[CHAPTER XVI.]
THE MERCHANT CAPTAIN'S CARGO.
"In with your canvas high,
We shall want no sail to fly!
Topsail, foresail, spanker and jib—
With the heart of oak in the oaken rib—
Shall serve us to win or die."
Lieutenant Biddle saw the English war vessel bearing down upon the Frolic.
He had hoped to take her into port, but his hopes were rudely shattered by the appearance of the English frigate.
For he recognized her as the Poietiers, a British seventy-four gun ship.
To fight was impossible, and to escape seemed equally so.
Both the Frolic's masts had gone by the board within a few minutes after the flag was struck.