Captain Carpenter parted company, and the "Quebec," steering westward,
was soon out of sight. The next thing to be done was to get the French
frigate to come out from under her protecting batteries to fight. This
seemed no easy matter, for prizes were captured and sent away under her
very nose, and still she did not venture forth. At length, however, on
the memorable evening of the 4th of January, the "Blanche," towing off
another prize in triumph, the "Pique" was seen to follow. The sun went
down. It was the last many a brave man was destined to see. Darkness
had come on, when the French frigate was observed through the gloom
astern. The "Blanche" tacked in chase.

In the solemn hour of midnight, while darkness covered the face of the
deep, the two vessels approached each other, their relative positions
clearly distinguished by the light from the fighting-lanterns which
streamed from their ports. The British crew, mostly stripped to the
waist, stood at their quarters, grim and determined, with the
gun-tackles in hand, eager for the moment to open fire. Pearce was on
the quarterdeck. Young as he was, the whizzing of shots and the
whistling of bullets scarcely made his heart beat quicker than usual,
and yet, as in gloom and silence he waited for the signal when the
bloody strife must commence, he felt an awe creep over him he had never
before experienced. Nearer and nearer the combatants drew to each
other. The "Pique" commenced the fight. The "Blanche" returned her
distant fire; and, after various manoeuvres, the two frigates ranged up
alongside each other and hotly engaged, broadside to broadside, in the
fashion in which British tars have ever delighted. Fiercely the two
crews fought; the French, once having began, proved themselves no
unworthy antagonists. The main and mizen-masts of the "Blanche" fell,
and the French, seizing the moment, ran alongside and attempted to
board. The British crew sprang up to repel them. Among the foremost
was Pearce, with Dick Rogers by his side. With their sharp cutlasses
they drove the Frenchmen back. Again the guns roared as before. Once
more the French ship fell aboard the "Blanche," her bowsprit touching
the latter's capstan. Captain Faulkner hurried to secure it there, for
the "Pique," thus held, was exposed to the raking fire of his frigate.
Among those who flew to assist him were Pearce Ripley and Dick Rogers,
the Frenchman's musketry playing hotly on them. "