d to France for a
couple of years, and would then have had difficulty in crossing to
England; beside, it was painful to him to be with men fighting against
his country, and each prize taken instead of causing delight to him as
to his comrades, would have been a source of pain.

But most of all he thought of his mother, of how she must have grieved
for him as dead, and of the joy there would be at their reunion. The
hours therefore passed quickly, and he could scarcely believe it to be
two o'clock when he suddenly saw the light of a fire far way toward
the end of the island. A glance at the stars showed him that the time
was correct. He rose to his feet, and taking the lantern held it
aloft, then he lowered it behind a bush and twice raised it again. He
knew exactly the direction in which the harbor lay, and no sooner had
he put down the lantern for the third time than three flashes of light
followed in close succession.

He knew that everything would be prepared in the afternoon for the
start. Orders had been issued before he left that the oars of the
boats were to be muffled, that the chains at the entrance of the
channel were to be removed, and the ships got in a position, with
shortened cables, for a start. He could picture to himself, as he
stood there gazing into the darkness, that the men would be already in
the boats awaiting his signal, and as soon as it was seen they would
begin to tow the vessels out of the harbor.

During the daytime the frigate cruised backward and forward under easy
sail some two miles off the entrance; but the sailors believed that at
night she came very much closer to the shore, the lookout with
night-glasses having reported that she had been seen once or twice
within a quarter of a mile of the entrance to the channel.

Half an hour passed without any sign that the frigate was aware that
the ships were leaving the harbor; then Ralph heard the sound of a
distant musket-shot, followed by several others, and had no doubt that
one of the frigate's boats on watch near the channel had discovered
them.

A few minutes later there was a flash some distance out at sea,
followed after an interval by the deep boom of a gun; then came a
broadside, followed by a steady fire of heavy guns. These were
evidently fired on board the frigate, no answering sounds from the
French ships meeting his ear. He could see by the direction of the
flashes that the frigate was under way. The firing continued for t