The Defense of Glory

The small iron-clad boat chugged into the harbour, dragging a wake behind it in the stormy sea. Its small three-man crew was soot-smudged and breathless, all of them wide-eyed and trembling.

"We saw'm!" One cried aloud, pushing himself over the railing of the deck and landing on the rotting wood of the dock. "We saw'm, capt'n! Over there, jus' sittin' in the water like they belong there--"

The tallest of the group of officers that were talking on the far side of the dock looked up sharply. "What's that, boy?"

"We saw'm!"