to escape capture. Late one September afternoon, when
she could see ships of war all around her, she selected one which was
isolated from the others, and decided to run alongside her and try to
sink her after nightfall. Accordingly she set her sails in pursuit, and
drew steadily toward her antagonist, a big eighteen-gun brig, the Avon,
a ship more powerful than the Reindeer. The Avon kept signaling to two
other British war vessels which were in sight--one an eighteen-gun brig
and the other a twenty-gun ship; they were so close that the Wasp
was afraid they would interfere before the combat could be ended.
Nevertheless, Blakeley persevered, and made his attack with equal skill
and daring. It was after dark when he ran alongside his opponent,
and they began forthwith to exchange furious broadsides. As the ships
plunged and wallowed in the seas, the Americans could see the clusters
of topmen in the rigging of their opponent, but they knew nothing of
the vessel's name or of her force, save only so far as they felt it. The
firing was fast and furious, but the British shot with bad aim, while
the skilled American gunners hulled their opponent at almost every
discharge. In a very few minutes the Avon was in a sinking condition,
and she struck her flag and cried for quarter, having lost forty or
fifty men, while but three of the Americans had fallen. Before the Wasp
could take possession of her opponent, however, the two war vessels
to which the Avon had been signaling came up. One of them fired at the
Wasp, and as the latter could not fight two new foes, she ran off easily
before the wind. Neither of her new antagonists followed her, devoting
themselves to picking up the crew of the sinking Avon.

It would be hard to find a braver feat more skilfully performed
than this; for Captain Blakeley, with hostile foes all round him, had
closed with and sunk one antagonist not greatly his inferior in force,
suffering hardly any loss himself, while two of her friends were coming
to her help.

Both before and after this the Wasp cruised hither and thither making
prizes. Once she came across a convoy of ships bearing arms and
munitions to Wellington's army, under the care of a great two-decker.
Hovering about, the swift sloop evaded the two-decker's movements, and
actually cut out and captured one of the transports she was guarding,
making her escape unharmed. Then she sailed for the high seas. She made
several other prizes, and on Octo