Next morning Israel was appointed quartermaster—a subaltern selected from the common seamen2, and whose duty mostly stations him in the stern of the ship, where the captain walks. His business is to carry the glass on the look-out for sails; hoist3 or lower the colors; and keep an eye on the helmsman. Picked out from the crew for their superior respectability and intelligence, as well as for their excellent seamanship, it is not unusual to find the quartermasters of an armed ship on peculiarly easy terms with the commissioned officers and captain. This birth, therefore, placed Israel in official contiguity4 to Paul, and without subjecting either to animadversion, made their public intercourse5 on deck almost as familiar as their unrestrained converse6 in the cabin.
It was a fine cool day in the beginning of April. They were now off the coast of Wales, whose lofty mountains, crested7 with snow, presented a Norwegian aspect. The wind was fair, and blew with a strange, bestirring power. The ship—running between Ireland and England, northwards, towards the Irish Sea, the inmost heart of the British waters—seemed, as she snortingly shook the spray from her bow, to be conscious of the dare-devil defiance8 of the soul which conducted her on this anomalous9 cruise. Sailing alone from out a naval10 port of France, crowded with ships-of-the-line, Paul Jones, in his small craft, went forth11 in single-armed championship against the English host. Armed with but the sling-stones in his one shot-locker, like young David of old, Paul bearded the British giant of Gath. It is not easy, at the present day, to conceive the hardihood of this enterprise. It was a marching up to the muzzle12; the act of one who made no compromise with the cannonadings of danger or death; such a scheme as only could have inspired a heart which held at nothing all the prescribed prudence13 of war, and every obligation of peace; combining in one breast the vengeful indignation and bitter ambition of an outraged14 hero, with the uncompunctuous desperation of a renegade. In one view, the Coriolanus of the sea; in another, a cross between the gentleman and the wolf.
As Paul stood on the elevated part of the quarter-deck, with none but his confidential15 quartermaster near him, he yielded to Israel's natural curiosity to learn something concerning the sailing of the expedition. Paul stood lightly, swaying his body over the sea, by holding on to the mizzen-shrouds, an attitude not inexpressive of his easy audacity16; while near by, pacing a few steps to and fro, his long spy-glass now under his arm, and now presented at his eye, Israel, looking the very image of vigilant17 prudence, listened to the warrior18's story. It appeared that on the night of the visit of the Duke de Chartres and Count D'Estaing to Doctor Franklin in Paris—the same night that Captain Paul and Israel were joint19 occupants of the neighboring chamber—the final sanction of the French king to the sailing of an American armament against England, under the direction of the Colonial Commissioner20, was made known to the latter functionary21. It was a very ticklish22 affair. Though swaying on the brink23 of avowed24 hostilities25 with England, no verbal declaration had as yet been made by France. Undoubtedly26, this enigmatic position of things was highly advantageous27 to such an enterprise as Paul's.
Without detailing all the steps taken through the united efforts of Captain Paul and Doctor Franklin, suffice it that the determined28 rover had now attained29 his wish—the unfettered command of an armed ship in the British waters; a ship legitimately30 authorized31 to hoist the American colors, her commander having in his cabin-locker a regular commission as an officer of the American navy. He sailed without any instructions. With that rare insight into rare natures which so largely distinguished32 the sagacious Franklin, the sage33 well knew that a prowling brave, like Paul Jones, was, like the prowling lion, by nature a solitary35 warrior. "Let him alone," was the wise man's answer to some statesman who sought to hamper36 Paul with a letter of instructions.
Much subtile casuistry has been expended37 upon the point, whether Paul Jones was a knave38 or a hero, or a union of both. But war and warriors39, like politics and politicians, like religion and religionists, admit of no metaphysics.
On the second day after Israel's arrival on board the Ranger40, as he and Paul were conversing41 on the deck, Israel suddenly levelling his glass towards the Irish coast, announced a large sail bound in. The Ranger gave chase, and soon, almost within sight of her destination—the port of Dublin—the stranger was taken, manned, and turned round for Brest.
The Ranger then stood over, passed the Isle42 of Man towards the Cumberland shore, arriving within remote sight of Whitehaven about sunset. At dark she was hovering43 off the harbor, with a party of volunteers all ready to descend44. But the wind shifted and blew fresh with a violent sea.
