aid the doctor, who had quietly listened to all I said. "I
do not believe you guilty. There is little time to lose, though."

How anxiously I awaited the result of my petition! Every moment I
expected to hear the first shot fired, and to find that the action had
begun. About three minutes passed. I fancied six times the period had
elapsed, when a master's mate and two men came below.

"The captain gives you leave, Weatherhelm, to return to your duty," said
the officer. "He hopes that you will show you are worthy of the
favour."

"Indeed I will, sir," I answered as the men knocked the handcuffs off my
wrists.

"We've a tough job in hand, depend on that."

"Thank you, sir, thank you," I exclaimed, as I sprang to my feet and
followed my liberators to the upper deck, where the sentry joined his
comrades.

The moment I reached the deck I looked out for the enemy. Just out of
gun-shot appeared a seventy-four gun ship and two frigates. They were
firing away at the Indiamen, which were still within range of their
guns. The greater number were, however, clustering together, and
standing down to leeward of us, so that those nearer the Frenchmen were
not idle, and were bravely returning shot for shot.

The three ships came on, the Frenchmen little doubting that we should
continue on the same course we were then holding; but our captain was
determined to get the weather-gage, and just as their shot came aboard
us, he tacked and stood to the northward, which brought the two frigates
nearer to us than the line-of-battle ship. One of them bravely stood on
till she got close under our guns. The order was given to fire. Our
shot took the most deadly effect on her, and she completely heeled over
as our whole broadside went crashing in through her decks and sides. Of
the three hundred men or more, who an instant before stood up full of
life and strength, fall fifty must have been struck down, many never to
rise again, while her spars and rigging went tumbling down in terrible
confusion over her deck.

Again we tacked, and this brought our starboard broadside to bear on the
second frigate. While we were especially engaged with the first, she
had fired two or three broadsides at us, and as we tacked she managed to
rake us, to our no little damage. The success attending our first
effort inspirited us to give due effect to the second. Every shot we
fired seemed to tell. Besides numbers of men killed and wounded, the