were
booming and the balls were flying.

But the fight was over before the men had time to warm up. The first
guns were fired at 5.25 in the afternoon, and at 5.39 the British flag
came down; so the battle lasted just fourteen minutes. Not many
victories have been won so quickly as that.

But the _Hornet_ acted in a very lively fashion while it lasted. Do you
know how a hornet behaves when a mischievous boy throws a stone at its
nest? Well, that is the way our _Hornet_ did. Only one ball from the
_Peacock_ struck her, and hardly any of her men were hurt. But the
_Peacock_ was bored as full of holes as a pepper-box, and the water
poured in faster than all hands could pump it out. In a very short time
the unlucky _Peacock_ filled and sank. So Captain Lawrence had only the
honor of his victory; old ocean had swallowed up his prize.

But if Captain Lawrence got no prize money, he won great fame. He was
looked on as another Hull or Decatur, and Congress made him captain of
the frigate _Chesapeake_. That was in one way a bad thing for the
gallant Lawrence, for it cost him his life. In another way it was a good
thing, for it made him one of the most famous of American seamen.

I have told you the story of several victories of American ships. I must
now tell you the story of one defeat. But I think you will say it was a
defeat as glorious as a victory. For eight months the little navy of the
young Republic had sailed on seas where British ships were nearly as
thick as apples in an orchard. In that time it had not lost a ship, and
had won more victories than England had done in twenty years. Now it was
to meet with its first defeat.

When Captain Lawrence took command of the _Chesapeake_, that ship lay in
the harbor of Boston. Outside this harbor was the British frigate
_Shannon_, blockading the port.

Now you must know that the American people had grown very proud of their
success on the sea. They had got to think that any little vessel could
whip an English man-of-war. So the Bostonians grew eager for the
_Chesapeake_ to meet the _Shannon_. They were sure it would be brought
in as a prize, and they wanted to hurrah over it.

Poor Lawrence was as eager as the people. He was just the man they
wanted. The _Chesapeake_ had no crew, but he set himself to work, and in
two weeks he filled her up with such men as he could find.

It was a mixed team he got together, the sweepings of the streets. There
were some good men among