USS Bonhomme Richard

“ The crew of the Bonhomme Richard, which was the only American vessel of the little fleet,—and the only one that accomplished any signal success—was composed of such a motley assortment of the offscourings of the dockyards that even Jones' stout heart sank when he saw his men assembled together. Among the men that were supposed to be sailors were many French peasants who had never even seen a vessel and English prisoners that he had to keep in order by the armed force of his more loyal men. ”

“ The ship, a converted merchantman, was a dull sailer, old, and rotten; her guns were of various calibres, and were worn out; her men were loafers and outcasts from every nation, with a backbone of about 150 French peasants, tempted from their fields by promises of bounty and booty. The Bonhomme Richard sailed from L'Orient on 14 Aug. 1779. With her were associated for the cruise four other vessels, one of which, the Alliance of 36 guns, was an American-built frigate and manned by Americans, but commanded by a Frenchman, Pierre Landais ”

“ The ship which I chased brought to at noon; she proved to be the Union, letter of marque, bound from London for Quebec, with a cargo of naval stores on account of government, adapted for the service of British armed vessels on the lakes. The public despatches were lost, as the Alliance very imprudently hoisted American colours, though English colours were then flying on board the Bonhomme Richard. Captain Landais sent a small boat to ask whether I would man the ship, or he should, as in the latter case he would suffer no boat nor person from the Bonhomme Richard to go near the prize. ”

“ So effective had been the work of the crew of the Serapis that at the end of an hour any ordinary man would have surrendered the Bonhomme Richard; but John Paul Jones was of different character from ordinary men. With a tenacity of purpose that has never been surpassed, he continued the fight and won. The number of killed on each ship was forty-nine. The Serapis had sixty-eight wounded and the Bonhomme266 Richard sixty-seven, among whom were John Paul Jones himself and Richard Dale. ”

“ Although much greater sea-battles, in point of numbers of both ships and men engaged, are recorded in history, yet this, the first naval engagement by an American vessel, is counted among the most famous of all on account of its stubbornness. The child was matched against the parent; an American vessel against a British, the latter far the stronger. The combat was mainly between the Bonhomme Richard, Jones' ship, with forty guns, many of them unserviceable, and the British ship, Serapis, of superior armament, as shown below. ”

“ At a German professor got sore;
It grabbed at his finger,
The prof he did linger,
And now he won’t do so no more,”
chanted Dick, who had a weakness for making up limericks.
“Stow that,” growled Captain Sprowl with mock indignation. “Now then,” he went on, “when you young fellers have quite digested your supper, we’ll set about fixin’ up for the night. You said there was a tent in the ship, Jack?”
“Yes, a light one of balloon silk. It’s seven by nine feet. Is it big enough?”
“Crullers, yes! Big enough for the crew of a down-east whaler, boy. We won’t all sleep in it at once, anyhow. ”

“ Having struck the water, the hollow hydroplanes and the water-tight body of the craft fulfilled their purposes right nobly. Buoyed on the crest of a big swell, the Wondership floated, and the next instant, amidst a cheer of more than ordinary fervor, Jack started her for the yacht’s side.
“Hurrah! She floats!” yelled Tom.
“By the galumping galleons of Gaul, she does that!” agreed Dick Donovan, against whose pale face the freckles stood out like spots on the sun.
“But will she move?” cried Mr. Chadwick, as the propeller began to churn the water. ”

“ This led to Captain Sprowl’s bluntly telling them that on arrival in America, to which he was shaping his course for that purpose, they would all be discharged and new men taken on in their places. This did not suit the men at all. Driven wild by dreams of wealth they broke into open mutiny a short time after the professor had sent his wireless despatch to Mr. Chadwick. Led by Medway and Luke Hemming, they insisted that the yacht be held on her course for South America. ”

“ We can’t shoot down firewood, and we’ve got our pocket axes,” declared Tom.
“You take your rifles,” repeated the captain. “It’s not a good plan to go snooping about in this neck of the woods without firearms.”
“We might get some game anyhow,” said Jack, as he got his weapon out of the boat; and the others did the same, Dick helping himself to one of the spare stock, for they had brought several from the yacht.
This done, the lads set off into the jungle, promising to keep within call and come back as quickly as possible. ”

