Each hour brought us nearer the battle in which we believed we should win some honor for ourselves, and inflict considerable injury upon the foe, and it was said by his messmates that old Silas slept with one eye open, lest by closing both at the same moment he might lose time in opening them. It is impossible for me to give even a faint idea of the suppressed excitement under which we labored during these long, weary days of waiting! Fancy what a strain it must be on the nerves to know for five days and nights on a stretch that at any moment one might be summoned to do desperate battle for his country--that he might meet his death during the engagement, or at the best come out maimed for life, and some slight idea can be had of our mental condition from the hour of learning that it had become absolutely necessary for the British commodore to leave his hiding-place. On the evening of September 9th, all the officers of the fleet were on board the _Lawrence_, having been summoned by the commander to a consultation for the purpose of deciding whether it might not be wise to attack the enemy’s squadron even while it was under the guns of the fortifications at Malden. The gentlemen were on the quarterdeck, and amidships the crew had gathered, hoping to catch a word now and then which would give them an idea of what might be expected. Then it was that our commodore did that which would have endeared himself to every man in his command, even had he been unfriendly with them up to that time. Alec and I were sitting cross-legged on the deck by Master Boyd’s side, and, thanks to the light of the full moon, could see everything that took place aft. The officers had been excitedly discussing the question of attacking Commodore Barclay while his vessels remained at anchor, when Alec’s brother suddenly unrolled a square, blue banner, on which in letters formed of white cotton, were the words uttered by the gallant commander of the _Chesapeake_:-- “DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP.” “There, gentlemen,” he said, holding the bunting high in the air that all might see it, “there is the flag under which we will go into action, whether on the open lake, or in the harbor of Malden. When this flag is hoisted at the mainroyal masthead, it shall be your signal for opening the engagement. We will meet Commodore Barclay inside of four-and-twenty hours, and when that long-hoped-for moment comes, remember the instructions Nelson gave: ‘If you can lay your enemy close alongside, you cannot be out of your place.’” When he ceased speaking every man of us leaped to his feet as if moved by a spring, and what a round of cheers rent the air! It was a timely vent for the excitement which had kept us in a fever so long, and we yelled until those on the other vessels hailed to know what had set us going. If I could have been in Commodore Perry’s stead, and heard an hundred men or more cheering me in that fashion, it would have been glory enough for one lifetime.