Читать книгу The Captain from Connecticut онлайн

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The range was down to a mile--to less than that. Peabody suddenly saw the two-decker's maintopsail emerge beside her foretopsail, and the mizzen beside that. Her bluff bows lengthened and her bowsprit showed in profile as she turned. She was yawing to present her broadside to the Delaware--Peabody could see her yellow streak and her checkered side as she rolled madly in the trough of the sea. Next came a brief wave of smoke, blown instantly to nothing by the gale, and next came--nothing at all. A hoot of derision went up from the watching sailors at Peabody's back.

"Missed! Clean missed!" said somebody, dancing with joy. "A whole broadside, and we didn't see where a single shot fell!"

Probably the two-decker had fired the long guns on her upper gun deck--sixteen or seventeen, if she were the seventy-four Peabody estimated her to be. To him there was nothing surprising about the broadside missing, considering the difficulties under which it was discharged. The Delaware had fired a dozen shots so far, under better conditions, and not one had gone near the target--the men did not stop to think about that.