It was one of the brigs to which the gentleman referred; she had been named, by order of the Secretary of the Navy, in honor of the gallant captain of the _Chesapeake_, who gave his life for his country. I would have gone home before endeavoring to find my father, in order that mother need not worry concerning us; but by this time several of the townspeople, overhearing what Alec said, had halted near by, and all of them demanded that we carry our information without delay to Captain Perry, urging that it was of vital importance he should know how matters stood on the North Foreland. Therefore it was that within ten minutes after landing we embarked on the bateau again, and pulled for the opposite shore toward Little Bay, where the _Lawrence_ was lying at anchor. It is not necessary I should repeat what was said during the interview we had with Captain Perry and my father, neither of whom had given much heed to the rumors that an immediate attack was to be made upon Presque Isle. Owing almost solely to the panic among the people, they had put our little fleet in such a state of preparation as was possible, but both understood that if the Britishers were near at hand some word must perforce be brought in advance. Captain Perry questioned us closely concerning what we had seen on the North Foreland, appearing disappointed because we had failed to hear more of the conversation between the soldiers regarding the coming of the vessels which the Britishers expected; and then my father pinned us down to a most careful estimate of the time which had passed since we embarked on the bateau, after which Alec’s brother said:-- “You lads are at liberty until you have made ready to report on board here for duty. Our force is so small that every person, whether man or boy, must be ready to do a full share of such work as may fall to his lot.” Then we two were left to our own devices, and by talking with such members of the brig’s crew as were acquaintances--for we had no idea of going on shore while we might remain aboard the _Lawrence_--we learned what had caused the commotion among the townspeople. It was known even by the sailors that while the Government at Washington had failed to furnish Captain Perry with the force which was needed to man his fleet, orders had come for him to coöperate with General Harrison, although it was absolutely impossible to take even one of the brigs out of the harbor with so small a force. We were told that reliable intelligence had been brought from Malden that the British had a new and powerful vessel there called the _Detroit_, which was ready for service against Presque Isle; also that Captain Robert H. Barclay, who had served with Nelson at Trafalgar, was in command of the fleet known to be cruising along the American shore.