true spirit of British seamen, undertook to repair damages at
sea, in which request they were seconded by their officers. For two
days they were at work without cessation, making sail, however, whenever
they could, and beating to windward in the direction the French fleet
had gone.

The enemy were carrying all the sail they could press on their ships;
and by the evening of the 10th they had weathered the Saintes, a group
of rocks and islets between Dominique and Guadaloupe, and were nearly
hull down.

Towards noon of next day the officers were seen to have their glasses
more frequently and intently fixed on them; and by degrees, while the
main body grew less and less distinct in the blue haze of the tropics,
two ships, with their topmasts down, were perceived standing out in bold
relief, and therefore known to be considerably to leeward of the rest,
and much nearer the British. The breeze since the morning had been
increasing to a fresh and steady gale.

With unbounded satisfaction the seamen saw the signal thrown out from
the flagship for a general chase. The gallant _Agamemnon_, now
beginning to earn her well-merited renown, with the noble _Fame_, and
other ships forming Admiral Drake's division, were ahead of the rest of
the fleet. Crowding all sail with eager haste, they dashed on to secure
their hoped-for prey. They saw the disabled Frenchmen making signals,
calling their countrymen to their relief.

It was a period of intense anxiety; for the doubt was whether the Count
de Grasse would abandon his ships to their fate or bear down to their
relief, and thus lessen the distance between the enemy and himself.
Eagerly they were watched. There remained no doubt that the English
would cut off the two disabled Frenchmen, when gradually the bows of the
distant ships of the enemy were seen to come round, and the Count de
Grasse, adopting the nobler course, came bearing down under a press of
sail to attempt the rescue of his friends.

"Now, gentlemen, we shall have them!" exclaimed Captain Penrose in a
cheerful voice as he walked the quarterdeck with some of his officers.
"Before this time to-morrow we shall have fought an action which will, I
trust, be for ever celebrated in the annals of English history."

Down came the Frenchmen in gallant style, faster than they expected; and
the more experienced saw, from the scattered positions of the British
ships, that the result of an action at that moment would have be