There is a marked difference between the General and the Marquis; the former tall, powerful, indomitable—the type American; the latter nervous, optimistic, full of romantic heroisms—the type French. The General is speaking; his manner a model of the courteous6 and the suave7. For the young Marquis is a peer of France, the head of a party, and may be held as carrying at his heels a third of French sentiment and French influence. It is not what he brings, but what he leaves behind him, that makes the young Marquis important.
The talk between the General and the Marquis is running on Captain Paul Jones.
“It surprises me,” the General is saying, “it surprises me, my dear Marquis, to learn that you know Captain Jones.”
“We meet—Captaine Jones and I,” responds Lafayette, in a choppy, fervent8 fashion of English, that carries something more than a mere9 flavor of Paris, “we meet, my dear General, in Alexandria by the Potomac, when I come North from the Carolina, where I disbark. Captaine Jones he assist in Alexandria to find horses to bring me here.”
“And you believe, as does he, that a best use that can be made of him is to give him a ship, and send him to Europe?”
“Certaine, General, certaine! Give him a good ship, and let him hawk10 at England with it. It should be a quick, smart ship, that they may not catch him. Give him such a vessel11, General, and he will keep five hundred English boats at home to guard the British coasts.”
“You think, Marquis, that he would make a good impression in France?”
“The best, General; the best! Captaine Jones has—what you call?—the aplomb12, yes, and the grace, the charm, the dash to captivate the fancy of my countrymen—ever brave, the French, they love a brave man like Captaine Jones! More, General, he speaks the French language, and that is most important.”
General Washington stalks up and down the polished, hardwood floor, wearing a thoughtful face. As he turns to speak, he is interrupted by an obsequious13 black attendant—one of those body slaves brought from Mount Vernon.
“Pardon, Gin’ral,” says the grizzled old darky, as he pokes14 his grinning head in at the door; “Cap’n Jones presents his comp’ments, sare; an’ can he come up?”
General Washington makes a sign of assent15, and the grizzled old servitor smirks16 and smiles and bows himself backward into the hall.
There are two pairs of feet heard climbing the stair; the elastic17 step belongs to Captain Paul Jones, the more stolid18 is that of Mr. Morris, who, using the familiarity of a closest friendship, walks in on General Washington unannounced.
“The Marquis was just saying,” observes General Washington to Captain Paul Jones, when greetings are over and conversation, to employ a nautical19 phrase, has settled to its lines, “that he met you in Virginia as he came up.”
“Yes, General; I had been having a look at my plantation20, which Lord Dunmore did me the honor to lay waste.”
“Was the destruction great?”
“The torch had been everywhere. The work could not have been more complete had his Lordship been a professional incendiary.” Captain Paul Jones shrugs21 his wide shoulders, as though dismissing a disagreeable subject, one not to be helped by talk: “You received my letter, General? I was so rash as to think you might aid me in getting the new frigate22 Trumbull.”
“Captain,” returns General Washington, “you will understand that my connection with the army makes any interference on my part in naval23 affairs a most delicate business. I must give my counsel in that quarter cautiously. As for the Trumbull; it is, I fear, already claimed by Mr. Adams for Captain Saltonstall.”
“Captain Saltonstall!” cries Captain Paul Jones in a fervor24 of bitterness. “General, hear me! I sailed lieutenant25 in the Alfred with Captain Saltonstall. I know him, and do not scruple26 to say that he is an incompetent27 coward. Since he went ashore28 in New London after that disgraceful cruise, he hasn’t shown his face aboard ship. He was ashamed to do so. Only Mr. Adams could have protected him from the court-martial he had earned. On my side—if I must plead my own cause—I’ve made two cruises since then, one in the Providence29, one in the Alfred. I’ve taken twenty-four prizes; some of them by no means unimportant to the American cause.”
“Ah, yes!” interrupts General Washington, his steady face lighting30 up a trifle; “you mean the Mellish and the Bideford. I heard how you captured the winter equipment meant for Howe’s army—ten thousand uniforms, eleven hundred fur overcoats, eleven thousand blankets, besides a battery or two of field guns and six hundred cavalry31 equipments. You did us a timely service, Captain Jones. Many an American soldier was the warmer last winter, because of the Mellish and the Bideford.”
“I am glad,” says Captain Paul Jones, not without confusion, “to learn that I so much pleased you. It gives me courage to hope that you will come to my shoulder against Mr. Adams and his pet incompetent, Saltonstall.”
