"Vincent, pass one half of the men on board of the cutter," said Mr.
Pennant, when he had looked over the boat and the men on board of it.
The quartermaster obeyed the order, and four of the party were placed
in the bow and stern sheets of the cutter. Six oarsmen were directed
to take their places on the thwarts. The lieutenant retained his place
in the stern sheets, which he had not left during the affray or the
conference. Three seamen, with a pistol in one hand and a cutlass in the
other, were directed to remain on board of the sloop; but the party had
been disarmed, and their muskets were in the bottom of the cutter, and
they were not likely to attempt any resistance. The painter of the sloop
was made fast to the stern of the Bronx's boat, and Mr. Pennant gave the
order for the crew to give way.
It had been a battle on a small scale, but the victory had been won, and
the cutter was towing her prize in the direction of the gunboat. The
lieutenant's first care was to attend to Hilton, the stroke oarsman who
had been wounded in the affair. He placed him in a comfortable position
on the bottom of the boat, and then examined into his condition.
A bullet had struck him in the right side, and the blood was flowing
freely from the wound.
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