`` well , we are in for it , make no mistake , '' jane said , having taken his report in temeraire 's clearing : the first skirmish off weymouth and the nuisance of chasing away the fleur-de-nuit , and besides those another alarm which had roused them , after a few more hours of snatched sleep ; and quite unnecessarily , for they arrived only in time , at the edge of dawn , to catch sight of a single french courier vanishing off over the horizon , chased by the orange gouts of cannon-fire from the fearsome shore battery which had lately been established at plymouth .