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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42864 ***
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 42864-h.htm or 42864-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42864/42864-h/42864-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42864/42864-h.zip)
+
+
+      Images of the original pages are available through
+      Internet Archive. See
+      https://archive.org/details/thestoryofjohnpa00fras
+
+
+
+
+
+Famous Americans for Young Readers
+
+THE STORY OF JOHN PAUL JONES
+
+by
+
+CHELSEA C. FRASER
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Barse & Hopkins
+New York    Newark
+N.Y.          N.J.
+
+Copyright, 1922
+By Barse & Hopkins
+
+Printed in the U. S. A.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+For a corking tale of the sea it would be hard to find in all fiction a
+story to equal that of John Paul Jones, a figure of sober history. Yet
+history was not so "sober" after all, in those days when piracy was an
+actual fact, and even nations at times winked at privateering on the
+high seas. Jones was born with a love of the salt spray in his nostrils.
+He came to this country as a mere lad, but already a skilled sailor.
+When the Revolution broke out, he obtained command of a ship, and was
+the first to fly the Stars-and-Stripes in foreign waters. Then came his
+deeds of daring against the British Navy, and his repeated victories
+over tremendous odds. The fight between the _Bon Homme Richard_ and the
+_Serapis_ is a classic. "Surrender?" he cried with most of his rigging
+shot away, and his vessel sinking, "Why, I have just begun to fight!"
+
+Belated honors were done to his memory, a few years ago, when his body
+was brought home from a neglected grave in France, and reinterred at
+Annapolis with all the honors in the gift of the nation. When the
+readers young and old lay aside this thrilling story, they also will
+understand why America honors his memory. He may be regarded as the
+founder of the United States Navy. His flag, whether flying at the
+masthead of some saucy little sloop-of-war or on a more formidable ship
+of the line, never knew what it was to be hauled down in defeat. His
+name has become a tradition among all sea fighters.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    CHAPTER                                             PAGE
+
+         I. THE STORM                                      9
+
+        II. THE LAND ACROSS THE SEA                       21
+
+       III. THE YOUNG SAILOR                              31
+
+        IV. THE YOUNG PLANTER                             45
+
+         V. THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY           55
+
+        VI. RAISING THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG               63
+
+       VII. AN INGLORIOUS CRUISE                          75
+
+      VIII. THE YOUNG CAPTAIN                             84
+
+        IX. ABOARD THE "RANGER"                           98
+
+         X. IN THE ENEMY'S OWN WATERS                    110
+
+        XI. OUTWITTING THE "DRAKE"                       125
+
+       XII. THE QUEER CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN LANDAIS         130
+
+      XIII. FIGHTING FRIEND AND FOE                      150
+
+       XIV. DIPLOMACY AND SOCIETY                        163
+
+        XV. AND THE LAST                                 172
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+    John Paul Jones _Frontispiece_
+        _From a portrait by Chappel_
+
+    Fight between the _Serapis_ and the _Bon Homme Richard_ 150
+        _From a rare print_
+
+    Boarding the _Serapis_ 160
+        _From a rare print_
+
+    Paul Jones's Last Burial 178
+        _Midshipmen escorting the casket to its final resting place, in
+         Annapolis, April 24, 1906_
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF JOHN PAUL JONES
+
+
+
+
+I
+
+THE STORM
+
+
+In the summer of 1759, James Younger, a prosperous shipowning merchant
+of Whitehaven, England, found himself short of sailors to man a new
+vessel he had just secured. Said he to himself, "I know just where I
+shall be likely to pick up such fellows as I need. To-morrow I shall go
+to Arbigland."
+
+Arbigland was a small fishing-village directly across the Solway Firth,
+a sort of big bay which cuts a wedge into the borderline of Scotland and
+England and reaches out into the blueness of the Irish Sea. From this
+port fishing-boats in great numbers were wont to go forth in the early
+morning of the day and return at sunset with their catch. Practically
+every home was the hearth of a fisherman and his family--sturdy,
+weather-beaten men who knew the whims of a boat and the tricks of the
+sea better than they knew how to read and write; sturdy, hard-working
+mothers who knew more about baking bread and rearing good children than
+they did about social functions and social etiquette; sturdy lads and
+lassies who lived in the open and knew more about entertaining
+themselves with the rugged and wholesome interests of nature than they
+did about ball-rooms, wine suppers, and "movies." From Arbigland Mr.
+Younger had more than once before obtained excellent sailors, as had
+indeed many another ship-merchant and short-handed captain.
+
+Mr. Younger's hopes of securing good seamen in Arbigland were soon
+fulfilled. He found no trouble in signing up nearly enough that very
+evening, among them several officers. The following morning he completed
+his list, but did not attempt an immediate return to Whitehaven on
+account of bad weather. That day the winds increased and the sea became
+constantly more and more violent. By mid-afternoon the waves were
+running so high that the fishermen who had gone out came scurrying in,
+glad to find a safe anchorage in the harbor.
+
+Seeing a knot of idlers gathered on the waterfront, he joined them to
+find out what they were looking at. Not until one of them had
+painstakingly pointed out to him a small object, now in view on the
+crest of a mountainous wave, now vanished from sight in the trough of
+another, did he suspect that it could be a boat that had failed to get
+in.
+
+"It's Johnnie Paul and his little dory, I be sure," observed one of the
+fishermen, who held a glass to his eyes. "It looks fair bad f'r the lad
+this time, an' na mistake. It's gude his ain faither don't ken the boy's
+peril."
+
+"On'y twelve--a mere baby--an' him a-fightin' this nor'easter!" put in
+another fisherman, with a sorrowful shake of his grizzled head. "T'bad
+Johnnie's recklessness should 'a' got him in this fix. I'm afraid the
+lad's love for the sea will spell his doom this blow. He's a muckle
+bright lad, too."
+
+"An' a born seaman. If a lad are ever born to the sea Johnnie Paul are
+that chap," said another Scotsman in tarpaulin. "Mind ye, boys, we seen
+him make port afore in stoorms a'most this bad. Mayhap he'll do it noo.
+He's got the luck o' the devil in his small frame, that he has!"
+
+Whether it was "the luck of the devil" or just plain unvarnished skill
+which brought Johnnie Paul safely into port again that day will probably
+never be known. But the chances are, if luck entered into the matter at
+all, that good seamanship and intrepid daring performed the largest
+share of the performance, for, as the minutes went on and the small boat
+came bobbing nearer and nearer, it was evident to every one of those
+assembled seafaring men that the youngster was handling his steed with
+unusual cleverness. Virtually flying in the very face of disaster and
+death, the lad clung coolly to the tiller, his eyes snapping with
+excitement, his dark-brown hair tossing, while the vicious nor'easter
+almost tore his reefed sail from its fastenings, drenched him to the
+skin with its wild spray, and drove his cockleshell of a craft swiftly
+forward.
+
+Held spellbound by the struggle between boy and wave, thrilled at the
+magnificence of the lad's courage and the adroitness of his movements
+as his tiller-hand avoided yawning danger after yawning danger, Mr.
+Younger found himself praying for the safety of the daring young
+boatman, as he might have prayed for the deliverance of one of his own
+children from such a threatened fate. And it was with a vast sense of
+relief and thankfulness that, a little later, he saw Johnnie Paul guide
+his frail vessel into the protected waters of the harbor and up to the
+wharf, where she was securely made fast.
+
+Indeed, Mr. Younger was one of the very first to shake the hand of the
+dripping boy and congratulate him on his splendid performance. "If I
+mistake not, one of these days you will be a great sailor, my lad," said
+he, little knowing that he was predicting a truth.
+
+Johnnie Paul blushed painfully. But quickly the snap and sparkle
+returned to his hazel eyes. "Sir, it is what I should like to be--a
+great sailor," he said.
+
+Other words followed. "I shall see your father. Perhaps we can induce
+him to let you join one of my vessels," observed the ship-owner from
+Whitehaven. "You are very young, but old enough to become an apprentice
+or ship's-boy."
+
+Young John Paul ran home as fast as his legs could carry him, his heart
+beating with joy. Oh, such luck! It seemed to him he had always wanted
+to be a sailor--a real sailor, one who could tread a big vessel's deck,
+climb her rigging, and go far out to sea past that misty blue line that
+separated home waters from the mystery and adventure of the domain lying
+leagues beyond.
+
+Since he was a mere baby he recalled that he had always had a passion to
+sail something, even so simple a thing as a leaf, the half of a walnut
+shell, a bit of wood supporting a paper sail. And, in the beginning, the
+duck-pond, a horse-trough, or a puddle of rainwater, had been his sea.
+But he outgrew these limitations as he outgrew his kilts: more room must
+be provided for his bounding spirits and expanding ambition. Then had
+come first thoughts of the seashore; father's and mother's warnings that
+the strong tides of the Solway were too dangerous to play with, had only
+increased his desire to tussle with them. So he had run away, been
+sternly chastised, had run away again--until at length, despairing of
+restraining his son from the natural craving of his heart, John Paul
+senior threw away his switch and left the youngster to the care of
+Providence whenever his footsteps prompted him waterward.
+
+As time went on, young John had grown into a sturdy lad whose chief
+delight was to sail off in the fishermen's boats for a day's catch. What
+he dreamed, what he planned, as he watched the far horizon, no one
+knows, for he was not the kind of a boy to tell others of his inner
+thoughts at that age. But that he did have frequent golden dreams we may
+rest assured, since, between the times he was making himself useful in
+casting and hauling in the nets, his older comrades often caught him in
+abstracted study of distant spaces.
+
+In those days Scottish schools were not what they are now. There were
+very few of them then, and the instruction had not begun to reach the
+thoroughness it has since attained. Less than a dozen children attended
+the little school in Arbigland to which Johnnie Paul had been consigned
+at the age of eight. It was so difficult to get a teacher that sometimes
+for weeks at a time there was no one to hold forth in that office. These
+occasions were very satisfying to our Johnnie Paul, for the truth is, he
+much preferred paddling around the water to fingering over the pages of
+his books. But he was not lazy, and during the short time he did spend
+under the roof of a schoolhouse, he must have applied himself, for the
+records show that at twelve years of age he could figure and read and
+write very well indeed for that period.
+
+The lad's mother had been Jean Macduff, the daughter of an Argyll
+Highlander who had moved into the Lowlands, there to abandon his trade
+of armorer and become a farmer near New Abbey. Jean Macduff later left
+her home and came to Arbigland to accept a position as lady's-maid to a
+Mrs. Craik whose husband was a prosperous land-owner possessing an
+extensive estate and splendid buildings on top of the promontory hanging
+above the shores of the Solway.
+
+When quite a young man, John's father, a Lowlander, had also found
+employment on the Craik estate as gardener, and later by reason of his
+faithful work and popularity in the community, he had been made
+game-warden. The young gardener and the young lady's-maid soon fell in
+love with each other, were married, and in due course of time were
+blessed with five children, of whom Johnnie was the youngest. He was
+born in the year 1747. William, the brother, had gone to live with a
+cousin, William Jones, a childless planter in Virginia, before John was
+born. Willie had never been back since that day. He had been adopted by
+the distant cousin, and might never return, John's parents said, but it
+was hoped and expressed in letters that he would some of these days make
+the long voyage back to old Scotland for a brief visit. How Johnnie did
+yearn to see this big brother whose letters he loved to read but whom he
+had never seen! Of late he had even dared to think of making a voyage
+himself to American shores, there to seek out the long-absent one.
+
+The Paul cottage, overgrown with creepers, and sheltered from the fierce
+northeast winds by thick trees and shrubbery, stood so close to the
+seashore that it was never free from the sound of lapping waters and
+the boom of breakers. It was the boy's delight, before he went to sleep
+of a night, and before he arose of a morning, to lie for some time and
+listen to the music of the waves, his vivid fancy investing these voices
+with the power of telling him strange tales of strange peoples and
+strange places, far, far away.
+
+When young John was not on the water, in school, or at home, he could
+usually be found somewhere about Mr. Craik's estate. He was kindly
+treated, and the playmate of the sons of the good laird's family. With
+the democracy of boyhood he and the Craik lads enjoyed climbing
+everything in the neighborhood, from the highest trees to the most
+rugged cliffs, where lurked unexplored treasures in the shape of
+sea-birds' eggs. They penetrated caves and caverns under the cliffs with
+that sublime disregard of tides which is boyhood's happy prerogative.
+They lingered at the hearths of Old Elspeth and Meg Merrilies, in the
+valley below, drinking in tales of elf and goblin--too frightened to go
+home in the dusk, until the servants of the big house finally hunted up
+and retrieved them.
+
+And now all this commonplace existence was to be traded off for the more
+alluring one of a sailor's life--if only the stranger from Whitehaven
+did not forget to keep his word and ask Johnnie Paul's father and mother
+to permit him to go off to sea--and if that father and mother could be
+prevailed upon to give their consent!
+
+Young John had never covered the distance from the waterfront to his
+humble home as quickly as he had that stormy afternoon following his
+meeting with Mr. James Younger. There he shouted the news to his shocked
+mother, and then, still in his wet garments, ran over to the Craik
+estate and told his father and Mr. Craik himself.
+
+Had not the latter interceded in his behalf at the last moment it is
+doubtful if John Paul senior and his good wife would ever have allowed
+Johnnie to go, when Mr. Younger called that evening and presented the
+case to them. As it was, they finally agreed that their youngest son
+should become an apprentice to the Whitehaven ship-owner.
+
+Then John Paul was indeed a happy boy. He did not sleep a wink that
+night. All through the long hours he lay listening to the lashing
+waves. They had never sounded so sweet before.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+THE LAND ACROSS THE SEA
+
+
+"Gude-by, mither! Gude-by, faither! Gude-by, dear sisters!"
+
+The big ship which had brought Mr. James Younger to Arbigland in quest
+of sailors tugged restlessly at her anchor-chains in the river. Her
+sails were being unfurled to the fresh breeze by her crew. The storm of
+the day before had subsided during the night, and all was ready for the
+departure.
+
+Already a yawl-load of newly-engaged seamen had reached the vessel's
+deck. And now, with a little bundle under his arm and the kisses of his
+kinsfolk still warm on his cheek, young Johnnie Paul courageously tried
+to keep back the lump that seemed bound to rise in his throat, and
+stepped into the last ship's-boat with Mr. Younger himself. As the
+oarsmen bent to their task and the boat left the dock farther and
+farther behind, John waved his hand to the group on the shore. Beside
+his own household Mr. Craik's family were gathered there to see him off,
+also every man, woman, and child in the village. He knew them all. Every
+one was sorry to see him go, and all wished the lad they loved
+God-speed.
+
+John had not fancied his eyes would blur this way when the final parting
+should come. He had never been away from home before in all his twelve
+years of life. It is no wonder that for a short time he had an impulse
+to ask Mr. Younger to turn about and leave him behind.
+
+But fortunately for the country in which American children live, this
+Scotch lad steeled himself into seeing his bargain through, be it for
+better or for worse. So he maintained a steadfast silence, gazed
+straight ahead at the scurrying sailors aboard the big ship, which was
+now quite close, and, quickly absorbed in their movements, soon
+recovered his enthusiasm for the project upon which he had entered.
+Landlubber though they might call him, he determined to show these tars
+that he was no stranger to the ways, whims and tricks of water even if
+he were unused to handling a big vessel.
+
+Two hours later the high cliffs marking the site of Arbigland were all
+that young John could see of the little fishing-village. They were well
+out in the Solway, plowing their way toward Whitehaven, on the adjoining
+English coast. The sea was still quite rough--rough enough to have made
+any lad unused to the rolling motion of a boat prodigiously seasick. Not
+so Johnnie Paul. To the disappointment of a number of the old salts who
+expected to have sport with him in this way, John went about his new
+duties as serenely as if he had been on land. Therefore they found no
+opportunity to offer him the remedy they were wont to hand out to the
+usual run of shipmaster's apprentices--
+
+    "Just a wee drap o' saut water,
+    And if a piece o' fat pork, after,
+    Tied in a string ye tak' an' swallow,
+    Ye'll find that muckle change will follow."
+
+Nor did he have to listen to the suggestion, always gravely given, that
+the sufferer should make his will, which did not seem amiss, so awful
+are the pangs of that first hour when the novice is afraid he _will_
+die--and the second, when he is afraid he will _not_!
+
+All in all, the Scotch lad stood that first short voyage to Whitehaven
+in fine shape. So bravely had he faced the jibes and rough play of the
+sailors coming across the Solway, so well had he performed his duties,
+that Mr. Younger's interest in him expanded. When they reached port he
+had the boy take quarters with him at his own splendid home, where Mrs.
+Younger treated him with as much consideration as if he were her own
+son. Here John stayed for almost two weeks, while the new vessel on
+which he was to sail was taking on her finishing touches and being fully
+provisioned. In the meantime he was not idle, running errands for his
+host and hostess, working in their garden, and making himself generally
+useful.
+
+Spare moments he put in thumbing his way through various volumes in the
+splendid library of Mr. Younger. Indeed, so assiduously did he apply
+himself to reading several books on naval history that, the day he left,
+the ship-owner presented him with two such works, much to John's
+gratification. With his own meager savings he purchased an oilcloth
+wrapper for these treasures and stored them carefully away aboard the
+_Friendship_, the new vessel.
+
+Mr. Younger's line of ships were engaged largely in the American trade;
+so when John learned that the _Friendship_ was going to make her maiden
+voyage to Virginia, the very State in which his brother Willie was
+located, his joy knew no bounds. Just before he stepped aboard for the
+last time he mailed a letter to his mother, telling her of the happy
+tidings, and as the big ship worked out into the Irish Sea, with her bow
+pointed for the New Country across the Atlantic, he looked forward to
+the trip with a rare eagerness.
+
+His ship was commanded by Captain Benson. This skipper was a stern
+disciplinarian, none too well liked by the crew. Yet he was kind to the
+young apprentice, who found him just in every particular, and admired
+his high-spirited nature, so much like his own.
+
+The lad learned fast. With the sailors he was always a favorite. Before
+the vessel reached American waters he could climb a mast or yardarm with
+the most nimble of them, and was as fearless as the captain himself when
+the waves were running high.
+
+At last the green shores of America were sighted one morning by the
+lookout at the masthead. Near sunset the _Friendship_ dropped anchor in
+the quiet waters of the Rappahannock River, not far from the plantation
+where Willie Paul lived with William Jones, the cousin who had adopted
+him years ago.
+
+Johnnie's heart beat like a trip-hammer as he made his way, after some
+inquiries, up the winding drive which led toward a big white house. All
+around stretched acres of fertile fields, now heavy with ripening grain
+and tobacco. At the rear of the great house were numbers of smaller
+buildings, about some of which he could see negro children playing.
+Surely _all_ of this could not belong to the Jones estate! Why it was
+bigger than the wonderful premises of the Craiks!--even bigger than all
+of the fishing-village of Arbigland itself! The Scotch boy faltered. He
+stopped. He must have made a mistake. Once more he swept his eyes around
+at the huge fields, from one quarter of which came faintly rolling
+toward him the sounds of a rollicking negro chorus.
+
+Just then a tall figure--that of a young man--appeared on the portico of
+the great house. This person gazed intently toward the lad, then
+proceeded in his direction.
+
+As the young man came closer, John saw that he was a splendid-looking
+fellow. While slender he had a broad chest and square shoulders, and a
+heavy mass of wavy auburn hair crowned his bare head, behind which it
+was gathered in the manner of the period. Finer breeches, waistcoat,
+stockings, gaiters, and shoes, the boy had never seen.
+
+The young man's blue eyes looked down into John's pleasantly and
+inquiringly. "Well, my lad," said he in perfect English, "can I serve
+you in any manner?"
+
+"Sir," replied John awkwardly, "I fear I ha' been trespassing a wee bit.
+I ha' just come this day in a gude vessel, the _Friendship_, all the way
+from Whitehaven, England, and I am bent on seeing my brither who has
+lived some'r' in these parts this many a year."
+
+"Your speech shows you to be Scotch. What is this brother's name?" asked
+the planter quickly.
+
+"Willie Paul it was, but now it be Willie Jones because----"
+
+"Willie Jones! And you are...?"
+
+"Johnnie Paul, sir."
+
+"Johnnie," said the young man, seizing him by the shoulders and squaring
+him around, as he peered earnestly down at the boy, "look fairly into my
+face. Tell me--is there anything you see there which reminds you of
+anybody you know?"
