eet, but the deck was strewn with the dead,
whose bodies rolled about at every heave of the waves.

When the men came running aft the three officers flung down their swords
to show that they had surrendered, and one of them covered his face
with his hands. It hurt him to give up the good ship. Lieutenant Biddle,
of the _Wasp_, had to haul down the British flag.

Never had there been more terrible slaughter. Of the 110 men on the
_Frolic_ there were not twenty alive and unhurt, while on the _Wasp_
only five were dead and five wounded. The hull of the _Frolic_ was full
of holes and its masts were so cut away that in a few minutes they both
fell.

Thus ended one of the most famous of American sea-fights. It was another
lesson that helped to stop the English from singing

"Britannia rules the waves."

But the little _Wasp_ and her gallant crew did not get the good of their
famous victory. While they were busy repairing damages a sail appeared
above the far horizon. It came on, growing larger and larger, and soon
it was seen to be a big man-of-war.

The game was up with the _Wasp_ and her prize, for the new ship was the
_Poictiers_, a great seventy-four ship-of-the-line. She snapped up the
_Wasp_ and the _Frolic_ and carried them off to the British isle of
Bermuda, where the victors found themselves prisoners.

A few words will finish the story of the _Wasp_. She was taken into the
British navy; but she did not have to fight for her foes, for she went
down at sea without doing anything. So she was saved from the disgrace
of fighting against her country.

Captain Jones and his men were soon exchanged, and Congress voted them a
reward of $25,000 for their gallant fight, while the brave captain was
given the command of the frigate _Macedonian_, which had been captured
from the British. It was Captain Stephen Decatur, the hero of Tripoli,
that captured her, in the good ship _United States_.

Would you like to hear about the other _Wasps_? There were two more of
them, you know. They were good ships, but ill luck came to them all. The
first _Wasp_ did her work in the Revolution, and had to be burned at
Philadelphia to keep her from the British when they took that city. The
second one, as I have just told you, was lost at sea, and so was the
third. You may see that bad luck came to them all.

The third _Wasp_ was, like the second, a sloop-of-war, but she was a
large and heavy one. And though in the end she was