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Fleet had again put to sea. Two days later they arrived off our

coast, where, finding no fleet ready to meet them, they sailed away

to France, where they hoped to be joined by their French allies.

Two days later, however, our ships began to assemble at the mouth of

the Thames, and on June 24th the whole Fleet was ready to take to

sea. It consisted of eighty men-of-war, large and small, and nineteen

fire-ships. Prince Rupert was in command of the Red Squadron, and the

Duke of Albemarle sailed with him, on board the same ship. Sir Thomas

Allen was Admiral of the White, and Sir Jeremiah Smith of the Blue

Squadron. Cyril remained on board the _Fan Fan_, Lord Oliphant

returning to his duties on board the flagship. Marvels had been

effected by the zeal and energy of the crews and dockyard men. But

three weeks back, the English ships had, for the most part, been

crippled seemingly almost beyond repair, but now, with their holes

patched, with new spars, and in the glory of fresh paint and new

canvas, they made as brave a show as when they had sailed out from

the Downs a month previously.

They were anchored off the Nore when, late in the evening, the news

came out from Sheerness that a mounted messenger had just ridden in

from Dover, and that the Dutch Fleet had, in the afternoon, passed

the town, and had rounded the South Foreland, steering north.

Orders were at once issued that the Fleet should sail at daybreak,

and at three o'clock the next morning they were on their way down the

river. At ten o'clock the Dutch Fleet was seen off the North

Foreland. According to their own accounts they numbered eighty-eight

men-of-war, with twenty-five fire-ships, and were also divided into

three squadrons, under De Ruyter, John Evertz, and Van Tromp.

The engagement began at noon by an attack by the White Squadron upon

that commanded by Evertz. An hour later, Prince Rupert and the Duke,

with the Red Squadron, fell upon De Ruyter, while that of Van Tromp,

which was at some distance from the others, was engaged by Sir

Jeremiah Smith with the Blue Squadron. Sir Thomas Allen completely

defeated his opponents, killing Evertz, his vice- and rear-admirals,

capturing the vice-admiral of Zeeland, who was with him, and burning

a ship of fifty guns.

The Red Squadron was evenly matched by that of De Ruyter, and each

vessel laid itself alongside an adversary. Although De Ruyter himself

and his vice-admiral, Van Ness, fought obstinately, their ships in

general, commanded, for the most part, by men chosen for their family

influence rather than for either seamanship or courage, behaved but

badly, and all but seven gradually withdrew from the fight, and went

off under all sail; and De Ruyter, finding himself thus deserted, was

forced also to draw off. During this time, Van Tromp, whose squadron

was the strongest of the three Dutch divisions, was so furiously

engaged by the Blue Squadron, which was the weakest of the English

divisions, that he was unable to come to the assistance of his

consorts; when, however, he saw the defeat of the rest of the Dutch

Fleet, he, too, was obliged to draw off, lest he should have the

whole of the English down upon him, and was able the more easily to

do so as darkness was closing in when the battle ended.

The Dutch continued their retreat during the night, followed at a

distance by the Red Squadron, which was, next morning, on the point

of overtaking them, when the Dutch sought refuge by steering into the

shallows, which their light draught enabled them to cross, while the

deeper English ships were unable to follow. Great was the wrath and

disappointment of the English when they saw themselves thus baulked

of reaping the full benefit of the victory. Prince Rupert shouted to

Cyril, who, in the _Fan Fan_, had taken but small share in the

engagement, as the fire-ships had not played any conspicuous part in

it.

"Sir Cyril, we can go no farther, but do you pursue De Ruyter and

show him in what contempt we hold him."

Cyril lifted his hat to show that he heard and understood the order.

Then he ordered his men to get out their oars, for the wind was very

light, and, amidst loud cheering, mingled with laughter, from the

crews of the vessels that were near enough to hear Prince Rupert's

order, the _Fan Fan_ rowed out from the English line in pursuit of

the Dutch.

CHAPTER XXI

LONDON IN FLAMES

The sailors laughed and joked as they rowed away from the Fleet, but

the old boatswain shook his head.

