A long, black shape surmounted by a signal-mast and four funnels slid up and out of the darkness into a patch of moonlight lying on the water. Erskine gave a quarter turn to the wheel and touched the two buttons again. The _Ithuriel_ swung round and ran down on her prey. The two fifteen-and the six twelve-pounder guns ahead and astern and on the broadside of the destroyer crackled out and a hail of shells came whistling across the water. A few of them struck the _Ithuriel_, glanced off and exploded. "There," said Erskine, "they've knocked some of our nice new paint off. Now they're going to pay for it." "Couldn't you give them a shot back?" said Lennard. "Not worth it, my dear sir," said Erskine. "We keep our guns for bigger game. We haven't an angle that a shell would hit. You might just as well fire boiled peas at a hippopotamus as those little things at us. Of course a big shell square amidships would hurt us, but then she's so handy that I think I could stop it hitting her straight." While he was speaking the _Ithuriel_ got up to full speed again. Lennard shut his eyes. He felt a slight shock, and then a dull grinding. A crash of guns and a roar of escaping steam, and when he looked out again, the destroyer had disappeared. The next moment a blinding glare of light streamed across the water from the direction of Selsey. "A big cruiser, or battleship," said Erskine. "French or German. Now we'll see what those shells of yours are made of." CHAPTER IX THE "FLYING FISH" APPEARS A huge, black shape loomed up into the moonlight. As she came nearer Lennard could see that the vessel carried a big mast forward with a fighting-top, two funnels a little aft of it, and two other funnels a few feet forward of the after mast. Erskine put his glasses up to his eyes and said: "That's the _Dupleix_, one of the improved _Desaix_ class. Steams twenty-four knots. I suppose she's been shepherding those destroyers that we've just finished with. I hope she hasn't seen what happened. If she thinks that they've got in all right, we've got her. She has a heavy fore and aft and broadside gunfire, two 6.4 guns ahead and astern and amidships, in pairs, and as I suppose they'll be using melinite shells, we shall get fits unless we take them unawares." "And what does that mean?" asked Lennard. "Show you in a minute," answered Erskine, touching three or four of the buttons on the right-hand side as he spoke. Another shudder ran through the frame of the _Ithuriel_ and Lennard felt the deck sink under his feet. If he hadn't had as good a head on him as he had, he would have said something, for the _Ithuriel_ sank until her decks were almost awash. She jumped forward again now almost invisible, and circled round to the south eastward. A big cloud drifted across the moon and Erskine said: "Thank God for that! We shall get her now."