The
Bradleys certainly saw this, for they ran as fast as they
could, and kept on running. The ball caught the cannon under
its mouth and tossed it in the air, knocking the flagpole into
a dozen pieces, and passing on through two of the palm-covered
huts.
"Great Heavens, Gordon!" cried Stedman; "they are firing on us."
But Gordon's face was radiant and wild.
"Firing on US!" he cried. "On us! Don't you see? Don't
you understand? What do WE amount to? They have fired on
the American flag! Don't you see what that means? It means
war. A great international war. And I am a war-correspondent
at last!" He ran up to Stedman and seized him by the arm so
tightly that it hurt.
"By three o'clock," he said, "they will know in the office
what has happened. The country will know it to-morrow when
the paper is on the street; people will read it all over the
world. The Emperor will hear of it at breakfast; the
President will cable for further particulars. He will get
them. It is the chance of a lifetime, and we are on the
spot!"
Stedman did not hear this; he was watching the broadside of
the ship to see another puff of white smoke, but there came no
such sign.
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