General Washington again dons his manner of grave inscrutability, and falls to his habit of striding up and down, hands locked beneath the buff-and-blue flaps of his coat.
“Captain Jones,” he suddenly breaks forth32, “you are a sailor: What do you do afloat in case of a head wind!”
“A head wind?” repeats Captain Paul Jones. “Why, sir, if it’s no more than just a gale33, I fall to tacking34, sta’board and port. If it should be aught of a hurricane, now, I’d set a storm stays’l, heave to, and wait for weather.”
“Quite so!” returns the General, soberly. “Well, Captain Jones, one may find headwinds ashore as well as afloat. Now, in the matter of the Trumbull, I should advise you to ‘heave to,’ as you say, ‘and wait for weather.’ Mr. Adams insists on Captain Saltonstall; and it is not alone inconvenient35, it’s impossible, with the Marine36 Committee made up as it is, to oppose him. Be patient, and you shall not in the end fare worse than your deserts.”
Captain Paul Jones wheels on Mr. Morris, who, with Lafayette, has kept silence, while giving interested ear to the conversation.
“You hear, Mr. Morris?” observes Captain Paul Jones, manner dogged and aggressive. “As I warned you in my letter, I shall now prefer charges against Captain Saltonstall—charge him with flat cowardice37 while in command of the Alfred, and demand a court-martial. Under the circumstances, I deem it my public duty so to do.”
Mr. Morris makes a gesture of dissent38 and repressive protest.
“My dear Captain,” expostulates Mr. Morris, his manner pleading, yet full of authority; precisely39 the manner of one who deals with a trained tiger which he is willing to coax40, while firmly intending to control—“my dear Captain, hear reason! Your charges would be suppressed—pigeon-holed! The influence of Mr. Adams with the Marine Committee is supreme41. It could, let me tell you, accomplish much more than merely silence your charges. It could go further, and force a resolution of confidence in Captain Salton-stall.”
“Then,” retorts Captain Paul Jones, inveterate42 as iron, “I’ve still a shot in my locker43. I shall publish his cowardice over my own name; I shall placard every street corner; for I think the American people entitled to know the sort of servant they have had in Captain Saltonstall. They shall not risk a good ship and a brave crew, with a coward in the dark; and so I tell you!”
“Captain Jones,” observes General Washington, who, cool and unruffled, is a contrast to the disturbed Mr. Morris, “Captain Jones, as a gentleman, you realize what would be the result of a public charge of cowardice against Captain Saltonstall?”
“He would challenge you instantly!” breaks in Mr. Morris.
“Precisely!” says Captain Paul Jones, with just the preliminary glimmer44 of battle in his hard brown eyes. “As you say, sir, he would challenge me. And having challenged me, I should take pleasure in doing my best to kill him. I got a pair of Galway duelling pistols out of the Bideford; they were coming to Lord Howe. If I can lure45 Captain Saltonstall to the field, it shall go hard, but with one of those Irish sawhandles I rid the American navy of him. Once I have him at ten paces, it will take something more than the influence of Mr. Adams to bring him safely off.”
Mr. Morris’ brow colors; General Washington takes the situation more at ease. He even gives way briefly46 to a shadowy smile; for the great patriot47, while not so inflammable, is quite as combative48 as any Captain Paul Jones of them all.
“You have taken advice on this?” asks General Washington, following a pause, during which everybody has had time to more or less digest Captain Paul Jones’ unique plan for improving the American navy. “I do not suppose you have gone to this decision without counsel?”
“Sir; I am, as you know, both prudent49 and conservative—no one more so. Certainly, I’ve taken counsel. I went to General Cadwalader; he expresses himself as in hearty50 accord with me. Indeed, it is understood between us that he shall act for me in any affair I may have with Captain Saltonstall.”
At the mention of General Cadwalader, General Washington smiles openly, while Mr. Morris groans51 and throws up his hands.
“Bless me! Cadwalader!” exclaims Mr. Morris, when he can command his tongue. “The worst firebrand in the country! Cadwalader, forsooth! who has ever had but one word of advice for every man—‘Fight!’” Then, abruptly52 descending53 upon Captain Paul Jones with all the authority of a father addressing a favorite but rebellious54 son: “Paul; listen! You believe me your friend?”
“Indubitably! I have no better friend.”
