The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-03-17

| GiS anu SiIt SIAoft ~ NH' >
bows and rake her again. The French
| captain, however. brought his frigate's
head round, and the two rode side by
| side within easy pistol shot, pouring
| broadsides into each other in one of
| these murderous duels which, could they
| ali be recorded, would mottle our charts
| with blood.
In that heavy tropical air, with so faint
d breeze, the smoke formed a thick haze
| around the two vessels, from which the
topmasts only p~rotruded. Neither could
see anything of its enemy save the
throbs OF fire in the darkness, and the
guns We're sponged and trained and fired
| into a dense wall OF vapor. On the poop
and the fOrecastle the marines, in two
! little red lines, were pouring in their
volleys, but neither they nor the seamen
| gunners could see what effect their fire
was having. Nor, indeed, could they tell
| how far they were suffering themselves,
for, standing at a gun, one could but
hazily see that upon the right and the
| left. But above the rear of the cannon
came the sharper sound of the piping
| shot, the crashing of riven planks and
| the occasional heavy thud as spar or
block came hurting onto the deck. The
lieutenant paced up and down the line
OF the guns, while Captain Johnson
famed the smoke away with his cooked
hat and peered eagerly out.
This is rare, Bobby" said he, as the
lieutenant joined him. Then suddenly
restraining himself, What have We lost,
Mr.. Wharton?'
"Our maintopsail yard and our gait.
sir"
where's the fag?'
Gone overheard, sir"
srThary'n think IUo'ya ctrllck' n Oh a
! boats ensign on the starboard arm Of
the mizzen cross backyard"
Yes, sir
A round shot dashed the pinnacle to
pieces between us. A second shot knock
ed two marines into a bloody, palpitat-
ing mass. For a moment the s1nOk>
rose, and the English captain saw that
his adversary's heavier metal was pro-
| ducing a horrible effect. The Leda was
a shattered wreck. Her deck was strewn
with corpsas. Several of her portfolios
were knocked into one, and one of her
eighteen-pounder guns had been thrown
| right back on to her breech and pointed
straight up to the sky. The thin line
Of marines still loaded and fired, but
half the guns were silent, and their
crews were piled thickly around them.
STAND by to repel boarders!' yelled
the captain.
"Cutlasses, lad, cutlasses!" roared
| Wharton.
Hold your volley till they touch!"
cried the captain of marines.
The huge loom Of the Frenchman was
seen bursting through the smoke. Thick
clusters of boarders hung upon her sides
and shrouds. A final broadside leaped
from her ports, and the mainrlast of the
| oGo CponpinO chort off n fou foot n houo
peqseIo pug NE Qua oluE unds 'Yoop qua
down upon the port guns, killing ten men
and putting the whole battery out of ac-
ton. An instant later the two ships
scraDed together, and the starbOard
bower anchor Of the Gloire caught the
mizzen chains of the Leda upon the
port side. With a yell the black swarm
of boarders steadied themselves for a
spring.
But their feet We're never % reach that
blood-stadned deck. From somewhere
there came a well-aimed Whit of grape,
and another and another. The English
marines and seamen, waiting with cut
lass and musket behind the silent guns,
saw with amazement the dark masses
thinning and shredding away. At the
same time the port broadside of the
I'renchmen burst into a roar.
Clear away the Wreck!' roared the
captain. What the devil are they firing
at?"
Get the guns clear" painted the lieu
tenant. We'll do them yet, boys"
The Wreckage was torn and hacked and
splintered until first one gun and then
another roared into action again. The
Frenchman's anchor had been cut away
and the Leda had worked herself free
from that fatal hug. But now suddenly
there was a scurry up the shrouds of
the Gloire, and q hundred Englishmen
were shouting themselves hoarse:
They're running! They're running!
They're running"
And it was true. The Frenchman had
ceased to fire, and was intent only upon
clapping on every sail hat she could
carry. But that shouting hundred could
not claim it all as their own. AS the
smoke cleared it was not difficult to see
the reason. The ships had gained the
mouth of the estuary during the fight,
and there, about four miles out to sea,
was the Lcda's consort bearing down |,
under sail to the sound of the guns. |
Captain de Milon had done his part for
one day, and presently the Gloire was
drawing off swiftly to the north, while !
the Dido was bowling along at her
skirts, rafting away with her bow
AiNSIo, until u Hlu DOtH |
from view.
But the Leda lay sorely stricken, with
her mainmast gone, her bulwarks shat
tered, her mizZentopmast and gaf gone
away, her sails like a beggar's rags and
a hundred of her crew dead and wound |
ed. Close beside her a mass of wreck
age floated upon the waves. 1t was the
sternpost OF a mangled vessel, and
across it. in white letters on a black
ground, was printed, 1.-The Shaping
Sal" |
by the Lord. 1t was the brig tina,
saved us!" cried Mr.. Wharton. s'Hudson
brought her into action with the French
man and was blown out of the water
by a broadside!"
The little captain turned on his heel
and paced up and down the deck. Already
his crew were plugging the shot holes,
knotting and splicing and mending. When
he came back the lieutenant saw q soft
ening of the stern lines about his eyes
and mouth.
L~--