So saying, he left them at once and went up on deck, seeing they were so shaken that they would break down altogether unless left to themselves. The anchor was at once got up, the sails hoisted, and the schooner made her way out to sea. The wind was very light, and Peter said—
"You have had some hard work, lads, but you must do a little more; we must get well off shore before morning. Even if they have not heard the guns at Marseilles, some of those fellows will soon be there with the news, and they will be sending a couple of gunboats after us, and in so light a wind they will be more than a match for us, so you must tow her out. The ten men who have been on board will man one of the boats, and ten of you the other; after a couple of hours the other twenty will take their places. Don't let any wounded man be among the first ten; we must look to them, and see who is fit for service."
Ordering the course to be set south-west, he and Harding proceeded to examine the wounds. With the exception of Bill Hopkins's broken leg, none of these were serious. Two had flesh wounds from musket balls, three or four had received cuts from swords, or thrusts with pikes, but none of these required more than bandaging. As soon as day broke a man was sent to the mast-head.
"There are two black specks behind, sir; they have both lug-sails, and I fancy that they are rowing."
"Get two of the guns well aft," Peter ordered, "so as to fire over the taffrail. I hope we shall have some wind soon; and at any rate they are likely to find that they have caught a tartar."
In an hour and a half the gunboats were near enough to open fire, and two balls struck the water at a short distance from the schooner. Peter called the men in from the boats. "We have got to fight now, my lads, and you may as well rest your arms for half-an-hour, for you will want your strength if they get alongside."
"Shall we open fire, sir?" Jamieson, who was in charge of the two guns, asked.
"No, I think their guns are heavier than ours; we had better wait till we are sure that they are well within our range."
"There is a sail ahead, sir," the man at the mast-head shouted down. "I think it is the frigate."
"Thank God for that, Harding! We might tackle one of those gunboats; but I don't think that we should have much chance with two of them. I expect they each carry double the number of men that we do."