+
+"On'y two things, sir. Ye ha'--asking pardon--the big ears o' my faither
+an' the twinklin' blue eyes o' my mither."
+
+The young man smiled. Those blue eyes twinkled more than ever. "Johnnie
+Paul," cried he, "you are very observing; but apparently not enough so
+to recognize me as your brother!"
+
+The next moment his big arms had swept around the little sailor, and
+Johnnie had never known such a happy moment. He was overjoyed to meet
+finally this brother he had never seen before. Together the happy pair
+went up the path and into the great house where the lad from far-away
+shores was made the welcome guest of the plantation owner and
+foster-father of Willie, William Jones himself.
+
+Just two weeks the _Friendship_ lay in the river discharging her
+consignment of farm implements, so much needed by the new settlers, for
+a cargo of tobacco and cotton to be taken back to England. Young John's
+services were not required aboard ship during this time, and it gave him
+a fine chance to visit with his brother and gain some knowledge of
+plantation life. He found that William Paul Jones had married since the
+family in Scotland had heard from him last, and that he was now overseer
+of his foster-father's estate, with a splendid future apparently
+awaiting him.
+
+The premises boasted of some of the finest horses in the country. It was
+John's delight to mount one of these mettlesome animals and with his
+brother or Mr. Jones go cantering down the shady Virginia roads in the
+neighborhood, or, at slower pace, cover the grounds of the big
+plantation. Of an evening they would call on neighbors, else neighbors
+would partake of the hospitality of the Jones's. The boy took an
+immediate liking to the generous, outspoken class of people he met. The
+American boys especially pleased him. In their active, fearless play,
+and love for adventure, they seemed a part of his own bold and hardy
+Scotch spirit. Many a wrestling bout did he indulge in with the best of
+them, and while he was sometimes thrown he had the satisfaction of
+knowing that it never was by a chap younger than himself.
+
+Mr. Jones took a strong fancy to the little Scotchman. Since Willie had
+been adopted he had come to regard the elder brother with the strongest
+of paternal affection, but now that he had grown up and married, the
+foster-father found himself yearning once more for young companionship.
+Just before Johnnie left, this kind-hearted planter offered to adopt him
+also. But the lad's real love was for the sea. Much as he liked this
+interesting, free life in Virginia, he did not feel that he could give
+up his precious ships for it.
+
+So off he sailed for Whitehaven.
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+THE YOUNG SAILOR
+
+
+Life before the mast in 1759 was a hard routine, not calculated to make
+a "sissy" or a mollycoddle out of any boy. Colleges and training-schools
+for turning out ship's officers there were none; every single man who
+attained such executive positions did so at the long and laborious
+expense of time and actual service in positions lower down the ladder.
+
+Johnnie Paul knew all the hard work that lay before him, before he had
+been aboard the _Friendship_ a fortnight, for there were many old
+veterans of the crew--failures themselves in the way of promotion--who
+were only too glad to try to discourage the lad because they felt
+irritated at their own lack of progress. One of the most persistent of
+these was a black-browed, bewhiskered fellow named Tom Whiddon. Whiddon
+was a jealous-minded sailor, given to sulky spells, and he seemed to
+take pleasure in telling John at every opportunity that the life of a
+sailor was a dog's life at the best, and that only men of money having a
+"pull" with the owners could ever hope to get an officer's berth.
+
+The Scotch lad listened to Tom Whiddon's growling complaints with
+growing impatience, although politely enough at first. As the seaman
+continued to harass him he asked him to desist, but this only caused a
+coarse laugh from Whiddon and some of his associates who were
+disgruntled at Captain Benson's apparent liking for the young
+apprentice.
+
+Finally came a day when the good ship lay becalmed. At such times a crew
+usually has difficulty to while away the hours. Between the times when
+they are "whistling for a wind" there is little to do except to talk,
+tell yarns, do stunts, and play practical jokes on one another.
+
+John had already found out to his sorrow, by reason of several other
+becalmings on the trip from Whitehaven to America, that when there is a
+boy aboard, that boy is likely to be the chief butt of such practical
+jokes. As then it was so now. But as then he also now good-naturedly
+laughed with them at the pranks they played at his expense. It was only
+when Tom Whiddon, with a malicious grin on his face, publicly called him
+the "cap'n's baby" that Johnnie's quick Scotch temper got the best of
+him.
+
+Like a flash he stood before the black-browed Whiddon, a belaying-pin in
+one hand, his hazel eyes snapping fire, his cheeks burning at the
+injustice of the remark.
+
+"Say that again, Tom Whiddon, an' I'll knock ye flat on this deck!"
+cried Johnnie.
+
+There was a tenseness in his tones, an earnestness in his demeanor that
+should have warned Whiddon. But the big bully saw only his own gigantic
+proportions as compared with the small bundle of quivering flesh
+confronting him. Stung by the lad's threat and the amused looks his
+comrades cast in his direction, Whiddon blurted out:
+
+"Hi say it ag'in--'cap'n's baby'! an' hif you don't----"
+
+The sailor was about to say, "Hif you don't drop that belayin'-pin Hi'll
+trounce you good an' proper, ye little snapper," when the boy's arm
+whipped forward, the belaying-pin landed on Whiddon's thick skull and
+he measured his length on the deck.
+
+The crew had not looked for such summary action on the part of the
+master's-boy no more than had the burly Whiddon himself. It had seemed
+ridiculous to think such a small boy would go to such extremes in
+upholding his honor and dignity. Now, as they gazed down aghast at their
+fallen comrade, who moved not a muscle, they were almost as stunned as
+he.
+
+When they awoke, one or two of them sprang forward and seized the boy,
+but a half-dozen others, including the first and second mates, pulled
+them away.
+
+"Leave the lad alone!" they demanded. "Whiddon got no more than he
+deserved."
+
+This seemed to be the consensus of opinion. The fellow was deservedly
+unpopular. Not a hand was lifted for his relief until young John Paul
+himself got some water, sprinkled it in his face, and brought him to.
+This tenderness of heart was characteristic of the lad in later years.
+It is said that when he became skipper of his own vessel, on more than
+one occasion his hot temper caused him to cuff or kick one of his
+officers for a breach of discipline, while his sympathetic nature
+immediately afterward prompted him to invite the culprit to mess with
+him in his cabin.
+
+Merchant ships then plying for trade were not fitted out with the
+refinements of a modern hotel, as might be said of many of them
+nowadays; after a few days out even the captain's table could not boast
+fresh provisions, and long voyages almost inevitably ended with scurvy
+among the crew, due to lack of green vegetables and an overdose of
+brine. Though the _menu_ lacked variety, the same could not be said of
+the names of the dishes which were not only picturesque but in some
+cases actually descriptive. For instance, there was "Salt Junk and
+Pork," "Lobscouse," "Plum-duff," "Dog's Body," "Sea Pies," "Rice Tail,"
+"Hurryhush," "Pea Coffee," and "Bellywash."
+
+With our steam and wireless to-day it is hard to realize the complete
+isolation which was formerly the seaman's lot. Empires might rise and
+fall, and Jack be none the wiser until he touched at port, or spoke some
+swifter craft within hail of the skipper's brazen-throated
+speaking-trumpet. Often becalmed for days at a time, in the manner
+previously referred to, with nothing to break the sameness of glassy
+water and nebulous horizon, the most trifling incident furnished food
+for conversation and attention.
+
+Even when the ship was under headway, the incessant moaning and
+whistling of wind through the rigging, the dull flapping of canvas at
+every shift of the breeze, itself bore a sense of monotony which made
+the crew long for the sight of a friendly sail or a bit of land. Once in
+port, the captain, relieved of responsibility, had his own affairs to
+occupy him ashore, as did most of his officers. His crew, divided
+between land and craft alternately, were entertained aboard by scores of
+natives with baskets of gewgaws to sell, and very often guzzled rum
+ashore until they could scarcely zig-zag their way back to the yawl.
+
+Despite its temptations, life at sea had a broadening influence for the
+average young man of the time. He returned very much more the man of the
+world, with harder muscles, and was far better able to take care of
+himself than his stay-at-home brother. On his voyages he gathered a
+store of extensive and varied information relating to the races and the
+geography of the world, that he could never get out of books. True, his
+associations and experiences made him a rough, blunt-spoken fellow as a
+rule; but on the whole they made his heart more sympathetic for those in
+trouble, more understanding of the big things in life.
+
+Johnnie Paul was now an attractive lad, high-spirited, quick to anger at
+injustice, open and honorable,--traits he seemed to have taken from the
+Highland blood of his mother. To his father, the Lowlander, he probably
+owed his restraining sense of strategy and caution. But for the latter
+inheritance of character it is likely his bold spirit would often have
+gotten him into trouble, and he could never have won the fights which he
+did later on. While John's rough life, in association with common seamen
+from the time that he was twelve years old, and his lack of previous
+education, made difficult his becoming what he ardently wished to be--a
+cultivated gentleman--he applied himself diligently to that end. During
+the long years on the deep which followed, by hard study the boy
+educated himself to a considerable degree, not only in seamanship and
+navigation, but also in naval history and in the French and Spanish
+languages. On a voyage his habit was to seek out a quiet spot, with his
+books, at every lull in his tasks. On shore, instead of carousing with
+his associates, he was given to hunting out the most distinguished or
+best-informed person he could find; by chatting with him, he added to
+his rapidly increasing fund of knowledge. His handwriting was always the
+painful scrawl of a schoolboy, probably because being far more adept
+with his tongue than with his spelling, he preferred to dictate most of
+his letters, that their recipients should not suspect his limited
+schooling, a matter about which he was always very sensitive.
+
+For four years following his maiden voyage, John Paul was a member of
+the crew of the _Friendship_. His voyages were mainly to and from the
+West Indies. During this time he managed to call twice upon his brother
+Willie in Virginia, and each time the people there grew to like him
+better, and he to appreciate the attractions of the New Country. He also
+had been to see his folks at Arbigland once or twice, on occasions when
+his ship was laying-over at Whitehaven, and these were happy occasions
+for all concerned, as we may suppose.
+
+John's rise in the merchant service was rapid. When he was sixteen, a
+sturdy youth with the nimbleness of a cat and almost the strength of a
+man, Mr. Younger retired from business, and as a reward to the
+capability and faithfulness of his charge, the ship-owner returned him
+the indentures which made him his own master. In addition to this he
+presented him to the captain of the _King George_ of Whitehaven, a
+slaver, with recommendation that the lad be given an appointment as
+first-mate.
+
+It must be remembered that at this time the slave-trade was not regarded
+as anything dishonorable. Numerous vessels were attracted to it as a
+money-making venture, and openly plied back and forth between the home
+of the black man and the island of Jamaica. Few sailors, few officers,
+few of the people at large, thought it wrong to steal lusty young
+negroes and negresses away from their parents and kinsmen and offer them
+for sale to the Jamaican slave-dealers and plantation owners.
+
+So young John Paul first engaged in the trade without any compunctions
+of conscience. But it was not for long. At the end of two years he had
+seen so many broken hearts among the blacks as a result of the forced
+partings, had been an observer of so much unnecessary suffering because
+of the cruelty of the rough fellows who handled the human freight, that
+his heart sickened. In fact, so disgusted was he that he even sold out
+the sixth interest which he had obtained in the ship, quitted it, and
+boarded the _John O'Gaunt_, at Kingston, Jamaica, bound as a passenger
+for Whitehaven.
+
+On the trip home the captain, mate, and all but five of the crew of the
+_John O'Gaunt_ died of yellow fever. Not a man was left, except John
+Paul, who knew enough about navigation to bring the afflicted ship into
+port. So the lad took charge. With neatness and dispatch he guided the
+brig across the dangerous waters of the Atlantic and into her haven. Her
+pleased owners rewarded him with a share of her cargo, and gratified him
+even more by making him captain and supercargo of a new ship--the
+_John_--which was engaged in the West Indian merchant trade.
+
+Life on a merchantman is rough enough to-day; it was far rougher at that
+time. To maintain discipline at sea required a strong hand and a tongue
+none too gentle. Kind-hearted enough by nature, John had learned his
+lessons by this time; he knew that indecision and softness had no place
+in an efficient skipper's makeup before his men, and while good enough
+to his crew at all times he insisted that they obey his commands with
+respect and promptness.
+
+During the third voyage of the _John_, when fever had greatly reduced
+the crew and every man on board was more or less fretful and irritable,
+Mungo Maxwell, a mulatto carpenter, became mutinous to such an extent
+that the young commander deemed it advisable to have him flogged, not
+only as fitting punishment, but as a salutary example for the
+observation of the remainder of the crew. The chastisement duly took
+place. It was not unusually severe, but it happened that, unknown to the
+youth, the man was just coming down himself with the scourge. He took to
+his bed, the fever gripped him, and he never arose again.
+
+A few envious enemies of John immediately circulated reports that the
+mulatto had been struck down and murdered by the young captain. He was
+arrested by the governor of Tobago, in the vicinity of which the vessel
+happened to be at the time, and taken before the tribunal of that place.
+Since the body of the stricken carpenter had been immediately consigned
+to the deep, following the custom in such deaths, it could not be
+produced to substantiate John's claims of innocence, but witnesses in
+his favor were plentiful enough to aid in his acquittal.
+
+This incident, in spite of its outcome, worried the lad a great deal.
+His pride was hurt. In a letter to his mother and sisters, he referred
+frequently to it with remorse, and in those parts where he told of
+people still throwing it up to him in a condemning manner, his language
+was even bitter. Can we blame him?
+
+A year later, in 1870, when he was twenty, John learned that William
+Jones, foster-father of his brother, had died, bequeathing to Willie his
+entire property of three thousand acres, the buildings, animals, slaves,
+and a sloop. A clause of the will particularly personal was to the
+effect that, should the adopted son die without children, the estate,
+excepting an adequate provision for Willie's wife, was to go to his
+youngest brother, our John Paul.
+
+The next two years the young captain continued to guide the _Two
+Friends_, of Kingston, Jamaica, of which he had taken command some four
+years earlier. Numerous voyages were made to the Indian Ocean, and
+cargoes of woolen and thread goods brought back. Twice trips were made
+to Baltic ports.
+
+Finally, in 1771, John obtained command of the _Betsy_, of London, a
+ship trading with the West Indies. This venture made it possible for the
+young man to save a considerable amount of money, a goodly share of
+which he fondly anticipated sending home to his mother and sisters.
+
+Just a year later, in 1772, business having called him in that vicinity,
+he ran the _Betsy_ into the Rappahannock. He had not seen or heard from
+Willie for over a year. This would be a splendid opportunity. How
+surprised his brother would be!
+
+At the door he was met by a servant who knew him at first sight. The
+negro's eyes danced with delight, his mouth spread into a broad grin,
+showing two rows of glistening white teeth. But the next moment he grew
+very sober.
+
+"Hush, Marse John," he said in the lowest of whispers. "Ah's suah sorry
+t' tell yo', but Marse Willyum am berry, berry sick."
+
+Going in quickly, the young sailor was grief-stricken to find his
+brother lying at the point of death.
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+THE YOUNG PLANTER
+
+
+William Jones was, indeed, too ill to recognize his brother, and died in
+that condition. John felt the blow keenly, the more so because he could
+not have a last word with the kinsman he had seen so little of, and had
+come to regard with such strong affection.
+
+In accordance with the provisions of the will, the bulk of the estate
+was now due to go to Johnnie Paul, provided the latter would accept
+Jones as a surname. Our young sailor, after some deliberation, decided
+to make the change, settle down, and become a Virginia planter. But he
+could not satisfy himself with dropping the name of Paul. This was a
+family heirloom which he felt he must preserve, especially now since he
+was the only male member of his immediate family possessing it, his good
+father having gone some months before. Therefore, he forthwith discarded
+his Christian name of John--whose commonplaceness he had never
+liked--and became known as Paul Jones. Under this half-assumed
+appellation he did the really big things of his career which brought him
+fame. Under it he shouldered responsibilities of which any true-hearted,
+loyal American citizen might well be proud, although he was only the son
+of a poor Scotch gardener, a young man without education, without a
+country he could really claim as his own.
+
+Paul Jones--as we shall now have to call him--found that he had
+inherited "3000 acres of prime land, bordering for twelve furlongs on
+the right bank of the Rappahannock, running back southward three miles,
+1000 acres of which are cleared and under plough or grass, 2000 acres of
+which are strong first-growth timber; a grist-mill with flour-cloth and
+fans turned by water power; mansion, overseer's house, negro quarters,
+stables, tobacco houses, threshing-floor, river-wharf, one sloop of
+twenty tons, thirty negroes of all ages (eighteen adults), twenty horses
+and colts, eighty neat cattle and calves, sundry sheep and swine; and
+all necessary means of tilling the soil."
+
+With the property came also old Duncan Macbean. This canny, tough old
+Scotsman Willie Jones had saved from the tomahawks of the Indians at the
+time of Braddock's rout. He had brought him home, nursed him until well
+of his wounds, and then made him overseer of the plantation. In this
+capacity Duncan had amply proved his efficiency. He had become greatly
+attached to the place, and in his will the master had requested that he
+be continued as overseer as long as he was physically and mentally
+capable.
+
+Paul Jones sent the _Betsy_ back to London under the command of his
+first-mate, with word to her owners that, for the present at least, he
+was relinquishing the attractions of the sea. He then settled down in
+earnest to the new life that had opened up before him.
+
+As in everything he undertook, he waded into the duties confronting him
+with an interest keen and thorough. He was not afraid to ask questions
+of those whose experience warranted them knowing more than he about his
+new task, no matter how humble or high their stations. In this way he
+learned the tricks of the planter with surprising rapidity. It was not
+long before he saw the advisability of rotating his tobacco crops with
+sowings of maize, that the fertility of his fields might not be
+exhausted, and a number of neighboring planters who had never thought of
+such a thing before, followed suit.
+
+There was not a horse on the plantation, nor in the county which could
+unseat him. So much was he liked by his slaves that they anticipated his
+every wish, it seemed. In the early day, before the sun had become
+intolerable, he rode over his broad acres at a leisurely pace, noting
+the crops, the black workers, the pickaninnies at play,--everything.
+Apparently nothing tending toward a betterment of the condition of his
+help and the acres they tilled seemed to escape him. A gentle bit of
+censure here, a pat on a woolly head there, a trinket in a child's
+outstretched dusky hand, and he would turn his horse's head in another
+direction.
+
+The surrounding forests contained game in profusion; and the low sandy
+marshes around Urbana abounded in great flocks of snipe and other
+water-fowl. With old Duncan Macbean the young master often shouldered
+the fine Lancaster rifle left by his brother, stuck a brace of pistols
+in his belt, and spent a day in the wilds. No better shot than the old
+Scotsman could be found in the whole country. Although an old Indian
+wound had left him lame, this in no wise interfered with his wonderful
+skill with either pistol or rifle. He could shoot from either hand or
+either shoulder, from almost any position, and put a ball through a wild
+turkey's head at a hundred yards.
+
+Paul Jones could scarcely credit the evidence of his eyes when he first
+saw old Duncan shoot, for he had never seen such accuracy before. An
+intense desire came over him to master firearms with equal skill. He
+imparted this wish to his overseer, and the consequence was that in the
+course of the next two years the old veteran taught him to handle the
+pistol and rifle with a deadliness which became the talk of the
+countryside.
+
+However, the ability to shoot was really more a matter of necessity than
+an accomplishment in those days. Scattering bands of the Rappahannock
+Indians often stole down stream to the holdings of the Scotch-Irish
+planters along the tidewater shores, and when opportunity offered, ran
+off portions of their live stock, or even sent a wicked arrow through an
+unwary white man. In her scrolled coach, creaking and swaying on its
+great hinges and leather straps, milady never took her airings down the
+rough sandy roads without a guarding retinue of armed slaves and whites.
+Nor did men themselves venture forth in the fastnesses without their
+fingers playing about hammer and trigger, ever ready to throw up the
+former at the slightest suspicious sight or sound, ready to pull the
+latter when they became convinced that such a procedure was warranted.
+
+Young Paul Jones enjoyed his new life to the utmost. The constant peril
+from the redskins, the exciting brushes which he and old Duncan Macbean
+had with some of them on different occasions, the thrilling hunts in the
+forest, all went to satisfy his active, adventure-loving nature. On the
+other hand, he had plenty of spare time in which to gratify his
+ambitions for study, for becoming a man of power in his own section as
+well as in the affairs of the new nation. He continued to study from
+books, perfected his knowledge of the French and Spanish languages, and
+even traveled over the Colonies quite extensively. He entertained
+lavishly at home. His gallantry and courtesy made him very popular.
