ONCE upon a time there lived in Scotland a poor gardener named John Paul, who had a little son to whom he gave the same name. The rich man's garden that the father took care of was close by the sea, and little John Paul came to love blue water so much that he spent most of his time near it, and longed to be a sailor.
He lived in his father's cottage near the sea until he was twelve years old. Then he was put to work in a big town on the other side of the Solway Firth. This town was called Whitehaven. It was a very busy place, and ships and sailors were there in such numbers that the little fellow, who had been put in a store, greatly liked to go down to the docks and talk with the seamen who had been in so many different lands and seas and who couldtell him all about the wonderful and curious places they had seen, and about their adventures on the great oceans they had sailed over.
In the end the boy made up his mind to go to sea. He studied all about ships and how to sail them. He read all the books he could get, and often, when other boys were asleep or in mischief, he was learning from the books he read many things that helped him when he grew older. At last he had his wish. When he was only thirteen years old, he was put as a sailor boy on a ship called theFriendship.
The vessel was bound to Virginia, in America, for a cargo of tobacco, and the young sailor greatly enjoyed the voyage and was especially delighted with the new country across the sea. He wished he could live in America, and hoped some day to go there again.
When this first voyage was over, he returned to Whitehaven and went back to the store. But soon after, the merchant who owned the store failed in business, and the boy was out of a place and had to look out for himself. This time he became a real seaman. Formany years he served as a common sailor. He proved such a good one that before he was twenty years old he was a captain. This was how he became one: While the ship in which he was sailing was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, a terrible fever broke out. The captain died. The mate, who comes next to the captain, died; all of the sailors were sick, and some of them died. There was no one who knew about sailing such a big vessel, except young John Paul. So he took command and sailed the ship into port without an accident, and the owners were so glad that they made the young sailor captain of the ship which he had saved for them.
John Paul was not the only one of his family who loved America. He had a brother who had crossed the ocean and was living in Virginia, on the banks of the Rappahannock River. This was the same river beside which George Washington lived when a boy. The young captain visited his brother several times while he was sailing on his voyages, and he liked the country so much that, when his brother died, he gave up being a sailor for a while, and went to live on his brother's farm.
When he became a farmer, he changed his name to Jones. Why he did so nobody knows. But he ever after bore the name of John Paul Jones. He made this one of the best known names in the history of the seas.
I doubt if he was a very good farmer. He was too much of a sailor for that. So, when the American Revolution began, he was eager to fight the British on the seas. There was no nation at that time so powerful on the sea as England. The King had a splendid fleet of ships of war—almost a thousand. The United States had none. But soon the Americans got together five little ships, and sent them out as the beginning of the American navy, to fight the ships of England.
John Paul Jones was made first lieutenant of a ship called theAlfred. He had the good fortune to hoist for the first time on any ship, the earliest American flag. This was a great yellow silk flag which had on it the picture of a pine tree with a rattlesnake coiled around it, and underneath were the words: "Don't tread on me!"
Then the grand union flag of the colonies was set. This had thirteen red and whitestripes, like our present flag, but, instead of the stars, in the corner it had the British "union jack." Thus there was a link on the flag between the colonies and England. They had not quite cut apart.
John Paul Jones.John Paul Jones.
Jones had first been offered the command of theProvidence, a brig that bore twelve guns and had a crew of one hundred men. But he showed the kind of man he was by saying that he did not know enough to be a captain, and was hardly fit to be a first lieutenant. That was how he came to be made first lieutenant of theAlfred. Congress took him at his own price.
But Commodore Hopkins, who commanded the fleet, was wise enough to see that Jones knew more about his work than most of the captains in the service. So he ordered him to take command of theProvidence, the snug little brig that had first been offered to him.
The new captain was set at work to carrying troops and guarding merchant vessels along the shore, and he did this with wonderful skill. There were British men-of-war nearly everywhere, but Jones managed to keep clear of them. He darted up and down Long IslandSound, carrying soldiers and guns and food to General Washington. So well did he do his work that Congress made him a captain. This was on August 8, 1776, a month and more after the "Declaration of Independence." He had a free country now to fight for, instead of rebel colonies.
TheProvidencewas a little vessel, but it was a fast sailer, and was wonderfully quick to answer the helm. That is, it turned very quickly when the rudder was moved. And it had a captain who knew how to sail a ship. All this brought the little brig out of more than one tight place.
I must tell you about one of these escapes, in which Captain Jones showed himself a very sharp sea-fox. He came across a fleet of vessels which he thought were merchant ships, and had a fancy he might capture the largest. But when he got close up he found that this was a big British frigate, theSolebay.
