The ship gave a sudden lurch the deck tipped. The gale howled through the sails, now lacy with flame.
Don’t panic, he told himself, when Davy blanched. Every profane word Gray had ever heard, read, uttered, or invented spewed forth from his mouth. His heart sank as he gave the row an experimental kick. The bloody things were still scorching to the touch. “We’ll only get one try at this.” Gray reached for the row of shot stored in the bulwark, only to snatch his hand back. “We’ll use a double shot,” he explained to Davy. Gray retrieved the keg Davy had dropped earlier and broke it open with his knife, pouring a good third of its contents into the cannon. Put your thumb here”-he indicated the vent hole at the top, and waited until Davy complied-“and don’t remove it until I tell you to.” “Davy, do you know how to fire a cannon?”Īfter cutting the ropes with his knife, Gray swung the cannon one hundred and eighty degrees and shoved it to the center of the quarterdeck. He strode toward it, the boy hurrying to follow. A six-pounder cannon, hunched low by the rail.
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