“This is Commodore Jones, I presume, and I am Lieutenant Dale,” he said.
Paul Jones grasped his hand cordially.
“I have heard of you, Mr. Dale. And how did you get the British uniform with which you escaped from Mill Prison?” he asked.
Dale shook his head and smiled.
“That secret must remain with me until the end of time,” he said. “But I have had enough of British prisons. After my first escape and recapture every amusement was forbidden me; and so, as I had nothing else to do, I was forced to sing patriotic songs to keep up my spirits; and for that I spent forty days in the Black Hole.”
Something like a smile shone in Paul Jones’s dark and somber eyes. He had heard of the young lieutenant captured on the Lexington, confined in Mill Prison, and who had once escaped only to be recaptured, but this time had succeeded in getting out of harm’s way while the British police scoured the city of London for him.
“Were you ordered to report to me, Mr. Dale?” asked Paul Jones.
“No, sir,” answered Dale; “but I desire to see service, and those who serve under you will stand an excellent chance of immortality, for, as Dr. Franklin says, ‘Captain Paul Jones ever loves close fighting.’”
Paul Jones took off his cap at the mention of Dr. Franklin’s name.
“The praise of that great man is ever dear to me; and for yourself, Mr. Dale, your skill and intrepidity are well known, and your escape from Mill Prison shows that you are no ordinary man, and I shall be happy to have you as my first lieutenant on the Bon Homme Richard,” said he.