The destroyer plowed on and on, while every minute that elapsed without their hearing that the _Ferret_ was wrecked encouraged hope. Now and again word came that the British ship, with dogged persistency, was holding out. She had been hit now several times, and the _Sea Pigeon_ was reported as being almost on top of her. Still she was providentially saved from disaster. Through the heat of a tropical noontide the destroyer rushed on toward the fight. The crew looked for no shelter now, they only desired to see the smoke of the guns ahead. And before six bells of the afternoon watch they had the desire of their eyes! The lookouts began to yell the glad tidings to the bridge, and the crew took up the news with a mighty shout. The wind was against their hearing the guns at first, but finally the thundering roll of the weapons reached the ears of the Americans. The _Colodia_ seemed to increase her speed. The smoke rolled back from her stacks and lay flat along the sea as though painted there with one stroke of a giant brush. Within a few minutes they could see balloons of smoke billowing up ahead, but these were from no ship afire. They were the announcement of gun discharges. On the destroyer tore through the quiet sea. The lookouts hailed for the upperworks of the _Ferret_. Another message came by radio that the attacked steamship had seen and hailed with delight her rescuer. The explosion of the guns ahead brought joy to the hearts of the _Colodia’s_ crew. There was the prospect of a real fight! The smoke of the raider was announced. The destroyer’s course was swerved ever so slightly that she might pass the battered _Ferret_ and draw the fire of the German from the merchant ship. Then the order was given, and her own guns began to speak. It was at long range, but the marksmanship of American gun crews had become really wonderful. The high, shrieking shells sought out the German ship, and within the first dozen sent over, the radio man on the _Ferret_ reported a “strike.” One of the _Sea Pigeon’s_ smokestacks was carried away! The fight was on. The Americans hoped to get near enough to the German boat to bring her to terms within a very short time. CHAPTER XXIV--THE BLIND CHASE The excitement of the dash for the embattling ships left the _Colodia’s_ company no thought for anything else. Even dinner had been half-neglected, although that came early in the race. As for weather indications or the like, nobody thought of such things. And here suddenly appeared a phenomenon that bade fair to help the Germans and place the destroyer in a less confident position. The American ship had arrived just in time to save the _Ferret_; her upperworks were badly wrecked although providentially the wireless outfit of the British ship was not crippled.