bud_.

On the 8th of April, 1782, Captain Barney took command of the _Hyder
Ali_. This was a merchant ship which had been bought by the State of
Pennsylvania. It was not fit for a warship, but the State was in a
hurry, so eight gun-ports were cut on each side, and the ship was
mounted with sixteen six-pounder cannon. Then she set sail from
Philadelphia in charge of a fleet of merchant vessels.

On they went, down the Delaware river and bay, until Cape May was
reached. Here Captain Barney saw that there was trouble ahead. Three
British vessels came in sight. One of these was the frigate _Quebec_.
The others were a brig, the _Fair American_, and a sloop-of-war, the
_General Monk_.

Before such a fleet the _Hyder Ali_ was like a sparrow before a hawk.
Captain Barney at once signaled his merchant ships to make all haste up
the bay. Away they flew like a flock of frightened birds, except one,
whose captain thought he would slip round the cape and get to sea. But
the British soon swallowed up him and his ship, so he paid well for his
smartness.

On up the bay went the other merchantmen, with the _Hyder Ali_ in the
rear, and the British squadron hot on their track. The frigate sailed
into a side channel, thinking it would find a short-cut and so head them
off. Captain Barney watched this movement with keen eyes. The big ship
had put herself out of reach for a time. He knew well that she could not
get through that way, and laid his plans to have some sport with the
small fish while the big fish was away.

The brig _Fair American_ was a privateer and a fast one. It came up with
a fair breeze, soon reaching the _Hyder Ali_, which expected a fight.
But the privateer wanted prizes more than cannon balls, and went
straight on, firing a broadside that did no harm. Captain Barney let her
go. The sloop-of-war was coming fast behind, and this was enough for him
to attend to. It had more guns than his ship and they were double the
weight--twelve-pounders to his six-pounders. As the war sloop came near,
Barney turned to his helmsman, and said:

"I want you to go opposite to my orders. If I tell you to port your
helm, you are to put it hard-a-starboard. Do you understand?"

"Aye, aye!" answered the tar.

Up came the _General Monk_, its captain thinking to make an easy prize,
as the _Fair American_ had been let go past without a shot. When about a
dozen yards away the British captain hailed:

"Strike your colors, or I will fire!"