“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.”
Paul Jones.
(Drawn from a Portrait.)