It was in vain the boatswain called out to
them, in a voice of stern authority, to desist, intimating
that their only protection lay in the reservation of the
fire of their batteries. Goaded and excited, beyond the
power of resistance, to an impulse that set all
subordination at defiance, they applied the matches, and
almost at the same instant the terrific discharge of both
broadsides took place, rocking the vessel to the water's
edge, and reverberating, throughout, the confined space
in which she lay, like the deadly explosion of some deeply
excavated mine.
Scarcely had the guns been fired, when the seamen became
sensible of their imprudence. The echoes were yet
struggling to force a passage through the dense forest,
when a second yell of the Indians announced the fiercest
joy and triumph, unmixed by disaster, at the result; and
then the quick leaping of many forms could be heard, as
they divided the crashing underwood, and rushed forward
to close with their prey. It was evident, from the
difference of sound, their first cry had been pealed
forth while lying prostrate on the ground, and secure
from the bullets, whose harmless discharge that cry was
intended to provoke; for now the voices seemed to rise
progressively from the earth, until they reached the
level of each individual height, and were already almost
hotly breathing in the ears of those they were destined
to fill with illimitable dismay.
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