d not permit them to waste precious time in rejoicing.
He knew that, though they had accomplished so much, there was still a
great deal to be done, for the prizes might even yet be recaptured before
they got them out to sea. Without a moment's delay, therefore, he sent a
boat to take possession of the cutter. The sail and wreckage were cleared
away, and the boat proceeded to tow her out of the inlet. In the meantime
a warp was taken from _L'Agile_ to the schooner, the sails of the latter
were lowered, and Will sailed proudly out with his second prize in tow.
Once fairly at sea the crew began to repair damages. Five men in all had
been killed and eleven were wounded. Several of the latter, however, were
able to lend a hand. The shot-holes in _L'Agile_ were first patched with
pieces of plank, then covered with canvas, and afterwards given a coat of
paint. Then the schooner was taken in hand, and when she was got into
something like ship-shape order her sails were hoisted again, and ten men
under Harman placed on board to work her. The cutter was taken in tow,
only three men being left on board to steer.

It was late in the afternoon before all the repairs were completed. Before
sailing, a rough examination was made of the holds of the two vessels, and
to the great satisfaction of _L'Agile's_ crew both were found to contain a
considerable amount of booty.

"It is probable that there is a storehouse somewhere," Will said; "but as
we have under thirty available men it would be madness to try to land, for
certainly two-thirds of the scoundrels escaped by swimming, and as each
craft must have carried nearly a hundred men we should have been
altogether overmatched. Well, they had certainly a right to count upon
success; their arrangements were exceedingly good. No doubt they expected
us to leave the batteries alone, and from the position in which they were
placed they could have peppered us hotly while we were engaged with the
schooner; in which case they would probably have had an easy victory. It
was a cleverly-laid trap and ought to have succeeded."

"And it would, sir," Dimchurch said, "if you had not turned from the
schooner and settled with the cutter before the other could come to her
assistance."

"The credit is largely due to you," Will said; "that shot of yours that
took the mast out was the turning-point of the fight. It completely
crippled her, and as it luckily fell towards us it altogether prevented
them from r