. The story of American heroism; thrilling narratives of personal adventures during the great Civil war, as told by the medal winners and roll of honor men . man pierced liy the balls from theserifles, or shell, and at the end of thirty minutes a solid shot disabled the star-board engine. 692 THE STORY OF Until this engagement, the boy Duncan had fancied his duties as a sailorwere not particularly dangerous. He had believed the thin metal plateswould protect the steamer from either shot or shell, as they had from thesharpshooters below; but in these thirty seconds he discovered his mistake. No
. The story of American heroism; thrilling narratives of personal adventures during the great Civil war, as told by the medal winners and roll of honor men . man pierced liy the balls from theserifles, or shell, and at the end of thirty minutes a solid shot disabled the star-board engine. 692 THE STORY OF Until this engagement, the boy Duncan had fancied his duties as a sailorwere not particularly dangerous. He had believed the thin metal plateswould protect the steamer from either shot or shell, as they had from thesharpshooters below; but in these thirty seconds he discovered his mistake. Now it was that he learned the true meaning of the word war, andunderstood its terrible definition. The hurtling balls and screaming shells, the cries of the wounded, thegroans of the dying, and the reeling of the steamer as she was pounded hereand there by the deadly hail, served to make upsuch a picture as would have impressed with aweeven the most hardened sailor. One by one Duncans companions fell aroundhim. Inch by inch the white planks were crim-soned with the life blood of those for whom theboy had learned to care, and it is more than mm ■]>. ^m^^ The States Fleet G possible that during that half hour, he contrastedlife on the farm with that of a sailor in the navy,with the odds decidedly in favor of the formerposition. The fire grows hotter; the steamer swings two and fro on the current,her single engine unable to give her the proper steerage-way, and just as Dun-can passes No. 1 gun, a shell pierces the bow case mate a little to the right of it. The first sponger staggers back from the impact of this, his death wound,and unconsciously permits the sponge to drop from the port to the forecastle. AMERICAN HEROISM. 693 Theu does Duncan understand what personal heroism means at such atime. Hugh Melloy, an ordinary seaman, stopping not for orders, thinking notof his o\Yu safety, and realizing only that the sponge must be recovered if thegun is to be worked properl
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