With John Paul Jones

by John T. McIntyre

They were still in the latitude of Flamborough Head, about two leagues off the English coast, when the Baltic fleet hove in sight. The great mass of merchantmen came stretching out from behind the Head, bearing northeast from the Richard.

“Lay the ship as close to them as you can, Mr. Dale,” directed the commander.

Dale put a press of sail upon the flagship and made for the convoy as the Richard passed the Alliance and Pallas, which hung close together. Paul Jones heard Landais call to the commander of the other vessel,

“If they have above fifty guns there will be nothing left to do but run for it!”

This was said, of course, in the presence of the crews of both ships, and had a most demoralizing effect upon them. In a very little while both vessels began beating to and fro in a hesitating, alarmed way, showing no disposition to advance.

“We’ll have to attack alone, I think,” said Ethan to the commander.

“It looks very much like it,” replied Jones, bitterly. “But we will do it, for there is no halting or turning back now.”

And so the Bon Homme Richard bore down upon the fleet alone.

As the pilot of the collier had said, the Baltic merchantmen were convoyed by two vessels of war. One of these was the Serapis, a new and splendid ship, mounting forty-four guns on two decks and carrying a crew of three hundred and twenty men. The other was the Countess of Scarborough, armed with twenty-four guns on her main deck and with a ship’s company of one hundred and fifty men.

As the Richard came down upon them some of the frightened merchantmen began firing with their light guns. An alarm spread through the fleet at the sound of the guns; the two men-of-war were astern of them all, keeping them in place; but now at the signals of danger they both came to the front with great promptness, while the convoy scurried toward the shore once more. Captain Pearson of the Serapis knew with whom he had to deal; a little time before the bailiff of Scarborough Castle had put off in a boat and informed him that John Paul Jones was operating on the coast.