"Give it them!" he occasionally cried, in a voice that might be heard
amid the bellowing of the cannon; "never mind their cordage, my lads;
drive home their bolts, and make your marks below their ridge-ropes."
In the mean time the Englishman played a manful game.
He had suffered a heavy loss by the distant cannonade, which no metal he
possessed could retort upon his enemy; but he struggled nobly to repair
the error in judgment with which he had begun the contest. The two
vessels gradually drew nigher to each other, until they both entered
into the common cloud created by their fire, which thickened and spread
around them in such a manner as to conceal their dark hulls from the
gaze of the curious and interested spectators on the cliffs. The heavy
reports of the cannon were now mingled with the rattling of muskets and
pistols, and streaks of fire might be seen glancing like flashes of
lightning through the white cloud which enshrouded the combatants; and
many minutes of painful uncertainty followed, before the deeply
interested soldiers, who were gazing at the scene, discovered on whose
banners victory had alighted.
We shall follow the combatants into their misty wreath, and display to
the reader the events as they occurred.
The fire of the Ariel was much the most quick and deadly, both because
she had suffered less, and her men were less exhausted; and the cutter
stood desperately on to decide the combat, after grappling, hand to
hand.
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