"I won't call on old friends in foul45 weather," said Captain Paul to Israel. "We'll saunter about a little, and leave our cards in a day or two."
Next morning, in Glentinebay, on the south shore of Scotland, they fell in with a revenue wherry. It was the practice of such craft to board merchant vessels47. The Ranger was disguised as a merchantman, presenting a broad drab-colored belt all round her hull48; under the coat of a Quaker, concealing49 the intent of a Turk. It was expected that the chartered rover would come alongside the unchartered one. But the former took to flight, her two lug50 sails staggering under a heavy wind, which the pursuing guns of the Ranger pelted51 with a hail-storm of shot. The wherry escaped, spite the severe cannonade.
Off the Mull of Galoway, the day following, Paul found himself so nigh a large barley52-freighted Scotch53 coaster, that, to prevent her carrying tidings of him to land, he dispatched her with the news, stern foremost, to Hades; sinking her, and sowing her barley in the sea broadcast by a broadside. From her crew he learned that there was a fleet of twenty or thirty sail at anchor in Lochryan, with an armed brigantine. He pointed1 his prow34 thither54; but at the mouth of the lock, the wind turned against him again in hard squalls. He abandoned the project. Shortly after, he encountered a sloop55 from Dublin. He sunk her to prevent intelligence.
Thus, seeming as much to bear the elemental commission of Nature, as the military warrant of Congress, swarthy Paul darted56 hither and thither; hovering like a thundercloud off the crowded harbors; then, beaten off by an adverse57 wind, discharging his lightnings on uncompanioned vessels, whose solitude58 made them a more conspicuous59 and easier mark, like lonely trees on the heath. Yet all this while the land was full of garrisons60, the embayed waters full of fleets. With the impunity61 of a Levanter, Paul skimmed his craft in the land-locked heart of the supreme62 naval power of earth; a torpedo-eel, unknowingly swallowed by Britain in a draught63 of old ocean, and making sad havoc64 with her vitals.
Seeing next a large vessel46 steering65 for the Clyde, he gave chase, hoping to cut her off. The stranger proving a fast sailer, the pursuit was urged on with vehemence66, Paul standing67, plank-proud, on the quarter-deck, calling for pulls upon every rope, to stretch each already half-burst sail to the uttermost.
While thus engaged, suddenly a shadow, like that thrown by an eclipse, was seen rapidly gaining along the deck, with a sharp defined line, plain as a seam of the planks68. It involved all before it. It was the domineering shadow of the Juan Fernandez-like crag of Ailsa. The Ranger was in the deep water which makes all round and close up to this great summit of the submarine Grampians.
The crag, more than a mile in circuit, is over a thousand feet high, eight miles from the Ayrshire shore. There stands the cove69, lonely as a foundling, proud as Cheops. But, like the battered70 brains surmounting71 the Giant of Gath, its haughty72 summit is crowned by a desolate73 castle, in and out of whose arches the aerial mists eddy74 like purposeless phantoms75, thronging76 the soul of some ruinous genius, who, even in overthrow77, harbors none but lofty conceptions.
As the Ranger shot higher under the crag, its height and bulk dwarfed78 both pursuer and pursued into nutshells. The main-truck of the Ranger was nine hundred feet below the foundations of the ruin on the crag's top:
While the ship was yet under the shadow, and each seaman's face shared in the general eclipse, a sudden change came over Paul. He issued no more sultanical orders. He did not look so elate as before. At length he gave the command to discontinue the chase. Turning about, they sailed southward.
"Captain Paul," said Israel, shortly afterwards, "you changed your mind rather queerly about catching79 that craft. But you thought she was drawing us too far up into the land, I suppose."
"Sink the craft," cried Paul; "it was not any fear of her, nor of King George, which made me turn on my heel; it was yon cock of the walk."
"Cock of the walk?"
"Aye, cock of the walk of the sea; look—yon Crag of Ailsa."
