This was the first time that Jack Somers had ever listened to the whizzing of a cannon-ball; and the sensation was decidedly novel, if not agreeable. It was different from what our sailor-boy had anticipated. One of the ugly missiles might hit the first cutter, and smash her in pieces, killing half her human freight. There was no chance to strike a blow in self-defence, or even to fire a shot in return from the howitzers; for the battery from which the shot came was situated on the headland on the port-hand, and more than a mile distant. Mr. Granger being a prudent man, and unwilling to expose the boats’ crews to the fire of the battery, gave orders for them to pull up into the favoring shelter of a small island, several of which appeared near the entrance to the bay. The fort then opened with shell; to whose hideous screaming, Jack and a majority of the party listened for the first time. The second-lieutenant landed upon the island, and with his glass made a careful examination of the battery and the shores of the bay. “We’re in the stocks!” said Tom Longstone with the peculiar low chuckle with which he often delivered himself. “We shall not stay here long!” added Jack nervously; for the shells did not sound pleasantly to his ear. “You aren’t afraid, are you, my little lamb?” demanded Tom. “Of course I’m not afraid,” replied Jack with a deep blush; “but I don’t like to lie here, and be shot at, without a chance of paying off the rebels in their own coin.” “It aren’t pleasant to lay still under fire, my boy; but that’s a part of a good seaman’s duty, and he must take things as they come. Don’t be alarmed, Jack; they won’t hit you.” “They are just as likely to hit me as they are anyone else. I should like something to do, if it’s nothing more than pulling an oar.” “That’s cause you’re narvous, Jack.” Perhaps there were not many in the boats who were not nervous as they listened to the screaming shells. It was a new experience to them; and it is not in the nature of man to stand in the presence of death, without being moved by the peril. Some of the crew laughed, and made fun of the dangerous missiles as they screeched through the air, or burst at very inconvenient distances from them; but it is probable that those who laughed the loudest were the most afraid, and therefore struggled the hardest to avoid making an exhibition of their real feelings. Tom Longstone and a few others had been under fire before; and they were as cool and self-possessed as though they had been on board a receiving-ship in a peaceful port. Mr. Granger, who had recently been promoted for gallant conduct, seemed to be perfectly calm, paying no attention to the shells which were dropping around him. The rebels in the fort had not yet got the range of the island; and their firing was not accurate, though it was rapidly improving. At last, the commander of the expedition finished his examination, and walked toward the boats.