Into these jaws of death, Decatur boldly steered his little craft. The breeze was still fresh. It would never do to take in sail, for the ever-watchful pirates would think it strange. So spare sails and buckets were towed astern to act as a drag, for fear they should reach their goal too early. The men now hid themselves by lying flat upon the deck, behind the bulwarks, the rails, and the masts. Only a few persons, dressed like Maltese sailors, could be seen. Decatur stood calmly at the wheel by the side of Catalano, the pilot. "We lay packed closer than sardines in a box, and were still as so many dead men," said one of the men long afterwards to his grandchildren. About nine o'clock the moon rose, and by its clear light the ketch was steered straight across the blue waters for the bows of the Philadelphia. "Vessel ahoy! What vessel is that?" shouted an officer of the frigate, as the Intrepid boldly came nearer. Decatur whispered to his pilot. "This is the ketch Stella, from Malta," shouted Catalano, in Italian. "We have lost our anchors, and were nearly wrecked in the gale; we want to ride near you during the night." {165} "All right! but only until daylight," replied the officer, and ordered a line to be lowered. Without a moment's delay, a boat under the command of young Lawrence put off from the Intrepid. On meeting the pirate boat, he took the line and rowed back to the ketch. The Americans, in their red jackets and fezzes, hauled away with a right good will, and brought their little craft steadily in toward the huge black hull of the frigate, where they were soon being made fast under her port side. As the ketch now drifted into a patch of moonlight, the pirate officer spied the anchors with their cables coiled up. "Keep off! You have lied to me," he shouted, and ordered his men to cut the hawser. As if by magic, the deck of the ketch swarmed with men, whose strong arms forced their vessel up against the side of the Philadelphia. "Americans! Americans!" cried the dazed Tripolitans. "Board! board!" shouted Decatur, as he made a spring for the deck of the frigate, followed by his gallant men. Although taken by surprise, the Tripolitans fought hard. They were called the best hand to hand fighters in the world, but they were no match for American sailors. As Preble's orders were "to carry all with the sword," no firearms were used. The only weapons {166} were cutlasses. The watchword was "Philadelphia," which they were to use in the darkness. The Americans formed a line from one side of the ship to the other, and, with Decatur as leader, swept everything before them on the main deck. On the gun deck, Lawrence and McDonough did the same thing. In fifteen minutes, every Tripolitan had been cut down or driven overboard. In spite of the close, sharp fighting, not one of our men received a scratch.