ealized his surrender. There was little to
choose between the two vessels; each was a floating mass of wreckage.

A little later the English captain went on board the _Bon Homme Richard_
and tendered his sword to the young American. The latter looked hard at
the English officer. "Captain Pearson?" he asked questioningly.

The other bowed.

"Ah, I thought so. I am John Paul Jones, once small John Paul of
Arbigland in the Firth. Do you remember me?"

Pearson looked at the smoke-grimed face, the keen black eyes, the fine
figure. "I shouldn't have known you. Yes, I remember now."

Paul Jones took the sword that was held out to him, and asked one of his
midshipmen to escort the British captain to his cabin. He could not help
smiling as a curious recollection came to him. He looked up at the
masthead above him. There floated a flag bearing thirteen red and white
stripes and a blue corner filled with stars. It was the very flag of his
dream as a boy.

Thus it was that the sturdy Scotch boy, full of the daring spirit of his
Highland ancestors, became the great sea-fighter of a new country, and
ultimately wrote his name in history as the Father of the American
Navy.

IX

Mozart

The Boy of Salzburg: 1756-1791

The great hall of the famous musical society of Bologna in Italy was
filled with musicians on the afternoon of October 9, 1770. They had
gathered to welcome a small boy who had recently come with his father
from the town of Salzburg in Austria. The most marvelous stories of his
genius as a composer had preceded him, and his travels through Europe
had been one long success. Yet it scarcely seemed possible that a boy of
fourteen could know so much about music as this one was said to. That
was why the learned men of Bologna had gathered together this afternoon.
They were going to test Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's skill.

It was about four o'clock when the usher at the door announced Leopold
Mozart and his son Wolfgang. The members of the society faced the
newcomers. They saw a tall, fine-looking man accompanied by a slim,
fair-haired boy with smiling eyes and mouth. The boy was richly dressed,
with much gold lace upon his coat and trousers. He was perfectly
self-possessed, and when he saw the eyes of all the men in the room
fixed upon him he made a low bow. It was gracefully done, and a murmur
of welcome rose from the members. So this was the boy of whom all the
musicians of Europe were talking.

The skil