action, and yet he decided, with that "cool, determined
bravery," of which Benjamin Franklin spoke, and with "that presence of
mind which never deserted him" in action, recorded by Fanning, to engage
a ship known by him to be the superior of the Bonhomme Richard in almost
every respect. It has been said of Jones by one who fought with him that
only in battle was he absolutely at ease: only at times of comparative
inaction, when he could not exert himself fully, was he restless and
irritable. On this occasion he joyfully engaged a ship which threw a
weight of metal superior to his by three to two, that sailed much
faster, and was consequently at an advantage in manoeuvring for
position, and that had a crew equal to that of Jones in numbers, and
far more disciplined and homogeneous. A battle resulted which for
desperate fighting has never been excelled, and perhaps never equaled on
the sea.

V

THE FIGHT WITH THE SERAPIS

Jones crowded on all possible sail, and the Bonhomme Richard came within
pistol shot of the Serapis. It was seven o'clock of a fine moonlight
night. Captain Pearson, of the British ship, then hailed, and was
answered with a whole broadside from the Bonhomme Richard, an unfriendly
salute which was promptly returned by the British ship.

From the beginning the fight seemed to go against the Bonhomme Richard.
There was hardly any stage of the three and a half hours' desperate
combat when Jones might not, with perfect propriety, have surrendered.
Hardly had the battle begun when two of the six old eighteen-pounders
forming the battery of the lower gun-deck of the Richard exploded,
killing the men working them and rendering the whole battery useless for
the rest of the action. Captain Pearson, perceiving his advantage in
speed and power of shot, attempted again and again to pass the bow of
the Richard and rake her. Jones's whole effort, on the other hand, was
to close with the Serapis and board, knowing that it was only a question
of time when, in a broadside fight, the Richard would be sunk.

After the broadsiding had continued with unremitting fury for about
three quarters of an hour, and several of the Richard's twelve-pounders
also had been put out of action, Captain Pearson thought he saw an
opportunity, the Serapis having veered and drawn ahead of the Richard,
to luff athwart the latter's hawse and rake her. But he attempted the
manoeuvre too soon, and perceiving that the two ships would be