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the governing impulse of so impetuous a spirit, leaped onward. He fell,
without life, on the deck of his enemy.
Ludlow watched every movement, with a calmness that neither personal
responsibility, nor the uproar and rapid incidents of the terrible scene,
could discompose.
 Now is our time to bring the matter hand to hand! he cried, making a
gesture to Trysail to descend from the ladder, in order that he might pass.
His arm was arrested, and the grave old master pointed to windward.
 There is no mistaking the cut of those sails, or the lofty rise of those
spars! The stranger is another Frenchman!
One glance told Ludlow that his subordinate was right; another sufficed to
show what was now necessary.
 Cast loose the forward grapnel--cut it--away with it, clear! was shouted,
through his trumpet, in a voice that rose commanding and clear amid the roar
of the combat.
Released forward, the stern of the Coquette yielded to the pressure of her
enemy, whose sails were all drawing, and she was soon in a position to enable
her head-yards to be braced sharp aback, in a direction opposite to the one in
which she had so lately lain. The whole broadside was then delivered into the
stern of la Fontange, the last grapnel was released, and the ships separated.
The single spirit which presided over the evolutions and exertions of the
Coquette, still governed her movements. The sails were trimmed, the ship was
got in command, and, before the vessels had been asunder five minutes, the
duty of the vessel was in its ordinary active but noiseless train.
Nimble top-men were on the yards, and broad folds of fresh canvas were
flapping in the breeze, as the new sails were bent and set. Ropes were
spliced, or supplied by new rigging, the spars examined, and in fine all that
watchfulness and sedulous care were observed, which are so necessary to the
efficiency and safety of a ship. Every spar was secured, the pumps were
sounded, and the vessel held on her way, as steadily as if she had never fired
nor received a shot.
On the other hand, la Fontange betrayed the indecision and confusion of a
worsted ship. Her torn canvas was blowing about in disorder, many important
ropes beat against her masts unheeded, and the vessel itself drove before the
breeze in the helplessness of a wreck. For several minutes, there seemed no
controlling mind in the fabric; and when, after so much distance was lost as
to give her enemy all the advantage of the wind, a tardy attempt was made to
bring the ship up again, the tallest and most important of her masts was seen
tottering, until it finally fell, with all its hamper, into the sea.
Notwithstanding the absence of so many of his people, success would now have
been certain, had not the presence of the stranger compelled Ludlow to abandon
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his advantage. But the consequences to his own vessel were too sure, to allow
of more than a natural and manly regret that so favorable an occasion should
escape him. The character of the stranger could no longer be mistaken. The eye
of every seaman in the Coquette as well understood the country of the high and
narrow-headed sails, the tall taper masts and short yards of the frigate whose
hull was now distinctly visible, as a landsman recognizes an individual by the
distinguishing marks of his features or attire. Had there been any lingering
doubts on the subject, they would have all given place to certainty, when the
stranger was seen exchanging signals with the crippled corvette.
It was now time for Ludlow to come to a speedy determination on his future
course. The breeze still held to the southward, but it was beginning to
lessen, with every appearance that it would fail before nightfall. The land
lay a few leagues to the northward, and the whole horizon of the ocean, with
the exception of the two French cruisers, was clear. Descending to the
quarter-deck, he approached the master, who was seated in a chair, while the
surgeon dressed a severe hurt in one of his legs. Shaking the sturdy veteran
cordially by the hand, he expressed his acknowledgments for his support in a
moment so trying.
 God bless you! God bless you! Captain Ludlow; returned the old sailor,
dashing his hand equivocally across his weatherbeaten brow.  Battle is
certainly the place to try both ship and friends, and Heaven be praised! Queen
Anne has not failed of either this day. No man has forgotten his duty, so far
as my eyes have witnessed; and this is saying no trifle, with half a crew and
an equal enemy. As for the ship, she never behaved better! I had my
misgivings, when I saw the new main-topsail go, which it did, as all here [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]