Night closed in on us, and the usual answer was given to the watch below
by those who had come off deck, "Not a sign of a sail in sight." The
next morning the sun arose out of his ocean bed brighter even than is
his wont in that bright clime, first lighting up the topmost heights of
the mountains with a roseate tinge, while a purple hue still lay spread
over the calm ocean. As usual, officers and men were going aloft, with
telescopes over their shoulders, to take a look round for the enemy,
when, as the sun rose higher, a shout of satisfaction burst from many a
throat, for there lay, well in with the land, their white canvas shining
brightly in his beams, the French frigates of which we were in search.
The wind came off the land, and we were far to leeward. They thus had
greatly the advantage of us. We did our utmost, however, to beat up to
them. Every sail that could draw was set, and we continued to tack and
tack hour after hour, hoping to reach them, and that some fortunate
shift of wind would give us the weather gauge and enable us to choose
our own time for action. As I went along the decks I was struck by the
bold and determined appearance of the men as they stood at their
quarters, stripped to the waist, and mostly with handkerchiefs of many
colours tied round their heads. The costume was appropriate, for the
heat was excessive, besides which, sailors know well that the suffering
is much less, should they be wounded, if no pieces of cloth are carried
into the body with the shot. They were chatting and laughing, and many
of them were cutting all sorts of jokes. I had volunteered to serve as
the captain's aide-de-camp, to carry messages for him to any part of the
ship, or to assist the surgeons in the cockpit.

"You would do good service on deck, and I respect your feeling in
offering to be there," he answered; "but you are a non-combatant. You
have nothing to gain by exposing your life. You will therefore oblige
me by performing the far more painful task of assisting the surgeons."

I bowed with a feeling of disappointment at my heart, which I probably
exhibited.

He smiled and said, "It is possible, after all, that there may be very
little employment for your talents."

There was a shout on the upper deck, taken speedily up by the men on the
main deck. The enemy were seen bearing down on us. On they came,
nearer and nearer. Where we lay it had fallen a perfect calm, and our
sails kept flapping a