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Exercise 6.1

a) What does this application do?

"World of Zuul" is a very simple, text based adventure game. Users can walk around
some scenery. That's all.

b) What commands does the game accept?

help
quit
go "somewhere"

c) What does each command do?

help: Gives information about the commands available
quit: Exits the game
go "somewhere": Goes through the door in the specified direction. Directions can be
one of these: north, east, south, and west.

d) How many rooms are in the scenario?

There are 5 rooms.

e) Draw a map of the existing rooms.

Exercise 6.2

The descriptions below are taken from the documentation in the source code of the
classes

Parser:
This parser reads user input and tries to interpret it as an "Adventure" command.
Every time it is called it reads a line from the terminal and tries to interpret the line as
a two-word command. It returns the command as an object of class Command.
The parser has a set of known command words. It checks user input against the
known commands, and if the input is not one of the known commands, it returns a
command object that is marked as an unknown command.

Game:
This class is the main class of the "World of Zuul" application.
To play this game, create an instance of this class and call the "play" method.
This main class creates and initializes all the others: it creates all rooms, creates the
parser and starts the game. It also evaluates and executes the commands that the
parser returns.

Command:
This class holds information about a command that was issued by the user. A
command currently consists of two strings: a command word and a second word (for
example, if the command was "take map", then the two strings obviously are "take"
and "map").
The way this is used is: Commands are already checked for being valid command
words. If the user entered an invalid command (a word that is not known) then the
command word is <null>.
If the command had only one word, then the second word is <null>.

CommandWords:
This class holds an enumeration of all command words known to the game. It is used
to recognize commands as they are typed in.

Room:
A "Room" represents one location in the scenery of the game. It is connected to other
rooms via exits. The exits are labeled north, east, south, west. For each direction, the
room stores a reference to the neighboring room, or null if there is no exit in that
direction.

Exercise 6.5

Add the method printLocationInfo() from Code 6.2 to the class Game. Then
replace the corresponding lines from the method printWelcome() and goRoom() with
a call to the method: printLocationInfo()

Exercise 6.7

Add this method to the Room class:

/**
* Return a string describing the room's exits, for example
* "Exits: north west".
*/
public String getExitString()
{
String returnString = "Exits: ";
if(northExit != null) {
returnString += "north ";
}
if(eastExit != null) {
returnString += "east ";
}
if(southExit != null) {
returnString += "south ";
}
if(westExit != null) {
 returnString += "west ";
}
return returnString;
}

Modify printLocationInfo() in the Game class like this:

private void printLocationInfo()

{
System.out.println("You are " +
currentRoom.getDescription());
System.out.print(currentRoom.getExitString());
System.out.println();
}

Exercise 6.8

See the zuul-better project included on the CD.

Exercise 6.9

Taken from the API documentation:

“Returns a Set view of the keys contained in this map. The set is backed by the map,
so changes to the map are reflected in the set, and vice-versa. If the map is modified
while an iteration over the set is in progress (except through the iterator's own remove
operation), the results of the iteration are undefined. The set supports element
removal, which removes the corresponding mapping from the map, via the
Iterator.remove, Set.remove, removeAll, retainAll, and clear operations. It
does not support the add or addAll operations.”

Exercise 6.10

First, a string called returnString is created with the initial text "Exits: ". We will
then add the exits to this string and finally return it. The names of the available exits
are added by retrieving the set of keys from the HashMap of exits. We then iterate
through the set of keys and in each iteration we add the key of the exit to
returnString.

Exercise 6.11

See the zuul-better project included on the CD.

Exercise 6.12

The objects are:

game1:Game
-->parser:Parser
--> commands:CommandWords
-->outside:Room
-->theatre:Room
-->lab:Room
-->office:Room
-->pub:Room
Exercise 6.13

The reference from game1:Game to the outside:Room is changed to the new room
that we have moved into. If we use the command go east the reference will be to
theatre:Room.

Exercise 6.14

See page 216 of the fifth edition for the implementation details.

Exercise 6.15

private void eat()

{
System.out.println(“You have eaten now and you are not hungry any
more”):
}

adding:

else if(commandWord.equals("eat")) {
eat();
}

to the command-testing statements.

Exercise 6.17

No, you don't need to change Game class.

The list of commands which are printed out is generated from the array of
validCommands, and will therefore automatically include any new commands that
have been added to this array.

Exercise 6.18

Modify the printHelp() method in Game so the last lines is:

System.out.println(parser.getCommandList());

Add the following method to Parser:

public String getCommandList()

{
return commands.getCommandList();
}

And remove the now obsolete showCommands() from Parser (if you implemented
this in Exercise 6.16)

In CommandWords add this method:

public String getCommandList()

 {
String commandList = "";
for(String command : validCommands) {
commandList += command + " ";
}
return commandList;
}

And remove the now obsolete showCommands() from CommandWords (if you
implemented this in Exercise 6.16)

Exercise 6.19

Information about the model-view-control (MVC) pattern can be found here:

http://www.enode.com/x/markup/tutorial/mvc.html

A simple example of a Java program that uses MVC:

http://csis.pace.edu/~bergin/mvc/mvcgui.html

For more examples of the MVC pattern look at the Java Swing implementation which
makes heavy use of the MVC pattern.

The MVC pattern is related to the discussion in this chapter because it is a pattern that
decouples objects into three types of objects: Model objects which represent the data;
View objects which handle the display; and Control objects which handle events that
modify the View or Model objects. In this chapter we only discussed the separation of
View and Model - adding another level of decoupling makes the design even more
flexible.

To apply the MVC pattern to the Zuul game, we need to split the application into a
model, view and control. We might do something like this:

Model: The Game and Room classes represent the model. We might split the Game class
into two classes one which represents the model and one which does the rest. The
changes we make to the model while playing the game, is to change the game object's
reference to the current room. Whenever we change this reference the model should
fire an event to all registered listeners (the View).

View: We should create a new class which handles the view of the model - that is,
printing the text to the screen when an update is received from the model.

Controller: As it is now, the control of the game is done from the Game class in the
play() and processCommand(Command command) methods.

An example of Zuul with the MVC pattern applied can be downloaded here: 06-19-
zuul-mvc.zip

Exercise 6.20
See Exercise 6.22. (Although the rooms can hold several items)

Exercise 6.21

a) How should the information about an item present in a room be produced?

The items are in the rooms, and hence the room should produce the information about
items present.

b) Which class should produce the string describing the item?

The Item class should produce the string.

c) Which class should print the description of the item?

The Game class is responsible for printing, and hence should also print the description
of an item. It is, however, not necessary to explicitly print the item description in the
game class if the description of the room includes the description of the item in the
room.

Exercise 6.22

Download: 06-22-zuul-with-items.zip

Exercise 6.23

Add the command "back" to the CommandWords.

The rest of the modifications are in the Game class:

Add a field:

private Room previousRoom;

In processCommand() add:

else if (commandWord.equals("back")) {
goBack(command);
}

Introduce a new method enterRoom, which stores the previousRoom. Update the
method goRoom() to use this method.

