!"

Orders were sent from England to have this fellow arrested and shipped
home; so the Italian police obligingly captured the old sea-dog,
locked him up, and kept him in jail for six months, while the
attorneys fought over the legality of the affair.

At length the bluff privateersman was allowed to go free, and--he
never paid back the money. "These fellows attacked me at law," he
wrote, "but I have not acted contrary to it. I am an Englishman. I am
acting under a commission from the King of England, and, when we are
at war with France, I intend to hold and keep all the cargoes which I
capture in French vessels. As for this 'English Company trading to the
Levant Sea!' let them learn a lesson and pack their goods in future in
English vessels. English oak should be good enough for English
cargoes."

The "English Company trading to the Levant Sea" had certainly learned
that Fortunatus Wright was as stubborn as a mule, and--in the
future--they employed no French vessels to carry their bales of
commerce. _A wise dog only allows himself to be bitten once._

France and England now came to a peaceable settlement of their
difficulties, but in 1755 war broke out afresh. Fortunatus Wright
chuckled, for he itched for another brush upon the wide sweep of the
ocean, and a chance to take a prize or two. So the _Fame_ not being
available, he had a small vessel constructed at Leghorn, and called
her the _Saint George_. She was a fast sailer and was as graceful as a
sea-gull. "In this fair ship," said he, as he gazed upon her
admiringly, "I shall take many a prize and shall have, I trust, many a
sharp adventure. _Saint George_, I salute you! May you bring me only
the best of luck!"

Trouble was in store for the well-hated mariner even before he turned
his vessel's prow into the Mediterranean, for--in spite of the fact
that the Italians were neutral--their sympathies were strongly with
France, and they looked with decided disfavor upon the graceful hull
of the _Saint George_, as she bobbed serenely upon the surface of the
bay. Knowing full well the reputation of this famous seaman, they
paid particular attention to his little craft, and sent a number of
officials to inspect her. In a few days the intrepid Fortunatus
received the information that, as his was a merchant vessel, he must
carry a crew of only five-and-twenty men, and an armament of four
small guns.

At this the old sea-dog only laughed, and exhibited the greatest
anx