点击收听单词发音
1 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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2 seamen | |
n.海员 | |
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3 hoist | |
n.升高,起重机,推动;v.升起,升高,举起 | |
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4 contiguity | |
n.邻近,接壤 | |
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5 intercourse | |
n.性交;交流,交往,交际 | |
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6 converse | |
vi.谈话,谈天,闲聊;adv.相反的,相反 | |
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7 crested | |
adj.有顶饰的,有纹章的,有冠毛的v.到达山顶(或浪峰)( crest的过去式和过去分词 );到达洪峰,达到顶点 | |
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8 defiance | |
n.挑战,挑衅,蔑视,违抗 | |
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9 anomalous | |
adj.反常的;不规则的 | |
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10 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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11 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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12 muzzle | |
n.鼻口部;口套;枪(炮)口;vt.使缄默 | |
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13 prudence | |
n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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14 outraged | |
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的 | |
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15 confidential | |
adj.秘(机)密的,表示信任的,担任机密工作的 | |
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16 audacity | |
n.大胆,卤莽,无礼 | |
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17 vigilant | |
adj.警觉的,警戒的,警惕的 | |
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18 warrior | |
n.勇士,武士,斗士 | |
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19 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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20 commissioner | |
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员 | |
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21 functionary | |
n.官员;公职人员 | |
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22 ticklish | |
adj.怕痒的;问题棘手的;adv.怕痒地;n.怕痒,小心处理 | |
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23 brink | |
n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘,边沿 | |
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24 avowed | |
adj.公开声明的,承认的v.公开声明,承认( avow的过去式和过去分词) | |
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25 hostilities | |
n.战争;敌意(hostility的复数);敌对状态;战事 | |
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26 undoubtedly | |
adv.确实地,无疑地 | |
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27 advantageous | |
adj.有利的;有帮助的 | |
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28 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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29 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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30 legitimately | |
ad.合法地;正当地,合理地 | |
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31 authorized | |
a.委任的,许可的 | |
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32 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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33 sage | |
n.圣人,哲人;adj.贤明的,明智的 | |
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34 prow | |
n.(飞机)机头,船头 | |
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35 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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36 hamper | |
vt.妨碍,束缚,限制;n.(有盖的)大篮子 | |
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37 expended | |
v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 );使用(钱等)做某事;用光;耗尽 | |
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38 knave | |
n.流氓;(纸牌中的)杰克 | |
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39 warriors | |
武士,勇士,战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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40 ranger | |
n.国家公园管理员,护林员;骑兵巡逻队员 | |
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41 conversing | |
v.交谈,谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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42 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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43 hovering | |
鸟( hover的现在分词 ); 靠近(某事物); (人)徘徊; 犹豫 | |
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44 descend | |
vt./vi.传下来,下来,下降 | |
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45 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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46 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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47 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 | |
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48 hull | |
n.船身;(果、实等的)外壳;vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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49 concealing | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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50 lug | |
n.柄,突出部,螺帽;(英)耳朵;(俚)笨蛋;vt.拖,拉,用力拖动 | |
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51 pelted | |
(连续地)投掷( pelt的过去式和过去分词 ); 连续抨击; 攻击; 剥去…的皮 | |
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52 barley | |
n.大麦,大麦粒 | |
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53 scotch | |
n.伤口,刻痕;苏格兰威士忌酒;v.粉碎,消灭,阻止;adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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54 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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55 sloop | |
n.单桅帆船 | |
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56 darted | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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57 adverse | |
adj.不利的;有害的;敌对的,不友好的 | |
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58 solitude | |
n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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59 conspicuous | |
adj.明眼的,惹人注目的;炫耀的,摆阔气的 | |
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60 garrisons | |
守备部队,卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
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61 impunity | |
n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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62 supreme | |
adj.极度的,最重要的;至高的,最高的 | |
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63 draught | |
n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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64 havoc | |
n.大破坏,浩劫,大混乱,大杂乱 | |
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65 steering | |
n.操舵装置 | |
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66 vehemence | |
n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
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67 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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68 planks | |
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点 | |
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69 cove | |
n.小海湾,小峡谷 | |
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70 battered | |
adj.磨损的;v.连续猛击;磨损 | |
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71 surmounting | |
战胜( surmount的现在分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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72 haughty | |
adj.傲慢的,高傲的 | |
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73 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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74 eddy | |
n.漩涡,涡流 | |
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75 phantoms | |
n.鬼怪,幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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76 thronging | |
v.成群,挤满( throng的现在分词 ) | |
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77 overthrow | |
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆 | |
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78 dwarfed | |
vt.(使)显得矮小(dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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79 catching | |
adj.易传染的,有魅力的,迷人的,接住 | |
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