h was not understood by the Americans. Finding her
signals unanswered, the stranger wore ship, and bore away to the
southward, hotly followed by the "President." During all these
manoeuvres, Rodgers's suspicion of the strange vessel had increased;
and her apparent flight only convinced him the more of the hostile
character of the stranger. It was a stern chase and a long one, for at
the outset the stranger was hull down on the horizon. After an hour it
became evident that the "President" was gaining, for the hull of the
fugitive was plainly seen. The breeze then died away, so that night
had fallen over the waters before the ships were within hailing
distance.

A little after eight in the evening the "President" was within a
hundred yards of the chase, which could be seen, a dark mass with
bright lights shining through the rows of open ports, rushing through
the water directly ahead. Rodgers sprang upon the taffrail, and
putting a speaking-trumpet to his lips, shouted, "What ship is that?"
A dead silence followed. Those on the "President" listened intently
for the answer; but no sound was heard save the sigh of the wind
through the cordage, the creaking of the spars, and the rush of the
water alongside. Rodgers hailed again; and, before the sound of his
words had died away, a quick flash of fire leaped from the stern-ports
of the chase, and a shot whizzed through the rigging of the
"President," doing some slight damage. Rodgers sprang to the deck to
order a shot in return; but, before he could do so, a too eager gunner
pulled the lanyard of his piece in the second division of the
"President's" battery. The enemy promptly answered with three guns,
and then let fly a whole broadside, with discharges of musketry from
the deck and the tops. This exhausted Rodgers's patience. "Equally
determined," said he afterwards, "not to be the aggressor, or to
suffer the flag of my country to be insulted with impunity, I gave a
general order to fire." This time there was no defect in the ordnance
or the gunnery of the American ship. The thunderous broadsides rang
out at regular intervals, and the aim of the gunners was deliberate
and deadly. It was too dark to see what effect the fire was having on
the enemy, but in five minutes her responses began to come slowly and
feebly. Unwilling to continue his attack on a ship evidently much his
inferior in size and armament, Rodgers ordered the gunners to cease
firing; but this had hardly been d