CHAPTER XI.

THE FIGHT AT SEA

"Ah! then Could you have seen our men, How they sprung To their work of toil and clamor! How the boarders, with sponge and rammer, And their captains, with cord and hammer, Kept every muzzle ablaze."

Each ship was waiting for the other to make the first move.

Both captains were cautious and anxious for victory.

After several movements, the _Guerriere_ opened fire with her weather broadside.

The shots fell short.

The British wore around, and let fly her port broadside.

Most of the shot tore through the American's rigging, but two shots took effect in the hull.

The _Constitution_ yawed a little, and fired three of her bow guns.

Another broadside from the _Guerriere_ answered the shots.

Lieutenant Tempest walked up and down the deck of the _Constitution_ uneasily.

Why such inaction?

He knew Hull to be capable, but his action was not quick enough to suit the warm blood of the younger man.

Only occasionally was a shot fired from the American.

More care was exercised in dodging the fire from the Britisher than in answering.

An hour had passed and only the American had been injured, though but slightly.

The crew of the _Constitution_ were becoming restive.

Captain Hull paced the quarterdeck with short, quick steps.

Although outwardly calm, his whole body was burning with checked excitement.

Lieutenant Morris, the second in command, bit his lips and moved his hands about nervously and uneasily.

"What does he mean?" he asked Tempest.

"That I have been wondering," was the answer.

"Shall I give them a broadside?" asked Morris, saluting his chief.

"Not yet," was the reply.

Lieutenant Morris paced the deck, almost angry at his captain.

The _Guerriere_ fired another broadside, and as the shots tore away some of the rigging, the officer muttered to himself:

"There will be mutiny if we don't take action."

Low as he spoke, Tempest heard him.

"Do you think so?"

"Did you hear? I am sorry I uttered my thoughts aloud. I am afraid; the gunners are getting very impatient."

Tempest saw the captain pacing the deck, and the vessels were getting so close together that it looked as if the American intended to board the Britisher.

Again Morris asked if he should fire a broadside, and again came the answer:

"Not yet."

The _Guerriere_ was only about half a pistol shot away.

Captain Hull had restrained his excitement as long as he could.

He saw how close the enemy really was.

Then he was ready.

The moment for which he had waited had arrived.

He had drawn the Britisher into a trap by leading him to believe the American would not fight.

"Now, boys, pour it into them!" he shouted with all the lung power he possessed.

He stooped almost to the deck and threw his body up again, cheering the men.

"Pour it into them!" he shouted again. "Hull her, boys! Hull her!" And the crew, catching up the shout, made the decks ring with the cry of "Hull her!" as they loaded and let fly again.

Captain Hull gesticulated with such violence that the tight breeches of his naval uniform split from hip to knee.

The effect of the broadside on the _Guerriere_ was terrific.

The Britisher reeled and trembled as though in the throes of a mighty earthquake.

With a tremendous crash the mizzen-mast was shot away.

In a few moments Captain Dacres was told that the cockpit was filled with wounded men.

The conflict was furious.

There was no more delay.

The firing was incessant.

Stripped to the waist, and covered with the stains of powder and of blood, the gunners pulled fiercely at the gun-tackle, and wielded the rammers with frantic energy.

Then the match was applied.

The death-dealing bolt crashed into the hull of the enemy only a few yards distant.

The ships were broadside to broadside, when the mizzen-mast of the English ship was shot away.

The force of the great spar falling upon the deck made a great breach in the quarter of the ship.

The Americans cheered lustily when they saw the damage done.

The _Constitution_ poured in several effective broadsides, and luffed slowly, until she lay right athwart the _Guerriere's_ bow.

The long bowsprit of the Englishman stretched far across the _Constitution's_ quarterdeck and was soon fouled in the mizzen-rigging of the latter vessel.

The two ships swung helplessly around.

The bow of the Englishman lay snugly against the port-quarter of the American.

"We could board her now," said Lieutenant Morris.

"I wish the captain would give the order," responded Tempest, who was acting as second lieutenant.

"By Washington, but you shall see some fighting!" exclaimed Captain Hull, as he saw that the Englishman was preparing to board the _Constitution_.

The bugle blared from the quarterdeck of the _Guerriere_, and the boarders sprang from their guns and seized their heavy cutlasses and boarding-caps.

But Hull had ordered the boarding-bugle to sound, and by the side of his vessel there appeared an equal number of well-armed men.

Captain Dacres saw the kind of reception he would meet with, and so ordered his men back to their guns.

The vessels were so close together that pistols were freely used.

The topmen fired down at the deck of the opposing ship and picked off many a brave man.

Captain Dacres was slightly wounded by a pistol shot fired by John Tempest.

The thunder of the big guns could not down the cries of pain and anger which arose from the throats of the wounded men.

The air was filled with the ceaseless rattle of musketry, the roar of cannon, the cracking of pistol shots, and the cries of the injured.

Often the protruding muzzles of the guns touched the side of the opposing ship. And when the guns were run in for loading the sailors would rush to the open ports with muskets and pistols, and try to pick off some of the enemy.

Suddenly there was an alarming cry, which rose above all others and entirely overpowered them.

"Fire! Fire!"

Every one was horrified.

A sailor is more horrified at that cry than any other which can be heard at sea.

He would rather be clinging to a mast in the open ocean than stand on the deck of a stanch ship, if her hold was on fire!

Flames were seen coming from the windows of the cabin, which lay directly beneath the _Guerriere's_ bow guns.

While the shots were raking the decks, and every moment the crew anticipated having to fight hand-to-hand, man to man, not one felt any fear.

But when that cry of fire was raised, and the flames seen, there was not a sailor or marine but trembled.

The flash of the enemy's guns had caused the fire, so close were the vessels together.

Captain Hull did not lose his presence of mind.

With splendid discipline he soon had the flames extinguished and the danger from fire averted.

Tempest had gone to the gun deck.

He pointed to the _Guerriere_ and said:

"It was the flash from that gun which fired our cabin. I will silence it."

He ordered a gun loaded, and sighted it himself.

The puff of smoke, followed by the roar of the cannon, told of the passage of the shot, but it was not until the smoke had cleared away that it was seen that Tempest's shot had disabled the enemy's gun.

But while the men were extinguishing the flames the brave Lieutenant Morris was attempting, with his own hands, to lash the two ships together.

He saw that he should fail, and leaping upon the taffrail called on his men to follow him.

Instantly Lieutenant Bush of the marines and Mr. Alwyn were by his side, when a volley from the British caused all three to fall back.

Bush was killed instantly and the other two were badly wounded.

The ships drifted asunder.

Lieutenant Tempest went to the long gun and with a hurried request for permission to fire it, sighted with deliberation.

A ringing cheer told of the result.

The _Guerriere's_ foremast had been shot away and had dragged down the mainmast with it in its fall.

The proud, trim-built and rigged Britisher was now a shapeless hulk, tossing on the waters without chance to retrieve its fallen fortunes.