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By the time the Industry had got out into Boston Bay she had set her mainsail and her foresail, and her maintopsail and her foretopsail, and her maintopgallantsail and her foretopgallantsail, and her mainroyal and her foreroyal, and her mainskysail and her foreskysail, and all of her jibs and her spanker and her staysails; and the sailors were busy getting out her studdingsail booms.
Todd and the rest of the crew were below hatches with the guns. The brig came down the wind like a graceful bird a splendid craft, black, shiny, and shipshape, five guns to a side, brass-bound officers on her quarter-deck, blue-jackets darting about her white deck and up aloft, a homeward-bound pennant trailing from her main-truck, and at her gaff-end a British ensign as large as her mainroyal.
"Ay, so you can, but not well. Mainroyal there! Can you make them out any better?" "Yes, sir. There's eighteen sail of them; one is a frigate and one looks like a sloop of war, sir; the rest is merchantmen, some of 'em armed." "Very good. Have they seen us yet?" "Don't appear to take no notice on us so far, sir."
Perry had come up the companionway with his blue battle-flag. He held it before him at arm's-length. I could see a part of its legend, in white letters, "Don't give up the ship." "My brave lads," he shouted, "shall we hoist it?" Our "Ay, ay, sir!" could have been heard a mile away, and the flag rose, above tossing hats and howling voices, to the mainroyal masthead.
The poor mate's done his stunt on the mizzen." And so, by doing the seamanly work themselves and putting ropes into the hands of the crew, the mate and the two boatswains got sail on the ship, even to the jib-topsail and the mainroyal staysail. Captain Williams discreetly remained in the background, only asserting himself once, when he knocked an Irishman off the poop.
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