"For a few minutes it looked as though our boat was lost, for she would not answer to the rudder, her head fell off, and her sails flapped idly against the spars.
"Though suffering excruciating agony, Bainbridge directed every movement. Tackle was rigged upon the rudder-post between decks, and a crew of jackies worked the improvised helm.
"Then a new difficulty arose. The helmsmen were out of earshot of the quarterdeck.
"A young middy suggested the remedy, and a line of middies was formed from the quarterdeck to the sailors who were tugging at the steering apparatus."
"Bravo, Bainbridge!" shouted Hamilton.
"I would like to have been there," added Tempest.
"So would I," assented Harry Vernon. "It makes a man's blood run quicker when he hears of such things, and I can scarcely have patience to tell of the glorious deeds, I am so warm and excited.
"The gunners had not been idle; they kept continuously firing, and the Java's jibboom and bowsprit were so shattered that, when the ships met, the mizzen-mast fell, crashing through forecastle and main deck, and killing several of the officers."
"Pardon me, Vernon, but you say, 'when the ships met.'"
"Yes, the Englishman, seeing that the Yankee was getting the best of the fight, despite her crippled condition, determined to close and board. It was a mad thing to do, but English sailors are always daring.