fortunes that changed the course of his career and was indirectly
responsible for his casting his lot with the future republic of the
United States. To maintain discipline aboard his vessel it became
necessary for him to have the ship's carpenter flogged. Many weeks
later this man died, and his friends unjustly attributed his death to
the flogging he had received, and laid it to the captain's door. John
Paul was able to prove that he was not to blame in the affair, but in
the meantime he had quitted his vessel and found it hard to get another
one. As soon as he finally obtained a new vessel, a mutiny took place
when his ship was in the West Indies, and John Paul, in his efforts to
quell the mutineers, was assaulted and obliged to kill one of them with
his sword in defending himself. Fearing, perhaps, that this second
mishap on the heels of the first might make things go hard with him
when he was brought to trial, he fled from the West Indies and for a
time disappeared completely.

He was next heard from in the American Colonies, bearing the name of
John Paul Jones. When the American Revolution took place, he hastened
to offer his services to the Government of the United States, and the
Naval Committee of Congress called on him for information and advice.
When a few vessels were gathered together and a list of naval officers
prepared, Paul Jones obtained his commission as Senior Lieutenant on
the flagship of the tiny fleet, which was named _Alfred_. And when the
commander in chief came over the side, Paul Jones with his own hands
hoisted the American flag for the first time over an American man of
war. The flag was very different from the modern stars and stripes; it
was of yellow silk, in the center of which was a pine tree with a
rattlesnake coiled at its roots, and the motto: "_don't tread on me_."

After the Americans made an attack on New Providence where several
boats were captured, Paul Jones was promoted to the rank of Captain as
a reward for his excellent services and given command of the
_Providence_, on whose quarter deck he sailed for the West Indies to
prey upon British shipping. His knowledge of the waters was so thorough
and his skill as a naval officer of such high quality that in
forty-seven days he captured no less than sixteen vessels.

Congress was delighted at his exploits. In reward he was given the
command of his old ship, the _Alfred_, and in her he sailed northward
along the coast of Nova Scoti