They were not perceived until the British, thinking
themselves safe and the ruse successful, gave a derisive cheer at
the fort under whose guns they had passed. In avoiding Fort
McHenry, however, they had fallen under the guns of the fort at
the Lazaretto, on the opposite side of the channel. This fort,
opening fire, so crippled the daring vessels that some of them
had to be towed out in their hasty retreat.
From midnight till morning Key could know nothing of the fortunes
of the fight. At such close quarters a dense smoke enveloped
both the ships and the fort, and added to the blackness of the
night.
After the failure to ascend the north branch of the Patapsco, the
firing slackened. Now and then a sullen and spiteful gun shot
its flame from the side of a British vessel. Key, pacing the
deck of the cartel ship, to which he had been transferred, could
not guess the cause of this. The slackened fire might mean the
success of the land attack, in which case it would not have been
necessary to waste any more powder on the fort. Again, it might
be that the infernal rain of shells had dismantled the little
fort itself, and the enemy was only keeping up a precautionary
fire until daylight enabled him to take possession.
The long hours were nearly unbearable. Key had seen the fate of
Washington, and anticipated the fate of Baltimore.
At seven the suspense was unrelaxed. The firing from the fleet
ceased. The large ships loomed indistinct and silent in the
mist.
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