fficer was wounded, and
of the crew thirty lost their lives. They had stood to their guns with
the dogged courage of the English sailor at his best, and had been
fairly mowed down by the destructive fire of the Americans. On the
"Wasp," the loss of life was slight. The shot of the enemy took effect
in the rigging chiefly. The three sailors who were killed were topmen
at their posts, and the five wounded were almost all stationed in the
rigging.

[Illustration: Ready To Board.]

The Americans were not destined to enjoy their triumph long. Shattered
though the "Frolic" was, Lieut. Biddle, with a prize-crew, took
charge of her, and was in hopes of taking her safely to port; but his
plan was rudely shattered by the appearance of an English frigate,
only a few hours after the action ceased. For the "Frolic" to escape,
was out of the question. Both her masts had gone by the board shortly
after her flag was struck; and, when the new enemy hove in sight, the
prize-crew was working hard to clear from her decks the tangled mass
of rigging, wreckage, and dead bodies, that made the tasks of
navigation impossible. The ship was rolling like a log, in the trough
of the sea, and was an easy prize for an enemy of even less strength
than the man-of-war which was then bearing down upon her.

The vessel which came rapidly down before the wind was the
"Poictiers," a British seventy-four-gun ship, which would have been
more than a match for the little "Wasp," even though the latter had
been fresh and ready for battle, instead of shattered by desperate
fight. Seeing no chance for a successful resistance, Capt. Jones
determined upon flight, and ordered all hands aloft, to make sail. But
the sails when shaken out were found to have been cut to pieces by the
"Frolic's" shot; and the "Poictiers" soon came alongside, and changed
the triumph of the Americans to defeat.

Though Capt. Jones and his gallant crew were thus deprived of their
hard-won conquest, they received their full meed of praise from their
countrymen. They were soon exchanged, voted twenty-five thousand
dollars prize-money by Congress, and lauded by every newspaper and
legislative orator in the country. The song-writers of the day
undertook to celebrate in verse the famous victory, and produced
dozens of songs, of which the following stanza may be taken for a fair
sample:--

"Like the fierce bird of Jove the 'Wasp' darted forth,
And he the tale told, with am