lover, as she heard what appeared to be a pusillanimous offer of
surrender, Desborough's chances took a sudden bound upward, while that
gentleman cursed the cowardice of his enemy and rival, which would
deprive him of a pleasing opportunity of blowing him out of the water.
Most of the men at the different guns relaxed their eager watchfulness,
while sneers and jeers at the "Yankee" went up on all sides.

"Heave to, then," continued Beauchamp, peremptorily and with much
disgust, "and send a boat aboard!"

"Ay, ay, sir!"

Oh, it was true, then; he was going to surrender tamely without--

"Stand by!" there was a note of preparation in the words in spite of
Seymour's effort to give them the ordinary intonation of a commonplace
order,--a note which had so much meaning to Katharine's sensitive ear
that her heart stopped its beating for a moment as she waited for the
next word. It came with a roar of defiance. "Back the maintopsail!"
But the braces were kept fast and the unexpected happened. In an
instant sheets of flame shot out from the muzzles of the black guns of
the Randolph, which were immediately wreathed and shrouded in clouds of
smoke. At the moment of command Seymour had quickly ordered the helm
shifted suddenly, and the Randolph had swung round so that she lay at a
broad angle off the quarter of the Yarmouth. The thunderous roar of
the heavy guns at short range was immediately followed by the crashing
of timber, as the heavy shot took deadly effect, amid the cheers and
yells and curses and groans and shrieks of the wounded and startled men
on the liner, while three hearty cheers rang out from the Randolph.

The advantage of the first blow in the grim game, the unequal combat,
was with the little one.

"How now, captain!" shouted the colonel, in high exultation. "Won't
fight, eh! What do you call this?"

"Fire! fire! Let him have it, men, and be damned to you! The man 's a
hero; 't was cleverly done," roared the captain, excitedly. "I
retract. Give it to him, boys! Give it to the impudent rebel!" he
roared.

Katharine, forgot by every one in the breathless excitement of the past
few moments, bowed her head on her hands on the rail, and breathed a
prayer of thankfulness, oblivious of everything but that her lover had
proved himself worthy the devotion her heart so ungrudgingly extended
him. There was great confusion on board the Yarmouth from this sudden
and unexpected discharge, which, delivere