“Stephen, to-morrow I want you to go ashore with me, for I am going to meet three men.” The next afternoon a cutter containing Somers, Decatur, and three midshipmen, with their seconds, went ashore and found a secluded spot upon the beach where they would be free from interference. He had challenged all three to fight at the same time and would take them in succession. In the first two duels Somers received two shots in the body, the latter one of which caused him to sink upon the sand as though dangerously hurt; but he rallied quickly, and, seeing that the third midshipman was standing waiting to see if the battle could be continued, he tried to struggle to his feet. He found he could not get up, and Decatur offered to take his place and receive the fire of the third midshipman. But Somers, though suffering greatly, was not to be deterred, and bade Decatur prop him up in a sitting posture, in which position he exchanged shots with the third man. Fortunately, none of the injuries resulted fatally, and in a few weeks Somers was on deck again. He went about his duties as quietly as before, but never after that did they call him milksop. It was Somers who led one division of the gunboats to attack the Tripolitan fleet while Decatur was leading the other. Finding that he could not reach them by the eastern entrance, he sailed into the northern entrance of the harbor and single-handed boldly sent his little vessel into the midst of five of the enemy. His gunboat was smaller than any one of those of his adversaries; but so well was his long gun served and so true was the fire of his musketry that he held them at bay for half an hour, and not one of them succeeded in getting alongside of him to board. They were all bearing straight down upon the rocks, though, and Somers could not spare enough men from the guns to man his sweeps. But Preble, on the “Constitution,” saw his danger, and, coming up in time, sent a broadside of grape among the pirates, and they got out their sweeps and retreated, when, in spite of the doggedness of the defence, one united attack would have made the victory theirs. But as they drew off, instead of returning, as Preble wished, to the “Constitution,” Somers pursued them until within less than a cable’s length of a twelve-gun battery, which had not fired before for fear of damaging the fleeing Tripolitans. When she opened fire at this close range the destruction of Somers’s valiant little vessel seemed inevitable. But by a lucky chance a bombard exploded in the battery, blew up the platform, and drove the Tripolitans to cover. Before they could recover and train their guns, Somers managed to bring his craft out in safety. In a later action, as Somers stood leaning against a flag-staff on his little vessel, a shot came directly for him. The officer saw it in time, and jumped aside to see the spar carried away at just the spot where his head had been. He was spared for more deadly work.