iged to go about.
Still he could not shake off the bulldog at his heels, and at daylight
he was near enough to begin barking with the bow guns. Although the shot
did not strike the _Hornet_, Captain Biddle dropped his remaining
anchors into the sea, including six guns, launch, cables, and everything
not absolutely necessary.

The lightening was so considerable that for the first time the _Hornet_
began drawing away from her persistent pursuer. At the end of a few
hours, however, he began creeping up again, and Captain Biddle tumbled
overboard all his guns except one, most of his shot, his extra spars,
cutlasses, muskets, forge and bell, and indeed everything of which he
could free himself. Not only that, but the men lay down on the quarter
deck to help trim the ship.

All in vain. The shot and shell whistled about the _Hornet_, the enemy
came closer, and every American prepared to submit as gracefully as
possible to the inevitable. Captain Biddle addressed his men feelingly,
telling them to show the same restraint in misfortune that they had in
victory, and then the gallant officer coolly awaited the moment when he
should be obliged to haul down his flag to save the lives of his brave
crew.

But lo! the wind changed to a quarter favorable to the _Hornet_, and it
lasted throughout the night and the next day. The _Hornet_ drew steadily
away from the British ship of the line _Cornwallis_, as she proved to
be, and made her way at a leisurely speed to the United States.

CHAPTER XIII.

Captains Carden and Decatur--Cruise of the _Macedonian_--Battle with the
Frigate _United States_--Decatur's Chivalry.

Before the war broke out between England and the United States the naval
officers naturally were on the best of terms with one another. They
exchanged visits, had dinners together and talked in the most friendly
terms over the relations of their respective countries. Brave men always
feel thus, and no matter how fiercely they have been fighting, they
become friends again as soon as peace is declared.

You have already been told considerable about Stephen Decatur, one of
the bravest and most chivalrous men that ever drew a sword. At the
breaking out of the War of 1812 he was given command of the frigate
_United States_, of 44 guns, built in 1798, and one of the finest in the
American navy. While lying at Norfolk, some months before war was
declared, the British frigate _Macedonian_, of about the same strength,