Nature was in one of her most smiling moods, as
these men with set faces, and hearts throbbing with the mingled
emotions of fear and excitement, stood silent at their guns, or worked
busily at the ropes of the great war-ships.

As soon as he became convinced of the character of the two English
ships, Jones beat his crew to quarters, and signalled his consorts to
form in line of battle. The people on the "Richard" went cheerfully to
their guns; and though the ship was extremely short-handed, and
crowded with prisoners, no voice was raised against giving immediate
battle to the enemy. The actions of the other vessels of the American
fleet, however, gave little promise of any aid from that quarter. When
the enemy was first sighted, the swift-sailing "Alliance" dashed
forward to reconnoitre. As she passed the "Pallas," Landais cried out,
that, if the stranger proved to be a forty-four, the only course for
the Americans was immediate flight. Evidently the result of his
investigations convinced him that in flight lay his only hope of
safety; for he quickly hauled off, and stood away from the enemy. The
"Vengeance," too, ran off to windward, leaving the "Richard" and the
"Pallas" to bear the brunt of battle.

It was by this time quite dark, and the position of the ships was
outlined by the rows of open port-holes gleaming with the lurid light
of the battle-lanterns. On each ship rested a stillness like that of
death itself. The men stood at their guns silent and thoughtful. Sweet
memories of home and loved ones mingled with fearful anticipations of
death or of mangling wounds in the minds of each. The little lads
whose duty in time of action it was to carry cartridges from the
magazine to the gunners had ceased their boyish chatter, and stood
nervously at their stations. Officers walked up and down the decks,
speaking words of encouragement to the men, glancing sharply at
primers and breechings to see that all was ready, and ever and anon
stooping to peer through the porthole at the line of slowly moving
lights that told of the approach of the enemy. On the quarter-deck,
Paul Jones, with his officers about him, stood carefully watching the
movements of the enemy through a night glass, giving occasionally a
quiet order to the man at the wheel, and now and then sending an agile
midshipman below with orders to the armorer, or aloft with orders for
the sharp-shooters posted in the tops.

As the night came on, the wind died away