/**
* Enters the specified room and prints the description.
*/
private void enterRoom(Room nextRoom)
{
previousRoom = currentRoom;
currentRoom = nextRoom;
System.out.println(currentRoom.getLongDescription());
}
Add this method:

/**
* Go back to the previous room.
*/
private void goBack(Command command)
{
if(command.hasSecondWord()) {
System.out.println("Back where?");
return;
}
if (previousRoom == null) {
System.out.println("You have nowhere to go back to!");
}
else {
enterRoom(previousRoom);
}
}

Exercise 6.24

When a second word is typed after back, it prints an error message: "Go where?"

Another case of negative testing: When the game is just started, there is no previous
room. In the above implementation this is handled by printing a message to the user:
"You can't go back to nothing!"

Exercise 6.25

If back is typed in twice you end up in the same room as where you were when you
typed back the first time. Yes this is sensible, but it might be more useful to be able to
go back several steps - see the next exercise.

Exercise 6.26

Download: 06-26-zuul-back.zip

Exercise 6.27

There are many possible tests for the zuul project. It is important to have both positive
and negative tests.

Some of the tests could be:

- testing that the rooms are properly connected.

- testing that all the commands are recognised and works as expected.
- testing the back command as explained in the solution to Exercise 6.24

Exercise 6.28

Download: 06-28-zuul-refactored.zip
Exercise 6.29 - 6.33

All the modifications suggested in Exercises 6.29 through 6.33 is implemented in this
project:

Download: 06-33-zuul-with-player.zip

Exercise 6.35

Add this in Game.processCommand:

else if (commandWord == CommandWord.LOOK) {

look();
}

And add this method to Game:

private void look()

{
System.out.println(currentRoom.longDescription());
}

And finally, modify the CommandWord to include the new value LOOK:

public enum CommandWord

{
// A value for each command word, plus one for unrecognised
// commands.
GO, QUIT, HELP, LOOK, UNKNOWN;
}

Oh, and don't forget to specify the text associated with the command in the
CommandWords constructor:

validCommands.put("look", CommandWord.LOOK);

Exercise 6.36

Using different command words only requires changes in the CommandWords class.

Exercise 6.37

When the command word for help is changed it is NOT changed in the welcome
message.

Exercise 6.38

public enum Position

{
TOP, MIDDLE, BOTTOM
}
Exercise 6.39

Almost. You also need to add the functionality of it to the Game class. Compared to
Exercise 6.35 you have one less class to modify in this exercise.

Exercise 6.40

Yes. It is just using the enum itself: CommandWord.HELP. This will return the
command string because toString() has been overridden in CommandWord.

Exercise 6.41

Download: 06-41-zuul-with-timelimit.zip

Exercise 6.42

To implement a trapdoor (one way door), simply remove one of the exits. For
instance, you could remove the exit from the pub to the outside by removing this line:

pub.setExit("east", outside);

Exercise 6.43

Download: 06-43-zuul-with-beamer.zip

Exercise 6.44

Download: 06-44-zuul-with-doors.zip

Exercise 6.45

Download: 06-45-zuul-with-transporter.zip

Exercise 6.46

Download: 06-46-zuul-even-better.zip

Exercise 6.49

The method signature is:

static int max(int a, int b);

Exercise 6.50

The methods in the Math class are static because they implement mathematical
function operations – their results do not depend on an object's state and they always
return the same results given the same arguments. Therefore we do not need an object
with state to use them. It is also more convenient that you do not have to create an
object before calling the method.
Yes, they could have been instance methods, but that would require that you create an
instance of the Math class before you could use the methods. The object would have
no useful mutable state, only methods.

Exercise 6.51

public static long testLoopTime()

{
long startTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
for(int i = 1; i <= 100; i++) {
// Do nothing!
}
long endTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
return endTime - startTime;
}

Exercise 6.52

The main method could look like this:

public static void main(String args[])

{
Game game = new Game();

game.play();
}

Exercise 6.54

The main method could look like this:

public static void main(String args[])

{
SupportSystem system = new SupportSystem();

system.start();
}

Exercise 6.55

a) Yes, you can call a static method from an instance method.

b) No, you cannot call an instance method from a static method (at least not without
first creating an object to call it on).

c) Yes, you can call a static method from a static method.

Exercise 6.56

Yes, you can use a static field and the constructor(s) of the class to count the number
of instantiations. If you have more that one constructor, you would need to increase
the count in each of the constructors. This is one way to do it:

public class Test

{
private static int instanceCount = 0;

public Test()
{
instanceCount++;
}

public Test(String something)

{
instanceCount++;
}

public static int numberOfInstances()

{
return instanceCount;
}
}

It is actually possible to avoid the incrementation in each constructor. You can use an
initialiser block which is invoked before the constructor call. This is not a structure
that is used very often, and you might be best off without telling your students about
it. But if someone should ask you about it, here is how it looks:

public class Test

{
private static int instanceCount = 0;

{
instanceCount++;
}

public Test()
{
}

public Test(String something)

{
}

public static int numberOfInstances()

{
return instanceCount
}
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 "My reprieve!" said the admiral, in great surprise. "What mean
you? I sent no reprieve."

"Sir, sir!" cried the astonished captain. "It was brought here by
your ward, Lady Elizabeth Howard."

"Elizabeth! Good God!" cried the old man, starting violently. "Her
maid said she was ill--she must have--did you inspect it carefully,
sir?" he asked, checking himself.

"Yes, my Lord. It seemed to be all right; but the whole proceeding

was so irregular and unlike you that I called upon--"

"Where is the paper?" cried the admiral, interrupting impatiently.

"I have just sent to fetch it, sir."

They waited in silence, until a midshipman placed it in the hand of

the admiral. Pascoe held a light while the old man seized it,
scrutinized it eagerly, and handed it back to the captain.

"This," he said slowly, "is a forgery. You should have disregarded

it, sir."

"'Twas passed upon by your son and aide, Major Coventry, my

Lord," replied the captain, shortly.

"How! Edward! Where is he?"

"Here, my Lord," said the young man, stepping forward, pale as

death, and saluting.

"Did you examine this paper, sir?"

"I did, sir."

"You knew it was a forgery?"

 "Yes, sir."

"And yet you declared it to be correct?"

"I did, sir."

"For what purpose?"

"Will you direct these others to retire out of hearing, Captain

Pearson?" said Coventry, indicating the officer of the watch, the
midshipman, and all of the others; and when his request had been
complied with, he added: "'Twas to save the honor of your ward, my
Lord, to insure happiness to the woman I love more than life, to
effect the escape of the man upon whom that happiness depended."

"Have you dared, sir," said the admiral, furious with rage, "to thus
derange my plans and disregard my orders, to thwart me, to
interfere between a duly constituted court and its prisoner?" He
stamped his foot and looked fiercely at his son.

"Me as well," said the captain; "upon the deck of my own ship--to
put this dishonor upon me."

"The prisoner!" cried the admiral, impetuously. "Have him brought

on deck at once, Captain Pearson."

