“The ship is old, Doctor,” says Captain Paul Jones, as he and Doctor Franklin canvass5 the situation. “That, however, is the least of my troubles. What causes me most uneasiness is the crew. Out of a whole muster6 of three hundred and seventy-five, no more than fifty are Americans.”
“Then you do not trust the French? Surely you don’t mean to say they are not brave men?”
“Brave enough—the French; but that is not the point. They are not good water fighters. By nature they are too hysterical7, too easily excited, to both sail and fight a ship. Those English whom we go to meet are born water dogs, stubborn and cool; and the only ones afloat who, man for man, may match them are Americans.”
“And of Americans you have but fifty?”
“Only fifty.” Then, with a heartfelt oath: “I would give my left hand to have back my old crew of the Ranger.”
Captain Paul Jones begins pacing to and fro, his thoughts running regretfully on the Ranger, and those stout8 hearts with whom he fought the Drake. But the Ranger and those stout, tarry ones are half a world away; and in the end he returns perforce to the Richard, and what poor tools in the way of crew are offered him by Fate. There is, too, a matter of gravity which he desires to lay before the Doctor’s older and more prudent judgment9. For Captain Paul Jones, so unmanageable by others, defers10 to the sagacious Doctor, and accepts his opinions and follows his commands with closed eyes.
“This Captain Pierre Landais, Doctor,” he begins, “who is to sail the Alliance in my company?”
“Yes?” interrupts the Doctor.
“You know him?—you have confidence in him?”
The Doctor purses his lips, but says never a word.
“Then I’ll tell you what I think!” cries Captain Paul Jones, who reads distrust in the good Doctor’s pursed but silent lips; “I’ll tell you what I think, and what I’ll do. Already I’ve had some dealings with this Landais. The fellow is mad—vanity-mad. Jealous, insubordinate, he has twice taken open occasion to disobey my orders. This I have stomached in silence—being on French shores. I now warn you that as soon as I find myself in blue water, at a first sign of rebellion against my authority, I’ll clap the fellow in irons. By heaven! I’ll string him to his own yard arm, sir; make a tassel11 of him for the winds to play with, if it be required to preserve a discipline which his example has already done much to break down.”
Doctor Franklin meets this violent setting forth12 concerning the recalcitrant13 Landais with a negative gesture of unmistakable emphasis.
“You must do nothing of the kind, Paul!” he replies. “Captain Landais, as you say, is doubtless mad—vanity-mad. But he is also French; and we must do nothing to estrange14 from our cause French sympathy and French assistance. I urge you to bear with Landais in silence, rather than jeopardize15 us with King Louis.”
Captain Paul Jones growlingly16 submits. “It will result disastrously17, Doctor,” he says. “We shall yet suffer for it, mark my word.” Then, disgustedly: “I marvel18 that the Marine19 Committee in Philadelphia should turn over to such a madman a brisk frigate20 like the Alliance.
“Your friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, had something to do with it, I think. You observe that on his present visit to France, it is Landais with his Alliance who brings him.”
Captain Paul Jones says no more, but seems to accept Landais as he accepts the Richard, desperately21. His final comment shows the uneasy complexion22 of his thought.
“We shall do the best we can, Doctor,” he says.
“Young as I am, I have lived long enough to know that one can’t have all things ordered as he would.”
Captain Paul Jones, now commodore, clears for the Irish coast on a bright, clear day in June. Besides the Richard, he has with him the Alliance, thirty-two guns, Captain Landais; the Pallas, twenty-eight guns, Captain Cottineau; and the Vengeance23, twelve guns, Captain Ricon. Four days later he returns limping into l’Orient for repairs, the Richard having been fouled24 by the Alliance through the criminal carelessness or worse of Captain Landais.
The breast of the young commodore is on fire with anger over the delay, and the vicious clumsiness that caused it. He burns to destroy Landais, as the mean reason of his troubles, but the thought of Doctor Franklin restrains him. Also, as events unfold, that enforced return to l’Orient proves of good fortune, and he forgets his chagrin25 in joy over the flattering new turn in his affairs. Doctor Franklin has succeeded in bringing about an exchange of prisoners, and barters26 to the British admiralty one hundred and nineteen Englishmen, captured in the Drake and other prizes taken by the Ranger, for one hundred and nineteen Americans held by King George. While Commodore Paul Jones is curing the damage done the Richard by the evil Landais, those exchanged Americans are landed under a cartel in Nantes. He goes down to Nantes and enlists27 one hundred and fifteen of them for the Richard.