Away went theProvidenceat full speed, and hot-foot after her came theSolebay. For four hours the chase was kept up, the frigate steadily gaining. At last she was only a hundred yards away. Now was the time to surrender.Nearly any one but Paul Jones would have done so. A broadside from the great frigate would have torn his little brig to pieces. But he was one of the "never surrender" kind.
What else could he do? you ask. Well, I will tell you what he did. He quietly made ready to set all his extra sails, and put a man with a lighted match at each cannon, and had another ready to hoist the union flag.
Then, with a quick turn of the helm, the little brig swung round like a top across the frigate's bows. As she did so all the guns on that side sent their iron hail sweeping across the deck of theSolebay. In a minute more the studding sails were set on both sides, like broad white wings, and away went theProvidenceas swift as a racer, straight before the wind and with the American flag proudly flying. The officers and men of the frigate were so upset by the sudden dash and attack that they did not know what to do. Before they came to their senses the brig was out of reach of their shot. Off like a bird she went, now quite outsailing her pursuer. TheSolebay, fired more than a hundred iron balls after her, but they only scared the fishes.
It was not long before Captain Jones found another big British ship on his track. He was now off the coast of Nova Scotia, and as there was nothing else to do, he let his men have a day's sport in fishing for codfish. Fish are plenty in those waters, and they were pulling them up in a lively fashion when a strange sail rose in sight.
When it came well up Captain Jones saw it was a British frigate, and judged it time to pull in his fishing lines and set sail on his little craft. Away like a deer went the brig, and after her like a hound came the ship. But it soon proved that the deer was faster than the hound, and so Captain Jones began to play with the big frigate. He took in some of his sails and kept just out of reach.
TheMilford, which was the name of the British ship, kept firing at theProvidence, but all her shot plunged into the waves. It was like the hound barking at the deer. And every time theMilfordsent a broadside, Paul Jones replied with a musket. After he had all the fun he wanted out of the lumbering frigate, he spread all sail again and soon left her out of sight.
We cannot tell the whole story of the cruise of theProvidence. In less than two months it captured sixteen vessels and burned some others. Soon after that Jones was made captain of theAlfred, the ship on which he had raised the first flag. With this he took a splendid prize, the brigMellish, on which were ten thousand uniforms for the British soldiers. Many a ragged soldier in Washington's army thanked him that winter for a fine suit of warm clothing.
Let us tell one more fine thing that Captain Jones did in American waters before he crossed the ocean to the British seas. Sailing along the coast of Canada he came upon a fleet of coal vessels, with a British frigate to take care of them. But it was foggy and the coalers were scattered; so that Jones picked up three of them while the frigate went on with her eyes shut, not knowing that anything was wrong.
Two days afterward he came upon a British privateer, which was on the hunt for American vessels. But when theAlfredcame up, before more than a few shots had been fired, down came its flag.
Captain Jones now thought it time to gethome. His ship was crowded with prisoners, he was short of food and water, and he had four prizes to look after, which were manned with some of his crew.
But he was not to get home without another adventure; for, late one afternoon, there came in sight the frigateMilford, the one which he had saluted with musket balls. He could not play with her now, for he had his prizes to look after, and while he could outsail her, the prizes could not.
So he told the captains of the prizes to keep on as they were, no matter what signals he made. Night soon came, and theAlfredsailed on, with two lanterns swinging in her tops. Soon she changed her course and theMilfordfollowed. No doubt her captain thought that the Yankee had lost his wits, to sail on with lanterns blazing and make it easy to keep in his track.
But when morning dawned the British captain found he had been tricked. TheAlfredwas in sight, but all the prizes were gone except the privateer, whose stupid captain had not obeyed orders. The result was that the privateer was recaptured. But theAlfredeasily kept ahead. That afternoon a squall of snow came upon the sea, and the Yankee craft, "amid clouds and darkness and foaming surges, made her escape."
In a few days more theAlfredsailed into Boston. There his ship was given another captain, and for six months he had nothing to do. Congress was full of politicians who were looking out for their friends, and the best seaman in the American navy was left sitting at home biting his thumb nails and whistling for a ship.
I have not told you here the whole story of our greatest naval hero. I have not told you even the best part of his story, that part which has made him famous in all history, and put him on a level with the most celebrated sea fighters of all time.
The exploits of Paul Jones cover two seas, those of America and those of England, and in both he proved himself a brilliant sailor and a daring fighter. I think you will say this from what you have already read. His deeds of skill and bravery on our own coast were wonderful, and if they had stood alone would have given him great fame. But it was inthe waters and on the shores of England that he showed the whole world what a man he was; and now, when men talk of the great heroes of the sea, the name of John Paul Jones always stands first. This is the story we have next to tell, how Captain Jones crossed the ocean and bearded the British lion in his den.
