ritish, thinking themselves safe and the
ruse successful, gave a derisive cheer at the fort under whose guns
they had passed. In avoiding Fort McHenry, however, they had fallen
under the guns of the fort at the Lazaretto, on the opposite side of
the channel. This fort, opening fire, so crippled the daring vessels
that some of them had to be towed out in their hasty retreat.

From midnight till morning Key could know nothing of the fortunes of
the fight. At such close quarters a dense smoke enveloped both the
ships and the fort, and added to the blackness of the night.

After the failure to ascend the north branch of the Patapsco, the
firing slackened. Now and then a sullen and spiteful gun shot its
flame from the side of a British vessel. Key, pacing the deck of the
cartel ship, to which he had been transferred, could not guess the
cause of this. The slackened fire might mean the success of the land
attack, in which case it would not have been necessary to waste any
more powder on the fort. Again, it might be that the infernal rain of
shells had dismantled the little fort itself, and the enemy was only
keeping up a precautionary fire until daylight enabled him to take
possession.

The long hours were nearly unbearable. Key had seen the fate of
Washington, and anticipated the fate of Baltimore.

At seven the suspense was unrelaxed. The firing from the fleet ceased.
The large ships loomed indistinct and silent in the mist. To the west
lay the silent fort, the white vapor heavy upon it. With eager eyes
Key watched the distant shore, till in a rift over the fort he dimly
discerned the flag still proudly defiant. In that supreme moment was
written "The Star-Spangled Banner."

The British ships slowly dropped down to North Point. Dr. Beanes went
home to Upper Marlborough, very thankful as he saw the yard-arm of the
Surprise melt out of sight, unburdened.

Of all national airs, it breathes the purest patriotism. Those of
England, Russia, and Austria are based upon a sentimental loyalty long
outgrown by this agrarian and practical age. The "Marseillaise" is a
stirring call to arms, and upholds only the worst--the passionate
military--side of a nation's character. "The Star-Spangled Banner,"
while it is animated, patriotic, defiant, neither cringes nor boasts;
it is as national in its spirit as it is adequate in the expression of
that spirit. Believing, then, that Key's poem will be the national air
of su