There, close to the waves--her colors almost touching the water--the captain, who was absent from his ship, found his flag upon his return. A harbinger as it proved of the issue that was to be. THE CUMBERLAND AT anchor in Hampton Roads we lay, On board of the _Cumberland_, sloop of war; And at times from the fortress across the bay The alarum of drums swept past, Or a bugle blast From the camp on the shore. Then far away to the south uprose A little feather of snow-white smoke, And we knew that the iron ship of our foes Was steadily steering its course To try the force Of our ribs of oak. Down upon us heavily runs, Silent and sullen, the floating fort; Then comes a puff of smoke from her guns, And leaps the terrible death, With fiery breath, From each open port. We are not idle, but send her straight Defiance back in a full broadside! As hail rebounds from a roof of slate, Rebounds our heavier hail From each iron scale Of the monster's hide. "Strike your flag!" the rebel cries, In his arrogant old plantation strain. "Never!" our gallant Morris replies; "It is better to sink than to yield!" And the whole air pealed With the cheers of our men. Then, like a kraken huge and black, She crushed our ribs in her iron grasp! Down went the _Cumberland_ all awrack, With a sudden shudder of death, And the cannon's breath For her dying gasp. Next morn, as the sun rose over the bay, Still floated our flag at the mainmast head Lord, how beautiful was Thy day! Every waft of the air Was a whisper of prayer, Or a dirge for the dead. Ho! brave hearts that went down in the seas! Ye are at peace in the troubled stream; Ho! brave land! with hearts like these, Thy flag, that is rent in twain, Shall be one again, And without a seam! HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW. THE MONITOR TWO old Spanish ships had, prior to the sinking of the _Cumberland_, met a like fate at the hands of the Confederates; and the signal success of the _Merrimac_ now augured well for the break of the blockade. The South was greatly elated. The North was disquieted. Twenty-four hours later the trend of events was changed. There appeared in Hampton Roads a strange new craft, called the _Monitor_. It was unlike any vessel before seen, having a revolving round tower of iron, that enabled the gunners to train the guns on the enemy continuously, without regard to the position of the ship. The hull had an "overhang," a projection constructed of iron and wood, as a protection against rams. The inventor and builder of this little giant was John Ericsson. His, "The master mind that wrought, With iron hand, this iron thought. Strength and safety with speed combined."