Then he rushed up on the bridge again. The hawsers were cast off in feverish haste, and the _Mindoro_ once more steamed out into the bay at the fastest speed of which the old craft was capable. Parrington had regained his self-command in face of the new task that the events just described, which followed so rapidly upon one another's heels, laid out for him. An expression of fierce joy came over his features when, looking through his glass an hour later, he discovered the _Kanga Maru_ holding a straight course for Corregidor. As calmly as if it were only a question of everyday maneuvers, Parrington gave his orders. The artillerymen stood on either side of the small guns, and everything was made ready for action. The distance between the two ships slowly diminished. "Yes, it is the Japanese steamer," said Parrington to himself. "And now to avenge Harryman! There'll be no sentimentality; we'll shoot them down like pirates! No signal, no warning--nothing, nothing!" he murmured. "Stand by with the forward gun," he called down from the bridge to the men standing at the little 12 pounder on the foredeck of the _Mindoro_. The _Mindoro_ turned a little to starboard, so as to get at the broadside of the Japanese, and thus be able to fire on him with both the forward and after guns. "Five hundred yards! Aim at the engine room! Number one gun, fire!" The shot boomed across the sunny, blue expanse of water, driving a white puff of smoke before it. The shell disappeared in the waves about one hundred yards ahead of the Japanese steamer. The next shot struck the ship, leaving in her side a black hole with jagged edges just above the waterline. "Splendid!" cried Parrington. "Keep that up and we'll have the villain in ten shots." Quickly the 12 pounder was reloaded; the gunners stood quietly beside their gun, and shot after shot was fired at the Japanese ship, of which five or six hit her right at the waterline. The stern gun of the _Mindoro_ devoted itself in the meantime to destroying things on the enemy's deck. Gaping holes appeared everywhere in the ship's side, and the funnels received several enormous rents, out of which brown smoke poured forth. In a quarter of an hour the deck resembled the primeval chaos, being covered with bent and broken iron rods, iron plates riddled with shot, and woodwork torn to splinters. Suddenly clouds of white steam burst out from all the holes in the ship's sides, from the skylights, and from the remnants of the funnels; the deck in the middle of the steamer rose slowly, and the exploding boilers tossed broken bits of engines and deck apparatus high up into the air. The _Kanga Maru_ listed to port and disappeared in the waves, over which a few straggling American shots swept. "Cease firing!" commanded Parrington. Then the _Mindoro_ came about and again steered straight for Manila. The act of retribution had been accomplished; the treacherous murder of the crew of the _Monadnock_ had been avenged.