CHAPTER XXVII
ADDITIONAL INCIDENTS OF THE GREAT BATTLE
As he made his awful discovery, Larry dropped the hose pipe and fell back a few steps. To get out of danger is, instinctively, the first thought of every one, and in a vague way it flashed over his mind that he must flee or be annihilated.
Then another thought came, swift on the track of the first. If the gun was discharged with the breech unlocked, all his companions, and perhaps many others, would be killed, while there was no telling how much the Olympia would suffer.
All this passed through his mind with the rapidity of a lightning flash. As he thought, he tried to yell to Barrow, but the words would not come. His very jaws were set in horror, while his eyes bulged from their sockets. His hands went up, and he shook them appealingly at the head gunner.
But Barrow was looking another way, as was natural when the piece was to be discharged. Larry
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