“ Without stopping to take another look at the huge menace bearing down upon them, the boys, assisted by Silas, picked up the unconscious form of the man they had rescued and carried him below. All this was done with lightning speed. Anxiety, cold panic, made them move like those who dream, but still with promptitude.
As the metal door clanged to Jack shuddered; it sounded almost as if the steel bow of the battleship was cutting into them at the moment, cleaving them in two and sending the White Shark and her crew to an unmarked grave in the bed of the ocean. ”

“ Much encouraged, the captain resumed: “There ain’t no manner of sense in your sitting out there, my man. In the fust place, you’ve got a long way to drop if you get chucked off, and in the next you’re jamming our rudder wires. Savvy?”
The Indian, crouching among the wires and braces, merely stared, not without awe, at the redoubtable Yankee, who, for his part, was glad to see that the Amazonian carried no weapons.207 The spear he had fired at Tom had apparently exhausted his arsenal.
“That’s my bucko,” went on the skipper coaxingly, “you look almost human already. ”

“ Men, women and children could be seen running from the huts and standing with upturned faces gazing at the monstrous creature of the skies. They could see that most of the men carried spears and bows, and through the glasses they also made out that many of them were armed with bamboo blow-pipes peculiar to the Amazonian tribes.
“Well, what do you think of the prospects?” asked Mr. Chadwick, turning to the skipper, who had been using the binoculars.
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“I reckon it’ll be all right to go down,” rejoined the captain slowly, “but have Tom and Dick get the rifles ready first. ”

“ All at once, and without giving the party of travelers any opportunity for parley, several of the Indians raised the long pipes to their lips and a rain of tiny darts came about those in the craft. One of these darts struck Dick in the hand and inflicted a painful wound.
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“Up, get up! Those blow pipe things may be poisoned!” cried Captain Sprowl.
He snatched up a rifle and in a minute some of the Indians would have paid the penalty of their attack, but that Mr. Chadwick caught the irate mariner’s arm.
“Don’t shoot. They know no better,” he exclaimed. ”

“ Privately, though, they thought it was secure against anything.
“How long before we come in sight of your mine?” asked Jack.
“Oh, Sonora is quite a way down the coast. I don’t expect to sight it before this evening. By the way, I cabled Jameson before we left that if all was well he was to hoist a white light. If not, two red ones.”
“You don’t anticipate any real trouble, do you?” asked Mr. Dancer, who was taking an airing on deck while Silas did a “trick” at the wheel.
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“I don’t know. These rebels are inflamed against Americans. They think that the Cuban government grants them favors. ”

“ All at once, as the tiny metal chip of a White Shark rushed along by the side of the huge leviathan of naval warfare, an object clothed in white fell from the stern deck. Like a flash it darted downward.
For an instant the watchers on the deck of the195 submarine thought something had been thrown overboard from the cook’s or quartermaster’s section of the ship.
But a moment later a booming, roaring cry ran along the battleship’s crowded decks. Her steam siren shrieked like the wail of a lost soul.
“What’s the matter?” demanded Jack.
“It’s a man overboard!” cried Silas.196 “That’s what it is!” ”

“ The play of the lightning was incessant. The whole sky appeared to be ablaze with livid fire. In the blue glare the figures on deck were outlined as plainly as if on the screen of a moving picture theatre. But it was grim, real-life drama that was being enacted.
The boys saw Medway and Hemming, with revolvers in their hands, go slipping and sliding across the inclined deck and rush into the midst of the group of seamen about the boat.
“Drop those falls, you fools!” they heard Hemming shout above the tempest. “It’s death to launch a boat in this!” ”

“ In an instant the sailor pounced on him. But Tom, with a shout, pitched upon Jack’s captor. In a flash they were rolling all over the deck.
Jack regained his feet as the heavy form of his captor was removed. Dick Donovan was at his side.
“I’m with you, by Barataria,—I’m with you!” he cried, throwing himself into an attitude of defense as several men ran toward them. Tom had by this time managed to throw off the man whom he had attacked and, springing to his feet, he joined his comrades. The three boys, their backs to a deck house, faced the crew of the yacht without flinching ”