"But your ward, my Lord; she is with him," said the captain.

"Bring her too, then," the old man answered passionately.

"But the crew--the men--not before them all!" said Coventry,

striving to gain time.

"Before Heaven itself the offence was given," said the admiral,
losing all control over himself in his fury, "and the punishment shall
have equal publicity." The midshipman who had hastened below now
came running on deck in terror.
 "There's no one there, my Lord; they've gone, escaped, sir!" he
cried.

"Impossible!" exclaimed Pearson.

"Escaped!" said the admiral, turning to the captain. "Had you no

sentry to watch them, sir?"

"Yes, my Lord, certainly," said Pearson.

"Let him be tried and shot forthwith, then, for gross neglect of
duty in permitting--"

"My Lord, the sentry is innocent," interrupted Coventry; "I

replaced him; I alone am guilty."

"Worse and worse! You knew they escaped, sir?" said the admiral.

"I did; 'twas to prevent discovery I took his place," replied his
son, bowing. Captain Pearson opened his mouth to speak, but his
superior silenced him with a wave of his hand.

A bitter fight raged in the old man's bosom, but he saw his duty,
and knew it must be done. There was a long and awful pause. When
the admiral spoke again it was in an altered tone; he had regained
his self-control.

"Captain Pearson," he said slowly and deliberately, in a strained

and unnatural voice, "let the court-martial which passed judgment
upon the prisoner be re-convened at once to try Major Edward
Coventry for disobedience of orders in time of war, and for aiding
and abetting the escape of an enemy, and for knowingly declaring a
forged order, purporting to bear my signature, to be correct,--in
short, for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."

"Surely not that last, my Lord," said Coventry, impulsively raising

his hand in deprecation.
 The admiral hesitated, looked long and earnestly at his handsome
son. "You may leave off the part about conduct unbecoming an
officer and a gentleman, Pearson," he answered.

"Thank you, sir," said Coventry, gratefully.

"Good heavens, my Lord!" cried Pearson; "the punishment is

death--I pray you--"

"Silence, sir!" he cried sternly; "you have your order. Shall I be

more merciful to this gentleman than to the poor marine I would
have had shot a moment since for less than he has done?"

"But he is your son. Have mercy on him, my Lord!"

"So much the more imperative that he should receive justice--not

mercy from me. Besides, from this hour he is no longer son of
mine," said the old man, inflexibly. "Let the prisoner be confined
under double guard; you will see that he at least does not escape
you."

"It is just," said Coventry, no less resolutely than his father; "I
expected it. It was for her I did it."

There was a sudden bustle upon the deck forward.

"Sail ho! Light ho! Light ho!" rang out from a dozen rough throats.

"Where away?" said the officer of the watch.

"Off the starboard quarter," was the reply,--"there, coming up

from Flamborough Head."

"They will be the Bon Homme Richard and the rest of that
scoundrelly pirate squadron, Captain Pearson. I saw them off
Bridlington Bay this afternoon," said the admiral.
 "We will go out and meet them at once, with your permission, my
Lord," cried the captain, enthusiastically. "All hands up anchor! Mr.
Pascoe, show the signal for the Scarborough to get under way.
Lively! we have him now, men! This is our chance at last! There's
prize money and honor for you by yonder lights!"

With wild cheers the eager crew broke for their stations. The
capstan bars were shipped and manned, and the clanking pawls
clicked merrily as the men heaved away as lustily as a crew
homeward bound from a foreign station.

"Good luck to you, Captain Pearson," said the admiral, turning

away. "Bring him back a prisoner or sink him, and I will pledge you
my word your king's sword shall be laid upon your shoulders. Would
that I were younger and might go with you! but my duties, as well,
prevent me. Good-bye."

"Sir--my Lord--my father!" said Coventry, who had stood

unnoticed in the excitement of the moment.

"Do I see you still here, sir?" answered the admiral, coldly.

"I would ask a favor of you, sir--as--as--as my father."

"Ask no favors of a father, sir; you have none!"

"Let me beg of the man, then," said Coventry, resolutely. "We are
about to engage the enemy. For God's sake, sir, for the love of my
mother, do not condemn me to inaction now! Let me serve as the
humblest volunteer! You shall not regret it."

The old man hesitated. He was a father in spite of what he had

said, and he could not forget it. His heart was throbbing beneath his
iron exterior and appearance of outward composure.

"Go!" he replied at last. "You are free of any charges until to-
morrow. When next I see you I shall have to prefer them, therefore
let me not look upon your face again, sir. Do you understand?"

"Yes, yes; good-bye, sir!" said the young man, brokenly. "I thank
you and bless you for this. To-morrow I shall plead my cause in a
higher court. Think of me kindly, sir."

"And you have done this work and wrecked yourself for a woman!
You have been a fool, sir; what woman that ever lived was worth it?"
said the admiral, shortly.

"This one," replied his son. "I loved her; I love her still."

The two men looked at each other in silence. The admiral

relented a little,--it was for the last time,--and drew the boy to him.
He lifted his head to the sky in silent prayer.

"All hands make sail!" hoarsely cried the boatswain at the

instance of the executive officer. "Lay aloft, topman!"

The admiral turned away, and Coventry was alone. He walked

over to Captain Pearson.

"Father gives me a chance to die," he said. "Please assign me to

some duty."

"I am glad to hear it," said the captain, his face lighting up. "We
are short a lieutenant; I confide to you the forward division of the
main-deck battery. Do your best with it."

"I hope to serve it well," said the young officer, saluting proudly,
and springing toward his station.

"Anchor's away, sir!" cried the officer forward on the forecastle.

"Man the topsail sheets and halliards, let fall, sheet home, hoist
away!" roared the captain, himself seizing the trumpet. As the broad
folds of canvas dropped from the wide-reaching yard-arms, the
noble ship gathered way and sailed out to try her fortune.

BOOK IV
THE SELFISHNESS OF LOVE

CHAPTER XVI

In the Line of his Duty

AS soon as they had drifted some little distance from the Serapis,
O'Neill rose, threw off the boat cloak, and stepped aft around the
oarsman to the stern-sheets of the boat, where Elizabeth sat
motionless, holding the tiller. He knelt down before her.

"Elizabeth, dearest, we have actually escaped!" he said softly,

stooping toward her. "I did not think it possible." She released the
tiller, took his head in her hands, and kissed him in wild exultation.

"Free! Free!" she murmured, "and together--my own, my own!"

Her words, her look, her caress, set his blood bounding again.
 "Yes, yes; is it not heavenly, and with you. Oh, my soul, how can I
repay you?" he whispered, giving back kiss for kiss, and stretching
out his hands toward her. There was a little pause, broken by a
rough voice, which its owner evidently tried to render more gentle;
in a hoarse whisper the man at the oars asked,--

"Where are ye a-headin' of the boat, yer Leddyship?"

"I know not!" she answered wildly, seizing the tiller again; "only
away from that awful ship!"

"Who is this man at the oars?" asked her lover, rising and sitting
down by her when he took the tiller from her nervous hands.