YOU have been told how Captain Paul Jones lost his ship. He was given another in June, 1777. This was theRanger, a frigate carrying twenty-six guns, but it was such a slow old tub that our captain was not well pleased with his new craft. He did not want to run away from the British; he wanted a ship that was fit to chase an enemy.
We have one thing very interesting to tell. On the very day that Jones got his new ship Congress adopted a new flag, the American standard with its thirteen stars and thirteen stripes. As soon as he heard of the new flag, Captain Jones had one made in all haste, and with his own hands he ran it up to the mast-head of theRanger. So she was the first ship that ever carried the "Stars and Stripes." Isit not interesting that the man who first raised the pine-tree flag of the colonies was the first to fling out to the breeze the star-spangled flag of the American Union?
Captain Jones was ordered to sail for France, but it took so long to get theRangerready for sea that it was winter before he reached there. Benjamin Franklin and other Americans were there in France and were having a fine new frigate built for Paul Jones. But when England heard of it such a protest was made that the French government stopped the work on the ship, and our brave captain had to go to sea again in the slow-footedRanger.
He had one satisfaction. He sailed through the French fleet atQuiberonBay and saluted the French flag. The French admiral could not well help returning his salute. That was the first time the Stars and Stripes were saluted by a foreign power.
What Captain Jones proposed to do was the boldest thing any American captain could do. England was invading America. He proposed to invade England. That is, he would cruise along the British coast, burning ships and towns, and thus do there what the British haddone along the American coast. He wanted to let them find how they liked it themselves.
It was a daring plan. The British channel was full of war-vessels. If they got on the track of his slow ship he could not run away. He would never think of running from one ship, but there might be a fleet. However, Paul Jones was the last man in the world to think of danger; so he put boldly out to sea, and took his chances.
It was not long before he had all England in a state of alarm. News came that this daring American warship was taking prize after prize, burning some and sending their crews ashore. He would hide along the English coast from the men-of-war that went out in search, and then suddenly dart out and seize some merchant ship.
The English called Captain Jones a pirate and all sorts of hard names. But they were very much afraid of him and his stout ship. And this voyage of his, along the shores of England, taught them to respect and fear the American sailors more than they had ever done before.
After he had captured many British vessels,almost in sight of their homes, he boldly sailed to the north and into the very port of Whitehaven, where he had "tended store," as a boy, and from which he had first gone to sea. He knew all about the place. He knew how many vessels were there, and what a splendid victory he could win for the American navy, if he could sail into Whitehaven harbor and capture or destroy the two hundred vessels that were anchored within sight of the town he remembered so well.
With two rowboats and thirty men he landed at Whitehaven, locked up the soldiers in the forts, fixed the cannon so that they could not be fired, set fire to one of the vessels that were in the harbor, and so frightened all the people that, though the gardener's son stood alone on the wharf, waiting for a boat to take him off, not a man dared to lay a hand on him. With a single pistol he kept back a thousand men.
Then he sailed across the bay to the house of the great lord for whom his father had worked as a gardener. He meant to run away with this nobleman, and keep him prisoner until the British promised to treat better theAmericans whom they had taken prisoners. But the lord whom he went for was "not at home," so all that Captain Jones's men could do was to carry off from the big house the silverware of the earl. Captain Jones did not like this; so he took the things from his men and returned them to Earl Selkirk, with a letter asking him to excuse his sailors.
Not long afterward one of the British men-of-war which were in the hunt for Captain Jones, found him. This was theDrake, a larger ship than theRangerand carrying more men. But that did not trouble Paul Jones, and soon there was a terrible fight. The sails of theDrakewere cut to pieces, her decks were red with blood, and at last her captain fell dead. In an hour after the fight began, just as the sun was going down behind the Irish hills, there came a cry for quarter from theDrake, and the battle was at an end. Off went Captain Jones, with his ship and his prize, for the friendly shores of France, where he was received with great praise.
Soon after this the French decided to help the Americans in their war for independence. After some time Captain Jones was put in commandof five ships, and back he sailed to England to fight the British ships again.
The vessel in which he sailed was the biggest of the five ships. It had forty guns and a crew of three hundred sailors. Captain Jones thought so much of the great Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who had written a book of good advice, under the name of "Poor Richard," that he named his big ship for Dr. Franklin. He called it theBon Homme Richard, which is French for "good man Richard." But theBon Homme Richardwas not a good boat, if it was a big one. It was old and rotten and leaky, and not fit for a warship, but its new commander made the best he could of it.