+
+In his trips away from home he met many prominent statesmen of the time,
+and renewed friendships with others whom he had previously met. Among
+the latter was Joseph Hewes, with whom he was unusually intimate. Other
+noted men of his acquaintance were Thomas Jefferson, Philip Livingston,
+George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, the Lees, and Robert and
+Gouverneur Morris.
+
+For some time the Colonists had been growing more and more restless
+under the burdensome taxes and conditions imposed upon them by England,
+the mother-country. The governors she appointed seemed to deal with the
+people unjustly, even cruelly at times. Protests did no good. If one
+official was removed a worse one was put in his place. So life in the
+new land, instead of flourishing, became a burden.
+
+Bitterness began to creep into the voices of the Colonists when they
+talked of Great Britain. The man who thought conditions all right was
+frowned upon by the majority and called a "Tory." He was told either to
+keep his silence, or go back across the seas. The majority--the
+"Whigs"--did not want such men howling for the king on the virgin ground
+which they had come hundreds of miles to settle and keep free from the
+fetters of aristocratic rulers and their smothering taxes.
+
+In 1774, Paul Jones, then twenty-seven years of age, returning from
+Edmonton, stopped over in Norfolk to visit some friends. Several British
+ships lay at anchor in the harbor. The Colonists forgot their grievances
+under the impulse of their natural hospitality. Wishing to show kindness
+to the king's sailors rather than loyalty to his empire, the Americans
+entertained the officers at an elaborate ball.
+
+As customary at such functions wine was furnished. Instead of partaking
+of this sparingly, most of the young English officers drank freely, and
+became very insolent and abusive. Stepping up to one of the most
+talkative of them--Lieutenant Parker, by name--Paul Jones demanded:
+
+"Did I not overhear you say, sir, that in the case of a revolt in this
+country England will easily suppress it?"
+
+"Thash jus' what I said," replied Lieutenant Parker thickly. "Mean it
+too, m'lad. But I might add that if the courage of your men ish no
+finer'n the virtue of your women, you'll be licked before the fight's
+one day old."
+
+In an instant the fist of the young planter, as hard as an oak knot
+beneath its laced cuff, swung out from his broad shoulder. The British
+officer went down like a log.
+
+At once there was an aggressive movement on the part of his comrades;
+but the Americans, now thoroughly aroused to the defense of their
+ideals, flocked around Paul Jones in such numbers that the king's men
+fell back, picked up their helpless companion, and hurried aboard their
+ships.
+
+Expecting that, after the custom of the day, Lieutenant Parker might
+challenge him to a duel, Paul Jones at once proceeded to make
+arrangements with a friend, Mr. Granville Hurst, to represent him in the
+event of any negotiations.
+
+"Propose pistols at ten paces," said the young planter. "Advise the
+gentleman I will meet him at Craney Island, at such time as he may
+desire."
+
+But this meeting never took place, for the very good reason that
+Lieutenant Parker heard about Paul Jones's unerring use of a pistol; his
+sloop departed at ebb tide for Charlestown, and, so far as he was
+concerned personally, the incident seemed closed.
+
+The Colonists, however, did not forget it in a hurry. Like wildfire the
+news of the encounter spread. Colonial newspapers all gave considerable
+space to it. Suddenly Paul Jones found himself the most-talked-of man in
+Virginia. He was the hero of men, women, and children. Unofficially he
+had struck the first blow of the threatening conflict with England.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY
+
+
+The following spring--that of 1775--Paul Jones decided to board his
+sloop and make a little pleasure trip by sea to Boston. With his crew
+and two favorite slaves, Cato and Scipio, he sailed down the river,
+worked out into the Atlantic, and keeping close to the New Jersey
+headlands, pointed north.
+
+When he reached New York he dropped anchor, intending to meet some of
+his friends in that city. One of the very first of these he encountered
+was William Livingston. This patriot's face showed plenty of excitement.
+"Paul, have you heard the news?" he asked.
+
+"I have not been favored," replied Paul Jones. "I trust it is nothing
+serious concerning your own family."
+
+"I fear it _is_ serious; but it concerns my family no more than it
+concerns any other family in the Colonies," was William Livingston's
+answer. "Paul, my friend, the British have beaten us at Lexington!"
+
+Paul Jones was gravely concerned. He plied his friend with many
+questions. After a long discussion they parted. The young planter
+immediately gave up his plans for visiting Boston; he wished to go home
+and in the seclusion of the plantation calmly think over the matter and
+decide what to do.
+
+Within twenty-four hours after his arrival he sent to Thomas Jefferson
+the following letter:
+
+     "It is, I think, to be taken for granted that there can be no more
+     temporizing. I am too recently from the mother country, and my
+     knowledge of the temper of the king, his ministers, and their
+     majority in the House of Commons, is too fresh to allow me to
+     believe that anything is, or possibly can be in store except either
+     war to the knife or total submission to complete slavery.
+
+     "... I cannot conceive of submission to complete slavery; therefore
+     only war is in sight. The Congress, therefore, must soon meet
+     again, and when it meets it must face the necessity of taking those
+     measures which it did not take last fall in its first session,
+     namely, provision for armament by land and sea.
+
+     "Such being clearly the position of affairs, I beg you to keep my
+     name in your memory when the Congress shall assemble again, and in
+     any provision that may be taken for a naval force, to call upon me
+     in any capacity which your knowledge of my seafaring experience and
+     your opinions of my qualifications may dictate."
+
+One morning, a short time after this, Paul Jones received word that two
+French frigates had come to anchor in Hampton Roads. With the
+hospitality of the true sailor and true Virginia planter he loaded his
+sloop with the best green vegetables the plantation afforded, and
+started down the Rappahannock to welcome the newcomers.
+
+The two frigates were in command of Captain De Kersaint, one of the
+ablest officers in the French navy, who afterwards became an admiral.
+The second in command was no less than the Duc De Chartres, eldest son
+of the Duc D'Orléans, who had sent De Chartres to America on a "cruise
+of instruction," to fit him for the hereditary post of Lord High Admiral
+of France. He was Paul Jones's own age exactly, and with his charming
+wife, the Duchesse De Chartres, he received the young planter with a
+great cordiality. Their liking for Paul Jones increased as they chatted.
+In fact, the Duke himself took such a violent fancy to their guest that
+when the latter asked if he might be shown plans of the construction of
+their splendid frigate. _La Terpischore_, with a view to offering
+suggestions to the Colonists in building war craft, the French nobleman
+readily assented. With royal prerogative he ordered his ship's carpenter
+to make deck and sail drawings, hull details,--everything that could in
+any way aid the young Scotchman in understanding the essential
+constructive features of the vessel.
+
+It was of inestimable advantage to Paul Jones to have had the
+opportunity of inspecting at such close range, much less get drawings
+of, one of the best and most modern ships of the French navy. It is not
+strange that the American frigate _Alliance_, built some time later,
+followed closely the same general lines as _La Terpischore_; that she
+mounted the same battery--twenty-eight long 12-pounders on the gun deck,
+and ten long 9-pounders above. Was this merely a coincidence? Or, on the
+other hand, did the young Scotchman have a hand in the matter?
+
+At a meeting of the Continental Congress on May 10, 1775, the Naval
+Committee invited Paul Jones to lay before it such information and
+advice as might seem to him useful in assisting the committee in
+discharging its labors. Paul Jones felt strongly on the subject of
+establishing a navy, and thought that the only way to start was to offer
+prizes to the crews of privateersmen. In a letter to Joseph Hewes he
+observed:
+
+     "If our enemies, with the best established and most formidable navy
+     in the universe, have found it expedient to assign all prizes to
+     the captors, how much more is such policy essential to our infant
+     fleet? But I need no argument to convince you of the necessity of
+     making the emoluments of our navy equal, if not superior, to
+     theirs."
+
+In this appeal to Congress there was good common-sense. Paul Jones was
+not actuated by a love of gain; he was in the struggle because he
+thought it a righteous cause. Yet he knew that while he had the profits
+of his plantation for the past two or three seasons--some 4000
+pounds--to fall back upon when his Government allowances should fail to
+meet expenses, the average Colonist did not. The wives and children of
+the latter must be fed and clothed while he was away fighting. Unless
+he could be promised ample revenue from prizes, Paul Jones knew that
+Jack would fight half-heartedly and in the dumps, even though he loved
+his country in every fiber of his being. His pitifully inadequate
+Government allowance of eight dollars a month was surely no attraction.
+
+On November 15, 1776, Congress improved this situation somewhat, but did
+not meet Paul Jones's wishes in the matter, by resolving "that a bounty
+of twenty dollars be paid to the commanders, officers, and men, of such
+Continental ships or vessels of war as shall make a prize of any British
+ships or vessels of war, for every cannon on board such a prize at the
+time of such capture; and eight dollars per head for every man then on
+board and belonging to such prize."
+
+In addition to this General Washington approved the following
+distribution of the prize: "That the captain or commander should receive
+six shares; the first-lieutenant, five, the second-lieutenant and the
+surgeon, four; the master, three; steward, two; mate, gunner,
+gunner's-mate, boatswain, and sergeant, one and one-half shares; the
+private, one share." Nothing was said about the poor cook. Undoubtedly
+he ranked with the ordinary seaman when the time of distribution came.
+
+To all intents and purposes an American, the truth remains that Paul
+Jones was a Scotchman. His enthusiastic soul was wholly for the cause of
+liberty in his new country, but the men who envied him and wanted the
+offices for which his high capabilities fitted him so signally never let
+him and others forget that he was an alien. This was, of course, quite
+absurd; for what were they themselves? What had they been until a few
+months ago? The fact is, Paul Jones had served under three masters,
+until he was a far more competent officer than many of those in the
+established navies of Europe, where influence and patronage often made
+officers of men of long lineage and short experience.
+
+Thus in the _Journal of Congress_, dated December 22, 1775, the name of
+Paul Jones heads the list of first-lieutenants, instead of the list of
+captains as it should. His friend Joseph Hewes, who championed the
+candidates from the southern colonies, had done his best to make the
+young planter a captain, but had failed at the antagonism of John Adams,
+who represented the candidates from the northern colonies, which
+demanded full control of naval affairs.
+
+When affairs had at last been worked down to a point of action by sea,
+the nucleus of the first navy of the new country consisted of the
+_Alfred_, the _Columbus_, the _Andrew Doria_, the _Providence_, and the
+_Cabot_. Five little ships to face the finely-appointed scores of
+frigates and sloops-of-war in the service of the king!
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+RAISING THE FIRST AMERICAN FLAG
+
+
+That winter of 1776 was a cold one. Snow had lain heavy in the streets
+of Philadelphia since frigid blasts had brought the first downfall in
+December. In January, the Delaware River, like every other stream in the
+country, was locked in the grip of ice, ice a foot or more in thickness.
+It was only by the constant plying up and down stream of a couple of
+sturdy whaling-ships, equipped with steel-jacketed bows, that an open
+channel could be maintained in the Delaware for the passage of ordinary
+wooden-hulled craft.
+
+Along the waterfront of the city innumerable masts and spars made a
+somber network against the dull blue of the winter sky. On board some of
+the larger of the vessels, despite the cold, men were at work repairing
+and overhauling. Well down the glittering sea of ice a group of five
+ships swung at anchor in the channel. Their decks, too, were a scene of
+action.
+
+All of this was taken in with a few swift glances by a quick-stepping,
+stalwart young man who came down to the wharf and paused to look about
+him. He was a comely-looking fellow, with broad shoulders, and a face as
+bronzed as a South Sea Islander's.
+
+It was the young Scotchman and planter, Paul Jones. But his immaculate
+linen had been discarded. In its place he appeared in the trim uniform
+of a Continental marine lieutenant--blue coat with red-bound
+button-holes, round-cuffed blue breeches, and black gaiters.
+
+As he looked about for a boat to take him out to the five ships riding
+at anchor, Paul Jones's eye fell on a tall, lithe young man who was just
+in the act of tying the painter of a whaler's yawl to one of the wharf
+timbers.
+
+Paul Jones stepped briskly up to him. "Pardon me, my fine fellow," he
+said, "but a guinea is yours if you will row me out to the larger of yon
+vessels, the _Alfred_, where I am in urgent service."
+
+The young man wheeled around, displaying features unmistakably those of
+an Indian, but of an unusually intelligent composition. His coal-black
+eyes swept over his questioner. "I, Wannashego, will take the white
+sea-soldier," he replied in excellent English.
+
+Without further ado, Paul Jones sprang nimbly down into the boat. Its
+owner cast loose and followed.
+
+As his companion pulled lustily away in the direction of the American
+ships, Paul Jones sat studying the rower. When and where had this
+redskin of the American forest picked up such splendid address? What
+marvelous trick of fate had possessed him of such skill with the white
+man's oars?
+
+"You are an Indian, are you not?" inquired the lieutenant presently.
+
+"An Indian of Narragansett tribe," was the proud reply.
+
+"Where did you learn to handle a boat in this manner?"
+
+"On whaling cruises, sir."
+
+"You belong to one of these whaling-ships at the wharves, then?"
+
+"Yes, sir; to _Walrus_. She lies upstream a bit, sir. Three years I have
+been with her."
+
+"How is it you came to leave your people, Wannashego?" asked Paul Jones
+curiously.
+
+"My father, Tassa-menna-tayka, a chief who loves the white people, he
+sent me from near Martha's Vineyard to learn your ways and be like you,"
+declared the young Indian. There was a short pause; he turned his head
+for a moment to take his bearings, and then continued: "Sir, I ask if
+yonder ships are to fight the great country across the sea?"
+
+"They are, Wannashego."
+
+"You goin' to fight on 'em?"
+
+"I expect to."
+
+"I like to fight on 'em, too," was the sententious rejoinder of the
+young redskin.
+
+"Do you mean that?" asked Paul Jones sharply. "If you do, Wannashego, I
+think I can get Captain Saltonstall, of my ship, the _Alfred_, to ship
+you, as we are short-handed."
+
+"Mean it a heap," said the Indian. "I shoot good. Make two bangs--get
+two Red-coats."
+
+Paul Jones laughed. "I hope so. Well, Wannashego, I'll see what I can do
+for you."
+
+Shortly the boat's nose touched the accommodation-ladder over the
+_Alfred's_ side. The young lieutenant held out the promised guinea to
+Wannashego, but the Indian straightened up proudly. "I don't want
+money," said he. "I like America country heap much. You fight for him,
+so I help you beat our enemies, the Red-coats."
+
+It was a crude expression of sentiment, but Paul Jones interpreted it
+correctly, and was deeply affected by it. "Wannashego," he cried,
+"return to your captain. If he will release you, and you still want to
+fight the Red-coat soldiers of the sea, come to me on this ship
+to-morrow and I will stir heaven and earth to make you a member of our
+crew."
+
+Captain Saltonstall was to command the ship, but he had not yet arrived.
+So, for the present at least, upon Paul Jones rested the duty of
+preparing her for sea. Under his leadership, arrangements went on
+speedily and smoothly. The _Alfred_ bid fair to be in readiness before
+some of her sister ships, it seemed.
+
+Next morning, before the sun was an hour high, a yawl containing two men
+was seen approaching. At first the lieutenant thought it might be
+Captain Saltonstall himself, but his glass soon showed him his mistake.
+It was the young Narragansett Indian, Wannashego, who evidently had
+secured one of the sailors of his old ship to row him out to the
+_Alfred_.
+
+Paul Jones made him welcome, telling him that he was quite sure the
+captain would make no objection when he should appear. Thus Wannashego,
+the first and one of the very few full-blooded Indians to fight in the
+first navy of this country, became a tentative member of the _Alfred's_
+crew. He took hold of his duties happily and energetically, outdoing
+many of his white companions.
+
+As for the temporary commander, from the time the foot of Paul Jones
+touched the deck of the vessel his active spirit pervaded everything,
+and the officers under him, as well as the men, felt the force of his
+executive power. Besides working all day, he and the other officers
+stood watch and watch on deck throughout the wintry nights, to prevent
+desertions; and although every other vessel in the squadron lost men in
+this manner, not a single deserter got away from the _Alfred_.
+
+"An' I'll bet a herrin' ag'in a p'tater, mates," remarked Bill Putters,
+quartermaster, in the confidence of the forecastle, "that this Leftenant
+Jones is a real seaman wot could handle this yere ol' gal better'n
+Cap'n Saltonstall. I kin tell it by the cut o' his jib, the way he
+squares away to tackle any job he undertakes."
+
+"Bet so, too, Bill," supported the bos'n, Tom Wilkerson; "an' I'll go
+you a cooky he's a fighter. He speaks to most of us so soft you might
+think his voice was a tune from a fiddle; but, by Johnny! when Pete
+Walker didn't do what he told him to, yes'dy, he thundered at him in a
+way that made poor Pete's head rattle with the jar, an' Pete perty nigh
+dislocated his spinal collum jumpin' to do what he wanted him to. _I'd_
+like to see the leftenant in full charge. If we ever met up with any o'
+them pets of the king you bet there would be some fur flyin'--an' it
+wouldn't be ours as much as theirs, neether!"
+
+One day, in the midst of the bustle of fitting out the ship, Commodore
+Hopkins, who was to command the little squadron, came on board the
+_Alfred_. He was formally received at the gangway by Paul Jones and
+shown over the ship by him.
+
+The commodore was a big, heavy-set man who had spent the best part of
+his life at sea. He examined the vessel carefully, but made no
+favorable comments, and the young lieutenant began to fear his work had
+displeased the senior officer.
+
+But it turned out otherwise. A little later, standing on the
+quarter-deck, surrounded by the officers, Commodore Hopkins turned to
+Paul Jones and said:
+
+"Your work pleases me extremely, and my confidence in you, sir, is such
+that if Captain Saltonstall should not appear by the time these ships
+are due to sail, I shall hoist my flag on this ship and give you command
+of her."
+
+A flush of gratification arose in Paul Jones's dark face. He bowed with
+the graceful courtesy that always distinguished him. "Thank you,
+commodore," said he, "and may I be pardoned for expressing the hope that
+Captain Saltonstall may not arrive in time! And when your flag is
+hoisted on the _Alfred_, I trust there will be ready a flag of the
+United Colonies to fly at the peak-halyards. I aspire to be the first
+man to raise that flag upon the ocean!"
+
+Commodore Hopkins smiled. "If the Congress is as slow as I expect it
+will be, some time will elapse before it will have adopted a flag; and
+there will not be time to have one made, much less, before we sail."
+
+In this he was mistaken. The Congress had practically decided upon the
+flag, and quite certain of its selection, Paul Jones from his own pocket
+had already purchased the materials to make it. Bill Putters was an old
+sail-maker, therefore handy with a needle, which it was his boast he
+"could steer like a reg'lar tailor-man." To him the young lieutenant
+entrusted the making of the first official flag of America they had
+seen--a task which swelled old Bill up with a wonderful pride, as well
+it might.
+
+One stormy February day, when the channel had been freed from ice enough
+for the little squadron to get out, the _Alfred_ was ready to lend her
+spotless decks to the formality of the flag-raising. Captain Saltonstall
+had arrived some days before. This disappointed Paul Jones. But he was
+as ready to do his duty as first-lieutenant, as in the hoped-for higher
+office.
+
+The commodore's boat was seen approaching on the chill waters of the
+river. The horizon was overcast. Dun clouds, driven by a strong wind,
+scurried across the troubled sky. The boatswain's call, "All hands to
+muster!" sounded through the ship. In a wonderfully short time, owing to
+the careful drilling of Paul Jones, the three hundred sailors and one
+hundred marines were drawn up on deck. The sailors, a fine-looking body
+of American seamen, were formed in ranks on the port side of the
+quarter-deck, while abaft of them stood the marine guard under arms. On
+the starboard side were the petty officers, and on the quarter-deck
+proper were the commissioned officers in full uniform, swords at their
+sides. Paul Jones headed this line.
+
+When it was reported, "All hands up and aft!" Captain Saltonstall
+emerged out of the cabin. At this Paul Jones, having previously arranged
+it, called out, "Quartermaster!" and Bill Putters, perfectly groomed,
+stepped from the ranks of the petty officers and saluted.
