The Irish standard., 1901-05-11

"Boys," he cried, ''it is now our
duty to avenge John Pettigrew. Re-
member how he was slain by the hire
lings Of the tyrant, and every man
must be an:avenger." Acheerswas the
answer, and a glance was more than
sufficient ito assure SO'Brien that they
were in earnest. Lips were set tight,
cheeks were flushed and their hands
,grasped weapons in manner that be-
tokened Ill for the enemy. The cap
tain beckoned a tall woodsman, and
the latter came forward.
"Can you hit that steersman,
Knight"
~ think so, Captain" replied Knight.
one of the best Of the crack shots of
Machias.
"Try ftp commanded sO'Brien.
knight selected the clumsy wall piece,
and resting it on the vessels rail,
gagged the rise and fall of the two
boats for a minute, and then fired.
His reputation as sharpshooter was
well sustained, for the helmsman of
the Margaretta. dropped. That shot
struck terror into the hearts of the
Englishmen. They scurried hastily off
the quarterback. No one dared to
take the helm again, and the warship
was left to take care of herself. In
ain Captain Moore stormed and raved.
Not u man would return. Yankee
craftsmanship was too precise for
their comfort.
The wind caught the Margaretta and
she preached to. Moore himself
dashed toward the wheel, intending
to shame his men into doing their
duty, but before he could turn the
ships head the sloop crashed into her
and the patriots were over her side.
Swinging their sharp axes, posing
their pitchforks and blazing right and
left with their muskets, the sloop's
crew advanced upon the English sail
ors, who, armed with pistols and cut
lasses, stood upon the defensive. A
desperate hand-to-hand fight followed,
and the deck was soon slippery with
a red stream. O'Brien seemed like an
avenging spirit. He was here, there
and everywhere Screams of agony
followed every sweep of his axe, and
men seemed to go down before him
like corn before the reaper. Captain
Moore fought like a tiger, and finding
the tide of battle going against his
men, seized Il box Of hand-grenades
and retreating to the quarterback, be-
gan to lombard the patriots. Jere-
miah O'Brien, picking up Il gun, fired
point-blank at Moore, and the British
commander dropped lifeless. That end
ed the fight. Seeing their captain fall
the crew of the Margaretta surren-
dered
1t had been a hard fight. Three of
the patriots We're dead and four
wounded, while seven Of the English
men were killed and six badly wound
ed. O'Brien put crew on board the
Margaretta and brought her to Machi-
as, where he transferred the cannon
and small arms to the sloop. Besides
the cannon and swivels, there were
captured, two wall pieces, forty cut
lasses, forty boarding axes, two boxes
of hand grenades, forty muskets and
twenty pistols, with large supply Of
powder and ball.
The success of this undertaking en-
boldened O'Brien and his comrades.
Recruiting the sloop's crew and TAX
ing on board the necessary stores, he
set out to look for more prizes. The
British authorities soon received news
of the Mnrgaretta's fate, and two
cruisers, the Diligence and the Tapa-
nagouche. were sent from Halifax to
capture and punish the audacious
Irishman. O'Brien was n skillful
sailor Ind tactician Of unusual merit
He managed to separate the two cruis-
ers, and then captured them one at a
time in the same dashing manner us
that in which he took the Margaretta.
Bringing them into Watertown, Mass,
where the provincial Legislature was
sitting, he delivered them to the colo
NAL authorities.
The daring Of O'Brien astounded
everybody. "A commission Of captain
was offered him, and he entered the
service Of the colonies. The three ves-
sells were fitted out and sent to SEA
under command Of 'O'Brien, to cruise
for vessels bringing supplies to British
troops. Els subsequent exploits are
recorded in letters of gold upon the
tablets of American history, but the
name of Jeremiah O'Brien will be bet
ter known us the gallant Irlshman who
struck the first blow upon the high
seas for the freedom Of his adopted
country, America.
AsDISTINGUISHED FRESHMAN.