The little fleet sailed up and down the English coasts, capturing a few prizes, and greatly frightening the people by saying that they had come to burn some of the big English sea towns. Then, just as they were about sailing back to France, they came—near an English cape, called Flamborough Head—upon an English fleet of forty merchant vessels and two war ships.
One of the war ships was a great English frigate, called theSerapis, finer and strongerin every way than theBon Homme Richard. But Captain Jones would not run away.
"What ship is that?" called out the Englishman. "Come a little nearer, and we'll tell you," answered plucky Captain Jones.
The British ships did come a little nearer. The forty merchant vessels sailed as fast as they could to the nearest harbor, and then the warships had a terrible battle.
At seven o'clock in the evening the British frigate and theBon Homme Richardbegan to fight. They banged and hammered away for hours, and then, when the British captain thought he must have beaten the Americans, and it was so dark and smoky that they could only see each other by the fire flashes, he called out to the American captain: "Are you beaten? Have you hauled down your flag?"
And back came the answer of Captain John Paul Jones: "I haven't begun to fight yet!"
So they went at it again. The two ships were now lashed together, and they tore each other like savage dogs in a fight.
The rotten oldRichardsuffered terribly. Two of her great guns had burst at the first fire, and she was shot through and throughby theSerapisuntil most of her timbers above the water-line were shot away. The British rushed on board with pistols and cutlasses, and the Americans drove them back. But theRichardwas on fire; water was pouring in through a dozen shot holes; it looked as if she must surrender, brave as were her captain and crew. There were on board the old ship nearly two hundred prisoners who had been taken from captured vessels, and so pitiful were their cries that one of the officers set them free, thinking that the ship was going to sink and that they ought to have a chance for their lives. These men were running up on deck, adding greatly to the trouble of Captain Jones; for he had now a crowd of enemies on his own ship. But the prisoners were so scared that they did not know what to do. They saw the ship burning around them and heard the water pouring into the hold, and thought they would be carried to the bottom. So to keep them from mischief they were set to work, some at the pumps, others at putting out the fire. And to keep the ship from blowing up, if the fire should reach the magazine, Captain Jones set men at bringingup the kegs of powder and throwing them into the sea. Never was there a ship in so desperate a strait, and there was hardly a man on board, except Captain Jones, who did not want to surrender.
But the British were not having it all their own way. The American tars had climbed the masts and were firing down with muskets and flinging down hand grenades, until all the British had to run from the upper deck. A hand grenade is a small, hollow iron ball filled with powder, which explodes when thrown down and sends the bits of iron flying all around, like so many bullets.
One sailor took a bucketful of these and crept far out on the yard-arm of the ship, and began to fling them down on the gun-deck of theSerapis, where they did much damage. At last one of them went through the open hatchway to the main deck, where a crowd of men were busy working the great guns, and cartridges were lying all about and loose powder was scattered on the floor.
The grenade set fire to this powder, and in a second there was a terrible explosion. A great sheet of flame burst up through thehatchway, and frightful cries came from below. In that dreadful moment more than twenty men were killed and many more were wounded. All the guns on that deck had to be abandoned. There were no men left to work them.
Where was Captain Jones all the time, and what was he doing? You may be sure he was busy. He had taken a gun and loaded it with double-headed shot, and kept firing at the mainmast of theSerapis. Every shot cut a piece out of the mast, and after a while it came tumbling upon the deck, with all its spars and rigging. The tarred ropes quickly caught fire, and the ship was in flames.
At this moment up came theAlliance, one of Captain Jones's fleet. He now thought that the battle was at an end, but to his horror theAlliance, instead of firing at the British ship, began to pour its broadsides into his own. He called to them for God's sake to quit firing, but they kept on, killing some of his best men and making several holes under water, through which new floods poured into the ship. TheAlliancehad a French captain who hated Paul Jones and wanted to sink his ship.
Both ships were now in flames, and water rushed into theRichardfaster than the pumps could keep it out. Some of the officers begged Captain Jones to pull down his flag and surrender, but he would not give up. He thought there was always a chance while he had a deck under his feet.
Soon the cowardly French traitor quit firing and sailed off, and Paul Jones began his old work again, firing at theSerapisas if the battle had just begun. This was more than the British captain could bear. His ship was a mere wreck and was blazing around him, so he ran on deck and pulled down his flag with his own hands. The terrible battle was at an end. The British ship had given up the fight.
Lieutenant Dale sprang on board theSerapis, went up to Captain Pearson, the British commander, and asked him if he surrendered. The Englishman replied that he had, and then he and his chief officer went aboard the batteredRichard, which was sinking even in its hour of victory.
