The sea was yet running very high, but a boat was manned and lowered away with a prize-crew, and made straight for the latest capture. When the heavily laden boat was a short distance from the _Comet_, around the bows of the captured ship came the man-of-war. She fired a broadside at the rowboat, and nearly swamped it there and then; half full of water, it returned to the _Comet_. Taking the boat’s crew on board once more, the privateer headed for the Portuguese. Captain Boyle’s blood was now up with a vengeance, and in the hot exchange that followed the bumptious foreigner had so much the worst of it that he withdrew from the engagement, and left the third English vessel to her fate. Like the others, the last hauled down her flag to save herself from further punishment. The situation was unusual. It was almost pitch-dark, and, heaving about to leeward, the three captured vessels were hardly discernible. The _Bowes_ was taken possession of, she being the nearest, and the captain of the ship _George_, of Liverpool, reported that he could hardly keep his vessel afloat. The other brig, the _Gambier_, of Hull, was in much the same condition. Captain Boyle determined to stand by them both until daybreak. As soon as it was light, it was seen that the little fleet had drifted in towards land, the wind having changed during the early morning. The Portuguese had once more joined them, and made a feint of desiring to fight again. The _Comet_ sailed to meet her; but the brig turned tail, signalled the _George_ and the _Gambier_ to make for shore, and followed as quickly as she could. Captain Boyle did not overtake them, and the three reached Pernambuco in safety--the ship in a sinking condition, the brig likewise, and the cockpit of the man-of-war, which was badly cut up below and aloft, filled with dead and wounded. The _Comet_ and the _Bowes_ reached the United States in safety, the former making several more important captures, and sailing through the entire English blockading squadron in the Chesapeake Bay to her wharf in the city of Baltimore. VII THE “HORNET” AND THE “PEACOCK” [February 24th, 1813] [Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE]