Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 959 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

4 The Four Commanders. brought to bear, and the execution was neces- sarily great—frightfully, murderously great. Neither commanders having inte board- ing when the vessels accidentally came to- coe, they were not prepared to take imme- ate advantage of the opportunity, but Laurie saw what his commander was doing, and when the latter, sword in hand, unmindful whether he was being followed or pt EES to the deck of the brig, crying: “‘B ers, away!” the gallant men of the Enterprise were at his back, Instead of one hundred, however, the crew of the sea rover numbered nearly two hundred men! and while, perhaps, indifferent marksmen and sailors, the Turk isa most dangerous and a antagonist in hand-to-hand conflict, e first surprise passed, the tide of battle turned, and slowly, but surely, the mass of struggling humanity had to surge toward the decks of the Enterprise, as weight of numbers began to tell, and the parties headed by Decatur and Laurie were driven backward.. Inch by inch, foot by foot, the deck was con- tested, but at length the men of the Enterprise were fighting on their own vessel, desperately endeavoring to keep the enemy on theirs; but the now enraged pirates still pressed forward, and the deck guns, which could now have been used to keep them back, had been dismounted in the short but fierce cannonading that pre- ceded the boarding. With the assistance of Spence, and those who ‘had remained on board the Enterprise, the ad- vance of the sea rovers was checked for a few minutes, but this could not last long, and Deca- tur was beginning to think it would be easier to capture the brig by cutting loose and ee his guns at work on her, when the youth, Harry Lee avoided the necessity of doing so, As Spence and his companions rushed to the assistance of their sorely-pressed but undaunted commander, the young lieutenant cried: ‘* It looks as if it was cut loose, or blow up!” Harry Lee, who heard the words, and remem- bered seeing a box of hand-grenades lying near the azine, picked up a bucket and went be- low. Less than five minutes later the daring boy was on the mainyard of the Enterprise, hurling death and confusion from his bucket of nades, which was suspended from the sheet ock, Careful not to injure his comrades, Harry aimed his grenades at the corsairs in the rear of the struggling mass, This quickly created se rg among those in front, for as their comrades fell back in confu- sion they, too, retreated—supposing they were attacked in the rear. Quick to perceive his oppareu Decatur cheered his men forward again, and drove the pirates back to their vessel, and then the conflict was ended by an explosion that killed twenty men outright, and piled wounded in heaps above and below! One of Harry’s grenades had fallen on the lower gun-deck of the brig, where it ignited some loose powder, This set fire to a row of un- covered cartridges, which had been laid out for the guns at the beginning of the engagement, and then came the explosion. The decks presen a horrifying appearance, when the smokeclearedaway. Dead and dying, legs and arms without trunks, and trunks with- out limbs—and in many cases stripped of cloth- ing—were lying in every direction. , CHAPTER IV, A DARING DEED. Tu officers of tho Enterprise, and many of the men, 8 i how the explosion was caused, and the first shock of horror and sur- prise over, looked for Harry. ‘“‘Heis wounded! Up here someof ye and get him down!” cried Laurie, seeing Harry lying on the yard-arm, one hand clutching a rope, the other hanging down limp and motionless. ‘Loe pirates had discovered, and fired upon him just before the explosion, He was hittwice —in the shoulder and right arm, but continued tossing the 3 ehh ge with his left arm—and it was one of those awkwardly thrown missiles that caused the explosion. ** He’s built of the right stuff!” exclaimed De- catur, on earnest Harry had stuck to his self-appointed task, until the explosion and loss of blood renderec him almost unconscious, It was some time before the victors realized the extent of the damage done during the short, fierce and exceedingly close-range cannonading, and the terrible destruction wrougbt by the su uent explosion, and when Decatur ascer- tained the nature of the injuries to both vessels, he felt giad he was so near Syracuse, Both vessels had been badly cut up in hull and _ him from obser rigging, and of the officers and crew of the En- terprise, many of the latter were killed and bt and none of the former escaped un- urt. In the last rush, Sperce had received a bad cutlass wound in the head, and came to, to find himself in a hammock alongside his friend Harry, while Laurie limped around with a bul- let-wound in his leg, and one arm ina sling, saying a cheerful word, or doing a kind act at every step. So, with his principal officers wounded, and his ship unfit for service, Decatur made such re- s as were absolutely necessary, and re- turned to Syracuse, where his quick return and the appearance of the two ships created much surprise. A short explanation between the commodore and Decatur, and then the former remarks: ‘* Not such a bloodless victory as the other.” ‘* No, sir, and as we must wait some time to get ship-shape, I would suggest using the first prize to destroy the Philadelphia.” The commodore regarded the speaker curious- ly; the children were certainly coming to the front, he confessed to himself, as he thought of the three who handled the Enterprise, and the boy of fifteen, whose pluck had just saved that vessel to him, **How do you propose destroying her?’ he asked, ‘** Burn her, sir.” The Philadelphia, after being captured, had been towed under the guns of the forts, and used most effectively ag a floating battery. It would be im ible to cut her out: the commodore knew it, and Decatur’s idea was his, too, as well as Captain Bainbridge’s, so he sat down and discussed the chances, with the result that the ketch was ordered fitted for the proposed ser- vice, While this work was being done, Lieutenant- Commander Stewart, who, with the ill-fated Somers, had been blockading Tripoli, returned to Syracuse, and the commodore decided to send him with Decatur, so that the ketch might be used as a ete if found expedient. The undertaking was a desperate one, and that Commodore ble appreciated this, is shown by the unremitting care he gave in ar- ranging