e was to be used, and, to prevent the
discharge of a gun by some nervous soldier, he ordered his officers to
cut down the first man who took his musket from his shoulder without the
order to do so.

The two divisions approaching from opposite sides were to attack the
fort at the same moment. Before it was reached, the pickets discovered
them and opened fire. The garrison was aroused, and, hurrying to their
posts, cried out tauntingly:

"Come on, you rebels! we're waiting for you!"

"We'll be there," was the reply; and the patriots kept their word,
carrying matters with such a rush that the flag was speedily lowered.
While leading his men, Wayne was struck in the forehead by a musket-ball
and fell to the ground. Believing himself mortally wounded, he asked to
be carried forward that he might die within the fort. While his men were
assisting him, it was found that he had only been stunned. He recovered
a moment later and was among the first to enter the defenses.

The American loss was slight, and they secured nearly six hundred
prisoners, with a lot of valuable stores. The fort was destroyed before
they left, the ruins being occupied some days later by a British force.

THE INFANT AMERICAN NAVY.

Thus far we have had nothing to tell about the infant American navy. At
the beginning of the war, in 1775, Washington sent several privateers to
cruise along the New England coast, and Congress established a naval
department. Thirteen ships were fitted out and two battalions of seamen
enlisted. The opportunity of capturing prizes from the enemy was very
alluring to the skillful American seamen, and so many dashing privateers
started forth in quest of them that in the course of three years fully
five hundred ships, sailing under the English flag, were captured. Some
of the daring cruisers did not hesitate to enter British waters in
search of the enemy.

GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES.

No braver man than John Paul Jones ever trod the quarter-deck. On the
first chance he displayed so much courage and skill that he was made a
captain. He was cruising off Solway Firth near his birthplace one night,
when he rowed ashore on the coast of Cumberland, with only thirty-one
volunteers, and burned three vessels in the harbor of Whitehaven and
spiked a number of cannon in the guard-room of the fort. England was
alarmed, declared him a pirate, and put forth every effort to capture
him.

In 1779, Paul Jones, as he is more gen