Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/116

 As long as possible she kept up full speed, but at a few minutes before three those on the cruiser observed that she had begun to list slightly to starboard and coincidently her speed diminished and in a short while the Gyandotte was able to open up with her secondary battery.

Number Four gun played its part in the game, and Nelson, passing fifty-pound shells till the perspiration rolled from his face and trickled down his bare arms, experienced a savage exaltation as word came of hits. It was hard, fast work. There was a crash as the shell sped from the gun. Then the plugman opened the breech, wiped and inserted the primer. "Bore clear!" cried the first shellman, shoved a shell into the breech and shut off the air valve. A powderman inserted a charge in its silk bag and with it rammed home the shell. The plugman closed the breech and shouted "Ready!" Another roar burst forth. And so it went. There was no time to wonder or speculate on what was going on in other parts of the ship. One’s duty was before one and required every instant of time. Number Four barked with scarcely a let-up for most of the fifty-odd minutes that the engagement lasted and there were times toward the end of that period when Nelson found himself working without conscious 93