And the chest of John Paul Jones swelled with pride.
Eager and active, the gallant Commodore was most unhappy during the next few months, for the Ranger was ordered back to America—under his Lieutenant Simpson. Twenty-seven of his crew, however, elected to remain and fight with him, when he should get another command,—among them a little Narragansett Indian called Antony Jeremiah.
“Me like to see big gun shoot,” said he. “Me like to walk on deck of enemy’s big boat when you take it! Byme-by we take bigger ship than Drake and kill heap more enemy! Ugh! Ugh!”
At this John Paul laughed.
“Antony Jeremiah,” said he, “you shall witness one big fight if you stay with John Paul. You wait and see!”
And what John Paul had said soon came to pass.
“The French,” writes the doughty warrior, “have little conception of an expedition such as I propose; to harry the coast and destroy the commerce of the enemy. Their idea is to leave all of that to privateers, of which I have already been offered a dozen commands. Some of the ships they fit out as privateers are really respectable frigates in size, and I have seen one, called the Monsieur, that mounts thirty-eight or forty guns. But I do not wish to engage in privateering. My object is not that of private gain, but to serve the public in a way that may reflect credit on our infant navy and give prestige to our country over the sea.”
Noble sentiments—nobly expressed!
In spite of the gloomy outlook he at last secured a vessel from the King himself, called the Duras, which he re-christened “Le Bon Homme Richard”—“The Good Richard”—the name assumed by Dr. Benjamin Franklin when writing his famous “Almanack,” except that he called him “Poor Richard.” This was a well-merited compliment to the great and good man, who was then Commissioner from the United States to France, and a firm friend to the ardent John Paul. The vessel had forty guns, “and,” writes the Minister of Marine, “as you may find too much difficulty in enlisting a sufficient number of Americans, the King permits you to levy French volunteers, until you obtain a full crew.”
John Paul hastened to get her ready for a cruise. “I mounted twenty-eight long twelve-pounders on the gun-deck,” he says, “put eight of the long nines on the quarter-deck, and discarded the six-pounders of her old battery. This gave her a battery of forty-two guns, throwing two hundred and fifty-eight pounds of metal in a single broadside. She was the fair equivalent of a thirty-six gun frigate.”