With wonderful celerity Tempest picked up the corpse and threw it overboard. His example was instantly followed, and every dead body was given to the waves, and alas! some of the wounded met the same watery grave. The fight did not last long. The British were beaten so thoroughly that the few survivors begged for mercy. It was only after the fight that Vernon discovered that the two men-of-war had escaped. The merchantman drifted about helplessly, and was soon boarded by the crew of the privateer. She proved to be a rich prize, and her captain could not help admiring the courage of the privateer who had taken his vessel away from two of the most noted war ships of the British navy. It was not cowardice which caused the two vessels to escape. Just on the verge of the horizon they saw some American men-of-war, and they determined to give chase, leaving the merchantman a prize in the hands of the privateer. The boarding crew had been deserted only when it was found that they stood no chance of capturing the _Lively Bee_. Although the captain of the merchantman admired the privateer's courage, he was none the less grieved over the loss of his vessel and her rich cargo. Five of the English boarders had been taken prisoners, and to these he went. He made them liberal offers if they would but break loose and aid him in retaking his ship. They were not averse to the project, if they saw the slightest chance of success. Circumstances favored them. Captain Vernon sent the prisoners on board the merchant prize, and placed Tempest in command. The prisoner-captain was permitted his freedom on parole. He gave his sacred word that he would not try to escape, and yet his heart was full of treachery, his brain occupied in hatching schemes of mutiny. That night a heavy fog sprang up, and the two vessels dare not stay too close together. That was the opportunity. With cat-like tread the captain descended to the cabin, where the English sailors were imprisoned. Lieutenant Tempest had grave suspicions about the man's honesty, and set himself to watch him. From a point of vantage he heard every word, and formed his plans. The prisoners were not placed in irons, and so only the slight barrier of a door stood between them and the freedom of the deck. The night was dark and the fog more dense. It was at three bells, or half-past one in the morning, that the attempt was to be made. Tempest arranged his plans, and to all appearance everything went on as usual. A few minutes before the striking of three bells, three of the crew of the _Lively Bee_ might have been seen creeping cautiously to the top of the companionway. Had any one been there to watch most minutely, he would have seen that each of the three was armed with pistol and marlin-spike. The bells struck, and a man felt his way cautiously up the companionway. He had only just slipped on the deck when a terrific blow from a marlin spike held by Tempest felled him to the deck.