ept from her moorings.

Those of us who went on deck to do this work were wetted in an instant
as if we had jumped overboard, and at times it became necessary to
hold fast by the rail, otherwise we would have been literally blown
into the river.

There was no possibility of getting under way that night, and all
hands kept watch in the cuddy until day broke, when, and not until
then, did the storm abate.

The wind had aided the Britishers in working havoc. From the deck of
the pungy I saw no less than four houses, the roofs of which had been
torn off, and one negro shanty was in ruins. As far as we could see
the trees were uprooted, and the river ran so full of wreckage that I
wondered we had not been swamped off hand.

"We'll stay here a few hours longer, I reckon," Darius said to me as
he pointed toward the fragments of buildings and trees with which the
river seemed literally to be choked. "If this pungy struck fair on
somethin' like that yonder, she'd founder for a fact."

The veriest landsman who ever lived would have understood that it was
folly to think of getting under way just then, and my heart grew heavy
as lead in my breast, for I firmly believed that before another hour
had passed the enemy would be out searching for the prisoners who had
escaped, in which case all hands of us stood a good chance of seeing
the interior of that "stone house."

As we stood on deck, regardless of the possibility that some of the
enemy might come that way, a man ran down the street toward the
water's edge, waving his arms about and otherwise acting as if nearly
beside himself with joy or grief.

"What is the matter, friend?" Captain Hanaford cried at the full
strength of his lungs, and the man made quite a lengthy reply; but all
we could hear of it was this one exclamation:

"The British!"

"Are they comin' this way?" the captain demanded, screaming until his
face was crimson, and Bill Jepson suddenly dropped out of sight
through the companion-way.

"They've gone!" the man replied, and we could now hear his words more
distinctly because he was coming nearer each instant.

"Gone where?" Captain Hanaford cried impatiently. "Can't you tell us
what has happened?"

"The British have cleared out bag an' baggage--went durin' the storm!"

"What?" Darius screamed, and we looked at each other incredulously,
for surely it could not be possible that the enemy had evacuated the
city so soon.

"Come on board an' tell us wha