seven in the evening
Descrying the five cruisers sailing down , the forty sail , like forty chickens , fluttered in a panic under the wing of the shore . Their armed protectors bravely steered from the land , making the disposition for battle . Promptly accepting the challenge , Paul , giving the signal to his consorts , earnestly pressed forward . But , earnest as he was , it was seven in the evening ere the encounter began . Meantime his comrades , heedless of his signals , sailed independently along . Dismissing them from present consideration , we confine ourselves , for a while , to the Richard and the Serapis , the grand duellists of the fight . The Richard carried a motley , crew , to keep whom in order one hundred and thirty-five soldiers -- themselves a hybrid band -- had been put on board , commanded by French officers of inferior rank .