“ Get up!” roared Tom. “We’ll be swamped!”
Jack turned on the gas full power, but the ship did not rise. Her heavy load made her sluggish.
“Start her!” bellowed the captain. “Start her for your life!”
“I can’t! She won’t rise!” cried Jack despairingly.
“Then we are lost. Look there!”
Coming toward them at the speed of an express train was the huge whale. On she drove, making straight for the stranded motor ship.
“She’s going to attack us! She thinks that we killed her young one!” cried Mr. Chadwick.
The motor ship lay straight in the path of the maddened whale. ”

“ The Sea King was Mr. Chadwick’s yacht. She has already figured in one portion of the boys’ adventures, namely, those related in125 “The Boy Inventors’ Wireless Triumph.”
“Too bad; the Sea King would have made the trip in no time. Isn’t there some other way?”
“I might charter a yacht; but it is a long job sometimes to find one that suits and is ready to start at once.”
“A small craft wouldn’t do?” asked Tom.
“No. It’s coming on to the hurricane season down in those waters. In case of bad weather no small craft could ride such seas.”
Jack had been knitting his brow. ”

“ Chester Chadwick, and the two lads, his son and nephew. Tom’s father, Mr. Jesson, was absent in the Northwest, making a collection of the flora of the region.
“It is plain enough,” Mr. Chadwick was saying,62 “that your friend’s craft, owing to its construction, cannot be equipped with the usual tanks employed in submarine designing. What we have to do, is to find out some other way of forcing it beneath the surface and keeping it there, if necessary.”
Jack, who had been busy with a sheet of paper for the last twenty minutes, looked up. ”

“ One was the murderous looking Frenchman, the skipper of the Southern Cross, the other he took to be a common seaman.
Attracted by the scuffle, the French maid had thrust her head out of the window and was addressing the combatants in vigorous French. Neither then nor later did Madame de la Fontaine appear. When Frost was safely bound and gagged, Captain Bonhomme arose, said a few words to his companion, and disappeared into the farmhouse. Dan's guard searched him rapidly, confiscated his revolver and knife, and then resumed his seat upon his legs. ”

“ They call you the ‘Boy Inventors.’ I’ve heard how you have aided other inventors in trouble. Can you think of a way to make the White Shark dive?”
“Not off-hand,” declared Jack positively; “but I promise you we’ll give the matter thought and do our best to help you. And now, Mr. Dancer, we should be getting back. It is late and my father, for whom we ran into town to purchase some electric apparatus, will be worrying about us.”
“But the wreck of the car has blocked the road and I have no vehicle handy that you can use.”
“I thought I noticed a wireless apparatus on the White Shark ”

“ Mr. Dancer, in the steering section of the White Shark, had seen the accident reflected in the periscope. His mind was made up in an instant. Using the emergency appliances he had for handling the engines, he had brought the White Shark around in incredibly short time and had headed for the drowning man.
Up on deck Jack and Tom had their shoes and their coats off, ready to leap after the castaway if necessary. Mr. Chadwick had seized a life-saving buoy from its hook just inside the hatch and stood ready to hurl it. As for old Silas, he shouted:
“Hold on, mate! We’re comin’! Hold on!” ”

“ That will give us a chance to land those miscreants yet.”
“It seems about all there is left to do,” said Tom, who didn’t seem to be very much impressed with the plan.
“Hello, the Tarpon’s dropped her anchor,” exclaimed Jack, pointing to the other craft, which had come to a standstill about five hundred yards off.
“Then there’s no time to lose in getting ashore,” declared Captain Andrews; “we’ve got to beat them to it. Come on, lads, help me get the dinghy over.”
The dinghy referred to was a small, light flat-bottomed boat, carried athwart the stern of the Sea Gull. ”

“ But there was nothing to be gained by do226ing this, as, at such great depths, pressure and friction would be so increased as to seriously impede the submarine craft’s progress, and haste was a necessity.
After this digression concerning the night, we will follow the boys up to the deck after breakfast, for at dawn the White Shark had been driven to the surface and the ventilators opened. While the air was not foul, still it was a relief to open everything that could be opened, and set in motion fans that drew the stale air out of the interior of the craft. ”