Two mines protected the front of the _Kansas_, and several canoes had
passed them. Indeed, Courtenay soon found that some of the assailants
were already screened by the ship's bows, but the larger number were
clustered thickly round Tollemache's infernal machines. It was well
that a cool-headed sailor was called on to deal with this emergency.
The captain of the _Kansas_ even smiled as he appreciated the full
meaning of the trick which his adversaries had tried to play on him,
and the man who smiles in the face of danger is one to be depended on.
The six cords were numbered. He dropped No. 2, which he was holding,
and seized Nos. 4 and 5. He drew them in, hand over hand, as rapidly
as possible, but careful not to sacrifice a smooth tension to undue
hurry. In a few seconds two deafening reports split the air, the glass
front of the chart-house shook, pieces of the broken panes rattled on
the floor, several scraps of iron, bolts, nuts and heavy nails fell on
the decks and hatches, and a tremendous hubbub of yells came from the
main body of Indians. A couple of heavily charged dynamite bombs had
burst in their midst, dealing death and destruction over a wide area.
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