McAllister, as he went from gun to gun,
pointing one, lending a hand to run out another, or to load a third.

Still the gallant Frenchmen fought on. They were very unlike old
Pinchard and his men; but there was this difference, they were sailors,
whereas the others were soldiers, and it was the _mal de mer_ in that
instance deserved the credit of the victory more than we did. This
close firing soon got our blood up, and I now felt anxious to run the
enemy aboard, that we might be at them with our cutlasses. I have not
often found Frenchmen foolhardy: they know when they are beaten.
Englishmen don't, and so sometimes stumble against all rule into
victory. Just as Perigal had ordered Bambrick to put the helm to
starboard, to run the enemy aboard, the French captain hauled down his
flag, and, coming to the gangway, made us a profound bow, as an
additional sign that he had struck. We immediately ceased firing, and
as our boats had escaped damage, one was lowered, and McAllister and I
went on board to take possession. We had certainly contrived in a short
hour considerably to spoil the beauty of the French schooner, and
dreadfully to diminish the number of her crew. Her brave captain and
most of his officers were wounded, and six men were killed and ten
wounded. Her captain received us on the quarter-deck, where he stood
ready to deliver his sword with the greatest politeness, as if it was
really a pleasant act he was performing, and assured us that it was the
fortune de la guerre, and that he had learnt to yield to fortune without
a murmur.

"He really is one of the pleasantest Frenchmen I have ever met,"
observed McAllister. "We must treat him with all consideration."

Curiously enough, this remark of my messmate kept continually running in
my head, and I could not help repeating it. We had plenty to do to bury
the dead, wash the decks, repair the masts, and spars, and bulwarks, and
to splice the rigging, and bend fresh sails. McAllister was directed to
go as prize-master, and I with Bambrick, Foley and four other hands
accompanied him; some of the French crew were removed on board the
Espoir, but the captain, two officers, and eight men remained with us as
prisoners.

Perigal had, in fact, already, more prisoners than his own crew now
mustered. Our new prize was the Audacieuse, a larger vessel and better
armed than the Espoir. By nightfall we had made great progress in
getting the prize to rights, and as