opsail yard having been
shot away, the latter in the slings.

The three vessels now went at it, hammer and tongs, the brigantine being
for the moment fairly under the frigate's guns. But Winter soon very
cleverly got himself out of this awkward situation, and,--while the
Frenchmen were busily engaged in an endeavour to clear away the wreck
and get their ship once more before the wind,--laid himself athwart
their bows and, with his topsail aback, poured broadside after broadside
into the helpless craft; while the _Dolphin_, gliding hither and
thither, beyond the reach of the frigate's guns, sent home an eighteen-
pound shot every two or three minutes, every one of which appeared to
tell somewhere or other on the Frenchman's hull. We now ran away from
them, fast, however, and by noon had lost sight of them altogether.
But, when last seen, they were still hammering away at each other, the
brigantine and schooner appearing to be getting rather the best of it.

Once fairly out of sight of the combatants, we took in our studding-
sails, and hauled our wind to the northward, in obedience to Captain
Winter's orders; and although I had a sharp look-out for the _Dolphin_
and her consort maintained throughout the whole of the next day, I was
not greatly surprised at their not heaving in sight. I had not much
misgiving as to the ultimate result of the fight; but I believed that
the brigantine at least would not get off without a rather severe
mauling, in which case the schooner would naturally stand by her until
she could be again put into decent workable trim.

The fourth day after the fight dawned without bringing us a sight of our
consorts, and I then began to feel rather uneasy; fearing that they had
probably missed us, somehow, and that we should have to make our way
home as best we could, unprotected; and to enter the English Channel
just then, unprotected, meant almost certain capture. For although the
Indiaman was certainly armed, after a fashion, most of her guns were
"quakers", while the others--ten in all--were only six-pounders; and it
would need the whole of her crew to work her only, under her awkward
jury-rig, with no one to spare for fighting. However, it was useless to
meet trouble half-way; so I determined to plod steadily onward and
homeward, hoping for the best. Hitherto, ever since the day of our
meeting with the Frenchman, we had experienced moderate but steady
breezes from the northward and eastward,