Once again Captain Bacon had presented him with the perfect target. The galleon was heading straight for the guns of the Hawk. At such close range Barney could not miss. He fired all six guns in rapid succession, then yelled: “Reload! Reload!” Then he looked out, and saw that his shooting had been even better than he had hoped. One ball must have struck the mainmast, for as he watched it was falling forward, pushed by the wind. The pace of the galleon slowed as some of its sails collapsed. The mainmast fell into the rigging of the damaged foremast and that, too, began to
