the _President_, hailed the sloop and asked:

"What sloop is that?"

A cannon-shot was his reply.

"Captain Ludlow," said the commodore, "we will teach that fellow good
manners. Are your guns in order?"

"They are."

"We have been taught a lesson by Barron's mishap. Train the guns and be
ready to fire."

With a speaking trumpet, the commodore once more hailed the sloop with:

"What sloop is that?"

This time he was greeted with a broadside.

"Fire!" cried the commodore, and the cannon of the _President_ sent a
broadside of heavy shot against the impudent stranger.

The conflict lasted only about ten minutes, when Captain Bingham, after
losing eleven killed and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory answer.
The vessels parted company, the _Little Belt_ sailing for Halifax
for repairs.

It was in the year 1809 that the American brig _Dover_, one of the few
of American merchant vessels which had managed to escape the ruin of