Chapter 15 - Page 2

that on
the night of the visit of the Duke de Chartres and Count D'Estaing to
Doctor Franklin in Paris--the same night that Captain Paul and Israel
were joint occupants of the neighboring chamber--the final sanction of
the French king to the sailing of an American armament against England,
under the direction of the Colonial Commissioner, was made known to the
latter functionary. It was a very ticklish affair. Though swaying on the
brink of avowed hostilities with England, no verbal declaration had as
yet been made by France. Undoubtedly, this enigmatic position of things
was highly advantageous to such an enterprise as Paul's.

Without detailing all the steps taken through the united efforts of
Captain Paul and Doctor Franklin, suffice it that the determined rover
had now attained his wish--the unfettered command of an armed ship in
the British waters; a ship legitimately authorized to hoist the American
colors, her commander having in his cabin-locker a regular commission as
an officer of the American navy. He sailed without any instructions.
With that rare insight into rare natures which so largely distinguished
the sagacious Franklin, the sage well knew that a prowling _brave_, like
Paul Jones, was, like the prowling lion, by nature a solitary warrior.
"Let him alone," was the wise man's answer to some statesman who sought
to hamper Paul with a letter of instructions.

Much subtile casuistry has been expended upon the point, whether Paul
Jones was a knave or a hero, or a union of both. But war and warriors,
like politics and politicians, like religion and religionists, admit of
no metaphysics.

On the second day after Israel's arrival on board the Ranger, as he and
Paul were conversing on the deck, Israel suddenly levelling his glass
towards the Irish coast, announced a large sail bound in. The Ranger
gave chase, and soon, almost within sight of her destination--the port
of Dublin--the stranger was taken, manned, and turned round for Brest.

The Ranger then stood over, passed the Isle of Man towards the
Cumberland shore, arriving within remote sight of Whitehaven about
sunset. At dark she was hovering off the harbor, with a party of
volunteers all ready to descend. But the wind shifted and blew fresh
with a violent sea.

"I won't call on old friends in foul weather," said Captain Paul to
Israel. "We'll saunter about a little, and leave our cards in a day or
two."

Next morning, in Glentinebay, on the south shore of Scotland, they fell
in with a revenue wherry. It was the practice of such craft to board
merchant vessels. The Ranger was disguised as a merchantman, presenting
a broad drab-colored belt all round her hull; under the coat of a