"However," he growled, "I'll take the wheel. Better, perhaps, after all, that we should take the initiative; for, blow me to smithereens, if that tantalizing Froggie ain't spoiling my appetite!" There was a general laugh at this, and the council broke up. Next day it blew little more than a seven-knot breeze, and the sun sparkled on the waters like showers of diamonds. The Frenchman marvelled much to see not only the British frigate, but all the merchant fleet close together, and with main or fore yards aback. The truth is, Captain Mackenzie was issuing his orders by boat. About an hour afterwards Johnny Crapaud smiled grimly to himself to see the _Tonneraire_ fill her sails and tack out to offer him battle. "The fool!" said Johnny. "When the gale of wind shall come, then I shall fight. Till then, _non_, _non_!" So he filled and bore southwards next; and as Jack had no desire for a race, he returned to his fleet. He had done all he wanted to: he had put Johnny on the wrong scent. That night, at sunset, clouds gathered up and quite obscured the sky. Johnny rubbed his hands and chuckled. "Soon," he said, "it will blow what perfidious England calls big guns. Then--ah--_then_!" It blew big guns far sooner than he had expected. The night was intensely dark, but the half-moon would rise about four bells in the middle watch. When Johnny Crapaud looked towards the fleet, lo! the vessels had extra lights all, and lights were streaming from every port. "Ha! ha!" he grinned. "They rejoice; they dance. They think they have made me fly. When the gale blows, then they will dance--to different music." The watch kept on board the French seventy-four was not extra vigilant. Especially did no one think of looking astern. Had any one on the outlook done so, then just about a quarter of an hour before moonrise he might have seen a dark shape coming hand-over-hand across the water from the direction in which "fair France" lay--fair France that many a poor fellow on Johnny's ship would never see again. It was the _Tonneraire_. She had made a detour with every stitch of canvas set, and was now almost close aboard of the enemy. Ah! at last they perceive her; and the noise on board the enemy is indescribable--the shrieking of orders, the rattle of arms and cordage, the trampling of feet, the stamping and unlimbering of guns. But against her stern windows, which are all ablaze with light, the _Tonneraire_ concentrates her whole starboard broadside. The effect is startling and terrible. Confusion prevails on board the enemy--almost panic, indeed; and this lasts long enough for the frigate to sail back on the other tack. Jack's object is to cripple her, and with this object in view he concentrates his larboard broadside again in the stern of the seventy-four, and her rudder is a thing of the past.