n deep
thought; and contrary to his usual manner, was silent and melancholy,
abstracted, and inattentive to the duties of the ship.

The boats prepared for the service were manned; the officers had taken
their seats in them; the oars were tossed up; the eyes of the young
warriors beamed with animation, and we waited for Mr Handstone, who
still walked the deck, absorbed in his own reflections. He was at
length recalled to a sense of his situation by the captain, who in a
tone of voice more than usually loud, asked him if he intended to take
the command of the expedition? He replied, "Most certainly;" and, with
a firm and animated step, crossed the quarter-deck, and went into his
boat.

I, following, seated myself by his side; he looked at me with a
foreboding indifference; had he been in his usual mood, he would have
sent me to some other boat. We had a long pull before we reached the
object of our intended attack, which we found moored close in shore, and
well prepared for us. A broadside of grape-shot was the first salute we
received. It produced the same effect on our men as the spur to a fiery
steed. We pulled alongside, and began to scramble up in the best manner
we could. Handstone in an instant regained all his wonted animation,
cheered his men, and with his drawn sword in his hand, mounted the
ship's side, while our men at the same time poured in volleys of
musketry, and then followed their intrepid leader.

In our boat, the first alongside, eleven men, out of twenty-four, lay
killed or disabled. Disregarding these, the lieutenant sprang up. I
followed close to him; he leaped from the bulwark in upon her deck, and
before I could lift my cutlass in his defence, fell back upon me,
knocked me down in his fall, and expired in a moment. He had thirteen
musket-balls in his chest and stomach.

I had no time to disengage myself before I was trampled on, and nearly
suffocated by the pressure of my shipmates, who, burning to gain the
prize, or to avenge our fall, rushed on with the most undaunted bravery.
I was supposed to be dead, and treated accordingly, my poor body being
only used as a stop for the gangway, where the ladder was unshipped.
There I lay fainting with the pressure, and nearly suffocated with the
blood of my brave leader, on whose breast my face rested, with my hands
crossed over the back of my head, to save my skull, if possible, from
the heels of my friends and the swords of my enemies; and