WUXIAM AND MARY.

235

men, and used his guns with great effect. At length the littlesquadron came to the place of peril. Then the Mountjoy took -the lead, and went right at the boom. The huge barricadecracked and gave way: but the shock was such that theMountjoy rebounded, and stuck in the mud. A yell of triumphrose from the banks: the Irish rushed to their boats, and werepreparing to board; but the Dartmouth poured on them a welldirected broadside, which threw them into disorder. Just thenthe Phoenix dashed at the breach which the Mountjoy hadmade, and was in a moment within the fence. Meantime thetide was rising fast. The Mountjoy began to move, and soonpassed safe through the broken stakes and floating spars. Buther brave master was no more. A shot from one of the batterieshad struck him; and he died by the most enviable of all deaths,in sight of the city which was his birthplace, which was hishome, and which had just been saved by his courage and self-devotion from the most frightful form of destruction. Thenight had closed in before the conflict at the boom began; butthe flash of the guns was seen, and the noise heard, by the leanand ghastly multitude which covered the walls of the city.When the Mountjoy grounded, and when the shout of triumphrose from the Irish on both sides of the river, the hearts of thebesieged died within them. One who endured the unutterableanguish of that moment has told us that they looked fearfullylivid in each other’s eyes. Even after the barricade had beenpassed, there was a terrible half hour of suspense. It was teno’clock before the ships arrived at the quay. The whole popu-lation was there to welcome them. A screen made of casksfilled with earth was hastily thrown up to protect the landingplace from the batteries on the other side of the river; and thenthe work of unloading began. First were rolled on shorebarrels containing six thousand bushels of meal. Then camegreat cheeses, casks of beef, flitches of bacon, kegs of butter,

CHAP.

XII.

IISU9.