A few minutes later he had changed that opinion, for an unexpected torrent of men poured over his bulwarks from the _Noank_. "'Pon my soul!" he exclaimed. "What a crew she has! They outnumber us two to one. It's no disgrace at all!" All the British tars felt relieved in their minds after a good look at their victors. The result of the fight was not to be a discredit to them, they said, and the American sailors hailed them merrily. There had been no killing on either side, and there was no cause for bad temper. The best shots had decided the fight, and all true seamen could accept the consequences. "Lieutenant Tracy," said Captain Avery, "we don't want your brig. We'll take out of her all that suits us, and then you can drift around till help gets to you. Or you can patch up and work your way into some port or other." "I can manage it," said the Englishman, ruefully. "We captured a French smuggler yesterday, and now a deal o' that luck is yours instead of ours. You rebels are holding out wonderfully." "So is England," laughed Captain Avery. "You won't give up, and we won't. I guess you'll have to, though, one o' these days." "Never!" said Tracy, sturdily. "All the colonies'll have to come back under the king, sooner or later." "You wait and see," said the captain. The loyal-hearted lieutenant, however, had expressed no more than the almost undoubting faith of the great body of his countrymen. They were simply unable to believe that the Americans could succeed. Down into the hold of the _Arran_ had dashed the men of the _Noank_. Tackle had been quickly rigged at the hatches. One of the commands given had related to a search for powder and shot, and the entire supply of the brig was now coming up, to be transferred to the schooner. It was a timely winning, for her stock had begun to run low. "It's a good thing for us," said her captain and crew, as they secured it. Anything and everything in the nature of arms and ammunition, furniture, cutlery, table goods, bales of woollens, and packages of silks taken from the French smuggler, more than a little tanned leather, lots of miscellaneous stuff not yet precisely known as to its character, made up the unexpectedly valuable plunder of the smuggler-capturing brig. There was no time to transfer her cannon, and these were left behind, spiked. Her spare sails went, however, with a good yawl-boat and some extra light spars. Then the _Noank_ cast off, and her crew gave their crestfallen British acquaintances three rounds of hearty cheers. "Captain Avery," shouted Tracy, "you're a good fellow, but Fletcher and I hope we may meet you again, some day, with better luck to our guns." "All right!" responded the captain. "May you command a forty-four and I another. Then the United States'll own one more prime ship that used to be the king's. Hurrah!" CHAPTER XVIII. DOWN THE BRITISH CHANNEL.