ng away faster than ever. Mr
Bryan and the French officer leading the boarders met,--their blades
flashed rapidly for a few seconds, and the Frenchman fell mortally
wounded. Mr Johnson was in his glory: the first time he led on his
followers, however, the Frenchmen withstood him for some seconds, and,
more of them pouring down on the deck, he was driven back a foot or two,
but it was only for a moment. With a loud shout, he made a furious dash
at the boarders: Mr Bryan, with several mates and midshipmen, of whom I
was one, seconded by our gallant purser, who with a brace of pistols in
his belt and a sharp cutlass in his hand, instead of remaining below,
had come on deck to share the danger and aid in the fight; and of the
whole number of the enemy who had reached the deck of the Doris, not one
quarter escaped on board their own ship unwounded, and very nearly half
were killed outright, or were taken prisoners. We, however, did not get
off scathless. The enemy still continued to annoy us with their
foremost guns; while the shot from their muskets rattled thickly round
our heads, our main royal-mast and main-topsail yard had been shot away,
and the gaff was so severely wounded, that when the Frenchmen fell
aboard us, it dropped over his deck. At this moment we saw some of the
crew tear our ensign from the gaff and carry it aft as a trophy; there
was not a man in our ship who would not have gladly rushed aboard the
enemy to recover it.

"It will never do to be without a flag," said I to Grey. "I propose we
go aloft and nail a couple to the mast."

"With all my heart," he answered; and he getting a boat's ensign and I a
union-jack from the signal locker, we ran aloft with them before any one
saw what we were about. We agreed, however, that they would look best
at each end of the cross-jack, and accordingly, quick as lightning, we
lashed them there. The Frenchmen might certainly have picked us off,
but, as many of their nation have much chivalry in their composition,
when they saw that we were young midshipmen, and what we were about, I
suspect refrained from firing. At all events, we accomplished our
dangerous exploit, and returned on deck. Scarcely had we reached it,
and stood amid the shower of bullets whistling along it, than, to my
great sorrow, I saw Grey fall; he uttered no cry; I ran towards him to
lift him up; he said that he was not badly hurt, but he fainted, and Mr
Bryan ordered him at once to be carr