Lieutenant Nicholson shouted to Captain Warrington to take off the crew from the _Epervier_ and leave him and his sixteen men to handle her. Warrington complied, and endeavored to draw off the on-comers, it being his intention to try to slip into St. Mary’s. Only one frigate fell to the ruse, and came about upon the _Peacock’s_ trail. The _Epervier_, which drew little water, kept well inshore, and under a light breeze made good headway. The wind, however, soon died to almost a calm, and the big vessel outside in the deeper water lowered her boats and manned them all, intending to cut out and retake the prize inshore. Fitful gusts of wind swept the captured vessel along, but during every pause the steady rowing of the British sailors brought the armed boats nearer. Suddenly they stopped all exertion, for Nicholson was shouting orders through his speaking-trumpet as if in command of one hundred men, instead of scarcely enough to haul his sheets and tacks. The ports dropped with a clatter and the boatswain’s whistle rang out shrilly. The Englishmen were astounded; fearing that they had been drawn into a trap, turning tail, they scuttled out of range as quickly as possible and returned to the frigate. A breeze sprang up at this moment, and Nicholson was able to keep the _Epervier_ on her course, and on the 1st of May the brig arrived safely in Savannah. Three days later the _Peacock_ came in also. Warrington’s delight on seeing that his prize was safe was great, and he reported the _Epervier_ in the following words: “She is one of their finest sloops of war, and is well calculated for our service. She sails extremely fast, and will require but little to send her to sea, as her armament and stores are complete.” In his letter to the Secretary of the Navy, when at sea, on the night of the action, he speaks of his crew in this manly fashion: “Every officer, seaman, and marine did his duty, which is the highest compliment I can pay them.” The _Peacock_ did not remain long inactive, but sailed for the Bay of Biscay and cruised along the coast of Portugal and among the islands. Time and again she was chased by English vessels, and was kept dodging from one position to another to avoid the many squadrons. It was not her luck to come across another vessel of war of anything like her size, but she captured handily fourteen sail of merchantmen. The “commerce-destroyers” of those days were not spoken of in that term, but the trade of Great Britain was crippled severely by the swift-sailing privateers and our handy little sloops of war. XIV THE CRUISE OF THE “WASP” [1814] [Illustration: MEDAL PRESENTED BY CONGRESS TO CAPTAIN JOHNSTON BLAKELEY]