bulwarks, shook it over them, cheering loudly.

"Give 'em hell!" he shouted. "We 'll tek care o' the ol' brig."

[Illustration: "D'ri, shaking a bloody, tattered flag, shouted, 'We
'll tek care o' the ol' brig.'"]

We were all crying, we poor devils that were left behind. One, a
mere boy, stood near me swinging his hat above his head, cheering.
Hat and hand fell to the deck as I turned to him. He was reeling,
when D'ri caught him quickly with his good arm and bore him to the
cockpit.

The little boat was barely a length off when heavy shot fell
splashing in her wake. Soon they were dropping all around her.
One crossed her bow, ripping a long furrow in the sea. A chip flew
off her stern; a lift of splinters from an oar scattered behind
her. Plunging missiles marked her course with a plait of foam, but
she rode on bravely. We saw her groping under the smoke clouds; we
saw her nearing the other brig, and were all on tiptoe. The air
cleared a little, and we could see them ship oars and go up the
side. Then we set our blood dripping with cheers again, we who
were wounded there on the deck of the _Lawrence_. Lieutenant
Yarnell ordered her one flag down. As it sank fluttering, we
groaned. Our dismay went quickly from man to man. Presently we
could hear the cries of the wounded there below. A man came
staggering out of the cockpit, and fell to his hands and knees,
creeping toward us and protesting fiercely, the blood dripping from
his mouth between curses.

"Another shot would sink her," Yarnell shouted.

"Let 'er sink, d--n 'er," said D'ri. "Wish t' God I c'u'd put my
foot through 'er bottom. When the flag goes down I wan't' go tew."

The British turned their guns; we were no longer in the smoky paths
of thundering canister. The _Niagara_ was now under fire. We
could see the dogs of war rushing at her in leashes of flame and
smoke. Our little gun-boats, urged by oar and sweep, were
hastening to the battle front. We could see their men, waist-high
above bulwarks, firing as they came. The _Detroit_ and the _Queen
Charlotte_, two heavy brigs of the British line, had run afoul of
each other. The _Niagara_, signalling for close action, bore down
upon them. Crossing the bow of one ship and the stern of the
other, she raked them with broadsides. We saw braces fly and masts
fall in the volley. The _Niagara_ sheered off, pouring shoals of
metal on a British schooner, stripping her bare. Our little b