Page:Ruth of the U.S.A. (IA ruthofusa00balm).pdf/107

 against the sheet of thin steel which the shell so swiftly and easily had spread over the passage; but all his strength could not budge it. He turned back to Ruth and looked her over.

"All right?" he asked her.

"You are too?"

He turned from her and gazed through the side of the ship. "They've got our range pretty well, I should say. They're still firing both their guns, and we don't seem to be hitting much."

He tried again to bend back the sheet of steel which penned them in the passage, but with effort as vain as before.

"I guess we stay here for a while," he said when he desisted. "If we don't get help and it looks like we're going to sink, we can always dive through there into the sea.

A shell smashed in below and a few rods forward and burst with terrific detonation.

"Huns seem to like this part of the ship," he said when the shock was past.

"That started something burning just below," Ruth said.

Throughout the ship again, between the concussion of the striking shells and the firing of the Ribot's guns, alarm gongs were going.

A woman screamed; men's shouts came in answer. The rush of the Ribot through the water, which had been swift and steady since the start of the fight, suddenly swerved and the ship veered off to the right.

"What's that?" Ruth said.