e possible that she might be in English hands, the
English often taking French prizes into their own navy, and sending them
to sea again with little or no alteration. Still, George thought it
best to be on the safe side, and he accordingly at once ordered the
_Virginie_ to clear for action, the _Aurora_ being signalled to do the
same, his intention being to attack the frigate, if an enemy, since, as
far as he could make out, she carried only twenty-four guns.

In the meantime, however, the brig and the barque had been discovered by
the frigate, which at once made sail, and manoeuvred in such a manner as
to intercept them.

Bowen, on the other hand, guessing at once what was in the wind, crowded
sail upon the _Aurora_, and soon recovered his position alongside the
_Virginie_, approaching the latter vessel within hailing distance, in
order the better to concert plans for the possible coming engagement.
These were soon arranged, but not before it had become pretty evident,
from the comparatively clumsy handling of the stranger, that she was
indeed French. Their doubts, such as they were, were set at rest when
the frigate had approached within a mile of them, by her hoisting a
tricolour at her gaff-end, and soon afterwards she sent a shot across
their fore-foot as a polite intimation that they would oblige her by
heaving-to.

They, however, did nothing of the kind; a piece of discourtesy which
_so_ preyed upon the French captain's mind that, without more ado, he
bore down upon them, and opened fire from his starboard broadside.

The three ships at that moment formed the three angles of a nearly
equilateral triangle, the sides of which measured each about a quarter
of a mile; the _Virginie_ and the _Aurora_ occupying, as it were, the
two ends of the base, and the Frenchman being at the apex. This allowed
both English ships to attack their enemy on the same side--the
starboard--and compelled the Frenchman to fight them both with only half
his battery. He soon saw how great a disadvantage he laboured under by
this arrangement, and did all he could to get between them. But it was
all to no purpose; George and Bowen were fully as wide-awake as he was,
and they successfully defeated every effort of his in this direction,
principally, it must be confessed, by some lucky shooting on their part,
whereby the Frenchman's spars and rigging were so cut up that the craft
soon became practically unmanageable. At length, after a b