cried as he swung the
tiller down, willing now to give the lobster backs a chance to run away:

"You have done your work like little men, and when we gain port my first
act will be to ask that I may be permitted to enroll myself among the
Minute Boys of Boston, rather than with the company to which I now
belong."

Hiram said that "we had done our work," and indeed he was right, for the
battle, and truly it may be called such, was over so far as the
Britishers were concerned. They were now putting forth every effort to
wear ship in order that they might get out of our way, and never one of
those fancifully dressed soldiers of the king had fired a shot during
the past three minutes.

Had we been blood-thirsty, or, perhaps I may say, had we become hardened
to warfare, we might have shot down every last one of them before they
could get beyond our line of fire; but we lads did not have the heart to
shoot down human beings who were simply struggling to escape, no matter
what crime they might have committed against us.

In fact, once the musketry fire had ceased and we were given time to see
how much of injury had been inflicted upon the Minute Boys, I for one
lost all stomach for further fighting.

It was sickening to stand where I did well aft, and look along the deck
where were four of our fellows lying upon the planks as if lifeless,
while as many more had a bandaged arm or leg telling of wounds which did
not quench their ardor in the effort to prove themselves worthy of
standing against the king's men as defenders of the Cause.

As I have said, Hiram allowed the sloop to come well before the wind,
thus giving the schooner's crew an opportunity to put about as they were
so eager to do, and finally when she was brought on a course which would
carry her past Noddle island to the passage eastward of the Charlestown
shore, they clapped on all sail, having had such a bellyful of the
medicine dealt out by us Minute Boys as to make them anxious only to get
under cover.

Once they were well off, and our consort so far away in the distance
that there was no possibility of her being overtaken, even though the
lobster backs had sufficient pluck remaining to make the attempt, we
lads, wounded as well as sound, sent after them a ringing cheer of
triumph. I can well fancy that those soldiers who had counted on
grinding us of the colonies into the dust with but little effort, must
have felt like hiding their faces for very shame