ought, and saying that they
had done all that was possible to save honor, and might now surrender
with a full consciousness of having done their duty. This missive was
at once dispatched to shore, and the admiral awaited with anxiety its
result.

A half-hour elapsed, the firing continuing with unabated fury.

"By Jove, Ball," the admiral suddenly exclaimed, "there's the white
flag!" and a tremendous cheer broke along the whole of the British
ships as the flag of truce waved over the principal fort of
Copenhagen. Instantly the fire on both sides ceased. Boats passed
between the shore and the flagship with the proposals for surrender
and conditions. Nelson insisted that the Danish fleet should be
surrendered, in so firm and decisive a tone as to convince the king
that he had it in his power completely to destroy the town, and had
only so far desisted from motives of humanity. At length, to the
intense relief of the admiral and his principal officers, who knew how
sore the strait was, and to the delight of the sailors, the
negotiations were completed, and the victory of Copenhagen won.

"Where's that boy?" the admiral asked.

"That boy" was unfortunately no longer on the quarter-deck. One of the
last shots fired from the Danish fleet had struck him above the knee,
carrying away his leg. He had at once been carried down to the
cockpit, and was attended to by the surgeons of the flagship. In the
excitement of an action men take but little heed of what is happening
around them, and the fall of the young midshipman was unnoticed by his
captain. Now, however, that the battle was over, Captain Ball looked
round for his midshipman, and was filled with sorrow upon hearing what
had happened. He hurried below to the wounded boy, whose leg had
already been amputated, above the point at which the ball had severed
it, by the surgeon.

"The white flag has been hoisted, my lad," he said, "and Copenhagen
has been captured, and to you more than to anyone is this great
victory due. I am sorry, indeed, that you should have been shot."

Harry smiled faintly.

"It is the fortune of war, sir. My career in the navy has not been a
long one. It is but a fortnight since I got my commission, and now I
am leaving it altogether."

"Leaving the navy, perhaps," the captain said cheerfully, "but not
leaving life, I hope. I trust there's a long one before you; but
Admiral Nelson will, I am sure, be as grieved as I am that the career
of a young