"
The men rowed hard, but the gig had to stop frequently to let the
dinghy come up. They gained, however, fast upon the brig, and in
half an hour were but a few hundred yards astern. Then came a hail
from the brigantine in French:
"Keep off or we will sink you!"
No reply was made. They were but two hundred yards away when there
were two bright flashes from the stern of the brigantine, and a
shower of bullets splashed round the boats. There were two or three
cries of pain, and George Lechmere felt Frank give a sudden start.
"Are you hit, sir?"
"I have got a bullet in my left shoulder, George, but it is of no
consequence.
"Row on, lads," he shouted. "We shall be alongside before they have
time to load again.
"I never thought of their having guns, though," he went on, as the
men recovered from their surprise, and dashed on again with a
cheer. "By the sharp crack they must be brass. I suppose he picked
up a couple of small guns at Ostend, thinking that they might be
useful to him in these waters."
A splattering fire of musketry now broke out from the brigantine.
They had lessened their distance by half when they saw the
brigantine, without apparent cause, heel over.
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