Before Commodore Paul Jones weighs anchor for a second start, he goes over to Passy for a final word with Doctor Franklin. The pair walk in the Doctor’s favorite garden, now a wilderness28 of foliage29 and flowers, the Doctor serene30, the boy commodore cloudy, taciturn and grim. His resolution has set iron-hard to do or die; the cruise shall be a glorious one or be his last. Doctor Franklin asks about his plans.
“I shall make for the west coast of Ireland,” says he, “and go north about the British islands. Wind and weather favoring, I may sack a town or two by way of retaliation31 for what the foe32 has done to us. They will find that I have not forgotten Lord Dunmore, and my ruined plantation33 by the Rappahannock.”
“The waters you will sail in are alive with British ships of war. With your poor force it seems a desperate cruise.”
“Desperate, yes; but, Doctor, we are in no shape to play cautious. We are weak; therefore we must be reckless.”
“It is a strange doctrine,” muses34 the Doctor. “And yet I will not say but what it smells of judgment. I have faith in you, Paul; it teaches me to hope that, when next I greet you, I shall greet a victor.”
“Doctor,” returns Commodore Paul Jones, and his tones are grave with meaning, “I shall not disappoint you. Nor do I care to conceal35 from you my resolution. When I sail, I sail looking for battle; and I shall not hesitate to engage an enemy superior to my force. The condition of our cause is such that, to sustain it, we need a striking, ay! a startling naval36 success, and I shall do all I know, fight all I know, to bring it to pass. More; my mind is made up: If I fail, I fall; I shall return victorious37 or I shall not return.”
It is daybreak on a day in middle August when Commodore Paul Jones, with the Richard as flagship of the little squadron of four, puts the Isle38 of Groaix astern, and points for the open ocean. His course is west by north, so as to weather Cape39 Clear, and fetch the Irish coast close aboard. With winds light and baffling, the squadron’s pace is slow; it is nine days out of France before Cape Clear is sighted. Then it creeps northward40 along the Irish coast, Commodore Paul Jones vigilant41 and alert. He takes a prize or two, and one after the other sends into French ports the British ships Mayflower and Fortune. The young commodore’s brow begins to clear; those prizes comfort him vastly. At least the cruise shall not be registered as altogether fruitless.
It is the last day of August; the Hebrides lie off the Richard’s starboard beam. A stiff gale42 from the northwest sets in, and the squadron is driven east by north under storm staysails. This dovetails with the desires of Commodore Paul Jones; wherefore he welcomes the gale as friendly weather. Also, it gives him a chance to try out the Richard, which shows lively with the wind abaft43 the beam, but dull to the confines of despair when sailing on a wind. Close-hauled, the Richard makes more lee than headway.
“Which means, Dick,” says Commodore Paul Jones judgmatically, to Lieutenant44 Richard Dale—“which means, Dick, that we must have the weather-gage before we lock horns with an enemy.”
Off Cape Wraith45, Commodore Paul Jones is so fortunate as to take two further prizes. He turns them over to Captain Landais, with orders to send them into Brest. The Frenchman, who only receives an order for the purpose of breaking it, sends them into the port of Bergen, where the Norwegians promptly46 turn them over to the English, on an argument that they do not officially know of any government called the United States.
Commodore Paul Jones works slowly and cautiously southward along the east coast of Scotland. Off the Firth of Forth he decides to attack the Port of Leith, and stands in for that fell purpose. An adverse47 gale, seconded by off-shore currents, comes to the rescue of the threatened Scotchmen; in the teeth of his best seamanship Commodore Paul Jones and his squadron are driven out to sea. Thus the chance passes, and the sack of Leith is abandoned. It is a sore setback48 to the hopes of Commodore Paul Jones; but it lifts a load from the Scottish heart, to whom the Stars and Stripes have brought visions of pillage49 and torch and desolation. The news flies over England; beacons50 burn on each headland; while every semaphore is telling that the dreaded51 Paul Jones is hawking54 at the English coasts. The word causes a tremendous loss of British sleep.