But Captain Jones stood on the deck of his sinking vessel, proud and triumphant. He had shown what an American captain andAmerican sailors could do, even when everything was against them. The English captain gave up his sword to the American, which is the way all sailors and soldiers do when they surrender their ships or their armies.
The fight had been a brave one, and the English King knew that his captain had made a bold and desperate resistance, even if he had been whipped. So he rewarded Captain Pearson, when he at last returned to England, by making him a Knight, thus giving him the title of "Sir." When Captain Jones heard of this he laughed, and said: "Well, if I can meet Captain Pearson again in a sea fight, I'll make him a lord."
The poorBon Homme Richardwas such an utter wreck that she soon sank beneath the waves. But, even as she went down, the stars and stripes floated proudly from the mast-head, in token of victory.
Captain Jones, after the surrender, put all his men aboard the capturedSerapis, and then off he sailed to the nearest friendly port, with his great prize and all his prisoners. This victory made him the greatest sailor in thewhole American war, and the most famous of all American seamen.
Captain Jones took his prize into the Dutch port of Texel, closely followed by a British squadron. The country of Holland was not friendly to the Americans, and though they let him come in, he was told that he could not stay there. So he sailed again, in a howling gale, straight through the British squadron, with the American flag flying at his peak. Down through the narrow Straits of Dover he passed, coming so near the English shore that he could count the warships at anchor in the Downs. That was his way of showing how little he feared them. The English were so angry at Holland because it would not give up the Americans and their prizes that they declared war against that country.
When Captain Jones reached Paris he was received with the greatest honor, and greeted as one of the ablest and bravest of sea-fighters.
Everybody wished to see such a hero. He went to the King's court, and the King and Queen and French lords and ladies made much of him and gave him receptions, and said so many fine things about him that, if he had beenat all vain, it might have "turned his head," as people say. But John Paul Jones was not vain.
He was a brave sailor, and he was in France to get help and not compliments. He wished a new ship to take the place of the oldRichard, which had gone to the bottom after its great victory.
So, though the King of France honored him and received him splendidly and made him presents, he kept on working to get another ship. At last he was made captain of a new ship, called theAriel, and sailed from France. He had a fierce battle with an English ship called theTriumph, and defeated her. But she escaped before surrendering, and Captain Jones sailed across the sea to America.
He was received at home with great honor and applause. Congress gave him a vote of thanks, "for the zeal, prudence and intrepidity with which he had supported the honor of the American flag"—that is what the vote said.
People everywhere crowded to see him, and called him hero and conqueror. Lafayette, the brave young Frenchman who came over to fight for America, called him "my dearPaul Jones," and Washington and the other leaders in America said, "Well done, Captain Jones!"
The King of France sent him a splendid reward of merit called the "Cross of Honor," and Congress set about building a fine ship for him to command. But before it was finished, the war was over; and he was sent back to France on some important business for the United States.
Here he was received with new honor, for the French knew how to meet and treat a brave man; and above all they loved a man who had humbled the English, their ancient foes. Captain Jones had sailed from a French port and in a French ship, and they looked on him almost as one of their own. But all this did not make him proud or boastful, for he was not that kind of man.
In later years Paul Jones served in Russia in the wars with the Turks. But the British officers who were in the Russian service refused to fight under him, saying that he was a rebel, a pirate, and a traitor. This was because he had fought for America after being born in Scotland. So, after some hard fighting,he left Russia and went back to France, where he died in 1792.
In all the history of sea fighting we hear of no braver man, and the United States, so long as it is a nation, will be proud of and honor the memory of the gallant sailor, John Paul Jones.
MANY of us, all our lives, have seen vessels of every size and shape darting to and fro over the water; some with sails spread to the wind, others with puffing pipes and whirling wheels.
And that is not all. Men have tried to go under water as well as on top. Some of you may have read Jules Verne's famous story, "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea." That, of course, is all fiction; but now-a-days there are vessels which can go miles under the water without once coming to the top.
We call these submarine boats, and look upon them as something very new. You may be surprised to learn that there was a submarine boat as long ago as the War of the Revolution.It was not a very good one, and did not do the work it was built for, but it was the first of its kind, and that is something worth knowing.
Those of you who have studied history will know that after the British were driven out of Boston they came to New York with a large army, and took possession of that city. Washington and his men could not keep them out, and had to leave. There the British lay, with their army in the city and their fleet in the bay and river, and there they stayed for years.
There was an American who did not like to see British vessels floating in American waters. He knew he could not drive them away, but he thought he might give them some trouble. This was a Connecticut man named David Bushnell, a chap as sharp as a steeltrap, and one of the first American inventors.
