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diff --git a/old/61784-0.txt b/old/61784-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 76cb8d7..0000000 --- a/old/61784-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5756 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Paul Jones, by Molly Elliott Seawell - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Paul Jones - -Author: Molly Elliott Seawell - -Release Date: April 8, 2020 [EBook #61784] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAUL JONES *** - - - - -Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - By MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL - - DECATUR AND SOMERS - LITTLE JARVIS - PAUL JONES - - [Illustration: _The guns broke loose._] - - - - - PAUL JONES - - - BY - MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL - - AUTHOR OF - LITTLE JARVIS, MIDSHIPMAN PAULDING, CHILDREN OF DESTINY, MAID MARIAN, - THROCKMORTON, ETC. - - [Illustration: Publisher Logo] - - D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY - INCORPORATED - NEW YORK LONDON - 1936 - - Copyright, 1893, - By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. - - _All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be - reproduced in any form without permission of the publisher._ - - Printed in the United States of America. - - - - - INTRODUCTION. - - - “The fame of the brave outlives him; his portion is immortality.” - _From the funeral discourse pronounced over Paul Jones._ - -The writer feels the most sincere diffidence in making use of the mighty -name and personality of Paul Jones, who, as Cooper justly says, was not -only a great seaman but a great man. An excuse, however, is not wanting. -It is justifiable and profitable to bring before the eyes of American -youth this heroic figure, and if it be done inadequately, the fault is -not in the intention. It is not too much to say that the achievements of -Paul Jones, the ranking officer in the Continental marine, had much to -do with placing the American navy upon that lofty plane of skill and -intrepidity which can only be matched by England, the Mistress of the -Seas. - -Strangely enough, Paul Jones is but little known to the multitude, and -the misrepresentations concerning him that occasionally appear in print -to this day are the more inexcusable because few public men ever left a -more complete record. This record has been carefully studied by the -writer, and, although this story is professedly and confessedly a -romance, history has been consulted at every point. Log books, journals, -and biographies have been searched, especially the logs, journals, and -letters of Paul Jones himself. Much relating to him has been left out, -but nothing of consequence has been put in that is not historically -true. The language ascribed to him is, whenever possible, that used by -him at the time, or afterward, in his letters and journals. When it is -wholly imaginary it is made consistent, as far as lies in the writer’s -power, with what is known of his mode of expression. The mere recital of -Paul Jones’s actual adventures is a thrilling romance, and his character -was so powerfully romantic and imaginative that it lends itself readily -to idealization. But he is more than the type of mere daring. Technical -authors write of him with the most profound admiration, and among naval -men of all nations he stands as the model of resource as well as -boldness. His plans were far-reaching, and his most hazardous -undertakings were inspired by a sublime common sense. John Adams said of -him: “If I could see a prospect of half a dozen line-of-battle ships -under the American flag and commanded by Commodore Paul Jones engaged -with an equal British force, I apprehend the result would be so glorious -for the United States, and lay so sure a foundation for their -prosperity, that it would be a rich compensation for the continuance of -the war.” And Franklin, his steadfast friend, in one noble sentence -described him: “_For Captain Paul Jones ever loved close fighting._” -Washington, Lafayette, Jefferson, and Morris esteemed him, and left -evidence of it. Nor did his enemies fail to pay him the compliment of -wishing to ruin him, for at one time there were forty-two British -frigates and line-of-battle ships scouring the seas for him. He was the -first to raise the American flag on the ocean, and so well did he -maintain its honor that he kept it flying in the Texel, with thirteen -double-decked Dutch frigates menacing him in the harbor, while twelve -British ships lay in wait for him outside. He was offered comparative -security if he would hoist the French ensign and accept a commission in -the French navy. More than that, he was told that unless he agreed to -this he must give up the splendid trophy of his valor, the captured -British frigate Serapis—“the finest ship of her class I ever saw,” he -wrote. But cruel as this last alternative was, Paul Jones unhesitatingly -transferred his flag from the beautiful Serapis to the inferior Alliance -and got to sea in the face of the British fleet, with his “best American -ensign flying,” as he himself wrote at the moment. Well might Paul Jones -say proudly to the American Congress: “I have never borne arms under any -but the American flag, nor have I ever borne or acted under any -commission except that of the Congress of America.” - -He served without pay or allowance, and made advances out of his private -fortune to the cause of independence. He was wounded many times in his -“twenty-three battles and solemn rencounters by sea,” as he expressed -it. Yet there is not one word of his wounds in any line of his official -correspondence, although the wounds of others are frequently called to -the attention of the Congress. He fought whenever he had a chance, and -he was never defeated. The two British war-ships he captured were taken -in the face of enormous odds and within sight of the three kingdoms, -when both seas and shores were swarming with his enemies. The captain -who surrendered to him was made a baronet for the defense of the British -ship. What, then, must have been the splendor of the attack! Truly, Paul -Jones deserved well of his country, and he was not without proof of its -gratitude. He was unanimously elected the ranking officer of the -American navy by the Continental Congress, which also gave him a gold -medal and the thanks of Congress. France showed her appreciation of his -services by awarding him the cross of the order of Military Merit, never -before given a foreigner, and a gold sword. Thus was the splendid roll -of American sea officers made lustrous from the beginning by the name of -Paul Jones. - -The words of Lamartine about the great profession in which Paul Jones -served gloriously, and the language of Cooper regarding Paul Jones -himself, may be quoted. Lamartine says: “Among the illustrious men who -have filled the foremost ranks in great contests, men have always been -most dazzled and interested by the heroes of the sea.... The variety and -extent of natural and acquired faculties which must of necessity be -united in one individual to constitute a great seaman, astonish the mind -and raise the perfect sailor beyond all comparison above all other -warriors.” - -Cooper says: “In battle, Paul Jones was brave; in enterprise, hardy and -original; in victory, mild and generous; in motives, much disposed to -disinterestedness, although ambitious of renown and covetous of -distinction; in his pecuniary relations, liberal; in his affections, -natural and sincere; and in his temper, except in those cases which -assailed his reputation, just and forgiving.” Moreover, he was a true -and patriotic American, and, except Columbus, the Admiral of the Ocean -Seas, Paul Jones was the very boldest man who ever sailed blue water. - - Molly Elliot Seawell. - - - - - LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. - - - FACING PAGE - The guns broke loose _Frontispiece_ - “Hooray for Cap’n Paul Jones!” 23 - The Ranger and the Drake 43 - “Haul away! Yo ho, boys!” 50 - At the first discharge two of the guns burst 93 - Battle of the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis 102 - Paul Jones and Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI 147 - Paul Jones 162 - - - - - PAUL JONES. - - - [Illustration: Squadron under sail] - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - -On a bright day in January, 1776, a lithe, handsome young man, wearing -the uniform of a lieutenant in the Continental navy, stood on the dock -at Philadelphia gazing keenly down the river. His eyes were peculiarly -black and beautiful, and had an expression of command in them that is -seldom absent from those of a man born to lead other men. His figure was -slight, and he was not above medium height; but he was both graceful and -muscular. - -The river was frozen, except a tortuous channel cut through the ice and -kept open with difficulty. Innumerable masts and spars made a network -against the dull blue of the winter sky, and fringed the docks and -wharves; while far down the glittering sea of ice lay a small squadron -of five armed vessels, which was the beginning of the glorious navy of -the United States. - -This young lieutenant, Paul Jones by name, looked about for a boat to -take him down the river to the squadron; and seeing a ragged, -bright-eyed boy about twelve years old sitting in a rickety skiff from -which a passenger had just been landed, he called the boy, and, jumping -lightly into the boat, said: - -“Take me to that ship over yonder with ‘Alfred’ painted on her stern.” - -The boy pulled away with a will, but kept his eyes fixed on Paul Jones’s -uniform and the sword which lay across his knee. - -“Them ships is to fight the British, ain’t they?” he asked presently, -jerking his head toward the ships then just collected in the river, -whose crews and armaments were yet to be provided. - -“Yes,” answered Paul Jones, smiling. “If you were a man I would enlist -you.” - -The boy said nothing more, but pulled steadily toward the Alfred. When -they reached the side of the ship her decks were heaped with coils of -rope, piles of shot, some unmounted guns, and all the litter of a -merchant vessel being converted into a man-of-war. But the Alfred, -although not built for fighting, was yet a stanch little ship, and when -armed and manned had no cause to run away from any vessel of her class. - -Paul Jones studied her with the eye of a seaman, as they approached. -Meanwhile a crowd of strange thoughts rushed upon him. “At last,” he -thought to himself, “I am at the beginning of my career. A poor Scotch -gardener’s son, shipping as a common sailor boy because there were so -many mouths to feed at home—coming, at thirteen, to this new country -that I have learned to love so well—left a modest fortune, and rising to -the command of a ship before I was twenty, I determined to cast my fate -with these people, to whom I owe all the kindness I ever knew, and I was -proud to be among the first to raise my arm in the defense of these -colonies against tyranny. All those I loved as a child in Scotland are -dead, and all that is now dear to me is in my adopted country. The cause -of these colonies is a just one, and I could no more refuse to fight for -that cause than any man born here. The chances for success and promotion -are all with the army; our few small vessels can hope for but little in -contests with England, the Mistress of the Seas; but I think I was born -a sailor, and my heart turns ever toward blue water. The day that I -received my commission as a lieutenant in the Continental navy was -surely the most blessed and fortunate of my life, and my adopted country -shall never have cause to regret giving it me.” Deep in his heart Paul -Jones had a strange feeling that glory awaited him; for those destined -to immortality have mysterious foreknowledge of it. - -Occupied with these thoughts, Paul Jones did not come out of his -daydream until the boat’s nose touched the accommodation ladder over the -Alfred’s side. He rose with a start, and held out a piece of money to -the boy, who blushed, and shook his head. - -“I don’t want no money,” he said diffidently, “for helpin’ my country.” - -Paul Jones paused and looked steadily at the ragged lad, who looked back -steadfastly at him. - -“You seem to be rather an odd sort of boy—and, by my life, I like such -boys,” said he. The quartermaster had then come down the ladder, and -stood ready to salute as soon as he caught the young lieutenant’s eye. -This man, Bill Green, was a remarkably handsome, bluff sailor of about -forty-five, with a fine figure, and was dressed with as much care and -neatness as if he were a quarter-deck officer. Paul Jones was instantly -struck by his admirable appearance, and more so when he spoke. His voice -was full and musical, and his manner extremely polite and respectful, -without being in the least cringing. The lad, too, seemed taken by the -quartermaster’s pleasant looks, and spoke again, after a moment, looking -alternately from him to Paul Jones: - -“I’m a very strong boy—and I allus thought I’d like to be a sailor. -Won’t you take me now, sir, and let me fight the British?” - -The quartermaster grinned broadly at this, but Paul Jones did not smile. - -“What is your name, my lad?—and have you parents?” - -“My name’s Danny Dixon, sir, and I ain’t got any father or mother or -brothers or sisters; and I’d ruther be a sailor, sir, nor anything.” - -Paul Jones looked hard at the boy, and then turned to the quartermaster. - -“We’ll see if his story is true, and if it is—why, we shall have use for -powder boys on this ship, and we might do worse than take this lad.” - -“In course, sir,” responded Green. “I’ll find out something about him, -and I’m thinkin’ he’d make a good, strong powder monkey and maybe he’s -old enough to be helper to the jack-o’-the-dust.” - -Danny’s eyes gleamed. - -“I’ll go ashore now, sir, and bring you back some one to prove who I -am,” he cried eagerly; and Paul Jones had to step hurriedly out of the -boat to keep from being carried back to the dock, so keen was the boy to -put off. And in two hours he was back again on the Alfred, and regularly -entered on the ship’s books. - -“Because,” said Bill Green, who was a foks’l wag, “when we comes to -fightin’ the British, most likely the cap’n will call you up and make -you a quarter gunner, or sumpin’ on the spot, boy; and you can’t git -your share of the prize money if you ain’t entered on the ship’s books, -reg’lar.” - -Danny luckily did not mention his expectation of becoming a quarter -gunner to Paul Jones, who, as first lieutenant, had charge of the ship -in the absence of her captain. But he did ask that he might be put on -the books so he could get his prize money; which the young lieutenant -promised to do, laughing in spite of himself at Danny’s serious -expectation of a considerable fortune in prize money. - -Captain Saltonstall was to command the Alfred, but he had not yet -arrived, and upon Paul Jones rested the duty of preparing the ship for -sea. From the day his foot first touched the deck his active spirit -pervaded everything, and the officers under him, as well as the men, -felt the force of his commanding energy. 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 ship in the -squadron had her crew lessened by desertion, not a single man was lost -from the Alfred. - -“And I’m a-thinkin’, mates,” remarked Bill Green, in the confidence of -the foks’l, “as how we’ve got a leftenant as is a seaman; I seen it by -the cut o’ his jib; and if he was the cap’n o’ this ’ere ship, he’d lock -yardarms with a Britisher if he had half a chance.” - -One day, in the midst of the bustle of fitting the ship out, 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, burly man, who had spent the best part of his -life at sea. He examined the ship carefully, and his silence, as Paul -Jones explained what he had done and was doing with the means at his -command, made the young lieutenant fear that it had not met with the -commodore’s approval. But, secure in the consciousness that he had done -his duty, Paul Jones could afford to do without the praise of his -superiors. He was not, however, destined to this mortification. Standing -on the quarter-deck, surrounded by the officers, Commodore Hopkins -turned to Paul Jones, and said: - -“Your activity has pleased me extremely, and my confidence in you is -such, that if Captain Saltonstall should be unable to reach here by the -time the ships can get away, I shall hoist my flag on this ship, and -give you the command of her.” - -A flush rose in Paul Jones’s dark face, and he bowed with the graceful -courtesy that always distinguished him. - -“Thank you, commodore,” he said, “and may I be pardoned for hoping that -Captain Saltonstall may not arrive in time? And when your flag is -hoisted on the Alfred, there will be, I trust, a flag of the United -Colonies to fly at the peak, and 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 to be, it will be some time -yet in adopting a flag; and there will not be time to have one made for -the ship before we sail.” - -“I think there will, sir,” replied Paul Jones. - -The young lieutenant had good reason for his expectation. The Congress -had practically decided upon the flag, and Paul Jones, out of his own -pocket, had bought the materials to make one. Bill Green was an expert -with the needle, boasting that he could “hand, reef, and steer a needle -like the best o’ them tailor men,” and was fully capable of making a -flag. - -On a stormy February day, when the channel had been freed from ice -enough for the little squadron to get out, the Alfred was made ready to -receive her flag officer. Captain Saltonstall had arrived some days -before, to Paul Jones’s intense disappointment. But he was as ready to -do his duty as first lieutenant as he had been that hoped-for duty as -acting captain. - -The commodore’s boat was seen approaching on the wind tossed water. The -horizon was overcast, and dun clouds scurried wildly across the troubled -sky, with which the pale and wintry sun struggled vainly. The -boatswain’s call, “All hands to muster!” sounded through the ship, and -in a wonderfully short time, owing to the careful drilling of Paul -Jones, the three hundred men 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 with their swords, and Paul Jones headed the line. - -When it was reported, “All hands up and aft!” Captain Saltonstall -appeared out of the cabin. Paul Jones, having previously arranged it, -called out, “Quartermaster!” and Bill Green, neat, handsome and -sailorlike, stepped from the ranks of the petty officers. - -From some unknown regions about his clothes Bill produced a flag, rolled -up, and, following Paul Jones, stepped briskly aft to the flagstaff. He -affixed the flag to the halyards, along with the broad pennant of a -commodore, saw that they worked properly, and then stood by. The -commodore’s boat was then at the ladder, and the commodore came over the -side. Just as his foot touched the quarter-deck the flag with the -pennant flew up on the staff like magic, under Paul Jones’s hands, the -breeze caught it and flung it wide to the free air, and the sun, -suddenly bursting out, bathed it in glory. Every officer, from the -commodore down, instantly removed his cap, the drummer boys beat a -double ruffle on the drums, and a tremendous cheer burst from the -sailors and marines. As Paul Jones advanced, Commodore Hopkins said to -him: - -“I congratulate you upon your enterprise. The flag was only adopted in -Congress yesterday, and this one is the very first to fly.”[1] - -“Such was my hope, sir,” answered Paul Jones, modestly. “I wished the -honor of hoisting the flag of freedom the first time it was ever -displayed; and this man,” pointing to Bill Green, who stood smiling -behind him, “sat up all last night in order to make this ensign for the -ship—an ensign which will ever be attended with veneration upon the -ocean.” - -Bill Green came in for his share of congratulation too; and as if the -appearance of the flag had bewitched the wind, it suddenly shifted to -fair, the sun came out brilliantly, and within half an hour the squadron -of five ships—the Columbus, the Andrew Doria, the Sebastian Cabot, and -the Providence, led by the Alfred—had spread all their canvas, and were -winging swiftly toward the free and open sea. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - - -The first enterprise determined upon was an expedition to the island of -New Providence, in the West Indies. On the 17th of February the squadron -had set sail from the Delaware, and on the morning of the 1st of March -it appeared off the harbor of New Providence. There were two forts to -protect the town, but at that moment there was not a soldier on the -island. When the American squadron was sighted, though, an alarm gun was -fired, and the inhabitants manned the forts and turned the guns on the -American vessels just outside the bar. The little American squadron -carried only two hundred marines, and it was determined to land them -under the fire of the ships; but owing to the bar at the mouth of the -harbor the Alfred and the Columbus could not pass in; only the smaller -vessels could get in with any prospect of coming out at low tide. From -the lack of charts, the Americans had to take great risks in finding -safe anchorages. But the pilot taken on board the Alfred declared that -he knew of an anchorage, under a key three leagues to windward of the -harbor, where the larger vessels might safely await the result of the -attack on the town. This news was carried to Commodore Hopkins as he -restlessly paced the Alfred’s deck, looking at the white-walled town -lying before him in the warm March sunshine. - -“But, Mr. Jones,” said he to Paul Jones, who had brought the pilot -aboard, “how can we answer for the faithfulness of these pilots? They -may cheerfully take the risk of being lost along with us rather than put -us in a position to take the town.” - -“Quite true, sir,” answered Paul Jones, “but if you will give me leave, -I will undertake, with this pilot, to carry the ship to a safe -anchorage, and I will answer for it with my commission if I do not take -her safely.” - -“Very well, then,” replied the commodore; “if you will assume the -responsibility, I will trust the ship.” - -It had then fallen dead calm, and all through the long spring day they -waited for a puff of wind. The short twilight of the tropics was upon -them before the wind sprang up again. At the first breeze the Alfred set -every sail that would draw, and, followed by the Columbus, headed for -the key. The sky was a deep rose-red in the west, and overhead of a pale -and luminous green. The full moon was rising, round and yellow, over the -town, and a few solitary stars twinkled in the vast expanse of the sky. -Paul Jones, followed by the pilot, went aloft to the foretopmast head, -where a clear view of everything was to be had. In the deep and -breathless silence every occasional sound could be heard, and scarcely a -word was uttered except the orders, as the ship ran down the chain of -islands, with a fair wind, in the moonlit night. Bill Green was at the -wheel, while three or four officers, stationed at various points along -the deck, repeated the orders called out in Paul Jones’s clear and -penetrating voice, so that no mistake might be made. A man on the port -side and another on the starboard kept the lead going constantly. -Commodore Hopkins and Captain Saltonstall paced the deck together. - -At intervals Paul Jones’s voice would be heard calling out: - -“Port a little—hard aport—steady!” While the man with the lead on the -starboard side would sing musically, in the peculiar cadence used in -sounding: - -“And a quarter—less—six.” - -This meant they were in five and three quarter fathoms—plenty of water -for the ship. The sailor sounding on the port side would sing in the -same key: - -“And a quarter—less—six.” - -Paul Jones, with every nerve strained, listened to the soundings, the -sweet call ringing softly in the half darkness as the ship glided -through the purple night. Sometimes she was in the full light of the -moon, and then a shadow would descend upon the sea, and she would slip -through it like a phantom ship. Two cables’ length off, the Columbus -followed in her wake. Once the man sang out: - -“And a quarter—past—_three_!” - -Every soul on board gave a gasp—the water was getting shoal; and Paul -Jones shouted quickly from the fore-topmast, “Starboard—starboard your -helm!” The next sounding was four and a half fathoms, and at last, just -as the moon emerged in splendor from a thin white cloud, the Alfred -rounded the key, and the cable rattled out noisily as the anchor was -dropped in six fathoms of water. Paul Jones felt as if a hand clutching -his heart had been suddenly loosed. He had piloted the ship safely, and -had anchored her; his commission was safe; and he was from that moment -the best known junior officer in the squadron. - -Next morning the marines were landed, a large quantity of arms and -stores were captured and embarked, and the squadron set sail for home. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - - -The morning of the 9th of April dawned clear and lovely. The American -squadron, on its return from New Providence, was making its way -cautiously along the New England coast, and although every part of it -was swarming with British vessels, it was determined to take the -squadron into Long Island Sound by the way of Narragansett Bay. - -Paul Jones went about his arduous duties as first lieutenant with his -usual steady determination, but at heart he cherished a secret -dissatisfaction. His bold and enterprising spirit was not adapted to -submission. He could obey, but his destiny was to command. Commodore -Hopkins was a brave man, but he was not above the average in either -enterprise or intelligence. Several strategic mistakes that he made -during the affair at New Providence had not escaped the searching eye of -Paul Jones, and he felt a dread of encountering the British then, for -fear that the American commodore would not be equal to so great an -occasion. He knew that they would have to run the gauntlet of Commodore -Wallace’s fleet off Newport, and his brave heart trembled at the idea -that all of glory possible would not be reaped. - -The day passed, though, without any adventures. Numerous white sails -were seen, but the squadron, sailing well together, was not molested. -Although not disposed to decline a fight, the value of the arms and -ammunition on board to the Continental army made Commodore Hopkins quite -willing to “let sleeping dogs lie.” But this was contrary to the -temperament of Paul Jones. He realized instinctively his capacity for -meeting extraordinary dangers with extraordinary resources of mind and -courage, and he could not but despise the risks that other men shunned. - -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. - -Although Paul Jones, being first lieutenant, had no watch on deck, he -remained above. About midnight the lookout on the quarter made out Block -Island, and almost at the same moment a cry was heard from the Cabot, -known as “the black brig,” of “Sail, ho!” - -“What do you think it is, Mr. Jones?” asked Commodore Hopkins, with -night glass in hand, examining the shadowy form of a ship under light -canvas about half a mile off. - -“I think it is a British frigate, sir,” replied Paul Jones, after -looking intently at her. “She is too small for a ship of the line, and -she does not carry sail enough for a merchant vessel with a good wind. -She is simply cruising about, and probably looking for us.” - -The Cabot being in the lead, night signals were made to her to engage -the attention of the stranger, which had tacked, and was now making -straight for the American squadron. Paul Jones then, as first -lieutenant, saw the captain’s orders carried out to clear the Alfred for -action as quietly as possible. No drums were beat, and the men went -silently to their quarters. The batteries were lighted up, but by -keeping the ports closed as little was shown as possible. A string of -battle lanterns was laid in a row on the gun deck by little Danny Dixon, -who wagged his head knowingly at Bill Green, who happened to be passing, -and remarked: - -“I say, Mr. Green, there will be some prize money for we arter this.” - -“No, there won’t,” answered Bill, gruffly. “This ’ere commodore, he -ain’t got a very good appetite for fightin’. Now, if Mr. Jones was -commandin’—” - -Just as the words were out of his mouth the quartermaster turned -suddenly and saw Paul Jones’s stern eyes fixed on him. The first -lieutenant, on making his last round, had come unexpectedly upon Bill, -who knew better than to express such opinions about the commodore. - -A dead silence followed. Paul Jones did not speak, but the look in his -eye commanded discretion to Bill, who immediately began fumbling about -the lanterns and instructing Danny in his duty. - -The incident, though, made a deep impression upon Paul Jones. “If that -is the feeling among the men, there is little hope of capturing the -British ship,” he thought bitterly to himself. - -He then went above, and just as his foot touched the deck he heard the -frigate, which was now close upon them, hail the black brig. - -“Who are you, and where are you bound?” - -The black brig answered: “This is the Betsy, from Plymouth. Who are -you?” - -Every ear was strained to catch the answer. It came ringing over the -smooth water: - -“This is His Majesty’s ship Glasgow, of twenty-four guns.” - -It was now about half past two o’clock in the morning. The moon had gone -down, and in the darkness the Glasgow evidently was ignorant of the -character of the five vessels strung out together. The Cabot had now got -very close on the lee bow of the Glasgow, and suddenly poured a -broadside into her. Instantly the British ship seemed to wake up to her -danger. She bore up and ran off to clear for action, but within a -quarter of an hour she came up gallantly to engage the whole American -squadron. - -Paul Jones was in command of the gun deck. The Alfred was so heavily -laden that she was down in the water almost to her portsills; the sea, -however, being smooth, he was enabled to work his batteries whenever the -manœuvres of the ship made it possible. The two ships finally got into -such a position that they kept up a furious cannonade until daybreak. -The Glasgow was hulled a number of times, her mainmast was crippled, and -her sails and rigging almost destroyed; she had fifty-two shot through -her mizzen staysail, one hundred and ten through her mainsail, and -eighty-eight through her foresail, besides having her royal yards -carried away. But she had disabled the Cabot at the second broadside, -and then, concentrating her fire on the Alfred, the wheel block and -ropes of the American ship were carried away, and she came up into the -wind, giving the Glasgow a chance to pour in several raking broadsides -before the ship could be brought on the wind again. Daylight coming, the -Glasgow made signals to the rest of the British fleet, then plainly in -sight, and the American drew off. - -The action might be considered a draw, taking into account the damage -done the British ship, and that she evidently had had enough of it. To -the impetuous soul of Paul Jones though it seemed from the first to be -what he afterward pronounced it—“the disgraceful affair with the -Glasgow.” - -From that hour there was no longer any confidence possible between him -and Commodore Hopkins. The commodore had acted according to his best -judgment; but he was not a Paul Jones. As Bill Green expressed it in the -foks’l: “When the Glasgow went off howlin’ like a broken-legged dog, -there oughter been somebody to stop her; and, mates, if Mr. Paul Jones -had ’a’ been in command, we’d ’a’ had some prize money sure, as well as -savin’ our credit.” Although there was a subtile estrangement between -Commodore Hopkins and Paul Jones, each respected the other’s character. -But it was more agreeable to the commodore to have Paul Jones anywhere -than on the Alfred, so that in a very short while he was placed in -command of the sloop of war Providence. - -In manning the sloop, Commodore Hopkins gave Paul Jones the privilege of -taking his petty officers from the crew of the Alfred. As soon as this -was known Bill Green begged hard to be of the number, and so he was -permitted to go. - -In the bustle and excitement of the change Paul Jones had quite -forgotten Danny Dixon. While making his final preparations in his cabin -to change his quarters to the Providence, Danny appeared at the door -with his best clothes on and a bundle in his hand. - -“What is it, Danny?” asked Paul Jones kindly. - -“Nothin’, sir,” answered Danny, “’cep’ I’m ready to go, sir, whenever -you are.” - -“What do you mean?” said Paul Jones, looking closely at the boy. - -“Why, sir, ain’t I a-goin’ with you on the Providence?” replied Danny, -in a surprised voice. “When I heard you had done got your orders, I went -and made up my kit. Mr. Green, the quartermaster, come along, sir, and -he says you axed for him to go with you, and that you had said you was -goin’ to make me a boatswain’s mate, and for me to git my kit. I wanted -to go with you anyhow, sir, though I didn’t expect to be nothin’ but a -ship’s boy; but when you axed for me—” - -The boy’s simplicity was so genuine that Paul Jones could not laugh at -him. He only said, smiling a little: - -“Very well. Green is to be my quartermaster, and I’ll see the captain, -and perhaps he may let me have you.” - -“Thankee, sir,” replied Danny gratefully, and sitting down outside the -cabin door he kept his earnest eyes fixed on Paul Jones, like a dog on -his master. Presently Paul Jones came out, and after a few words with -the captain, Danny was told that he might go along with the new -commander of the Providence. Paul Jones was touched by the boy’s -devotion, and took him for the captain’s cabin boy. - -Paul Jones had good reason to be satisfied with all the people he had -brought from the Alfred. Bill Green, besides being a first-class -quartermaster, was such a pleasant, cheery, waggish fellow that he kept -everything forward in a good humor. Moreover, he had a very