Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/117

 effort, mechanically lifting and handing the heavy shells as though he were only a cog in a machine. His arms and back and legs ached, but he didn't know it then. His thoughts went back often to that midnight of the fourteenth of last October and when they did the lines of his face set more grimly.

The Gyandotte didn't escape unscathed, for the enemy scored seven hits during the battle. One of the cruiser's guns was early put out of action and a shell bored its way into a coal bunker and caused devastation below decks. That the Gyandotte presented only her bow to the enemy saved her from worse treatment. Less than an hour after the action had begun, the enemy ship signaled surrender. She was then in a sinking condition, with her starboard rail well under water. Firing ceased at three minutes past four and the Gyandotte, her men waving and cheering, steamed slowly toward the defeated enemy and began to lower her boats.