I ought to have mentioned before that the Washington carried five guns,—two six-pounders on each side of the ship, and one twelve-pounder on a pivot amidships. The Warwick had the same armament, but she had the disadvantage, as the reader knows, of being very short-handed, and the Washington had lost some of the members of her gun crews by the absence of the men on the other ship. We had been drilled daily in good weather, so that we felt we could handle our guns very well. If we could only hold the pirate craft away from boarding us we had no occasion for worry. They carry a large number of men on these corsairs, and their plan is to run a ship directly aboard and overwhelm her by superior force.
Captain Dawson had hoisted the American flag, and the Warwick followed his example by hoisting the English one, her national color. As soon as the ships were within hailing distance our captain gave orders to Mr. Johnson to stand by and help us in case of necessity. "You can't do much fighting with your crew," said Captain Dawson, "but perhaps you can put a shot in now and then, if necessary."
"All right, sir" replied Johnson; then he added, "Mate of Warwick says we have some new-fangled rockets on board for fighting. Hadn't we best try 'em?"
"Aye, aye, sir, try 'em, of course," said the captain.
Mr. Johnson answered back with a hearty, "Aye, aye, sir," and there the conversation ended. Meanwhile the strange craft was approaching us rapidly. Before a great while she was within hailing distance, and a voice called out in very bad English, "Heave to!"
"Can't do it; we're in a hurry!" replied the captain; and the Washington followed the example of the moon when the dog barked at it—it kept right on as though nothing had happened. Then a shot was fired across her bows by the stranger, whom we now made out to be an Algerine corsair. We paid no attention to this, and another shot followed very speedily. It was aimed at our hull, but evidently a poor marksman handled the gun, as the shot went two or three hundred yards astern of us.
Captain Dawson now thought it was time to make a response. The gun crews had been standing by their pieces, and everybody was anxious to open fire. The captain ordered Mr. Stevens, who had charge of the big pivot-gun, to "Let go!" and the order was obeyed immediately. The shot was a lucky one, as it pierced the hull of the galiot and cut away her foremast below deck. The mast (she had but one) fell with a crash, and the Algerine boat was completely disabled. We could see that she was full of men, and if she had once got alongside so as to carry us by boarding, our chance of escape would have been small.
The Warwick was to the starboard of the Washington and a little astern at the time this happened. She was edging up to get into a position where she could deliver a shot at the Algerine craft when opportunity offered.
Captain Dawson hailed Mr. Johnson on the Warwick and said,—