hile still too far away for point-blank range, the Ariadne's guns began
upon the French ships distinguishable by their shape and their colours.
Before the first shot was fired, however, Dyck made a tour of the decks
and gave some word of cheer to the men, The Ariadne lost no time in
getting into the thick of the fight. The seamen were stripped to the
waist, and black silk handkerchiefs were tightly bound round their heads
and over their ears.

What the French thought of the coming of the Ariadne was shown by the
reply they made presently to her firing. The number of French ships in
action was greater than the British by six, and the Ariadne arrived just
when she could be of greatest service. The boldness of her seamanship,
and the favour of the wind, gave her an advantage which good fortune
helped to justify.

As she drew in upon the action, she gave herself up to great danger;
she was coming in upon the rear of the French ships, and was subject
to fierce attack. To the French she seemed like a fugitive warrior
returning to his camp just when he was most needed, as was indeed the
case. Two of her shots settled one of the enemy's vessels; and before
the others could converge upon her, she had crawled slowly up against
the off side of the French admiral's ship, which was closely engaged
with the Beatitude, the British flagship, on the other side.

The canister, chain-shot, and langrel of the French foe had caused much
injury to the Ariadne, and her canvas was in a sore plight. Fifty of her
seamen had been killed, and a hundred and fifty were wounded by the time
she reached the starboard side of the Aquitaine. She would have lost
many more were it not that her onset demoralized the French gunners,
while the cheers of the British sailors aboard the Beatitude gave
confidence to their mutineer comrades.

On his own deck, Dyck watched the progress of the battle with the joy
of a natural fighter. He had carried the thing to an almost impossible
success. There had only been this in his favour, that his was an
unexpected entrance--a fact which had been worth another ship at least.
He saw his boarders struggle for the Aquitaine. He saw them discharge
their pistols, and then resort to the cutlass and the dagger; and
the marines bringing down their victims from the masts of the French
flag-ship.

Presently he heard the savagely buoyant shouts of the Beatitude men,
and he realized that, by his coming, the admiral of the French f