for its success, ** Make your retreat good with the Intrepid [the ketch], if possible, unless you can make ber the means of destroying the enemy’s vessel in the harbor, by converting her into a fire-ship, and retreat in your boats, and those of the Siren. ‘* You must take fixed ammunition and a paratus for the frigate’s [the Philadelphia’s] eigh- teen-pounders; and if you can, without risking too much, you may endeavor to make them the instruments of destruction to the shipping, and Bashaw’s castle.” Such were the commodore’s instructions to his intrepid young commander, when the latter, in company with Stewart in the Siren, set sail for Tripoli on the morning of February 3d, 1804, and they show how uncertain and hazardous he so Cpe the enterprise. t the time of the sailing of the expedition, neither Laurie nor Spence had recovered suffi- ciently to take part in that daring enterprise and in any event Laurie’s services were required in refitting his ship, so there was a quiet, al- most speechless parting between these two and Decatur, ‘I'm sorry I’m not going with you,” was all Laurie could say. ** And I could hardly hope to,” added Spence. _ “ Never mind, boys; you'll find a good friend in Dick Somers—if anything happens.” Almost immediately after sail was made on the Intrepid and the Siren, and the voyage, which resulted in one of the daring deeds of his- ae A was begun, he voyage to Tripoli was uneventful, but a gale sprung up shortly after the vessels had an- chored, which drove them from the mouth of the harbor, thus delaying the operations of our adventurers, and causing a good deal of anx- iety at Syracuse, but it enabled Decatur to see that the appearance of the ketch created no ea 7 eget 2 being of Mediterranean rig an build, and go erg close when the gale abated, he took a t and reconnoitered the small entrance to the port, _ This was done at nightfall, and after return- ing to his vessel, and conferring with Stewart, the hero of Tripoli decided to run in the In- pig ea a preference to boarding the Philadelphia The night was dark, and accordingly both favorable and a asa since, while it hid on, it also rendered him liable to go aground, but fortune favdérs the brave. At nine o'clock that night the Intrepid ran alongside the Philadelphia, As far as possible, everything had been ar- ranged beforehand, and the instant the vessels touched they were jashed ether—the sudden shifting of the wind precluding any possibility of using the Intrepid as a fire-s iP As the vessels came together, Decatur, at the head of his seventy-four men, boarded the enemy—to find himself greatly outnumbered, and that, too, by men of fearful reputation for their prowess in hand-to-hand conflict, In this case, however, the Turks had not or- dinary men to deal with, Decatur would not quit the deck until his p was accom- lished, and leading his men like a lion, they grove the enemy before them, firing the sbip as they fought forward, until the flames forced both parties to retire—the Turks over the side and bulwarks, into the sea, and the Americans to the Intrepid, which was ister | cut loose. The burning Philadelphia lighted up the har- bor, revealing the Americans to those in the forts,aud a storm of shot whistled after the ketch as she sailed away, but, notwithstanding this, Decatur’s loss was four men wounded. Decatur had brought ammunition for the guns of the Philadelphia, but finding them load- ed when he boarded her, gave all his attention to driving off the Turks, The flames, however, interfered with his plans for using the ammuni- tion, but they also did a part of the duty of gunners for him, and as the Intrepid drew away, the guns of the burning frigate began to echo across the water, adding to the impressive- ness Of the scene. There was little time to gaze on the scene; the Tripolitan gunboats were already under way, in pursuit, CHAPTER V. AN ATTEMPTED ROBBERY. SHORTLY after the departure of Decatur from Syracuse, Somers, in command of the Nautilus arrived with a prize which he had captured o Tripoli, and being one of the despised children, as well as a warm friend of Decaiur's, Laurie and Spence sought and gained his friendship, The arrival of Somers with a prize, taken right at the mouth of Tripoli Harbor, only served to add to the commodore’s growing con- viction that he had underrated the worth of his young Officers, and Somers was warmly wel- comed. During the work of refitting the prizes, and the vessels that had taken them, Somers, Laurie and Spence were accustomed to walk about Syracuse during the evenings, and about the time they were getting anxious re ing De- catur, whose return was delayed longer than expected, they met with an adventure that created considerable excitement, and raised these young men even higber in the estimation of the commodore, their comrades and the Sicilians, America, even then, was known far and wide as the land of plenty as well as freedom, these officers had been taking prizes, and spent money freely—especially Spence, who was wealthy— and these facts probably led to the attempt made by five armed men to rob them. | Of the three Americans, Laurie the only weapon among them—a dirk—and with this he met the ‘‘money or your life” demand, by springing on the leader of the robbers, who advanced with drawn swords, ‘* Down with therascals!” cried Laurie, spring- ing at the leader, and the robber was on the ground and dead, without having had a chance to use his sword. Somers, meantime, had grappled with another of the ruffians,and Spence with another—the former seizing the blade of his antagonist’s sword and, aleocugevorely cut in the hand, wresting it from , Plunged it into his body. That ended the matter, Spence’s antagonist managing to wrench himself loose and join bis remaining companions in their flight. ‘Hold on!” cried Laurie, as his friends start- ed in pursuit of the fleeing robbers, and when they returned, explained that as the spot they were in was a lonely one in the suburbs, and the thieves might have friends near by, it would be botter not to go in search of danger. ‘* Better have these fellows carried to the inn, and thence to the town for identification,” he concluded, The argument was sound, and Spence went to an inn where they usually stopped when in the vicinity, and returned in a few minutes with seV men who were engaged to take charge of the bodies until next day, when they should. remove them to the city, | 900 com Cc cS | | | | )