What Bushnell did was to invent a boat that would move under water and might be made to blow up an enemy's ship. As it was the first of this kind ever made, I am sure you will wish to know what it was like and how it was worked.
He called itThe American Turtle, for it looked much like a great swimming turtle, big enough to hold a man and also to carry a torpedoloaded with 150 pounds of gunpowder. This was to be fastened to the wooden bottom of a ship and then fired off. It was expected to blow a great hole in the bottom and sink the vessel.
Of course, the boat was air-tight and water-tight, but it had a supply of fresh air that would last half an hour for one man. There was an oar for rowing and a rudder for steering. A valve in the bottom let in the water when the one-man crew wanted to sink his turtle-like boat, and there were two pumps to force the water out again when he wanted to rise.
There were windows in the top shell of the turtle, air pipes to let out the foul air and take in fresh air, small doors that could be opened when at the surface, and heavy lead ballast to keep the turtle level. In fact, the affair was, for the time, very ingenious and complete.
A very important part of it was the torpedo, with its 150 pounds of powder. This was carried outside, above the rudder. It was so made that when the boat came under a vessel the man inside could fasten it with a screw to the vessel's bottom, and row away and leave it there. Inside it was a clock, which could be set to runa certain time and then loosen a sort of gunlock. This struck a spark and set fire to the powder, and up—or down—went the vessel.
You can see that Dave Bushnell's invention was a very neat one; but, for all that, luck went against it. He first tried his machine with only two pounds of powder on a hogshead loaded with stones. The powder was set on fire, and up went the stones and the boards of the hogshead and a body of water, many feet into the air. If two pounds of powder would do all this, what would one hundred and fifty pounds do?
In 1776 theTurtlewas sent out against a big British ship named theEagle, anchored in New York Bay. The man inside rowed his boat very well under water, and after some time found himself beneath the King's ship. He now tried to fasten the torpedo to the bottom, but the screw struck an iron bar and would not go in. Then he moved to another place, but now he lost the ship altogether. He could not find her again, and he had to row away, for he could not stay much longer under water.
There is a funny story told about the manin theTurtle. He was a queer fellow named Abijah Shipman, but called by his companions "Long Bige."
As he entered the craft and was about to screw down its cover, he opened it again and asked for a chew of tobacco. All those present felt in their pockets, but none of the weed was on hand.
"You will have to go without it, old chap," said General Putnam, who was present. "We Continental officers can't afford even a plug of tobacco. To-morrow, after you have sent theEagleon her last flight, we will try and raise you a whole keg of the weed."
"That's too bad," growled Bige. "Tell you what, Gineral, if the oldTurtledon't do her duty, it's all along of me goin' out without tobacco."
After he had gone Putnam and his officers watched anxiously for results. Time passed. Morning was at hand. TheEaglerode unharmed. Evidently something had gone wrong. Had the torpedo failed, and was "Long Bige" resting in his wrecked machine on the bottom of the bay? Putnam swept the waters near theEaglewith his glass. Suddenlyhe exclaimed. "There he is." The top of theTurtlehad just emerged, some distance from the ship.
Abijah, fearing that he might be seen, had cast off the torpedo that he might go the faster. The clock had been set to run an hour, and at the end of that time there was a thundering explosion near the fleet, hurling up great volumes of water into the air.
Soon there were signs of fright in the ships. The anchors were raised, sails were set, and off they went to safer quarters down the bay. They did not care to be too near such dangerous affairs as that.
Boats were sent out to the aid of theTurtleand it was brought ashore at a safe place. On landing Abijah gave, in his queer way, the reasons for his failure.
"It's just as I said, Gineral; it went to pot for want o' that cud of tobacco. You see, I'm mighty narvous without my tobacco. When I got under the ship's bottom, somehow the screw struck the iron bar that passes from the rudder pintle, and wouldn't hold on anyhow I could fix it. Just then I let go the oar to feel for a cud, to steady my narves, and I hadn'tany. The tide swept me under her counter, and away I slipped top o' water. I couldn't manage to get back, so I pulled the lock and let the thunder-box slide. That's what comes of sailing short of supplies. Say, can you raise a cud among younow?"
Later on, after the British had taken the city of New York, two more attempts were made to blow up vessels in the river above the city. But they both failed, and in the end the British fired upon and sunk theTurtle. Bushnell's work was lost. The best he had been able to do was to give them a good scare.
But he was not yet at the end of his schemes. He next tried to blow up theCerberus, a British frigate that lay at anchor in Long Island Sound. This time a schooner saved the frigate. A powder magazine was set afloat, but it struck the schooner, which lay at anchor near the frigate. The schooner went to pieces, but theCerberuswas saved.