"Well, yer Honor," said a low, deep voice, with a smothered laugh
in it, "my name ashore, w'ere I was left by Cap'n Jones t'other night
to look arter you, mought be Smith, or Brown, or any old name; but
yere in this boat it's Price--William P. Price--w'ich is wot my mother
told me, at any rate, though I ain't got no evidence but her word fur
it, an' she's dead, an' God be thanked I see yer Honor alive."

"Price! You!" exclaimed O'Neill, in great surprise. "How did you

find him, dearest?"

"I found her, please yer Honor," replied the man. "I seed her
Leddyship a-comin' down to the beach, an' I ups and captures a
small boat from the English, w'ich the man'll be awful disappinted
like, w'en he don't find her to-morrow, an' then I ups and offers to
take her off, an' I tells her I knows you, an' we fixed it up, and here
y'are!"

They were not yet so far from the Serapis, even by this time, but
that the quick ear of the girl detected the confusion on her decks:
the shrill piping of the boatswain and his mates, the sharp
commands of the officers, the trampling of many feet, were easily
heard; she clutched her lover nervously, all alert at the thought of a
possible further danger to him.
 "Oh!" she whispered, "they are doing something on the ship. Our
escape is discovered. They will come after us!"

"Not with the whole ship," he answered, smiling, though listening

with straining apprehension as well.

"I think they're a-gittin' under way, sir," said the old seaman.
"Listen to the clankin' o' the pawls, yer Honor."

"You are right; it cannot be after us, though; a cutter or two

would suffice for that."

"It'll be fur the Richard an' the rest of 'em. Cap'n Jones, he said
he'd capture them ships afore the mornin' watch, an' if you wasn't
hung afore that time, he'd trice up the whole d--n--w'ich I beg
pardon, yer Leddyship, but he said it--crowd to the yard-arms,
unless they'd let you go free! Our wessels ought to be a-comin' up
from Flamburry putty soon, now. But if I mought make so bold,
w'ere are ye headin' fur now, sir?"

"We head for the Richard, of course," said the young man,
promptly.

"That's w'ere we b'long," said the sailor, joyfully; "I don't want no
fightin' goin' on, an' I ain't there!"

"Nor I," replied O'Neill. "I would put you ashore, Elizabeth, before
we go; but--"

"'Whither thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people,'"

she quoted softly. "Whom have I now but you? To whom can I go
but to you?" she murmured, laying her hand upon his own. It was
dark on the boat, but if it had been broad daylight he could not have
helped it,--he kissed her.

"Oh, to be worthy of it all, to be worthy!" he answered.

 William grinned sympathetically, wiped his mouth wistfully with
the back of his hand, and tried to look away. Presently, unshipping
the oars, the two men stepped the mast and hoisted the small sail.
The little boat, under the freshening breeze, began to draw through
the water rapidly. In order to win out of the mouth of the harbor,
they would have to pass in a direction which would bring them once
more near the moving Serapis. They could hardly hope to escape
discovery. They had, of course, gained a good start on the frigate;
but as she was soon covered with sails, and her great height
enabled her to catch the freshening breeze blowing over the hills,
which was lost to the smaller craft, she literally rushed down upon
them.

A noble picture she made to those on the boat. Ghostlike and

eerie in the pale moonlight, shining fitfully through the overcast
heavens, the great white ship towered above them, her soaring
masts covered with clouds of snowy canvas stretching far out on
either side on the spreading yard-arms. Her sails swept the skies;
her keel ploughed the deeps; the wind sang in the top-hamper; the
white water, shot with sparks, piled up in front of her, bubbled and
played around her forefoot, and rolled away on either side in broad
sheets of foamy phosphorescence. The yellow lights of the battle
lanterns streamed through her open ports; a drum was grimly rolling
the call to battle on her decks. Dark forms passed to and fro; men
leaped hither and thither in casting loose the double row of great
black guns; sometimes a vivid flash in the moonlight proclaimed a
drawn sword. Presently the cries and orders died away; the men
settled down at their stations; silently the huge fabric, a splendid
example of that power which for twice two hundred years had ruled
the seas, swept toward them. O'Neill watched her in generous
admiration.

"A fit antagonist even for our great captain," he cried, all his
enthusiasm aroused by the ship, "and nobly handled," he added.
"Mark the discipline; see the order!"
 "Ay, sir, that'll be a hard one to take; but we'll take her, never
fear!" said the old seaman, sharing his officer's ungrudging
approbation of their gallant foe.

"How can you speak so?" said the girl. "To me she is nothing but
a prison--a menace--a horror!"

"You are a woman, dearest; I hope to be on the old Richard

before long, and I feel from such a ship as that there is much honor
to be gained."

"And death, too," she answered, shuddering.

"It may be; death and honor often go hand in hand," he replied
gravely; "but she nears us; you must lie down until she passes."

It was a new thing for her to be commanded; she found it

altogether a sweet experience--then. Later it might be another
matter. So, though protesting because she was a woman and had
prescient eye to the future, Elizabeth dutifully obeyed her lord and
lay down in the boat, resting her head against his foot. As they drew
toward the mouth of the harbor the wind came stronger. The little
boat fairly roared through the white-capped waves. She heeled over
until the water trickled in on the lee side; but O'Neill resolutely and
skilfully held her up to it. He could not afford to lose an inch of
distance to leeward, for the water shallowed rapidly in that direction,
and abounded in rocks as well. The Serapis was alongside now; they
had not yet been observed. The attention of the men on the frigate
was fixed upon the approaching ships to the southeast, now plainly
visible. O'Neill fairly held his breath as he congratulated himself that
they were to be passed by unnoticed. Suddenly a sharp cry rang out
just as the Serapis drew ahead.

"Sail ho! Boat ahoy, there!" For a moment the small boat lay right
in the path of light cast by the brilliantly illuminated stern-ports of
the frigate.
 "'Tis the prisoner, he that escaped!" shouted a powerful voice.

"Sentry, give him a shot from your piece," cried Captain Pearson
himself, springing on the rail and leaning over toward them. Old
Price shook his fist at the frigate in stout defiance. The sharp crack
of a musket rang out in the air. The bullet seemed to have struck
something forward in the boat; a shudder swept through the little
craft, a hoarse, frightful cry quivered through the night, there was
splash, the boat struck something, and that something, whatever it
was, rasped along her keel as she drove ahead.

"Clear away the second cutter," cried another voice on the frigate.

"Keep all fast!" shouted Pearson. "We have bigger game to-night,"
and then he hollowed his hand and cried out as the Serapis drew
rapidly away,--

"We'll take care of you, sir, in the morning, when we return." A

few more musket-shots were fired at them from different parts of
the ship; one bullet tore through the sail and whistled by the ear of
the young lieutenant, but did no harm.

"We are saved again!" cried Elizabeth, sitting up and looking

gratefully at her lover.

"But not without a cost," said the young man, solemnly.

"What mean you? Are you hurt; are you wounded?" she cried.

"Price!" called O'Neill, softly, though he knew it was useless.

