It was followed by a hubbub of shouts, then muskets flashed out
from the decks, and almost immediately came the sounds of conflict.
A blue light was struck on the deck of one of the privateers and,
by its light, those on shore could obtain a view of the conflict.
The boats had boarded from the shore side. Two of them lay
alongside each of the privateers, and the crews could be seen
climbing up by the chains and leaping down upon the decks.

"They deserve to be taken," the captain said. "They have not even
triced up their boarding nets."

A confused medley of sounds came to the shore; with the shouts of
the French sailors were mingled the clash of cutlasses and the
crack of pistols. The British sailors fought, for the most part,
silently. On the heights above, blue lights were burning in the
battery, and men could be seen standing on its crest watching the
combat below, but powerless to assist their friends.

It was but five minutes after the outbreak of the combat when a
loud British cheer, followed by a dead silence, showed that one, at
least, of the privateers had been captured. The fighting still
continued on the deck of the other craft but, from the vessel that
had been captured, a number of sailors leapt down into one of their
boats, and rowed to the assistance of their comrades. The
reinforcements apparently decided the issue of the fight, for in a
couple of minutes the British cheer was again heard, and the blue
light was promptly extinguished, as were all the other lights on
both vessels. Scarcely was this done when the guns from the battery
boomed out.

"It is of no use their firing," the captain said. "I don't think
they can depress the guns enough to bear upon them.

"There, they are making sail!" he went on, as the creaking of
blocks was heard. "Of course they have cut the cables. They would
not waste time in getting up anchors, with the forts playing upon
them. However, it is mere waste of powder and shot on such a night
as this. I don't suppose the gunners can make them out, now; for a
certainty they won't be able to do so, as soon as they have moved
off another quarter of a mile. Of course a stray shot may hit them,
but practically it is all over.

"I think that we can go on board again. I did not think of it
before, but they would hardly set fire to us, for the light would
enable the gunners to see them till they were a long way out.

"There is no doubt those Englishmen can fight. Our men are a