noon
Scarcely did the news reach the deck when , bad as it was before , matters became now ten times worse , some resolving to give themselves up if the chase happened to be French , and vowing that before surrendering the spirit-room should be forced , and every man let drink as he pleased . Others proposed if there were anything like equality in the force , to attack , and convert the captured vessel , if they succeeded , into a slaver , and sail at once for Africa . Some were for blowing up the old ` Brian ' with all on board ; and in fact every counsel that drunkenness , insanity , and crime combined could suggest was offered and descanted on . Meanwhile the chase gained rapidly upon us , and before noon we discovered her to be a French letter-of-marque with four guns and a long brass swivel upon the poop deck . As for us , every sheet of canvas we could crowd was crammed on , but in vain . And as we labored through the heavy sea , our riotous crew grew every moment worse , and sitting down sulkily in groups upon the deck , declared that , come what might , they would neither work the ship nor fight her ; that they had been sent to sea in a rotten craft merely to effect their destruction ; and that they cared little for the disgrace of a flag they detested . Half furious with the taunting sarcasm I heard on every side , and nearly mad from passion , and bewildered , my first impulse was to run among them with my drawn cutlass , and ere I fell their victim , take heavy vengeance upon the ringleaders , when suddenly a sharp booming noise came thundering along , and a round shot went flying over our heads .