There was no answer.

"Oh, that awful cry!" said Elizabeth, shuddering.

"It was he," added O'Neill, gravely. "He was hit by the first shot,
and went overboard. Did you not feel him strike the keel?"
 "Is there no hope for him?" she queried anxiously. "Could we not
put back and seek him?"

"None," replied the young lieutenant, shortly. "There was death in

his voice; it's all over with him. Well, he died in the line of his duty;
'tis a sailor's cherished hope."

"He helped me--both of us--in time of need; our way to liberty

and happiness," she cried piteously, "seems to be over the bodies of
those who love us."

"So it has ever been in the world,--a thousand deaths to make

one life, a thousand griefs to make one joy," he answered, laying his
hand tenderly upon her head, which she had buried in her hands.

"But what come what may," she added, looking up resolutely, with
all the selfishness of love, "I have you, at least, and we are together
again."

"Ay, let us pray it may be forever, sweetheart."

They were out of the harbor now; and while the Serapis was
stretching along to the northeast to gain an offing, with the
Scarborough some distance ahead of her, and to leeward, the lighter
draft of the small boat permitted O'Neill to head her directly for the
oncoming American ships, whose lights, and the ships themselves,
were now plainly visible in the moonlight.

CHAPTER XVII

Differing Standards
 "The battle which will take place to-night yonder between those
ships decides my fate. I hope to God I may arrive in time to take my
part in it! The Richard is fearfully short of officers at best; Landais,
who has the Alliance, is crazy and a coward; Cottineau in the Pallas
is an unknown quantity, and the rest have fled. Jones has only
Richard Dale and a lot of midshipmen with him upon whom he can
absolutely depend, and there are over two hundred prisoners in the
hold. He needs me. If this breeze hold on, I think we may intercept
the Richard before the battle is joined. Pray, dearest, as never
before, for the success of our arms! It means life, and you, for me."

"It means life for me as well," she answered, nestling against him
and nerving herself up to the inevitable confession. How he would
take it she did not know, or rather she would not permit herself to
say. She was conscious only of an impelling necessity to tell him the
whole story, though she had deliberately waited until she believed he
could do nothing.

"Ah, yes, 'tis sweet of you to say so, but not the same. Me they
will hang, but not you," he answered fondly.

"Yes, they will," she replied. "I--I--I must confess it to you before
we go further; it weighs upon me. I also am guilty."

"Guilty! You! Of what, pray? Of loving me too much?" he queried,

laughing in pure lightness of heart.

"No, not that," she answered, "but that--that order--your reprieve.

It was--the admiral did not sign it," she added desperately.

The secret was out.

"And who did it, then?" he asked, still unsuspicious of her

meaning.
 "I did it myself," she answered, with averted head.

"It is not possible!" he exclaimed, withdrawing from her a little in

his astonishment.

"'Twas for you--for you I did it--reproach me not; nay, you shall
not!" she cried, on fire to defend herself and her love, now the truth
was told. "Captain Jones said six hours' delay and you were saved.
There was no other way. I begged, implored, entreated the admiral--
he left me; went away--I saw the man fixing that block--the rope--I
ran to him to make one more appeal--he was not there. On his desk
was an order giving me permission to see you, which he had
intended to give me and had refused at the last moment and left
unsigned. His watch was there and his seal. I added the rest and
signed and sealed it myself; do not shrink from me!" she pleaded
with changed mood again. "Your anger--your disapproval--kills me.
Is there no excuse that you can find for me?" Her appeal was so
tender, her affection so apparent, she was her own justification.

"No man would have done it," he said irresolutely, wavering.

"But every woman would," she replied promptly, pressing her

advantage. "Why are you so silent; Your precious honor is safe, and
as for mine--"

"'Twas nobly done," he answered at last, in complete surrender.

"There is not a woman in the world but would honor you for it; not a
man who would not love you. You have done that which I could not,
and for me. My heart before, and now my life is yours, my heart's
dearest."

"I knew you would not like it," she answered simply, "but there
was no other way. I confess I was terrified when Edward--"

"Good heavens!" cried O'Neill. "He saw the order?"

 "Yes," said the girl, cowering before him again. In truth, this
phase of the transaction had actually escaped her memory.

"Captain Pearson accepted it without questioning him?" he

queried. She would have given all the world to lie to him, but even in
the darkness she could not be further untrue, in his very presence,
though now like a flash she saw it all.

"He--he doubted it," she whispered hesitatingly. "He handed the

paper to Edward, and asked him if it--if it was all right."

"And Coventry?"

"He took it and looked at it, looked at me--I had forgotten him, I
must confess,--" she went on brokenly,--"and then he handed it back
to Captain Pearson and--and said it was correct--the signature, I
mean."

"He knew, think you?" asked her lover, with deadly calmness.

"Yes, he knew," she faltered.

"And the sentry--our unheeded escape?"

"Edward took his place--I might as well tell you all now,"
continued the girl, desperately.

"Ah!" he said, coldly and sternly; "and do you know, Lady

Elizabeth, what the penalty is for such actions as his?"

"No," she replied, in alarm; "I never thought. They will not harm
him. He is the son of the admiral--what is it?"

"They will shoot him, or hang him like a dog to the very yard-arm
prepared for me!" he answered with stern emphasis.

"No, no! It is not possible!" she cried, appalled at the naked fact.
 "Ay, but it is," he replied; "and it is through your actions, and my
blind acquiescence therein, that this honorable gentleman is done to
death. This puts another face on the whole thing. You have made
me a craven; I am dishonored, his life is sacrificed for me!"

"I did not mean to do it; I did not know," she wailed, stricken to
the heart by his bitter reproach.

"Ay, but you should have known; but when women meddle in
affairs of state the consequences oft exceed their narrow views. Pray
God, there may yet be time to rectify the frightful happening," said
O'Neill, bitterly, putting the helm hard over as he spoke. The boat
swept around, the sail gybed, and they headed for the northeast.

"What is it that you would do?" cried Elizabeth, in alarm, laying

her hand on the tiller.

"Follow the Serapis," he answered shortly.

"For what?"

"To give myself up if possible, and thus insure his freedom."

"I knew--I knew it would be so," she whispered. "I loved him,"
she murmured, turning away, "I have sacrificed everything for him,
and he repudiates, reproaches me. O my God, why hast thou
forsaken me!" she wailed in unconscious imitation of a greater
Sufferer. She drew away from him and knelt down in the boat, and
buried her face in her hands, leaning upon the weather gunwale. He
looked at her a moment, and before the pathetic abandonment of
her grief his anger melted. She was a woman; with her, love was all.

"Elizabeth," he said tenderly, "the bitterness of having caused that

good man's death, his apparent dishonor, overwhelmed me. I love
you, as you know, more than life itself. You are a woman; you see
things differently. There is nothing above love in a woman's heart.
Come back to me; your place is here, whatever happens. I love you
the more for your great sacrifice, but now we must undo it if we
can. Heaven has not smiled upon our meeting; perhaps, if we go
hand in hand before God together, we may find mercy, perhaps joy!"

