broadside,
she hauled down her colours and hailed that she surrendered. The word
was at once passed to cease firing, and the battle ended, for which I,
at any rate, was not at all sorry; for there had been moments when it
appeared to me as though we were both bent upon emulating the famous
Kilkenny cats, who fought until nothing but their tails remained!

Now came the task of taking possession of the prize. Investigation
revealed the fact that, out of all our boats, only two were in a fit
state for immediate service, namely, the second cutter and the Captain's
gig, the others having been all more or less damaged by the enemy's
shot; the skipper therefore ordered the former to be lowered, directing
Mr Percival, the third lieutenant, to go away in her, taking with him
as many men as she would carry.

"Mr Delamere," continued Captain Vavassour, "you had better accompany
Mr Percival, bringing back the boat with a couple of hands as soon as
you have obtained all the essential information. Be as quick as you
can, if you please, because I want to be off after those other two
craft."

"Ay, ay, sir," answered I, as I turned away to go below and fetch my
dirk; and a couple of minutes later we were clear of the _Europa_ and
pulling away toward the Dutchman, the skipper's injunction to me to
hurry being emphasised by the fact that as I passed through the gangway
I caught sight of the carpenter and his mates busily engaged upon the
task of routing out a new topmast from among the assortment of spare
spars that we carried. Meanwhile the other two craft of which the
skipper had spoken, and which had all the appearance of being Dutch
Indiamen under the convoy of the frigate, had hauled their wind as soon
as the action began, and were now some four miles dead to windward,
heading about North-West, and cracking on with the evident intention of
getting out of sight, if possible, before we could repair damages
sufficiently to proceed in pursuit.

Five minutes sufficed us to span the narrow stretch of water that
separated us from our late antagonist; and upon climbing the side we
were received at the gangway by an officer of some twenty-five years of
age, whose head was swathed in a blood-stained bandage, and who handed
his sword to Percival with a dignified bow. This officer, who spoke
English quite well, informed us that the ship which we had captured was
the Dutch frigate _Gelderland_, of forty guns, homeward-bound from the
Ea