“Never mind,” said Uncle Dick, who thought by the expression he saw on the face of his young friend that he did not much like the work, “they would serve us worse than that if they had the power. They are fifty or a hundred to our one, and as we must remain here for a month at least, our safety can only be secured by teaching them a lesson now that they will not forget as long as the Stranger is in sight. Keep it up.”
And Frank did keep it up. He threw his shells at regular intervals—firing slowly so as not to heat the gun—and dropped them first in one part of the woods, and then in another, to show the natives that there was no place of safety anywhere within range of his little Dahlgren. Having found a safe passage for the boats along the beach, he turned to look at the ship once more. She was close upon the reefs. Even as he looked she was lifted on the crest of a tremendous billow and carried toward them with lightning speed. Frank turned away his head, for he could not endure the sight, and even Uncle Dick’s weather-beaten face wore an expression of alarm that no one had seen there when his own vessel was battling with the gale a short half hour before. The shock of the collision must have been fearful, and Frank, who had thus far clung to the hope that some of the crew might be saved, lost all heart now. The sea made quick work with what was left of the ship. She began to go to pieces at once, and portions of the hull, as fast as they were broken off by the waves and the friction of the rocks, were hurled through the breakers toward the beach.
“It is just dreadful, isn’t it?” said George, who had kept close at Frank’s side. “I remember that the first time I saw a ship in New Orleans, I looked at her beams and braces, and wondered how it was possible for so strong a craft to be wrecked. This one is no more than a chip in a millpond.”
“An element that sometimes exerts a force of six thousand pounds to the square foot, and which has been known to move great rocks weighing forty tons and over, is a terrible enemy to do battle with,” replied Frank.
“I am afraid the poor fellows are all gone, and that our boats will be of no use out there,” said Uncle Dick, “I can’t see anybody.”