ad not the purser sprang forward and caught him. Directly
afterwards, the latter, summoning two men, the captain was carried
below.

On this, Captain Drury, shouting, "Keep at it, my lads! We'll beat them
off yet!" took his place, and issued the necessary orders.

Again the Frenchmen ranged up as before,--one on our beam and the other
on our quarter,--and made another attempt to board. Captain Drury,
leading our men on the starboard side, while our first lieutenant
commanded those on the other, drove them back, many falling dead on our
deck and others overboard. In a few minutes we again separated.

For four hours the action had continued (it appeared to me to be much
longer), when, as the smoke from the guns cleared away, I saw that day
was breaking.

As it showed the enemy more clearly than before our shattered and weak
condition, I could not help fearing that they would again renew the
attack, with every prospect of success.

From the numbers of the poor fellows who had been carried below wounded,
and the many who lay stretched dead on the deck in all directions, I
fancied that we must have lost half of our crew, while it seemed to me
that at any moment our shattered spars would come tumbling down on deck.
The fore-topmast hung over the bows, the main-yard was nearly cut in
two, and not a sail remained whole. Still Captain Drury and the other
officers went about encouraging the men to persevere.

When daylight increased, however, and we saw our two antagonists in
comparison to our ship but slightly injured, we knew how desperate was
our condition, yet our men stood sturdily to their guns, and blazed away
as they could be brought to bear.

While watching the two frigates, I observed signals exchanged between
them, and almost immediately afterwards, to our astonishment, they
hauled their tacks aboard, and stood away from us. Our nearly exhausted
crew, on seeing this, cheered again and again.

"We must not be too sure that they don't intend to come back again when
they have repaired damages, and renew the fight," said Nettleship to me.

"We will hope for the best, and if they do, try to beat them off again,"
I answered.

"That's the right spirit, Paddy," said Nettleship. "Please Heaven, we
shall do so."

"Hurrah! hurrah! We've licked the Frenchmen," I heard Larry shouting.
"Give them another cheer, boys! Hurrah! hurrah!" and the men round him
joined in his hurrahs.

The men were still allowed to