As the "Richard," with a roar

Of her cannon round the Head,

Crossed her royal yards and signalled to her consort: "Chase ahead!"

III.

But the devil seize Landais

In that consort ship of France!
For the shabby, lubber way

That he worked the "Alliance"

In the offing, nor a broadside fired save to our mischance !

When tumbling to the van,

With his battle-lanterns set,

Rose the burly Englishman

'Gainst our hull as black as jet—

Rode the yellow-sided "Serapis," and all alone we met!

IV.

All alone-though far at sea

Hung his consort, rounding to;

All alone-though on our lee

Fought our "Pallas," stanch and true!

For the first broadside around us both a smoky circle

drew:

And, like champions in a ring,

There was cleared a little space—

Scarce a cable's length to swing —

Ere we grappled in embrace,

All the world shut out around us, and we only face to

face!

V.

Then awoke all hell below

From that broadside, doubly curst,

For our long eighteens in row

Leaped the first discharge and burst!

And on deck our men came pouring, fearing their own guns the worst.

And as dumb we lay, till, through

Smoke and flame and bitter cry,
Hailed the "Serapis "-

"Have you

Struck your colours ?" Our reply,

"We have not yet begun to fight!" went shouting to the sky!

VI.

Roux of Brest, old fisher, lay

Like a herring gasping here;

Bunker of Nantucket Bay,

Blown from out the port, dropped sheer

Half a cable's length to leeward; yet we faintly raised a cheer As with his own right hand,

Our Commodore made fast

The foeman's head-gear and

The "Richard's" mizzen-mast,

And in that death-lock clinging held us there from first to last!.

VII.

Yet the foeman, gun on gun,

Through the "Richard" tore a road

With his gunners' rammers run

Through our ports at every load,

Till clear the blue beyond us through our yawning timbers showed.

Yet with entrails torn we clung

Like the Spartan to our fox,

And on deck no coward tongue

Wailed the enemy's hard knocks,

Nor that all below us trembled like a wreck upon the rocks.

VIII.

Then a thought rose in my brain,

As through Channel mists the sun.
From our tops a fire like rain

Drove below decks every one

Of the enemy's ship's company to hide or work a gun,
And that thought took shape as I

On the "Richard's" yard lay out,

That a man might do and die,

If the doing brought about

Freedom for his home and country, and his messmates' cheering shout!

IX.

Then I crept out in the dark

Till I hung above the hatch

Of the "Serapis "—a mark

For her marksmen !-with a match

And a hand-grenade, but lingered just a moment more to

snatch

One last look at sea and sky!

At the lighthouse on the hill!

At the harvest-moon on high!

And our pine flag fluttering still;

Then turned and down her yawning throat I launched that devil's pill!

X.

Then a blank was all between

As the flames around me spun !

Had I fired the magazine?

Was the victory lost or won?

Nor knew I till the fight was o'er but half my work was

done :

For I lay among the dead

In the cockpit of our foe,
With a roar above my head-

Till a trampling to and fro,

And a lantern showed my mate's face, and I knew what

now you know!

SPANISH IDYLS AND LEGENDS.