The most famous of Bushnell's exploits took place at Philadelphia, after the British had taken possession and brought their ships up into the Delaware River.
One fine morning a number of kegs wereseen floating down among the shipping. What they meant nobody knew. The sailors grew curious, and a boat set out from a vessel and picked one of them up. In a minute it went off, with the noise of a cannon, sinking the boat and badly hurting the man.
This filled the British with a panic. Those terrible kegs might do frightful damage. They must be some dreadful invention of the rebels. The sailors ran out their guns, great and small, and began to batter every keg they saw with cannon balls, until there was a rattle and roar as if a mighty battle was going on. Such was the famous "Battle of the Kegs."
This was more of Dave Bushnell's work. He had made and set adrift those powder kegs, fixing them so that they would explode on touching anything. But he did not understand the river and its tides. He intended to have them get among the ships at night, but it was broad day when they came down, and by that time the eddying waters had scattered them far and wide. So the powder kegs were of no more account than the torpedoes. All they did was to give the British a scare.
Philadelphia had a poet named FrancisHopkinson, who wrote a poem making fun of the British, called "The Battle of the Kegs." We give a few verses of this humorous poem:
'Twas early day, as poets say,Just as the sun was rising;A soldier stood on a log of woodAnd saw the sun a-rising.As in amaze he stood to gaze(The truth can't be denied, sir),He spied a score of kegs, or more,Come floating down the tide, sir.A sailor, too, in jerkin blue,The strange appearance viewing,First "dashed" his eyes in great surprise,Then said: "Some mischief's brewing."These kegs, I'm told, the rebels hold,Packed up like pickled herring;And they've come down to attack the townIn this new way of ferrying."* * * * * * * *The cannons roar from shore to shore,The small arms make a rattle;Since wars began, I'm sure no manE'er saw so strange a battle.The fish below swam to and fro,Attacked from every quarter."Why sure," thought they, "the devil's to pay'Mong folks above the water."From morn to night these men of mightDisplayed amazing courage;And when the sun was fairly down,Retired to sup their porridge.Such feats did they perform that day,Against those wicked kegs, sir,That years to come, if they get home,They'll make their boasts and brags, sir.
And so it went on, verse after verse, with not much poetry in it, but a good deal of fun. The British did not enjoy it, for people did not like to be laughed at then any more than now.
THE heroes of our navy were not all Americans born. More than one of them came from British soil, but a footprint on the green fields of America soon turned them into true-blue Yankees. There was John Paul Jones, the gallant Scotchman. And there was John Barry, a bold son of green Erin.
I have told you the story of Jones, the Scotchman, and now I must tell you that of Barry, the Irishman.
John Barry was a merchant captain who was made commander of theLexingtonin 1776. The next year he was appointed to theEffingham, a new frigate building at Philadelphia. The British captured that city beforethe ship was ready for sea, and theEffingham, theWashington, and some other vessels were caught in a trap. They were taken up the river to Whitehill, above the city, and there they had to stay. Captain Barry, you may be sure, was not much pleased at this, for he was one of the men who love to be where fighting is going on.
Soon orders came from the Navy Board to sink theEffingham. This made Barry's Irish blood very hot. I fancy he said some hard things about the members of the board, and swore he would do nothing of the kind. If the British wanted the American ships let them come and take them. He had guns enough to give them some sport and was disposed to try it.
When the members of the Navy Board heard of what he said, they were very angry, and in the end he had to sink the ship and had to apologize for his strong language. But time proved that he was right and the Navy Board was wrong.
By this time Captain Barry was tired enough of being penned up, and he made up his mind by hook or crook to get out of his cage.He was burning for a fight, and thought that if he could get down the river he might give the British a taste of his mettle.
So, one dark night he set out with four boats and twenty-seven men. He rowed down the river past the ships in the stream and the soldiers on shore. Some of the soldiers saw his boats, and a few shots were fired, but they got safely past, and by daybreak were far down the broad Delaware.
Barry kept on until he reached Port Penn, down near the bay, where the Americans had a small fort. Here there was a chance for the work he wanted, for across the river he saw a large schooner flying the British flag. It was theAlert, carrying ten guns, and with it were four transports laden with food for the army at Philadelphia.
This was a fine opportunity for the bold Irish captain. It took courage to attack a strong English vessel with a few rowboats, but of courage Barry had a full supply.
