"No," said the modest tar. "Just let somebody else hand out the hammocks to the men when they are piped down. That's something I don't like."
Decatur consented; and afterwards, when the crew was piped down to stow hammocks, Reuben walked among them as free and independent as a millionaire.
That is all we have here to say about the Tripolitan war. The next year a treaty of peace was signed, and Captain Bainbridge and the men of the Philadelphia were set free from their prison cells.
In 1812, when war broke out with England, the gallant Decatur was given the command of the frigate United States, and with it he captured the British frigate Macedonian, after a hard fight.
Poor Decatur was shot dead in a duel in 1820 by a hot-headed officer whom he had offended. It was a sad end to a brilliant career, for the American Navy never had a more gallant commander.