+
+In his hand, carefully rolled up, Bill carried a small bundle. Unrolling
+this he followed Paul Jones briskly aft to the flagstaff. He affixed the
+flag to the halyards, along with the broad pennant of a commodore just
+below, saw that the lines were free, and then stood at attention.
+
+Meantime the commodore's boat had reached the ladder, and he came over
+the side. Just as his foot touched the quarter-deck the flag with the
+pennant, under Paul Jones's energetic hands, was hauled swiftly upward.
+At the top the breeze caught it in all its fullness, flung it free to
+the air, and the sun at that moment burst through the clouds which had
+enveloped it, and bathed the emblem in all its fresh glory.
+
+Every officer from the commodore down instantly removed his cap in
+patriotic reverence. The drummer boys beat a double-ruffle. A tremendous
+cheer burst from the sailors and marines.
+
+This was not the present well-known Stars-and-Stripes, which was evolved
+later, but the Pine-tree and Rattlesnake Flag with the motto, "Don't
+Tread On Me!" As an emblem it was not at all artistic; but the men who
+now saw it flung to the breeze for the first time thought only of the
+sentiment it expressed, a sentiment still paramount in the heart of
+every true-blooded American. And among those who so loudly cheered it
+no man was more enthusiastic than the young Narragansett Indian,
+Wannashego.
+
+Commodore Hopkins advanced toward Lieutenant Paul Jones and said: "I
+congratulate you, sir, upon your enterprise. This flag was only adopted
+in Congress yesterday. You are the very first to fly it."
+
+Within an hour the _Columbus_, the _Andrew Doria_, the _Cabot_, and the
+_Providence_, led by the _Alfred_, were making out toward the open sea
+under full spread of canvas, ready to meet whatsoever of the mighty foe
+that might appear.
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+AN INGLORIOUS CRUISE
+
+
+The first enterprise determined upon was an expedition to the island of
+New Providence, in the West Indies. As it had been learned that Fort
+Nassau was well supplied with powder and shot--munitions of war sadly
+wanting in the Colonies--it was thought a sudden descent might be
+profitable.
+
+The moment the English sighted the little squadron, a warning gun was
+fired from the fort, and all haste made to remove and conceal as much of
+the powder as possible. Delayed in getting into the harbor by a sandbar
+at its mouth, further delayed by poor judgment on the part of Commodore
+Hopkins, it was some time before the smaller vessels could work their
+way in far enough to effect a landing of their marines.
+
+Then it was only to find a small amount of arms and stores awaiting
+them. Chagrined at his ill success, the commodore carried off the
+governor of the island as a hostage.
+
+Now all sail was set, and the American squadron made its way cautiously
+along the New England coast. Although every part of these waters was
+swarming with British vessels, it was determined to try to gain an
+entrance into Long Island Sound by way of Narragansett Bay.
+
+Paul Jones went about his arduous duties as first-lieutenant of the
+_Alfred_ with his customary energy and determination. But at heart he
+cherished a secret dissatisfaction. Coupled with his disappointment at
+his own low official station was a growing impression that the senior
+officer of the squadron, Commodore Hopkins himself, was incompetent. In
+a number of instances during the Providence Island operation, the keen
+eyes of the first-lieutenant had caught him in blunders. Although the
+commodore might prove brave enough in an encounter, Paul Jones was sure
+that he was not above the average in either enterprise or intelligence.
+At the outset of the expedition the young officer was wild to meet the
+enemy, regardless of numbers. Now, with a grave doubt gripping his
+heart, he feared that they might meet Commodore Wallace's British fleet
+off Newport.
+
+But the day passed without adventure. Numerous white sails were seen in
+the distance, none of which drew any nearer. Commodore Hopkins, being
+well weighted down with the cannon and supplies captured at New
+Providence, made no effort to investigate these far-off ships. "It is
+well to let sleeping dogs lie," he said when Captain Saltonstall
+proposed going after them.
+
+Paul Jones's intrepid heart was sickened at such display of
+indifference. With his capacity for meeting extraordinary dangers with
+extraordinary resources of mind and courage, he could only despise the
+risks that other men shunned.
+
+The young Narragansett Indian, who had been appointed boatswain's mate
+by Captain Saltonstall, was also clearly disgruntled at the commodore's
+weak attitude. But beyond muttering impatiently under his breath when he
+heard Commodore Hopkins's remarks about "sleeping dogs," and nudging
+Paul Jones, with flashing black eyes, Wannashego was discreet enough to
+say nothing. Intuitively the brave redskin knew that his Scotch friend
+felt as he did.
+
+Toward night they entered the blue waters of Narragansett Bay. A young
+moon hung trembling in the heavens. The sky was cloudless, and the stars
+shone brilliantly. Wannashego slipped noiselessly up to where Paul Jones
+stood on the after-deck. The Indian youth pointed down to the gurgling
+green swells as they swept aft along the _Alfred's_ hull. "These are the
+waters of my people, the Narragansetts," he said softly. "They touch the
+land of my old home and playgrounds."
+
+"Wannashego, do you wish to go back to your people?" asked Paul Jones
+curiously.
+
+He shook his black-locked head. "No," he answered--"if I can fight
+Red-coat sea soldiers soon. But if I have to run away when see 'em, like
+this, I like to go back an' ketchum whale on whaler-ship ag'in." He
+ended with an expressive grunt of disgust, and took himself off as
+silently as he had appeared.
+
+Shortly after this--about midnight--the lookout on the _Alfred's_
+quarter made out Block Island. It seemed that his call had hardly died
+away when a cry of "Sail ho!" was heard from the direction of the
+_Cabot_.
+
+With his night-glass to his eye Commodore Hopkins saw, about a half-mile
+away, the shadowy form of a ship. Captain Saltonstall also took a look
+at her. Several conjectures were raised as to her identity, and then the
+glass was handed to the first-lieutenant.
+
+"What do you think she is, Mr. Jones?" asked Commodore Hopkins. He had
+more confidence in Paul Jones than he dared to confess, even to himself.
+
+"I should say she was a British frigate, sir," was the lieutenant's
+prompt reply. "She is too small for a ship-of-the-line, and she does not
+carry sail enough for a merchantman under this breeze. It would seem to
+me that she is merely cruising about on the lookout for somebody."
+
+"That 'somebody' is probably ourselves," answered the commodore
+uneasily, "if she's a British frigate as you think. She's likely out on
+scout duty, and has a squadron of sister ships somewhere nearby."
+
+Signal lanterns were raised to the foremasthead, asking the _Cabot_, as
+the ship nearest the stranger, to engage the attention of the latter.
+But before the captain of the _Cabot_ could comply it was seen that the
+distant ship had come about and was making straight for the two American
+vessels.
+
+The decks of the _Alfred_ and _Cabot_ were immediately cleared for
+action. No drums were beat, or other unnecessary noise made. The men
+worked swiftly, went silently to their quarters; the batteries were
+masked and lights placed behind, while ammunition was hurried up from
+the magazine-room by the powder-monkeys, the youngest members of the
+crew.
+
+The stranger bore down upon them. Presently came a hail from her deck:
+"Who are you, and whither are you bound?"
+
+The _Cabot_ made answer: "This is the _Betsy_, from Plymouth. Who are
+you?"
+
+Every ear was strained to catch the answer. It came ringing over the
+clear water through the still night air:
+
+"His Majesty's ship _Glasgow_, of twenty-four guns!"
+
+As the _Alfred's_ battery consisted of the same number of long
+9-pounders on the gun deck and six 6-pounders on the quarter-deck it
+was apparent that, if the stranger had not lied, her strength in guns
+must be at least a match for the Britisher. In addition to this, the
+American flag-ship had the support of the little _Cabot_, with her own
+fourteen guns and crew of two hundred. Commodore Hopkins felt a great
+relief when he noted this. The American crews thought they would make
+short work of the enemy. But not so Paul Jones. He had already seen too
+much incompetence displayed on that cruise to feel anything but serious
+misgivings.
+
+It was now two-thirty in the morning. The moon had gone down. Evidently
+in the darkness that prevailed the _Glasgow_ was ignorant of the fact
+that there were other American ships in the little squadron, else she
+would have approached with greater caution. As it happened they did not
+come up during the fray which ensued, and took practically no part at
+all in it.
+
+The _Cabot_ had now got very close to the lee bow of the enemy, and
+suddenly poured a broadside into her. Instantly the British ship seemed
+to wake up to her danger. She wore around with all haste, and ran off to
+clear for action. In twenty minutes she bore down again, this time with
+a grimness of purpose that there was no mistaking.
+
+Paul Jones was in command of the gun deck. The _Alfred_ was so heavily
+laden with war trophies that she was down in the water almost to her
+portsills; but the sea was calm and her lowness in no wise prevented the
+free use of both her batteries, which were used with the utmost
+ferocity.
+
+The fighting was kept up until daybreak. The _Glasgow_ was hulled a
+number of times, her mainmast was deeply scarred, her sails and rigging
+well riddled with shot. But she had disabled the little _Cabot_ at the
+second broadside from her big guns, and had then concentrated her
+attention on the _Alfred_ with such good marksmanship that the
+wheelblock of the American was carried away and she came helplessly up
+into the wind in such a position that the enemy poured in several
+disastrous broadsides before her head could be regained. In this
+maneuver such poor seamanship was displayed on the part of Commodore
+Hopkins and Captain Saltonstall that Paul Jones fairly boiled within
+himself; but he could only hold his peace at the time. Later on, in
+letters to his friends, he gave full vent to his disgust at the way the
+American ships were handled; for only one commanding officer--Captain
+Biddle, of the _Andrew Doria_, who gave futile but heroic chase to the
+_Glasgow_--did he have particular praise.
+
+When, with the coming of morning, the British ship retired, she was
+suffered to get away by Commodore Hopkins. He seemed to be glad that she
+had not stayed to do them worse damage. The brave American seamen fumed
+in the privacy of the fo'c'sl' on that voyage in. Old Bill Putters
+cursed at every breath whenever he was out of an officer's sight.
+
+The Government held two courts-martial following the _Glasgow_ affair.
+As a result Captain Hazard, of the _Providence_, was dishonorably
+dismissed from service, and numerous other officers censured, among them
+Commodore Hopkins. Undoubtedly the latter would have met with dismissal
+except for powerful political influences brought to bear in his behalf.
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+THE YOUNG CAPTAIN
+
+
+Although there was a subtle estrangement between Commodore Hopkins and
+Paul Jones, each respected the other's character. At the close of the
+inglorious expedition which we have dealt with, the senior officer came
+to the conclusion that it would be far less embarrassing to both
+concerned were the first-lieutenant of the _Alfred_ placed on some ship
+other than that occupied by the chief of the squadron himself.
+
+Therefore, with more adroitness than he had displayed in meeting the
+enemy, Commodore Hopkins managed to induce Congress to offer the
+energetic Scotchman a berth as commander of the _Providence_, in the
+place of the dismissed Captain Hazard. He also permitted him to take
+with him a few of his favorite men, among this number Wannashego, the
+young Indian. The latter's joy knew no bounds at this turn of events.
+His stoical Indian nature prevented any marked display of his
+satisfaction, but his demeanor could not wholly hide it from the
+attention of his Scotch friend.
+
+"Now," declared Wannashego, with shining eyes, "I sure we will see some
+heap big fighting. If I stay on that other ship, _Alfred_, one day
+longer I sure run away to the whaler-ship or my people. That _Alfred_ no
+brave-ship; just squaw-ship--'fraid to fight!"
+
+Paul Jones smiled in sympathy. He too had felt like a different man
+since the announcement of the change. Now that he had full and absolute
+control of an American ship himself, he determined he should show his
+countrymen and the enemy what he could really do.
+
+The _Providence_, his new ship, was a small sloop of fourteen guns and
+about a hundred men. She was far from a pretentious vessel to look at,
+but Paul Jones's sharp eyes detected in her certain lines which augured
+for speed, and when he once got her out into the broad reaches of the
+Atlantic he found that in this surmise of her sailing abilities he had
+not been misled. For her size she was a remarkably good sailer.
+
+For a time the _Providence_ was kept employed in transporting men and
+supplies along the shores at the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound,
+and as this was done in the face of numerous British ships which hovered
+around like so many hornets, the reputation of the new commanding
+officer soon began to grow.
+
+On August 21 Paul Jones sailed on a six-weeks' cruise--a cruise which
+historians have termed the first cruise of an American man-of-war. At
+least it was the first to be noted by an enemy--the first that shed any
+degree of glory on the flag of the new Republic, whose Declaration of
+Independence had been signed less than seven weeks previously.
+
+It was a venture worthy of the Vikings and their rude boats, for the
+seas swarmed with English frigates outranking the little vessel in
+everything except the alertness of her commander and the courage of her
+crew. From Bermuda to the Banks of Newfoundland he boldly sailed,
+defying the fastest ships of the enemy to catch him, and striking terror
+to British merchantmen and fishermen.
+
+During the first week of September the _Providence_ sighted a large ship
+which she mistook for an Indiaman homeward bound. This stranger proved
+to be the _Solebay_, British frigate of twenty guns. Too late the
+_Providence_ discovered her error; there was no chance to withdraw in
+dignity.
+
+The _Solebay_ immediately made for the American, who took to her heels,
+relying upon her good sailing qualities to escape, as she had on many
+another such occasion. But the Britisher proved she was no mean sailer
+herself. In fact, she began to overhaul her foe.
+
+The day was warm and clear. A strong breeze was blowing from the
+northeast. The little _Providence_ was legging it briskly over the
+wind-tossed waters. But the _Solebay_ gained on her every hour.
+
+The chase had started about noon. By four o'clock the frigate was almost
+within gunshot. The heart of everybody except the commander was in the
+lower regions of his jacket. Paul Jones was serene enough; his
+confidence seemed not one whit lessened. Presently he displayed the
+reason for his attitude.
+
+"Look," said he to his chief officer, as he handed him a glass; "do you
+not notice that his broadside guns are still unleashed? He thinks he
+can take us by firing his bow-chaser. What foolishness! Nothing would be
+easier than for us to bear away before the wind and run under his
+broadside."
+
+Nearly every ounce of canvas on the _Providence_ had been flung to the
+breeze. Still the _Solebay_ drew closer.
+
+"He should know who we are before we leave him," declared Paul Jones,
+with a grim smile. He uttered a quick order. The next moment the
+American colors fluttered out at the masthead.
+
+To their surprise the _Solebay_ acknowledged the courtesy by also
+running up the American emblem.
+
+"He cannot deceive us by that," said Paul Jones. "His lines tell me as
+plain as day he is British. But wait; I shall show him something in a
+moment!"
+
+He called out to the man at the wheel: "Give her a good full,
+Quartermaster!"
+
+"A good full, sir!" came back the instant acknowledgment.
+
+Paul Jones then ordered the studding-sails set. The next moment the helm
+was put about, and before the astonished crew on the _Solebay_ knew
+what was happening, the American sloop ran directly under his broadside,
+and went off dead before the wind.
+
+The British frigate came about in haste and confusion. But by the time
+she was under headway again, the American ship was far off, her
+newly-trimmed studding-sails bellying to the breeze and gaining speed at
+every leap and bound. Needless to say, the _Solebay_ was now out of the
+running, a very crestfallen enemy. Such clever maneuvering her commander
+had never witnessed before.
+
+Three weeks later the _Providence_ was saucily threading northern
+waters.
+
+One day, off Cape Sable, Wannashego and several others of the sailors
+asked permission to try to catch some of the splendid fish which
+abounded in those cold waters. As they had been on salt provisions for a
+long while, Paul Jones readily consented, and the ship was hoved to. The
+men got out their lines, and soon began to haul in some fine specimens
+of the finny tribe.
+
+While they fished, a sharp lookout was kept for danger from the British.
+It was well this was done, apparently, for presently a sail was made
+out to windward of them. At once the fishing stopped, the _Providence_
+set some of her light sails, and the anchor was hauled in.
+
+As the stranger approached, Paul Jones convinced himself that she was no
+such sailer as the _Solebay_, and making sure a little later that she
+was a British warship he determined to amuse himself with her. He
+communicated his plans to his officers, and patiently waited for the
+frigate, which turned out to be His Majesty's ship, the _Milford_.
+
+The young captain made no move until the British craft got almost within
+range, whereupon he doubled on her quarter and sped away under
+restrained speed on the new course. Mistaking the rate she was traveling
+at to be her best, and cheered at the thought of over-taking her, the
+English captain took up the chase with gusto. For seven or eight hours
+the pursuit continued, all this time the _Providence_ cunningly keeping
+just beyond gunshot of her enemy, yet seeming to exert herself to the
+limit in maintaining her position.
+
+Finally getting discouraged at his want of success, the Britisher began
+firing. Turning to his chief marine officer, Paul Jones said: "Direct
+one of your men to load his musket, and as often as yonder enemy salutes
+our flag with her great guns, do you have your man reply with his
+musket!"
+
+A broad grin spread over the marine officer's face. He soon had his man
+stationed on the quarter-deck, and the next time the frigate rounded to
+and sent a futile broadside in the direction of the _Providence_, the
+marine elevated his musket and banged away. Several times this
+performance, a perfect burlesque in the quaintness of its humor, was
+indulged in. And each time, as the comparatively mild report of the
+musket followed the roar of the enemy's big guns, the American sailors
+laughed uproariously and cheered.
+
+"We have had our fun now, my men," said Paul Jones. "This fellow has
+swallowed our bait gloriously; the time has come for us to stop
+_fishing_ and go about our business."
+
+He thereupon ordered more sail spread, and in a short time the
+astonished _Milford_--which he would have attempted to capture had she
+not clearly been a more powerful vessel--was left well behind. Although
+he did not know it then, the Scotch captain was to meet this foe again
+within the year.
+
+Before he returned, this bold tiger of the sea succeeded in capturing
+sixteen British vessels. He also made an attack on Canso, Nova Scotia,
+thereby releasing several American prisoners; burned three vessels
+belonging to the Cape Breton fishery; and in a descent on the Isle of
+Madame destroyed several large fishing-smacks.
+
+When at last Paul Jones reached his own shores again he left behind him
+a terrorized enemy who since that cruise have ever called him a
+buccaneer and pirate. Why England should regard this valiant
+sea-fighter, who never needlessly shed a drop of blood, or took a
+penny's-worth of spoils out of the larder of war, in this insulting
+light, its countrymen have never satisfactorily explained. But we do
+know that Lord Nelson himself was never a cleaner fighter; that the very
+brilliancy and extreme daring of Paul Jones's exploits stunned his
+enemy, and left them in a species of stupefaction.
+
+Welcomed home with unusual acclaim, Paul Jones found that during his
+absence two things had happened which vitally concerned him. One thing
+was the ravaging of his plantation by the British. His fine buildings
+now lay in ashes, he was told. His splendid heifers had gone to satisfy
+the appetites of the raiding soldiers under Lord Dunmore. His slaves,
+who had become to him "a species of grownup children," had been carried
+off to die under the pestilential lash of cruel overseers in Jamaican
+canefields, while the price of their poor bodies swelled the pockets of
+English slave-dealers. To his great pleasure, however, he learned that
+his own overseer, canny old Duncan Macbean, had gotten away and joined
+General Morgan's riflemen, presumably there to wreak vengeance on the
+Red-coats with John Paul's own trusty rifle.
+
+This was indeed a hard blow to the young captain who, in commenting upon
+it, wrote to Mr. Hewes: "It appears that I have no fortune left but my
+sword, and no prospect except that of getting alongside the enemy."
+
+The second bit of news was the belated notification that, while he was
+away on his cruise, Congress, on October 10, 1776, had made him a
+commissioned captain in the United States Navy. It might be expected
+that such an announcement would be very gratifying to him, but not so.
+Paul Jones received it with more bitterness of spirit than pleasure, for
+he was only number eighteen in the list of appointees. This was an
+injustice which he never forgot, and to which the sensitive fellow
+referred all through his subsequent life. He thought he ought to have
+been not lower than sixth in rank, because, by the law of the previous
+year, there were only five captains ahead of him. In the meantime, too,
+he had done good service, while the new captains ranking above him were
+untried.
+
+If Paul Jones had a failing it was that of desire for prestige. Rank was
+to him a passion, not merely because it would enable him to be more
+effective, but for its own sake. He liked all the signs of
+display--titles, epaulets, medals, busts, marks of honor of all kinds.
