Once I beat off with the butt of the musket a man who had a knife so near my heart that the skin was cut ever so slightly, and yet until the battle was over I had no idea the weapon had even penetrated my clothing. At almost the same moment another member of the gang came lurching forward as if bent only on my downfall, and as I wheeled to receive him, swinging the gun sideways because there was no time to raise it above my head, I saw before me the villainous face of Luther Stedman. Then did I understand in a twinkling the meaning of the attack, of the silence which had been preserved throughout the fight, and of the eagerness to put an end to us; but I did not realize at that moment why he had brought so many for so slight a task. As our eyes met I believed the fellow had been searching for me, although one would not have supposed that, on so small a field as the deck of the Swiftsure, he would have been forced to hunt about many seconds. I saw, even amid the gloom, an expression of satisfaction come over his face, and I clutched the musket yet more firmly, supposing he was about to attack me. He proved himself to be the veriest cur, however, for instead of tackling me himself, and we were about evenly matched in respect to weight and height, the cowardly Tory backed to the starboard rail, where he called for some of his following who yet remained in one of the boats alongside, to come aboard that he might show them the one who was to be especially cared for. It seemed therefore that I was the one member of the sloop’s crew Luther Stedman was particularly looking for, and I did not need to be told that if he ever again succeeded in getting me in his power, I would suffer to the full extent of his ability because of having twice got the better of him or his plans. Even at the moment when all was turmoil, and those whom Luther had summoned were coming in over the rail to attack me, I asked myself for the second time how it was he had succeeded in regaining his liberty when common prudence demanded that he be held in custody, at least during such time as we Minute Boys were spying upon the British fleet. As Luther’s hirelings rushed upon me, I yelled, not in the hope of attracting assistance, for I had no idea any were near who would lend us a hand, but to warn my comrades that the Tory was one of the assailants, and it was as if in a twinkling my cries changed the tide of battle. Seth Hartley came up with an answering shout, swinging a paddle which he must have taken from the punt, and with every sweep of his weapon one or more of the enemy were knocked into the water. By this means, and before I had had time to strike a single blow in my own defense, he cleared the deck immediately in front of me, and then, thrusting the paddle into my hands, he seized the musket, running with it into the cabin.