valuable -talent—he could sing beautifully, and had a store of sea songs, some of -which he had picked up in the British navy, where he had served some -time, and others were patriotic songs which were often composed and much -sung in those days. But Bill had a weakness—he always professed to have -composed all his songs himself, and to have written them out, when it -was a well-known fact that he could not write a word. He had signed the -ship’s books with a cross instead of his name, which he explained by -saying: “The officer, he was in a hurry, and it was gittin’ on toward my -watch, and I didn’t have no half hour to spend writin’ ‘Bill Green,’ so -I jest made a cross mark, not thinkin’ as how nobody would suspicion I -couldn’t write; and then, it takes so much o’ my time to write my songs, -I ain’t got none for to write my name.” All this was received with many -sly winks by the men, but they were willing to humor the handsome -quartermaster in anything, he was such a favorite with them. Bill, also, -like other artists, liked to be urged. This, too, was fully understood, -and he always yielded to pressure. - -The Providence was a good sailer, but she carried only twelve small guns -and seventy men. She was employed in transporting men and stores along -the shores at the eastern entrance of Long Island Sound, and as this was -done in the face of overwhelming British fleets, the address and -seamanship of young Captain Jones was fully proved. So great was his -success in eluding the British, that the Cerberus frigate made it an -especial object to capture the little sloop. She got the Providence -under her guns several times, but the sloop always managed to edge away. -Once, while the Providence was convoying a brig loaded with military -supplies for General Washington, the Cerberus caught sight of her and -crowded on sail to overhaul her. Captain Jones signaled to the brig to -get out of the way as fast as possible, while he manœuvred with studied -awkwardness in sight of the Cerberus. On came the powerful frigate to -crush the little sloop, but as soon as Paul Jones saw the brig safe, he -made for shoal water, where the frigate dared not follow him, and -escaped as night came on. - -Early in August he was regularly commissioned as captain, and sailed for -the Bermudas, on his first independent cruise. By that time the officers -and men under him had come to know what manner of man he was, and looked -forward to a glorious cruise with him. - -It was characteristic of Paul Jones to make the best of all his -opportunities, and he managed out of a feeble sloop to make an efficient -and fast-sailing cruiser. He trimmed the ship so that she sailed well -both on and off the wind, and he was thus in condition either to fight -or run away, whichever he chose. - -The officers and men were in fine spirits, and the very first evening -out, as they sailed along with a spanking breeze, Bill Green piped up an -inspiring song to his mates on the foks’l, which echoed even to the -quarter-deck. The officers listened with pleasure, while Bill sung in -his full, round, and musical baritone the following song:[2] - - “When the anchor’s weighed and the ship’s unmoored, - And landsmen lag behind, sir, - The sailor joyfully skips on board, - And, swearing, prays for wind, sir. - Towing here, - Yeoing there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free. - Is a sailor’s life at sea. - - “When we sail with a freshening breeze, - And landsmen all grow sick, sir, - The sailor lolls with his mind at ease, - And the song and the glass go quick, sir. - Laughing here, - Quaffing there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free, - Is a sailor’s life at sea. - - “When the wind at night whistles over the deep, - And sings to landsmen dreary, - The sailor, fearless, goes to sleep, - Or takes his watch most cheery. - Boozing here, - Snoozing there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free, - Is a sailor’s life at sea. - - “When the sky grows black and the winds blow hard, - And landsmen skulk below, sir, - Jack mounts up to the topsail yard, - And turns his quid as he goes, sir. - Hauling here, - Bawling there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free, - Is a sailor’s life at sea. - - “When the foaming waves run mountain high, - And landsmen cry, ‘All’s gone!’ sir, - The sailor hangs ’twixt sea and sky, - And jokes with Davy Jones, sir. - Dashing here, - Splashing there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free, - Is a sailor’s life at sea. - - “When the ship, d’ye see, becomes a wreck, - And landsmen hoist the boat, sir, - The sailor scorns to quit the deck - While there’s a single plank afloat, sir. - Swearing here, - Tearing there, - Steadily, readily, - Cheerily, merrily, - Still from care and thinking free, - Is a sailor’s life at sea.” - -A loud chorus of cheers greeted the song, and Bill retired, covered with -glory and embarrassment. - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - - -It was on the first day of September that the Providence sighted a large -ship, which was mistaken for an Indiaman, homeward bound. She proved to -be the Solebay, frigate, with twenty guns mounted on one deck. On seeing -the Providence, the Solebay made for her, and the sloop had to take to -her heels. But the Solebay proved to be a magnificent sailer on the -wind, and the Providence had evidently more than her match in speed. The -Providence, small as she was, had cleared for action, for, as Paul Jones -declared, “I will give her one round, if I go to the bottom for it.” The -men highly approved of this sentiment, and the little four-pounders were -run out to salute the flag the Providence carried—because her fire was -little more than a salute. - -The day was warm and clear, and the breeze fresh. The little Providence -was legging it briskly over the water, but the Solebay gained upon her -every hour. The chase had begun about noon, and by four o’clock the -frigate was within pistol shot. Paul Jones was on the horse block of his -little vessel, and Bill Green was at the wheel. Danny Dixon had gravely -prepared for action upon the sly hints given by his friend and patron, -Bill. The boy had stripped to the waist, and, wrapping a handkerchief -about his head, instead of his hat, was all ready to take his place at -the head of the line of powder boys. - -As the frigate gained more and more on the little Providence, every -heart sank except that of the dauntless captain. Paul Jones, however, -remained calm, and even confident. - -“Look,” said he, “their guns in broadside are fast. They think they can -take us by firing a bow chaser, but they are mistaken. What would be -easier than to bear away before the wind under their broadside?” - -The Providence had all her light canvas set, and was flying like a bird -from her pursuer; but the pursuer was nevertheless perceptibly gaining. - -“We will show our ensign as well as give her a volley,” cried Paul Jones -gayly, and the next moment the American colors fluttered out. - -To their surprise, the Solebay now hoisted American colors too. - -“Lying, lying,” said Paul Jones, turning to his officers. “Would that we -had such a vessel in our little navy! She is British, depend upon it. -Her lines tell it too plainly.” - -The Solebay though imagining that she was weathering on the chase and -sure to capture the saucy American, soon hauled down her American colors -and ran up the Union Jack. - -The officers saw by the light in Paul Jones’s eyes that he still had a -trump card to play. All this time he was walking the quarter-deck with -his light and springy step, his face wearing a smile. Presently he -called out himself to Bill Green, at the wheel: - -“Give her a good full, quartermaster.” - -“A good full, sir,” replied Bill in a sailor’s musical singsong. - -Paul Jones then ordered the square sails and then the studding sails -set. - - [Illustration: “_Hooray for Cap’n Paul Jones!_”] - -The next moment the helm was put up, and before the astonished people on -the Solebay knew what was happening, the American sloop of war ran -directly under her enemy’s broadside and went off dead before the wind. -The keen eyes of Paul Jones had noticed that in the Solebay’s fancied -certainty of capturing the American she had not even cast loose and -manned her batteries in broadside, thinking a shot or two from her bow -guns would bring the Providence to when she was overhauled. But the -Providence had a captain the like of which the Solebay had never met -before, and he could dare and do unlooked-for things. - -In vain the frigate came about in haste and confusion. Her prey was -gone, and the Americans were cheering and jeering. - -“Boy,” said Bill Green in a hoarse whisper to Danny Dixon, who was -passing near him: “I can’t do no cheerin’ at the wheel, so you cheer for -me; and if you don’t pipe up as loud as the best of ’em I’ll tan your -hide for you the wust you ever see, jest as soon as my relief comes.” - -Danny was disposed to cheer anyhow, but Bill Green’s promise of a -licking in case he did not do his full duty in the matter, tended to -encourage him. He took his stand by the foremast and a series of -diabolical whoops and yells resounded. “Hooray!” bawled Danny. “Hooray -for Cap’n Paul Jones! Hooray for the Providence! Hooray for Mr. Bill -Green! Hooray for the powder monkeys on this ’ere ship!” and so on -indefinitely. - -“What is that youngster yelling?” asked Paul Jones, laughing at the -gravity and persistence with which Danny kept up his performance. - -One of the officers went up to him, and returned laughing too: - -“He says, sir, that Green, the quartermaster, told him to hurrah, and if -he doesn’t keep it up he is afraid Green will give him the cat.” - -Everybody laughed, and they agreed the best plan was to let Danny and -the quartermaster settle it between them. Danny hurrahed for a solid -half hour, until Green’s relief came. The old sailor then went up to -him, grinning. - -“You can shet that potato-trap o’ yourn now,” he said, “and I’ll take a -turn myself,” whereupon Bill, inflating his lungs, roared out solemnly: - -“Three cheers for Cap’n Paul Jones!” - -“Hooray! hooray! hooray!” piped Danny Dixon’s shrill treble. - -Paul Jones’s daring exploit still further increased the respect that his -officers and men felt, and they showed it in a hundred ways. - -Three weeks now passed, and the Providence steered to the northern seas. -One day, off Cape Sable, in Nova Scotia, the weather being brilliantly -clear, Bill Green and others of the men asked permission to catch for -their mess some of the fish that abounded. As they had been on salt -provisions for a long time, Paul Jones readily gave the desired -permission, and the ship was hove to. A sharp lookout was kept, however, -but nothing occurred to disturb the men in their amusement, until toward -afternoon, when a sail was made out to windward of them. Instantly the -fishing came to a stop, and the Providence, setting some of her light -sails, waited for the stranger on an easy bowline. - -As the ship approached, Paul Jones plainly saw that she was no such -sailer as the Solebay, and thought he could amuse himself with her. - -“That vessel, I take it,” he remarked to his first lieutenant, “is the -Milford frigate. I have expected to fall in with her, and we can outfoot -her, that is clear.” - -The Milford, however, began to chase. When she got within cannon shot -Paul Jones doubled on her quarter; when, seeing he had the advantage of -her in speed, he began to lead her a wild-goose chase. For eight hours -the pursuit continued, the Providence keeping just out of range of the -cannonade which the Milford kept up unceasingly, wasting in it enormous -quantities of powder and shot. Paul Jones was much too astute to throw -away any of his ammunition in a perfectly useless cannonade, but as he -said, “I can not be so rude as to receive a salute without returning -it.” Turning to his marine officer, he said: - -“Direct one of your men to load his musket, and as often as the Milford -salutes our flag with her great guns, we will reply with a musket shot -at least.” - -The officer, smiling, went after his man, and stationed him on the -quarter-deck. The next time the slow-sailing frigate thundered out a -tremendous volley, the marine, with his musket at his shoulder, stood -ready for the word. The officer called out, “Fire!” and the marine -banged away at the frigate amid the uproarious laughter and cheering of -the American sailors. This was kept up for an hour or two, when, a good -breeze springing up, the Providence set all her canvas and ran off, -leaving the Milford completely in the lurch. - -They had another brush with the Milford before the cruise was up. -Captain Jones had captured a fine ship, the Mellish, loaded with -clothing, which was badly needed by the army of Washington. While -convoying her, and with his ship filled with prisoners taken from other -prizes, he ran across the Milford. The frigate immediately gave chase. -As it was night, Captain Jones set lights at his topmast, and everywhere -a light could be put, while the Mellish, with her valuable cargo, -carried no lights at all, and slipped off in the darkness. When day -broke, Captain Jones found that the Mellish was not in sight, while the -Milford was crowding on sail to overhaul him. But the little Providence -again showed a clean pair of heels, and some days afterward the Mellish -was brought in, to the great rejoicing of the patriotic army. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - - -The repute of Paul Jones was now great, and the American Congress -intended sending him abroad to take command of a splendid frigate, then -building in Holland. But owing to the representations of the British -Government to Holland, and also to France, which had not then openly -joined the American cause, the frigate was handed over to the French -Government instead of to the American commissioners at Paris. These -commissioners were Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. The -next best thing to be done for Captain Jones was to give him command of -the Ranger, sloop of war. She was then fitting out at Portsmouth, New -Hampshire. - -The Congress had adopted, on the 14th of July, 1777, the present -national ensign of the stars and stripes, and on the same day Paul Jones -received his orders to command the Ranger. He at once started for -Portsmouth, carrying with him one of the new flags, and as he had before -hoisted for the first time the original flag of the colonies, so he had -the honor of raising the new ensign upon the Ranger the first time the -Stars and Stripes ever floated over an American man-of-war. - -There never was any trouble about manning Paul Jones’s ships, and -neither Bill Green nor little Danny Dixon could have been kept off with -a stick. Therefore, on the fair, bright summer day that Paul Jones -arrived at Portsmouth the very first creature he put his eyes on was -Danny. - -“Why, how are you, my lad?” cried Paul Jones, as he sprang out of the -lumbering stagecoach, and saw Danny standing by the door of the inn -where it stopped. - -“Quite well, sir,” answered Danny with shining eyes, and stepping up to -take Paul Jones’s luggage. He shouldered two portmanteaus manfully, but -Paul Jones held on to a large parcel that he carried under his arm. - -“No, no,” he cried, “this is too precious to be trusted out of my own -hand. And how did you know I would be here to-day?” - -“I didn’t know it for certain, sir, but Mr. Green and me, we has stood -watch and watch for two days lookin’ for you, and Mr. Green says, if he -ain’t the fust man aboard the Ranger to know you has come as how he’ll -take it out on my hide, certain. But that’s only Mr. Green’s way o’ -jokin’, sir.” - -Danny went through with this very respectfully, and Paul Jones’s smiling -eyes showed that he knew perfectly well the relations between the -devoted little cabin boy, and the sturdy quartermaster. “Come on, then,” -cried he, “and I have something here to decorate my ship with, that will -make her shine indeed.” - -In a little while they reached the ship, Danny red and proud with the -honor of carrying the captain’s luggage. Sure enough, there stood Bill -Green at the gangway, and he took his hat off as soon as he caught sight -of Paul Jones. For his part, Paul Jones was delighted to know that he -could count upon such a reliable petty officer as Bill, and greeted him -warmly. Bill immediately snatched the luggage from Danny, who was left -disconsolate, without even the Captain’s portmanteau to comfort him. The -first lieutenant was on deck, and as soon as Paul Jones had greeted his -officers he went aft, and, unrolling his parcel, shook out a large and -handsome silk flag, the “Uncle Sam’s gridiron,” which he was destined, -as he himself expressed it, “to attend with veneration on the ocean.” -Bill Green fastened the flag to the halyards, but Paul Jones himself -drew it up to the peak, amid the cheers of officers and men. Thus had he -hoisted with his own hands the Stars and Stripes for the first time on -an American ship of war, as he had been the first man to hoist the -original flag of freedom. - -From the day he stepped on board the Ranger, matters went on as they -only can under the direction of a perfect sailor. The officers were -enthusiastic and the crew made up of excellent material. Bill Green had -long ago proved himself a very valuable man. He continued, however, to -harass Danny Dixon with foks’l wit. But Danny had discovered that Bill’s -magnificent promises of promotion and assurances of Captain Jones’s -favor, were merely “pullin’ a leg,” in sailor language. Danny was now a -tall, stout boy of fourteen, and very active aloft. Therefore, a day or -two after Paul Jones got on board he said to the boy: - -“Dixon, I think you can be classed as a seaman apprentice, and thereby -raise your rating.” - -“I’d ruther wait on you, sir,” promptly answered Danny. - -“But your share of prize money would be larger if you were rated as a -seaman apprentice, instead of merely a ship’s boy.” - -“I’d ruther wait on you, sir—” - -“And then you’d stand a chance of being rated as an able seaman in two -or three years.” - -“I’d ruther wait on you, sir,” doggedly answered Danny. - -Paul Jones smiled, and said no more. - -This all occurred in July, but it was not until November that the ship -was ready to sail. She was by that time well manned, but owing to the -poverty and lack of resource of the struggling Government she was poorly -equipped. She had only one suit of sails, and those very indifferent, -and not a single spare sail in case any mishap should befall her canvas -in a wintry passage across the stormy Atlantic. There was likewise -another deficiency, which gave the men much disquietude, especially Bill -Green—there was only a single barrel of rum on board. - -“I tell you what it is, youngster,” said Bill solemnly to Danny, it -being a favorite amusement of his to tell the most grewsome yarns he -could invent to the boy, “this ’ere’s a ornlucky ship—mark my words.” - -“Why, Mr. Green,” answered Danny earnestly, “ain’t Cap’n Paul Jones -commandin’ of her?” - -“W’y, yes, boy, but you know there’s lucky ships and ornlucky ships. -There ain’t nothin’ goin’ to happen to _we_—’cause Cap’n Paul Jones is -commandin’, as you say—but we ain’t goin’ to git no prize money to speak -of. Likely as not, we won’t capture nothin’ wuth havin’. We ain’t got -but one barrel o’ rum aboard, and that’s the ornluckiest thing that ever -was. It’s worse nor a black cat aboard ship. I’d ruther have ten black -cats and sail on a Friday, and meet all the pirates afloat, than to -start on a short ’lowance o’ rum. It’s dreadful ornlucky, boy, and it’s -dreadful tryin’ besides.” - -Danny fully believed him, as Bill, with a huge sigh, cut a quid of -tobacco and began to chew dolefully. - -Bill’s prediction was carried out to the letter, for from the cheerless -day the Ranger sailed out of Portsmouth harbor until she made the coast -of France no prize was taken. - -This was partly due to Captain Jones’s desire to get to the other side -as quickly as possible. The weather was rough and the Ranger proved very -crank, and it was not until the 2d of December that the port of Nantes -was made. The guns were covered up, the portlids lowered, and everything -as far as possible done to conceal the warlike character of the ship. - -Paul Jones immediately set out for Paris, and on the third day he -knocked at the door of a charming house at Passy, one of the most -beautiful suburbs of Paris. This was a house belonging to M. Ray de -Chaumont, a rich French gentleman whose sympathies with the American -cause were so strong that he offered the American commissioners the use -of his house until they could make permanent arrangements. Some instinct -had told Paul Jones that he should find a friend in Benjamin Franklin, -then at the zenith of his fame, and the most influential of the three -American commissioners at Paris. The first meeting of these two great -men, destined to be lifelong friends, was an event in history. Without -the confidence and support of Franklin, Paul Jones would probably never -had the means of achieving greatness, and this support and confidence -never wavered from the moment these two immortal men stood face to face -and looked through their eyes into each other’s souls. Franklin’s -venerable figure and grave, concentrated glance contrasted strongly with -Paul Jones’s lithe and active form and the piercing expression of his -clear-cut features. The two men grasped hands and so stood for a moment, -each fascinated by something in the aspect of the other. - -“Welcome to France,” said Franklin. “I have heard of you, and every such -man as you is a mighty help to our cause.” - -Paul Jones murmured some words expressive of the admiration he felt for -a man so truly eminent as Franklin, but his bold spirit was abashed in -the presence of so much greatness in this patriarchal old man. They -spent the whole of the short winter day in converse, each more and more -dazzled and charmed by the other. At twilight they said farewell at the -open door. As they clasped hands in parting, Paul Jones said: - -“I had the honor of hoisting the flag of our country for the first time -upon the ocean, and I intend to claim for it all the honors that it -deserves. As soon as I am in the presence of the French fleet I shall -demand a salute; and I shall get it, mark my words.” - -“I believe _you_, if any man can, will get it,” answered Franklin. “And -remember—if we can not secure you a ship worthy of you, and you are -still compelled to keep the Ranger, you shall at least have _carte -blanche_ for your cruise, for I do not believe in hampering spirits so -bold and enterprising as yours.” - -As Paul Jones walked away in the dusk of twilight he glanced back and -saw Franklin still standing in the doorway, with the light from an -overhead lantern falling on his silvery hair. Paul Jones felt that the -day of his meeting with Franklin was a great, a memorable day for him. - -The American commissioners were indeed unable to obtain a better ship -for him than the Ranger, and Paul Jones returned to his little vessel -sore-hearted from his disappointment, but with the authority to rank all -officers of American ships in European waters, and with perfect freedom -to make his cruise as he liked. He determined, as he always did, to make -the best of what he had. His first duty was to convoy a number of -American merchant vessels from Nantes into Quiberon Bay, where a large -French fleet, under Admiral La Motte Picquet, was to sail for America. -There was now no need for disguising the character of the Ranger, and -she sailed openly as a man-of-war. Paul Jones, with resistless energy, -had worked at his ship until he had remedied many of her defects. Her -lower masts were shortened; she was ballasted with lead; and she was -much improved, as every ship that he commanded was improved by him. He -also had, as a tender, the brig Independence. - -It was on the 13th of February, 1778, that Paul Jones, flying the Stars -and Stripes for the first time in the presence of a foreign fleet, -anchored off the bay at Quiberon. He had a motive in not coming in the -bay, and this was, as he had told Franklin, to have the flag of the -United States saluted in open day by the French admiral. The treaty of -alliance between the United States and France was not then published, -and it required much address to obtain a salute. - -As soon as the Ranger dropped her anchor Paul Jones sent his boat off to -the French admiral, desiring to know, if he saluted the admiral’s ship, -if the salute would be returned. - -Paul Jones remained walking the quarter-deck of the Ranger until the -boat was seen pulling back. A letter was handed him from the French -admiral, which he eagerly opened. - -The letter stated courteously that the salute would be returned, but -with four guns less than the American ship fired, as it was the custom -in the French navy to fire four guns less to a republic than the salute -offered. - -Paul Jones immediately went below, where he wrote the following spirited -letter to the American agent at the port: - -“I think the admiral’s answer requires some explanation. The haughty -English return gun for gun to foreign officers of equal rank, and two -less only by captains to flag officers. It is true my command is not -important, yet, as the senior American officer at present in Europe it -is my duty to claim an equal return of respect to the flag of the United -States _that would be shown to any other flag whatever_. - -“I therefore take the liberty of inclosing an appointment[3] as -respectable as any the French admiral can produce. If, however, he -persists in refusing to return an equal salute, I will accept of two -guns less, as I have not the rank of an admiral.” - -To this he added, that unless his flag should be properly saluted he -would certainly depart without coming into the bay. - -Next day, however, he discovered that the French admiral was acting in -good faith, and could not, according to his regulations, return gun for -gun to the flag of a republic; and therefore Paul Jones determined to -accept of the salute offered. - -The wind was blowing hard, and the sea very high, so that it was after -sunset before the Ranger could get near enough to the admiral’s ship to -salute. The brig Independence had been ordered to lay off the bay for a -particular purpose. Paul Jones was afraid that some advantage might be -taken of the salute being fired in semi-darkness—such as saying the flag -was mistaken for another—and he determined to have a salute also in -broad daylight. - -The short February twilight was fast going, and the wind drove the -lowering clouds furiously across the sky, when the Ranger, under -close-reefed topsails, entered the bay and sailed close under the lee of -the admiral’s ship, where she hove to. Instantly her guns thundered out -thirteen times. The report echoed over the dark water, where the great -French fleet, looming up grandly in the half-darkness, lay majestically -at anchor. As soon as the last gun had been fired the admiral’s ship -promptly gave back nine guns. The Ranger then returned to the mouth of -the bay, where she anchored alongside of the Independence, the wind -having abated. - -Next morning—a beautiful, bright day—Paul Jones sent word to the French -admiral that he intended sailing through the French fleet in the brig -and again saluting him, to which the admiral returned a courteous reply. - -About ten o’clock in the morning Paul Jones went on board the -Independence, which then stood boldly in the harbor. She was a -beautiful, clipper-built brig, and as clean and fresh as hands could -make her. A splendid new American flag floated proudly from her mizzen -peak. - -The French fleet was anchored in two great lines, rather wide apart, -with the flagship in the middle of the outer line. The Independence, -with all her canvas set, entered between the two rows of ships. Her guns -were manned, and Paul Jones, in full uniform, stood on the quarter-deck. -As the Independence came abreast of the flagship the brig fired thirteen -guns with the most beautiful precision and with exactly the same -interval between each report. The admiral paid the American the -compliment of having his guns already manned, and as the little -Independence passed gracefully down the line, enveloped like a veil in -the white smoke from her own guns, the flagship roared out nine guns -from her great thirty-six-pounders. Paul Jones’s satisfaction was seen -on his face, although he said no word; but as soon as he returned on -board the Ranger he wrote to Franklin a joyous letter, telling him of -the honor paid the American flag. - -From this on the relations between the officers of the French fleet and -the two American vessels were most cordial. The Frenchmen had heard of -Paul Jones as an enterprising and promising officer, and his running -under the guns of the Solebay had become generally known in Europe, much -to the chagrin of the Solebay’s officers. The Count d’Orvilliers, one of -the highest officers in the service of France, thought that, as France -and America were bound to be shortly allied, that it would be well for -Paul Jones to hold a captain’s commission in the French navy as well as -an American commission. But this he declined. An American commission was -good enough for Paul Jones. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - - -It was upon the 10th of April, 1778, that Paul Jones sailed from Brest -upon the first of his two immortal cruises. - -The respect with which he had been treated, and the dignity he -maintained, had had great effect upon the officers and men under him. -They knew neither the time nor the place of the enterprise they were -entering upon; but that it was bold and venturesome they were well -assured. The seas were swarming with British cruisers, and alone among -this multitude of enemies the little Ranger sailed gallantly. As she -passed out of the harbor of Brest the sailors on the French ships gave -her a ringing cheer, to which the Americans responded. - -Paul Jones then called his officers around him, and his daring words -were plainly audible to many of the men. - -“Gentlemen,” he said, “I propose to steer straight for the Irish Sea. -What my plans are I shall tell you when we are in sight of the three -kingdoms. I know every foot of the narrow seas, and every bay, inlet, -and headland on the shores of Scotland and Ireland. Give me your full -support, and we shall return covered with glory.” - -A shout of applause greeted these brave words. - -As soon as the Ranger was out of sight of land every effort was made to -disguise her as a merchantman. Her guns were hid, and her white sails -were daubed with lamp-black, to give the idea of being old and patched. -The crew was kept below as much as possible, to be out of sight, and in -this guise she made boldly for St. George’s Channel. - -On the night of the 14th of April, while standing in between Cape Clear -and the Scilly Isles, the lookout on the quarter sang out, “Sail, ho!” - -The sail was a fine, large brigantine, which allowed the strange ship, -which she took for a merchantman, to approach quite near her, as if to -pass on the opposite tack. Suddenly the strange ship doubled on her -quarter and came bearing down upon her, and at the same moment a blank -cartridge was fired across her bows. The brigantine hove to in obedience -to this peremptory command, and hailed the approaching Ranger. To this -hail the sailing master of the Ranger replied: - -“This is the United States ship Ranger, and you are her prize.” - -Resistance was useless. The ship contained a valuable cargo, but no -attempt was made to take anything except what could be easily -transferred to the Ranger. Paul Jones had determined not to fire the -ship, lest her burning should attract other vessels that swarmed the -narrow seas, and thereby raise an alarm on land. Therefore he sent the -carpenter and all his mates on board to scuttle her. The captain and -crew of the brigantine were brought off, and the carpenters went to work -with a will. In two hours from the time that she had been sailing -confidently along, unsuspicious of an enemy, the brigantine had -disappeared from the face of the ocean. - -Three days now passed in cruising about St. George’s Channel. So great -was the number of ships, both men-of-war and merchantmen, in sight and -passing at all times, that Captain Jones did not consider it prudent to -attack, because no man excelled Paul Jones in the prudence of the -valiant. Several times during those three days and nights vessels that -would have been valuable prizes were close under the guns of the little -Ranger, but the presence of a frigate or two or other ship of war in the -distance made an attack impracticable. Back and forth for three days and -nights Paul Jones sailed dauntlessly among a multitude of enemies, thus -venturing boldly into the very nest of the hornets. On the evening of -the third day, the 17th of April, a large merchant vessel was seen off -the coast of Ireland. No ship of war was in sight, and the Ranger -therefore gave chase. Within an hour or two the vessel was overhauled, -almost at the mouth of the Liffey. A blank cartridge fired across her -bows and the Ranger’s hoisting the American ensign brought her to. She -proved to be the Lord Chatham, fast and new, bound for Dublin. - -“We can not sink so good a ship as this,” said Paul Jones to his first -lieutenant. “And, besides, the scheme I have in view does not permit us -to encumber ourselves with prisoners. She will answer excellently to -carry our prisoners back to Brest.” - -A prize crew and an officer were therefore thrown on board the Lord -Chatham, the prisoners transferred, and she was carried off when almost -within sight of her port. Paul Jones then put out to the open sea again, -and steered straight for the coast of Scotland. - -On the 18th of April, a beautiful, mild evening, he entered the Frith of -Solway. It was the first time his eyes had rested on it, except for one -brief and unhappy visit, since his childhood. He was now an American -officer, of the highest rank possible to give him in the infant navy of -the colonies, and it was his plain duty to use the knowledge he had of -the Scotch coast in the service of his country. - -The port of Whitehaven, on the opposite side of the Solway, was the -point Paul Jones meant to attack. Here was collected a great company of -shipping, estimated at between two and three hundred sail. The Ranger -was, as usual, closely disguised, and excited no suspicion as she -entered the Solway. The evening was beautiful and bright, but as the sun -went down the indications of a hard squall became evident. The furious -tides rushed in, driven by a rising gale from the Irish Sea, and the -wind blew directly on shore. - -Paul Jones determined to wait for night to complete his design, and when -it grew too dark for the Ranger to be distinguished from another ship he -ordered the men mustered on deck. Then, in a few decisive words, he -announced his plan to them. - -“We shall have a chance,” he said, “to avenge some of the dreadful -burnings practiced uselessly upon our own coasts; but this will not be -useless. The fleet now collected at Whitehaven is the coal fleet for -Ireland. To destroy it would be to embarrass the enemy greatly. I call -for thirty volunteers to assist me in this patriotic work. No man need -go unless he wants to. But those who share with me the danger of this -enterprise will also share with me the glory.” - -It seemed as if every man on the deck shouted “I, sir,” and “I!” and -“I!” and “I!” and loud among the voices sounded the piping treble of -little Danny Dixon. Paul Jones raised his hand to command silence. - -“I shall have to choose thirty men, because I can not take you all. I -shall take the strongest and most active men.” - -At that he told off thirty men, including Bill Green, the quartermaster. -But when the number was selected, and the men had gone forward, Paul -Jones noticed that Danny, the cabin boy, lingered. - -“If you please, sir,” said Danny, diffidently, “you surely ain’t a-goin’ -to leave me behind, sir?” - -“Why, you are nothing but a lad,” answered Paul Jones. “This is an -enterprise for men, not boys.” - -“I know it, sir. But I ain’t afraid o’ nothin’.” - -Paul Jones was about to reply, but at that moment Mr. Stacy, the sailing -master, came up hurriedly, to say that at the rate the wind was rising -and shifting it was necessary to claw off the land, and he thought a -landing would be impossible that night. A few minutes convinced Paul -Jones that his sailing master was right, and that the enterprise would -have to be postponed. The Ranger was driving furiously before the wind, -and at every lurch she buried her nose deep in the foaming waves. The -gale shrieked angrily, and a bank of coppery clouds in the west darkened -ominously. The ship was therefore brought about, and under straining -canvas she beat her way back to the mouth of the Solway. - -No man slept on the Ranger that night. The weather was thick, and Paul -Jones was averse to running into the open sea for safety. The next -morning dawned clear, but windy. The ship was close enough to the shores -of Scotland to be seen from a hundred hamlets, and her situation became -too risky to let anything escape that could tell on her. A revenue -wherry was seen, chased and cannonaded, but escaped. A coasting vessel -was overhauled, her crew taken out of her, and she was then scuttled and -sunk; so was a Dublin schooner, while a cutter seen off the lee bow was -chased into the Clyde, and up as far as the Rock of Ailsa. The weather -still prevented a descent upon the coast, but Paul Jones boldly awaited -his chance to make it, in spite of the enemies that swarmed around him. - -Boldness meant prudence in the affair Paul Jones had undertaken, and -therefore, not wishing to remain too long in any locality, he again -stood across the Irish Sea, and entered the Lough of Belfast, off which -lay the town of Carrickfergus. - -It was on the afternoon of the 21st of April. The Ranger, sailing with a -long leg and a short one, cautiously approached the roadstead. Never was -there a lovelier scene. The harbor was of a deep ultramarine blue, and a -faint golden haze enveloped sky and sea and castle and ships. Upon a -grandly projecting cliff stood the stern gray castle, with its -twenty-two great guns, frowning upon the rippling water. Out in the -soft, yet dazzling, afternoon light lay a sloop of war, about the size -of the Ranger. A gentle breeze fanned the Union Jack that floated from -her mizzen peak. Over the whole scene was the still beauty of “a painted -ship upon a painted ocean.” - -The officers of the Ranger were all on deck, for in that perilous cruise -neither officers nor men went below except for necessary food and sleep. -Paul Jones, with his glass, carefully examined the ship, and then, -turning to his officers, said quietly: - -“Gentlemen, here is the chance we have all longed for. Yonder is a ship -of war of a rate that we can give battle to. We will fight that ship, -and we will take her.” - -Scarcely were the words out of the captain’s mouth when “Ahoy!” sounded -from the port side of the Ranger. A fishing boat had come alongside, -with three fishermen in it. One of them held up a string of beautiful -fish. - -“Yes, we want your fish, and you, too,” cried Stacy, the sailing master, -at Captain Jones’s orders; and in a few moments, to the astonishment of -the fishermen, they were on the Ranger’s deck, and their boat was -hanging astern. - - [Illustration: _The Ranger and the Drake._] - -“What is that vessel yonder?” asked Captain Jones of the elder man, for -they proved to be a father and two sons. - -The man looked about him dazed for a moment. He did not recognize -Captain Jones’s uniform, nor did he understand the character of the -vessel that looked so peaceable, but which a close inspection proved was -well able to take care of herself in a fight. He hesitated a moment, but -one commanding look from Paul Jones brought the truth out. - -“It is the Drake, sir; sloop of war.” - -“Of how many guns?” - -The man looked helplessly at Captain Jones, but one of the sons -answered, in a low voice: - -“Some says twenty, sir, but I counted twenty-two on ’em when I went -aboard to carry my fish.” - -“And who commands her?” - -“Burden, sir; Cap’n Burden they calls him.” - -Paul Jones’s eyes gleamed. No better news could be brought him. - -“Very well,” he said, “I shall have to keep you from your families for a -few days, but you shall not lose by being my guests.” - -Paul Jones’s plans were made rapidly. He was alone, on a hostile coast, -with enemies before him, behind him, and around him. None the less did -he intend to give battle. Moreover, he knew that he was fighting with a -halter around his neck, for there was but little doubt that if he were -captured he would be hanged as a pirate, so little were the British then -disposed to recognize the navy of the colonies. But this could not -appall his dauntless soul. He had the warm support of the best among his -officers, and among the men there was an instinctive belief that he was -always ready to fight, and nothing so inspires a crew as the knowledge -that they have a fighting captain. Bill Green, passing back and forth, -remarked, with a wink, to a group of his messmates forward: - -“The Cap’n’s goin’ to fight that ’ere Johnny Bull, sure; and I tell you -what, them Britishers will have to coil up some o’ their nonsense about -there ain’t no sailors except Britishers, and take in their slack about -Britannia rulin’ the waves. Something’s goin’ to happen soon, that -reminds me of a old song I heard once: - - “‘Heave the topmast from the board, - And our ship for action clear; - By the cannon and the sword - We will die or conquer here. - To your posts, my faithful tars! - Mind your rigging, guns, and spars!’ - -Ay, ay, sir! coming, sir!”—this to Mr. Stacy, the sailing master, who -called out sharply, “Quartermaster!” - -Just as Bill had foreseen, the order was passed to clear for action -without the drumbeat. The guns were made ready to run out, but kept -covered, and the portlids were not raised. The breeze was fresh, and the -Ranger was enabled to carry all her canvas. She kept warily outside the -harbor, on and off the wind, until about ten o’clock at night, when she -stood boldly in, to bring up athwart hawse the Drake, intending to -grapple and fight it out. - -Everything was in readiness, as the ship stole silently in through the -misty darkness of a moonless night. Stacy, the sailing master, brought -her safely within a cable’s length of the Drake’s quarter. But the -anchor was let go too soon, and, instead of laying aboard the Drake, she -drifted about half a cable’s length off. In an instant the mistake was -realized. Without a moment’s hesitation Captain Jones gave orders to cut -the cable, and the Ranger passed directly astern of the Drake, under her -stern chasers. No alarm was given on the war-ship; a muttered growl from -the lookout on the after quarter informed them that they had better -“keep off” with their lubberly craft, which Paul Jones promptly did, -intending to return on the next tack. But the wind, which had been -squally for several days, now suddenly rose in a fierce gust, and he was -compelled to beat out of the harbor. The gust increased to a furious -gale, and it took all of Captain Jones’s skill to get sea room enough -for safety. The night grew pitch dark, and it was midnight before they -weathered the lighthouse point, where the warning light shone dimly over -the tempestuous sea and upon the laboring ship. The gale continued all -the next day, but the Ranger had found a lee on the south coast, where -she awaited the abatement. - -“Never mind, my brave boys,” said Paul Jones to his men when they were -driving out of the harbor. “That ship shall yet be ours. We can cut and -come again.” - -The men fully believed him. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - - -For six days the weather continued to be very uncertain, and the Ranger -ran from point to point between the Scotch and Irish coasts, waiting for -a chance to slip in the port of Carrickfergus and have it out, yardarm -to yardarm, with the Drake. At last, on the morning of the 24th of -April, Paul Jones found himself off the harbor’s mouth. The bay, the -castled crag, the picturesque town, and the handsome sloop of war looked -as lovely in the brilliant morning light as in the soft afternoon glow -when the Ranger had first reconnoitered the town. - -But no longer was the American vessel unsuspected. By the time she had -passed the headland and got in full view of the town and shipping her -warlike character was suspected, although she showed no colors, her -ports were closed, and only a few of her company were allowed upon deck. -But the Carrickfergus people had heard about the daring American cruiser -that had been hovering off the coasts of the three kingdoms for ten -days, and the Drake felt disposed to find out the standing of the -strange ship in the offing. As the Ranger neared the harbor’s mouth her -people could hear the creaking of the capstan and the hoarse rattle of -the hawser as the Drake’s anchor was being rapidly tripped. Nothing -could have pleased Paul Jones more than this, and he smiled as he said -to his sailing master: - -“Keep off a little, Mr. Stacy. The Drake evidently wishes for a personal -interview with us, and I would like to oblige her. I think, though, we -will come about, so as to show her as little as possible of ourselves, -in order that she may come out as far as possible.” - -The Ranger then went completely about, as if she were running away. -Still she had thrown her main topsail aback and had hauled up her -courses. - -The Drake then determined to send out a boat to reconnoiter. As the -Ranger’s stern was still kept toward the boat nothing could be -discovered of her character, and the boat came on within hailing -distance. The Ranger, however, did not hail. The boat continued to -advance, and finally hailed. Stacy, under Paul Jones’s orders, answered -the hail. - -“What ship is that?” was called from the boat. - -Paul Jones, standing at Stacy’s elbow, told him in a low voice what to -say. - -“The Mind-your-business-and-keep-off,” Stacy rattled off so fast that he -could not possibly be understood. - -The boat stopped for a moment and then pulled a little nearer, and the -officer in it stood up and shouted in a clear voice: - -“What ship is that?” - -“The worst we’ve seen for ten years,” bawled Stacy, pretending that he -understood the hail to be about the voyage. - -“You are a fool,” called the officer, examining the ship carefully as -the boat rapidly pulled nearer and nearer, but still puzzled by her. “I -asked the name of your ship.” - -“Much obliged for your information,” Stacy answered, “particularly as -it’s the hardest thing in the world generally for a respectable merchant -vessel to get a civil word out of you cocky man-of-war’s people.” - -By this time the boat was directly under the Ranger’s quarter, and there -could be no pretense of not understanding the officer’s final hail. - -“I ask you, for the third time, what ship is that?” - -“And I answer, for the third time, she is the Lord Chatham, bound for -Leith from Dublin, short of——” - -“Water,” suggested Paul Jones. “That’s the only thing we are not short -of.” - -“Short of water,” continued Stacy; and then, prompted again by Paul -Jones, he cried: - -“Have you heard anything of that American cruiser which has been -prowling about, capturing merchant ships and frightening the coast -people out of their wits?” - -“No,” said the officer, now completely off his guard. “We would give a -thousand pounds to meet her.” - -“Our captain says come aboard, then,” said Stacy, “and he can give you -some information about the Ranger that he guarantees is absolutely -true.” - -The boat then came alongside, a ladder was lowered, and the officer came -up on the port side. Just then one of the Ranger’s boats was dropped -from the davits; it was quickly filled with men, and in another minute -the men in the Drake’s boat were informed that they were prisoners. As -the officer stepped upon deck Paul Jones advanced. - -“I am sorry to begin our acquaintance so unpleasantly, sir, but you are -my prisoner. This is the American sloop of war Ranger, and I am Captain -Paul Jones.” - -The officer uttered an exclamation of anger. The name of Paul Jones was -already well known, and one glance had shown him the true state of -affairs. - -“Make yourself as easy as possible,” said Paul Jones. “Yours is the -fortune of war; but you will be treated with every consideration, and -will, no doubt, be shortly exchanged.” - -The other officers then came forward and politely condoled with the -unlucky officer, while his men were sent below. - -The whole thing had been witnessed from the Drake, which now had no -doubt of the Ranger’s character, and lost no time in preparing to come -out. The alarm had been given, and five vessels, filled with people -anxious to see the contest between the two ships, put off from the -shore. Alarm fires were set blazing, and the black smoke was wafted high -in the noonday light. The tide was unfavorable, so that the Drake worked -out very slowly. The Ranger now threw off every disguise. Her guns were -run out and her men called to quarters by the tap of the drum, and she -waited gallantly for her adversary. She drifted fast to windward, so -that she was several times forced to put up her helm in order to run -down toward her enemy, when she would throw her main topsail aback and -lie with her courses in the brails. - -The men were at their quarters, but laughing, joking, and singing, as it -was the custom to permit them a little jollity at the moment of going -into battle. They watched the Drake making her way slowly, with light -and baffling winds, toward mid-channel, and exchanged squibs and songs -about her. Bill Green was in his glory. As he was to take the wheel as -soon as the ball opened, he was relieved until the first lieutenant -called him. Paul Jones was very glad to have him relieved, as his songs -inspired the men. Bill, seated on one of the long guns, with folded arms -and his cap stuck rakishly on the back of his head, proceeded to troll -out, in his rich voice, one of his favorite songs, which he claimed to -have composed expressly for the occasion. - - “Yankee sailors have a knack, - Haul away! Yo ho, boys! - Of hauling down a British Jack, - Haul away! Yo ho, boys! - Come three to one, right sure am I, - If we can’t beat them, still we’ll try - To make Columbia’s colors fly. - Haul away! Yo ho, boys!” - -The sailors caught the refrain at once, and every time it was repeated -they roared out a musical chorus of - - “Haul away! Yo ho, boys!” - - “Yankee sailors when at sea, - Haul away! Yo ho, boys! - Pipe all hands with merry glee - While aloft they go, boys! - And when with pretty girls on shore, - Their cash is gone, and not before, - They wisely go to sea for more. - Haul away! Yo ho, boys! - - “Yankee sailors love their soil, - Haul away! Yo ho, boys! - And for glory ne’er spare toil, - But flog its foes, you know, boys! - Then while its standard owns a rag - The world combined shall never brag - They made us strike the Yankee flag. - Haul away! Yo ho, boys!” - -Loud cheers and laughter greeted this song, the officers smiling at the -enthusiasm aroused, and Paul Jones handed Bill two gold pieces. - -“That’s for your rattling good song, my man,” said he, “and the Ranger -will never discredit the flag she fights under.” - -Thus, in good spirits and with bold composure, the Ranger’s people spent -the golden hours of the forenoon and a part of the afternoon, waiting -for their gallant enemy. - - [Illustration: “_Haul away! Yo ho, boys!_”] - -It was well on toward four o’clock before the Drake weathered the -headland, and lay a straight course for the saucy American, that was -waiting for her under easy canvas. As the Drake stood for the American -ship she set her colors, and at the same moment the Ranger flung out the -Stars and Stripes. No more songs and laughter then. Everybody was ready, -and grimly expectant. Danny Dixon, beating the drum, walked once around -the ship to give warning that the action was about to begin. - -The Ranger filled on the starboard tack, and stood off the land so as to -engage in mid-channel. Here was indeed an enterprise that would have -appalled a less daring spirit than that of Paul Jones. He was alone, in -the narrow seas of the greatest naval power on earth, with the land as -well as the water crowded with his enemies. The hillsides were full of -people, and the shores were alive with boats. The three kingdoms were in -plain sight, and he, with one small sloop of war, stood ready to give -battle to a hitherto unconquered foe. But literally, the sense of fear -seemed unknown to Paul Jones, and great as might be the odds against -him, greater was the genius with which he could withstand them. - -The Drake, having approached within hail, spoke the Ranger, as a matter -of form. The voices echoed clearly over the water in the still, sunny, -spring afternoon, and it was plainly seen in the mellow light that Paul -Jones, who stood by the sailing master’s side on the Ranger, dictated -the reply, which was a cool defiance in these words: - -“This is the Continental ship Ranger. We wait for you, and beg you will -come on. The sun is but little more than an hour high, and it is time to -begin.” - -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 Drake answered it promptly, and in another moment the -ships were running free, close together, under a light wind, and keeping -up a furious cannonade. - -On board the Ranger, Paul Jones walked the quarter-deck unharmed, amid a -shower of musketry, which the Americans returned with interest. Captain -Burden, of the Drake, showed an equal disregard of danger, but within -half an hour of the firing of the first broadside he was mortally -wounded by a musket shot in the head. The fire of the Ranger was much -more effective than the Drake’s, and the damage done by her guns was -terrific. The Drake’s fore and main topsail yards were completely shot -away, the main topgallant mast and mizzen gaff hanging up and down the -mast, her jib hanging over her lee into the water, her sails and rigging -in rags, and she had been hulled repeatedly. Twice had her ensign been -shot away, and twice the gallant British tars had hoisted it, but just -as the sun was sinking, when the captain and first lieutenant of the -Drake and forty of her officers and men lay killed or wounded upon her -decks, the ensign was dragged down from the shattered spar to which it -hung, and a cry for “Quarter! quarter!” resounded. Instantly the -Americans ceased firing, and in another minute they had boarded the -Drake and hoisted an American ensign upon what was left of the foremast. -The sun was now going down, and the long spring twilight was upon them. - -Paul Jones had seen Captain Burden fall, and his first inquiry was, -“Does the captain still live?” He indeed breathed a few times, but in a -little while all was over. The first lieutenant, who was mortally -wounded, survived for two days. - -Like most men of great imaginative qualities, Paul Jones had a tender -heart. The sight of the dead and wounded always affected him, and the -spectacle of brave men dying in gallant combat with him touched him -peculiarly. In spite of his hazardous position—for he was still in the -midst of enormous danger, with a crippled ship to take care of—he -ordered the dead removed below, the captain being laid out in the cabin -and covered with the tattered ensign he had so well defended, and the -wounded promptly attended to. Meanwhile the Ranger, which was -comparatively uninjured, and had only lost one officer and one man, gave -a tow-line to the Drake, and passed out of the lough and up St. George’s -Channel. As soon as a place of comparative safety was reached, about -midnight, the Ranger hove to, and preparations were made to bury the -dead with suitable honors. - -The night sky was clear, and overhead, in the blue-black vault, the -cold, bright stars shone steadily. A fair wind slightly ruffled the -surface of the ocean, and the two ships looked huge and shadowy in the -mysterious half darkness. Few lights were shown, and in the midst of a -deep and awful stillness the boatswain’s pipe resounded with the solemn -call, “All hands on deck to bury the dead!” The flags on both ships were -half-masted out of respect to the dead. On the quarter-deck lay the body -of Captain Burden, wrapped in the flag for which he had given his life. -Next him lay the body of Lieutenant Wallingford, of the Ranger, covered -with the American flag. Then came the bodies of eight British sailors -and one American, sewn up in canvas, and on them, too, lay the colors of -their country. The gangway was open and the plank lay ready. The British -officers were on deck to see the last honors paid their shipmates, while -the other prisoners were permitted to watch from the open portholes. - -Paul Jones, in the absence of a chaplain, read the burial service -himself over the brave men who had so gallantly fallen that day in fair -and patriotic fight. His voice sounded inexpressibly solemn as he raised -it in the inspiring words: “I am the resurrection and the life. If a man -shall believe on Me, though he be dead, yet shall he live.” - -When the short but impressive ceremony was over, the body of Captain -Burden was first dropped overboard, followed by that of poor -Wallingford. The sailors’ bodies followed in order. As the last dull -splash showed that the melancholy duty was over, the flags were run up -as if by magic on the two ships, and the bugler piped a merry call. Then -every man went to work with a will, taking advantage of the clear night -and good weather to get the shattered Drake into condition, and the -sounds of cheerful toil resounded the whole night through. - -It was Paul Jones’s determination to carry the captured Drake directly -to France, for he was the last man in the world to abandon so gallant a -trophy. He had on board the Ranger about a hundred and forty prisoners, -including the wounded, and with his small crew he managed to take care -of them and repair partially the damage done the unfortunate Drake. - -The men continued to work with the fierce energy that characterized -those acting under Paul Jones’s command, and within twenty-four hours -jury masts had been set up and rigged, new sails had been bent, the -holes in the hull planked over, and Paul Jones was ready to make his way -to France. - -He had, indeed, struck terror to the trading vessels of the region, but, -the alarm being given, he knew that war-ships were already after him. -The wind shifting and threatening a gale, he determined to pass by the -north of the channel and around the west coast of Ireland, which would -bring him directly in the spot of his performance the day before. This -Paul Jones considered an advantage, as his enemies would scarcely be -looking for him in the very place he had just left. As he passed so -close to the port of Carrickfergus, from which he had taken the three -fishermen on the evening of the 21st, he concluded to send them to their -homes, much to their delight. Their own boat had been lost, and he -determined to give them a good one out of the many he had on board. It -was toward dusk when the boat was lowered and the men called upon deck. - -Among the prisoners were two sick men from Dublin, that Paul Jones also -determined to send to their homes, and these two were also sent for on -deck. When they arrived, Paul Jones handed them some money. - -“This is the last shilling that I have in the world at present, but you -are welcome to it,” he said to the sick men. They responded with a -feeble but grateful “Thankee, sir.” To the fisherman he said: “The boat -I give you is yours, and in it you will find a sail of the Drake’s. That -will show what has become of her.” - -The fishermen looked completely dazed by their good fortune, for the -boat given them was much larger and better than their own. They -recovered their senses, though, after they got into the boat, and as -they passed under the Ranger’s quarter they gave three rousing cheers -for Captain Jones. The captain raised his cap in reply, and in another -moment the ship was sailing past the harbor, past the town, with its -lights dimly visible, past the castle on the rock, where a brightly -lighted tower stood watch, and, weathering the headland, she was soon -steering a straight course for the North Channel. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -It was a fair and lovely May morning when the Ranger, still towing the -Drake, appeared off the bay of Brest. The American ensign was hoisted on -the Drake over the Union Jack, and this told the glorious story. Word -flew from mouth to mouth among the French men-of-war in the roads to the -people in the dockyards and the town. A fleet of pilot boats put off, -each eager to have the honor of taking the Ranger and her prize in -through the narrow and dangerous channel of Le Goulet. Paul Jones stood -on his quarter-deck, as calm and easy as ever, but his soul thrilled -with patriotic pride. The British had denounced him as a pirate, a -traitor, and a felon, and he had had first, the justifiable revenge of -showing himself alone and undaunted in the midst of his enemies, -capturing a ship of equal size and force, and afterward, the nobler -revenge of treating his prisoners with the utmost kindness and courtesy. -As the Ranger passed the flagship she gave thirteen guns, and every ship -in the French squadron in return saluted the flag flying at the Ranger’s -mizzen peak. The French sailors manned the yards of the flagship without -orders, and a volley of cheers mingled with the hoarse thunder of the -guns as the little American vessel made her way cautiously up the narrow -channel. The great clouds of white smoke rose in the clear May sunshine, -and almost hid the Ranger’s hull and that of her consort: but high above -the white and drifting mist the American ensign floated proudly. - -Paul Jones was greeted with the most intense enthusiasm among the naval -men at Brest, and France rang with his exploits. Benjamin Franklin wrote -him letters of affectionate praise, and the French Minister of Marine, -M. de Sartine, requested the American commissioners to detain Captain -Jones in Europe, as it was desired to employ him against the British, in -conjunction with the French fleets. War between France and England was -then imminent, and, in fact, was declared within a few weeks. Paul Jones -therefore wrote to the Congress, saying he desired that no command be -reserved for him, as he had been directed by the American commissioners -to remain in France. - -And now, in place of these bright anticipations came a long and -torturing period of suspense for Paul Jones, mingled, it is true, with -many compliments on his prowess, and sustained by the friendship of -Franklin, of the King of France, of the Duke de Chartres, and the -admiration of all the naval and military men of France. More than that -was the gratitude and respect of the men who had fought under him, and -of the two hundred prisoners from the Drake—for Paul Jones’s conduct at -this time gained him the lasting good will of these men. The affairs of -the American Government had then reached their most desperate state, and -the French Government was a government by intrigue and corruption, -which, not many years after, produced the bloodiest revolution the world -ever saw. No money was forthcoming as the prize justly earned by the -Ranger’s officers and crew, nor were they even paid their wages while -waiting at Brest for a promised ship for Paul Jones. Worse still was the -condition of the English prisoners, who would actually have starved but -for Paul Jones himself paying out of his own pocket for food to keep -them alive. It was his earnest desire to secure an exchange of -prisoners, so that he could get a crew made up wholly of Americans, but -with the general trickery, inefficiency, and jealousy of the French -administration he could do nothing. One fine ship after another was -promised him, through Benjamin Franklin, who looked to Paul Jones as the -hope of the new nation upon the seas, but disappointment followed -disappointment. - -Paul Jones’s restless spirit was the last one to submit to this enforced -idleness, and he complained in his letters that “this shameful -inactivity is worse to me than a thousand deaths.” Every moment lost to -the service of his country was, in Paul Jones’s esteem, “shameful.” - -So months passed, Paul Jones in his small lodging at Brest vainly -endeavoring, with Franklin’s earnest help, to get afloat once more in -any sort of a ship. The King of France requested him to write a full -account of the Ranger’s daring cruise, which Paul Jones did. But -fighting, not writing, was his choice when his country needed every arm -that could be raised in her defense. - -Bill Green, the quartermaster, whose time was up, had elected to stay -with Paul Jones until he had another ship, and little Danny Dixon -followed him about like a dog. The two humble friends gave Paul Jones -more real comfort than all the compliments showered upon him by people -of rank and consequence. Danny was still “the captain’s boy,” and Bill -Green had a humble sleeping place close by the captain’s lodgings. When -successive disappointments had preyed upon Paul Jones’s bold spirit, and -he would return home in the evening sad and dispirited, the sight of -Danny’s affectionate eyes and anxiety to serve him would sometimes -console him a little. Bill Green was always at hand to carry a letter or -a message, and Paul Jones, in his temporary distress, did not lack for -two devoted friends. Bill had quite adopted Danny by this time, but was -always growling and grumbling about “ships’ boys as is more trouble than -they’re wuth,” and “boys as oughter have the cat reg’lar along with -their ’lowance.” He did not sing much, though; and when Danny would -tease him to sing “Come, all ye tars that brave the sea,” or “I’m here -and there a jolly dog,” Bill would shake his head and say dolefully: -“No, boy. I can’t sing them songs without I can hear the water runnin’ -against the ship’s side and the wind makin’ music through the riggin’, -and the bo’s’n’s pipe once in a while. Them is sea songs, and the only -land song _I_ knows is ‘Land lubbers lie down below,’ and that ain’t no -song to speak of. Landsmen ain’t got no music of no account; and as for -their songs—Lord! they’re all about love and the moon, and that sort o’ -loblolly that sailormen ain’t got no appetite for.” Danny, perforce, had -to put up with this explanation, and do without Bill’s music. - -Meanwhile, so great had been the alarm upon the coast of the United -Kingdoms that the British Admiralty had issued a circular letter warning -the people living on the coasts that a descent by Paul Jones might be -expected. This further stung the daring sailor, who beheld the days go -by fruitlessly while he lingered at Brest, unable to get a vessel. At -one time it was thought a ship had been secured for him, and the young -Lafayette, then on a visit from America, desired to sail with him in -command of some troops that he was to carry. Afterward this design -failed, and Lafayette wrote to Paul Jones: “I can not tell you, my good -friend, how sorry I am not to be a witness of your success, abilities, -and glory.” At last, nearly a year after his glorious cruise in the -Ranger, Paul Jones, in despair of doing better, accepted the command of -the Duc de Duras—the ship that, under the new name of the Bon Homme -Richard, was to immortalize herself and the great man who became her -captain. She was reported to be new and fast, but turned out, though, to -be old and much decayed. She was a long ship, and carried twenty-four -guns in broadside and eighteen smaller guns. She had a crew of three -hundred and eighty men, of all nationalities under the sun. Not more -than thirty of them were Americans, but among these Americans, besides -Bill Green and two or three other men who had sailed with him in the -Ranger, Paul Jones had Stacy, his old sailing master. He had the name of -the ship changed from the Duc de Duras to the Bon Homme Richard, in -compliment to