Off Spurn55 Head our industrious56 young commodore sinks one collier and chases another ashore57. Being full of curiosity, he takes a peep into the mouth of the Humber, and discovers a frightened fleet of British merchant vessels58. The merchantmen are in a flutter at the sight of the Richard’s dread52 topsails; the frigate that it conveying them has its work cut out, to nurse them into anything like calmness.
Following the look into the Humber, that sets so many timid merchantmen to shivering, Commodore Paul Jones puts out to sea under doublereefs. He plans to stand off and on throughout the night, and swoop59 on those tremblers, like a hawk53 on a covey of quail60, with the first gray streaks61 of dawn. The frigate will doubtless fight, but the optimistic young commodore reckons on making short work of that man-of-war. In the middle watch the little brig Vengeance runs under the Richard’s lee, bringing word of a nobler quarry62. The Baltic timber fleet, fifty sail in all, convoyed by the Serapis and the Countess of Scarboro has just put into Bridlington Bay.
At this good news, Commodore Paul Jones gives up his designs touching63 the frightened covey of merchantmen in the Humber. He prefers the Baltic timber ships with the Serapis, the difference between the one and the other being the difference between deer and hare. He orders the Vengeance to stand out to sea, find the Alliance, and tell Captain Landais to join him off Scarboro’ Head.
“But do not,” says he to Captain Ricon, “give Captain Landais this notice in the guise64 of an order. He would make a point of disobeying, and seize on its reception as a pat occasion for insulting you.”
While the Vengeance stands eastward65 in search of the Alliance, Commodore Paul Jones signals the __Pallas__ to follow, and turns his bows for Scarboro’ Head, then forty miles away.
The Richard, the little Pallas close to its heels, cracks on canvas throughout the night. The winds are mere66 puffs67 and catspaws; still, slow as is their speed, daylight finds them within throwing distance of their destination. They are the wrong-side of the weather, however, and the whole day is wasted in beating inshore against the wind. Our young commodore must do all the work; for the English merchantmen, as though faint with fear at the sight of him, refuse to come out; while the Serapis and its consort68 stick close to them in their role of guardships. The sun goes down, night descends69, and as yet our young commodore has not been able to get within reach of the foe; for at beating to windward the Richard is as dull as a Dutchman.
When darkness comes, it unlooses a land breeze. With that the merchantmen take heart of grace, and resolve to dare all and run for it. They rush out of Bridlington Bay, wind free, like a flock of seagulls. What is a fair wind for them is a headwind for the Richard and Pallas; with no one to molest70 them, the fifty timber ships show a clean pair of heels. Commodore Paul Jones makes no effort to chase; it would be seamanship thrown away. Besides, the Serapis has laid its sails aback, and is waiting to hear from him; while the Countess of Scarboro guarding the flanks of the fugitive71 timber ships, seems eagerly willing to try conclusions with the Pallas.
The temptation is too great; Commodore Paul Jones makes no least effort to resist it. Signaling the Pallas to close with and pull down the smaller ship, with his own eye on the Serapis, he begins manoeuvring for the upper hand. The sea is as smooth as glass; a great harvest moon shoots up in the cloudless sky. As when the Ranger fought the Drake, it is to be a fight by the light of the moon.
The Richard tacks72 starboard and port, the Serapis lying in wait. Decks cleared, guns shotted and run out, magazines open, men stripped and at their quarters, both ships are as ferociously73 ready as bulldogs. Commodore Paul Jones scans the Serapis through his glass.
“How heavy is he, Commodore?”
It is Dr. Brooke, surgeon of the Richard, who puts the question. He has been laying out his instruments and bandages in the cockpit, in readiness for a hard night’s work, and now pokes74 his nose on deck for a last breath of fresh air.
“Is that you, Doctor?” returns Commodore Paul Jones. The amiable75 tones bespeak76 that bland77 urbanity which is his dominant78 characteristic on the threshold of battle. “It’s the Serapis; a forty-four-gun ship of the Rainbow class, six months off the stocks.”
It should be observed that Commodore Paul Jones’ pet study is the British navy, and he knows more about it—ships, guns, and men—than does the king’s admiralty itself.
“Forty-four guns! Rainbow class!” repeats the worthy79 doctor, who himself is not without a working knowledge of ships and their comparative strengths. “Then she’s a stronger ship, with heavier metal, than the Richard?”
