To complete the story of the _Constitution_ and _Java_ fight, it must be told that all but two of the small boats in the two ships had been destroyed--one on each ship remained. Little account is made in the histories of the work of removing the wounded in these two small boats from the _Java_ to the _Constitution_, and this is very likely the proper way to treat the matter. There is enough sorrow in the world at all times without recalling the sorrows long past. But one story of the brave wounded must not be omitted. Among them was Edward Keele, a British midshipman, mortally hurt. He was but thirteen years old, and the _Java_ was his first ship. “He had suffered amputation of a leg, and after the action was over inquired anxiously if the ship had struck. Seeing one of the flags spread over him, he became very uneasy, but being assured that _it was English_, he was satisfied;” and so he died. Among the mortally hurt on the _Constitution_ was Lieutenant John C. Alwyn, already mentioned. He had been wounded in the shoulder in the _Constitution’s_ fight with the _Guerrière_, and had not fully recovered, although able to attend to his duties. As the _Java_ bore down to board the _Constitution_, Alwyn led the men who were called aft on the _Constitution_, and the moment the _Java’s_ jib-boom struck the _Constitution’s_ mizzen-rigging he jumped up on the _Constitution’s_ quarter-deck hammock-netting to repel the enemy. Drawing a pistol, he aimed it at the crowd on the enemy’s forecastle, when a musket ball pierced the same shoulder that had been hurt in the other fight. The shock knocked him back to the deck. Seeing him fall, a marine in the _Constitution’s_ mizzen-top glanced over the crew of the _Java_ until he distinguished an officer. His eyes fell upon Captain Lambert, and, raising his musket, he shot the captain through the left breast. Then the ships drifted apart, but Alwyn refused to leave the deck, and continued at his post as his captain was doing. A few days later, when a strange sail, plainly a man-o’-war, was seen and the ship was cleared for action, Alwyn left his bed and took his post. The ship proved to be the _Constitution’s_ consort, the _Hornet_, but the exertion which Alwyn made at this time brought on an inflammation that ended his life. Captain Lambert was one of the last wounded brought from the _Java_. He was delirious at the time, but eventually recovered consciousness. On learning this, Commodore Bainbridge took the sword of the dying captain in hand, and, supported by two officers (for he was now unable to walk alone), he hobbled to Lambert’s bedside, and placing the weapon in that officer’s hand, told of his pleasure in returning the sword of one who had so bravely and efficiently defended his ship.