"We shall have to be careful, Sir Cyril," he said. "It is like a

small cur barking at the heels of a bull--it is good fun enough for a

bit, but when the bull turns, perchance the dog will find himself

thrown high in the air."

Cyril nodded. He himself considered Prince Rupert's order to be

beyond all reason, and given only in the heat of his anger at De

Ruyter having thus escaped him, and felt that it was very likely to

cost the lives of all on board the _Fan Fan_. However, there was

nothing to do but to carry it out. It seemed to him that the

boatswain's simile was a very apt one, and that, although the

spectacle of the _Fan Fan_ worrying the great Dutch battle-ship

might be an amusing one to the English spectators, it was likely to

be a very serious adventure for her.

De Ruyter's ship, which was in the rear of all the other Dutch

vessels, was but a mile distant when the _Fan Fan_ started, and as

the wind was so light that it scarce filled her sails, the yacht

approached her rapidly.

"We are within half a mile now, your honour," the boatswain said. "I

should say we had better go no nearer if we don't want to be blown

out of the water."

"Yes; I think we may as well stop rowing now, and get the guns to

work. There are only those two cannon in her stern ports which can

touch us here. She will scarcely come up in the wind to give us a

broadside. She is moving so slowly through the water that it would

take her a long time to come round, and De Ruyter would feel ashamed

to bring his great flag-ship round to crush such a tiny foe."

The boatswain went forward to the guns, round which the men, after

laying in their oars, clustered in great glee.

"Now," he said, "you have got to make those two guns in the stern

your mark. Try and send your shots through the port-holes. It will be

a waste to fire them at the hull, for the balls would not penetrate

the thick timber that she is built of. Remember, the straighter you

aim the more chance there is that the Dutch won't hit us. Men don't

stop to aim very straight when they are expecting a shot among them

every second. We will fire alternately, and one gun is not to fire

until the other is loaded again. I will lay the first gun myself."

It was a good shot, and the crew cheered as they saw the splinters

fly at the edge of the port-hole. Shot after shot was fired with

varying success.

The Dutch made no reply, and seemed to ignore the presence of their

tiny foe. The crew were, for the most part, busy aloft repairing

damages, and after half an hour's firing, without eliciting a reply,

the boatswain went aft to Cyril, and suggested that they should now

aim at the spars.

"A lucky shot might do a good deal of damage, sir," he said. "The

weather is fine enough at present, but there is no saying when a

change may come, and if we could weaken one of the main spars it

might be the means of her being blown ashore, should the wind spring

up in the right direction."

Cyril assented, and fire was now directed at the masts. A few ropes

were cut away, but no serious damage was effected until a shot struck

one of the halliard blocks of the spanker, and the sail at once ran

down.

"It has taken a big bit out of the mast, too," the boatswain called

exultingly to Cyril. "I think that will rouse the Dutchmen up."

A minute later it was evident that the shot had at least had that

effect. Two puffs of smoke spirted out from the stern of the Dutch

flagship, and, simultaneously with the roar of the guns, came the hum

of two heavy shot flying overhead. Delighted at having excited the

Dutchmen's wrath at last, the crew of the _Fan Fan_ took off their

hats and gave a loud cheer, and then, more earnestly than before,

settled down to work; their guns aimed now, as at first, at the

port-holes. Four or five shots were discharged from each of the

little guns before the Dutch were ready again. Then came the

thundering reports. The _Fan Fan's_ topmast was carried away by one

of the shot, but the other went wide. Two or three men were told to

cut away the wreckage, and the rest continued their fire. One of the

next shots of the enemy was better directed. It struck the deck close

to the foot of the mast, committed great havoc in Cyril's cabin, and

passed out through the stern below the water-line. Cyril leapt down

the companion as he heard the crash, shouting to the boatswain to

follow him. The water was coming through the hole in a great jet.

Cyril seized a pillow and--stuffed it into the shot-hole, being

drenched from head to foot in the operation. One of the sailors had

followed the boatswain, and Cyril called him to his assistance.

