and supposed omnipotence of
the navy. It also doubled the rates of marine insurance; which was the
most grievous damage of all.

"Now to attack a castle!" cried Jones, "and bag an Earl, too, if he is
around!"

The _Ranger_ was headed for Solway Firth--not more than three hours'
sail away--where, upon St. Mary's Isle, was the castle of the Earl of
Selkirk.

"If we can catch the noble owner of this keep," said John Paul, "we
will hold him as hostage for the better treatment of American
prisoners in England."

As luck would have it, the Earl was away at this particular time, and,
although the wild sea-dogs of the _Ranger_ carried off several pieces
of silverware from the castle, this was all that was captured. Lucky
Earl! But, had he fallen into the clutches of John Paul, he would have
been treated with the greatest consideration, for the Captain of the
_Ranger_ was the most chivalrous of conquerors.

The _Ranger_ stood across the Irish Channel and next day ran into some
fisher boats.

"Ah! Ha!" laughed one of the sons of Ireland. "The _Drake_--the
guard-ship at Carrickfergus--is after you, and she's a twenty-gun
sloop-of-war."

John Paul smiled.

"To lessen trouble," said he, "I'll heave-to off the mouth of Belfast
Lough and wait for her to work out. This will save her the pains of
coming after me."

So he luffed his ship, lay to, and waited for the _Drake_ to sail on.
Her white sails could be seen more clearly as she neared the
adventurous American. A boat was sent out to reconnoitre--but--as it
approached, it was surrounded by tenders from the _Ranger_; a
midshipman and five men in her, were made prisoners. Tide and wind
were both against the _Drake_; she came on slowly; and, at an hour
before sundown, was just within hail. The sea was fairly smooth, the
wind southerly and very light.

"What ship is that?" sounded from the deck of the _Drake_.

"The American Continental ship _Ranger_," rang the clear reply. "Lay
on! We are waiting for you!"

Both ships bore away before the wind and neared each other to within
striking distance. _Boom!_ a broadside roared from the side of the
_Drake_, and the fight had begun.

_Crash! Crash!_ Muskets spoke from the rigging of the _Ranger_, where
several seamen had climbed in the endeavor to pick off the gunners on
the deck of the British warship. There were one hundred and
fifty-seven men upon the _Drake_; Paul Jones had one hundred and
twenty-six. The _Drake_'s batt