_Temeraire_, fell on board the _Redoubtable_ on
her other side, and the _Fougueux_, another o' the enemy, fell on board
the _Temeraire_; so there we were four ships abreast--a compact tier--
blazin' into each other like mad, with the muzzles of the guns touchin'
the sides when they were run out, an' men stationed with buckets at the
ports, to throw water into the shot-holes to prevent their takin' fire.

"It was awful work, I tell you, with the never-stopping roar of great
guns and rattle of small arms, an' the smoke, an' the decks slippery
with blood. The order was given to depress our guns and load with light
charges of powder, to prevent the shot going right through the enemy
into our own ship on the other side.

"The _Redoubtable_ flew no colours, so we couldn't tell when she struck,
and twice the Admiral, wishing to spare life, gave orders to cease
firing, thinking she had given in. But she had not done so, and soon
after a ball from her mizzen-top struck Nelson on the left shoulder, and
he fell. They took him below at once.

"Of course we in the mizzen-top knew nothing of this, for we couldn't
see almost anything for the smoke, only here and there a bit of a mast,
or a yard-arm, or a bowsprit, while the very air trembled with the
tremendous and continuous roar.

"We were most of us wounded by that time, more or less, but kept blazing
away as long as we could stand. Then there came cheers of triumph
mingling with the shouts and cries of battle. The ships of the enemy
were beginning to strike. One after another the flags went down.
Before long the cry was, `Five have struck!' then `Ten, hurrah!' then
fifteen, then twenty, hurrah!"

"Hurrah! Old England for ever!" cried Adams, starting to his feet and
waving his hat in a burst of irrepressible excitement, which roused the
spirits of the youths around, who, leaping up with flushed faces and
glittering eyes, sent up from the groves of Pitcairn a vigorous British
cheer in honour of the great victory of Trafalgar.

"But," continued Jack Brace, when the excitement had abated, "there was
great sorrow mingled with our triumph that day, for Nelson, the hero of
a hundred fights, was dead. The ball had entered his spine. He lived
just long enough to know that our victory was complete, and died
thanking God that he had done his duty."

"That was truly a great battle," said Adams, while Brace, having
concluded, was refilling his pipe.

"Right you are, John," sa