He ran to the two pieces which were returning Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld's fire, and himself attended to loading and sighting them; in an instant three of the six guns on shore were dismounted, and fifty men were stretched on the ground. The others, who were not anticipating such a resistance, began to scatter and fly. Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld, trying to rally them, was struck by a fragment of stone, which knocked his sword out of his hands. Canolles, content with this result, left the captain of the battery to do the rest, and ran back to repel the assault, which was continued by the Navailles regiment, supported by Espagnet's men. Vibrac had maintained his ground, but had received a bullet in his shoulder. Canolles, by his mere presence, redoubled the courage of his troops, who welcomed him with joyful shouts. "Pray pardon me," he cried to Ravailly, "for leaving you for a moment, my dear friend; I did it, as you may see, to dismount Monsieur de La Rochefoucauld's guns; but be of good cheer, here I am again." As the captain, who was too excited to reply to the jest,--indeed, it may be that he failed to hear it amid the terrific uproar of artillery and musketry,--led his men to the assault for the third time, Canolles drew a pistol from his belt, and taking aim at his former comrade, now his enemy, fired. The ball was guided by a firm hand and sure eye; it broke Ravailly's arm. "Thanks, Canolles!" he cried, for he saw who fired the shot. "Thanks, I will pay you for that." Notwithstanding his force of will, the young captain was forced to halt, and his sword fell from his hands. Remonenq ran to him and caught him in his arms. "Will you come into the fort and have your wound dressed, Ravailly?" cried Canolles. "I have a surgeon who's as skilful in his line as my cook in his." "No; I return to Bordeaux. But expect me again at any moment, for I will come, I promise you. The next time, however, I will select my own hour." "Retreat! retreat!" cried Remonenq. "They are running over yonder. Au revoir, Canolles; you have the first game." Remonenq spoke the truth; the artillery had done tremendous execution among the forces on shore, which had lost a hundred men or more. The naval contingent had fared little better. The greatest loss was sustained by the Navailles regiment, which, in order to uphold the honor of the uniform, had insisted upon marching ahead of D'Espagnet's citizen soldiers. Canolles raised his pistol. "Cease firing!" said he; "we will let them retreat unmolested; we have no ammunition to waste." Indeed, it would have been a waste of powder to continue the fire. The assailants retired in hot haste, taking their wounded with them, but leaving the dead behind. Canolles mustered his men and found that he had four killed and sixteen wounded. Personally he had not received a scratch.