Dr. Franklin, whose Poor Richard’s Almanac was then making -a great stir in the world. - -The Bon Homme Richard was to be the first ship in a motley squadron made -up of the Alliance, a fine American frigate of thirty-six guns, with an -American crew, but commanded by a French captain. Of this man—Captain -Landais—it is proper to say in the beginning that he had a distinct -tinge of madness in his composition, and it is generally agreed that he -was not thoroughly sane at any time during the memorable cruise he made -with Paul Jones. He had been compelled to leave the French navy upon the -ground of an intolerable temper, which was the beginning of the insanity -from which he undoubtedly suffered at one time during his life. He had -been considered a brave and faithful officer under the old _régime_ of -the French navy, and therefore his subsequent conduct to Commodore -Jones, as Paul Jones had now become, is entitled to the doubt that he -was not responsible for what he did. Franklin, however, did not think -this, and in a letter written afterward to the officers and men of the -Bon Homme Richard, expressed the difference between Paul Jones and -Landais thus: “For Captain Paul Jones ever loved close fighting, but -Landais was skillful in keeping out of harm’s way.” - -The third ship of the squadron, the Pallas, was frigate built, and -carried thirty-two guns. Then there was the Vengeance, a brig carrying -twelve guns, and a small but beautiful cutter of eighteen guns, the -Cerf. Paul Jones was the commodore of this little squadron, but there -seems to have been great uncertainty about his powers. - -Not more than thirty Americans were available for the Bon Homme Richard -at first, but Commodore Jones managed so that most of the petty officers -were Americans. The rest of the crew were a motley set, of every nation -under the sun. But along with his good luck in having Mr. Stacy and Bill -Green, of his old company, he was to have a young lieutenant who was -worthy to carry out the orders of such a man as Paul Jones. - -The Bon Homme Richard was fitting out at L’Orient, when one day, as Paul -Jones was standing on the dock looking at the ship, that resounded with -the clamor of preparation, a handsome young fellow of twenty-three, -wearing an American naval uniform, stepped up to him and spoke, saluting -at the same time. - -“This is Commodore Jones, I presume, and I am Lieutenant Dale,” he said. - -Paul Jones grasped his hand cordially. - -“I have heard of you, Mr. Dale. And how did you get the British uniform -with which you escaped from Mill Prison?” he asked. - -Dale shook his head and smiled. - -“That secret must remain with me until the end of time,” he said. “But I -have had enough of British prisons. After my first escape and recapture -every amusement was forbidden me; and so, as I had nothing else to do, I -was forced to sing patriotic songs to keep up my spirits; and for that I -spent forty days in the Black Hole.” - -Something like a smile shone in Paul Jones’s dark and somber eyes. He -had heard of the young lieutenant captured on the Lexington, confined in -Mill Prison, and who had once escaped only to be recaptured, but this -time had succeeded in getting out of harm’s way while the British police -scoured the city of London for him. - -“Were you ordered to report to me, Mr. Dale?” asked Paul Jones. - -“No, sir,” answered Dale; “but I desire to see service, and those who -serve under you will stand an excellent chance of immortality, for, as -Dr. Franklin says, ‘Captain Paul Jones ever loves close fighting.’” - -Paul Jones took off his cap at the mention of Dr. Franklin’s name. - -“The praise of that great man is ever dear to me; and for yourself, Mr. -Dale, your skill and intrepidity are well known, and your escape from -Mill Prison shows that you are no ordinary man, and I shall be happy to -have you as my first lieutenant on the Bon Homme Richard,” said he. - -At this Dale’s fine face turned crimson with pleasure. He expressed his -thanks with a confusion that was more eloquent than the most finished -periods. - -There were two other American lieutenants attached to the Bon Homme -Richard—Henry Lunt and Cutting Lunt—but Bill Green, after inspecting -them all, reported as follows to little Danny Dixon, who religiously -believed everything Bill Green told him: - -“They all do tollerbul well; but Mr. Dale, he’s a seaman, he is. I -knowed it. And I tell you, boy, he ain’t never goin’ to surrender. He’s -been took prisoner now three times, and he’s a-goin’ to die ruther ’n go -back to the Black Hole. And you mind your eye, young ’un, when you’re -round Mr. Dale.” - -“Lord knows I does,” earnestly responded Danny. - -Early in June the squadron started on a cruise that was destined to be -only the prelude of the immortal cruise that made Paul Jones’s name -known all over the civilized world. On the very night they left the -roads of Groix Paul Jones discovered the manner of man he had to deal -with in Captain Landais. The tide was running in powerfully strong from -the Bay of Biscay, and the Bon Homme Richard and the Alliance were -coming dangerously near each other. Dale, who had the deck, had the helm -put up, expecting the Alliance to put her helm up also to avoid a -collision. Instead of that, the Alliance, under Captain Landais’s -direction, deliberately kept her luff and crashed into the Bon Homme -Richard, carrying away some of the lighter spars of both ships. Paul -Jones, who was in the cabin, ran on deck, and in a few minutes the ships -were free. The damage was not great, but Dale’s account of the way the -Alliance was manœuvred was very disquieting. - -“The captain was on deck, sir, and with a pistol at the helmsman’s head -forced him to keep his luff, and swore at him most frightfully all the -time.” - -“Dale,” said Paul Jones in a troubled voice, “we have undoubtedly a -madman to deal with. What terrible thing may he not yet do!” - -Landais’s conduct during the whole cruise was of the same character, but -there was so much malice in his cunning, and his seamanship, when he -chose, was so good, that no man in the squadron really knew whether -Landais was insane or not. - -The spirits of the crew were excellent, and Bill Green and the other -members of it who had been on the expedition with the Drake did not let -them forget that they were with a “lucky cap’n.” On the very first night -out, when those that were off duty were sitting around the foks’l, Bill -announced that he had composed a song, words and music, descriptive of -the capture of the Drake. - -“Let’s have it, quartermaster,” said the boatswain. - -“It ain’t hardly fittin’ to sing,” answered Bill deprecatingly. “It -begins sumpin’ about you: ‘“A sail! all hands!” the boatswain cries.’” - -“Seems to me,” said the boatswain, with a wink to the men, “I heard that -’ere song, or one monstrous like it, while we was at L’Orient, and -somebody said as it were composed by a officer—” - -“You ain’t heard no sich a thing,” tartly answered Bill. “I thought it -out in the dog-watch last night, and I wrote it out at nigh eight bells -this mornin’. I ain’t got no need to sing other folks’s songs. _I_ got -the savey to make ’em up and sing ’em too.” - -“Then shake out your reefs and go ahead,” said the boatswain; and after -the regulation amount of urging from his mates Bill began: - - “‘A sail! all hands!’ the boatswain pipes, - And instant at the signal sound, - Beneath the waving Stars and Stripes, - Each sailor at his post is found. - - “Due south, close hauled, in trim array, - A gallant frigate’s on our lee; - She hoists her flag.—My hearts, huzza! - Huzza! the English ensign see. - - “O’er all the crew, with heart elate, - Our captain glanced his eagle eye, - And saw each tar impatient wait - To meet the veteran enemy. - - “And see! with topsail to the mast, - The foe destructive fires prepare - As ship to ship, approaching fast, - All calm and silent, down we bear. - - “But, when yardarm and yardarm met, - Our cannon swept his decks amain. - In vain that boasted flag he set - Which long had awed the subject main. - - “In vain unto the mast he nails - That flag; for, carried by the deck, - Like shattered oaks in wintry gales, - Each, crashing, falls—a lumbering wreck. - - “No Frenchman now the conflict wage— - The Briton finds another foe, - And learns, amid the battle’s rage, - Columbia’s hearts and hands to know. - - “What shall the desperate captain do? - Around his bravest men expire! - No hope is left! He speaks—his crew - A leeward gun, reluctant, fire. - - “Columbia! from your youthful sleep - Arise, your tars, your rights to save! - Thus guard their freedom on the deep, - Thus claim your empire on the wave!” - -This song was greeted with great applause, and Bill stoutly claimed the -honor of its composition. - -The cruise was uneventful except for the capture of a few prizes, and, -battered by the storms in the Bay of Biscay, the squadron returned to -L’Orient to refit. Here Paul Jones had the good luck to find a -considerable number of Americans who were anxious to enlist with him. -Every quarter-deck officer was an American except one midshipman. Paul -Jones distributed the Americans among his crew, so that nearly all the -petty officers were of the sort described by Washington when he said, -“Put none but Americans on guard.” Many of the ordinary seamen, though, -were of other nationalities. - -At last the necessary repairs were made, and at daybreak on the morning -of the 14th of August Paul Jones set sail, with a premonition that, even -with an inferior ship and a squadron unworthy to serve under him, he -would yet do great things. This feeling was shared by Dale, and by every -officer and man on the Bon Homme Richard. - -Several prizes were taken, but within a week the extraordinary temper of -Captain Landais manifested itself. On the 21st of August it fell calm; -the squadron was then off Cape Clear, and was motionless on the still -and glassy sea. The sun was sinking redly. In full view lay a fine -brigantine, her sails hanging limp in the perfectly still August air. -Paul Jones at once gave orders to hoist out the boats, and, putting -Lieutenant Dale in charge of the expedition, they pulled off to capture -the brigantine. - -In the clear atmosphere everything could be plainly seen on the surface -of the water, and Paul Jones could almost hear, in the perfect silence -of the fast waning afternoon, the orders of his favorite lieutenant, who -hailed the brigantine and demanded her surrender. There was, of course, -no resistance to be made to armed boats, and in a very short time a -hawser was passed aboard, and the men started to tow the captured vessel -to where the Bon Homme Richard lay. - -The twilight had come on fast, and the flood tide was rising. The Bon -Homme Richard begun to drift dangerously near the Skelligs, that are -among the most dangerous rocks on the wild Irish coast. It became -necessary to tow the ship, so as to keep her head to the tide, and the -commodore’s barge, being the only large boat on board, was hoisted out, -with a tow line to keep the ship off the rocks. - -Danny Dixon, being a strong boy, and many of the crew being absent, was -in the barge. It grew dark rapidly, and in the dusk the barge looked -like a black shadow ahead of the ship, as the men bent slowly to their -oars, just enough to hold the ship against the tide. Suddenly Lieutenant -Dale, who had the deck, noticed that the ship’s head was wearing round. -At the same moment he heard a splash in the water. The boat, however, -was still pulling ahead, but much faster than it had been. - -For a moment he was puzzled at this, but he called out in a moment, -“Avast, there! the line has parted!” - -The boat, however, paid no attention to his cry, but continued to pull -away faster and faster. It dawned upon him then that the line had been -cut purposely, and he shouted the louder, “Return to the ship at once!” -He had seen a shadow upon the water, and a continual splash after the -first one, and in a moment or two he saw Danny Dixon’s tow head just -under the ship’s quarter. - -“Give me a line, please, sir,” called Danny, and the next moment he was -landed on deck dripping wet. - -“They’ve stole the barge, sir,” he gasped out, sputtering, “and run -away, some o’ the Portygees and Malays—there warn’t no ’Mericans among -’em. They wanted me to go along, but I jest slipped overboard and swam -for the ship, and here I is.” - -Angry and indignant as Dale felt at the conduct of the barge’s crew, -Danny’s matter-of-fact way of telling of his loyalty both pleased and -amused him. He said hastily to Danny, “Go below and report to the -captain,” and without waiting for orders, the only boat left on the ship -was manned, and, with Mr. Lunt in command, put briskly after the -deserters. Lieutenant Dale also brought one of the ship’s long twelves -to bear on the retreating boat and fired several shots, but both the -barge and her pursuers were soon lost in the increasing darkness. In a -little while the other boats reached the ship towing the brigantine. The -vessel proving stanch and her cargo valuable, Paul Jones threw a prize -crew on her and sent her to L’Orient. - -As the night wore on a dense white fog descended upon the ocean, and the -calm continued. There was no sign of Mr. Lunt’s boat. The Bon Homme -Richard fired signal guns all night, and all the next day, as the fog -showed no sign of lifting. The Cerf was sent in the morning to -reconnoiter the coast for the missing boat. The same degree of cowardice -or insanity appeared to possess the cutter as the Alliance. She was seen -by the boat and would have been rejoined, but, the Cerf hoisting British -colors, and firing at the unfortunate boat, Mr. Lunt was forced to run -ashore, when he and all his boat’s crew were captured. Thus did the -commodore lose the services of one of his best officers and two boats -full of men, amounting to twenty-four in all. - -The morning after the boat was lost the captain’s gig of the Alliance -was seen at the side of the Bon Homme Richard. In a few minutes the tall -and imposing figure of Captain Landais appeared upon the ship. Paul -Jones was on deck at the time, and, advancing to greet Captain Landais -courteously, he was struck by the savage scowl upon the Frenchman’s -countenance. The general repute of Captain Landais’s ungovernable temper -and Paul Jones’s previous experience made him prefer to see the captain -in the cabin. He invited a French marine officer on board, M. de -Chamillard, and an American army officer, Colonel Weibert, who had -volunteered to serve on the Bon Homme Richard, to accompany him and hear -what passed. - -As soon as they reached the cabin, Landais, throwing his glove violently -on the table, exclaimed in English, “So you have lost your boats!” This -he immediately repeated in French for De Chamillard’s benefit, who did -not understand English. - -“What do you mean?” asked Paul Jones calmly. - -“That you have lost your boats—and this comes of attacking a brigantine -with boats.” - -“But my boats were not lost while attacking the brigantine,” replied -Paul Jones, thinking that Landais was under a mistake. “My barge was cut -adrift while towing the ship, and the deserters absconded. The -brigantine was captured.” - -“And yet I was not allowed to cruise on my own responsibility upon this -coast!” shouted the captain. - -Something in the wild gleam of his eye gave Paul Jones the calmness to -reason with him. - -“Do you know the Irish coast?” he asked. - -“No,” shouted Landais, excitedly, “but I was willing—I and my brave -officers—to risk it.” - -“But I was not willing to risk a ship under my command, with a captain -who is entirely ignorant of this coast, the most dangerous one I know,” -replied Paul Jones. - -All this time De Chamillard and Weibert sat amazed spectators of the -scene. Paul Jones’s swarthy skin had turned a shade darker. A kind of -lambent flame shone in his dark, inscrutable eyes. He strongly suspected -a taint of madness in the infuriated man before him, and was careful not -to exasperate him unnecessarily. Landais continued translating his -insubordinate language into French, and looking at De Chamillard. But -the French marine officer looked steadily away, blushing for the -language of his superior. Again Landais burst out violently: - -“But you lost your boats through the folly of attacking with them.” - -“It is an untruth,” answered Paul Jones, rising. His manner was still -composed, but his eyes were blazing. - -“Do you hear that, gentlemen?” shouted Landais furiously, in French; and -turning to De Chamillard, “He has given me the lie direct.” - -Paul Jones then said coolly, “M. de Landais, your boat is ready.” - -The words were calm, but even the half-mad Landais was recalled to his -senses by them. Paul Jones fixed his dark eyes on him. Slowly, yet -inevitably, the expression of Landais’s face changed, he sank into a -sullen silence, and then abruptly walked out of the cabin. - -Paul Jones turned to De Chamillard and Weibert in deep agitation. - -“You see, gentlemen,” he said in French, “what I have patiently endured -for the sake of the great cause in which we are all engaged. M. de -Landais was in my power, and you see how merciful I have been to him.” - -“And we will remember it,” answered De Chamillard, also much moved. - -The Bon Homme Richard remained on and off the coast until the 26th of -August, hoping to find the missing boat, but at last was forced to give -it up, and steered for the northward. The Cerf had never reappeared, so -the squadron was reduced to the Bon Homme Richard, the Alliance, the -Pallas, and the Vengeance. - -On the morning of the 27th of August, when Paul Jones came on deck at -daybreak and swept the horizon with his glass, the Alliance was not in -sight, nor did she turn up any more until the 31st, when her appearance -proved most inopportune, as it always seemed to be during the memorable -cruise. - -The Bon Homme Richard was then off Cape Wrath, and was chasing an armed -vessel—the Union, of twenty-two guns. The American cruiser was flying -British colors, hoping by that means to get very near before her -nationality was discovered, so that if the Union had any valuable -dispatches (which were often carried by fast letter-of-marque vessels) -there would not be time or opportunity to destroy them. But as soon as -Landais got near enough to the Bon Homme Richard, although he must have -known that the commodore for some purpose did not desire American colors -to be shown, the Alliance set two American ensigns. That was warning -enough to the Union. She, indeed, carried important dispatches from the -home Government addressed to the authorities at Quebec, and upon seeing -the Alliance hoist her ensign knew what to do. - -When the British captain was brought on board the Bon Homme Richard, his -first remark to Paul Jones, as he handed out his papers, was: - -“I had letters containing important information, but the warning so -kindly given me by the frigate yonder enabled me to destroy them.” - -Paul Jones ground his teeth with rage. He was tempted for the twentieth -time to put Captain Landais under arrest, but a mistaken clemency -induced him to forbear. - -On the 4th of September the commodore signaled all the captains to come -on board the Bon Homme Richard. In a little while boats were seen coming -from the Pallas and the Vengeance, but none from the Alliance. Seeing no -motion toward Captain Landais obeying orders, although the signal had -been flying for half an hour, M. Mease, the purser of the Bon Homme -Richard and a Frenchman, asked for a boat without saying what he wished -to do. It was granted, and the purser went on board the Alliance and -implored Captain Landais to save himself and his ship the disgrace of a -disobedience of orders. Captain Landais appeared inclined to yield at -first, but finally refused. M. Mease returned to the Bon Homme Richard, -and, thinking that some other of the captain’s countrymen might have -better luck, persuaded De Chamillard and the captain of the Pallas -(Cottineau) to return with him. They went and found Landais on his -quarter-deck. He had worked himself into a passion, and as they -approached he roared at them: - -“Tell your Commodore Jones that we must have a meeting on shore, and one -or the other of us must die. I will not longer bear his tyranny!” - -The three officers looked at each other significantly. First Captain -Cottineau spoke soothingly, but it had no effect upon Landais. Then De -Chamillard tried to reason with him, but to no effect. M. Mease was not -suffered to speak at all by the infuriated captain. As the officers -passed along the deck to take their boat they noticed the sullen looks -and mutinous air of the men, who firmly believed that they had either a -traitor or a madman for a commander. - -When they returned on board the Bon Homme Richard and reported to Paul -Jones, he heard them through patiently. De Chamillard then declared that -he believed Landais was crazy—that his language and countenance were -wild and his conduct utterly irrational. To this Captain Cottineau -disagreed. He was furiously angry with Landais, and thought him -treacherous. Between these opposing views Paul Jones concluded to wait -and have a personal interview with Landais. Within a few hours, however, -the wind rose to a terrible gale, and the Alliance again disappeared, -not to be seen until she made her appearance in a manner as unlooked for -as usual. - -Some days of alternate storm and fog followed. Paul Jones knew that he -was off the Scottish coast, but not until the evening of the 13th of -September was it clear enough for him to see the blue line of the -Cheviot Hills in the distance. - -Being in want of provisions and water, Paul Jones in the middle of the -night sent an armed boat to bring off some sheep and oxen that were seen -near the shore. Lieutenant Dale was in charge of the boat, and had with -him money to pay for the cattle and sheep. This he did, allowing the -owners a generous amount. He managed to extract a good deal of -information from the peasantry, who told him of the capture of Mr. -Lunt’s boat, and that the nature of the expedition was well known, as -well as the fact that Paul Jones was in command, and that no less than -eleven men-of-war were scouring the seas for the audacious Bon Homme -Richard. - -Upon their return to the ship Lieutenant Dale reported to the commodore. -When he spoke of the eleven British captains, each one of whom was -eagerly in search of the honor of capturing Paul Jones, a faint smile -passed over the somewhat sad face of the commodore. England, the -mistress of the seas, put forth all her strength and skill against this -bold intruder into her very strongholds. But he was not to become her -captive, but her continued defiance. - -The coasts of England, Scotland, and Ireland were in an uproar by this -time. Signal fires blazed on every hill, and expresses were sent to -London announcing the danger. But Paul Jones knew he was in no danger -from the shore, and he trusted to himself to take care of his ship at -sea. Never since the days of the sea kings had any seaman so struck -terror into his enemies as Paul Jones. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - - -On the 14th of September Commodore Jones sent for the captains of the -Pallas and Vengeance, and confided to them a plan he had for laying the -city of Edinburgh under a contribution of two hundred thousand pounds, -besides capturing an armed ship of twenty guns and three fine cutters -that lay in Leith roads. - -“The ships lie in a state of perfect indolence and security,” he said, -“which will prove their ruin.” - -The French captains were not at first equal to this bold project. During -one whole night, while the squadron lay off the Frith of Forth, did Paul -Jones argue with them, and at last their consent was won. - -When it was submitted to the younger officers, all received it with -ardor. - -“If these captains had but the dash and enterprise of their juniors -anything could be attempted,” remarked Paul Jones to Lieutenant Dale. -Dale shrugged his shoulders. - -“The French have lost more ships through prudence than the British -through rashness,” was his significant answer. - -Paul Jones then made every preparation for the descent. De Chamillard, -who had proved himself a brave and resolute man, was to take the terms -of capitulation and ransom to the magistrates of Edinburgh. One half -hour exactly was to be given them to provide two hundred thousand pounds -or its equivalent. The gallant young Dale was to command the landing -party. - -The Frith of Forth was then entered, and on the 15th of September the -ships were seen distinctly beating up the Frith. The alarm was general -among the inhabitants, who knew the mighty name of Paul Jones, and who -prepared as well as they could to meet him. Batteries were erected, and -the citizens were served with arms from Edinburgh Castle. A little boy, -ten years old, who was in Edinburgh then, well remembered the alarm and -commotion, and often spoke of it afterward. This was Walter Scott. - -One man, however—a member of Parliament—took it into his head that the -Bon Homme Richard was a British cruiser, whose mission was to destroy -the daring American. He therefore sent a boat with a messenger, asking -that some powder and shot be sent him so that he might defend himself -against the notorious Paul Jones. The commodore received the messenger -politely on the quarter-deck, with several officers around him. - -“Tell your master,” he said, “that I send the powder very cheerfully—Mr. -Dale, will you have a barrel hoisted out?—and regret that I have no shot -suitable for this powder.” As the powder was of no use without the shot -the member of Parliament was no better off with it than without it. -Nevertheless, the messenger did not have wit enough to see that he was -being gulled, and accepted the barrel very thankfully. The men on deck, -who saw through the ruse, grinned broadly while they were very zealous -in getting the powder over the side. Bill Green, however, who had been -talking with the men in the boat, touched his cap and spoke aside to -Paul Jones: - -“If you please, sir, that ’ere duck-legged chap, he’s a pilot, sir.” - -“I am glad you told me,” answered Paul Jones: and, approaching the man, -he said carelessly: “My fine fellow, I shall be on and off this coast -looking for Paul Jones for some days, and I shall want a pilot, so I -think I shall have to keep you.” - -“All right, sir,” answered the man, touching his cap; and, calling out -to his mates in the boat, he cried: “Tell Ailsa I have got a job of -piloting, and she need not expect me till she sees me.” - -This man proved to be of great service in piloting the vessel; for, even -after her character was discovered, he was forced to direct her, as his -own life, as much as that of anybody’s on the ship, depended upon her -safety. - -The Bon Homme Richard, with her two consorts, the Pallas and the -Vengeance, continued working to windward up the Frith until Sunday, the -17th of September, a gusty autumn morning. Then they were almost within -cannon shot of the town. The boats were hoisted out, De Chamillard with -his soldiers were ready, and Dale, the youngest lieutenant on board, but -the one most after Paul Jones’s own heart, was just about to step over -the side. The wind had been fresh since the dawn of day, but suddenly a -black and furious squall was seen upon the water ahead of them. The men -were ordered in from the boats to assist in shortening sail, which was -barely done before the squall struck them. The gale increasing -fearfully, the boats were hoisted in, and the vessels were obliged to -bear up before the wind in order to save their spars. The gale -continuing, they were driven out of the Frith, and had to seek the open -sea for safety. - -Toward night the wind moderated. The North Sea was full of merchant -ships, and the Bon Homme Richard, as well as the Pallas, cruised back -and forth, taking and sinking a number of colliers. This, however, was -not the sort of enterprise that suited Paul Jones’s daring spirit. He -proposed several adventurous plans to the French captains, but could not -win their co-operation. They were brave men, but more prudent than -enterprising, and they had not the personal knowledge of Paul Jones’s -powers and resource to take the risks he proposed. There was a large -fleet of merchant ships lying in the Humber, which Paul Jones wished to -entice into the open roads. The Bon Homme Richard went off before the -wind, and returned wearing British colors, hoping that a certain ship -which carried a pendant at her masthead was a ship of war, and would -fight. This ship, though, kept to the windward and near dangerous -shoals, so that the Bon Homme Richard could not approach with safety. - -In order to learn some news of what was being done in the way of -preparations to meet him, Paul Jones boldly hoisted a signal for a -pilot. Two pilot boats, supposing the Bon Homme Richard to be a British -cruiser, responded. There was great eagerness between the pilot boats as -to which should be taken on board. Lieutenant Dale, under Paul Jones’s -orders, took them both on board, in order to learn everything possible -about the state of affairs along the coast. Presently Paul Jones, in his -undress uniform, which greatly resembled the British uniform, except -that he wore a Scotch bonnet of blue cloth bound with gold, strolled -along the deck, and, seeing young Dale in conversation with the pilots, -joined him. - -“Have you heard anything of Paul Jones and his ship, my good man?” he -asked. - -“Yes, sir,” responded both pilots in a breath, and one of them -continued: - -“That ’ere ship yonder,” pointing to the vessel wearing a pendant, and -which was still near the entrance to the Humber River, “she is a armed -merchantman—” - -“And,” broke in the other, anxious to contribute his quota, “there’s a -king’s frigate layin’ at anchor up the river, a-waitin’ for news o’ that -impudent rebel ship o’ Paul Jones’s to take her and sink her. I piloted -the frigate in, and they’ve give us a private signal for all ships while -the rebel ship is in these waters.” - -“That signal would be useful to us,” remarked Paul Jones, smiling in -spite of himself. “We have not been in port since early in August, and -we might get in trouble through not knowing the signal.” - -The pilots, still supposing the Bon Homme Richard to be a British ship, -gave the signal. Having got all he wanted out of them, Paul Jones -dismissed them with money, saying that as there was already a frigate in -the river he would continue to cruise outside. As the pilots went over -the side, Bill Green bawled at them: - -“Thankee for that ’ere private signal!” And a roar of laughter from the -foks’l showed the sailors’ appreciation of the joke. But the pilots went -off well satisfied with their fee and perfectly unsuspicious. - -As soon as the pilot boat was out of sight, Bill Green, under Dale’s -orders, hoisted the private signal, and lay near the mouth of the river. -The armed vessel came a little way down the stream, but something -aroused her suspicions, and she put back hastily. The entrance to the -Humber being very difficult and dangerous, Paul Jones concluded not to -attempt it, but to cruise around Flamborough Head, in the hope of -rejoining his consorts, the Pallas and the Vengeance, and also with the -hope of intercepting the Baltic fleet, which was due about that time. - -This was the night of the 22d of September, the turning point in the -career of Paul Jones, and it was one of the most miserable nights he had -ever spent in all his adventurous life. The time of his cruise was now -up, and upon joining the other two ships it would be his duty to proceed -to the Texel, after a fruitless and inglorious expedition. After having -endured all the agony of hope deferred, of suspense and almost of -despair for fifteen months, he had at last got to sea in a miserable old -hulk that was only a travesty on the fair frigate that he had hoped to -command. He had lost one of his best officers and twenty-three of his -men. More than half his squadron had deserted him, and he had been -humiliated by the insubordination of a French captain that he could not -properly punish without incurring the displeasure of the only ally that -his distressed and struggling country could claim. He had taken a few -prizes, most of which had been lost by caprice or folly, and he was now -about to return to bear all the shame of failure, for to Paul Jones’s -lofty and comprehensive mind the lack of brilliant success was failure. - -A spirit of fierce unrest seemed to possess him as he walked the -quarter-deck of the Bon Homme Richard while the twilight fell on that -September evening. The darkness came on fast, and with it a fresh but -fickle wind. The moon was near its full, and as it rose from the water -it cast a pale and spectral glare over the vast expanse of the North -Sea. Clouds were scudding wildly across the sky, and occasionally the -moon was obscured for long periods. It was one of those ghastly nights -when misfortune and sorrow and disappointment seem to brood over the -universe. - -The Bon Homme Richard was under easy canvas, and the crew were sitting -around the foks’l after their day’s work was done, listening to yarns -and songs. Presently, in the stillness of the September night, Paul -Jones heard Bill Green’s rich voice singing. Scarcely knowing why he did -it, so heavy was the weight upon his heart, Paul Jones walked quietly -along the deck, and, leaning over the rail, unobserved by the men, he -listened to the song. It was sad enough, and the air had a melancholy -beauty in it that went to his very soul. It struck him with the deadly -chill of a presentiment. The men, too, listened with a subdued and -silent attention. This was the song: - - _Call the watch! Call the watch! - Ho! the starboard watch, ahoy!_ Have you heard - How a noble ship, so trim, like our own, my hearties, here, - All scudding ’fore the gale, disappeared - When yon southern billows rolled o’er their bed so green and clear? - _Hold the reel! Keep her full! Hold the reel!_ - How she flew athwart the spray, as, shipmates, we do now, - Till her twice a hundred fearless hearts of steel - Felt the whirlwind lift its waters aft and plunge her downward bow! - _Bear a hand!