emark here that no writer has recorded this expression of the
gallant Somers, and I give it because Admiral Stewart assured me of its
truth. His recollection of the incident, more than sixty years
afterward, was as vivid as on the succeeding day. Indeed, Stewart, as is
often the case with aged persons, remarked that his memory of
occurrences a half century old was unerring, while of quite recent
incidents it was unreliable.

It was comparatively early in the evening when the ketch got under way
with a favoring breeze. Stewart, with the _Siren_, by order of Preble,
stood toward the northern passage, through which the ketch was to pass.
His purpose was to remain in as close as was safe, and hold himself
ready to pick up the men as they returned in their boats. Stewart turned
his night glass toward the _Intrepid_ and watched her slowly fading
from sight, until she melted into the gloom and not the slightest trace
of her outlines was discernible.

Nothing could be more trying than the waiting of the craft outside, for
Somers' own vessel and two small ones were near at hand. The stillness
was so profound that men heard the suppressed breathing of their
comrades. If one moved, he did so on tiptoe. Few words were spoken, and
all in guarded undertones. The rippling of the water against the prows
and cables was an annoyance, and on more than one forehead great drops
of cold perspiration gathered.

Slowly and painfully the long minutes wore away, until it seemed as if
several hours had passed, when in reality the interval was but a small
part of that period. Every nerve was in this tense state, when suddenly
the boom of a cannon came rolling through the fog from the direction of
the city, followed soon by the rapid firing of artillery. The approach
of the _Intrepid_ had been discovered, and it seemed as if all the
enemy's batteries were blazing away at her. But what of the ketch
itself?

Stewart, like all the rest, was peering into the black mist, when he saw
a star-like point of light, moving with an up and down motion, in a
horizontal line, showing that it was a lantern carried by a man running
along the deck of a ship. Then it dropped out of sight, as if the bearer
had leaped down a hatchway. For a moment all was profound darkness, and
then an immense fan-like expanse of flame shot far up into the sky, as
if from the crater of a volcano, and was crossed by the curving streaks
of fire made by shells in their eccentric fligh