made to pull down her flag, whereupon the Englishman grunted.

Within a minute a puff was seen, and a round shot whizzed close past
the _Ouseburn Lassie's_ bows.

"Give them a reply!" George urged in great excitement.

"Wait a bit, my lad," and the skipper bided his time.

"Now!" came the order at length, and a couple of eight-pound balls
flew straight to the Frenchman.

"Well hit!" shouted the Englishmen, as a shower of splinters was seen
to fly upwards from the enemy's deck.

"It's enough to show 'em we've got mettle in us," growled the old
captain, "and that's all we can say."

His words were justified, for the next moment there came another
flash, and with a crash the brig's mast went by the board.

"Done for!" groaned the skipper. "We shall see the inside of a French
prison, I reckon."

The enemy's long boat put out with a crew four times that of the brig.
Within a quarter of an hour the Englishmen had all been transferred to
the _Louis Treize_, and an officer and half a dozen men left in charge
of the prize. The Frenchman at once set a course for Dunkirk, and,
with a spanking breeze behind her, she made the port in fifteen hours.
The noon of the next day saw George Fairburn and his companions