Piet Mondrian Composition with Red Yellow and Blue

And here at last there were people: some watching from upper-floor windows, some craning anxiously around the corners of buildings to look ahead at the waterfront, where the metal fingers of cranes and derricks and the masts of big vessels rose above the rooftops.
An explosion shook , and near the vessel, a mighty splash.
Will shaded his eyes. There were figures in the boat, but, he rubbed his eyes, even though he knew what to expect, they weren't human. They were huge beings of metal, or creatures in heavy armor, and on the foredeck of the vessel, a bright flower of flame suddenly bloomed, and the people cried out in alarm. The flame sped into the air, rising higher and coming the walls, and glass fell out of a nearby window. People drew back and then peered around again, and more cries rose into the smoky air.Will reached the corner of the street and looked along the waterfront. When the smoke and dust cleared a little, he saw one rusting vessel standing offshore, keeping its place against the flow of the river, and on the wharf a mob of people armed with rifles or pistols surrounding a great gun, which, as he watched, boomed again. A flash of fire, a lurching recoil