_ - - _Strike to’gallants! Mind your helm! Jump aloft!_ - ’Twas such a night as this, my lads, a rakish bark was drowned, - When demons foul, that whisper seamen oft, - Scooped a tomb amid the flashing surge that never shall be found. - _Square the yards! A double reef! Hark! the blast!_ - Oh, fiercely has it fallen on the war-ship of the brave! - When its tempest fury stretched the stately mast - All along the foamy sides, as they shouted on the wave. - _Bear a hand!_ - - _Call the watch! Call the watch! - Ho! the larboard watch, ahoy!_ Have you heard - How a vessel, gay and taut, on the mountains of the sea - Went below, with all her warlike crew aboard— - They who battled for the happy, boys, and perished for the free? - _Clew, clew up, fore and aft! Keep her away!_ - How the vulture bird of death, in its black and viewless form, - Hovered sure o’er the clamors of his prey, - While through all their dripping shrouds yells the spirit of the - storm. - _Bear a hand!_ - - _Now, out reefs! Brace the yard! Lively there!_ - Oh, no more to homeward breeze shall her swelling bosom spread; - But Love’s expectant eye bids Despair - Set her raven watch eternal o’er the wreck in ocean’s bed! - _Board your tacks! Cheerly, boys!_ But for them - Their last evening gun is fired—their gales are over blown! - O’er their smoking deck no starry flag shall stream; - They’ll sail no more—they’ll fight no more—for their gallant ship’s - gone down! - _Bear a hand!_ - -A solemn silence followed as the last musical note died away on the -waters. The waves and the lightly whistling wind had made a soft -accompaniment for the sweet, sad music. Paul Jones listened to every -word, and at the last “_Bear a hand!_” something like a groan burst from -him. Hope had almost gone—despair was near to him. He stepped -noiselessly from his place at the rail, and with bent head and folded -arms began again to walk the quarter-deck. Dale, watching Paul Jones’s -slight but sinewy figure as he walked up and down like a caged tiger, -noticed the new expression on his face—an expression almost of -hopelessness. Well might Paul Jones be hopeless, if this was to be the -barren result of a cruise in which he had promised himself and those -under him so much glory. - -All the early hours of the night this ceaseless walk continued. It was -Dale’s watch on deck, and he was relieved at midnight by Cutting Lunt, -the only other sea lieutenant on the ship since Henry Lunt’s loss in the -boat. Although not given to following the commodore unless invited, Dale -looked after him wistfully as he went below. Once within the cabin, Paul -Jones threw himself in a chair, and, resting his head on his hands, gave -way to a silent paroxysm of despair. He knew not how long he sat in this -agony of thought and feeling, but at last, raising his head, he saw his -cabin boy, Danny Dixon, crouched in a corner, sound asleep. Although -Danny’s orders were to leave the cabin and go to his hammock at ten -o’clock, he was often found in the cabin at midnight, for which he -always made the excuse that he had fallen asleep and did not know when -it was six bells. - -Something in the boy’s faithful and doglike attachment appealed to Paul -Jones at this moment of supreme distress. “Poor little fellow!” he -thought to himself, gazing at the boy’s sleeping figure. “There is one -faithful soul who loves me, poor and unlettered and simple as he may -be.” - -He then rose, and, going forward, laid the boy’s head in a more -comfortable position and threw a blanket over him. - -“Let him rest; he will lie there until morning. And what would not I -give for his sound and careless sleep!” - -A few moments later a slight tap was heard at the cabin door, and Paul -Jones himself opened it. There stood young Dale. His eyes dropped before -the calm gaze of the commodore’s. He had come, led by an impulse of pity -and veneration, but he knew not how to express it. In a moment or two -Paul Jones spoke: - -“Dale, I know why you have come. You feel for me in my misfortunes—for -surely misfortune has followed this cruise. Know you, though, that while -I want no man’s insulting pity, yours, which comes from the heart, is -sweet to me.” - -At this he laid his hand on the young lieutenant’s shoulder, and Dale, -glancing up, his own eyes full of tears, saw that Paul Jones’s eyes were -moist. - -“I know, sir, better than anybody, the trials, the disadvantages, the -insults you have been subject to. But there is not a man on this ship -who does not believe in you and know that, if we have no captured ship -of war to bring back with us, it is fate—not want of enterprise. But, -commodore, I have a strange presentiment. I feel yet that within -twenty-four hours we shall have some glorious event upon our hands. -Something tells me that we are at a turning point, and that Fortune, -which favors the brave, has yet a glorious reward for you.” - -“May you be right!” answered Paul Jones, with a melancholy smile. - - - - - CHAPTER X. - - -At daybreak on the morning of the memorable 23d of September Paul Jones -appeared on the Bon Homme Richard’s deck. A short distance off lay the -Pallas and the treacherous Alliance, which the Bon Homme Richard had -chased during the latter part of the night, mistaking her for a British -frigate. - -All three ships were now off Flamborough Head. The day came clear and -bright, with a gentle wind from the south. The delicate chill of the -early dawn crept over the waters, and the eastern sky was aflame with -yellow and pink and purple lights. A rosy mist enveloped the bold -headland, and the waves that eagerly lapped it caught the crimson glow. -The somber North Sea shimmered with a thousand hues, in the golden glory -of the morning. Afar off, the castled height of Scarborough shone white -in the radiant light, and the milky sails of fishing boats flecked the -blue sea. There were no vessels in sight except the two French ships, -for the name of Paul Jones kept the merchant fleets hugging the shore -except under convoy. Something in the lovely scene inspired Paul Jones -with renewed hope. As Dale went up and greeted him on the quarter-deck, -Paul Jones said cheerfully: “Dale, I believe you are right. We have one -more day before us, in which we may immortalize ourselves; therefore I -take heart.” - -The men were piped to breakfast at six o’clock, and just as they came on -deck afterward a brigantine was observed, apparently hove to far to -windward. Chase was given, and it was plain that she could not escape. -About noon, however, as Paul Jones, with Dale by his side, was watching -the pursuit of the brigantine, they happened to turn their eyes at the -same moment toward the rocky promontory of Flamborough Head. Just -weathering the headland, they saw a large, white ship, sailing -beautifully, the wind filling her snowy canvas. There was nothing -remarkable in her appearance, but something prophetic seemed to strike -both Paul Jones and Dale. Their eyes met with a meaning look. - -“Sir,” said Dale, “that ship—that ship—” - -“Is the first ship of the Baltic fleet,” replied Paul Jones in a low, -intense voice. “I feel it, I know it; and there must be more than one -war-ship giving convoy to the fleet.” - -The next moment, though, it became necessary to order a boat out to -capture the brigantine, which was now at their mercy. Sixteen of the -best hands on board the Bon Homme Richard were told off for this duty, -and put under the command of Lieutenant Lunt. - -“Look out for my signals, Mr. Lunt,” were Paul Jones’s last orders, “for -I expect to fight this day.” - -Every eye on the Bon Homme Richard was fixed on the ship that had glided -so beautifully around the promontory. Within ten minutes another sail, -and another, appeared in the wake of the large ship, all rounding the -point. Paul Jones, in a passion of suppressed excitement, seized Dale by -the arm. “Look!” he cried. “It is the Baltic fleet! It is not less than -forty sail, and their convoy, I have heard, is the Serapis frigate, -commanded by Captain Pearson, and the sloop of war Countess of -Scarborough. Ah, Dale, well may your presentiment come true! This is our -day to fight! Call the bugler, set the signal for a general chase, and -prepare for action; and we will fight at close quarters.” - -Dale fairly rushed off to give the necessary orders. The men sprang into -the rigging with cheers, and set the fore and main sail. As soon as they -were at quarters, the men, two by two, gave nine cheers for Commodore -Paul Jones. Paul Jones, with sparkling eyes, took off his cap and waved -it. - -Just then Bill Green ran across Danny Dixon, who was hanging over the -side, gazing at the stately ships as they came swiftly around the point, -like a flock of huge swans. - -“I say, boy,” said Bill, “you’d better be gittin’ that sawdust and -sprinklin’ the deck, to keep your spirits up—’cause I see flunk in your -eye.” - -“Well, Mr. Green,” answered Danny, who had a long score of practical -jokes and chaff to pay off, “I’ll be careful and throw a plenty o’ -sawdust around the wheel to soak up your blood in case you is welterin’ -in gore, and I’ll be proud to take your last messages to your afflicted -widder—” - -“Go along with you!” bawled Bill, who was not pleased with these -grewsome suggestions. “I ain’t got no afflicted widder, nor no afflicted -wife neither, you billy-be-hanged imp! I don’t see what boys is made for -no-how, excep’ to be tormentin’ and aggerawatin’! Maybe you ain’t heerd, -youngster, that the British Government has put a price on your head, and -the man that carries you, livin’ or dead, aboard a British ship, gits a -pile o’ money?” - -“W’y, that’s very kind and complimentary of the Britishers,” answered -Danny, with a knowing grin. “That’s what they done for Cap’n Paul Jones, -and I’m mighty proud to be rated with him.” - -“Jest wait,” answered Bill, “till these ’ere guns gits to barkin’ and -the spars begins to fly ’round like straws when you’re threshin’, and -I’m a-thinkin’ you won’t be as brave as the cap’n.” - -“’Tain’t nobody as brave as the cap’n,” answered Danny stoutly, “but I -ain’t a-goin’ to flunk, Mr. Green, and I’m a-goin’ to give you a extry -handful o’ sawdust for to drink up your blood when I begins to lay it on -the deck.” - -It seemed as if the ships that came around Flamborough Head were of an -endless fleet. But as soon as they caught sight of the black hull of the -Bon Homme Richard to windward of them, waiting in grim expectancy, with -the American ensign flying and preparations for action going on, they -gave her a wide berth. They also raised the alarm by firing guns, -letting fly their to’gallant sheets, tacking together, and making as -close inshore as they dared. - -Meanwhile, the Bon Homme Richard had cleared for action, sent down her -royal yards, the crew were beat to quarters, and signals were made to -the other ships to form the line of battle. The Pallas, under the brave -Cottineau, obeyed the signals with alacrity. The Vengeance was ordered -to bring back the boat with Lunt and his men in it, and to enter the men -on the unengaged side of the Bon Homme Richard if the action should be -begun, and then the Vengeance was to attack the convoy. She, however, -disobeyed all of these orders, and never came into action at all. The -Alliance disregarded all orders and signals, and reconnoitered -cautiously. Captain Landais shouted to the Pallas as she passed, that if -the man-of-war which they knew must convoy such a fleet proved to be the -Serapis, all they would have to do would be to run away! - -It was now long past noon, and still the end of the line of merchant -ships had not been reached. At last, as the forty-first vessel rounded -the point and took refuge inshore, a beautiful white frigate with a -smart sloop of war following her appeared. The men on the Bon Homme -Richard had seen a boat putting off from the shore for the frigate, and -they surmised correctly that it was to inform the British frigate that -the American ship was commanded by Paul Jones. Captain Pearson, of the -Serapis, was a brave man, and was delighted at a chance of a fair and -square fight with the American commodore. As Paul Jones had instantly -recognized the Serapis and knew her commander, each captain was -perfectly well aware whom he was fighting. - -Captain Pearson first prudently and gallantly secured his convoy by -clawing off the land so that he was outside his ships, and then tacking -inshore so as to be between them and the Bon Homme Richard. The Bon -Homme Richard was now coming down under every sail that would draw. The -Serapis was unmistakably ready to fight, but she stood out to sea, with -the view of drawing the American ship under the guns of Scarborough -Castle. But Paul Jones was too astute for her, and determined to wear -ship, so as to head the Serapis off. By that time Bill Green was at the -wheel, and a good breeze was blowing, enabling the ship to manœuvre -easily. Dale was officer of the deck, and gave the orders, under Paul -Jones’s direction, to steer straight for the British frigate, that was -waiting for the Bon Homme Richard under short fighting canvas. - -The whole afternoon had passed in the previous manœuvres, and the early -twilight of September had come before the Bon Homme Richard had -shortened sail, and the two ships were slowly but determinedly -approaching each other for the mortal encounter. The moon had not yet -risen, but the stars were lighted in the deep-blue sky of night, and in -the west a faint opaline glow still lingered. On the chalky cliffs a -moving black mass showed, where thousands of people had assembled to see -the fight, and far in the distance the frowning masses of Scarborough -Castle loomed up, with myriad lights showing like sparks in the purple -twilight. The strong, white flame from the lighthouse at Flamborough -Head flashed like a lance of fire over the dark ocean. The silent -manœuvres of the white-winged ships, the stillness only broken by the -orders given and the “Ay, ay, sir!” of the sailors, which echoed -beautifully over the water, made the ships seem almost like a phantom -fleet. The battle lanterns were lighted, and every preparation was made -for a fight to the death. The Bon Homme Richard was short-handed not -only for men but for officers, and Richard Dale was the only sea -lieutenant Paul Jones had in the unequal fight before him. The men were -stripped to their shirts, except Bill Green and a few others, Bill -alleging that “’Twarn’t wuth while to take off a man’s jacket till he -got warmed up with fightin’!” Danny Dixon, as usual, had discarded his -jacket early in the day, and had made every preparation for a -hand-to-hand fight, although, as he was only a powder monkey, it was not -likely that he would have any fighting at all to do. - -It was Danny’s place, though, with another boy, to sprinkle sawdust -along the decks to keep them from becoming slippery with blood. As he -got to the wheel, where Bill Green stood, he threw the sawdust around -liberally, and, although he dared not address the quartermaster, he -remarked in a sly whisper to the other boy: - -“Mr. Green, him and me is pertickler friends, so I’m a-goin’ to give him -a extry handful o’ sawdust to soak up his blood, that’ll likely be a -foot deep round about here.” - -“Drat the boy!” growled Bill under his breath. - -It was now about seven o’clock in the evening, and the ships were -steadily closing. Paul Jones, night glass in hand, walked the -quarter-deck. The Alliance and the Vengeance lay off two miles to -windward, perfectly inactive, and apparently meant to be mere spectators -of the great fight on hand. Their indifference and disobedience to the -signals infuriated the officers and men of the Bon Homme Richard, but -Paul Jones took it with the utmost coolness and composure. - -“Let them do as they like,” he said; “the greater glory ours if we win -without them.” - -Captain Cottineau, of the Pallas, on seeing the Bon Homme Richard change -her course and wear, rashly concluded that the crew had mutinied, had -killed the commodore, and were running away with the ship. It is a -singular instance of the faith which his associates had in Paul Jones, -that Captain Cottineau should have been convinced of Paul Jones’s death -before the command of the ship could be taken from him. - -The captain of the Pallas therefore hauled by the wind and tacked, -laying his head off shore. He did not follow the Bon Homme Richard, -until, seeing her begin the action, he knew that Paul Jones still lived -and commanded. - -The ships were now within two cables’ length of each other. Paul Jones -then tacked, in order to cross the bow of the Serapis. At this moment he -perceived a man, at the order of Captain Pearson, fastening the Union -Jack to the mizzen peak. - -“Look!” said Paul Jones to Dale, “they are nailing the flag to the mast. -There is no need to nail mine, for the first man that dares to touch it -will never breathe again.” - -The Serapis was within pistol shot and to windward, and both ships were -on the port tack. The Serapis hailed as follows: - -“This is his Majesty’s ship Serapis, forty-four guns. What ship is -that?” - -Stacy, the acting sailing master, answered the hail after Paul Jones’s -directions, who wished to get in a raking position on the bow of the -Serapis. - -“I can’t hear what you say,” was the reply through the trumpet. - -“What ship is that?” was again called out from the Serapis. “Answer -immediately, or I shall be under the necessity of firing into you.” - -At this, Richard Dale, who commanded the gun deck, cried to his men, -“Blow your matches, boys!” and in another instant the Bon Homme Richard -thundered out her broadside. So promptly was this returned from the -Serapis that both reports seemed almost simultaneous. The roar was -tremendous, and echoed and re-echoed over the sea and from the chalky -cliffs. - - [Illustration: _At the first discharge two of the guns burst._] - -In an instant both ships were enveloped in smoke and utter darkness. By -this time the Bon Homme Richard’s bow was just across the forefoot of -the Serapis. In order to keep the wind and to deaden her way, the Bon -Homme Richard’s topsails were backed, and she passed slowly ahead of the -Serapis, taking the wind out of her sails. The Serapis was a short ship, -and answered her helm beautifully, in contrast to the lumbering Bon -Homme Richard. As soon as the wind reached him again, Captain Pearson, -keeping his luff, came up on the weather quarter of the Bon Homme -Richard, fairly taking the wind out of the American ship’s sails in -turn. The Serapis let fly her starboard batteries, and the Bon Homme -Richard replied with her port batteries; but at the very first discharge -of the six eighteen-pound guns on the Bon Homme Richard, the pieces -being old and defective, two of them burst with a terrific concussion, -tearing out the main deck above them and killing nearly all of the guns’ -crews that served them. As soon as the shock subsided, although the -shrieks and groans of the wounded still resounded, Paul Jones ran to the -companion ladder and saw Dale, with a pale but undaunted face, standing -on the shattered gun deck, surrounded by wounded men and the awful -_débris_ of the exploded guns. Most of the ship’s lanterns had been put -out by the concussion, and there was only a dim light that struggled -with the darkness. The moonlight streamed in through the portholes -clouded by the smoke from the Serapis’s guns, which thundered -incessantly, hulling the Bon Homme Richard at every round. - -“Two of the guns are gone, sir,” Dale said coolly, “and some of our -brave boys. But we will fight the other four guns as long as they will -hold together.” - -“You are a man after my own heart!” cried Paul Jones, “and every gun on -this ship will be fought as long as they will hold together; and if we -go down, it will be with our ensign flying.” - -In the midst of the smoke and confusion Dale then saw Danny Dixon -running about picking up a row of cartridges that he had just laid down -for the use of the guns, and which a stray spark might have ignited. - -“Right for you, boy!” cried Dale; and then, turning to the men at the -other four eighteen-pounders, he ordered the guns examined. Two of them -were cracked from the muzzle down. This was a terrible blow to the Bon -Homme Richard, as the loss of this battery would leave only thirty-two -twelve-pound guns to fight fifty eighteen-pounders; for, although the -Serapis was classed as a forty-four, she really carried fifty guns. - -“Mr. Dale, I’ve got a good crew here as ain’t afeerd o’ nothin’,” said -one of the gun captains, seeing that Dale hesitated to give the order to -load and fire, “and I’ll resk it with these ’ere two eighteens.” - -An instant later both of them were fired, and, as soon as the smoke -drifted off, Dale, speechless with dismay, pointed to the two guns. Both -of them were defective, and there was no possibility of firing them -again; the only wonder had been that they had not exploded as the first -two did. - -The gun captain, sent by Dale, went up to the commodore on deck, where -he stood calmly giving orders that were distinctly heard above the -uproar, and manœuvring his ship with the same coolness as if he were -working her into a friendly roadstead. - -“Sir,” said the man, touching his cap, “Mr. Dale says as how not another -shot can be fired from the eighteen-pounders. They is cracked from -breech to muzzle.” - -“I knew it,” answered Paul Jones; “the instant the firing stopped, I -knew it was impossible to fire another shot, for Dale would never have -given it up as long as he could work his guns. Tell Mr. Dale I think the -enemy will soon silence the smaller guns, and that if the ship should -catch fire—” - -“She’s a-fire, sir, in a dozen places—” - -“Or should leak badly—” - -“The water, sir, is pourin’ in by the hogshead through the holes in the -hull—” - -“To fight both the fire and the water, and to keep her afloat as long as -possible; and as long as she floats she shall be fought.” - -The men on deck heard these gallant words, and a rousing cheer rang out -over the furious din of the cannonade. - -Just at that moment a new enemy appeared. The Countess of Scarborough, -that had been gradually drawing within gunshot, delayed by the wind, -which had become light and baffling, now suddenly loomed up in the faint -moonlight on the lee bow of the Bon Homme Richard, and made her presence -known by pouring a raking broadside into the American ship. But seeing, -through the shattered sides of the ship, the blaze and smoke which Dale -and his men were fighting as stubbornly as Paul Jones was fighting the -British, and noticing that nearly every gun on the Bon Homme Richard was -silenced, the sloop of war drew off, to let, as it was mistakenly -thought, the Serapis finish up the unequal fight. The Alliance lay off, -out of gunshot, a picture of beauty in the pale splendor of the night, -but apparently without any intention of taking part in the fight. The -Countess of Scarborough turned her attention toward the cowardly ship, -which finally began to return the cannonade the Countess of Scarborough -opened upon her. The Pallas, though, as if stung by the conduct of her -consort, steered for the Countess of Scarborough, and engaged her with -great spirit. - -De Chamillard had held the poop of the Bon Homme Richard with twenty -marines, but after losing several of his men he was driven back step by -step. Paul Jones watched the brave Frenchman; and if he felt agony at -the defeat that threatened him on every hand he gave no sign of it, but -said to De Chamillard, as he came up, grimed with powder, “See, the -Pallas is making amends, like yourself, for the treachery of the -Alliance.” - -The slaughter on the decks of the Bon Homme Richard was frightful, and -below she was both leaking and burning. Moreover, there were over a -hundred prisoners on board, that might be liberated by the fire and the -water. But Paul Jones had in young Dale a man like himself, and he felt -sure that Dale was no more likely to lose heart than himself. - -The steady and uninterrupted broadside of the Serapis had now silenced -every gun on the Bon Homme Richard, except two small nine-pounders on -the spar deck. - -“But there’s another gun on the quarter-deck, my lads,” cried Paul -Jones, “and she’s not so big we can’t haul her over.” - -At this the men rallied with a cheer, and as quick as thought the gun -was dragged across the deck, Paul Jones himself helping. - -“Now we will make play on her mainmast, boys,” said he, and, pointing -the gun himself, a shot whizzed out and struck the Serapis’s mainmast, -fair and square. Her rigging had caught fire, and the masts, being -painted white, were plainly visible against the background of fire and -smoke. - -“A good shot!” shouted the men. - -The shot had not been large enough to shatter the great spar, but half a -dozen others following caused it to weaken plainly. - -And so, with three nine-pounders against the twenty great guns and -thirty small ones of the Serapis, Paul Jones maintained the honor of the -American flag, and gave no sign of surrender. - -The American tops, though, were well served, and Paul Jones saw that the -decks of the Serapis were being swept by the musketry fire of the Bon -Homme Richard, which was but little injured aloft, although her hull was -almost a wreck. He could see on the deck of the Serapis the tall figure -of Captain Pearson, and, although men were falling at every moment -around him, he seemed to possess a charmed life. Besides small arms, the -Americans in the Bon Homme Richard’s tops had hand grenades, which they -threw on the Serapis’s decks with unerring aim. But, although the decks -were swept, the frigate’s batteries were uninjured, her hull was sound, -and she worked beautifully in the light breeze that blew fitfully. -Meaning, therefore, to rake the Bon Homme Richard, she worked slowly -past, keeping her luff, intending to fall broadside off and cross the -Bon Homme Richard’s forefoot. But there was not sea room enough, and the -Serapis, answering her helm perfectly, came up to the wind again, to -keep from fouling her adversary. This movement brought the ships in -line, and, the Serapis losing headway, the Bon Homme Richard’s jib boom -touched her; so the two ships lay for a minute in this singular -position, where neither could fire a gun. - -It was then about eight o’clock. The moon, which was rising, passed into -a cloud, and a dense mass of sulphurous smoke enveloped both ships. Not -a gun was fired for several minutes, and a strange and awful silence -suddenly followed the frightful uproar of battle. - -In the midst of the darkness and silence a voice shouted from the stern -of the Serapis: - -“Have you surrendered?” - -To this Paul Jones made that answer which will always mark him as the -bravest of the brave. With his ship aleak and afire in a dozen places, -his guns silenced, his decks swept by uninjured batteries, his hull -riddled, and a hundred mutinous prisoners ready to spring from below -upon him, he called out in a dauntless voice: - -“We haven’t begun to fight yet!” - -A tremendous cheer burst from the Americans at this, and the Serapis -perceived that she must destroy her enemy before she could conquer him. -She therefore managed to swing clear of the Bon Homme Richard, -determined to get in a raking position, either across the bow or the -stern of the ship. Laying her foresail and fore-topsail aback, and -keeping her helm down while she shivered her after sails, she attempted -to wear short around on her heel. Seeing the Serapis coming down on him, -the Bon Homme Richard drew ahead to lay athwart her. But in the darkness -neither captain could see very well what he was doing, and both ships -came foul, the jib boom of the Serapis passing in over the Bon Homme -Richard’s poop and becoming entangled in the mizzen rigging. - -As soon as Paul Jones saw the Serapis’s spar passing over the poop, he -called to the acting sailing master: - -“Mr. Stacy, fetch a hawser immediately, and get grappling irons!” - -But as the jib boom of the Serapis touched the mizzen rigging of the Bon -Homme Richard, Paul Jones himself, without waiting for the hawser, -seizing the ropes that hung to the bowsprit, with his own hand lashed -the two ships together. In another moment Stacy came running up with a -hawser. In the midst of the uproar, the smoke, the flame, and the -confusion, Stacy bungled with his work, and an oath burst from his lips. - -“Don’t swear, Mr. Stacy,” said Paul Jones. “In another moment we may all -be in eternity, and this is no time for blaspheming our Maker.”[4] - -Stacy glanced at the great man, who could remember such things at such a -moment. The commodore’s face was pale, and a thin stream of blood -trickled down the side of his head. - -“Commodore, you are wounded!” he cried. - -“It is nothing,” answered Paul Jones calmly. - -The ships were now made firmly fast, but in the smoke and darkness it -was not perceived on board the Serapis. Captain Pearson gave orders to -drop an anchor under his bow, thinking his bold adversary would drift -away. - -The tide was strong, and both wind and tide were in the same direction, -so that the ships drifted rapidly together. Their spars, spare anchors, -and every possible object became interlocked, and soon the ships were -fast in a mortal embrace. As the Serapis swung round, with her stern to -the bows of the Bon Homme Richard, her portlids were lowered to prevent -the Americans from boarding her through her ports. The guns were then -fired behind the closed portlids, blowing everything before them. The -British gunners would then have to lean forward into the shattered sides -of the Bon Homme Richard to pass the rammers in the muzzles of their own -guns. The ships caught fire repeatedly from each other, and so terrible -was the smoke and flame upon the lower decks of the Bon Homme Richard -that the men were forced above. They assembled on the foks’l, where they -did good service with muskets and hand grenades. - -The Serapis now appeared to have the Bon Homme Richard at her mercy. She -had completely cleared everything out on the gun deck, and the fire was -rapidly gaining on the ship in spite of Dale’s heroic efforts. On the -spar deck Paul Jones still worked the two or three nine-pounders, but -they were nothing against the tremendous metal of the British ship. - -But the forcing of the American gunners to the upper deck enabled them -to make it as hot for the British above as the British made it hot for -them below. An awful fusillade was kept up on the spar deck of the -Serapis, and so terrible was it on the quarter-deck that the brave -Pearson, although remaining himself and giving his orders coolly, -ordered all the men below. So effectually were the lower-deck batteries -of the Serapis worked that the Bon Homme Richard was cut entirely to -pieces between decks, especially from the mainmast to the stern. The -rudder and stern frame were cut completely off, and soon the shot began -to pass clear through the ship without finding anything to strike. - -The moon was now bright, and the wind having caused the smoke to drift, -Paul Jones perceived the Alliance approaching to windward. He turned to -Dale, who had come on deck. “Thank God,” he said, “the battle is now -over! Yonder is the Alliance.” - -The Alliance came on under a fair wind, but, to the consternation of -every one on the Bon Homme Richard, on passing close to leeward she -deliberately fired a broadside into the stern. Immediately every voice -on the commodore’s ship was raised: - -“For God’s sake,” they shouted, “stop firing into us!” - -The Alliance, though, as she sailed by, fired into the side and the head -of the ship as well as the stern. In vain were three lanterns shown—the -signal of reconnoissance; the Alliance paid no attention to the signal, -and her fire dismounted one or two guns, killed and wounded several men, -and cut the ship up aloft a good deal. One of the men on the Bon Homme -Richard yelled: - -“The crew has mutinied, and they are taking the ship to the British!” -This induced several of the faint-hearted to leave their quarters. - -Not so Danny Dixon; although but a powder boy of fourteen, he was as -cool as any old hand on board. Paul Jones himself, still bent on -carrying the mainmast of the Serapis, was directing the fire of the -little nine-pounder. - -“One more shot,” he called, “and the mast goes!” - -The gunner asked for a wad, but none was at hand. Danny Dixon, quietly -stripping off his shirt, handed it to the gunner, saying: - -“This ’ere shirt off my back’ll make a good many wads.” - -Paul Jones saw the action and heard the words. - -“Ah, my brave lad,” he cried, “I shall not forget this.” - -“Thankee, sir,” answered Danny with sparkling eyes. - -The Bon Homme Richard was getting lower and lower in the water, and at -the same time only the most tremendous exertions kept the fire from -reaching the upper decks. Suddenly the carpenter, the master at arms and -a master gunner came rushing up from below. They had been down in the -hold where the prisoners were, and working the pumps to keep the water -down, which poured in from shot holes below the water line. One of the -pumps had been shot away, and that had demoralized these three men. -Lieutenant Dale was on deck, and as the carpenter rushed up, shouting to -the commodore, “She’s a-sinkin’, sir, and we can’t do no more at the -pumps!” Dale caught the man by the throat. - -“You abandoned coward, come below with me instantly! The ship shall not -sink!” - -Paul Jones heard every word, and, coming up quickly to Dale, said in his -ear: - -“Put the prisoners to the pumps. They are doubtless so terror-stricken -that they are at their wits’ end, and a determined man like you, Dale, -can manage the whole hundred of them”—for there were not less than a -hundred in the hold. - -Dale was the very man to carry out this audacious order. He instantly -ran below, and, just as Paul Jones had foreseen, the bold promptness of -one determined officer, armed and resolute, cowed them all. They went to -work at the pumps, when, if they had retained their senses, they might -have stepped on board the Serapis. - -In a