Notwithstanding the fact that an Englishman, or an
American, rarely went alongside of a Frenchman, in 1798, without a
strong moral assurance of victory, he was sometimes disappointed.
There was no lack of courage in their enemies, and it occasionally
happened that there was no lack of skill. Every manifestation that the
experience of our captain could detect, went to show that we had
fallen in with one of these exceptions. As we drew nearer to our
enemy, we perceived that he was acting like a seaman. His sails had
been furled without haste or confusion; an infallible evidence of
coolness and discipline when done on the eve of battle, and signs that
the watchful seaman, on such occasions, usually notes as unerring
indications of the sort of struggle that awaits him. It was
consequently understood, among us on the quarter-deck, that we were
likely to have a warm day's work of it. Nevertheless, we had gone too
far to retreat without an effort, and we began, in our turn, to
shorten sail, in readiness for the combat. Marble was a prince of a
fellow, when it came to anything serious. I never saw him shorten sail
as coolly and readily as he did that very day. We had everything ready
in ten minutes after we began.
It was rare, indeed, to see two letters-of-marque set-to as coolly,
and as scientifically as were the facts with the Crisis and _la Dame
de Nantes;_ for so, as we afterwards ascertained, was our
antagonist called.
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