“As three is to two, Doctor,” replies Commodore Paul Jones, shutting up his glass and preparing for action. “None the less, we shall fight them and beat them just the same.”
Aboard the Serapis, Captain Pearson is holding his glass on the Richard, not a cable’s length away. Suddenly the Richard wears and backs its topsail, thereby80 bringing its broadside to bear upon the Serapis.
“That was a clever manoeuvre81!” remarks Captain Pearson, admiringly, to Lieutenant Wright, who stands by his side. “It holds for him the weather-gage, and makes it impossible for me to luff across his hawse, without exposing my ship to be raked.”
“Who is he?” asks Lieutenant Wright; for the Serapis is just home from Norway, and the word that set all England to lighting82 beacons and doubling coast-guards has not reached it.
“Who is he?” repeats Captain Pearson, soberly. “He is Paul Jones; and, my word for it, Lieutenant, there is work ahead.”
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
overhaul
|
|
| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prudent
|
|
| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
rusted
|
|
| v.（使）生锈( rust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
ranger
|
|
| n.国家公园管理员，护林员；骑兵巡逻队员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
canvass
|
|
| v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
muster
|
|
| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
hysterical
|
|
| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
judgment
|
|
| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
defers
|
|
| v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的第三人称单数 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
tassel
|
|
| n.流苏，穗；v.抽穗， （玉米）长穗须 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
forth
|
|
| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
recalcitrant
|
|
| adj.倔强的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
estrange
|
|
| v.使疏远，离间，使离开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
jeopardize
|
|
| vt.危及，损害 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
growlingly
|
|
| adv.怒吠，吼，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
17
disastrously
|
|
| ad.灾难性地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
marvel
|
|
| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
marine
|
|
| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
frigate
|
|
| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
desperately
|
|
| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
complexion
|
|
| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
vengeance
|
|
| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
fouled
|
|
| v.使污秽( foul的过去式和过去分词 )；弄脏；击球出界；（通常用废物）弄脏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
chagrin
|
|
| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
barters
|
|
| n.物物交换，易货( barter的名词复数 )v.作物物交换，以货换货( barter的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
|
27
enlists
|
|
| v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的第三人称单数 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
wilderness
|
|
| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
foliage
|
|
| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
serene
|
|
| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
retaliation
|
|
| n.报复，反击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
foe
|
|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
plantation
|
|
| n.种植园，大农场 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
muses
|
|
| v.沉思，冥想( muse的第三人称单数 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
conceal
|
|
| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
naval
|
|
| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
victorious
|
|
| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
isle
|
|
| n.小岛，岛 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
cape
|
|
| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
northward
|
|
| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
vigilant
|
|
| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
gale
|
|
| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
abaft
|
|
| prep.在…之后；adv.在船尾，向船尾 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
lieutenant
|
|
| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
wraith
|
|
| n.幽灵；骨瘦如柴的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
adverse
|
|
| adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
setback
|
|
| n.退步，挫折，挫败 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
pillage
|
|
| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
beacons
|
|
| 灯塔( beacon的名词复数 )； 烽火； 指路明灯； 无线电台或发射台 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
dreaded
|
|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
hawk
|
|
| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
hawking
|
|
| 利用鹰行猎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
spurn
|
|
| v.拒绝，摈弃；n.轻视的拒绝；踢开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
industrious
|
|
| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
ashore
|
|
| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
vessels
|
|
| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
swoop
|
|
| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
quail
|
|
| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
streaks
|
|
| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
quarry
|
|
| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
touching
|
|
| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
guise
|
|
| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
eastward
|
|
| adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
mere
|
|
| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
puffs
|
|
| n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
consort
|
|
| v.相伴；结交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
descends
|
|
| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
molest
|
|
| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
fugitive
|
|
| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
tacks
|
|
| 大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
ferociously
|
|
| 野蛮地，残忍地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
pokes
|
|
| v.伸出( poke的第三人称单数 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
amiable
|
|
| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
bespeak
|
|
| v.预定；预先请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
bland
|
|
| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
dominant
|
|
| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
worthy
|
|
| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
manoeuvre
|
|
| n.策略，调动；v.用策略，调动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
lighting
|
|
| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |