The clockwork had been better adjusted than the slow match in the 'Fortune.' Scarcely had Alexander reached the entrance of Saint Mary's Fort, at the end of the bridge, when a horrible explosion was heard.

The 'Hope' disappeared, together with the men who had boarded her, and the block-house, against which she had struck, with all its garrison, while a large portion of the bridge, with all the troops stationed upon it, had vanished into air.

It was the work of a single instant.

The Scheldt yawned to its lowest depth, and then cast its waters across the dykes, deep into the forts, and far over the land.

The earth shook as with the throb of a volcano.