256 WHITMAN
Fighting at sun-down, fighting at dark,
Ten o'clock at night, the full moon well up, our leaks on the gain, and five feet of water reported,
The master-at-arms loosing the prisoners confined in the after-hold to give them a chance for them- selves.
The transit to and from the magazine is now stopt
by the sentinels, They see so many strange faces they do not know
whom to trust.
Our frigate takes fire,
The other asks if we demand quarter?
If our colours are struck and the fighting done?
Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my
little captain, " We have not struck," he composedly cries, " we have
just begun our part of the fighting."
Only three guns are in use,
One is directed by the captain himself against the
enemy's main-mast, Two well served with grape and canister silence his
musketry and clear his decks.
The tops alone second the fire of this little battery,
especially the main-top, They hold out bravely during the whole of the action.
Not a moment's cease,
The leaks gain fast on the pumps, the fire eats to- ward the powder-magazine.
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