A tremendous burst of cheering broke from the _Furious_. She had lost but two men killed and four or five wounded by the bullets of the French topmen. She had also been struck twice by balls from the bow-chaser of the second ship; but this was the extent of her damage, while the loss of life on board the French frigates had been frightful. Some sixty men had been killed and eighty wounded on the first ship, while thirty were killed and still more wounded in the boats of the second vessel. Captain Harker went on board the captures to receive the swords of their commanders. “You have done your best, gentlemen,” he said; “no one in the circumstances could have done more. Had there been ten of you instead of two the result must have been the same. If your boats had got in and seen the situation you would have understood that the position was an impossible one. There was no room in here for manœuvring, and even had one of you not been damaged by the shot from that little battery of ours, your position would have been practically unchanged, and you could not possibly have brought your broadsides to bear upon us.” The French captains, who were much mortified by the disaster, bowed silently. “It is the fortune of war, sir,” one of them said, “and certainly we could not have anticipated that you would be so wonderfully placed for defence. I agree with you that our case was hopeless from the first, and I compliment you upon your dispositions, which were certainly admirable.” “You and your officers will be perfectly at liberty,” the captain said; “your crews must be placed in partial confinement, but a third of them can always be on deck. My surgeon has come on board with me, and will at once assist yours in attending to your wounded.” A considerable portion of the crew of the _Furious_ were at once put on board the French frigate _Eclaire_, and set to work to dismantle her. The masts, spars, and rigging were transferred to the _Furious_ and erected in place of her own shattered stumps, which were thrown overboard. Thus, after four days of the hardest work for all, the _Furious_ was again placed in fighting trim. Preparations were immediately made for sailing. The _Furious_ led the way, towing behind her the dismantled hull in which the whole of the prisoners were carried. A prize crew of sixty were placed on board the _Actif_. When they were about half-way to Jamaica a squadron of three vessels were sighted. Preparations were made to throw off the _Eclaire_ if the ships proved to be hostile, but before long it was evident that they were English. They approached rapidly, and when they rounded-to near the _Furious_ the crews manned the yards and greeted her with tremendous cheers. The officer in command was at once rowed to the _Furious_. As the boat neared the ship his friends recognized Mr. Peters and Robson sitting in the stern.