"Get out the oars at once," he said to the boatswain. "Another shot

like this and she will go down. Get a piece cut off a spar and make a

plug. There is no holding this pillow in its place, and the water

comes in fast still."

The sailor took Cyril's post while he ran up on deck and assisted in

cutting the plug; this was roughly shaped to the size of the hole,

and then driven in. It stopped the rush of the water, but a good deal

still leaked through.

By the time this was done the _Fan Fan_ had considerably increased

her distance from De Ruyter. Four or five more shots were fired from

the Dutch ship. The last of these struck the mast ten feet above the

deck, bringing it down with a crash. Fortunately, none of the crew

were hurt, and, dropping the oars, they hauled the mast alongside,

cut the sail from its fastening to the hoops and gaff, and then

severed the shrouds and allowed the mast to drift away, while they

again settled themselves to the oars. Although every man rowed his

hardest, the _Fan Fan_ was half full of water before she reached the

Fleet, which was two miles astern of them when they first began to

row.

"Well done, _Fan Fan_!" Prince Rupert shouted, as the little craft

came alongside. "Have you suffered any damage besides your spars? I

see you are low in the water."

"We were shot through our stern, sir; we put in a plug, but the water

comes in still. Will you send a carpenter on board? For I don't think

she will float many minutes longer unless we get the hole better

stopped."

The Prince gave some orders to an officer standing by him. The latter

called two or three sailors and bade them bring some short lengths of

thick hawser, while a strong party were set to reeve tackle to the

mainyard. As soon as the hawsers, each thirty feet in length, were

brought, they were dropped on to the deck of the _Fan Fan_, and the

officer told the crew to pass them under her, one near each end, and

to knot the hawsers. By the time this was done, two strong tackles

were lowered and fixed to the hawsers, and the crew ordered to come

up on to the ship. The tackles were then manned and hauled on by

strong parties, and the _Fan Fan_ was gradually raised. The

boatswain went below again and knocked out the plug, and, as the

little yacht was hoisted up, the water ran out of it. As soon as the

hole was above the water-level, the tackle at the bow was gradually

slackened off until she lay with her fore-part in the water, which

came some distance up her deck. The carpenter then slung himself over

the stern, and nailed, first a piece of tarred canvas, and then a

square of plank, over the hole. Then the stern tackle was eased off,

and the _Fan Fan_ floated on a level keel. Her crew went down to her

again, and, in half an hour, pumped her free of water.

By this time, the results of the victory were known. On the English

side, the _Resolution_ was the only ship lost, she having been burnt

by a Dutch fire-ship; three English captains, and about three hundred

men were killed. On the other hand, the Dutch lost twenty ships, four

admirals, a great many of their captains, and some four thousand men.

It was, indeed, the greatest and most complete victory gained

throughout the war. Many of the British ships had suffered a good

deal, that which carried the Duke's flag most of all, for it had been

so battered in the fight with De Ruyter that the Duke and Prince

Rupert had been obliged to leave her, and to hoist their flags upon

another man-of-war.

The next morning the Fleet sailed to Schonevelt, which was the usual

_rendezvous_ of the Dutch Fleet, and there remained some time,

altogether undisturbed by the enemy. The _Fan Fan_ was here

thoroughly repaired.

On July 29th they sailed for Ulic, where they arrived on August 7th,

the wind being contrary.

Learning that there was a large fleet of merchantmen lying between

the islands of Ulic and Schelling, guarded by but two men-of-war, and

that there were rich magazines of goods on these islands, it was

determined to attack them. Four small frigates, of a slight draught

of water, and five fire-ships, were selected for the attack, together

with the boats of the Fleet, manned by nine hundred men.

On the evening of the 8th, Cyril was ordered to go, in the _Fan

Fan_, to reconnoitre the position of the Dutch. He did not sail

until after nightfall, and, on reaching the passage between the

islands, he lowered his sails, got out his oars, and drifted with the

tide silently down through the Dutch merchant fleet, where no watch

seemed to be kept, and in the morning carried the news to Sir Robert

Holmes, the commander of the expedition, who had anchored a league

from the entrance.

Cyril had sounded the passage as he went through, and it was found