enting the hilt of his sword. "There lies the first
lieutenant, and there the second, and I, the third, am in command."

"I return your sword to as brave a man as I can ever hope to meet. You
have fought your ship with the greatest gallantry. Englishmen cannot
desire to encounter more noble foes," said Captain Moubray, returning
the sword, which the lieutenant, taking, sheathed with a deep sigh.

Indeed, out of a crew of between four and five hundred men, upwards of a
hundred had been killed, and nearly the same number wounded, while the
frigate's hull was fearfully shattered, her bulwarks were torn away--she
was a mere wreck.

Captain Moubray, returning to his ship, sent a prize crew on board under
the command of Mr Jager, the second lieutenant, who had with him Lord
Reginald, Voules, and Paddy Logan, and forty men, Richard Hargrave being
among the number.

It was no easy matter to clear the ships, so firmly had the _Wolf's_
anchor hooked on through the _Thesbe's_ port. It was at last, however,
freed. Scarcely had the two ships separated, than down came the
_Thesbe's_ foremast, narrowly escaping falling across the bows of the
_Wolf_.

In an action lasting the best part of six hours, the _Wolf_ herself had
suffered severe damage. The third lieutenant, the second lieutenant of
marines, a midshipman, and ten seamen were killed, and nearly fifty
officers and men wounded.

She had lost her mizzenmast, and her other masts and several of her
yards were injured. Her sails and rigging were cut to pieces. So
numerous were the shot-holes in her hull, that the carpenter and his
mates were unable to stop them until she had three and a half feet of
water in her hold. A portion of her diminished crew was sent to the
pumps, while every officer, man and boy, was employed in fishing the
masts and spars, knotting and splicing the rigging, and shifting the
sails. The two ships lay close together, drifting with the tide. The
prize was won, but it was a question whether she would be kept. They
were close in with the French coast; and should any other of the enemy's
ships be in the neighbourhood, it was certain that they would be sent to
look after the combatants. Mr Jager and his prize crew had work enough
to do to keep the _Thesbe_ afloat, to heave the dead overboard, to
attend to the wounded. The surgeons laboured away all night in
amputating arms and legs, and binding up the limbs of those most
injured. Not only was