ge of only a single gun, the decks were gained.

The surprise was as perfect as the assault was rapid, and the
Tripolitan crew, panic stricken, huddled like rats at bay awaiting the
final dash. Decatur had early gathered his men aft, stood a moment for
them to gain a sight of the enemy, and then, with the watchword
"_Philadelphia_" rushed upon the rovers. No defence was made, for,
swarming to leeward, they tumbled, in mad affright, overboard; over
the bows, through gun-ports, by aid of trailing halliards and stranded
rigging, out of the channels, pell-mell by every loop-hole they
went--and then, such as could, swam like water-rats for the friendly
shelter of the neighbouring war-galleys.

One by one the decks and holds were cleared, and in ten minutes
Decatur had possession of the ship, without a man killed, and only one
slightly wounded. In the positions selected so carefully beforehand,
the appointed divisions assembled and piled up and fired the
combustibles. Each party acted by itself, and as it was ready; and so
rapid were all in their movements, that those assigned to the
after-holds had scarcely reached the cockpit and stern store-rooms
before the fires were lighted over their heads. Indeed, when the
officer entrusted with this duty had completed his task, he found the
after-hatches so filled with smoke from the fire in the ward-room and
steerage, that he was obliged to escape to the deck by the forward
ladders.

Satisfied that the work was thoroughly done, the Americans leaped upon
the _Intrepid's_ deck, cut with swords and axes the hawsers lashing
them to the _Philadelphia_, manned the sweeps, and, just as the
flames were scorching their own yards and bulwarks, swung clear. Then
came the struggle for escape, and this last scene can best be told,
perhaps, in the words of one of the participants, Commodore Charles
Morriss, who gave on that night, when he was the first to board the
_Philadelphia_, the earliest proof of the great qualities which
afterwards made him one of the first sailors of his time. "Up to this
time," he wrote, "the ships and batteries of the enemy had remained
silent, but they were now prepared to act; and when the crew of the
ketch gave three cheers in exultation of their success, they received
the return of a general discharge from the enemy. The confusion of the
moment probably prevented much care in their direction, and though
under the fire of nearly a hundred pieces for half an hour, t