+"How near to the heart of every military or naval officer is rank, which
+opens the door to glory!" he wrote. But, mind you, Paul Jones did not
+have the "swelled head." He never once over-estimated his abilities,
+inwardly or outwardly; and he desired fame because he knew he was
+entitled to it. If the reward failed to come after he had qualified for
+and performed the service, he felt cheated--just as the day-laborer
+feels cheated when he does his task and is not paid his wage.
+
+On November 4, 1776, Paul Jones was placed in command of the _Alfred_,
+the ship on which he had made his first cruise as a first-lieutenant
+some nine months earlier. In company with the _Providence_, now under
+the command of Captain Hacker, he made a cruise of about a month,
+captured seven merchant ships, several of which carried valuable
+supplies to the British army, and again cleverly avoided the superior
+enemy frigates. While making for port they encountered armed transports,
+the _Mellish_ and the _Bideford_, both of which had been separated from
+their convoy, the _Milford_, in a terrific gale. Although larger and
+heavier ships in every way, the Americans attacked and captured them.
+Shortly afterward the _Milford_, accompanied by a British
+letter-of-marque, put in an appearance, and gave chase. Once more Paul
+Jones was too clever for the British frigate. He outsailed and
+outmaneuvered her, getting away with all his prizes except the smaller
+of the transports, which had fallen astern.
+
+After his return, in early December, from the cruise in the _Alfred_,
+Paul Jones served on the Board of Advice to the Marine Committee, and
+was very useful in many ways. He urged strongly the necessity of making
+a cruise in European waters for the sake of moral persuasion, and
+offered to lead such an expedition. His energy and dashing character
+made a strong impression on Lafayette, who was then in the country, and
+who heartily supported the project. He wrote a letter to General
+Washington, strongly recommending that Paul Jones be made head of such
+an expedition.
+
+About the same time the young captain had an interview with Washington,
+in which he appealed against what he considered another injustice. The
+_Trumbull_--one of the fine new American frigates just completed and
+built in New Amsterdam in accordance with Paul Jones's own plans--had
+been placed under the command of Captain Saltonstall, whom the Scotchman
+considered incompetent.
+
+Paul Jones did not get the _Trumbull_ after all; but the interview was
+not without its effect. A little later the Marine Committee ordered him
+to enlist seamen for his suggested European cruise. And on June 14,
+1777, Congress appointed him to the command of the sloop-of-war
+_Ranger_, of eighteen guns.
+
+
+
+
+IX
+
+ABOARD THE "RANGER"
+
+
+When Paul Jones was ordered to Portsmouth to command the new
+sloop-of-war _Ranger_, Congress allowed him to take with him a few of
+his favorite petty officers. Of course among this number was Wannashego,
+the young Narragansett. The bold Scotch captain had formed a strong
+liking for Wannashego, whom he had found not only an able boatswain's
+mate and an impetuous fighter, but one most devoted to his own
+interests. Indeed, the young Indian fairly worshiped the decking his
+splendid officer trod. They had served together ever since their first
+meeting, going from the _Alfred_ to the _Providence_, then back to the
+_Alfred_ again. And now they were once more to be together--this time in
+a long and probably stirring voyage across the big sea, right into the
+very home-waters of the enemy himself! No wonder the heart of Wannashego
+stirred with happy expectation.
+
+Another old shipmate to accompany Paul Jones on the new expedition, but
+one hitherto unmentioned, was Nathaniel Fanning, now a third-lieutenant.
+From this friend, a very keen observer of our hero at all times, as well
+as a man of more than ordinary intelligence, we get the following
+interesting description of Paul Jones:
+
+"He was about middle height, so slender as to be wiry, so lithe as to be
+compared to a panther, so quick in his movements that we sailors often
+spoke of him as 'swifter than chain-lightning.' His face was as brown as
+an Indian's. His eyes under ordinary conditions were a steel-gray; but
+in moments of excitement you would swear they were as black as coal and
+emitting sparks. Though he was not at all big, his neck, arms, and
+shoulders were those of a heavy-set man, with a chest that did you good
+to see. The strength of his arms and shoulders could hardly be believed;
+and he had equal use of both hands, even to writing with the left as
+well as with the right. He was a past-master in the art of boxing;
+though there were many hard nuts to crack in the various crews he
+commanded, I never knew him to come out second best. When aroused, he
+could strike blows and do more damage in a second than any man I ever
+saw could do in a minute. He always fought as if that was what he was
+made for; it was only when he was perfectly at peace that he seemed
+uneasy and restless.
+
+"He was never petulant toward those under him. Even in cases of failure
+to carry out his orders, or meet his expectations, he would be lenient.
+But if he detected you in any act that was wilful or malicious, he would
+assail you like a tiger. He was not a quarrelsome man; but he was the
+easiest person in the world for a quarrelsome man to pick a quarrel
+with. Good men all liked him; sneaks and tyrants hated him bitterly."
+
+We may add that all records go to show that Paul Jones was as much a
+father to his crew as he was a commander. He interested the sailors in
+the smallest details of their work, gave them lessons in rope-splicing,
+or reproved a young chap for his "lubberly walk" with a personal
+demonstration of the correct swagger to be kept in mind by Jack afloat.
+At the same time, with all this kindness of heart, he did not let a
+single man take advantage of his goodness. "I tell you, my men," he said
+on one occasion, "when I become convinced that a sailor of mine must be
+given the 'cat' I will not leave it to be done by the uncertain arm of
+others; but I will do it _myself_--and so confounded quick that it will
+make your heads swim!"
+
+On the very same day--June 14, 1777--that Paul Jones was appointed
+commander of the _Ranger_, Congress selected the permanent flag of the
+United States--the good old Stars-and-Stripes which we still have. Up to
+this time nobody had really been satisfied with the "Rattlesnake"
+emblem; Paul Jones particularly objected to it. Now Mrs. Betsey Ross, of
+Philadelphia, was busy at work making the first new flag from a rough
+pencil sketch furnished her by General Washington.
+
+When Paul Jones heard of the adoption of the new emblem, and saw plans
+for it, he was greatly pleased. He took out his own pencil, quickly
+copied the plans, and stuck the paper in his pocket.
+
+As soon as possible he proceeded to Portsmouth, and immediately entered
+upon the task of outfitting the _Ranger_ for sea. He found the ship to
+be a fine-looking craft, built expressly for speed, with a length six
+feet greater than the regular 20-gun vessel of the day. But he thought
+her spars too heavy, and ordered his shipwright to "fid them about four
+feet lower in the hounds," which was done. He also had fourteen long
+9-pounders and four 6-pounders put in place of the regular twenty
+6-pound guns intended, and made other changes looking toward her
+seaworthiness. He was very proud of her coppered hull, shining like
+burnished gold--the first hull thus covered in the new country.
+
+As the work of outfitting went on, he had the goodwill and interest of
+the entire colonial town. Busy though he was he did not neglect the
+social side of life here any more than he had elsewhere when on land;
+for Paul Jones loved elegance and display, intercourse with the fair
+sex; and his splendid bearing, immaculate dress, magnetic personality,
+keen wit--to say nothing of his record of daring deeds--made him
+extremely popular in all gatherings, particularly where hoop-skirts
+abounded. Many a good dame in America did her utmost to marry the
+gallant young captain off to her own daughter or another admiring
+damsel. But it was no use; Paul Jones, while always professing the
+greatest respect and kindliest interest in his feminine associates,
+never allowed them to turn his well-balanced head.
+
+Thus in his social activities there in Portsmouth, the captain of the
+_Ranger_ escorted bevies of charming and vivacious damsels and their
+mamas and papas aboard the ship and explained her many wonders, and
+discoursed on what she probably would do to the English. Then one day he
+whispered mysteriously to some of them, and forthwith these pretty
+Colonial girls spoke to others. The consequence was, that soon afterward
+there was a merry gathering at the home of one of the maids. A "quilting
+bee" they termed it; but there, fashioned amid chat and laughter, amid
+sober thought and spirit of service to country, slender fingers cut and
+sewed together the silken portions of a beautiful American flag--the
+first one of stars and stripes that anybody in that locality had yet
+seen. From time to time these fair workers looked for guidance to a
+pencilled sketch furnished them by their chosen knight. Treasured
+wedding and court dresses of some of their mothers furnished rare
+patches of blue, and lengths of red and white, and these grew into
+beautiful five-pointed stars and graceful stripes under the girls'
+careful handiwork.
+
+During this time Paul Jones was putting the finishing touches to the
+_Ranger_ and impatiently awaiting the dispatches he was to carry from
+his Government to the American Commission in France. At midnight of the
+31st of October these official documents were delivered to him by a
+courier who had covered one hundred and forty miles, eating and sleeping
+in his saddle. Among the papers was the news of the surrender of
+Burgoyne.
+
+Nothing now prevented Paul Jones from making sail on his long cruise.
+The _Ranger_ was in readiness, the wind good. But before making sail
+there was one ceremony he must not forget.
+
+The new flag--his gift from the patriotic Portsmouth girls--must be
+unfurled to the breeze. And they must see it! By horse he sent
+Wannashego galloping to the homes of each of the five young
+seamstresses. In an hour they appeared, eager and excited, despite the
+fact that most of the good people of the town were fast asleep.
+
+With simple ceremony but eloquent suggestion the splendid banner, under
+the impulse of Paul Jones's own hands, went up to the _Ranger's_ peak.
+As it spread out to the breeze under the star-lit sky, the Scotch
+captain said, with a deep feeling none could help noticing: "That flag
+and I are twins. Born the same hour from the same womb of destiny, we
+cannot be parted in life or in death. So long as we can float we shall
+float together. If we must sink, we shall go down as one!"
+
+To the courier who had brought the dispatches, Paul Jones now turned. He
+handed him the receipt for the papers, and on its back he wrote: "I
+shall spread this news in France within thirty days."
+
+When the shore people had taken their departure, cheered by the crew of
+the _Ranger_ and leaving their own good wishes behind, Captain Jones
+immediately got under way. He took a northerly course, thereby hoping
+to avoid most of the enemy's cruisers, so that his dispatches could be
+delivered as soon as possible.
+
+He left no record except the _Ranger's_ log; but Mr. Hall, who was the
+ship's carpenter, gives some details of the trip which are far from
+uninteresting:
+
+"I had sailed with many captains in all sorts of voyages, but I had
+never seen a ship crowded the way Captain Jones crowded the _Ranger_. He
+held to his northerly route, though the wind was adverse, hanging all
+the time between north-northeast and east-northeast. It veered slightly
+at times, but you could count on it being forward of the beam on a true
+course, and often it was near dead ahead. Imagine, then, the situation
+of the ship's crew, with a top-heavy and cranky craft under their feet,
+and a commander who day and night insisted on every rag she could
+stagger under without laying clear down!
+
+"As it was, she came close to beam ends more than once, and on one
+occasion she righted only by us letting the fly-sheets go with hatchets.
+During all this trying time Captain Jones was his own navigating
+officer, keeping the deck eighteen or twenty hours out of every
+twenty-four, often serving extra grog to the drenched men with his own
+hands, and by his example silencing all disposition to grumble. In the
+worst of it the watch was lap-watched. This brought the men eight hours
+on and four off. There was no better way to arrange it; but for all that
+a good many of them began to growl. These fellows had all been shipped
+from Portsmouth, induced to enlist by unwise glowing accounts of the
+Government of the rich prize-money that would probably be made on the
+trip. Now, when they found the captain avoiding the enemy rather than
+seeking him out, and were subjected to such a terrific bit of sailing,
+they became dissatisfied.
+
+"At first Captain Jones was mighty angry, but as soon as he satisfied
+himself that the Government had really been in error, he acted
+splendidly by the men. He told them that he would personally guarantee
+them a fair revenue from prizes later on; more than that, from his own
+pocket he advanced them 147 guineas, to make up the difference in wages
+thus far allowed them by Congress but which the Marine Committee had
+been unable to make good on account of the poverty of the States. They
+quieted down then, apparently satisfied, cheering their commander well.
+But Lieutenant Simpson, who had really instigated the mutiny, did not
+escape so easily. Wannashego, an Indian boatswain's mate, had caught
+Simpson stirring the men up to trouble, reported it to Captain Jones,
+and the latter had the officer put in irons for the rest of the voyage."
+
+As Mr. Hall says in this account, the weather was bad and the voyage
+tempestuous. But nevertheless there were times when the tired men sought
+recreation in story and song, as seamen always will do, and often over
+the dashing waters the following refrain, composed by Midshipman Charley
+Bell, went echoing:
+
+    "So now we had him hard and fast,
+    Burgoyne laid down his arms at last,
+    And that is why we brave the blast
+        To carry the news to London!
+    Heigh-ho! car-r-y the news;
+        Go carry the news to London!
+    Yes car-r-y, car-r-y,
+        Carry the news to London!"
+
+During the last two days' run the _Ranger_ took two merchantmen loaded
+with wines and dried fruit and bound for London. Paul Jones put
+prize-crews aboard, sending one on to Brest and keeping the other with
+him. West of Ushant they spoke a Dutch East Indiaman, whereupon the
+Scotch captain informed the Dutch commander of the surrender of Burgoyne
+and dryly asked him to "kindly repeat the news, with my compliments, to
+any British captain met."
+
+A little later, on the 2d of December, the saucy _Ranger_ and her prize
+dropped anchor in the Loire, below Nantes, France.
+
+
+
+
+X
+
+IN THE ENEMY'S OWN WATERS
+
+
+One of the first things which Paul Jones did on landing on French soil
+was to seek out Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who, with Silas Deane and Arthur
+Lee, were his country's foreign commissioners. He found these diplomats
+domiciled in the fine home of Monsieur De Chaumont, a wealthy Frenchman
+with strong sympathies for the Colonists.
+
+It was the first meeting of Paul Jones and Benjamin Franklin--a meeting
+marked with much gratification on the part of each. It was also the
+beginning of a personal friendship long-lasting and very helpful to the
+Scotch adventurer. Before its conclusion the caller learned, with some
+chagrin, that he was not the first to bring news across the sea of the
+surrender of General Burgoyne; that Mr. John Austen, of Boston, had
+sailed in a French merchantman a day or two earlier, and by reason of
+the shorter course, had arrived somewhat ahead of him. However, Austen's
+news was mere hearsay, lacking the details and authenticity of Captain
+Jones's dispatches.
+
+It had been the intention of the American commissioners to give Paul
+Jones the _Indien_--a fine frigate building secretly at Amsterdam--on
+his arrival. But this proved to be one more of his disappointments, for
+the British minister to the Netherlands had recently discovered the
+destination of the vessel, and had made such protests of a breach of
+neutrality that the commissioners had been forced to sell the ship to
+France.
+
+To his previous acquaintance with the Duc and Duchesse De Chartres there
+is no doubt that Paul Jones owed his introduction at this time into
+French society. The Duchesse herself had been, before her marriage, the
+richest heiress in France. While her husband was a spendthrift, and a
+man of lax morals generally, she was highly respected in all
+communities. This noble family lived in a charming chateau, with even
+more charming gardens, on the outskirts of Paris, and as soon as they
+heard of the arrival of the already famous Scotch captain they sent him
+an urgent invitation to call.
+
+This he did. An enjoyable meeting resulted, and he was royally
+entertained. Later, at a ball given in his honor and attended by the
+élite of the social world, he met a beautiful young lady named Aimée de
+Telusson, the adopted daughter of King Louis XV. Mademoiselle De
+Telusson, after the king died, had been supported by a pension from the
+monarch's court, and had lived with her protectoress, Madame De Marsan,
+under the patronage of several great ladies, of whom the Duchesse De
+Chartres was one.
+
+Paul Jones was greatly fascinated with the fair Aimée, a feeling which
+she seemed to reciprocate. As they became better and better acquainted
+she fairly idolized him, and on his part he thought her the most perfect
+specimen of womanhood he had ever seen. Although he must have known that
+she was very much in love with him, this gallant seaman who was admired
+by all the people of France, never declared his own love to her.
+
+Dr. Franklin wished to keep Paul Jones in European waters, there to
+harass the British shipping. On the other hand Lee, who for some reason
+entertained a jealousy and dislike for the Scotchman, was bent on
+getting him back in American waters as soon as he could. Silas Deane,
+the third commissioner, was a nonentity, with little voice in the
+matter. However, Dr. Franklin had his way; he thundered forth his orders
+that Paul Jones was to stay on that side of the sea--and Paul Jones
+stayed. To say that he was grateful to the stout-hearted, venerable
+statesman is saying no more than the truth.
+
+After some delay Dr. Franklin advised him that arrangements had been
+completed by the commission for him to convoy a number of American
+merchant vessels from Nantes into Quiberon Bay, where a large French
+fleet, under Admiral La Motte Picquet, lay waiting with the intention of
+sailing for America. Such protection by French warships a week earlier
+would have been a distinct breach of neutrality, but now the
+much-talked-of "Treaty of Alliance" had been made between France and
+America, and henceforth France could not only openly sympathize with the
+new Republic but could take up arms in her behalf.
+
+Of course Paul Jones was glad at this turn of events. He was pleased for
+his country's sake; pleased for his own sake, because the situation
+promised easier working out of his plans.
+
+But it seemed that his troubles were not yet entirely over. When he
+reached the anchorage of the _Ranger_ he found the crew in a sad
+disruption. It appeared that the profligate Simpson, who had been freed
+from his irons upon the ship reaching port, had been working the men
+into a mutiny by declaring he had heard that their captain had left them
+in the lurch. Except for the confidence expressed in Paul Jones by the
+majority of his officers and some of the sailors, among whom of course
+was Wannashego, it is doubtful if the commander would have found very
+many of his crew left upon his arrival. As it stood, the malcontents
+were still arguing with the loyal when he put in an appearance.
+
+Upon learning the cause of the trouble his Scotch ire was so thoroughly
+aroused against Simpson that it is hard to guess what he would have done
+to him, had the miscreant not made a plausible excuse for securing what
+he termed his "misinformation" and uttered voluble apologies for his
+part in the affair.
+
+As soon as order could be obtained, the commander began to refit for the
+new enterprise. The craft's masts were re-shortened and other defects of
+structure remedied in an effort to put her on a better keel. Then in
+company with a tender, the brig _Independence_, the American
+sloop-of-war set sail. A little later, flying the Stars-and-Stripes at
+her masthead, she anchored off the bay at Quiberon.
+
+Without delay Paul Jones sent a small boat off to the French admiral,
+desiring to know, if he saluted the admiral's ship, whether her
+commander would return the salute.
+
+When the reply came back it was in the affirmative. Thereupon Paul Jones
+brought the _Ranger_ into the bay. She hove to, and the next moment her
+guns thundered thirteen times. Promptly the courtesy was returned by
+nine guns from the admiral's ship, it being the French custom to fire
+four guns less than a saluting Republic. It was too dark to bring in the
+_Independence_ for her share in the proceeding, but the next morning
+this little vessel sailed proudly between two parallel lines of the
+fine French fleet, flying her American flag, and in answer to her own
+guns there was returned another recognition of America as a nation.
+
+Returning to Nantes, Paul Jones sent Dr. Franklin a joyous letter,
+telling him about the honor paid the American flag for the first time by
+another country.
+
+The _Ranger_ was held in port following this until April 10, 1778. In
+the interval her commander had the good fortune to be much in the
+company of the Duc and Duchesse De Chartres and the charming
+Mademoiselle Aimée De Telusson. The day previous to the date of sailing
+of his vessel, the Duchesse paid him the compliment of giving a dinner
+in his honor. At this many distinguished families were present, as well
+as prominent army and navy officers. During the course of festivities,
+the Madame graciously presented her popular guest with a richly-jewelled
+watch which she said had belonged to her grandfather, Louis XIV.
+
+Paul Jones bowed, and replied with fine gallantry: "May it please your
+Royal Highness, if fortune should favor me at sea I will some day lay
+an English frigate at your dainty feet!"
+
+The next morning the _Ranger_ put out to sea again. With the salt spray
+dashing in his nostrils, with every fiber of his adventure-loving soul
+thrilling once more in expectation of a brush with the enemy, Paul Jones
+forgot the tameness of politics and the foibles of social functions.
+
+With gusto he took a brigantine in the Irish Sea on the 14th, and sank
+her. Then proceeding into St. George's Channel he ran onto the _Lord
+Chatham_, a British merchant ship bound from London to Dublin. This
+vessel was valuable enough to keep as a prize, so the Scotch captain
+manned her with a prize crew and had them take her to Brest.
