Some of the men who were loitering on the gun-deck have declared I yelled like a maniac for help; but of that I have no knowledge.
When the battle was over,—and it proved to be such a battle as I hope never to take part in again,—I was not conscious of having uttered the slightest cry from the moment when the prisoners swarmed out of the brig.
I only know that I struck again and again with the barrel of the musket, which was all of the weapon remaining in my hands, and before me it seemed as if hundreds upon hundreds of infuriated Britishers were pressing forward, intent only on delivering a fatal blow.
What has been set down above is not quite true, for I remember that Simon Ropes stood by my side, fighting manfully, and doing twice the execution that was within my power, for his weapon was uninjured, and the butt of it fell on more than one man’s head, crushing it to a pulp, or seeming to do so.
It is said that we were in the hold keeping back the desperate Britishers no more than three minutes, but it seemed to me as if a full hour passed before I saw dimly a file of sailors, armed with muskets and cutlasses, descending the ladder, shooting with careful aim as they came.
Then it was as if a veil fell suddenly over my eyes; sparks of seeming fire danced beneath my eyelids, and I knew no more.
When consciousness returned I was in the cockpit being attended to by the surgeon, and Simon Ropes, bandaged and wrapped in white cloth until only a comrade would recognise him, lay still as death.
“Is he dead?” I managed to ask, although the simple act of moving my tongue caused pain.
“Not a bit of it, lad. Both he and you will live many a long day yet, unless it so chances that you foolishly stand in the path of a British ball when it comes aboard,” the stern-visaged yet kindly doctor said, in a cheery tone. “You two lads are rather the worse for wear, I’ll admit; but you’ve proven yourselves men on this night, and, what’s more, have saved the America. But for you I doubt not that all hands of us would now be dead, or in the brig with our late prisoners as guards over us.”