thank God for that, Harding! We might tackle one of those gunboats; but I don't think that we should have much chance with two of them. I expect they each carry double the number of men that we do."
"The frigate has changed her course, sir," Harding said; "she is heading straight for us now. She must have heard the guns, and she looks as if she was bringing down a breeze with her."
"I hope that the gunboats will not get sight of her until it is too late for them to escape; but I fear that is too good to be even hoped for. I feel sure we can manage to keep them at bay until she comes up, unless indeed they knock away some important spar; and we are more likely to hit them than they are to damage us, for you don't get so quiet a platform in a boat that is being rowed as you do in one moving with sails only. Now then, Jamieson, suppose we give them a taste of your quality. I should lay both guns on the same craft, for if we can but cripple one we can fight it out with the other."
The first shot passed through the gunboat's sails. The second was received with loud cheers by the crew of the _Alert_, for striking the water some twenty yards in front of the gunboat, it ricochetted along the line of oars on one side, smashing the whole of them short off.
"Well done," Peter exclaimed. "That is almost as good as if you had knocked one of her masts over."
Several more shots were fired, but with less success. At last one struck the foremast just above the deck and brought it down.