minute or two more Dale was again on deck, and, going up to the -commodore, said calmly but in a loud voice, so that the men around could -hear him: - -“She’s not sinking, sir. I have put that coward of a carpenter to work -with an honest man to watch him, and everything will shortly be right.” - -This very much reassured the men, who had no idea of the terrible -destruction below. - -Within a few minutes Danny Dixon came up to the young lieutenant with a -solemn face. - -“Mr. Dale, please, sir,” he said, “I can’t git no more powder. The -gangway to the powder room is all chock-a-block, and the sentinels won’t -let me pass. I ain’t afeerd o’ the fire, though its blazin’ pretty close -to the magazine. I ain’t afeerd o’ that, sir, but I can’t—” - -Before Danny had finished speaking Dale saw a dozen strange faces -crowding up the companion way. In an instant the truth flashed upon -him—some of the prisoners had escaped from the hold. Drawing his pistol, -he marched them immediately back, where again they went to work at the -pumps. - -Meanwhile numbers of the men were called from their quarters to put out -the fire in the magazine. Upon going to it, with Danny Dixon following -at his heels, Dale found that the reason the sentinels would not let any -one pass to the magazine was on account of the number of strange faces, -which they, too, knew to be the prisoners, crowding around, and who -might have easily captured the magazine. But Dale, animated by the -spirit of his commander, with two or three resolute men like himself -kept down both the fire and the water in the hold. As a matter of fact, -the Bon Homme Richard was on fire continuously almost from the very -beginning of the engagement. - - [Illustration: _Battle of the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis._ -The bold headland of Flamborough is seen on the right. The force of the - explosion on the _Serapis’s_ deck blew the British flag against the - wind.] - -The mainmast of the Serapis was still being pounded by the three small -guns on the Bon Homme Richard’s deck, which were worked under the eye of -Paul Jones. Sometimes he himself took a part in the handling and -pointing of the guns, and his indomitable coolness seemed communicated -to the men. The spar deck of the Serapis was still pretty effectually -cleared, but she was unbeaten below. The gun captain, though, who had -come up from below when the great guns burst, now filled a bucket with -hand grenades and climbed into the maintop. The main yard of the Bon -Homme Richard lay directly over the main hatch of the Serapis. He then -lay out on the main yard, until he got to the sheet block, where he -fastened his bucket. Then, with perfect deliberation and unerring aim, -he began to throw his grenades at the open hatchway. Every one went -straight, and every one exploded. Paul Jones, who was on the poop, -called out to him: - -“If you could get one down on the gun deck, where there is no doubt some -loose powder about—” - -“That’s what I’m arter, sir,” responded the sailor coolly, and within -two minutes one had rolled down the hatchway and had dropped upon a row -of cartridges. An instant and terrific explosion followed. It seemed as -if the whole interior of the ship had been blown out. Every gun was -silenced, and an awful stillness prevailed for a moment or two. Just -then the gunner, who had been below, ran up on the Bon Homme Richard’s -deck, and, terrified out of his life, cried, “I don’t see the -commodore!” and running, aft, he intended to strike the colors. The -ensign had been shot away, however, and was dragging in the water; the -man therefore yelled for “Quarter! quarter!” - -Scarcely were the words out of his mouth when he saw a figure at his -side, and felt a stunning blow from a pistol’s butt. - -“Do you see the commodore now?” cried Paul Jones; “and let me not hear -any man on this ship beg, like a cur, for quarter!” - -The cry for quarter had been heard on the Serapis, and Captain Pearson -called out in the half darkness: - -“Do you ask for quarter?” - -“No, by heaven!” shouted Paul Jones. “We will give quarter, but we never -ask it.” - -About this time one of the prisoners stepped through the side of the Bon -Homme Richard into the Serapis, and reported the desperate condition of -the American ship. Immediately the bugler on the Serapis sounded the -call for boarders, and a number of them, armed with pikes and cutlasses, -appeared at the bulwarks. But Paul Jones, seizing a boarding pike, stood -in the gangway to receive them. It never occurred to the boarders that -there was not a large body to repel them, besides the sailors on deck, -and they retired. But it is a fact that no man touched a pike except -Paul Jones. - -It was now about half past ten o’clock. The pallid moon showed the whole -dreadful scene. The Pallas, which had very gallantly made the Countess -of Scarborough haul down her colors, had her hands full transferring the -prisoners from the British ship. As the Alliance, which had been sailing -around the combatants and had fired another broadside into the Bon Homme -Richard, passed the Pallas, Captain Cottineau begged Landais to go to -the assistance of the gallant Bon Homme Richard. - -Captain Landais did indeed approach the Bon Homme Richard, but it was -only to fire one last broadside, that did as much harm to the American -as to the British ship. After that he hauled off and did no more damage. - -Then the mainmast of the Serapis began to totter, and it was seen that -it must soon go by the board. The small nine-pounders, worked under Paul -Jones’s own eye, the shower of skillfully thrown hand grenades, and the -sharpshooters in the Bon Homme Richard’s tops, made the deck of the -Serapis so hot that scarcely a man dared show himself. On the -quarter-deck especially was this so; and the brave Pearson, while -keeping his place coolly, ordered the men forward, and remained the only -man upon the quarter-deck of his ship. - -The Bon Homme Richard now managed to bring one or two more guns to bear, -although her hull was almost destroyed by the Serapis. Both ships were -in a desperate case, but Paul Jones was no nearer surrender than he was -at the beginning of the fight. Pearson, though, realized that he was in -the last extremity, and then, and then only, with his own hand he -managed to lower the flag he had caused to be nailed to the mast. His -action was visible by the light of the full moon, and the lanterns that -made blazing points of flame all over the two warrior ships in spite of -the drifting clouds of black smoke. - -Paul Jones’s first order was: - -“Cease firing!” and his next words were, “Where is Dale?” - -“Here, sir!” cried Dale, coming up. The young lieutenant’s face was -blackened with powder, his epaulet was gone, and he was deathly pale -with suppressed excitement. - -“Go immediately on board that ship with such men as you may need, and -bring off her captain and her ensign,” said Paul Jones. - -There was no occasion for a bridge between the two fast-locked and -burning ships. Dale ran to the gangway, and with one bound landed on the -bloody deck of the Serapis. - -Although the fire of the Bon Homme Richard had ceased, those upon the -lower decks of the Serapis did not know that the colors had been struck, -and they kept up their cannonade through the riddled hull of the Bon -Homme Richard. The smoke still drifted in a sulphurous mass, but Dale at -once distinguished Captain Pearson’s tall figure, as he stood calmly, -with folded arms, on the quarter-deck. Going up to him, Dale removed his -cap and said respectfully: - -“Sir, I am directed to bring you on board the Bon Homme Richard.” - -Captain Pearson inclined his head silently and stepped forward. - -Scarcely were the words out of Dale’s mouth when the first lieutenant of -the Serapis came up from below. Advancing eagerly, he said to his -captain: - -“Have the rebels struck, sir?” - -Captain Pearson uttered no word, but looked into the lieutenant’s eyes -with an expression of agony. - -Then Dale spoke. - -“No,” he said. “_You_ have struck, and this ship is our prize.” - -The lieutenant, rudely ignoring Dale, again asked the captain: - -“Sir, have they struck?” - -For answer, the brave Pearson covered his face with his hands. The -lieutenant, turning on his heel, said: - -“I have nothing more to say.” - -Dale then remarked quietly: - -“You will proceed on board the Bon Homme Richard.” - -“If you will permit me to go below, I will silence the firing on the -lower deck,” said the lieutenant. - -“No!” replied Dale firmly. - -By that time the Bon Homme Richard’s men had swarmed over the side, and -some of the British sailors and officers, running up from below and not -knowing that the ship had struck, dashed upon the Americans, and several -blows were exchanged. The officers, though, on both sides quelled the -_mêlée_ and the British sailors then quietly submitted. But another row, -worse than the first, was likely to be precipitated by Danny Dixon. He -marched up to one of the Serapis’s cabin boys, who was about twice as -big as himself, and who was armed with the cabin broom as the most -available weapon he could find at short notice. Getting close up, Danny -bawled at him: - -“You are my prisoner!” - -The Serapis boy looked with undisguised contempt at Danny, and for -answer said sulkily: - -“Go along with you. I ain’t none o’ your prisoner. I’m took by that -pirate Paul Jones, I am.” - -Before the words were well out of his mouth Danny hauled off and hit the -boy a resounding slap in the face. The boy promptly responded by -knocking Danny down with his broom. - -Just then Bill Green, who had been relieved for a few moments from the -wheel, appeared at Danny’s side, and, collaring him with one hand as -Danny scrambled up, while with the other he seized the cabin boy’s -neckerchief, Bill gave them both a powerful shaking. - -“If you two chaps don’t behave yourselves,” he shouted, “I’ll report you -both, and I’ll give you a private wallopin’ o’ my own besides. That’s -the wust o’ boys—they never knows how to behave theirselves. D’ye see -Cap’n Paul Jones and the British cap’n a-maulin’ and a-poundin’ each -other? And don’t you know prisoners ought to be treated kind? That’s why -the officers sets a example to the men and to the wuthless, triflin’, -good-for-nothin’ boys!” - -“B—but, Mr. Green,” said Danny, struggling to get his breath in Bill’s -brawny grasp, “he said as the commodore were a pirate, and that’s for -why I hit him.” - -“He did, did he?” snorted Bill, highly incensed, and letting Danny go, -while he devoted both hands to the unlucky cabin boy. “Then I wish you’d -’a’ hit him twice as hard; and if it warn’t for them officers over -yonder,” he yelled to the Serapis boy, “I’d give you sech a keel haulin’ -as nobody but a Dutchman never had afore. You say Cap’n Paul Jones is a -pirate, do yer?” Here he lifted the boy completely off his feet, while a -well-directed kick emphasized his remarks. “Now, you take that back, or -by the almighty Joshua, I’ll heave you overboard!” - -The boy, scared out of his life, sputtered: - -“I take it back.” - -Bill then turned to Danny, and said, excitedly: - -“You oughter git some smart money for that ’ere lick he give you, and -I’m goin’ to see as the commodore knows about it.” - -“But, Mr. Green,” said Danny, slyly, “you said as we was to imitate the -cap’ns, and not be maulin’ and poundin’ each other—” - -“I didn’t say no sech a thing,” answered Bill, angrily; “I said, as if -anybody was to say Cap’n Paul Jones were a pirate you was to knock his -eyes down into his shoes, and not to leave a whole bone in his skin. -That’s what I said, boy, and you misunderstood me.” - -Dale now accompanied the British captain politely to the gangway, where -not even a plank was necessary to step on board the Bon Homme Richard. -As the young lieutenant glanced up and saw Paul Jones waiting to receive -his distinguished prisoners, he saw a red stream had trickled down the -side of the commodore’s head, and one of his epaulets was soaked with -blood. - -“My captain, you are wounded!” cried Dale. - -“It is but a trifle,” quickly replied Paul Jones. Captain Pearson at -that moment stepped upon the Bon Homme Richard’s deck. He silently -unbuckled his sword and handed it to Paul Jones, who received it with -one hand, and immediately returned it with the other, saying: - -“I return it to you, sir, because you have bravely used it.” - -The other British officers and men were then passed rapidly aboard the -Bon Homme Richard. The Americans, as if they had only then realized the -magnitude of their victory, suddenly stopped work at the pumps, at -fighting the fire, and at the usual preparations for taking possession -of a ship, and, as one man, they gave three thundering cheers. Paul -Jones, taking off his cap, listened to this heroic music with ineffable -thoughts crowding upon his mind. The moon was now at the full, and -blazed upon the dark bosom of the water with solemn grandeur. Afar off -rose the white cliffs off England, while nearer, but still far, were the -black hulls and shadowy spars of the Alliance, the gallant Pallas, and -the conquered Countess of Scarborough. The air was yet full of the smell -of burned powder and smoldering wood. Across the still and blue-black -sea they could see the lights of Flamborough Head and Scarborough Castle -like star points in the sky. - -Paul Jones was roused from the strange mood of triumph, and of sadness -too, by a frightful crash which resounded through both ships. - -The tottering mainmast of the Serapis gave one mighty lurch, and then -fell over the side, striking with a sound like thunder. A deep and -terrible silence followed for a moment, and even the exultant cheering -of the Americans, which had not quite ceased, was stilled. There was -something overwhelming in the sight of the brave and lovely Serapis, -that only a few hours before had sailed proudly and defiantly in her -beauty and freedom, now beaten, dismasted, and her colors struck. But -this one short moment of solemnity was followed by another burst of -cheers, and all the fierce commotion of a victorious ship. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - - -The first thing to be done on board the Bon Homme Richard was to attempt -to check the fire. The ceilings had caught, and were burning slowly but -determinedly. The fire having got within a few inches of the powder -magazine, Paul Jones ordered all the powder brought up on deck. There -were more than a hundred prisoners on the Bon Homme Richard before the -fight, and the men taken from the Serapis brought the number up to over -five hundred. Those who were not disabled were put to work at the pumps, -where they toiled with the desperate energy of men struggling for their -lives. Paul Jones himself escorted Captain Pearson to the cabin, saying: - -“I beg that you will make yourself as comfortable as circumstances will -admit. You will have the consolation of knowing that no man ever made a -better defense of his ship.” - -Captain Pearson bowed, and answered: - -“Your conduct is most generous—” and hesitated, as if to express -surprise at such good treatment. - -“You will find, I hope, that all American officers are generous in -victory; and should we have the misfortune to be forced to haul down our -colors, I trust that we would show the fortitude of the brave who are -unfortunate,” said Paul Jones, with dignity—and, with a low bow, he -retired from the cabin, leaving Captain Pearson alone. - -As soon as the commodore returned to the deck he ordered the lashings to -be cut, as the ships continued to catch fire from each other, and there -was great danger to the powder on both. - -“And both ships must be saved, my lads!” cried he to the men, who were -working like Trojans to save the Serapis from the flames. - -“Ay, ay, sir,” answered the men heartily. - -As soon as they were free, the Bon Homme Richard drifted rapidly off. -The Serapis was hailed and ordered to follow. - -On board the Serapis Dale was in command. Exhausted by his five hours of -work and fighting, he sat down on a dismounted gun near the binnacle. -The reaction had come. A profound sadness seized him, and he could -almost have wept when he saw the destruction around him. But nothing -made him forget his duty for a moment. As soon as the ships parted he -ordered the wreck of the mainmast to be cleared away, the headyards -braced aback, and the helm put hard down. This was promptly done, but -still the ship did not pay off. Imagining that her steering gear was cut -to pieces, he ordered it examined, but, to his surprise, found it -uninjured. Puzzled by so strange a state of things, Dale jumped from his -seat, only to fall his length upon the deck. Bill Green ran to him and -helped him up; but Dale could not stand upon his feet. - -“And natural you can’t, sir, seein’ as your ankle is wounded,” said -Bill. - -“Is it?” answered Dale, faintly. “I did not know until this moment I was -hurt.” - -Just then the pilot boat containing Lieutenant Lunt and sixteen men -hailed the ship alongside. - -“For Heaven’s sake, Lunt, come aboard!” cried Dale; “your services are -needed here.” - -As Lunt came over the side the sailing master of the Serapis appeared, -and, going up to Dale, said: - -“Sir, the ship can’t pay off, because she has an anchor under foot.” -This was the anchor dropped by Captain Pearson when the ships first -fouled. The cable was cut, and the ship instantly answered the helm. She -was much cut up aloft, but her hull was sound, and she had no water in -her. Preparations were at once made to repair her. A jury mast was -rigged in place of the mainmast, and new sails were bent instead of -those that had been torn to pieces by hand grenades exploded in her -rigging. - -The night was now far spent. The moon, that had shone so brilliantly -during the fury of the battle, now hung low in the misty night sky that -glimmered with a pale and waning light. A white fog was creeping slowly -in from the Atlantic, and a fitful wind ruffled the black and -phosphorescent water. - -The first thing to be attended to, while the carpenters were at work -upon the crippled Serapis and the almost wrecked Bon Homme Richard, was -the care of the wounded and the burial of the dead. As there was great -doubt whether the Bon Homme Richard could be kept afloat until daylight, -no wounded were removed from the Serapis, where the British surgeons -attended to them. Her dead also were buried from her deck, one of the -British lieutenants reading the service of the Established Church, in an -agitated voice. On board the Bon Homme Richard, Paul Jones, as he always -did, read the Psalms for the dead over the brave men who had fallen -around him. Everything was done quickly, but with proper reverence, for, -no matter how much encompassed by danger Paul Jones was, he never forgot -to give fitting burial to the departed brave. Like all men of feeling -heart and deep imagination, Paul Jones, after the inspiration of battle -and the glory of victory, always felt a keen distress at the ruin and -desolation it wrought. The sight of the gallant men cold in death, that -lay in rows upon the reeking deck of the Bon Homme Richard, covered by -the flag whose honor they had so gloriously maintained, wrung his heart -and filled his eyes with tears. And this man, who had dared death from -battle, fire, and water rather than strike his flag, faltered and almost -wept as he read the solemn words of the Psalmist before the dead were -laid at rest in the ocean. - -As each body fell swiftly and silently overboard a heavy blow seemed -struck upon the heart of Paul Jones. The officers and men crowded the -deck, standing with uncovered heads, while a little way off the Serapis -loomed up in the fast rising mist, and from her side a frequent dull -splash showed that the same solemn ceremony was taking place upon her -decks. - -At last it was over. The men with a sudden alacrity folded up the flags, -quickly carried the grewsome planks and canvas below, and the -boatswain’s pipe sounded cheerily calling the men to work. - -The reaction from the burial of the dead at such a time is always great, -and the officers and men vie in their quick rebound to cheerfulness. -Paul Jones felt this instant and magnetic change. Ten minutes from the -time that the last sad ceremonies were over he walked the deck with his -usual graceful and alert step, ordering, overlooking, and encouraging -everybody. - -Meanwhile a boat had pulled off from the Serapis, and when Paul Jones, -who had gone below for a moment to see how the carpenters were getting -on, came upon deck, Dale was being helped over the side. Paul Jones went -immediately up to him. Dale leaned heavily upon a sailor, and Paul Jones -at once saw that his favorite lieutenant was lame. - -“My lieutenant, you are wounded!” he cried; and Dale, at hearing the -very words he had addressed to the commodore, smiled faintly. - -“Yes, sir,” he answered; “I did not know it until a little while ago. I -don’t know when I was hurt, or how, but I was forced to give up the -command to Mr. Lunt and return to you. But how is your wound?” - -“It is nothing—nothing!” cried Paul Jones, but really, although his -wound in the head was not dangerous, he had lost much blood, and only -his indomitable will kept him upon his feet. - -Wretched indeed was the plight of the brave Bon Homme Richard. -Immortalized she was, but she had given her life for her victory. So -desperate was her condition between decks that many of the sailors, -regarding her as a floating coffin, sprang overboard and swam to the -still stanch Serapis, and to the Alliance, that now appeared off the -weather quarter of the gallant ship she had so treacherously deserted. - -It was now nearly daylight, but the fog enveloped everything, and the -eye could scarcely penetrate a hundred yards. A wind still blew -fitfully, driving the fog hither and thither, but as fast as it was -drifted landward another great fog bank would come rolling sullenly in -from the open Atlantic. It deadened the sounds of the saw and the hammer -and the constant creaking of the pumps as the men toiled at them. Once -it almost lifted. It was just at sunrise, and a great golden lance -seemed to penetrate it straight from heaven. Like magic, the white mist -parted, the sky, the sea, and the air were suddenly flooded with a -rose-pink glow, and the fair and lovely light shone full upon the lithe -figure of Paul Jones as he stood on the poop with his face turned to the -east. His arms were folded, and his inscrutable dark eyes, full of a -strange rapture, were uplifted to the sky. Glory was the breath of his -life, and here was glory enough for a lifetime, as he saw his own -shattered ship, and the Serapis conquered but still majestic. - -For five minutes he stood motionless. He was recalling the same hour the -day before, and now his proudest wish was fulfilled. Alone and -single-handed he had beaten an enemy at least twice as strong as -himself. He had made the name of the American navy respected from -thenceforward, and his far-seeing mind realized the mighty effect of his -victory. After a while he roused himself from his reverie, which was a -sort of exaltation, and swept the horizon with his glass. Not a sail was -in sight where twenty-four hours before they had whitened the seas -around him. The very name of Paul Jones had frightened them into harbor. - -But soon the fog descended again, and Paul Jones devoted himself to one -intense and long-continued effort to save the smoldering, leaking, but -glorious Bon Homme Richard. It was his ardent wish to save his ship, the -eloquent witness of his prowess, and to that work he turned with almost -superhuman energy. The dim morning wore on. The men were mostly below, -fighting the leaks and the fire, and the decks were comparatively -deserted, when Paul Jones, still on the poop, caught sight of Danny -Dixon running aft as hard as he could clip it. - -“Hold on!” cried Paul Jones. “There is work for everybody on this ship. -Why are you idle?” - -“I ain’t idle, sir,” answered Danny, touching his cap. “The flag as was -most shot to pieces is hangin’ astern now, under water; and I thought, -sir, as you wouldn’t want to lose that ’ere flag, I’d git it out o’ the -water for the honor o’ the ship, sir.” - -“You are right; go and get it,” answered Paul Jones, smiling. - -Danny disappeared astern, and presently came up dripping. But he had the -torn flag, and was wringing it out as he came along. - -“Here she is, sir,” said he, as Paul Jones took it; “and here’s a little -rag o’ it, sir, that I hopes you’ll let me keep in my ditty box.” - -He showed a scrap a few inches square that he had torn from the -shattered flagstaff. - -“Yes, you may,” replied Paul Jones. “That is in place of the shirt you -took off and gave for a gunwad. I see you have another.” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Danny, who had on a shirt about twice too big for -him. “Mr. Green, he flung it to me jist now. I dunno where he got it -from.” - -As the hours passed on the terrible situation of the Bon Homme Richard -became plainer. She was literally cut to pieces between decks, from her -spar deck to the water line, and there was not planking enough in the -whole squadron to patch her up. The wind also began to rise, and Paul -Jones, remembering that where eleven British cruisers had been searching -for him the day before, knew that probably fifty would be after him by -sundown, and that he must make his way toward the Texel as quickly as -possible. - -About ten o’clock in the morning the fire was at last out, and Paul -Jones called Captain Cottineau, with all the carpenters in the squadron, -on board, to consult with them as to the possibility of carrying his -ship into port, which he could scarcely bring himself to believe was -impossible. Captain Landais’s opinion was not asked, nor was he suffered -to come on board the Bon Homme Richard. The carpenters examined the ship -thoroughly, and all of them agreed that she could not possibly be made -to last more than a few hours. Such also was Captain Cottineau’s -opinion. When it was communicated to Paul Jones, this man, so insensible -to fear, yet felt the loss of his ship so deeply that tears dropped from -his eyes; but he realized that the ship was now in a hopeless condition, -and that while he might risk his own life further, he could not risk -those of the brave men under him. When once his mind was made up to the -cruel necessity he acted with characteristic promptness. Immediately all -the boats were pressed into service transferring the wounded to the -captured Serapis. There was but little worth saving on the Bon Homme -Richard, and the Serapis was full of stores of all sorts. It took the -whole day and the following night to place the wounded and the prisoners -on the Serapis and to repair damages. Even to the last, Paul Jones could -not utterly abandon the hope of saving the old ship, made forever -glorious in that short September night. He left an officer on board and -a gang of men, who were directed to work the pumps as long as possible. -The boats were in waiting in order to take them off if the water gained -on them too fast. An American ensign was hoisted, and the officer was -directed to leave it flying. About nine o’clock Paul Jones, from the -quarter-deck of the Serapis, saw the signal made for the boats—the Bon -Homme Richard was sinking. The men were taken off, and Paul Jones -watched her last moments as one watches by the deathbed of one’s best -beloved. She sank lower and lower in the water after she was left, while -her ensign fluttered bravely in the wandering breeze. At last, about ten -o’clock, as Paul Jones watched her agonizingly through his glass, he saw -her give a lurch forward. She went down head foremost, and the last -thing seen of her as she settled into her ocean grave was the mizzen -to’gallant mast, and the flag at the peak. - -“Good-by, brave ship!” cried Paul Jones with a deep sob, as the waters -closed over the ship of immortal memory. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - - -The wind continued to freshen as the squadron, with its two prizes, made -for the open sea. Bad weather followed, and for ten days the Serapis, -with her make-shift masts, and the other ships, were tossed about the -angry North Sea. At last, though, the wind proved kind, and on the -morning of the 3d of October anchor was cast off the island of Texel. - -The sight of a splendid British frigate with an American ensign flying -proudly over the Union Jack, and a twenty-gun sloop of war in the same -plight, was an inspiring sight to the few Americans and friends of the -cause of independence at the Texel. News of the victory had preceded the -arrival of the ships, and it was a matter of the keenest interest how -Holland, a neutral power, would receive these victorious enemies of -England, which literally ruled the seas. The fact is, the brave and -prudent Hollanders felt deeply sympathetic with the young republic of -the West in her fight against Holland’s ancient maritime enemy; but the -court and the court party were absolutely under British influence, and -it was not long in manifesting its animosity to the flag that Paul Jones -carried. - -Scarcely were the ships at anchor before news came that a British line -of battle ship was waiting outside of the Texel. According to the rules -of war, the American ship should have remained long enough to have what -was necessary done for her in the cause of humanity. The British -ambassador, Sir Joseph Yorke, was highly incensed at the American ship -being accorded succor, and openly and bitterly spoke of Paul Jones as -“that pirate.” But the “pirate,” when he went up to Amsterdam a few days -after his arrival, received such an ovation from the enthusiastic -Americans and the brave Dutchmen as any man on earth might have been -proud of. Huzzas and waving handkerchiefs saluted him from the French -and Americans in Amsterdam, while the Dutchmen bowed low to him. When he -appeared upon the Exchange, wearing proudly his American uniform and his -Scotch bonnet, edged with gold, the crowds pressed around him so that he -was forced to retire into a room fronting the public square. The -plaudits of the crowd becoming uproarious, he was obliged to show -himself at the window and bow, after which he hastily retreated. - -This reception very much affronted Sir Joseph Yorke, who, on the 9th of -October, wrote to the Dutch Government demanding that the American ships -“be stopped,” and declaring Paul Jones to be “a rebel and a pirate.” -Other measures than writing letters were used to “stop” him. The battle -ship watching off the Texel had been joined by eleven other ships of the -line and frigates. Eight were stationed at the north entrance to the -harbor, where they expected Paul Jones would come out, and four at the -south entrance. Here, on every fine day, they might be seen cruising -back and forth. Small squadrons were also on the lookout for him on the -east coasts of England and Scotland, the coast of Norway, the Irish -Channel, the west coast of Ireland, and in the Straits of Dover. In all, -there were forty-two British ships after Paul Jones, and two of them -were lost while on the watch for him. - -Within the Texel he had powerful enemies in the British ambassador and -the royal court. In spite of both, though, by courage and firmness he -forced the Dutch authorities to grant him the asylum that the laws of -civilized warfare give to ships in distress. He demanded, and was given, -leave to establish a hospital under the American flag on shore for his -wounded, to dispose as he pleased of his five hundred prisoners, and to -have the drawbridges at the fort hauled up whenever he desired. Thus -menaced as Paul Jones was with dangers outside, he had still many to -encounter within the port. He had great trouble in getting the Serapis -refitted, and then he was told plainly by the French ambassador that he -must accept a French commission and fly the French flag if he desired to -hold on to the ship which was the noble spoil of his victory; otherwise -he must transfer his flag to the Alliance, a ship in every way inferior -to the Serapis. Landais, it may be said in passing, had been detached -from the ship and ordered to Paris to answer for his conduct. It was -bitter enough to the British ambassador to see the American colors -flying on an American ship—the Alliance—but it was intolerable to see it -over a beautiful British frigate like the Serapis; and he had influence -enough with the Dutch Government to have this intimation given the -French ambassador, who was obliged to notify Paul Jones. - -The Bon Homme Richard had found an ocean grave, and grievous as this -blow was to Paul Jones, more grievous still was it to give up the lovely -Serapis, which, as he wrote Benjamin Franklin, was the finest ship of -her class he had ever seen. But he did not hesitate a moment. Never -during the battle for independence would he serve under any except the -American flag, or bear any but an American commission. So, with a sore -heart but an unflinching determination, he gave the Serapis up to his -French allies, and with Dale and his old company of the Bon Homme -Richard he transferred his flag to the Alliance. But day by day his -enemies grew stronger, and the Dutch yielded more and more to the angry -domination of the British. Every obstacle was put in his way to prevent -the refitting of his ship, while at the same time he was told that, if -he did not go to sea with the first fair wind, the Dutch fleet of -thirteen double-decked frigates would force him out. And that would be -to force him into the very jaws of destruction, so they thought, with -twelve British ships cruising in full sight. - -But, menaced from within and without, the indomitable spirit of Paul -Jones only maintained itself the more undauntedly. As every morning -dawned the American colors were hoisted at the mizzen peak of the -Alliance, and flew steadily until the sunset gun was fired—and that in -the face of twenty-three Dutch and British ships, any one of which was -more than a match for the Alliance. - -However the officials might treat him, the sympathy of the people was -with Paul Jones and his gallant companions. The Dutch naval officers -paid him marked respect and attention, although they were ready, at the -word of command, to fire into him. He had other consolations too. His -letters from Franklin were frequent and affectionate. One of them Paul -Jones handed Dale to read. It said: “For some days after the arrival of -your express nothing was talked of except your cool conduct and -persevering bravery during the terrible combat.” And Franklin had -sternly denounced Landais, who was now held in universal contempt. - -The American cause was extremely popular among the masses in Holland, -and the sailors were always well treated on shore. Whenever Bill Green -could get leave, he usually spent it at a clean and orderly Dutch -tavern, where, surrounded by stolid Dutchmen gravely smoking their long -pipes, Bill would hold forth upon the glories of the fight with the -Serapis. About this time he picked up a new song, which he brought on -board the Alliance, written out in a fair and clerkly hand, with -innumerable flourishes. - -“I s’pose,” remarked the boatswain, skeptically, “you’ll want us to -believe as you wrote that out with your own flipper?” - -“Why, yes, I did,” answered Bill, somewhat sheepishly. - -“Well, then,” continued the boatswain, “it’s a shame for you to be -nothin’ but a quartermaster. The purser hisself, he don’t write no such -handwritin’ as that. But pipe up the song, though.” - -Bill, to avoid awkward discussions, piped up with unusual promptness, -and sang as follows: - - “Heave the topmast from the board, - And our ship for action clear. - By the cannon and the sword - We will die or conquer here. - The foe, of twice our force, nears fast: - To your posts, my faithful tars! - Mind your rigging, guns, and spars, - And defend your Stripes and Stars - To the last. - - “At the captain’s bold command - Flew each sailor to his gun, - And resolved he there would stand, - Though the odds were two to one, - To defend his flag and ship with his life. - High on every mast displayed, - ‘God, Our Country, and Our Rights.’ - E’en the bravest braver made, - For the strife. - - “Fierce the storm of battle pours; - But unmoved as ocean’s rock - When the tempest round it roars, - Every seaman breasts the shock, - Boldly stepping where his brave messmates fall. - O’er his head, full oft and loud, - Like the vulture in a cloud, - As it cuts the twanging shroud, - Screams the ball. - - “Before the siroc blast - From its caverns driven, - Drops the sheared and shivered mast, - By the bolt of battle riven, - And higher heaps the ruin of the deck. - As the sailor, bleeding, dies, - To his comrades lifts his eyes, - ‘Let our flag still wave!’ he cries, - O’er the wreck. - - “Long live the gallant crew, - Who survived that day of blood! - And may fortune soon renew - Equal battle on the flood! - Long live the glorious names of the brave! - O’er these martyrs of the deep - Oft the roving wind shall weep, - Crying ‘Sweetly may they sleep - ’Neath the wave!’” - -The attentions shown Paul Jones personally by the Dutch naval officers -were very displeasing to the British ambassador, and by intrigue he -succeeded in having Captain Rimersima, who had been very polite to the -Americans, superseded in favor of Vice-Admiral Reynst, as commander of -the Dutch fleet. This vice-admiral belonged to the court party, and was -notoriously unfriendly to Paul Jones. On the 12th of November he sent -Paul Jones a peremptory order to sail with the first fair wind. In spite -of every effort, the American ship was not yet in condition to keep the -sea. But, for this very reason, the vice-admiral constantly urged Paul -Jones to depart, and even threatened him in case he did not. At last, on -the 28th of November, a positive threat was made. The vice-admiral wrote -that, unless Paul Jones went out, the Dutch fleet would drive him out. -The wind at the time was contrary. Paul Jones received this message from -a junior Dutch officer on the quarter-deck of the Alliance, and replied, -in a loud, firm voice that not only all the men on the Alliance could -hear, but all the sailors in the Dutch man-of-war’s boat: - -“The vice-admiral demands impossibilities,” he said. “Can any ship get -out of the road in such a wind as this?” - -Then he called up an old Dutch pilot that he had kept on board for a -week past—Peter Maartens. - -“Maartens,” said he, “will you undertake to carry this ship out?” - -The pilot, a stolid old Dutchman with a great beard, looked at Paul -Jones very solemnly for a long time. - -“Not if I keep sober,” he answered gravely; at which even the -vice-admiral’s junior officer was forced to smile. - -“Then I will have that statement written out, and you shall sign it,” -promptly replied Paul Jones. - -The paper was written and read to the pilot, who signed it in the -presence of the Dutch lieutenant. For ten days they were left -unmolested. Sir Joseph Yorke thought, however, that he had succeeded at -last in ruining Paul Jones, for, forced to put out as soon as the wind -permitted, there was a British squadron waiting for him at either -entrance to the harbor. It seemed as if Paul Jones was at last destined -to be caught. But Fortune favors the brave—and she had never yet -deserted this daring sailor. Everything had been done with the -insufficient means at hand to get the Alliance into good condition. Much -of her sailing qualities had been destroyed by the crazy Landais’s -method of ballasting. This was remedied, and the ship was in fairly good -order. As Paul Jones wrote to Franklin: “The enemy still keeps a -squadron cruising off here, but this will not prevent my attempts to -depart whenever the wind will permit. I hope we have recovered the trim -of the ship, which was entirely lost the last cruise; and I do not much -fear the enemy in the long and dark nights of this season. The ship is -well manned, and shall not be given away!” - -How does the gallant spirit of Paul Jones ring in those last words! - -About the middle of December the Dutch vice-admiral one day sent word to -Paul Jones, desiring him to come on board the Dutch flagship. To this -Paul Jones sent a polite but determined refusal. As the Dutch boat -pulled off, he said, laughing, to Dale: - -“Does that puppet of kings think that an American commodore will obey -like a dog the orders of a Dutch admiral?” - -Failing to get him on board, Vice-Admiral Reynst wrote him a peremptory -note, asking if the Alliance was to be considered a French or an -American vessel. If French, the captain’s commission was to be shown to -the Dutch vice-admiral, the French flag and pendant displayed, and a gun -fired to announce it. If American, the ship was to leave at the earliest -possible moment. - -To this Paul Jones replied in these characteristic lines: - - “Sir: I have no authority to hoist any colors on this ship except the - American, and whenever the pilot will take it upon himself to conduct - the ship to sea he shall have my best assistance. - - Paul Jones, - “_Commanding the American Continental ship Alliance_.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - -The officers and men were as anxious to get away from the inhospitable -Texel as was Paul Jones, and the sight, day after day, of the low-lying, -monotonous landscape, the frozen dikes, and the pale, wintry sky was -dreary enough to them. Dale kept the wardroom in a good humor, though, -and Bill Green spent much of his enforced leisure, as usual, in learning -songs which he claimed to have composed. - -At last, as Christmas approached, it was known on board that they were -ready to sail, and that a day or two at most would find them at sea. The -officers and men were all on board, and no more shore leave was granted. - -The wind was already veering round to the east, and although they would -have to wait for the wind, there would be no waiting for weather, for -the fouler the weather the fairer the chance of running the gauntlet of -the British fleet, which would then be dispersed, each ship looking out -for herself. Therefore the Americans prayed for bad weather as ardently -as sailors usually pray for good. - -On Christmas night there was great jollification aboard. Paul Jones -dined in the wardroom by invitation of the officers, and afterward -announced to them: - -“Gentlemen, in forty-eight hours we shall be at sea, with our best -American ensign flying, and then we can take care of ourselves.” - -A burst of cheering followed this. The only person present besides the -officers of the ship was the celebrated Captain Cunningham, who had -suffered horrors in an English prison. Paul Jones had at last succeeded -in having Cunningham exchanged, and was taking him to France as a -passenger. - -The jollity aft was quite equaled by the fun forward, and from the -foks’l sounds of cheering, laughing, shouting, and the noisy clatter of -feet, as the sailors danced reels and hornpipes, was plainly audible. -Danny Dixon, who waited behind Paul Jones’s chair, when asked what the -noise meant, whispered artfully: - -“Please, sir, Mr. Green he’s got a new song, all about ‘a Yankee ship -and a Yankee crew, tally hi ho, you know.’ It’s a beautiful song.” - -“Is it?” cried Paul Jones, whose spirits rose high at the prospect of -once more taking his ship to sea. “Gentlemen, shall we send for Green to -give us a new patriotic song he has?” - -“Yes, yes,” they all exclaimed, “a song, by all means!” - -Danny therefore was sent after Bill, who was found trolling forth in his -rich baritone to the admiring foks’l people, and occasionally getting up -and shaking a leg to give emphasis to his music. - -“Mr. Green,” said Danny, going up to him, “you must report to the cap’n -immediate for a song. He knows as how you’ve got a good ’un, and the -cap’n and the officers wants to hear it—that there one about a Yankee -ship and a Yankee crew.” - -“Sho!” said Bill with an affectation of great reluctance, “I knows as -you wuthless, tale-bearin’ lubberly boy went and told the cap’n I had a -new song, and I’ve a great mind to give you the cat for it.” - -“Lord, Mr. Green, I ain’t done no harm,” said Danny apologetically, who -understood the case perfectly, and knew there was no danger of the cat. -“The cap’n knows you sing grand, and ’twarn’t my fault he axed for you.” - -“Well, mates,” said Bill, rising with a delighted grin, “it’s mighty -hard on me havin’ to leave you. I’d ruther not sing if I could help it, -but orders is orders, you know. Howsomedever, young’un,” he remarked to -Danny, “the very next time you gits me in a singin’ scrape like this, -I’m a-goin’ to skin you, mind that!” - -“Yes, sir,” answered Danny very meekly. - -The officers were all sitting around the table with pipes, and full of -talk, laughter, and jollity, when Bill Green’s handsome figure and face -appeared in the wardroom door. Bill, as usual, pretended to be quite -overcome with bashfulness, and twiddled his cap modestly. - -“Give him a glass of punch to wet his whistle,” cried Paul Jones, and -Danny Dixon officiously filled a glass from the punch bowl and handed it -to him. - -After gulping down the punch, Bill cleared his throat and remarked that -he “had thunk out a little song and had wrote it out”—Bill forgot that -the wardroom officers knew he could not write a line—“and as the men got -arter him to sing it, he had tried it oncet or twicet, and he’d do his -best to pipe it up reg’lar.” - -He then began, his rich voice echoing musically through the low-pitched -wardroom. The officers soon caught the refrain, and whenever it came -they accompanied it with much clinking of glasses, and trolled out a -chorus, Dale leading. This was the song: - - “A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - O’er the bright blue waves like a sea bird flew; - Sing hey aloft and alow. - Her wings are spread to the fairy breeze, - The sparkling spray is thrown from her prow, - Her flag is the proudest that floats on the seas, - Her homeward way she’s steering now. - A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - O’er the bright waves like a sea bird flew; - Sing hey aloft and alow. - - “A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - With hearts on board both gallant and true, - The same aloft and alow. - The blackened sky and the whistling wind - Foretell the quick approach of the gale; - A home and its joys flit o’er each mind— - Husbands! lovers! ‘On deck there!’ a sail, - A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know; - Distress is the word—God speed them through! - Bear a hand, aloft and alow! - - “A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know; - The boats all clear, the wreck we now view, - ‘All hands’ aloft and alow. - A ship is his throne, the sea his world, - He ne’er sheers from a shipmate distressed. - All’s well—the reefed sails again are unfurled; - O’er the swell he is cradled to rest. - A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - Storm past, drink to ‘wives and sweethearts’ too, - All hands, aloft and alow! - - “A Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - Freedom defends, and the land where it grew— - We’re free, aloft and alow! - Bearing down is a foe in regal pride, - Defiance floating at each masthead; - One’s a wreck, and she bears that floats alongside - The Stars and Stripes, to victory wed. - For a Yankee ship and a Yankee crew, - Tally hi ho, you know, - Ne’er strikes to a foe while the sky is blue - Or a tar’s aloft or alow.” - -Roars of laughter and applause greeted this, and Bill was compelled to -respond to an encore. The evening and a part of the night passed in -gayety and merriment, and the sober Dutchmen were much astonished at the -hilarity on the American ship. Paul Jones had had the ship dressed for -Christmas, and the British at the Texel were obliged to endure the sight -of an American flag flying from every masthead on the Alliance. At last, -two days after Christmas, Peter Maartens, the pilot, was sent for. The -weather was thick, and a tremendous gale seemed to be rising. When Paul -Jones proposed to take the ship out, Peter shook his head very solemnly. - -“Any pilot who takes a ship out in this weather is likely to lose his -license, and I can’t risk it,” he said. - -Peter had rather a weakness for the bottle, although it was said that he -was as good a pilot when he was half seas over as when he was quite -sober. It was Christmas time, and Peter was liable to yield to -temptation. Paul Jones was therefore not surprised when, as night was -falling, a few hours after, Peter Maartens’s boat hailed the ship, and -he announced that he was ready to carry her out. Immediately the anchor -was lifted, and within an hour the Alliance stood down the river in the -teeth of a northeast gale. - -It was a murky December night when, with a strong wind, the ship started -on her way toward the open sea. A perfectly new American ensign had been -run up for the occasion, and Sir Joseph Yorke had the mortification of -knowing that the ship went boldly out to run the gauntlet of her -enemies, without any disguise whatever. Dale, as first lieutenant, was -on deck. Bill Green was at the wheel. Peter Maartens’s orders, although -very judicious, were not very distinct, as he had been indulging in the -flowing bowl, and the first thing the Alliance knew she was afoul of a -Dutch merchantman. The Alliance dropped her best bower anchor, in the -effort to get clear, and in the wind, the darkness, and confusion, the -cable parted or was cut by the Dutchman. Peter Maartens then declared -that nobody but the devil himself would put to sea in such a gale, and -flatly refused to carry the ship out that night. However, he brought her -to anchor so close inshore that in the morning they were forced to cut -the cable themselves in order to get out, thus leaving both their bower -anchor and sheet anchor in the roads of Texel; but they were out of the -Dutch port, or purgatory, as Paul Jones himself expressed it, and under -close-reefed topsails they were heading for the ocean in the midst of a -roaring gale. But the American ensign flew as long as they were in sight -of land, and until they were three marine leagues out. The Alliance -hugged the shoals so close, in order to keep to windward of the -blockading British squadrons, that several times they had hard work in -clawing off. At last, however, they were clear. - -Paul Jones, wrapped in a cloak and with a sou’wester pulled down over -his eyes, called to him Lieutenant Dale, who had the deck. - -“Dale,” he said, carelessly, “what passage, think you, shall we take to -France?” - -“The northward, I presume, sir,” replied Dale, astonished at the -question from his commander. - -“And do the officers and crew expect we shall go north, and away from -the British Isles?” - -“Certainly, sir,” replied Dale, still more surprised. - -“Then,” said Paul Jones, laying his hand on Dale’s shoulder, “you may -depend upon it, if all my officers and men expect me to avoid the -English Channel, every British captain that is hunting for me likewise -will look for me to the northward. But I will sail through their -channel, under the very noses of their fleet at Spithead.” - -“Sir,” said Dale, who was a very matter-of-fact young man, “surely -nobody will think of hunting for you in the lion’s mouth.” - -Paul Jones at this laughed one of his rare laughs. - -“You will go with me willingly into the lion’s mouth?” he said; to which -Dale replied coolly: - -“Of course, sir.” - -In spite of the bad weather the ship made a good run, and the next day, -it being perfectly clear, they passed boldly through the Straits of -Dover, and were in full sight of the whole magnificent British fleet in -the Downs. They then made the Isle of Wight, which they passed, and for -more than an hour they were within a very short distance of the fleet -assembled at Spithead. The forest of masts, the huge dark hulls of the -ships, the fluttering ensigns, made a lovely picture in the bright air -of December. What would not one of those brave British captains have -given to know that Paul Jones, the invincible, was sailing under their -very lee! - -Paul Jones resorted to his usual ruse. The ports of the Alliance were -closed, her guns covered with spare sails and tarpaulins, she flew the -British ensign, her crew were kept below, and she presented the -appearance of a smart British merchant ship, or possibly a letter of -marque. - -Two days was Paul Jones in the British Channel, much of the time in -sight of the chalk cliffs of England, and scarcely an hour of the night -or day that he was not in view of the British cruisers, which, as Dale -justly said, did not think it worth while to look for him in the lion’s -mouth. He kept well to windward, though, for this man, so daring in his -undertakings, yet carried the details out with the most consummate -prudence. - -After getting clear of the channel, and in easy reach of the French -harbors, he cruised about off Cape Finistère for some days. A furious -January gale coming up in the Bay of Biscay, and having but one anchor -left, Paul Jones put into the port of Corunna, in Spain. The fame of his -exploits had preceded him, and he and his officers received the utmost -attention, especially from some Spanish naval officers there. Paul Jones -greatly admired the Spanish ships, which were sheathed with copper, and -expensively fitted; but, like Nelson, he had no great faith in the -ability of the Spaniards to take care of their fine ships. - -On this cruise the Alliance seems to have been indeed a stormy petrel, -and encountered much bad weather, so that it was the 10th of February -before anchor was cast in the roads of Groix, before L’Orient. - -Shouting multitudes received him. Letters of enthusiastic praise from -Franklin and Lafayette and many distinguished Americans and Frenchmen -awaited him, and he was hailed as the hope of the infant navy of his -country. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -The wound in the head which Paul Jones had received, and which he had -made light of, turned out to be more serious than he would at first -acknowledge. He had had one or two other hurts, of which he had said -nothing, and his labors and the mental strain to which he had been -subjected seriously affected his health and particularly his eyes. The -multitudes that lined the quays and streets of L’Orient to greet him -when he came ashore for the first time, were touched to see that the -great sea warrior’s eyes were bound with a white handkerchief, and he -leaned upon the arm of his faithful Dale. Danny Dixon trotted close -behind, and during the days of Paul Jones’s illness and partial -blindness the boy became eyes and hands to him. Paul Jones took a -lodging on shore, leaving the ship in Dale’s command, as she lay in the -roads. Every day he walked out for exercise, Danny following sedately -behind him and gazing at him with a peculiar expression of reverence -that often made Paul Jones smile. But the intensity of the boy’s -affection was sweet to him. He spent the early spring months at L’Orient -very quietly, trying to regain his health. He had the society of his -faithful young lieutenant, and whenever he appeared in public he was -greeted with the utmost enthusiasm. Repeated messages were sent him from -the French court to visit Paris; but not until he felt it necessary, in -order to secure his gallant crew their prize money, did he determine to -go. Dale was to be left in command of the Alliance; Danny Dixon was to -go to wait on the captain, and was overwhelmed with delight at the idea -of seeing the world under such distinguished auspices. - -When Paul Jones went on board the Alliance to say farewell before -leaving for Paris, he received the applause dearest to him—that of his -officers and crew. The men were piped aft, and, standing surrounded by -his officers, he made them a short speech. He was still pale, and the -wound in his head was not fully healed. - -“I go to Paris, my men,” said Paul Jones, “chiefly to secure the prize -money that you have so gloriously earned. I shall not rest until I have -got it for you. I leave in command my trusty Mr. Dale. Behave to him as -you would to me. You have seen his gallantry in action, and you will now -see his justice and probity in calmer times. I thank you all”—here Paul -Jones’s voice broke, and it was a moment or two before he could proceed. -“I thank you all, officers and men, for the courage that enabled us to -capture the Serapis. The victory was as much yours as mine, and you have -the word of Paul Jones that your just reward shall be secured. I shall -return shortly, and, till then, farewell!” - -The sailors gave Paul Jones not only three cheers, but three times -three, and the officers joined in the cheering with a will. Dale had -been appointed to reply for the officers, and he stood with moist and -glowing eyes as he spoke: - -“All that we have acquired of glory is through you. Can we ever forget -that you commanded our ship in the unequal battle, fought the guns in -person, lashed the ships together with your own hand, took up a pike -like the humblest man on board to repel the enemy when they would have -boarded us, and succeeded against water, fire, treachery, and valor? As -long as ships traverse the ocean will your name be known; and as long as -life lasts will we esteem it the highest honor that we can claim, to -say, ‘We fought with Paul Jones on the Bon Homme Richard!’” - -Another round of cheers followed this, when Bill Green was put forth as -the spokesman for the men. - -“’Tis said, sir,” began Bill, hitching up his trousers before starting -in on his oratorical effort, “that there’s two things no sailor-man can -do—one is, to make a speech, and t’other is, to ride a horse. ’Tain’t -reasonable as a sailor could ride a horse, sir, ’cause horses is -ornnateral beasts, that is always yawin’ about from side to side, no -matter how straight you lay your course, nor what quarter the wind is -from. But we don’t need to make no speech about our commodore. That ’ere -British ensign we has got speaks loud enough; them two British ships you -took agin the awfullest odds we ever see—_they_ speaks; that gallant -ship o’ ourn, the Bunnum Richard, that went to the bottom—_that_ ship -speaks; that ’ere cut acrost your forehead, sir—_that_ speaks; and, as -for we in the foks’l, give us the name o’ Paul Jones for our cap’n and -we kin wallop anything afloat. The cap’n on the S’rapis, he nailed his -flag to the mast and then he had to haul it down. But we don’t need for -to nail our flag to the mast, sir, because we all knows that the man who -touches that ’ere flag is a dead man, if Commodore Paul Jones is -commandin’. And so we says, commodore, health and long life to you! and, -as Mr. Dale has said, the proudest thing we kin ever say is, ‘We fought -under Paul Jones on the Bunnum Richard, sir!’” - -Another tremendous round of cheers followed this. Paul Jones, with his -eyes full of tears, shook hands silently with each of his officers, and -then, with a profound bow to the men assembled, he stepped to the side. -In an instant, as if by magic, every sailor sprang aloft, and in less -time than it takes to tell it the yards were manned. Two fine French -frigates that lay close by the Alliance also manned their yards, and -thundered out a salute of thirteen guns to the commodore’s broad -pennant, which was about to be hauled down. The Alliance responded with -thirteen guns; and so, amid the applause and cheers of his men, the -thunders of artillery, and all the honors that could be heaped upon him, -Paul Jones left his ship. - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - - -Within an hour he was on the road to Paris, traveling by the -_diligence_. - -It was his intention to get to Paris as quietly as possible, and for -that reason he wore plain citizen’s clothes, and wrapped himself in a -large cloak; but Danny Dixon, swelling with the importance of the charge -of his commander’s portmanteau, had no notion of letting the great man -pass unknown through the world. Danny sat in the rumble along with a -very smart and dapper little valet, who was accompanying his master, a -French officer, to Paris. As Danny was not by any means as elegant as -the Frenchman, he was subject to much contempt, all of which he bore -with stoical good humor. - -The May morning was fresh and beautiful, and as they dashed along the -broad and level road they saw green fields on each side of them, and -comfortable homesteads in sight, while occasionally a noble chateau -reared its towers in proud seclusion, half hidden by great trees. The -trees were just budding, and when the _diligence_ rolled occasionally -over the moss-grown stone bridges the streams beneath ran over their -pebbly beds with the laughing fullness of the spring. The air was -deliciously soft and fresh, and as Paul Jones sat on the box seat, -inhaling the beauty and glory around him, he felt a subtile joy and -satisfaction in life. Presently he looked back to see how Danny was -getting on. Danny, with the commodore’s portmanteau tightly clasped -between his knees, was looking a picture of satisfaction. - -“How do you like this?” asked Paul Jones, amused at the boy’s rapt look -of enjoyment. - -“Fust-rate, sir,” answered Danny, touching his cap. “This ’ere’s -mightily like being on the topsail yard, sir, and I think she rolls and -pitches a good deal. But maybe that’s because she ain’t ballasted -right—all the dunnage is aft, sir—” - -Here Paul Jones frowned at Danny, which immediately checked his -eloquence. - -“_Sacre bleu!_” said the dandy valet, who was dressed quite as well as -his master, and who spoke what he thought was English; “you talk ze -rubbish. Your master, he is vidout doubt, a man of seafaring, who goes -to home with a hundred louis d’or in his plocket—poket—pocket—for a -jollitime.” - -“He is, is he?” answered Danny wrathfully. “I’ll have you to understand, -sir, that I serves Commodore Paul Jones, o’ the Bunnum Richard, what -took the S’rapis, and the Britishers has sent out forty-two ships o’ the -line and frigates for to ketch him, and they’d ruther have him nor the -whole durned French navy, with all your wuthless admirals throwed in.” - -“You are von saucy boy,” responded the Frenchman angrily; “and as for -your Paul Jones, vy, I nevair heard of ze gentilhomme before!” - -“Well,” replied Danny, very coolly, “I’ll give you something for to -remember the fust time you ever heerd of him!” and, without a moment’s -warning, he suddenly caught the little Frenchman by the ankle and by the -collar, and, jerking him off the seat, held him suspended over the back -of the rumble, about five feet from the ground, while the horses -galloped along, the postilions cracked their whips, and the white road -sped beneath them. - -As soon as the Frenchman could get his breath he bellowed loudly, but he -was afraid to struggle lest Danny should drop him, and he little knew -the strength in those young sinews and strong boyish arms. - -“You ain’t never heerd o’ Commodore Paul Jones,” bawled Danny, “and you -never heerd on the Bunnum Richard nor the S’rapis nuther, but I reckon -you’ll remember all about ’em next time you hear on’ em!” Danny -emphasized these remarks by giving the little Frenchman several -tremendous shakes, which terrified him more than ever. - -The commotion was not heard for a moment or two, on account of the -rattling of the _diligence_ and the rate at which they were traveling, -but as soon as the affair was noticed cries resounded from the -passengers, both to Danny and to the postilions to check the horses. -Just as Paul Jones turned around and caught sight of Danny the -_diligence_ came to a halt, and, with a final shake, Danny dropped the -Frenchman in the road. - -Quite forgetting himself in the surprise and shock of the occasion, Paul -Jones cried out angrily: “What are you doing, sir? Have you lost your -mind?” - -“No, sir,” replied Danny, touching his cap again, “but that ’ere -frog-eating landlubber, he had the imperence for to tell me that he -ain’t never heerd o’ you, sir, nor of the way you took the Drake and the -S’rapis, nor the forty-two British cap’ns as was on the lookout for you, -sir; so I jest handed him over the side, sir, meanin’ to hold him there -by the slack o’ his trousers till he axed for quarter, sir.” - -Meanwhile, the Frenchman, sputtering and swearing, had got up from the -ground and was brushing the dust off his elegant attire. The French -officer, his master, at first disposed to be angry, could not help -laughing at Danny’s explanation and the tone in which it was given. He -explained it in French, and everybody shouted with laughter, except the -unfortunate lackey and Paul Jones, but even Paul Jones could not wholly -refrain from smiling. - -“Behave yourself better in future, sir, and remember it is I who tell -you so.” - -Danny bobbed his head and touched his cap again, saying, “Ay, ay, sir.” - -But the boy’s words had turned every eye on Paul Jones. Was this slight, -dark, quiet man the redoubtable Paul Jones, the terror of the seas, the -man that England put forth all her might to capture, but who was still -free, still great? Paul Jones’s dark skin flushed under this close -scrutiny. The French officer, raising his hat, made a profound bow, and -said: - -“May I ask if we have the honor of addressing the celebrated, the -invincible Paul Jones?” - -“Your compliments do me too much honor,” replied Paul Jones, “but I am -the person you have so flatteringly described.” - -All hope of privacy was now at an end. Every eye was fixed on him, and -every ear was open to catch his lightest remark. This was not what Paul -Jones desired, and he inwardly chafed at Danny Dixon’s indiscreet -devotion that had betrayed him. But Danny was not the boy to let the -fact remain in obscurity that he served Paul Jones, and he beamed with -delight at the French officer’s words. - -The poor valet, having brushed the dust off his clothes, now climbed -back into the rumble, and the _diligence_ proceeded upon its way. The -only word that Danny condescended to address to him was when they -alighted two days afterward in the streets of Paris. - -“Do you know now, Mounseer Landlubber, who Commodore Paul Jones is?” - -“_Parbleu_, yes,” sighed the lackey. “I vill not forget ze -gentilhomme—nevair, nevair!