the broadsides should have done
any execution whatever. The vessels were rolling terribly, now
wallowing in the trough of the sea, and again tossed high on the crest
of some enormous wave. At one instant the muzzles of the guns would be
pointed toward the skies, then actually submerged under the waves,
from which they rose dripping, to be loaded and fired before another
dip should soak the charge. Yet, with all this rolling to spoil their
aim, the gunners of both ships pointed their pieces with most
destructive effect. Within five minutes from the time of opening fire,
the main topmast of the "Wasp" was shot away, and hung tangled in the
rigging, despite the active efforts of the topmen, headed by the
nimble midshipmen, to clear away the wreck. This greatly hampered the
movements of the American vessel; and when, a few minutes later, the
gaff and the main top-gallant mast fell, the chances of the American
ship seemed poor indeed. The effects of the "Wasp's" fire were chiefly
to be seen in the hull of her antagonist; but the first twenty minutes
of the fight seemed to give the Englishman every chance of victory,
since his fire had so cut away the rigging of the "Wasp" that she
became unmanageable. It is said that the difference between the
execution done by the two batteries was due to the fact that the
British fired as their ship was rising on the crest of the wave, while
the Americans fired from the trough of the sea, sending their shot
into the hull of the enemy.

While the fight was raging, the two ships were constantly drawing
nearer together; and just as it seemed as though the destruction
wrought in the "Wasp's" rigging would inevitably lead to her defeat,
the two vessels fouled. For an instant they lay yard-arm to yard-arm,
and at that very moment the American gunners poured in a terrific
broadside. So close were the two vessels to each other, that, in
loading, the rammers were shoved up against the sides of the "Frolic."
Before the gunners of the "Frolic" could respond to this broadside,
their ship swung round so that her bow lay against the "Wasp's"
quarter; and her bowsprit passed over the heads of Capt. Jones and
his officers as they stood on the quarter-deck. That was the moment
for a raking volley; and with deadly aim the Americans poured it in,
and the heavy iron bolts swept the decks of the "Frolic" from stem to
stern.

This turn in the tide of battle fairly crazed with excitement the
sailors of the "W