She made no answer, but nestled against him forgiven, contented.

For a time they sailed the sea in silence. The clouds had broken and
left a clear sky, whence the moon had flooded the ocean with her
silvery light; but the breeze came fitfully and gradually died away
where they were now under the lee of the land. It was such a night
as lovers dream of. They loved and they were together, side by side,
alone, in the soft autumnal night, adrift on a summer sea. There was
that in the past which kept them silent; and yet in their very
proximity, in the hands that touched and clasped each other, the
head that nestled on his shoulder, the arm that encircled her waist,
the lips that met, the eyes that spoke,--there was a sweetness which
neither had ever known before. The gentle wind whispered of love.
The curling, lipping waves caressed the keel with sounds like kisses,
and to it all their hearts kept time. It was a respite,--a lull between
two phases of the conflict; there was love and there was peace in
the little boat, and war and tumult were far off on the horizon.

By and by Elizabeth slipped down from the thwart, and crouched

down in the boat at his feet. O'Neill held the tiller with one hand; the
other lightly stroked her golden head. She was perfectly content;
everything was out of her heart but he and the present; she was
very still. He could see the soft curve of her cheek resting upon her
sweet white hand in the moonlight. After one of the little intervals of
silence, he looked down upon her again. She made no motion, and
did not reply to a word he said softly, and he discovered that she
was asleep.

He did not wonder. The experiences of the past few days would
have killed any ordinary woman. How heroic she had been! With
what abandon she had put aside everything for the purpose of
saving him! She had hesitated at nothing. His love for her was
measured by his honor; hers for him was boundless. 'Twas ever so;
and he had reproached her, spoken harshly to her, upbraided her,
turned away from her! How could he have been so cruel! she was so
young, his heart yearned over her. He vowed that if God did permit
them to escape from the perils which environed them, he would
make up to her for every unkind word spoken, every reproach, every
cutting glance, by an eternity of devotion.

The night, the ocean, the loneliness, impressed him. What had he
ever done to be so blessed in the love of this noble woman? His life,
as he had said, had been an idle one. In the courts he had played at
hearts as he had played at war on the ships for the fun of the game.
With her a serious purpose had entered his life and was before him.
The silence of the night was broken only by the soft splash of the
waves, as the little boat rocked gently through them. The gentle
wind grew fainter and fainter; presently the flap of the idle sail
against the mast apprised him that it had gone.

The white Serapis and her consort were far, far ahead, going fast
and leaving a long white wake across the sea. They seemed to have
kept the breeze which had failed the small boat. Coming up from the
southward he could see the black shapes of the Richard and her
attendant ships. What would he have given to be upon the deck by
the side of that dauntless captain! But even could he approach the
two ships, that privilege would be denied him, for honor demanded
that he present himself upon the deck of the Serapis without delay.
It might be that it would be too late even then to save Coventry, but
he would go and do his best. When the boat lost way, he sat a
moment in indecision. He was so loath to awaken the tired girl, but it
was necessary. Gently he raised her head.

"Why, my dearest," she said, "was I asleep? What has happened?

Oh!" it came back to her, "you are going back to the Serapis." Then
she looked eagerly forward. The ships were far off now, several
miles away; and as the breeze still held with them, the distance was
increasing with every passing moment.
 "We do not advance," she cried, a note of joy in her voice, as her
ear detected the flapping of the sail; "the wind has died out." She
laughed triumphantly, "We shall never reach them."

"And poor Coventry?" said O'Neill.

"I cannot help it," she answered simply. "I think only of you. Now
if I could go back alone and take his place and let you go free, I
would cheerfully do that."

"What advantage would that be to me?" he asked her.

"Well, there is little use in our discussing it any more," she

answered, "for you cannot reach either ship now before it is over.
The wind has gone over to them, and we are still."

"Ah, but I have another way of getting along."

"How is that?"

"I shall row," he said quietly. "Will you take the tiller?"

"No!" she replied defiantly, folding her arms. "I will not help you
at all!"

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!" he murmured.

"I will not, I tell you!" she said. "Frankly, I do not wish to. What is
Edward, what are those ships, what is the whole wide world to me
beside your safety?"

"I must do it alone as best I can, then," said O'Neill, leaving her
side and going forward and unstepping the mast and thrusting out
the oars, which he handled with the skill of long practice and strong
arms. The difference of speed between the boat and the two ships
was now of course greater than before.
 "Why fatigue yourself unnecessarily?" she said to him at last, after
he had been rowing for some time. "You gain nothing; 'tis useless."

"No matter," was his reply as he desperately tugged at the oars.

"I shall at least have the consciousness of knowing I did what I
could." But after pulling hard for an hour, he leaned over the handles
of the oars and turning his head looked forward. She was right; it
was a perfectly hopeless task. The nearest ships were now ten or a
dozen miles away, and going farther, when a flash of light pierced
the darkness on the horizon, followed some time after by the roar of
a heavy gun.

BOOK V
IN THE HELL OF BATTLE, ALL

CHAPTER XVIII

The Boys in Command

"The ship is clear, sir," said Lieutenant Richard Dale, saluting

smartly. He was a handsome, dashing young sailor, the picture of
sea gallantry, as he ran lightly up the ladder from the main-deck and
stopped before the little captain of the Bon Homme Richard,
standing on the weather side of the poop, keenly surveying the
scene.

"Very good, sir," said the little man, nodding his head but not
turning toward his executive officer. "Look yonder," he added,
pointing ahead and toward the shore. "What do you make that, sir?"

"It cannot be the Alliance!" exclaimed Dale, in great surprise, as

he shaded his eyes and gazed intently in the direction of the setting
sun at a large war-ship which was edging in shore toward the harbor
of Scarborough, which apparently sheltered a numerous convoy of
merchant ships.

"'Tis indeed she!" replied Jones, sternly; "I have repeatedly

signalled to Captain Landais to follow in our wake,--to form line
ahead. If we get out of this thing safely--" He stopped, repressed his
feeling by a strong effort, compressing his lips passionately in a way
which promised trouble for Captain Landais and the Alliance, a new
and handsome frigate, the best of Jones's squadron. After a
momentary pause the commodore, a man of few words in time of
action at least, turned toward the stern of his ship.

"Look aft there, too," he added.

"That will be the Pallas, of course," said Dale, as his eye fell upon
a smaller ship which was following the Bon Homme Richard. "And
the Vengeance, sir?"

"There! Hull down on the horizon, fleeing like a coward," said

Jones, bitterly.

"And those two white fellows forward there," continued Dale,

"reaching out from the harbor--"

"Are the Serapis and the Scarborough," interrupted the captain,

"if the information sent us by O'Neill be correct."
 "Would he were here!" exclaimed Dale.

"Yes, he is himself a host," said Jones, sadly. "We are fearfully

short-handed. O'Neill gone, and Henry and Cutting Lunt, our third
and fourth officers, both absent. The Frenchmen are an unknown
quantity. I have only you, Dale, and Stacey and Mease, and the
boys, of course; but I can depend upon you."

