choked by lead that was poured into them. This was probably done by
French agents in Sicily.

At the beginning of hostilities, the Tripolitans placed great reliance
upon their ability to fight at close quarters. Undeniably, they did
better in such position than in handling their ships. They had all the
viciousness of wild cats, and it has been shown how fiercely they fought
in hand-to-hand encounters; but their experience with the Americans
taught them that they were to be dreaded in any situation where their
anger was aroused, and, as a consequence, the Turks became less eager
for tests of individual strength, skill and bravery.




CHAPTER X.

The Bomb Ketch--A Terrible Missile--Frightful Catastrophe--Diplomacy in
Place of War--Peace.


Whenever a war is under way a number of persons on each side are certain
to come forward with ingenious schemes for injuring their opponents,
through improvements upon the accepted methods of conducting
hostilities. So it came about, after the slight success attained in
bombarding Tripoli, that a plan was formulated for creating
consternation in the blockaded city and bringing the defiant Bashaw to
his senses.

The new scheme was to fix up the _Intrepid_ as a bomb ketch, send her