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strange-looking craft, whose character he was particularly anxious to make out. So he crowded sail, and hurried away in pursuit. But, before he could be made to understand the danger into which he was so thoughtlessly rushing, he discovered that he had cast himself, as it were, into the very jaws of destruction. The two strange vessels happened to be Spanish men-ofwar, and their combined armament was sufficient to blow him and his men high and dry out of the water

Merham, seeing his mistake, endeavored to make the best of his way out of its troublesome consequences. But his better resolution came a little too late for him to take proper advantage of it. The Spaniards at once closed in with him, and as bloody and desperate a battle as the sea has ever witnessed was fought for nearly two entire days! After the first hour's struggle, the Spaniard managed to board his enemy, and it seemed for a time as if he must strike his colors and yield to the massacre. But the guns of the Frenchman kept playing on his antagonist the while, and, just at this crisis, it was discovered that the boarding vessel was in a sinking con

dition.

Immediately the Frenchman drew off from the grapple, and leaving his crippled enemy either to sink or repair, just as fortune might turn for them, sailed away in the hopes of escaping altogether. But the other vessel was watchful, and immediately gave chase. They fought in an irregular style all that afternoon, and, at night, the crippled Spaniard having made repairs and joined his companion, they both chased after the Frenchman again, keeping up the hot pursuit till morning. As the day dawned, and revealed to them their relative positions, the Spaniards came up with their persevering enemy, and again offered battle.

Before coming to action, however, the Frenchman was summoned to strike his colors, and surrender to the Spanish flag. He was offered immunity from any further harm on the acceptance of these conditions. But Captain Merham, instead of sending back a civil reply, answered the proposal with a cannon-ball! Of course there was no more parley, and the two men-of-war at once closed in and boarded their common enemy. On came the Spanish sailors over the decks of Captain Merham, pouring in overwhelming num

bers into his rigging, and dropping his mainsail to the deck with a suddenness that rendered the vessel quite unmanageable. In no way could they be driven from his deck but by an explosion; and this was the fearful alternative to which resort was finally had. In an instant the enemy were gone; but Capt. Merham found that the firing of his own vessel was the price at which he was rid of them. Now the Spaniards opened a fire upon the burning ship, while its occupants were hard at work to quench the flames, and unable so much as to return a single shot. By dint of almost superhuman exertions the fires were extinguished at last, and the unyielding Frenchman once more stood bravely to his guns. Again the Spaniards summoned their enemy to surrender, holding out the same promises of quarter as before. But the Frenchman answered only from the mouth of his cannon.

The rest of that day the action was kept up, and even the coming on of night did not at once bring it to a close. Gun answered briskly to gun, and the combatants were as fiercely resolved upon each other's destruction as ever. But the denser darkness finally separated them, and the

courageous Frenchman knew that he was beyond the reach of his stronger enemy at last. It does not require any very great stretch of the imagination to picture our hero taking an active part in this most protracted and bloody engagement, although little is really known about the service which he is supposed to have actually rendered. He certainly had performed no trifling deeds of individual valor on similar occasions before this; and it may readily be conjectured that in this affair he was not a whit behind the rest, the captain himself included, in an activity and a daring that alone availed to rescue them from the danger into which they had so recklessly plunged.

7*

CHAPTER IV.

THE SETTLEMENT OF JAMESTOWN.

T is very uncertain how Smith got back to
England again. We simply know that he

there about the time when the project of colonizing North America was talked of so generally, and that his enthusiastic and courageous spirit most naturally led him to sympathize with the bold plans that were then set on foot. In order the better to understand the exact state of affairs in England at the time in relation to this country, it will be well to briefly review what had already been done in the way of colonization, and take a hasty glance at the nature and merits of the designs to establish settlements on the shores of the American continent.

Since the discoveries of the Spaniards and Portuguese in the southern parts of America, and the narration of those bewildering tales that

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