"Upon me--upon all of us," replied Dale, gallantly, "to the death
itself!"

"I know it," said the captain, smiling and laying his hand
affectionately upon the young man's shoulder. "They are very young,
though," he continued gravely, "for such desperate work as this
promises to be, but they are brave hearts and true. They will do
their best, I doubt not."

"With you to command them, sir, they'll not be found wanting, I

am sure," said the enthusiastic Dale, who was devotedly attached to
his great commander. There was a little pause.

"Messieurs," said Jones, turning toward a little group of French

officers who were standing on the lee side of the poop. At the
captain's word they stepped forward and saluted gracefully.

"Colonel de Weibert, you have served in the artillery, I believe?"

asked the captain of a fine-looking veteran. The Frenchman bowed.
"Will you assist Lieutenant Dale in working the battery on the main-
deck? It is an unusual place for a soldier, but we are very short of
experienced officers. You understand the handling of great guns. It
would be a great favor."

"Any place which enables him to fight the enemy is a good place
for a soldier, my captain. I am at Lieutenant Dale's service," replied
the gallant old soldier.
 "You, vicomte, and gentlemen," said Jones, turning to De
Chamillard, who was attended by several subalterns, "will take
charge of the soldiers on the quarter-deck and forecastle. I desire a
continuous small-arm fire to play upon the decks and tops of the
English ships."

"Sir captain," smilingly answered De Chamillard, a dapper, dainty

little man, as he in turn bowed profoundly, laying his hand on his
sword, "not a man shall escape my marine infantry; I answer for
them and for my friends here as well," he added indicating his gay-
clad lieutenants, who emulated the vicomte in the profundity of their
salutations.

"Remember, gentlemen," said Jones, his face lighting, "'tis for the
honor of America--and of France. Mr. Brooks," he said to an alert
young midshipman who was acting as his signal officer and aide,
"signal the Pallas to edge off to the east and engage the smaller ship
of the enemy. The big fellow is our game, messieurs. See! they are
forming line ahead and are waiting for us. Brave fellows!
Quartermaster," he cried, stepping to the break of the poop and
looking down at the old seaman and his mates stationed at the
wheel, "d'ye see those two ships?"

"Ay, ay, sir," answered the veteran tar, shading his eyes with his
hand and peering eagerly ahead; "I sees 'em, yer Honor."

"That's well. The one ahead, nearest the shore, is our mark. I
intend to round to on her port bow. Mind your course!"

"Very good, sir," answered the steersman, giving a knowing squint

at the lifting sails, and shifting the wheel a few spokes.

"Now, gentlemen," continued the captain, "to your stations all!

But stay--Mr. Brooks, direct the sailing-master, purser, and the junior
officers to come up on the quarter-deck."
 In a short time the two older officers and a little band of youths
whose ages ranged from twelve to seventeen years stood before the
captain and saluted. His eyes fell tenderly upon the boys; so youthful
and immature were they to be charged with the heavy
responsibilities of the coming hour, which would have devolved upon
the older men but for their unfortunate absence.

"Young gentlemen," he said quietly, "accident has thrust you into

positions of great responsibility which otherwise you might not have
been called upon to fill for years. We are about to engage two
powerful ships of the enemy. The Richard is heavily overmatched in
everything except in the spirit and courage of her officers and men. I
am determined--nay, we are all determined, are we not?--that the
flag which floats above us shall never be struck. We may be sunk,
but we will not surrender. I shall try to do my part; you will, I doubt
not, do yours?"

"Ay, ay, sir."

"We will, sir."

"Count on us to the death, sir," broke forth from the impetuous

youths who clustered about the captain.

"Remember that we are fighting not only to uphold the honor of

our flag in the face of the most arrogant navy on the ocean, but to
rescue from a shameful death--if it be not unhappily too late--one of
our brother officers who would give his life to be here."

"O'Neill, O'Neill!" cried one and another, the brave Irishman being
a great favorite with all.

"I enjoin upon you the utmost vigilance and care. Supplement
your inexperience by redoubled effort. Be as brave as youths and as
cool as veterans. Give implicit obedience to the orders you receive
from Mr. Dale, Mr. Stacey, or from me, and exact the same
compliance with your orders from your men. They are a hard lot to
handle; don't lose control of them." He paused a moment, scanning
the intent faces of the lads close about him, and then continued:
"Remember, too, we have more than one foe to fight,--the prisoners
below, the enemies yonder on the sea, and disobedience in our own
squadron. Who keeps guard over the prisoners in the hold?"

"I, sir, with the master-at-arms," answered Payne, a resolute-

looking youth of fifteen. "I wanted to be on deck in the batteries, sir-
-"

"You could have no more important station, my lad," replied the

captain. "Keep them under hatches! Do not hesitate to shoot the
first man who makes a move to break out! They must not be
allowed to gain the deck. At all hazards, keep them down! I repeat
it, sir, keep them down! Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," gravely answered the boy, awed by the emphasis of the
captain's manner.

"You, Mr. Mayrant, with Mr. Mease the purser and Mr. Brooks, will
remain on deck with Mr. Stacey and me," continued the captain.
"You, Mr. McCollin, will take charge of the old eighteen-pounders on
the berth-deck. You, too, have a post of danger! Be careful of them!
I distrust them greatly, yet they must be tried."

"Ay, ay, sir. Thank you, sir," said the young midshipman, delighted
at being thus distinguished.

"Mr. Caswell," he added, turning to the largest and oldest, "you

will take charge of the forecastle. Mr. Fanning, I confide the maintop
to you. The rest of you will command the several divisions in the
main batteries and the other tops. Now, young gentlemen, before
you go to your stations, I would take you by the hand; and so,"
lifting his cocked hat reverently, an example all present followed,
"may God guard the right!" There was a suspicious moisture in some
of the eyes looking upon the captain, but the midshipmen would
have died rather than permit an actual tear to be seen.
 "Three cheers for Commodore Jones and the bully Richard!" at
last shouted Payne, breaking the insupportable silence. The little
party, somewhat forgetful of discipline for the moment, crowded
around their captain, shaking him by the hand, and turned away.
They had come up to the quarter-deck a rollicking set of boys; they
returned from it a group of grave-eyed men.

"What a splendid set of youngsters!" said Jones to himself, as he

watched them spring lightly toward their stations. Then he turned
toward the sailing-master: "Mr. Stacey, take the deck for a few
moments and hold on as we are. Ah!" he said, pausing with his foot
on the ladder as he saw the Pallas, a much swifter sailer than the
Richard, rushing by on the starboard side with every breath of
canvas drawing, heading for the smaller of the two English ships
before them, "there goes the Pallas. Cottineau, at least, is a brave
man. I shall remember him. Come, Dale." As he stepped down the
ladder a hearty cheer rang out from the passing frigate, which,
without order, was lustily returned from the Richard, and then the
two officers walked through the batteries.

