In the second place
the British sailor went into battle with an absolute conviction that
he was going to be victorious; while the Frenchman, on the other hand,
although determined to do his best to win, had from the first doubts
whether the British would not be as usual victorious.
It is probable that the French sailors hated us far more than our men
did them. We had lowered their national prestige, had defeated them
whenever we met them, had blockaded their ports, ruined their trade,
inflicted immense damage upon their fisheries, and subsidized other
nations against them, and were the heart and center of the coalition
against which France was struggling to maintain herself. It was not
therefore surprising that among the hundred and ten men on board La
Belle Marie there were many who viewed Ralph with hostile eyes and who
only refrained from personal violence owing to the strict order the
captain had given that he should be well treated.
Toward midday the fog lifted suddenly and the wind freshened, and
lookouts were stationed in the tops. There was little hope indeed of
any English merchantmen having come over so far toward the French
coast, but British cruisers might be anywhere. A few distant sails
could be seen far out on the horizon proceeding up or down channel;
but the captain of La Belle Marie had no idea of commencing operations
until very much further away from the shores of England.
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