The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1921-12-10
"She's almost ready, sir"

An hour later the light mist had
risen, and almost suddenly the Ariadne
seemed to come into the field of bat.
tie. Dyck Calhoun could see the strug-
gle going on. The two sets OF enemy
sbips had come to close quarters, and
in some cases were locked in deadly
conflict. In other cases ships, still
apart, fred at point-blank range, and
all the horrors of slaughter were In
full swing.
From the square blue flag at the
mizzen topgallant masthead Of one OF
the British ships engaged, Dyck
realized that the admiraPs own craft
was in some peril. He saw with salts
faction that the way lay open for the
Ariadne to bear down upon the French
ship, engaged with the admiral's small
ship, and help to end the struggle sue
cessfully for the British cause.
| While still too far away for point
blank range, the Ariadne's guns be-
gan upon the French ships distinguish
able by their shape and their colors.
( Before the first shot was fired, how
ever, Dyck made q tour of the decks
and gave some word Of cheer to the
men. The Ariadne lost no time in get
ting into the thick of the fight. The
seamen were stripped to the waist,
and black silk handkerchiefs were
tightly bound round their heads and
| over their ears.
| What the French thought Of the
| coming Of the Ariadne was shown by
the reply they made presently to her
firing. The number Of French ships
in action was greater than the British
by six, and the Ariadne arrived just
when she could be Of greatest service.
The boldness Of her seamanship. and
the favor of the wind, gave her an ad-
vantage which good fortune helped to
| justify.
AS she drew In upon the action. she
| gave herself up to great danger; she
| was coming in upon the rear Of the
French ships, and was subject to fierce
attack. To the French she seemed
| like q fugitive warrior returning to-
| camp just when he was most needed,
as was indeed the case. Two Of her
| shots settled one Of the enemy's YES.
| sells; and before the others could con-
| verge upon her, she had crawled SLOW
| ~ up against the off side Of the French
admirals ship, which was closely en-
| gagged with the Beatitude, the British
| flagship. on the other side.
| The canister. chain-shot and langrel
of the French foe had caused much in
was in a sore plight. Fifty Of her sea-
men had been killed, and a hundred
| and fifty were wounded by the time
she reached the starboard side Of the
| AQuitaine. She would have lost many
more were it not that her onset de-
moralized the French gunners, while
| the cheers of the British sailors aboard
the Beatitude gave confidence to their
| mutineer comrades.
On his own deck, Dyck watched the
progress Of the battle with the joy OF
natural fighter. He had carried the
There had only been this in his fav0f,
that his was an unexpected entrance
fact which had been worth anothey
ship at least. He saw his boarders.
struggle for the Aquitaine. He saw
them discharge their pistols, and then
resort to the cutlass and the dagger !;
and the marines bringing down their
victims from the masts Of the French
flagship.
Presently he heard the savagely
buoyant shouts Of the Beatitude men.
and he realized that, by his coming,
the admiral Of the French feet had
been obliged to yield up his sword, and
to signal to his ships-such as could
to get away. That half Of them sue
ceeded In doing so was due to the fact
that the British feet had been heavily
handled in the fight. and would have
been defeated had it not been for the
opportune arrival Of the Ariadne.
| Never. perhaps. in the history of tho
navy, had British ships clamped the
enemy as the Aquitaine was clamped
by the Beatitude and the Ariadne.
Certain 1t Is that no admiral Of the
British feet had ever to perform two
such acts In one day as receiving the
submission Of q French admiral and
Offering thanks to the captain Of
British man Of war whom, while
thanking, he must at once place I'M
der arrest as mutineer.
What might have CHANGED further to
Dyck's disadvantage can never be
known, because there appeared or the
deck of the Beatitude, as its captain
under the rear admiral, Captain Ivy,
who. five years before, had visited
Dyck and his father at Playmore, and
had gone with them to Dublin.
The admiral had sent word to the
Ariadne for its captain to come to the
Beatitude. When the captains gig
arrived, and q man in seaman's
clothes essayed to climb the side OF
the flagship. he was at first prevented.
Captain Ivy, however. Immediately
gave orders for Dyck to be admitted,
but without honors.