tes, and began kicking away at the hapless
marines and green hands. Larry in a moment leaped to his feet I heard a
savage growl close to me, and just then caught sight of Dan Hoolan's
countenance. Though he was kicked and cuffed, nothing would make him
get up, and I saw him still lying prostrate when I hurried off to gain
the deck.

The ship, struck by a heavy squall, was lying over almost on her
beam-ends; the officers were shouting out their orders through their
speaking-trumpets; the men were hurrying here and there as directed,
some going aloft, others letting fly tacks, and sheets clewing up and
hauling down. Suddenly the buoyant frigate righted herself. It seemed
a wonder that none of the men were jerked overboard. The canvas was
further reduced, and on we went, pounding away into the seas.

Larry was as active as any one. He seemed to have forgotten all about
his sickness. It was the last time, too, that I ever suffered from the
malady, and from that day forward--blow high or blow low--I felt as easy
in my inside as I should on shore. A few spars had been carried away on
board the merchantmen, but, as far as we could see, no other damage had
occurred.

In a couple of days more the gale had completely worn itself out, and
everything went as smoothly as heretofore. We were then within about a
week's sail of the West Indies. The weather was now warm and
pleasant,--sometimes, during a calm, a little too hot.

One morning, just at daybreak, the look-out from the masthead announced
that he saw three sail to windward. The second lieutenant went aloft,
and looked at them with his glass. When he came down he pronounced two
of them to be frigates, and the other a smaller vessel. We threw out
signals to the convoy to keep together, while we and the other two
men-of-war, hauling our wind, stood closer to the strangers. At first
it was supposed that they were English, but their manoeuvres made us
doubt this, and at length they were pronounced decidedly French. That
they intended to pick off some of the merchantmen there could be no
doubt; and this it was our object to prevent.

"Paddy, my boy," said Tom Pim, coming up to me as I stood looking at the
enemy from the quarter-deck, "we shall have some righting before long,
no doubt about that. How do you feel?"

"Mighty pleased, and very ready for it," I answered.

"We're fairly matched, I should think," remarked Tom. "If we could
count the guns of the en