I became as wildly delirious with joy and pride as I had been during the turmoil of battle, and, waving the ramrod of the musket above my head, I cried triumphantly to the lads who were still pouring lead into the red-coats: "Who shall say now that we haven't the right to call ourselves Minute Boys, and to take our stand side by side with the men at Cambridge?" Half a dozen of the lads cheered wildly, after which they again devoted their attention to the human targets, while Hiram cried as he swung the tiller down, willing now to give the lobster backs a chance to run away: "You have done your work like little men, and when we gain port my first act will be to ask that I may be permitted to enroll myself among the Minute Boys of Boston, rather than with the company to which I now belong." Hiram said that "we had done our work," and indeed he was right, for the battle, and truly it may be called such, was over so far as the Britishers were concerned. They were now putting forth every effort to wear ship in order that they might get out of our way, and never one of those fancifully dressed soldiers of the king had fired a shot during the past three minutes. Had we been blood-thirsty, or, perhaps I may say, had we become hardened to warfare, we might have shot down every last one of them before they could get beyond our line of fire; but we lads did not have the heart to shoot down human beings who were simply struggling to escape, no matter what crime they might have committed against us. In fact, once the musketry fire had ceased and we were given time to see how much of injury had been inflicted upon the Minute Boys, I for one lost all stomach for further fighting. It was sickening to stand where I did well aft, and look along the deck where were four of our fellows lying upon the planks as if lifeless, while as many more had a bandaged arm or leg telling of wounds which did not quench their ardor in the effort to prove themselves worthy of standing against the king's men as defenders of the Cause. As I have said, Hiram allowed the sloop to come well before the wind, thus giving the schooner's crew an opportunity to put about as they were so eager to do, and finally when she was brought on a course which would carry her past Noddle island to the passage eastward of the Charlestown shore, they clapped on all sail, having had such a bellyful of the medicine dealt out by us Minute Boys as to make them anxious only to get under cover.