The bold reply came: "I have not yet begun to fight."
Paul Jones saw, that, as the Serapis was so much the better ship of the two, his only hope lay in getting the vessels so close together that the men could board the Serapis from the Richard.
All this time the vessels had been sailing in the same direction, crossing and re-crossing each other's course.
Finally Paul Jones ran the Richard across the bow of the Serapis. The anchor of the Serapis caught in the stern of the Richard and became firmly fastened there. As the vessels were swung around by the tide, the sides came together. The spars and rigging were entangled and remained so until the close of the engagement.
With the muzzles of the guns almost touching, the firing began. The effect was terrible.
Paul Jones, who had only two guns that could be used on the starboard side, grappled with the Serapis. With the help of a few men, he brought over a larboard gun, and these three were all that he used during the rest of the battle.
Meanwhile the other ships of the American squadron did strange things. The Pallas, alone, did her duty. In a half hour she had captured the Countess of Scarborough. The Vengeance simply sailed for the nearest harbor.
Worst of all was the conduct of Captain Landais and his ship Alliance. For a while he looked quietly on as though he were umpire. At 9:30 o'clock he came along the larboard side of the Richard so that she was between him and the enemy. Then he deliberately fired into her, killing many men.
Many voices cried out that he was firing into the wrong ship. He seemed not to hear, for, until the battle was over, his firing continued. The Poor Richard had an enemy on each side.
Paul Jones sent some men up the masts and into the rigging to throw hand-grenades, or bombs, among the enemy. One of these set fire to some cartridges on the deck of the Serapis. This caused a terrible explosion, disabling all the men at the guns in that part of the ship. Twenty of them were killed outright.