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -Paul Jones’s first visit in Paris was to his best and firmest friend, -Benjamin Franklin. In all of his anxieties, as well as his triumphs, -Franklin had stood unflinchingly by him; and now, no man rejoiced more -at his splendid fame than Franklin. As soon as it was known that the -immortal Paul Jones was in Paris crowds flocked to see him, and his -modest lodgings were overrun with people of the greatest distinction. -The American cause was very popular, and the presence of two such men as -Benjamin Franklin and Paul Jones was calculated to add luster to the -cause they served. - -Whether Paul Jones walked in the gardens of Paris or upon the -boulevards, he was followed by a respectful and admiring crowd. The -first night he went to the theater, as soon as he entered the word went -round, “There is Paul Jones!” As he advanced and took his seat the -whisper increased to a buzz, and then into an uproar, the audience -rising and applauding excitedly. Paul Jones, with a blush upon his manly -features, rose and returned the salutations of the crowd. - -In a few days came an invitation, which was in reality a command, to -visit Versailles and to meet the king, Louis XVI, and his queen, Marie -Antoinette. Both of them were afterward to lay down their lives on the -scaffold, but then they were in the heyday of power and magnificence. -Louis earnestly desired the independence of America, and entertained the -highest respect for the characters of her great men. - -On a beautiful Sunday in May, Paul Jones, with Franklin, set off for -Versailles in a plain coach. Danny Dixon, in a brand new sailor suit, -sat on the box with the coachman and did duty for a footman. Inside sat -Dr. Franklin, in the simple dress of an American citizen. His coat was -plain but handsome, and he remarked to Paul Jones, smiling: “This is the -coat, my friend, in which I was insulted by Lord Loughborough. I wear it -whenever I appear as the representative of my country; and it is my -ambition to wear it upon the day that an honorable peace is signed -between America and Great Britain”—which actually came to pass. - -Paul Jones wore a splendid new uniform of an American commodore, and -looked every inch a great man. - -All along the road to Versailles, which was crowded with magnificent -equipages, with horsemen superbly mounted, and with a great and merry -populace, the carriage containing the two Americans was pointed out with -the utmost interest. They drove slowly down the grand avenue, and at -last the palace of Versailles burst upon their sight in glittering -beauty. The terraces were of velvety greenness, the fountains sparkled -brilliantly in the noonday sun, and the trees were in their first fresh -glory of the May. - -A crowd of great people—courtiers and court ladies superbly costumed, -ministers and statesmen, naval and military officers in dazzling -uniforms—crowded the grand staircase; but all made way for the venerable -Dr. Franklin and Paul Jones, for the word had sped from mouth to mouth -who they were. Respectful greetings met them on every side, and when -they entered the anteroom they were the cynosure of all eyes. - - [Illustration: _Paul Jones and Franklin at the Court of Louis XVI._] - -Presently the great folding doors of the audience chamber were thrown -wide, and an instant hush fell upon the vast crowd of nobles and -gentlemen. The king and queen, seated in armchairs on a dais, over which -there was a canopy, and surrounded by members of the royal family and -their suite, were seen at the end of the vast and splendid hall. By a -silent motion the gentleman usher, one of the greatest nobles in France, -singled out Dr. Franklin and Paul Jones. Both of them rose at once and -entered the audience chamber, after which the doors slid noiselessly -into their grooves until the two reappeared at the end of half an hour. - -Within the hall Franklin and Paul Jones approached the king and queen -with dignified composure. They were respectful but not awed, and were -much more at their ease than half the great people who surrounded -royalty. - -On reaching the dais upon which sat Louis XVI, whose mild and frank -countenance expressed the honest man and the gentleman much more than -the king, Dr. Franklin bowed profoundly, and said: - -“Sire, I desire to present to your Majesty Commodore Paul Jones, of the -American navy.” - -“And I am heartily glad to see so great a hero,” responded Louis. Then -the same ceremony was gone through with the queen, whose grace and -beauty were then at their zenith. - -Both of them entered into conversation with the two Americans. Never -were two men more congenial in general tastes and opinions than the -excellent Louis and the great Franklin. Louis admired Franklin’s genius, -and Franklin respected the king, who, although his youth was spent in -the most corrupt court in the world, yet grew up honest, temperate, and -moral. The beauty and enthusiasm of the young queen deeply impressed -Paul Jones. Little did he then think that lovely head would one day fall -under the axe of the guillotine! - -The king’s chief attention, though, was bestowed upon Paul Jones, whom -he had long desired to meet. - -“I wish to thank you,” he said, “for the very noble and interesting -account of your glorious cruise, that you wrote out at my request. But, -after all has been said, I am yet constrained to ask you, how could you -have accomplished the capture of the Serapis in the face of such -enormous odds?” - -“By hard fighting, sire,” responded Paul Jones, with a smile; and the -king and the lovely queen both smiled at the manly simplicity of the -answer. The king then said: - -“I understand that the British have tried Captain Pearson by -court-martial, and, considering the fact that he defended himself for -five hours against Commodore Paul Jones, they have not only acquitted -him, but have made him a baronet besides. He is now Sir Richard -Pearson.” - -“Sire,” answered Paul Jones, “if I have the good fortune to meet him -again, I will make him a lord!” - -At this the king laughed heartily, and repeated it to the queen; and -from that Paul Jones’s _bon mot_ went the rounds of Europe. - -As they were about to leave, the king said to Paul Jones: “It is my -intention to show in some marked manner my approval of your brilliant -conduct and my appreciation of so brave an ally, and I design that you -shall receive it in your own country and among the plaudits of your -fellow-citizens. But all Europe will know it as well.” - -Paul Jones bowed his thanks, while Dr. Franklin, in a few words, -expressed the gratitude the American Government and people would feel at -honors bestowed to their foremost naval hero. Then, with profound and -respectful bows, they left the presence of royalty. - -Paul Jones’s popularity was still further increased by these marks of -kingly favor, and he became the fashion with the nobility and the court -people. No assembly was complete without him, and “_le brave -capitaine_,” as he was called, was surrounded by brilliant men and -beautiful women whenever he appeared in society. But what chiefly -pleased Paul Jones was the popular regard the masses had for him, and -the attentions paid him by the French naval and military men. These, -indeed, penetrated his soul. In a very little while the honors alluded -to by the king were announced to Paul Jones through the Minister of -Marine, M. de Sartine. A magnificent gold-hilted sword, inscribed -“_Vindicati Maris Ludovicus XVI Remunerator strenuo vindici_,” was -presented him, and the extraordinary honor of the cross of the Order of -Military Merit, which had never before been given to any but a -Frenchman. This last, however, he could not accept, as an American -officer, without the permission of Congress, and therefore the cross was -sent, with a most flattering letter to the French minister at -Philadelphia, with directions that Congress be asked to allow Paul Jones -to accept it—which permission was afterward enthusiastically granted. - -The conferring of this last honor made Paul Jones a chevalier of the -Order of Military Merit, and he was already the Commodore of the -American Navy. But none of these titles were used by him. His cards bore -the simple but proud name of “_Paul Jones_.” He needed not titles or -distinctions; and, although he appreciated them, he knew that they could -not confer any title upon him that would add one iota to his reputation. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -The American commissioners were so poorly provided with money that they -could never secure Paul Jones a ship worthy of him, and the best they -could do was to get the Ariel, a French sloop of war. But Richard Dale -and Henry Lunt, together with nearly all the officers and men of the Bon -Homme Richard, were available for the Ariel, so that Paul Jones had the -same splendid company that had served under him in his last glorious -cruise. - -A singular fatality seemed to attend all of Paul Jones’s departures from -port. He could never get the ship he wanted, or one worthy of him; nor -could he ever leave when he wished. Contrary winds detained him in the -roads of Groix for several weeks. When the wind finally changed, on the -morning of the 8th of October, there was every indication of squally -weather. - -“Do you know,” said Paul Jones to Dale, whom he always treated with the -utmost confidence, “I have private information that Sir James Wallace, -in the Nonesuch line of battle ship, is waiting for me outside; and she, -you know, is copper sheathed, and one of the finest ships in the world.” - -“But it is not written, Paul,” answered Dale, with an affectionate -smile, “that Paul Jones is ever to be taken by the British.” - -The most affectionate intimacy had now grown up between the commodore -and his young lieutenant; and although Paul Jones was some years older -than Dale, the young lieutenant in private called his commander -“Paul.”[5] They were like an older and a younger brother. In public, the -strictest official etiquette was observed by both; yet when they were -alone they were like two boy friends in their tender friendship. - -The wind increased in violence as they got out into the bay, and by -nightfall it was a roaring tempest. Then came up a storm of which, Paul -Jones himself wrote afterward, “until that night I did not fully -conceive the awful majesty of tempest and of shipwreck. I can give no -idea of the tremendous scene.... I believe no ship was ever before saved -from an equal danger off the point of the Penmarque rocks.” - -These Penmarque rocks are among the most dangerous in the world, and lie -between L’Orient and Brest. The gale continued to increase, and on the -night of the 9th of October, when the Ariel had the Penmarques under her -lee, the storm became utterly terrific. The sky was of a dreadful -darkness, and the waves rushed up into great green mountain slopes, with -a crest of white phosphorus that made a weird and awful glare upon the -storm-swept ocean. Black as the sky was, it seemed to grow suddenly -blacker, as a great mass of clouds went flying over to the northwest, -where it formed a terrible bank that reached from the surface of the sea -to the arch of the heavens. The edges were of a luminous green, and -lightnings began to play upon the face of this awful cloud bank. It -spread quickly over the sky like a great black pall, and then a blast -burst forth. It was as if the cloud were a volcano, spouting wind, rain, -hail, thunders, and lightnings. A vast grayish-white veil of rain was -tossed by the screaming wind between heaven and earth, and rent by the -forked lightning. - -The little Ariel, unable to show a single sail, staggered along, -trembling and shuddering like a human thing in mortal terror and agony. -The frightful buffeting of the waves had opened her seams, and water -poured into her both from below and above. The shrieking of the wind -through her cordage was like the howling of a thousand fiends. The guns -broke loose from their fastenings, and rolled over the decks with a -reverberation like the thunder which roared overhead. All night long -this lasted, and no officer or man left his post that night or closed -his eyes to sleep. The pumps were kept going, and every effort was made -to bring the ship’s head to the wind, but in vain. - -It seemed as if Paul Jones was everywhere during those appalling hours -of the night, always calm, cool, and unruffled. “We are in the hands of -the good God,” he said to his men, “and if we have to meet Death, we -might as well meet him with a bold face as a sheepish one.” - -As the guns rolled about the deck, adding a new horror and a new danger -to that of rocks and waves and storm, Dale, who had the deck, turned to -Paul Jones and said coolly: - -“Commodore, what shall we do about these guns?” - -“We can not afford to throw them overboard,” answered Paul Jones; “we -may have to fight the British by the time this storm is over. The -Nonesuch may not weather it, nor may we; this may be our last night of -life, but if we should survive, and should meet the Nonesuch, both of us -would make a shift to fight.” - -Dale said no more. As the ship would lurch forward into a black abyss, -while above her hissed a mountain of water, the phosphorescent glare -would cast a pale and unearthly light upon the horrors that encompassed -her. The officers regarded her as a doomed ship, but the men had an -unshaken confidence in the seamanship of their commander. In after years -Dale declared: “Never saw I such coolness and readiness in such -frightful circumstances as Paul Jones showed in the nights and days when -he lay off the Penmarques, expecting every moment to be our last, and -the danger was greater even than that we were in on the Bon Homme -Richard when we fought the Serapis.” - -In the last extremity Paul Jones let go sea anchors in the open ocean. -There the tortured ship rolled and pitched, her lower yardarms often -buried in the water, and unable, even with the help of all the anchors, -to get her head round to the wind. Toward three o’clock in the morning -Paul Jones shouted out the order he was never known to give before—for -he was averse to cutting away spars and throwing guns or stores -overboard—“Make ready, Mr. Dale, to cut away the foremast!” - -The boatswain’s whistle could not be heard amid the confusion and the -uproar, but Dale called to Bill Green, and in a few minutes the sailors -were hacking the stout foremast away. It fell over the side with a -frightful crash, and was swallowed up instantly. The helm was then put -hard-a-lee, and the ship came up to the wind. But the mainmast was -pitched out of the step and reeled about like a drunken man. As the -great spar pounded the lower deck every soul on board expected it to -crash through the ship’s bottom. At last Paul Jones ordered that, too, -to be cut away, but before this could be done the chain plates gave way -and the mast broke short off at the gun deck, taking the mizzenmast with -it. The mizzenmast carried away the quarter gallery, and the scene of -wreck was dreadful. The Ariel, now a dismasted hulk, rolled helplessly -in the trough of the sea. Nothing more could be done but to keep the -pumps going and to await their fate. - -Something of the indomitable spirit of Paul Jones seems to have inspired -every man under him, for he afterward spoke of the steady, composed -courage of his officers and men. - -Two days and three nights did he spend in the midst of these horrors, -and when, on the 12th of October, the gale abated so that jury masts -could be rigged, the ship was almost a wreck. But it was not destined -that Paul Jones should perish on the ocean, and so he, without the loss -of a single man, made his way back to L’Orient. It was considered the -worst storm of the century, and the shores of Europe were strewed with -wrecks and dead bodies for days and weeks afterward. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -So severe was the damage done the Ariel, that she was not able to leave -port again for America until the 18th of December. As she carried a very -valuable cargo of arms, besides important dispatches, and was weakly -armed, Paul Jones was directed by Dr. Franklin, who was still the -representative of America in France, to avoid rather than seek a -conflict with the enemy. To a man of Paul Jones’s temperament these -directions were almost impossible to follow. But fortunately for Dr. -Franklin, and perhaps fortunately for Paul Jones’s enemies, he had no -serious encounter until he was near the Island of Barbadoes. He had -chosen the southern passage, because his enemies expected him to take -the usual northern passage. - -On a warm afternoon in the latter part of January, as the Ariel was -proceeding under a fair wind, a remarkably fast sailing frigate was -observed approaching on the opposite tack. The Ariel was deep in the -water with her heavy stores, and as Paul Jones appreciated the necessity -for prudence, he rather wished to avoid speaking the stranger, as she -was tolerably certain to be a British ship. - -The officers were all on deck examining the frigate, when Paul Jones, -who had his glass to his eye, turned to them and said, smiling: - -“I am sorry to disappoint you, gentlemen, but I don’t think we can ‘see’ -her. She is too heavy for us, and sails too well. It is not our own -lives and fortunes that we would stake, but the arms for the soldiers of -Washington, and that would be an irreparable loss if we were captured. -So we must cut and run for it.” - -The officers at once saw the wisdom of this, although they would have -dearly liked a brush with the beautiful frigate. Dale, however, in -turning around, caught sight of Bill Green, with Danny Dixon by his -side, and both of them on the broad grin. Bill’s mouth was literally -stretched from ear to ear. - -“What is it, Green?” asked Dale, who was a great favorite with the -veteran quartermaster, “what are you smiling at?” - -“I ain’t a-smilin’, sir,” replied Bill, showing every tooth in his mouth -in a perfectly phenomenal grin, while Danny openly “snickered” behind -his hand. - -“What are you doing then?” inquired Dale, smiling in spite of himself. - -“Well, then, sir, since you axes me,” replied Bill, trying to look very -solemn, and putting up his hand to conceal his laughter, “the cap’n says -as he ain’t got no notion o’ fightin’ that ’ere craft. I reckon he -_thinks_ he ain’t, but if Cap’n Paul Jones kin come within range o’ a -British ship without takin’ a shot at her, why, sir, my name ain’t Bill -Green, and I ain’t never see Cap’n Paul Jones. That’s all, sir.” At -which Bill ended with a suppressed guffaw, and Dale himself winked -knowingly. - -“Be careful what you say of the captain,” said Dale, with another wink; -“he’s got no notion of fighting. She’s too heavy for us, and you know -the captain never tackles a ship that’s too heavy for him,” and Dale -winked prodigiously at every word he uttered. - -“That’s true, sir,” grinned Bill, “but if you’ll excuse a old fellow, -Mr. Dale, I see you has on a new uniform, sir, and I’d be advisin’ of -you to git out your old clo’es, because it jest might happen, sir, that -the Britisher might fire at us; and then, axerdentally, sir, somebody -might pull a lockstring, and the port might be open, sir, and the shot -might hit the Britisher, and then, without the cap’n a-wantin’ it, as -knowin’ as how the enemy was too heavy for him, he might have to fight -agin his will. ’Tain’t ornlikely, sir, that somethin’ might come of it, -and the cap’n may _have_ to fight, sir, though he mortially hates to.” - -Dale passed on laughing, went below, and took Bill Green’s advice; he -took off his new undress uniform, and put on another one rather the -worse for wear. Just as he was finishing his toilet, Danny Dixon tapped -at the door of his cabin. - -“If you please, sir, the cap’n sends his compliments, and wants to see -you on deck.” - -In a few moments Dale was on deck. As he walked up to Paul Jones, the -captain said: - -“I looked about for you, and my boy told me you had gone below to -shift.” - -“Yes,” answered Dale, with a gleam in his eyes. “We know that you don’t -care to tackle that ship; she’s too heavy for us, and you never like to -fight except when you are on an equality; but all the same, as Bill -Green says, ‘something may come of it,’ so I went below to take off my -uniform, which is a little too good to wear upon such an occasion as -_may_ arise.” - -Paul Jones looked sternly at Dale for a moment, and then, in spite of -himself, burst out laughing. - -Nevertheless, the Ariel carried all sail to escape the ship, which was -now evidently pursuing. As darkness came on the Ariel seemed to be -gaining, and during the night watches the officers reported that she was -completely out of sight. Just as the darkness melted into dawn, however, -Paul Jones, who had been on deck several times during the night, -appeared, and as the faint gray of the early light illumined the sky he -pointed astern. There was the frigate, flying a British ensign, and not -more than a mile away. - -Without drumbeat, or any noise whatever, the Ariel was cleared for -action. She was not sailing her best, owing to her deeply laden -condition, and Paul Jones ordered everything thrown overboard that could -impede her sailing and fighting qualities. This so much improved the -sailing of the ship that she now stretched her legs in earnest. -Everybody on board felt perfectly certain that the captain meant to -fight, but as the frigate was now plainly pursuing the American sloop of -war, Paul Jones wished to test the sailing and manœuvring of his ship -under her lighter conditions before engaging. This conduct evidently -puzzled the frigate, and the state of uncertainty was further increased -by the Ariel hoisting British colors, but occasionally firing a stern -chaser as she ran away. At last, toward night, Paul Jones, having made -all his preparations, the Ariel hauled up her mainsail, took in her -royal yards, and waited for her enemy. She had not yet hoisted her -American colors, but her batteries were lighted up and her ports open. - -“Why, Green,” said Dale, passing him, as Danny Dixon appeared with a -string of battle lanterns ready to be lighted, “it looks as if we were -going to have a brush, after all.” - -“It do, sir,” answered Bill solemnly. “The cap’n mortially hated it, and -it do seem funny he couldn’t help it when the ship was gittin’ over the -water so much faster than she was in the beginnin’. It puzzles me, it -do,” he added, shaking his head waggishly. - -The two ships were now within hail. It was Paul Jones’s intention to -send up the American ensign as soon as the enemy had got near enough to -recognize it in the fast gathering gloom, but the sailor who had hoisted -the British ensign had not taken care to make fast the other end of the -halyards, so as to draw it down rapidly, and there was some difficulty -in getting the British colors down and the American colors up. This -enabled the British ship to range up close under the lee quarter of the -Ariel. - -The short tropical twilight was fast deepening into night, but a -brilliant moon trembled in the heavens, and the dark-blue dome was -flecked with stars. The two ships lay close to each other, like phantom -ships upon the water, but the light from their lanterns and batteries -glowed redly. - -In the midst of a deathlike silence Lieutenant Lunt’s voice rang out the -questions given him in a whisper by Paul Jones, who stood near him. - -“Ship ahoy! What ship is that?” asked Lunt. - -“His Majesty’s ship Triumph,” replied the British captain. - -“Of how many guns?” asked Lunt. - -Everybody awaited the answer to this in breathless silence. There was a -long pause, and Lunt repeated his question. - -The answer came back purposely unintelligible. Officers and men cast -significant glances around. That meant the British ship was ready to -fight if the stranger should prove an enemy. - -“What is the name of your captain?” was next asked. - -“Captain John Pindar.” - -“Any news from the rebels?” asked Lunt. - -This threw the British captain off his guard, particularly as the sailor -had not yet been able to get the British colors down, and they were -still flying. Captain Pindar came to the rail of the Triumph and gave a -long account of affairs in America, which were progressing badly for the -British. After all the information possible had been obtained, most of -which was highly satisfactory to the Americans, Paul Jones himself -called out: - -“Put out your boat and come on board, bringing your commission, so that -I can see whether you are really in the British navy or not.” - -At this Captain Pindar’s suspicions were excited, and it was some -moments before he replied: - -“You have not told me who you are, and, besides, my boat is leaky.” - -Just then the British colors came down and the American ensign was -hoisted. - -“Look at my ensign,” cried Paul Jones, “and consider the danger of -refusing.” - -To this the British captain pluckily replied: - -“I will answer for twenty guns on my ship, and I and every one of my -people are Englishmen.” - -“I will give you five minutes to make up your mind to come on board,” -said Paul Jones, “and if you do not, at the end of that time I shall -fire into you.” - -Then, all at once, the people on the Triumph waked up to their danger. -The five minutes were spent in hurried preparation by them, but on the -Ariel every man was at his station, and not one moved or spoke. - -The five minutes being up, the Ariel backed her topsails, ran close -under the stern of the Triumph, and let fly her broadside. The men in -the tops also gave a volley. The British, unprepared, fired -ineffectively and without order. The Triumph was so obviously at the -mercy of the Ariel that within ten minutes her colors were hauled down -and a cry for quarter resounded. Instantly the order to cease firing was -given, and the Americans gave three cheers. But while they were yet -cheering they observed that the British ship had shaken out her sails -and was drawing ahead. The smoke of the two or three broadsides fired -hid her for a moment, and when it drifted off the Triumph was observed -to be some distance off on the weather quarter of the Ariel, and -tacking. - -Paul Jones instantly suspected the treachery of the Triumph’s captain, -because it is a part of the code of morals in war that a surrender -should be in good faith, particularly when quarter has been asked for -and given. The Ariel immediately set her mainsail and made after the -fleeing ship. But it was in vain. The Triumph had too long a lead, and, -the night suddenly becoming dark, she was lost to sight. Although Paul -Jones had conquered, his prey had escaped. - -The Americans were indignant, but indignation could do no good. They -then resumed their course toward America, and on the 18th of February, -1781, the Ariel cast anchor in the harbor of Philadelphia. Paul Jones -had been absent from America three years, three months, and eighteen -days. In that time he had struck terror upon the coasts of England, -Scotland, and Ireland; he had defied the might of England, had -vanquished every enemy with which he had fought, and had made himself -one of the heroes of the sea, whose name will live as long as ships -traverse the ocean. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -The reception of Paul Jones by the Congress at Philadelphia was one -suitable to his great services. On the 27th of February, Congress passed -a resolution reciting that “The Congress entertains a high sense of the -distinguished bravery and military conduct of Paul Jones, Esq., captain -in the navy of the United States, and particularly in his victory over -the British frigate Serapis, on the coast of England, which was attended -with circumstances so brilliant as to excite general applause and -admiration. - -“That the Minister Plenipotentiary of these United States at the Court -of Versailles communicate to His Most Christian Majesty the high -satisfaction Congress has received from the conduct and gallant behavior -of Captain Paul Jones, which have merited the attention and approbation -of His Most Christian Majesty, and that His Majesty’s offer of adorning -Captain Jones with the cross of the Order of Military Merit is highly -acceptable to Congress.” - - [Illustration: _Paul Jones._ - (Drawn from a Portrait.)] - -On the 28th of March, Congress passed another resolution severely -censuring Captain Landais, who had then been court-martialed and -dismissed the navy, and saying of Paul Jones, after enumerating his -actions: “Ever since Captain Paul Jones first became an officer in the -service of these States he hath shown an unremitted attention in -planning and executing enterprises calculated to promote the essential -interests of our glorious cause. That in Europe, although his expedition -through the Irish Channel in the Ranger did not fully accomplish his -purpose, yet he made the enemy feel that it is in the power of a small -squadron, under a brave and enterprising commander, to retaliate the -conflagrations of our defenseless towns. That, returning from Europe, he -brought with him the esteem of the greatest and best friends of America, -and hath received from the illustrious monarch of France that reward of -warlike virtue which his subjects receive by a long series of faithful -services or uncommon merit. That the conduct of Paul Jones merits -particular attention and some distinguished mark of approbation from the -United States, in Congress assembled.” - -On the 14th of April the distinguished mark of approbation was granted, -in the form of the thanks of Congress, as follows: - -“That the thanks of the United States, in Congress assembled, be given -to Captain Paul Jones, for the zeal, prudence, and intrepidity with -which he has supported the honor of the American flag; for his bold and -successful enterprises to redeem from captivity the citizens of the -States who had fallen under the power of the enemy; and, in general, for -the good conduct and eminent services by which he has added luster to -his character and to the American arms. - -“That the thanks of the United States, in Congress assembled, be also -given to the officers and men who have faithfully served under him from -time to time, for their steady affection to the cause of their country -and the bravery and perseverance they have manifested therein.” - -Following this, there were numerous letters from eminent patriots, and a -truly affectionate one from Lafayette, ending with: “As to the pleasure -of taking you by the hand, my dear Paul Jones, you know my affectionate -sentiments and my very great regard for you, so that I need not add -anything on that subject.” - -Greatest of all, came a letter from Washington himself, which said: - -“Delicacy forbids me to mention _that particular one_, which has -attracted the admiration of all the world.... That you may long enjoy -the reputation you have so justly acquired, is the sincere wish of, - “Sir, your most obedient servant, - “Geo. Washington.” - -Upon the official examination of his report, Paul Jones proudly -answered, in response to an interrogatory, “I have never borne or acted -under any other commission than that of the Congress of America.” His -accounts also showed that he had not up to that time received a penny -either as pay or subsistence. - -Upon a beautiful spring day, the French minister, M. de Luzerne, gave a -grand _fête_ at Philadelphia, for the purpose of investing Paul Jones -with the cross of the Order of Military Merit, sent him by the King of -France. All the Congress was invited, and all of the army and navy -officers then in Philadelphia were present in full uniform, besides the -leading citizens of Philadelphia, and entertainment was especially -provided for the sailors who had served under Paul Jones, as well as the -officers. The guests assembled in the afternoon, and at four o’clock -precisely M. de Luzerne and Paul Jones walked together to the center of -the lawn, under a grove of noble trees. The scene was brilliant and -beautiful, the white dresses of the women and the bright Continental -uniforms of the men showing bravely against the green turf. On a tall -flagstaff floated together the Stars and Stripes and the _Fleur-de-lis_ -of France. Conspicuously massed together were the brave blue jackets who -had served under Paul Jones and his officers, in full uniform, with the -ever-loved Dale at their head. A military band played inspiring airs as -M. de Luzerne and Paul Jones advanced to the center of the great circle. -Paul Jones, wearing the full uniform of an American captain and his -gold-hilted sword, and carrying in his hand his blue-and-gold cap, was a -picture of manliness and modesty. His face was pale, but his eyes were -gleaming. He had fought for glory, and glory had been lavished upon him. -The French ambassador, in a loud voice, spoke: - -“Patriots: His Most Christian Majesty, whom I have the honor to serve, -desiring to show his affection for the cause of America, and for the -gallant and shining conduct of Captain Paul Jones, has directed me, as a -knight of the Order of Military Merit, to confer upon Captain Paul Jones -the cross of this noble order. This has never before been given to any -man not a citizen of France. But were it not for Paul Jones’s devotion -to America, well might France claim him as her son, so well has he -served her cause and that of her allies.” Then, turning to Paul Jones, -he held up a splendid jeweled cross, and said: - -“Therefore, I, in the name of my master, the king, do now invest you -with this cross; and may you live long to wear this glorious emblem!” A -roar of cheers broke forth and resounded through the still and lovely -air. The “hoorays” of the blue jackets, led by handsome Bill Green, were -heard over all the rest, and Danny Dixon, the picture of a sailor, in -his smart and handsome uniform, suddenly began to dance a hornpipe in -the excess of his delight. - -A mist came before Paul Jones’s eyes. The affection, the respect, and -the admiration of the people he had tried to serve was inexpressibly -sweet to him, and as he caught sight of “Old Glory,” that floated -proudly in the golden sunset light, he could say to his own heart, “I -promised to attend that flag with veneration, and I have done it to the -best of my power, and without fear or reproach.” Next him stood Dale, -his best beloved friend and lieutenant. Paul Jones laid his hand on -Dale’s shoulder, and together they watched the inspiring scene. - -“My captain,” said Dale, after a moment, “I have a feeling here”—he -touched his breast—“which tells me that when the day of conflict is -over, and our country takes her stand as the greatest republic upon the -earth, you will be ranked first among those who maintained her honor on -the seas; and the name of Paul Jones will be linked with so much glory -that every American sea officer will envy those who can say with pride, -as I do, ‘_I served under Paul Jones!_’” - - - THE END. - - - - - FOOTNOTES - - -[1]This was the first flag of the Revolution—a pine tree with a - rattlesnake under it, bearing the bold motto, “Don’t tread on me.” - -[2]The songs in this story are not original. - -[3]Meaning his appointment to command the American ships in foreign - waters. - -[4]This incident is historically true. - -[5]Cooper mentions the peculiar tenderness of Dale’s tone, when, in his - latter days, he spoke of his old captain as “Paul.” - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - ---Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public - domain in the country of publication. - ---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and - dialect unchanged. - ---In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the - HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.) - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Paul Jones, by Molly Elliott Seawell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PAUL JONES *** - -***** This file should be named 61784-0.txt or 61784-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/1/7/8/61784/ - -Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net -(This file was produced from images generously made -available by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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