The vessels were small and their guns were light, so that the battle was long drawn out.
At last the fire of the corsair ceased, and a whiff of air carried away the smoke. Looking across the waves, the sailors saw that the flag of Tripoli no longer waved, and three hearty American cheers rang out. The tars left their guns and were getting ready to board their prize, when up again went the flag of Tripoli and another broadside was fired into their vessel.
Their cheers of triumph turned to cries of rage. Back to their guns they rushed, and fought more fiercely than before. They did not care now to take the prize; they wished to send her, with her crew of villains, to the bottom of the sea.
The Moors fought as fiercely as the Americans. Running their vessel against the Enterprise, they tried again and again to leap on board and finish the battle with pistol and cutlass; but each time they were driven back.
The men at the guns meanwhile poured in two more broadsides, and once more down came the flag of Tripoli.
Captain Sterrett did not trust the traitors this time. He bade his men keep to their guns, and ordered the Tripolitans to bring their vessel under the quarter of the Enterprise. They had no sooner done so than a throng of the Moorish pirates tried to board the schooner.
"No quarter for the treacherous dogs!" was the cry of the furious sailors. "Pour it into them; send the thieves to the bottom!"
The Enterprise now drew off to a good position and raked the foe with repeated broadsides. The Moors were bitterly punished for their treachery. Their deck ran red with blood; men and officers lay bleeding in throngs; the cries of the wounded rose above the noise of the cannon. The flag was down again, but no heed was paid to that. The infuriated sailors were bent on sending the pirate craft to the bottom.
At length the corsair captain, an old man with a flowing white beard, appeared at the side of his ship, sorely wounded, and, with a low bow, cast his flag into the sea. Then Captain Sterrett, though he still felt like sinking the corsair, ordered the firing to stop.
The prize proved to be named the Tripoli. What was to be done with it? Captain Sterrett had no authority to take prizes. At length he concluded that he would teach the Bashaw of Tripoli a lesson.