CHAPTER IX

. JOHN PAUL JONES AND THE _BONHOMME RICHARD_ 227

A Condemned Indiaman, Ill-shaped and Rotten, Fitted as a Man-o’-war--A Disheartening Cruise with Incapable and Mutinous Associates--Attempt to Take Leith, and the Scotch Parson’s Prayer--Meeting the _Serapis_--When John Paul Jones had “not yet Begun to Fight”; when he had “Got her now”; when he would not “Surrender to a Drop of Water”--Ready Wit of Richard Dale--Work of a Bright Marine--A Battle Won by Sheer Pluck and Persistence.

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