o--so badly
crippled was she--but the rest came safely to port, in spite of a
hard gale which blew down the masts of two of the lumber boats. And
doughty Renee refitted the _Nonsuch_, transferred his flag to her,
called her the _Sans-Pareil_, and flung his flag defiantly from her
mast-head in spite of the fact that she was "made in England." All
France was agog over his exploit.

Now, know you, that doughty Renee was a "Blue;" a "Blue" being a man
of the people (the bourgeoisie) who were not of aristocratic birth.
And, as the French Royal Marine was the most exclusive body of
officers in the world, birth and station being necessary for
admittance therein, the titled office-holders threw up their hands
when Du Guay-Trouin's name was mentioned for a place of command,
saying,--

"Why, he's only a beastly Democrat. Pooh! Bah! We do not care to have
such a fellow among us." And they shrugged their shoulders.

The officers of the French Royal Marine wore red breeches, and, if by
chance a democrat were given a commission, he had to appear in blue
small-clothes throughout his entire career. Very few of the "Blues"
ever came to be an Admiral, for the odds were too great against them.

But Renee had done so bravely and well that a sword was sent him by
the King, who wrote,--

"Should you wish a commission in the Royal Navy, good sir, it shall be
yours."

And to this, Du Guay-Trouin replied,--

"I feel that I can do better where I am, Most Gracious Majesty. I
will remain a Privateer." For Du Guay-Trouin wished to accumulate
riches, as his forebears had done.

So, cruising down the coast of Ireland, he fell in with three East
Indiamen, whom he captured with ease, and, piloting them to St. Malo,
declared a dividend of two thousand pounds ($10,000) a share, to the
stockholders in his staunch vessel. And the value of the shares was
but one hundred pounds ($500) each. Would not the men of Wall Street
love such a fellow in these piping times of peace?

A month later we find him cruising in the Bay of Biscay, where--in the
dead of night--he ran into a great English fleet, roving about for just
such vessels as the _Sans-Pareil_ and eager for a broadside at the
French privateer. But young Renee--for he was now twenty-three--had not
lost his nerve. "There was no time," he wrote, "for hesitation. I had
two valuable prizes with me and ordered them to hoist Dutch colors and
to run away to leeward, saluting me with seven guns each a