+
+Paul Jones now headed farther northward along the coast of England. In
+his mind he was formulating an exceedingly daring plan, none less than a
+sudden descent upon Whitehaven, the seaport he knew so well as a boy and
+from which he had made his first voyage to America. If he could dash
+into Whitehaven, destroy most of the immense shipping which was always
+harbored there, and thereby effect an exchange of prisoners in Europe,
+he thought the risk would well be worth while.
+
+But when he arrived in the vicinity of his old headquarters, the winds
+were so contrary to his purpose that he gave up the project for the time
+being. For the next few days he cruised along the southern coast of
+Scotland on the lookout for other enemy prizes. Nothing of great moment
+occurred, and with better weather conditions than had previously
+prevailed, he made up his mind again to try an attack on Whitehaven.
+
+The hills were covered with snow when the _Ranger_ came within sight of
+them. In the harbor of the town of some fifty thousand inhabitants were
+collected almost three hundred merchant-ships and fishing-smacks. The
+captain had carefully let down the portlids to conceal his guns, and
+adopted whatever other means he could devise for concealing the nature
+of his ship.
+
+Paul Jones determined to wait for night to perform his operations. He
+would need the screen of darkness. When that hour had come he ordered
+every man mustered on deck. Then he announced his plan to them and
+finished by saying tersely: "I call for thirty volunteers to assist me
+in this task of reprisal for the numerous burnings the British have put
+upon us in America. No man need engage in this enterprise unless he
+wishes to. But those who share with me its dangers shall also share with
+me its glories."
+
+It seemed as if every man on deck shouted, "Aye, sir!" As might be
+expected Wannashego, the young Narragansett, was among the first.
+
+Paul Jones smiled with satisfaction. "With so many volunteers I see I
+shall have to choose my thirty men from among you. The strongest and
+most active are the ones I want."
+
+He then proceeded to make his selections. When he was done he noticed
+that he had forgotten the faithful Indian youth. "I shall make it
+thirty-one, on second thought," he said promptly, and at once called
+upon the happy Wannashego to step forth with the other volunteers.
+
+It was a little after midnight when, with his men in two boats, Paul
+Jones left the _Ranger_. It was so far in to the piers that it was
+almost dawn when they finally arrived at one of the outer ones. All
+haste must be made or the light of the approaching day would disclose
+their movements and prevent their success.
+
+Paul Jones ordered one boat, under the direction of Mr. Hill and
+Lieutenant Wallingford, to proceed on the north side of the harbor and
+set fire to the shipping there, while with the second party the
+commander went to the other side, to perform a similar work.
+
+Two grim-looking forts rose up in the darkness, one facing each section
+of harbor. In order to render the guns in these harmless, Paul Jones and
+Wannashego were now set ashore, and while they began stealthily and
+swiftly to approach the first forts, their crew started off to set fire
+to the shipping on the south.
+
+The Scotch captain and young Indian had a very delicate task facing
+them. Before they could spike the cannon the sentinels must be secured.
+Stealing along in the shadows of the great walls of the first fort, they
+discovered that all of the guardsmen were unsuspiciously enjoying a game
+of cards in the guard-house itself. As quick as lightning Paul Jones
+and Wannashego sprang forward and barred the door, making the men
+prisoners. Then, without loss of time, the two Americans began scaling
+the walls of the fort. When the cannon here had been successfully
+spiked, they hurried to the second fort, a quarter of a mile distant,
+and in the same manner confined the sentinels there and spiked the guns.
+
+This was surely a daring exploit for two to perform, when the alarm
+might be sounded any moment and the whole town swoop down upon them.
+
+After the task had been performed, Paul Jones naturally expected to see
+the fires which his parties were to start. To his great disappointment
+no welcome flare showed itself in either direction. In the dim light of
+early dawn--that alarming dawn, so little desired--the captain hurried
+forward, only to discover that the party under Mr. Hill and Mr.
+Wallingford were in considerable confusion. The fires they had ignited
+had refused to burn, and their candles had gone out as well. It was the
+same situation with the other party; their candles also had gone out,
+and there seemed no way to relight them.
+
+Although the day was coming on apace and danger of discovery grew with
+it, the dauntless Scotch commander would not give up his project until
+every expedient had been exhausted. Placing sentinels to guard against a
+surprise, he sent Wannashego and a few men to the nearest house. The
+inmates were forced to deliver lights for the candles. With the aid of
+these a fire was soon started in the steerage of a large ship, which was
+in the midst of a hundred or more others. To make sure that this blaze
+would not burn out, a barrel of tar was placed upon it. In a short time
+flames were springing up out of all hatchways in the vessel.
+
+Now the inhabitants of the town began to appear in hundreds. Individuals
+ran angrily toward the burning ship, bent on extinguishing the flames
+before they should communicate to the adjoining vessels.
+
+"They must not be permitted to put out this fire now or our plans are
+ruined completely!" cried Paul Jones. With the words he sprang between
+the ship and the foremost of those running up, drew two pistols from his
+belt, and leveled them at the angry faces.
+
+"One step nearer and some of you will be dead men!" cried the Scotch
+captain. "Back with you as fast as you came, else by the eternal day and
+night you shall feel this lead!"
+
+"Why, it's Paul Jones!" called somebody in the throng, who recognized
+him.
+
+Instantly the crowd fell back in fright. Not a man among them but who
+had heard of the things this daredevil had already done to the ships of
+their countrymen.
+
+Paul Jones smiled grimly, as the people continued to retreat before his
+menacing pistols. Nor did he once leave his post until the ship back of
+him was a mass of flames and the whole shipping in the neighborhood
+hopelessly afire from it. Then he stepped coolly down into one of his
+boats, which had been brought up, and in company with the other, without
+the loss of a single man, he went back to the _Ranger_.
+
+If the attempt had been made an hour earlier it is impossible to
+estimate the damage the Americans might have done, but dawn saved the
+town of Whitehaven, also half of the shipping. Paul Jones was
+disappointed because his plans had in a measure miscarried. But he had
+accomplished much for his country just the same. The excitement along
+the coast was intense. Every English port, nervous and trembling, was on
+the watch for the bold invader. No Englishman felt safe so long as Paul
+Jones roamed the sea at will. Much less did British captains feel
+secure.
+
+
+
+
+XI
+
+OUTWITTING THE "DRAKE"
+
+
+As the _Ranger_ once more spread her sails and stood out to sea, Paul
+Jones turned to his first-lieutenant and said:
+
+"Mr. Wallingford, have her head pointed across the Firth. There lays my
+old home-town of Arbigland which I have seen but once since I was twelve
+years old----"
+
+"Pardon me, sir," interrupted the first officer; "surely you do not
+think of attacking your own birthplace?"
+
+"Indeed not," was the sharp and somewhat impatient rejoinder. "Though it
+belongs to the enemy, that would be the act of a man without heart and
+conscience. Please hear me out. Not far from my home there lives in the
+same county of Kirkcudbright a most important personage to British
+interests. This is the Earl of Selkirk. In lieu of the only partial
+success of our descent upon Whitehaven I propose to even up matters
+this very day by calling upon the good earl and taking him hostage."
+
+This was a daring conception, and Lieutenant Wallingford gasped. The
+_Ranger_ was held to her new course, straight north across the Firth of
+Solway. When the ship came in view of the northern coast, her commander
+stood watching the high cliffs about Arbigland with a strange mixture of
+feelings. We shall never know exactly what thoughts stirred him, as he
+was a man not given to referring to his deeper sensations, but we may
+well infer that, in the short space of time he stood there studying the
+familiar landmarks of his care-free and happy boyhood, he lived over
+again the days of that period, climbed again the crags after sea-birds'
+eggs, sailed again his toy boats in the quiet coves.
+
+St. Mary's Isle, a beautifully wooded promontory in the river Dee, was
+where the Earl of Selkirk lived in luxurious but quiet style. This was
+about a mile up the coast from Arbigland, and although Paul Jones had
+never met the Scotch nobleman or any of his family, he knew the location
+of the Selkirk broad acres as well as he knew the best fishing grounds
+in the Firth.
+
+He landed on St. Mary's Isle with one boat and twelve men. Pointing out
+the path to take, and warning his men to commit no violence other than
+that which might be required in securing the earl himself, the captain
+awaited their return. In a short time they were back again, bringing a
+considerable quantity of silver plate, but without the earl, who they
+declared was not at home.
+
+Paul Jones was very angry because his sailors had taken the silver
+plate. He used every argument except force in trying to get them to
+return it at once. When he saw that they were bent upon keeping the
+spoil, he said no more, but departed with them, for he knew well that
+the rules of war made confiscation perfectly legal.
+
+Later on he wrote the Countess of Selkirk a long letter of apology and
+explanation, stating that he would exert every endeavor to return the
+plate to her. This he did, and succeeded, although in so doing it was
+necessary for him to go down into his own pocket for £150 in order to
+buy it back.
+
+Paul Jones next turned his attention to an effort to capture the British
+man-of-war _Drake_, a vessel of twenty guns--two guns stronger than his
+own ship. This, too, was a bold undertaking, particularly in view of the
+fact that the _Drake_ was known to carry a larger crew and was in her
+own waters. But the intrepid sea-king was not to be deterred. He had
+encountered this same vessel once before, several days before the attack
+on Whitehaven, when he was standing off Carrickfergus, and when she was
+anchored in the bay. During the night he had run in and tried to work
+into a position where he could board her quickly, surprise her crew, and
+overwhelm them before they could offer serious enough resistance to get
+aid from the big gray fortification which frowned down over the harbor
+from the massive heights above. But, owing to the strong wind which had
+prevailed at the time, the plan was frustrated; and the _Ranger_ had
+quietly withdrawn to sea again without her foe knowing what a narrow
+escape she had met with.
+
+Then Paul Jones had assuaged the disappointment of himself and his men
+with the remark: "Never mind, my brave fellows; that British sloop
+shall be ours yet, mark my words. When we are through with Whitehaven we
+shall look her up again."
+
+And now the doughty captain meant to fulfil his promise!
+
+On the morning of the 24th of April the _Ranger_ was once more off
+Carrickfergus. The bay, the castled crag, the picturesque town, and the
+handsome British sloop-of-war, all stood out brilliantly in the clear
+sunlight.
+
+But this time the American vessel was not destined to get in close to
+her enemy without suspicion. The very night before, word had been
+brought of the attack on Whitehaven, and as a consequence the entire
+populace of Carrickfergus was ready to look askance at the coming of
+every strange ship. As the _Ranger_ appeared in the offing, therefore,
+she was immediately observed by the British aboard the _Drake_, and the
+American sailors could hear the creaking of the foe-ship's capstan and
+the hoarse rattle of the chains as her anchor was tripped in readiness
+for an emergency.
+
+The _Ranger_ now went completely about, her stern toward the shore. This
+was the best way possible to hide her identity, for it was seen that a
+boat was putting off from the English sloop and pulling toward them,
+apparently bent upon investigation. When the boat had approached within
+hailing distance of the American, one of its inmates--a British
+officer--stood up and cried: "What ship is that?"
+
+Paul Jones, standing at his sailing-master's elbow, quietly prompted him
+in his answers.
+
+"The _Saltandpepperforbritish_" replied Mr. Stacy so rapidly that all
+the words were a meaningless jumble to the Englishmen, who, however,
+caught the word "British" with some feeling of ease. Drawing a little
+closer, the officer repeated his question: "What ship is that? We cannot
+make out your answer."
+
+"We've had fair winds, but glad to get in here," answered Mr. Stacy,
+pretending to have misunderstood the question.
+
+There was an impatient remark from the British officer at this. He said
+something to his men. The boat of the enemy then drew up considerably
+nearer. By this time the craft was directly under the _Ranger's_
+quarter.
+
+"I ask you for the third and last time, what ship is that?" hailed the
+British officer.
+
+"And I answer again and for the last time, she is the _Lord Dunmore_,
+bound from Plymouth to London," called Mr. Stacy in an apparently
+exasperated voice. Then, again prompted by his captain, he went on:
+"Have you heard anything of that American cruiser which has been
+prowling about capturing merchant ships and frightening our coast people
+half out of their wits?"
+
+"Yes," was the reply of the officer, now completely off his guard. "We
+would give a thousand pounds to meet her."
+
+"If you will come aboard, our captain says he will give you further
+particulars about this impudent American," continued Mr. Stacy. "We
+think this news will aid you in finding him."
+
+Unsuspiciously the British boat now came up, and a ladder was lowered
+over the port side. Just then one of the _Ranger's_ own boats was
+dropped from the davits; it was quickly filled with men, and as the
+British officer clambered on deck and faced Paul Jones the American
+sailors made prisoners of his crew.
+
+"What is the meaning of this?" cried the British officer. "Who are you,
+sir?"
+
+"Captain Paul Jones," came the quick answer. "This is the American
+sloop-of-war _Ranger_, about which we promised you information. If you
+require further details, it is only proper for me to state that you are
+a prisoner of war on that ship at this moment!"
+
+The officer uttered an exclamation of anger. But his chagrin was not
+greater than that of the other men aboard the boat when they were
+brought aboard and all sent below.
+
+This whole proceeding had been witnessed from the _Drake_ in a more or
+less hazy manner, but yet in a way to give the British aboard that
+vessel a fair idea of the catastrophe which had attended the efforts of
+their compatriots to learn the identity of the stranger. She immediately
+sent out alarm signals, and in a few minutes smoking bonfires along the
+entire headlands were relaying the startling intelligence to inland
+points.
+
+In a little while the _Drake_, accompanied by five small vessels filled
+with townspeople curious to witness what they thought would be a battle,
+began to work out. She came very slowly, owing to an unfavorable tide.
+It was plain to be seen that her "dander was up;" that she meant to
+look into the plight of her boat's crew without further delay.
+
+The _Ranger_ now threw off every effort at disguise. Her portlids were
+run up, her guns run out, and everything put in trim for a hard fight.
+As the enemy came nearer and weathered the point, the _Ranger_ cunningly
+and almost imperceptibly worked herself farther out into the channel
+where she would have more sea room for the engagement and be farther
+away from the guns of the fort. Thus led on, the _Drake_ followed,
+slowly narrowing up the space between.
+
+Now the British ship ran up her colors. At the same instant up went the
+Stars-and-Stripes aboard the American. Having come within hailing
+distance, the British commander, Captain Burden, called out: "Who are
+you?"
+
+"The Continental ship _Ranger_," cried back Mr. Stacy, at word from Paul
+Jones. "Come on, we are waiting for you!"
+
+Scarcely were the words spoken when the _Ranger's_ helm was ported, and
+bringing her broadside to bear on the advancing ship, she roared out the
+first volley. The enemy at once returned the compliment. While her fire
+was spirited, somehow it lacked effectiveness, which is probably
+attributable to the distress and confusion caused on board of her by the
+stunning effect of the American's shooting. In a letter to Joseph Hewes,
+Paul Jones thus refers to the manner in which his men handled
+themselves: "We have seen that our men fight with courage on our own
+coasts. But no one has ever seen them fight on our coast as they fought
+here, almost in hail of the enemy's shore. Every shot told, and they
+gave the _Drake_ three broadsides for two right along...."
+
+On board the _Ranger_, Paul Jones walked the quarter-deck unharmed, amid
+a constant shower of musketry and the shriek of cannon-ball. Captain
+Burden, of the _Drake_, showed an equal disregard for danger, but within
+thirty minutes after the beginning of the fight he was mortally wounded
+by a musket shot in the head. Paul Jones was unaware of this fact until,
+during the hottest of the firing, his friend Wannashego glided quickly
+up to where he stood and announced the news.
+
+"I am sorry for him, for he has shown himself to be a brave man; but it
+is the way of war," said the commander. "Did you see him shot,
+Wannashego?"
+
+In his dusky hands the Indian youth held a musket whose barrel was hot
+to the touch and from which a tiny thread of smoke still curled. "I sure
+see British captain fall," he said with flashing eyes, as he patted his
+gun. "I take good aim at him. It is the first chance for me. Bang! They
+pick him up and carry him away."
+
+With the words Wannashego hurried off, reloading his weapon as he ran.
+Paul Jones was thunderstruck. After a moment he muttered, "Poor Burden,
+your very importance in this conflict has caught the eagle eye of that
+young redskin and spelled your doom!"
+
+The fighting continued fiercely. Twice was the ensign of the _Drake_
+shot away, and twice the gallant British tars rehoisted it. The enemy's
+fore and main topsail yards were completely riddled, the main topgallant
+mast and mizzen gaff hung up and down the spar, her jib dragged over her
+lee into the water, and her mainsails were a sieve of holes.
+
+Never had Paul Jones seen men fight more tigerishly or with better aim
+than his were now doing. As the two ships were going off the wind, which
+was light, they both rolled considerably and together; in other words,
+when the _Ranger_ went down to port the _Drake_ came up to starboard.
+Quite early in the action, the Scotch captain had noticed that his
+quarter-gunners had caught the _Drake's_ period of roll and were timing
+to fire as their muzzles went down and the enemy's came up. By this
+practice they were hulling the British ship prodigiously below her
+water-line and everywhere below her rail.
+
+"What are you firing in that fashion for?" demanded Paul Jones of
+Midshipman Starbuck.
+
+"To sink the British galoots, sir!"
+
+"That is not my object," said the captain sharply. "Cease this
+destruction of the ship, and conduct yourselves so as to capture her
+instead."
+
+The alert fellows instantly changed their tactics, and soon had the
+_Drake_ an unmanageable log on the water, with her crew crying for
+quarter. When, after the desperate fighting of a little more than an
+hour, an accounting was taken it was found that the _Ranger_ had
+suffered very little from the inaccurate fire of the British. True, she
+had lost two lives, among these Lieutenant Wallingford, and had six
+wounded; but her opponent had lost her commander and nineteen others
+killed, with twenty-eight officers and men wounded. The only officer
+remaining to strike her flag had been her second-lieutenant.
+
+With a towline fastened to her prize, the _Ranger_ now passed out of the
+lough and up St. George's Channel. About midnight she hove to, and there
+under the starlight the dead heroes of the conflict were sewn up in
+canvas and consigned to the deep with a fitting burial service.
+
+With a valuable prize and more than one hundred and forty prisoners of
+war to look after, Paul Jones was now forced to give up his intention of
+cruising around Scotland. After taking a vessel off Malin Head he became
+further handicapped, and determined to make for Brest without additional
+delay.
+
+And now came that long-dreamed-of and hoped-for hour when he was to
+enter a French port bringing a ship superior to his own--one belonging
+to the finest navy afloat, a feat which had never before happened in the
+history of naval warfare. As he sailed through the outer roads of Brest
+he was met by an escort of French warships, whose crews cheered lustily
+when they learned the identity of his prize.
+
+It was past midnight when the _Ranger_ let go anchor. Everything then
+seemed quiet, but like wildfire the news of the daring captain's return
+spread over the town. When daylight broke the quays were swarming with
+people, and the harbor was dotted with boats bearing passengers, all of
+whom were eager to catch a glimpse of the vanquished _Drake_ and her
+conqueror.
+
+
+
+
+XII
+
+THE QUEER CONDUCT OF CAPTAIN LANDAIS
+
+
+The next morning Captain Paul Jones woke up to find himself
+famous--almost overwhelmed with the praise and attentions of the naval
+officers of Brest as well as of all France. The Duc De Chartres was the
+first to come aboard, brimming with congratulations, and for the two
+days the _Ranger_ lay in the harbor her decks thronged with officers of
+the French fleet and citizens who were eager to rejoice with the
+conqueror.
+
+Then the other side of the picture began to show; the stern realities of
+France's disturbed political condition had to be faced. The _Ranger_,
+with her splendid prize, had gone to the deckyard for repairs, and the
+problem of feeding and clothing the three hundred men constituting his
+own crew and that of the _Drake_ had to be met by Paul Jones. The
+Congress still owed him £1500 which he had advanced out of his own
+pocket for paying the crews of his former ships, the _Providence_ and
+the _Alfred_, and this outlay had depleted his funds to such an extent
+that he had very little money left, so little that he now saw he would
+have to draw upon the commissioners a draft for 24,000 livres, which
+Congress had given him. To his annoyance the three commissioners
+promptly dishonored his draft. As a result, the merchant with whom he
+had contracted to refit the _Ranger_ and the _Drake_, as well as to
+supply his crew and prisoners with provisions, declined to extend
+further credit.
