off the harbor. All factions were aroused:
the Austrians and English slapping the French and Spaniards upon the
back, and saying, "Now there will be a chance to sink bold Captain
Wright, Messieurs!"

To which the irritable Frenchmen would answer, "Ah! Yes! He will be
gobbled up like Jonah by the whale. Pouff!"

The French privateer sailed out to meet the foe, and soon her white
canvas had disappeared from view around a jutting headland. The
stranger ran off. The Frenchman pursued, and soon both were lost to
the eager gaze of the population of Malta, which crowded every
headland, eager and expectant for the bloody battle. The shore was
black with people.

Hours passed. Another day came and with it the news that two vessels
had been sighted off the entrance to the harbor. Hundreds rushed to
the headlands and cliffs in order to see the victor and the
vanquished, for two cruisers were approaching, the one towing the
other.

"Huzzah!" shouted an enthusiastic Frenchman. "We have won! See--up go
the French colors upon the first vessel. The other--poof--eet ees a
jelly. Eet ees pounded to ze shreds."

"Huzzah!" shouted all of his compatriots, and they danced about,
shaking hands, embracing, and waving their hats and their
handkerchiefs.

"Ce cher Wright!" cried they. "He ees een the soup, eh?"

And what of the Englishmen?

They--of course--said nothing, but bit their lips, looked at their
Austrian friends, and hung their heads dejectedly.

Here is the most beautiful part of all this story, for Fortunatus
Wright, my boys, was a joker--a real, true end man in a minstrel
show--and he was having his fun with "the Frenchies." His
vessel--indeed--had come off victorious, in spite of the fact that she
had been much more shattered than the other contestant. Therefore,
Wright had put her in tow of the captured Frenchman, which he,
himself, was steering, with the crew of his opponent down in the hold,
as prisoners of war.

Seeing the crowded headlands and swarming ramparts in the harbor, he
could not resist the temptation of hoisting the flag of France. He
chuckled as he saw the effect it produced upon the crowd, then--as the
vessels rounded a fort at the entrance to the harbor--down came the
colors of France and up went the English flag to the peak, with the
French flag below.

And then--well, you can imagine how the Englishmen and Austrians
yelled, and how the poor Frenchmen beat a hasty flight for their
homes. Fortun