The sun had set for some time, and night had long since fallen
over the sea. The lighthouse on Flamborough Head was sending out
a great beam of warning from that jutting point. Far on the horizon a
silvery brightness had spread itself in the heavens, bespeaking the
harvest moon, the burnished rim of which even before sunset had
leaped into being on the edge of the water. Lights twinkled here and
there on the English ships before them and crowned the hills of the
distant town and harbor. Battle lanterns were lighted between decks
on the Richard, the yellow flickering radiance from which was
reflected from the sinewy, half-naked, sweat-covered bodies of the
stalwart men at their quarters, as the captain walked through the
crew.

It was a varied assemblage of about three hundred men which

manned the guns and filled the tops. The crew had been made up in
France out of such materials as came to hand. There were about
seventy-five tried and true American seamen, most of them veterans
of many a hard fight and bold adventure. These commanded the
different guns and filled the more important stations. There were,
perhaps, one hundred and fifty veteran French soldiers,--old
artillerists,--some of whom had volunteered at the guns; a few of
the most expert marksmen among them were stationed in the tops,
but the greater portion was divided into two large bodies drawn up
on the quarter-deck and forecastle. The balance of the crew had
been gathered from the riff-raff of all nations; perhaps a tougher,
rougher, harder, more desperate body of men never fought a ship;
they had but one virtue,--they would fight.

Only a resolute hand and an indomitable will like that of Jones

had ever held the motley crowd in any kind of discipline. He had
ruled the Richard with an iron heart, and in spite of bitter murmurs
had forced the men to do his will. The ship had been a slumbering
volcano of incipient mutiny and latent rebellion; but in the presence
of the enemy, these men whose passion it was to fight forgot their
personal grievances, and mindful of the finished skill and
superhuman courage of their captain, looked favorably upon him and
eagerly anticipated the conflict. Rude jests and bits of sea
pleasantry, usually permitted in moments like these, flew up and
down the line between the captain and the ruffians under his
command as he passed by them in rapid review.

The watches had been piped to supper earlier than usual, and
afterward a double ration of grog had been served out. The men
were in good spirits, and good spirits in them! The captain carefully
examined every part of the ship. The young midshipmen who filled
the unwonted stations, evidently deeply impressed by their
opportunities and responsibilities, were pacing restlessly up and
down, eagerly scrutinizing every detail of their several commands.
On the berth-deck, standing before the hatch which led into the hold
in which over two hundred English prisoners were confined, the
commodore found young Payne, attended by the master-at-arms,
two American seamen, and three French soldiers, keeping guard.
 "Ah! I am glad to see you at your station," said the captain,
raising his voice, as the young midshipman, full of pride, saluted
him. "You remember my orders, sir, which were to shoot the first
man who shows his head above the hatch?"

There was a hoarse murmur from the prisoners beneath the

gratings which covered the hatchway, at this speech of the captain's,
which was, as he had intended, clearly heard by them.

"Ay, ay, sir. I'll do it; never fear," answered the lad, in his boyish
treble.

"Remember, sir, that I regard your station as one of the most

important on the ship! Those men must not be allowed on deck!"

"They shall not be!" answered Payne, resolutely. "If the ship goes
down, they go with it!"

There was a harsh roar below; oaths, curses, imprecations, and

cries were blasted up from the deck beneath them.

"Silence there!" shouted Jones. "Remember!" he said to the

midshipman as he turned away.

"I shall not forget, sir," replied the boy, saluting proudly.

"Do what you can," said Jones, turning to McCollin,--"do what you
can with the old eighteens."

"They shall be fought as long as they exist, sir," answered the

young officer.

"I know that, sir," said Jones, glancing approvingly from him to
the little groups of half-naked men clustered about the guns, the
sweat streaming from their muscular bodies in the heat of the
narrow, confined quarters, "and you have the men with you who will
back you up."
 A hoarse cheer which resounded throughout the dim recesses of
the berth-deck bespoke the hearty acquiescence of the men in their
captain's shrewd estimate of their qualities.
 CHAPTER XIX

'Tween Decks with the Men

The captain, not ill pleased at this and other manifestations of

hearty spirit which had met him on every hand, mounted the ladders
and resumed his station on the high poop-deck of the frigate.

Anything less like a war vessel could hardly be imagined. The Bon
Homme Richard had been an old-fashioned, high-pooped East
Indiaman with a towering forecastle. This antiquated makeshift,
formerly called the Duc de Duras, had been turned over to Jones for
a ship-of-war through the grudging kindness of France. It was the
best ship Franklin and the other commissioners of the new American
Republic could procure for their greatest sea captain. Jones, out of
compliment to Franklin, author of the "Poor Richard" papers, had
renamed her; the name was the only thing new about her. She had
been pierced for thirty-six guns, twenty-eight twelve-pounders on
the main-deck, and eight nine-pounders on the quarter-deck and
forecastle. In utter desperation at her entire inadequacy, Jones had
recourse to the dangerous experiment, not often resorted to, of
mounting six eighteen-pounders in ports pierced for them on the
berth-deck, and of course very near the water line. The guns were
all of an obsolete pattern and much worn by use, the eighteen-
pounders being especially bad; as dangerous, in fact, to friends as
foes. Bad as they were, they were all he could obtain, and, with
characteristic determination, Jones resolved to make the best of
them.
 The ship herself was so old and rotten that she was not even fit
for an ordinary merchant cruise, much less prepared for the shocks
of battle. Through an unfortunate combination of circumstances, all
of her senior officers were absent except Dale, the first lieutenant,
Stacey, the sailing-master, and Mease, the purser. Among that half of
her crew who were soldiers, many had scarcely yet acquired their
"sea-legs," and some of them were actually seasick during the
battle! The Serapis, with which they were about to engage and to
which they were rapidly drawing near, was a brand-new, double-
banked frigate, mounting fifty guns on two covered and one
uncovered decks, twenty eighteen-pounders, twenty nines, and ten
sixes. She was manned by three hundred and fifty well-drilled able
seamen and commanded by one of the best officers in the English
navy, who was ably seconded by a full quota of capable and
experienced subordinates.

Pearson had no more doubt of winning the victory than he had of

the rising of the sun next morning. Leaving one factor out of a
comparison of the opposing forces, his confidence was absolutely
warranted. But Jones had no more doubt of winning the victory than
Pearson had. Pearson knew his ship and his crew; Jones knew
himself. He was the unconscious factor which vitiated Pearson's
conclusions. When a man like the little Scotch-American captain
makes up his mind to do a thing, there is only one thing to prevent
his doing it, and that is to remove the man! Jones intended to
conquer. There never was a man who had more of the spirit of
absolute determination, of unconquerable, unshakable, unbreakable
pertinacity in continuing a conflict, than he. He never knew when he
was beaten; perhaps because he never was. There was something in
the sheer determined, persistent pugnacity of the man which
absolutely compelled success. He wrenched victory from
overwhelming odds, superior force, fortuitous chance,--everything.

The men understood this, too. There is nothing your real hard-
bitten dare-devil, your imprudent ruffian, likes so much as a man
who is not afraid of him and who will be his master. Your ruffian