Page:The Hessians and the other German auxiliaries of Great Britain in the revolutionary war.djvu/260

 236 of Delaware were in sight. Knowing now exactly where they were, the crew of the Triton put out to sea again, to keep out of the way of privateers. The wind was fair, and the Hessians hoped to see Sandy Hook in forty-eight hours. The morning of the 26th was fine. At daybreak two sails were seen in the distance. Wiederhold sprang joyfully into the cabin and reported the sight to the lieutenant-colonel and the other officers. All dressed and hurried on deck, hoping that these were ships sent out from New York to cruise before the harbor, or to assist vessels injured in the late storm. The strange sail, which were to windward, bore down on the Triton, and proved to be a schooner and a sloop. “But oh! how were our hopes betrayed!” cries Wiederhold; “for when they came near and hoisted their flags of thirteen stripes, our joy was turned into sorrow.” The schooner carried fourteen guns and was called the Mars. The sloop, named the Comet, carried ten guns, and was commanded by Captain Decatur. By eight o'clock in the morning they were alongside of the Triton. They ordered the master of the latter to lower one sail and bind the helm to starboard. Then each privateer sent an officer and five men aboard, and the Mars took the Triton in tow, and brought her into Barnegat Inlet, where she was anchored. The Mars, which had taken on board the master and several seamen from the Triton, presently got among the breakers and capsized. Only two of her crew were drowned, but all had to swim for it. This happened within two gun-shots of the place where the Triton lay at anchor. The captain of the