The sun was up, and it was broad day when the American tars set out on their daring enterprise. TheAlerthad a wide-awake name, but it must have had a sleepy crew; for beforethe British knew there was anything wrong, Barry and his men had rowed across the stream and were clambering over the rail, cutlass and pistol in hand.
The British sailors, when they saw this "wild Irishman" and his daring tars, cutting and slashing and yelling like madmen, dropped everything and ran below in fright. All that keep them there.
In this easy fashion, twenty-eight Americans captured a British ten-gun vessel with a hundred and sixteen men on board. There had been nothing like that in all the war.
The transports had to surrender, for they were under the guns of theAlert, and Barry carried his five prizes triumphantly to Port Penn, where he handed his captives over to the garrison.
And now the daring captain made things lively for the foe. He sailed up and down the river and bay, and cut off supplies until the British army at Philadelphia began to suffer for food.
What was to be done? Should this Yankee wasp go on stinging the British lion? General Howe decided that this would never do, andsent a frigate and a sloop-of-war down the river to put an end to the trouble.
Captain Barry, finding these water-hounds sharp on his track, ran for Christiana Creek, hoping to get into shallow water where the heavy British ships could not follow. But the frigate was too fast, and chased him so closely that the best he could do was to run the schooner ashore and escape in his boats.
But he was determined that they should not have theAlertif he could help it. Turning two of the guns downward, he fired through the ship's bottom, and in a minute the water was pouring into her hold.
The frigate swung round and fired a broadside at the fleeing boats; but all it brought back was a cheer of defiance from the sailors, as they struck the land and sprang ashore. Here they had the satisfaction of seeing the schooner sink before a British foot could be set on her deck.
The war vessels now went for the transports at Port Penn. Here a battery had been built on shore, made of bales of hay. This was attacked by the sloop-of-war, but the American sharpshooters made things lively for her. Theymight have beaten her off had not their captain fallen with a mortal wound. The men now lost heart and fled to the woods, first setting fire to the vessels.
Thus ended Barry's brave exploit. He had lost his vessels, but the British had not got them. The Americans were proud of his daring deed, and the British tried to win so brave a man to their side. Sir William Howe offered him twenty thousand pounds in money and the command of a British frigate if he would desert his flag. But he was not dealing now with a Benedict Arnold.
"Not if you pay me the price and give me the command of the whole British fleet can you draw me away from the cause of my country," wrote the patriotic sailor.
Barry was soon rewarded for his patriotism by being made captain of an American frigate, theRaleigh. But ill-luck now followed him. He sailed from Boston on September 25, 1778, and three days afterward he had lost his ship and was a wanderer with his crew in the vast forests of Maine.
Let us see how this ill-fortune came about. TheRaleighhad not got far from port beforetwo sails came in sight. Barry ran down to look at them, and found they were two English frigates. Two to one was too great odds, and theRaleighturned her head homewards again. But when night shut out the frigates she wore round and started once more on her former course.
The next day opened up foggy, and till noon nothing was to be seen. Then the fog lifted, and to Barry's surprise there were the British ships, just south of his own. Now for three hours it was a hot chase, and then down came another fog and the game was once more at an end.
But theRaleighcould not shake off the British bull-dogs. At about nine o'clock the next morning they came in sight again and the chase was renewed. It was kept up till late in the day. At first theRaleighwent so fast that her pursuers dropped out of sight. Then the wind failed her, and the British ships came up with a strong breeze.
At five o'clock the fastest British frigate was close at hand, and Barry thought he would try what she was good for before the other came up.
In a few minutes more the two ships were hurling iron balls into each other's sides, while the smoke of the conflict filled the skies. Then the fore-topmast and mizzen-topgallantmast of theRaleighwere shot away, leaving her in a crippled state.
The British ship had now much the best of it. Barry tried his best to reach and board her, but she sailed too fast. And up from the south came the other ship, at swift speed. To fight them both with a crippled craft would have been madness, and, as he could not get away, Barry decided to run his ship ashore on the coast of Maine, which was close at hand.
Night soon fell, and with it fell the wind. Till midnight the two ships drifted along, with red fire spurting from their sides and the thunder of cannon echoing from the hills.
In the end theRaleighran ashore on an island near the coast. Here Barry fought for some time longer, and then set his ship on fire and went ashore with his men. But the British were quickly on board, put out the fire, and carried off their prize. Barry and his men made their way through the Maine woods till the settlements were reached.
In 1781 Captain Barry was sent across the ocean in theAlliance, a vessel which had taken part in the famous battle of theBon Homme Richardand theSerapis. Here the gallant fellow fought one of his best battles, this time also against two British ships.
When he came upon them there was not a breath of wind. All sail was set, but the canvas flapped against the yards, and the vessel lay