It was a hair-breadth escape, and Terry dropped to the deck as though he had been struck. But this was the end of his panic. So soon as he realized that he was untouched, he sprang to his feet again, and shaking his fist in the direction of the _Merrimac_, cried defiantly, "You didn't do it that time. Try it again, will ye? I'll carry the water in spite of ye!" Then picking up the pannikin he refilled it, and this time succeeded in bearing it safely to the sufferer, who, when he had taken a long, deep draught, looked into the boy's face, saying gratefully,--
"God bless you for that, even if you are a little rebel at heart."
Not until then did Terry recognize in the man he was helping the sailor whose ire he had aroused by refusing to enter into the ship's service, and his heart glowed at the thought that he had shown him that he could not refuse an appeal for aid even from him.
Throughout the rest of that awful afternoon Terry toiled like a beaver, bearing water to the wounded and to those working the guns, and earning countless blessings from the grateful sailors. He seemed to bear a charmed life. Men fell all round him, while he went unscathed. Again and again the surgeon thanked him for his timely assistance. In spite of all the peril, he never felt happier in his life. He was completely lifted out of himself, and intoxicated with the joy of whole-souled service for others.
As the afternoon advanced, the situation of the _Minnesota_ became increasingly desperate. Of course, being aground, she could not sink; but the rifled guns of the _Merrimac_ had torn great gaping holes in her high sides. She had lost many of her men, and had once been set on fire. Indeed, her surrender or destruction seemed inevitable, when a diversion took place which postponed either unhappy alternative for that day at all events.
Besides the _Minnesota_, there were two other Federal frigates lying in Hampton Roads, the _Roanoke_ and the _St. Lawrence_, and they likewise had been run aground for fear of the terrible ram. As if satisfied with the damage done to the _Minnesota_, and confident that no escape was possible for her, the _Merrimac_ now gave attention to her two consorts, and proceeded to bombard them with her heavy guns.