He shot straight on, leaving his smoke-cloud between ’em as thick as peasoup; and each, firing into it, hit the other; and so the Real Carlos and the Hermenegildo went for each other like fury in the dark. Someone, the Superb or the Hermenegildo, had knocked away the Real Carlos’ fore-topmast, and it was her topsail that fell over the guns and took fire. And after a while the Real Carlos fell on board the Hermenegildo and fired her too. Those were the two explosions we saw, of course.
