cting it. How, thought I, could
all these shells go through a vessel without disabling the machinery?
The Rebels gave three cheers, and let us drift on: they were
determined to have the whole of us. They opened their guns on the two
pump-boats, and sunk them at the first discharge. The poor negroes
that could swim tried to reach the shore; but the musketeers picked
off those that were in the water or clinging to the wrecks. It was a
dreadful spectacle to witness, with no power to prevent it; but it
turned out to be the salvation of the 'Cricket.' All this took place
in less than five minutes.

"The moment the 'Cricket' received the first discharge of artillery, I
went on deck to the pilot-house, saluted by a volley of musketry as I
passed along; and, as I opened the pilot-house door, I saw that the
pilot, Mr. Drening, had his head cut open by a piece of shell, and the
blood was streaming down his cheeks. He still held on to the wheel. 'I
am all right, sir,' he said: 'I won't give up the wheel.'

"Gorringe was perfectly cool, and was ringing the engine-room bell to
go ahead. In front of the wheel-house, the bodies of the men who
manned the howitzer were piled up. A shell had struck the gun, and,
exploding, had killed all the crew,--a glorious death for them."

Porter now found himself in a bad fix. His guns could not be elevated
enough to bear on the batteries that stood on the crest of the high
bluffs. There was nothing to do but to run by at the best possible
rate of speed. Suddenly the engine stopped, and the vessel floated
helplessly down the stream. Porter rushed below to discover the
trouble. In the engine-room stood the engineer leaning heavily against
the throttle. Porter shouted at him, but received no reply; then,
putting his hand on the man's shoulder, found him dead. The admiral
threw the body aside, pulled open the throttle, and the "Cricket"
glided along past the batteries to a safe refuge down-stream. The
other ships came down safely, although more or less cut up; and the
flotilla continued its retreat down the stream. For a day or two all
went smoothly as a holiday excursion; then came a sudden reverse,
that, for a time, seemed to make certain the loss of the entire fleet.
At Alexandria the Red-river bottom is full of great rocks that make it
impassable except at the highest water. When Porter's gunboats
arrived, they found themselves caught in a trap from which there
seemed to be no hope of escape. Th