Hero tales of the far North . en, after the attack onStromstad, he was hastening home to Co-penhagen. Crossing the Kattegat in a littlesmack that carried but two three-poundguns, he was chased and overtaken by aSwedish frigate of sixteen guns and a crewof sixty men. Tordenskjold had but twenty-one, and eight of them were servants andnon-combatants. They were dreadfullyfrightened, and tradition has it that one ofthem wept when he saw the Swede comingon. Her captain called upon him to sur-render, but the answer was flung back : I am Tordenskjold ! Come and takeme, if you can. With that came a ti
Hero tales of the far North . en, after the attack onStromstad, he was hastening home to Co-penhagen. Crossing the Kattegat in a littlesmack that carried but two three-poundguns, he was chased and overtaken by aSwedish frigate of sixteen guns and a crewof sixty men. Tordenskjold had but twenty-one, and eight of them were servants andnon-combatants. They were dreadfullyfrightened, and tradition has it that one ofthem wept when he saw the Swede comingon. Her captain called upon him to sur-render, but the answer was flung back : I am Tordenskjold ! Come and takeme, if you can. With that came a tiny broadside thatdid brisk execution on the frigate. Tor-denskjold had hauled both his guns overon the fighting side of his vessel. Thereensued a battle such as Homer would haveloved to sing. Both sides banged away forall they were worth. In the midst of thedin and smoke Tordenskjold used his musketwith cool skill ; his servants loaded while hefired. At every shot a man fell on the frig-ate. Word was brought that there was no. A KNIGHT ERRANT OF THE SKA 23 more round shot. lie bade them twistup his pewter dinner service and fire that,which they did. The Swede tried vainlyto board. Tordenskjold manoeuvred hissmack with such skill that they could nothook on. Seeing this, Captain Lind, com-mander of the frigate, called to him to desistfrom the useless struggle; he would behonored to carry such a * prisoner intoGoteborg. Back came the taunt: Neither you nor any other Swede shallever carry me there ! And with that heshot the captain When his men saw him fall, they wereseized with panic and made off as quicklyas they could, while Tordenskjolds crew,of whom only fourteen were left, beat theirdrums and blew trumpets in frantic captain was for following the Swedeand boarding her, but he couldnt. Sails,rigging, and masts were shot to the terror of the Swedes was in-creased by the sight of Tordenskjolds tamebear making faces at them behind his mas-ter.
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Keywords: ., bookauthorriisjaco, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookyear1910
