he duties and the berth of the
unfortunate Cross; George thus finding his crew reduced to three men,
the officers included, and one lad in each watch, the cook and steward
of course being "idlers," and their services in the working of the ship
only to be demanded on occasions of exceptional urgency.

On the day but one following that of the impressment of the _Aurora's_
men, a gun was fired at sunrise by the commodore, blue-peter was hoisted
at the fore-royal-mastheads, and the fore-topsails were loosed on board
the ships of the convoying squadron, and the still morning air
immediately began to resound with the songs of seamen and the clanking
of windlass-pawls, as the fleet of merchantmen constituting the convoy
began to get under weigh. There was a considerable amount of emulation
displayed among the merchant-skippers--those of them, at least, whose
ships or crews had any pretensions to smartness, and in half an hour a
good many of the craft were under weigh and standing out to sea with a
light air of wind from the eastward. The old _Tremendous_, 74, led the
van, closely followed by the _Torpid_, 50; while the frigates
_Andromeda_ and _Vixen_, each of 32 guns, assisted by the _Dasher_,
_Grampus_, _Throstle_, and _Mallard_, 10-gun-brigs, cruised round and
round the laggards, making signals, firing guns, and generally creating
a great deal of fuss, noise, and excitement. The leading portion of the
fleet was hove-to, hull-down, at sea, before the last craft in the
convoy had succeeded in getting her anchor and making a start; but by
noon the whole of the fleet was fairly in the Channel, when the
_Tremendous_ made the signal to fill, and away they all went, bowling
along to the southward and westward, the dull sailers under every rag
they could spread to the wind--now settled into a fine steady
royal-breeze from east-south-east, while the smarter craft were
compelled to show only such a spread of canvas as would enable the
dullards to keep pace with them. The _Tremendous_ and _Torpid_, under
double-reefed topsails, led the way about two miles apart; the frigates
were posted, one to windward and one to leeward of the merchant-fleet,
and the brigs brought up the rear, it being their duty to whip-in the
stragglers, urge on the slow-coaches, and keep a sharp lookout for
prowling privateers.

The English coast was still faintly visible, like a light grey cloud, on
the horizon astern, when a strange sail was sighted on the