+
+This state of affairs put our hero in a very embarrassing position, and
+nettled him intensely. Had it not been for the fine friendship of such
+Frenchmen as the Duc De Chartres, Comte D'Orvillers, and M. Chaumont,
+through whose benevolence he was for a time able to feed and clothe his
+people, heal his wounded, and continue the refitting of his vessels, it
+is hard to tell what he would have done.
+
+In the crude, undisciplined condition of the United States Navy in that
+day the crews could not seem to comprehend the idea that it was
+necessary to obey every order of the commander of a ship without raising
+a question. Almost at the instant of the engagement between the
+_Ranger_ and the _Drake_, Lieutenant Simpson, the trouble-maker of the
+past, had used his influence in stirring up some of the crew to a state
+bordering on insubordination, telling them that being Americans fighting
+for liberty they had a right to fight the enemy in any way they chose,
+regardless of a commander's program. Paul Jones had stopped this
+threatened uprising by confining Simpson below. On reaching port he had
+transferred him to the _Admiral_, a ship where the French put men of his
+type.
+
+After Simpson had been imprisoned, an American agent named Hezekiah
+Ford, who disliked the Scotch captain, got up a petition condemning Paul
+Jones and praising the conduct of Simpson in the sea fight. By smooth
+arguments to the effect that they would never get their prize money
+unless Lieutenant Simpson were made captain in place of Paul Jones, Ford
+induced seventy-eight of the _Ranger's_ crew to sign this petition. The
+result was, that the rascally lieutenant was freed at his court-martial,
+and sailed away a little later for America, as master of the refitted
+_Ranger_.
+
+When Paul Jones heard of the doings of Hezekiah Ford, he was terribly
+incensed. Tucking three pistols in his belt, he betook himself to the
+inn where Ford stopped. Without pausing long enough to draw even one of
+his pistols, he knocked Ford down with a lightning-like blow of his
+fist, seized the coachman's whip and thrashed the scoundrel until he
+cried for mercy. Big, long-limbed, weighing half as much again as Paul
+Jones, he offered no resistance--just curled up and blubbered like the
+coward he was, while the onlookers cheered the Scotchman with keen
+delight. Six months later, following other discoveries of his duplicity,
+Ford was denounced as a spy and traitor by the governor of Virginia, and
+Congress dishonorably dismissed him from the service after he had fled
+to London with valuable papers.
+
+Before the _Ranger_ sailed under the captaincy of Mr. Simpson, Paul
+Jones had met the expenses of her crew with the utmost difficulty. The
+credit obtained from his French friends did not meet all the heavy
+obligations, and after a while, in order to keep his men from starving,
+he was forced to sell the _Drake_ at auction to a French ship-broker.
+This act was strictly against the rules and regulations of his country,
+but in the dire need of his crew and prisoners he felt that extreme
+measures must be adopted to raise the funds which he could get in no
+other manner. With this money he managed to pay off all indebtedness,
+and so it was with a clear conscience, if a bitter heart, that he saw
+the sly Simpson finally make off with his own ship, and many of his
+crew, leaving him alone in a foreign land.
+
+War had now broken out between England and France, and Paul Jones was
+detained in Europe at the request of the French Minister of Marine. This
+official, De Sartine, wished an important command to be assigned to the
+famous conqueror of the _Drake_. The difficulties in the way, however,
+were great. The American commissioners had few resources, in addition to
+which one of them--Lee--was hostile to the Scotchman; and the French had
+more native officers clamoring for the better ships than they had such
+vessels.
+
+Thus, about all that could be offered was the command of small warships
+or privateers, offers which the proud Jones promptly rejected. To M.
+Chaumont he wrote, in this connection, a letter containing the
+following extracts: "I wish to have no connection with any ship that
+does not sail fast, for I intend to go _in harm's way_. Therefore buy a
+frigate with sails fast, and that is sufficiently large to carry
+twenty-six or twenty-eight guns on her deck. I would rather be shot
+ashore than go to sea in the armed prizes I have described."
+
+He continued his heckling correspondence with the greatest energy,
+alternately cajoling, proposing, complaining, begging to be sent on some
+important enterprise. He wrote innumerable letters to De Sartine,
+Franklin, De Chartres, De Chaumont, and many others, and finally to the
+king himself, who granted him an interview. More as a result of this
+conference with Louis XV than from other sources, he was finally
+rewarded by being put in command of a small squadron.
+
+At first he was highly delighted with the appointment, but as time wore
+on and he saw what a poor assortment of ships and crews he had, he was
+vastly disappointed. But having accepted the command, with true heroic
+purpose he made up his mind to carry it through to the best of his
+ability.
+
+The expense of fitting out the expedition was the king's, while the flag
+and the commissions of the officers were American. The object of the
+French government was to get Paul Jones to operate against the coasts
+and shipping of England under the American flag, as the courtesy of
+warfare forbade France, as an ally, to ravage the coasts of Great
+Britain before the enemy herself had struck a blow at French interests.
+
+As stated, Paul Jones had a motley array of ships--those which were left
+over after the French officers had had their pick. The flag-ship, the
+_Bon Homme Richard_, was a worn-out old East Indiaman, which he refitted
+and armed with six 18-pounders, twenty-eight 12-pounders, and eight
+9-pounders--a battery of forty-two guns. The crew consisted of 375 men
+of many nationalities, among which were not more than one hundred and
+fifty Americans, including Wannashego, who had faithfully stuck to his
+leader during all his trials in Brest. The _Alliance_, the only American
+ship, was a good frigate rating as a large thirty-two or medium
+thirty-six. She was commanded by a jealous-minded, half-mad Frenchman
+named Landais, who was in the American service. The _Pallas_, thirty-two
+guns; the _Vengeance_, twelve guns; and the little _Cerf_, of eight
+guns, were all officered and manned by Frenchmen.
+
+Bad as were conditions of ship and crew, however, there was one other
+feature of the organization which proved a greater handicap to the
+Scotch commodore. This was the famous _concordat_, an agreement between
+the various commanders of the ships which Paul Jones was compelled to
+sign before his commission would be approved by the French minister of
+the navy. While its terms related largely to the distribution of prize
+money, it also contained clauses which weakened his authority, and gave
+his captains a chance to wink at it if they chose.
+
+The little squadron, accompanied by two French privateers, sailed
+finally from L'Orient on August 14, 1779, on what was planned to be a
+fifty-days' cruise. Thanks to the Duchesse De Chartres's gift of ten
+thousand louis d'or, Paul Jones had been able to fit out his flag-ship
+in a much better condition than the king's fund would have permitted.
+
+On the 18th the privateer _Monsieur_, which was not bound by the
+_concordat_, took a prize which the captain of that vessel proceeded to
+relieve of all valuables and then ordered into port. The commodore
+opposed this, and sent the prize to L'Orient. This so angered the
+_Monsieur's_ captain that he parted company with the squadron.
+
+But the episode was only the beginning of Paul Jones's troubles with
+insubordination of officers. While attempting to capture a brigantine,
+some of his English sailors deserted in two of his small boats. These
+could not be overhauled, and Landais insolently upbraided the commodore
+for their loss, declaring that thereafter he would act entirely upon his
+own responsibility (which indeed he had been doing right along!). The
+_Cerf_ and the other privateer then pretended to go off to look for the
+escaped former English prisoners, and they too failed to appear again.
+
+Paul Jones was now left with only the _Bon Homme Richard_, the _Pallas_,
+the _Vengeance_, and the _Alliance_. It would have been better, as later
+events showed, if the latter ship had decamped with the _Cerf_ and the
+privateers; for Captain Landais impudently ignored all of Paul Jones's
+signals. He even had the audacity to leave the squadron for several days
+at a time, as the cruise continued, returning when the whim seized him.
+When other prizes were taken he was bold enough to send two of these
+into Bergen, Norway, where they were sold to the English, a procedure
+entirely against the wishes of the commodore, and one which was a source
+of trouble between Denmark and the United States for many years after
+the war.
+
+Paul Jones was also compelled to humor the other French captains.
+Several times he changed his course or modified his operations in
+compliance with their demands. Had he enjoyed an absolute command he
+would have carried out his pet scheme of laying Leith and Edinburgh
+under contribution, but he was so afraid that such a venture would
+miscarry, owing to the uncertain behavior of his men, that he gave it
+up.
+
+With his old flag-ship, his ragged squadron, and his unruly officers,
+Paul Jones then cruised along the Yorkshire coast, and succeeded in
+capturing a number of vessels. Finally, as he was preparing to end his
+disappointing voyage at The Texel, Holland, in accordance with Dr.
+Franklin's orders, chance threw in his way the opportunity for making
+the cruise a brilliant success.
+
+And, Jones-like, this opportunity he seized eagerly. He saw in a flash
+that it was his one moment for restoring his waning power to its former
+pinnacle.
+
+
+
+
+XIII
+
+FIGHTING FRIEND AND FOE
+
+
+It was on the 23d of September, when the squadron was chasing a small
+ship off Flamborough Head, that a number of distant sails were seen
+rounding the point. A long, steady look through his glass convinced
+Commodore Jones that he could not be mistaken: that this was the Baltic
+fleet of merchantmen which he had heard were in that vicinity, and which
+he had hoped he might meet before he reached The Texel.
+
+Without delay Paul Jones hoisted the signal for a general chase. Captain
+Landais, however, ignored the signal, and sailed on by himself. So angry
+was Paul Jones at this cool display of indifference--or cowardice, if
+that it were,--that he stamped his foot on the deck, and shouted his
+feelings through his speaking-trumpet, but it availed nothing; the
+insolent Landais kept right on going.
+
+When the merchant ships saw Paul Jones's squadron bearing down upon
+them, they ran in under the lee of the shore, and, protected by two
+British frigates which immediately got in between them and their foe,
+made off down the coast at their best speed. These English frigates were
+the _Serapis_, a brand-new ship of forty-four guns, and the _Countess of
+Scarborough_, twenty guns.
+
+[Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN THE SERAPIS AND THE BON HOMME RICHARD]
+
+The afternoon sun was well down in the heavens by this time. In the far
+distance, her sails glinting white and rosy in the path of the sun, and
+constantly growing smaller, was the fleeing _Alliance_. And not far
+behind her, in pursuit, sped the little _Vengeance_, whose captain Paul
+Jones had told to try to persuade the half-mad Landais to return to his
+duty.
+
+This turn of affairs left two ships facing each other on each side.
+Commodore Jones ordered Captain Cottineau, of the _Pallas_, to look
+after the _Countess of Scarborough_, while he himself took care of the
+_Serapis_. He never lost his head; with that "cool, determined bravery,"
+of which Benjamin Franklin spoke, and with "that presence of mind which
+never deserted him," recorded by Fanning, he made up his mind to make
+the best of a seemingly hopeless situation, and engage an enemy ship
+which he knew to be the superior of his own in almost every respect.
+
+He now crowded on all possible sail, until the _Bon Homme Richard_ had
+come within pistol shot of the _Serapis_. It was then seven o'clock and
+the moon was just rising in a clear blue sky. Off some distance, the
+_Countess_ had begun to run away, and the little _Pallas_ was making
+after her fiercely. Paul Jones was thus left practically alone to meet
+his big antagonist of the bristling guns and well-trained,
+perfectly-disciplined crew.
+
+As the _Bon Homme Richard_ approached him, Captain Pearson, of the
+_Serapis_, hailed; but there was no reply. "I don't like this fellow's
+looks, for all he is apparently less powerful than ourselves," observed
+the British commander to his first officer. Uneasily he used his
+night-glass again. "I wonder if it can be the blood-thirsty pirate, Paul
+Jones," he added a moment later. Then he ordered his sailing-master to
+hail again.
+
+"This is His Majesty's ship _Serapis_, forty-four guns. What ship is
+that?"
+
+Still no answer.
+
+Once more the hail came over the water, sharper, more peremptorily.
+"This is His Maj----"
+
+By this time Paul Jones had the _Bon Homme Richard_ where he wanted her;
+he gave a low signal to Richard Dale, who commanded the _Richard's_
+gun-deck, and Lieutenant Dale cried, "Blow your matches, boys!" At his
+words the gunners touched a tiny flame to the touch-hole of each big gun
+on the port side, and a heavy broadside was poured into the enemy ship.
+
+But the British captain was not far behind. Before the echoes had died
+out his own guns spat fire with a roar, and great clouds of smoke
+drifted up and began to envelope the combatants. Following this the
+discharges came fast and furious, both the American and British crews
+working their guns with the utmost vigor.
+
+From the beginning the fight seemed to go against the _Bon Homme
+Richard_. There was hardly any stage of the three and a half hours'
+desperate combat at which Paul Jones would not have been excused in
+lowering his flag--had he not been the prodigious fighter he was. Hardly
+had the battle well begun when two of the rust-pitted old 18-pounders
+exploded, killing the men working them and rendering the whole battery
+useless for the rest of the action.
+
+Perceiving this, and anxious to take advantage of the loss of defense on
+the lower gun-deck resulting, Captain Pearson attempted again to pass
+the bow of the _Richard_ and rake her. On the other hand, Commodore
+Jones's whole effort was to close with the enemy and board him, for he
+knew now that it was only a question of time, if he did not succeed,
+before his old shell of a vessel would be sunk.
+
+After the broadsiding had continued with unremitting fury for almost an
+hour, Captain Pearson made another effort to get across the _Richard's_
+bow. But he miscalculated, and the two vessels were brought so close
+together that the _Richard_ ran into her enemy's weather quarter. Paul
+Jones was quick to make his first attempt to board, but the ships swung
+apart before the operation could be completed, and those who had reached
+the _Serapis's_ rail had to leap back to save themselves from capture.
+
+The _Bon Homme Richard_ was now in a sad condition. Little of her
+starboard battery was left, and of the 140 odd officers and men
+stationed at the main gun-deck battery at the beginning, over eighty had
+been killed or wounded. Numerous holes low in the hull, made by the big
+balls of the _Serapis's_ 18-pound guns, were letting in water at an
+alarming rate. Time and time again did the ship's carpenter and his mate
+stop these up, only to have new holes splinter through with a sickening
+sound.
+
+It is no wonder that Captain Pearson, knowing his enemy was in great
+distress, thought that, when the crew of the other ship had failed to
+board him, Commodore Jones would be ready to surrender.
+
+"Has your ship struck?" he called through his trumpet.
+
+And then Paul Jones made his famous reply:
+
+"I have not yet begun to fight!"
+
+After the ships had swung apart they continued to fire broadsides into
+each other. With the starboard battery of the _Richard_ practically out
+of commission, however, it is easy to see that she worked at a great
+disadvantage in this sort of dueling. Had not a lucky wind favored her
+at this stage, it is likely she could not have floated much longer.
+This enabled her to blanket her enemy, which compelled the _Serapis_ to
+lose all headway. By more adroit handling of his vessel, waterlogged
+though she was, Paul Jones once more brought the ships alongside, bow to
+bow and stern to stern.
+
+"Now, my fine fellows, lash us together!" cried the commodore; and with
+his own hands he helped his men to do the job, while the muskets of the
+British sailors rattled a storm of lead among them.
+
+At this critical time, when Paul Jones was bending every nerve to
+grapple with the _Serapis_, the renegade _Alliance_ suddenly made her
+appearance. The hearts of the gallant commander and his brave lads beat
+gladly at this sight. "Now," thought they, "Landais has come back to
+help us!"
+
+Judge of their dismay when, as soon as he could get within range, the
+mad French captain turned his broadsides not into the British frigate
+but into the already sorely-afflicted _Bon Homme Richard_! She staggered
+under the fresh onslaught, the vicious bite of him who should have given
+aid. The American sailors cursed the treacherous Landais, and shook
+their fists at him. If they could have caught him they would have rended
+him limb from limb, so violent was their rage. In the midst of the
+maledictions, the culprit turned about and made away again, with the
+strange fickleness of purpose that had all along characterised his
+movements.
+
+As soon as the _Serapis_ and the _Richard_ were well lashed together,
+Paul Jones drew practically all his crew from below to the upper deck
+and the tops, leaving only a small force to man the three small pieces
+on the quarter-deck. From this upper position they now commenced
+sweeping the decks of the enemy with their muskets. The crew of the
+_Serapis_, on the other hand, were forced to take refuge on their lower
+decks, from which point they continued to fire their great guns into the
+already riddled hull and lower decks of the _Richard_.
+
+Several times Captain Pearson made desperate attempts to cut the
+lashings loose, but at each of these efforts the fire of the American
+ship's muskets was so accurate and withering that British seamen fell
+one upon another. Not a single British Jack reached the coveted goal,
+if we may except one bold fellow who was just opening his heavy
+Sheffield knife to sever the key-rope when an unerring bullet from the
+watchful Wannashego cut short his life. In another instance, the young
+Indian saw a British sailor drawing a bead on Paul Jones, who stood all
+unconscious of his peril. There was a report--but it was the report of
+Wannashego's reliable gun instead, and the British marine tumbled from
+the rigging where he was concealed.
+
+Soon all the officers of the French marines had been killed or wounded,
+and Paul Jones was forced to take charge of them. His voice cheered them
+on in their own tongue; he exhorted them to take good aim, and when he
+saw a fellow firing ineffectively, he would often take his musket from
+his hand and show him, by coolly bringing down one of the foe, how he
+should manipulate it. In fact, toward the last the commodore stood on
+the quarter-deck rail by the main topmast backstay, and as he gave
+orders and encouragement, received loaded muskets from his marines, and
+fired them with deadly precision. His indomitable spirit penetrated
+every quaking soul, infusing it with new hope and new courage. As one
+French sailor said afterward: "Everyone who saw his example or heard his
+voice became as much a hero as Paul Jones himself."
+
+By this time both vessels were on fire in several places. Half the men
+on both ships had been killed or disabled. The leaks in the _Richard's_
+hold had multiplied, she was much deeper in the sea; while the mainmast
+of the _Serapis_ hung in splinters and threatened to go by the board at
+any moment.
+
+Now, to the surprise of everybody, the cowardly Landais, with the
+_Alliance_, once more put in an appearance. This time he fired several
+broadsides into both combatants, seeming to take as much delight in
+hitting one as the other. As before, the man who surely could not have
+been sane, put his helm over and sailed away--very luckily for the last
+time.
+
+While he was making off, a gunner on the _Richard_, thinking the ship
+was sinking, called loudly for quarter. No sooner were the words out of
+his mouth than Paul Jones sprang forward and felled him with the butt
+end of his pistol.
+
+"Do you want quarter?" called Captain Pearson.
+
+"No," roared Paul Jones; "you are the one to ask that!" And he purposely
+sent a pistol shot whistling close to the British captain's ears.
+
+As if to make matters worse at this trying moment, the master-at-arms on
+the _Richard_, also thinking the ship sinking, opened the hatches and
+released nearly two hundred British prisoners, taken from prizes, who
+began to swarm on deck in the greatest confusion!
+
+It was a moment to try the resourcefulness of the quickest intellect.
+Paul Jones hesitated just a moment, then he thundered at the prisoners
+to man the pumps or he would fill them full of lead. They obeyed like
+dumb-driven sheep. As the water in the hold of the sinking ship began to
+pour over her bulwarks into the sea again, the men on the _Richard_
+resumed the battle with new vigor.
+
+Paul Jones had given orders to drop hand-grenades from the rigging down
+into the hold of the _Serapis_, through her main hatchway, which was
+open. By this same means the enemy had been set afire at various times
+before. Now, at an opportune moment, a hand-grenade fell among a pile
+of cartridges strung out on the deck of the _Serapis_. A terrific
+explosion occurred, killing many of her men.
+
+It was an opportunity too good to let go. With a shout, the dashing John
+Mayrant, cleared the bulwarks of the enemy ship at the head of a yelling
+throng of Americans and French, and the next moment a terrific
+hand-to-hand struggle with cutlass and pistol was being waged.
+
+[Illustration: BOARDING THE SERAPIS
+
+_From a rare print_]
+
+Seeing his men falling back, Captain Pearson knew that he was a defeated
+man, and struck his colors to save those of his crew still alive.
+
+The capture of the British frigate came none too soon, for the old
+shot-torn _Bon Homme Richard_ was settling fast. By the combined efforts
+of crew and prisoners, the fire in both ships was extinguished. Then all
+bent their efforts to removing the wounded and prisoners from the
+_Richard_ to the _Serapis_, together with ammunition and other
+valuables.
