Oh, what a dreadful time there was on Perry's flagship during those sad two hours. The great guns roared, the thick smoke rose, the balls tore through her sides, sending splinters flying like sharp arrows to right and left. Men fell like leaves blown down by a gale. Blood splashed on the living and flowed over the dead. The surgeon's mates were kept busy carrying the wounded below, where the surgeon dressed their wounds. Captain Perry's little brother, a boy of only thirteen years, was on the ship, and stood beside him as brave as himself. Two bullets went through the boy's hat; then a splinter cut through his clothes; still he did not flinch. Soon after, he was knocked down and the captain grew pale with fear. But up jumped the boy again. It was only a flying hammock that had struck him. That little fellow was a true sailor boy, and had in him plenty of Yankee grit. I would not, if I could, tell you all the horrors of those two hours. It is not pleasant reading. The cannon balls even came through the vessel's sides among the wounded, and killed some of them where they lay. At the end of the fight the _Lawrence_ was a mere wreck. Her bowsprit and masts were nearly all cut away, and out of more than a hundred men only fourteen were unhurt. There was not a gun left that could be worked. Most men in such a case would have pulled down their flag. But Oliver Perry had the spirit of Paul Jones, and he did not forget the words on his flag--"Don't give up the ship." During those dread two hours the _Niagara_, under Lieutenant Elliott, had kept out of the fight. Now it came sailing up before a freshening breeze. As soon as Perry saw this fresh ship he made up his mind what to do. He had a boat lowered with four men in it. His little brother leaped in after them. Then he stepped aboard with the flag bearing Lawrence's motto on his shoulder, and was rowed away to the _Niagara_. As soon as the British saw this little boat on the water, with Perry standing upright, wrapped in the flag he had fought for so bravely, they turned all their guns and fired at it. Cannon and musket balls tore the water round it. It looked as if nothing would save those devoted men from death. "Sit down!" cried Perry's men. "We will stop rowing if you don't sit down." So Perry sat down, and when a ball came crashing through the side of the boat he took off his coat and plugged up the hole. Providence favored him and his men. They reached the _Niagara_ without being hurt. The British had fired in vain. Perry sprang on board and ordered the men to raise the flag. "How goes the day?" asked Lieutenant Elliott. "Bad enough," said Perry. "Why are the gunboats so far back?" "I will bring them up," said Elliott. "Do so," said Perry.