"God, Our Country, and Liberty; Tyrants Offend Them." Our crew was at quarters, Phil and I among the rest, with the officers in fighting trim on the quarter-deck, and I heard little Midshipman Farragut say to one of the lieutenants:-- "This time we've got them, and we'll show how Yankees fight!" I took a fancy to the lad from that moment, although I had seen but little of him previous to this last visit at Valparaiso; and even though he was a Spaniard by birth, it did not surprise me to hear him claim to be a Yankee, although he had no right to the name save by grace of his adopted father, our commander. The crew cheered lustily when the _Phoebe_ stood her ground until we were within range, and every man was worked up to the highest pitch of excitement as the order was given for us to let fly a broadside. The cheers were changed to groans and yells a moment later, however, for the Britisher, instead of returning our fire, ran down and joined her consort. After that, even Master Hackett allowed there must be a strain of cowardly blood in the make-up of Captain Hillyar. Once more I set down what another[4] has written, this time concerning the trick the Britisher played us that day:-- "This conduct excited a good deal of feeling among the officers of the _Essex_, who rightly judged that the challenge should not have been given if it was not the intention of the enemy to engage singly. Taking all these circumstances in connection, there can be little question that Captain Hillyar had been positively instructed not to fight the _Essex_ alone, if he could possibly avoid it. As he bore the character of a good and brave officer, it is not easy to find any other reasonable solution of the course he pursued. His challenge off the port was probably intended as a ruse to get the _Essex_ into his power; for demonstrations of this nature are not subject to the severe laws which regulate more precise defiances to combat." Well, we went back to our anchorage again, not in the best of spirits, for we believed firmly that we could whip the _Phoebe_ in a fair fight, and every man jack among us, including several of the officers, had harsh words in his mouth regarding the British captain, Hillyar. Within a very few days after this Captain Porter learned that other English frigates were working their way up to Valparaiso; and when the blockade should be stronger, it was almost positive both our ships would fall prizes to the enemy. All this we heard from the marines, as a matter of course, and finally they brought that information which aroused us to the highest pitch once more. It was said by these eavesdroppers that there had been a consultation of officers in Captain Porter's cabin, and it had been decided that we bend all our energies to giving the _Essex Junior_ an opportunity of escape, while we would remain and take the brunt of the fight.