+
+All the rest of that night the heroic old craft kept afloat, with the
+Stars-and-Stripes--the same flag the Colonial maids of Portsmouth had
+given Paul Jones upon his departure in the _Ranger_--flying proudly at
+her peak. Then, as if waiting for daylight to illuminate her last action
+before man, she slowly sank just as the sun came up across the waters in
+the east. The very last vestige anybody saw of her was her flag, still
+flying--unstruck!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+When, two years later, Paul Jones returned to America, he met Miss Mary
+Langdon, who had been one of the girls to make this ensign. "I wished
+above all things to bring this flag to America," said he; "but, Miss
+Mary, I could not bear to strip the old ship in her last agony, nor
+could I deny to my dead on her decks, who had given their lives to keep
+it flying, the glory of taking it with them."
+
+"You have done exactly right, commodore," exclaimed she. "That flag is
+just where we all wish it to be--flying at the bottom of the sea over
+the only ship that ever went down in victory!"
+
+
+
+
+XIV
+
+DIPLOMACY AND SOCIETY
+
+
+The desperate battle fought in the bright moonlight was witnessed by
+many persons in Scarborough and on the Flamborough Head. These English
+people immediately spread the alarming tidings throughout the enemy
+country by lighting immense signal fires on the cliffs. Although it was
+not definitely known what ship had taken the formidable _Serapis_,
+nearly everybody rightly guessed that it had been captained by the
+"terrible Paul Jones." The British along the sea coast all the way from
+Cape Clear to Hull were in a great fright, and for days to come looked
+for the appearance of the "blood-thirsty buccaneer" in their particular
+locality.
+
+With his two new prizes--for the _Pallas_ had succeeded in capturing the
+_Countess of Scarborough_ after a short engagement--the commodore now
+set off for The Texel, where he arrived October 3. He was none too soon
+in getting into port, either. Very shortly after his arrival an English
+squadron, consisting of sixty-four ships-of-the-line and three heavy
+frigates, which had been looking for him, hove into view.
+
+The scape-goat Landais, with the _Alliance_, was already in The Texel
+when the American-French squadron arrived. Paul Jones at once took steps
+for the care of the wounded and prisoners, and then sent special
+messengers to Dr. Franklin with news of the great victory and a report
+of Landais's scandalous behavior, demanding that he be court-martialed.
+
+An important problem now to be solved was how to induce the Dutch
+authorities to allow Paul Jones and his battered ships to remain long
+enough in a neutral port to make necessary repairs to carry them to
+France. Indeed, Sir Joseph Yorke, British minister in Holland, lost no
+time in demanding that the Dutch government turn over to England "the
+pirate and criminal, Paul Jones, and every ship under his command." An
+enormous amount of correspondence then passed between the diplomats of
+the three countries concerned; conferences were held; even Paul Jones
+himself took a most active hand in presenting his arguments in favor of
+the step he had taken. The people of Holland were secretly in sympathy
+with the revolting colonies; but the wealthy Dutch ship-owners were
+gaining a rich harvest from the commerce with England at this time, and
+they made their weighty power felt in settling the question. These men
+thought the ships should be held by Holland until after the war.
+However, the other contingent argued them down, and the States-General
+at last sent England the verdict of his country, which was to the effect
+that Holland would _not_ deliver over the vessels to England, but would
+insist that they depart from Holland waters at the first favorable
+weather.
+
+In the meantime, kind-hearted Dutch maids thronged the decks of the
+_Serapis_, _Alliance_, _Pallas_ and _Scarborough_. They brought with
+them gifts of food and clothing for the strong and healthy, as well as
+an abundance of delicacies for the sick and wounded. More than one
+rosy-cheeked, fair-haired girl acted as nurse, and it is no wonder that
+under such jolly, tender care the ailing ones made rapid improvement.
+
+As he watched his ships nearing the finish of their repairs, Paul
+Jones's heart became more anxious, and often he looked seaward where the
+British ships were grimly patrolling to prevent his escape when the
+Dutch authorities should order him out at the first favorable wind. He
+hoped intensely that this sort of wind would not come before he had
+everything aboard in readiness and his plans for evading the enemy well
+formed.
+
+On the 13th of December the French minister of marine, De Sartine,
+demanded that he should fly the French flag, which naturally commanded
+greater respect from Holland than the American ensign. In vain he
+expostulated to this gentleman and to Dr. Franklin, his friend in Paris;
+the latter stated he thought it the best thing to do. Therefore, Paul
+Jones made the change, but with great reluctance. It grieved him deeply
+to see the flag of another country, other than that under which the
+_Serapis_ had had to bow down to, fluttering at her masthead.
+
+Close upon the heels of this disappointment came another to tear the
+heartstrings of the irritated Scotchman. This was an order for him to
+relinquish supervision of all his ships except the _Alliance_, which he
+was to command as an ordinary captain. The _Serapis_ he must turn over
+to Captain Cottineau, who, it was said, would look after the fortunes of
+this vessel, as well as the _Pallas_ and the _Vengeance_ and the
+_Scarborough_, in the future. Commodore Jones sent vehement
+protestations at this humiliating change to the French government and
+the American commissioners, but in vain; no other arrangement could well
+be made, wrote Dr. Franklin. So our hero bowed in submission, although
+when he went aboard the _Alliance_ as her captain he defiantly pulled
+down the French flag at her peak and ran up the Stars-and-Stripes.
+
+The incessant jangling and wrangling with the diplomats of three
+countries in addition to his own, had made Paul Jones very sore at
+heart. Therefore, he was very glad when, on Christmas Day, 1779, the
+weather underwent a change which promised him a chance to get away from
+The Texel. That morning he awoke to find such a gale blowing that most
+of the patrolling English frigates were driven off the coast. All that
+day and the next it howled so furiously that he dared not venture to
+steal out himself; but early on the morning of the 27th he made a dash
+in the _Alliance_, boldly shaping his course for the Straits of Dover.
+
+As daring as ever, he sailed down the English Channel, passing close to
+the Channel Fleet of the enemy. They gave chase, but he outmaneuvred
+them, and finally put in at Corunna, Spain, for repairs. On February 10,
+1780, he sailed into L'Orient.
+
+The following year was passed mainly in France, where Paul Jones applied
+himself energetically to trying to collect prize money for his men and
+himself, and trying to secure an important command. He wrote rather more
+than his usual large number of letters,--to Franklin, the Duchesse De
+Chartres, Robert Morris, Arthur Lee, Dr. Bancroft, and many others,--in
+an endeavor to carry out some of his pet plans for the betterment of war
+operations. In spite of his hard efforts to collect this prize money,
+there were many annoying delays caused by technicalities, and his crew
+as a whole grew impatient and rebellious. This feeling was increased
+when the traitor, Landais, suddenly appeared among them, and abetted by
+Arthur Lee, stirred up the men with many lies.
+
+Wannashego carried this state of affairs to Paul Jones as soon as he
+became convinced of the peril of the situation, but even while he was in
+quest of his friend, Landais and Lee went aboard and took possession of
+the ship. When, on his arrival, Paul Jones found what had transpired he
+was so angry that he could hardly contain himself. He came very near to
+shooting both the conspirators; but as usual when in a temper he calmed
+down with surprising quickness, and departed. The next day the
+_Alliance_, under the command of Landais, sailed for America, with Lee
+aboard. Paul Jones made no effort to prevent it. "Let them go," he said
+to Wannashego; "I am well rid of such a pair of precious scoundrels. As
+for the ship, she is not worth fighting over."
+
+So Landais sailed away with the _Alliance_, but to his own
+ruin--something the astute Scotchman had foreseen. On the voyage
+Landais's eccentricity caused his friend Lee to put him under arrest,
+and on arrival in America a court of inquiry found him unfit for
+command, and he never burdened the service again.
+
+Paul Jones had arrived in Paris this time in a blaze of fame. He was
+lionized by society, congratulated by royalty, was the idol of women
+high and low. He was bidden by the Duc and Duchesse De Chartres to be
+their guest at the Palais Royal, and occupied one of the splendid
+apartments of that historic dwelling during his stay in Paris. As soon
+as the Duchesse had received the commodore's letter acquainting her with
+his victory over the _Serapis_--in these words: "The enemy surrendered
+at thirty-five minutes past 10:00 p. m. by your watch, which I consult
+only to fix the moment of victory"--she prepared to give a great ball in
+his honor.
+
+And now that Paul Jones was present in person, the charming Duchesse
+could not seem to do enough to attest her regard for him. She gave a
+wonderful banquet, with him as the chief guest. As the evening waned he
+asked her if she remembered his promise to lay an English frigate at her
+dainty feet. On hearing her assent, he turned to an attendant, who had
+been holding the sword surrendered by Captain Pearson, and taking this
+he dropped gracefully on one knee and presented it to the beautiful
+Duchesse with these words: "While I am unable to lay so large a thing as
+a frigate at the feet of your Royal Highness, I nevertheless am able to
+surrender to the loveliest of women the sword surrendered by one of the
+bravest of men on such a frigate."
+
+Of course the petite Aimée De Telusson was present at this meeting, and
+to her, as usual, Paul Jones gallantly paid the most marked attention.
+His gayety was contagious. His wit was the wonder of all those
+assembled. With one and all he was a favorite, this son of a poor Scotch
+gardener.
+
+
+
+
+XV
+
+AND THE LAST
+
+
+For some time Benjamin Franklin, knowing the need of supplies for
+Washington's army, had been soliciting Paul Jones to take command of the
+_Ariel_ and transport such goods from France to America. But the Scotch
+commodore, dissatisfied with the humbleness of a command on such a small
+sloop, had held off stubbornly, hoping that in the meantime a ship of
+greater caliber and importance would be presented to him. Honors
+bestowed upon him by the King of France, wherein he had been presented
+with the Royal Order of Military Merit and a beautiful gold sword,
+seemed to have increased his native unbounded ambitions and to have
+almost spoiled him for anything but the most exalted of offices.
+
+But on October 8, 1780, he finally sailed away in the _Ariel_, having a
+goodly number of his old crew with him, including his valiant young
+Indian friend Wannashego, who was now eager to see his home country and
+people, from whom he had been away just one month short of three years.
+The young Narragansett's muscles were like steel bands now, and not a
+member of the _Ariel's_ crew could throw him. This had been amply
+attested in the wrestling bouts which took place on the eve of the
+ship's departure from L'Orient, when Commodore Jones had given an
+elaborate farewell party. On this occasion the little _Ariel_ had been
+bewitchingly decorated from stern to bow, the finest people of France
+had been in attendance, and a wonderful mimic sham battle had been
+shown, a replica of that terrible fight between the _Bon Homme Richard_
+and the _Serapis_.
+
+The little _Ariel_ arrived in Philadelphia the 18th of February, 1781,
+and there her commander took affectionate leave of Wannashego. For five
+years the young Narragansett Indian had fought at Paul Jones's side,
+never once flinching, and therefore he seemed more like a younger
+brother than a friend. At this time the Scotchman himself was
+thirty-three years old.
+
+Upon his arrival the commodore called on many of his friends, and then
+proposed having an investigation of the doings of his enemy, Arthur Lee.
+But his friends dissuaded him from this. With the whole country ringing
+his praises, as had been the case when he left France, it was easy for
+him to forgive his enemies. Congress passed resolutions in which they
+complimented him for his victories and service to the States, and a most
+appreciative letter was written him by the great George Washington
+himself.
+
+It now seemed to Paul Jones a favorable time to improve his rank--an
+object he never lost sight of!--and on May 28 he sent a memorial to
+Congress reiterating his claims to stand above the captains who had been
+unjustly put ahead of him. He failed, probably on account of the
+political influence of the aforesaid captains; but he was rewarded with
+the command of the _America_, a fine new 74-gun ship-of-the-line then
+building at Portsmouth. He at once went to Portsmouth, and worked for
+weeks getting her ready for sea--only to have her turned over to the
+King of France!
+
+With undaunted energy he now attempted to get hold of the _South
+Carolina_, formerly the _Indien_. But the plan failed, and he remained
+without a vessel. Unable to rest, although his health had for some time
+been failing, he was given consent to go off with the French fleet under
+Marquis De Vaudreuil, "in pursuit of military marine knowledge," as he
+termed his object. Then, in the summer of 1783, came an attack of fever.
+On his recovery, he was appointed by Congress as agent to collect all
+moneys due from the sale of prizes taken in European waters under his
+command. In this work he showed unusual business tact and ability.
+
+When the war closed, he began a profitable business in illuminating
+oils, and continued his activities in securing prize money until all
+accounts had been settled. Then Paul Jones set off for Copenhagen to
+collect indemnity from the Danish government for the prizes the mad
+Landais had delivered to Bergen, and which that country had turned over
+to England before the declaration of hostilities between the two. He
+arrived in January, 1788, and was magnificently entertained by the
+court, being given a pension of 1500 crowns a year "for respect shown
+to the Danish flag" while he commanded in the European seas. The
+negotiations for indemnity were suspended and transferred, with his
+agreement, to Paris.
+
+When Paul Jones was in Paris, the Russian ambassador to France made a
+proposition to him, through Mr. Jefferson, to take a position in the
+Russian navy. Russia was then at war with Turkey, and the clever Simolin
+so impressed the Scotch captain with the great deeds he might do for
+the benefit of the Russian empire and the distress of the Turks, that
+he at once began to maneuver for the highest command possible. He
+demurred at the rank of captain-commandant, a rank equal to that of
+brigadier-general in the present United States army--and maintained that
+nothing less than that of rear-admiral was fitting. This was allowed.
+
+Our hero left Copenhagen on his ill-fated Russian mission, April 11, and
+made a flying and perilous trip to St. Petersburg. The Baltic was filled
+with ice blocks, but at the muzzle of his pistols the intrepid Scotchman
+forced two frightened and unwilling boatmen to row him across the
+turbulent stream. On April 23 he was presented to the Empress, and she
+conferred upon him the coveted rank of rear-admiral, to the profound
+disgust of many of the English officers in the service of Russia, who
+looked upon the newcomer as a red-handed and infamous pirate.
+
+With many a jealous eye on him, Paul Jones departed from St. Petersburg
+on May 7, to take command of the Russian squadron in the Black Sea. But
+even while he was leaving envy and hate behind him, he was going forward
+into feeling even more bitter. His fortune put him in co-command with an
+arrogant adventurer, the Prince of Nassau, who at once became extremely
+jealous of the American. Nassau advised him to allow Prince Potemkin, in
+charge of the fleet, to take the credit for any success which might
+result from an engagement, and to hold his tongue--two things which Paul
+Jones's nature would not allow him to do.
+
+It is not advisable to enter into the details of this campaign, but
+enough may be given to explain some of the difficulties the man from
+across the sea encountered. Following some unimportant engagements,
+Captain Pacha, whose fleet lay before Oczakow, protecting that
+Turk-infested town from the Russian ships, attempted to attack the
+Russian fleet. But one of his ships ran aground, and the others anchored
+in much confusion. Paul Jones then made such a fierce attack that the
+Turkish ships cut anchor and fled, with him in pursuit. He signaled
+Nassau to join him, but the latter paid no attention, and continued to
+fire inhumanely into two others of the enemy which were aground and
+ablaze. Paul Jones then continued on after the fleeing Turkish ships,
+many of which he captured or ran aground. Later on, the cowardly Nassau
+came up and proceeded to rake the helpless enemy fore and aft, killing
+most of their crews while they pleaded for quarter.
+
+Paul Jones was so disgusted and incensed at this conduct that he
+publicly upbraided Prince Nassau, gaining his further ill-will, and
+bringing down upon his head a rebuke from the crafty Prince Potemkin. To
+add to his anger, when the Empress made her awards of bravery for this
+battle, Nassau received the warmest praise and a valuable estate,
+while Paul received only the mediocre award of the Order of St. Anne.
+
+A little later the despotic Potemkin had made up his mind that he could
+not get along with the independent and fiery American seaman, and
+secured an order which sent him into the northern seas. This was
+practically a dismissal for Paul Jones, who returned to St. Petersburg
+in virtual disgrace. By this time, too, Empress Catherine had had her
+ears so filled with the lies of his enemies, who seemed to take delight
+in besmirching his character and causing him every annoyance possible,
+even to the extent of intercepting his mail, that she was sincerely
+anxious to get rid of the man whom she had only a little while before
+admired so greatly. She did not dare to do this openly, however, owing
+to his powerful influence in France, which she feared; so promised him
+an important command in the Baltic seas, a command which she secretly
+made up her mind should never come his way.
+
+Patiently Paul Jones waited in his humble lodgings in St. Petersburg for
+this commission. Days rolled by. Weeks rolled by. Months began to
+multiply. While he waited, he was falsely accused, in March, 1789, of
+an atrocious crime, and forbidden to approach the palace of the Empress.
+But for the French ambassador, M. De Ségur, who had a strong influence
+with the Empress, and who proved that Paul Jones was the victim of a
+plot, it is hard to tell how he would have come out of this difficulty.
+As it was, Catherine once more received him graciously, with profuse
+apologies.
+
+But Paul Jones's health, largely owing to the indignities heaped upon
+him in Russia, was now fast failing; he asked for two years' leave of
+absence, and it was granted. His services to that country were
+considerable, yet they have never to this day been recognized. As an
+instance of the ridiculous reports circulated about him, we will state
+that he was said to have murdered his nephew--a person who had never
+existed! Can we wonder that the sensitive soul of this brave man was
+shattered after his harrowing experiences? Can we wonder that his
+iron-clad constitution, which should have held life in him not less than
+four-score years, began to go to pieces when he was still a young man?
+
+On August 18, 1789, Paul Jones left St. Petersburg, never to return, and
+never again to fight a battle for any nation. He was only forty-two
+years old, but though still brave in spirit, so undermined in physical
+strength that he remained in Paris and became a spectator rather than an
+actor in the great French Revolution, then taking place.
+
+Acquainted with men of all nationalities and in the highest and most
+influential positions, Paul Jones, now that he could do little else,
+settled down to entertaining his friends and being entertained himself.
+Always he seemed happiest when with the charming Aimée De Telusson, who
+to the very end of his last hours remained ever with him, a faithful and
+devoted nurse. Had he continued to live in health and strength there is
+little doubt but that he would have taken this beautiful, unselfish, and
+loving girl, the daughter of a king, to be his wife, for of all his many
+warm women friends, with her he was ever the most tender and
+considerate.
+
+A stranger to illness, a conqueror of troubles which had seemed far more
+formidable to him, Paul Jones never doubted his recovery. Even when the
+doctors shook their heads and said his left lung was entirely gone and
+the other affected, he smiled and did not give up. His wonderful Scotch
+constitution held out amazingly. A number of times it looked as if he
+would win his battle with Death, for he would rise from his bed and seem
+his old energetic self again.
+
+But gradually his strength was sapped. On the afternoon of the 18th of
+July, 1792, when forty-five years old, he consigned himself to the
+inevitable, and, assisted by Gouverneur Morris, drew up his will. A few
+hours afterward, while he lay in bed, his great spirit quietly departed.
+
+[Illustration: PAUL JONES'S LAST BURIAL
+
+_Midshipman escorting the casket to its final resting place, in
+Annapolis, April 24th, 1906_]
+
+In 1905, the American Embassy in Paris exhumed the body of America's
+glorious hero, after it had lain hidden for one hundred and thirteen
+years in the abandoned Cemetery of St. Louis. Under escort of one of our
+finest naval squadrons the body was brought to the United States and
+buried with much ceremony in Arlington, the National Cemetery at
+Washington.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_FAMOUS AMERICANS FOR YOUNG READERS_
+
+
+_Titles Ready_
+
+    GEORGE WASHINGTON   By Joseph Walker
+    JOHN PAUL JONES     By C. C. Fraser
+    THOMAS JEFFERSON    By Gene Stone
+    ABRAHAM LINCOLN     By J. Walker McSpadden
+    BENJAMIN FRANKLIN   By Clare Tree Major
+    DAVID CROCKETT      By Jane Corby
+    ROBERT FULTON       By I. N. McFee
+    THOMAS A. EDISON    By I. N. McFee
+    HARRIET B. STOWE    By R. B. MacArthur
+    MARY LYON           By H. O. Stengel
+
+    _Other Titles in Preparation_
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42864 ***