the line. It was like matching a bull terrier
against a mastiff. The men half suspected some wily manoeuvre which
they could not divine; but as the moments fled away and they saw the
rest of the fleet and the prizes slipping rapidly away to the
northeast, the Fair American lagging unaccountably behind the rest of
the fleet, while they still held their even course, they began to
comprehend that they were to fight to save the fleet, and Seymour meant
to sacrifice them deliberately, if necessary, in the hope of so
crippling the enemy that his other little cruisers, and the prizes,
might escape. They were not daunted, however--your true Jack is a
reckless fellow--by the daring and desperate nature of the plan; quite
the contrary!

In a few moments the familiar tones of Bentley's powerful voice,
seconded by the cheery calls of his mates, rang through the frigate,--

"All hands clear ship for action--Ahoy!"

The piercing whistling of the pipes which followed was soon drowned by
the steady and stirring roll of the drums, accompanied by the shrill
notes of the fifes, beating to quarters. The old call, which has been
the prelude to every action on the sea, ushering in with the same
dreadful note of preparation every naval conflict for twice two hundred
years, went rolling along the decks. At the first tap of the drum the
men sprang, with the eagerness of unleashed hounds before the quarry,
to their several stations.

In an instant the orderly ship was a babel of apparently hopeless
confusion; the men running hastily to and fro about their various
duties, the sharp commands of the officers, the shrill piping of the
whistles, and the deep voices of the gun captains and the boatswain's
mates, made the usually quiet deck a pandemonium. Some of the seamen
stowed the hammocks on the rail to serve as a guard against shot and
splinters, others triced up stout netting fore and aft, as a protection
against boarders. The light and agile sail-trimmers rove extra slings
on the yards, and put stoppers on the more important rigging, and
tightened and strengthened the boats' gripes. The cabin bulkheads were
unceremoniously knocked down and stowed away, giving a clean sweep fore
and aft the decks. The pumps were rigged and tried, and hose led along
the deck. Arm chests were broken out and opened, and cutlasses and
pistols distributed, and the racks filled with boarding-pikes.
Division tubs filled with water were placed beside the