began to
fancy that after all a sea-fight was not so terrible an affair as I had
supposed, and that possibly we and the Frenchmen might part without
doing much harm to each other. I had been standing near a fine young
fellow, Jem Martin by name, captain of a gun, who had for some time past
been cutting, with more than ordinary humour, numbers of jokes on the
enemy. I was struck by his bold attitude and thoroughly sailor-like
look. His bright blue eye beamed with life and animation. I had turned
my head away from him when a shot whistled by, and I heard a piercing
shriek, such as a strong man utters but once, wrung from his bosom by
mortal agony. I looked round, and on the deck lay the shattered body of
a human being. There were a few spasmodic movements of the limbs, and
all that remained of Jem Martin was the mangled corpse at my feet. I
shuddered, for I could not help feeling that such as he was I might now
have been.

The event seemed to affect his shipmates but little; another seaman took
his place, and the gun was loaded, run out, and fired. The fact was
that they had no time just then for thought or the indulgence of
feeling. The enemy's shot now came thicker and thicker; many went
through the sails, others wounded the masts and spars and cut away the
rigging, and several more of our men were hit. As soon as they were
carried below, I followed, to assist the surgeon in attending to their
wounds. I had long before this forgotten all about the danger to which
I was myself exposed, but I could not forget that I had a young brother
on board who might any moment be numbered among the killed or wounded.
It seemed to me, indeed, that we were getting so much the worst of it,
that I began to dread that the flag of England might have to strike to
that of France. The idea was not a pleasant one; it was not, however,
shared in by others on board.

After we had received a pretty severe battering for the space of two
hours, the breeze got up, and the Frenchmen hauled off to repair
damages. On seeing this the rage of our men became very great, and they
cried out to the officers that they might be allowed to go after them.
As the enemy were to windward this was not easily to be done, and we had
to wait patiently in the hope that the enemy would choose to renew the
fight, while in the meantime our top-men were knotting and splicing
rigging, and the carpenter's crew were strengthening the wounded yards
and stopping s