“Then let me tell you, Paul: In the name of that friendship this thing must end—absolutely end. If you’ve drawn55 up any accusation56 of cowardice against Captain Saltonstall, you must burn it and forget the whole affair. You must dismiss this subject from your mind. In Cadwalader you have invited the wrong kind of advice. I now give you the right kind. The General will tell you so; your friend, the Marquis, will tell you so. And forasmuch as you value my friendship you must obey me.”
Mr. Morris in his earnestness lays a paternal57 hand on the shoulder of Captain Paul Jones, his manner a composite of coax and command. Before the latter, who is visibly shaken by the friendly determination of Mr. Morris, can frame reply, Lafayette—who has been scrupulous58 to maintain a polite silence from first to last—interferes59.
“Our good friend, Mr. Morris,” interjects Lafayette, “has been so generous as to refer to me. I could not have said a word without; since what you discuss is private and personal to yourselves as Americans, and of a character that forbids me, a Frenchman and an alien even though a friend, voicing my views. However, since Mr. Morris has so complimented me as to make his appeal in my name, I must—in all respect and friendship for Captain Jones, whom I admire—unite my voice with his. The more readily since I can take it upon myself to promise Captain Jones that if he will cross to France, with a letter I shall give him to my king, a fighting ship of frigate strength shall be his within the month.”
As he concludes, Lafayette, a blush reddening his cheek—for he is only a boy—extends two hands to Captain Paul Jones as though, fearful of having said too much, he would mutely apologize. Captain Paul Jones seizes the hands with a warmth equal to the other’s; and the incident, capping as it does the fatherly opposition60 of Mr. Morris, puts an end to that beautiful plan, so full of dire61 promise for Captain Saltonstall, which in their mutual62 belligerencies Captain Paul Jones and the fire-fed Cadwalader have formulated63.
“Say that you will go to France, my friend!” urges the impulsive64 young Frenchman; “say that you will go! I will exhaust Auvergne, and all of France besides, but you shall have the promised ship.”
At this, General Washington interferes.
“Forbear, my dear Marquis!” says he. “Captain Jones shall go to France. But he shall go with an American crew, in an American ship, flying the American flag.” Then, to Captain Paul Jones: “Do me the honor, Captain, to hold yourself in readiness to obey any summons I may send. Believe me, I shall count myself as one without influence, if you do not hear from me within the week.”
Let us glance ahead two years for the final word of Captain Saltonstall. Captain Paul Jones, with his hard-won prize, the crippled Serapis, creeps into the Texel, and the earliest story wherewith the Dutch regale65 him is how Captain Saltonstall, weak, forceless, incompetent, has surrendered the new, thirty-two-gun frigate, Warren, to the English in Penobscot Bay. Captain Paul Jones hears the disgraceful news with set and angry face.
“I have just learned the miserable66 fate of the Warren,” he writes to Mr. Morris; “and hearing it I reproach myself. If I had obeyed the dictates67 of my sense of duty on a Philadelphia day you will recall, instead of yielding to the persuasions68 of the peacemakers, our flag might still be flying on the Warren!”
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1
chestnut
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| n.栗树，栗子 | |
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urbane
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| adj.温文尔雅的，懂礼的 | |
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slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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suave
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| adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的 | |
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fervent
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| adj.热的，热烈的，热情的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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10
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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11
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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aplomb
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| n.沉着，镇静 | |
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obsequious
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| adj.谄媚的，奉承的，顺从的 | |
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14
pokes
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| v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
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15
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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smirks
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| n.傻笑，得意的笑( smirk的名词复数 )v.傻笑( smirk的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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stolid
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| adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的 | |
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19
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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plantation
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| n.种植园，大农场 | |
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shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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fervor
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| n.热诚；热心；炽热 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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30
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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dissent
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| n./v.不同意，持异议 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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coax
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| v.哄诱，劝诱，用诱哄得到，诱取 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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42
inveterate
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| adj.积习已深的，根深蒂固的 | |
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43
locker
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| n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人 | |
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44
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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45
lure
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| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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48
combative
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| adj.好战的；好斗的 | |
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49
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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50
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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51
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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52
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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53
descending
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| n. 下行 adj. 下降的 | |
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54
rebellious
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| adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的 | |
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55
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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56
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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57
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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58
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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59
interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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60
opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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61
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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62
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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63
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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64
impulsive
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| adj.冲动的，刺激的；有推动力的 | |
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65
regale
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| v.取悦，款待 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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67
dictates
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| n.命令，规定，要求( dictate的名词复数 )v.大声讲或读( dictate的第三人称单数 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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68
persuasions
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| n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰 | |
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