e in getting to sea, leaving with the utmost
haste and signalling to the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ to follow. They obeyed,
and were handled with such skill that all got to sea, with the squadron
in hot pursuit. The chase was continued for a long time, with the
remarkable result that both the _Constitution_ and _Cyane_ safely
reached Boston, while the _Levant_ was recaptured--a small reward for
the exertions of the British squadron.

Maclay says: "In this brilliant cruise Captain Stewart proved himself an
officer of rare ability. His action with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_, and
his masterly escape from the British squadron, called for all the
qualities of a great commander, while his unhesitating attack on what
appeared, in the heavy weather, to be two frigates, the beautiful style
in which the _Constitution_ was put through the most difficult
manoeuvres, and the neatness with which he captured a superior force,
have ranked him as one of the most remarkable naval officers of his day.
Congress awarded him a sword and gold medal."

It happened one day, when I was talking with Admiral Stewart at his
home, that he showed me a Toledo sword which had been presented to him
by the King of Spain, because of his rescue of a Spanish ship, drifting
helplessly in mid ocean, with the captain and all the crew dead or
prostrated by yellow fever.

The blade of the weapon, although quite plain and ordinary looking, of
course was very valuable, but the hilt was so rough and crude that I
expressed my surprise.

"I supposed that when a king makes a present of a sword," I said, "that
the hilt is generally of a more costly pattern than that."

"So it is," replied Stewart, accepting it from me and playfully making a
few lightning-like passes in the air just to show that he had not
forgotten how to handle the weapon; "that was a very handsome sword when
it came to me, and I could not accept it until authorized by Congress.
During my fight with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ I was walking back and
forth with this sword under my arm, the hilt slightly projecting in
front of my chest, when a grapeshot slipped it off, as it grazed me. The
hilt which it now has was put there by my gunner."

"Were you ever wounded in battle?" I asked. "I was struck only once,
and it amounted to nothing. It was in the same battle. A pigeon became
so frightened by the smoke and racket that it flew hither and thither,
and finally perched on my shoulder. While there a musket ball