"Providence." The United States colors were quickly hauled down from
the fort flagstaff, and every means was taken to conceal the true
state of affairs from the enemy. But the inhabitants along the
water-side, by means of constant signalling and shouting, at last
aroused the suspicion of her officers; and she hastily put about, and
scudded for the open sea. The guns at Fort Nassau opened on her as she
passed, and the aim of the Yankee gunners was accurate enough to make
the splinters fly. The exact damage done her has, however, never been
ascertained.

All that night the daring band of blue-jackets held the fort
unmolested. But on the following morning the townspeople again plucked
up courage, and to the number of five hundred marched to the fort, and
placing several pieces of artillery in battery, summoned the garrison
to surrender. The flag of truce that bore the summons carried also the
threat, that, unless the Americans laid down their arms without
resistance, the fort would be stormed, and all therein put to the
sword without mercy.

For answer to the summons, the Americans nailed their colors to the
mast, and swore that while a man of them lived the fort should not be
surrendered. By this bold defiance they so awed the enemy that the day
passed without the expected assault; and at night the besiegers
returned to their homes, without having fired a shot.

All that night the Americans worked busily, transferring to the
"Providence" all the ammunition and stores in the fort; and the next
morning the prizes were manned, the guns of the fort spiked, and the
adventurous Yankees set sail in triumph. For three days they had held
possession of the island, though outnumbered tenfold by the
inhabitants; they had captured large quantities of ammunition and
naval stores; they had freed their captured countrymen; they had
retaken from the British five captured American vessels, and in the
whole affair they had lost not a single man. It was an achievement of
which a force of triple the number might have been proud.

In February, 1778, the Delaware, along the water-front of
Philadelphia, was the scene of some dashing work by American sailors,
under the command of Capt. John Barry. This officer was in command of
the "Effingham," one of the vessels which had been trapped in the
Delaware by the unexpected occupation of Philadelphia by the British.
The inactivity of the vessels, which had taken refuge at Whitehall,
was a sore