Sennitt was the first to seize the opportunity of counting her
ports, and he it was who announced, loud enough for everybody to hear,
that she showed six guns of a side, making her entire battery heavier
than our own by four guns. "Which makes her a very fair match for us,"
he contentedly remarked.

"We will engage her at close quarters, Mr Sennitt," said the skipper;
"be good enough, therefore, to have every gun double-shotted. Let no
man fire until I give the word; we will wait until we are fairly abreast
of her, and then give her our whole larboard broadside at once. Luff,
you may!" to the master, who had taken the wheel. "Luff, and shave her
as closely as you can, without actually touching her. Steady--so; that
will do very nicely."

As the French ship came up, she fired every gun along her larboard
broadside, commencing from forward, the moment they could be brought to
bear; and the shot came tearing in through our bulwarks, making the
splinters fly in all directions. In my ignorance I expected to see
about half our crew go down before that first discharge, but to my
unbounded surprise not a man was hurt.

The Frenchman was by this time so close that we could not only see with
the utmost distinctness the crew reloading their guns, but could hear
the confused jabber of excited conversation which appeared to be going
on unchecked on board. What a contrast to our own ship, where every man
stood at his post, steady and silent as a statue!

At last the two ships came up fairly abreast of each other, and were
passing so closely that an active man might have jumped from the one to
the other, when the skipper uttered the word "Fire!"

The four guns of our larboard broadside rang out simultaneously, the
concussion of the air causing the two ships to heel outwards; and
through the noise of the explosion I distinctly heard the crashing of
timbers, and the piercing shrieks of the wounded.

"That's one to us; we draw first blood," chuckled a voice behind me; and
I looked round to observe young Harvey, a fellow-mid, rubbing his hands
with an air of great satisfaction.

"Hard up with your helm," exclaimed the skipper; "shiver your main-
topsail and let her wear short round; stand by your guns there on the
starboard broadside, and fire as you bring each to bear."

The effect of this manoeuvre was to lay our ship almost directly athwart
the stern of the Frenchman, and so smartly was it executed that we had
pretty ef