308 FOR THE FLAG

Two consequences were to be deduced from this sudden
and extraordinary catastrophe:

First, Ker Karraje, the pirate, was now the possessor of
the Roch Fulgurator ;

Second, the new exterminator really possessed the
destructive power attributed to it by its inventor.

After the disappearance of the leading cruiser the
other ships lowered their boats to pick up the survivors of
the disaster. There was only some wreckage.

Then it was that. officers and crews, thirsting for ven-
geance, signalled to each other and urged their ships
towards Backcup.

The fastest of the four, the Zonnant—a French man-of-
war—took the lead at full steam, while the other ships put
on full steam in order to rejoin it.

The ZYonunant advanced half a mile within the danger
zone. which had just been the scene of the explosion, at the
risk of being destroyed by other missiles. At the moment
when her big guns were being brought to bear on the
island, she hoisted the tricolour.

From the bridges the officers could see Ker Karraje’s
band scattered over the rocks.

This offered a favourable opportunity for destroying
some of the desperadoes, even before their lair could be
gutted by cannon balls. Then the Younant fired her
first guns, and a precipitate flight of the pirates into the
interior of Backcup took place.

Some minutes later space itself was shaken by a shock
so great that the roof of the sky seemed to fall intc
the abyss of the Atlantic.