n Paul, "you have fought
heroically. You have worn this weapon to your own credit and to the
honor of your service. I hope that your sovereign will suitably
reward you."

The British commander was the image of chagrin and despair. He bowed
again, and then walked slowly into the cabin, followed by his
crest-fallen Lieutenant.

It was nearly midnight. The full moon above--in a cloudless sky--made
it almost as light as day. Seven feet of water were in the hold of the
_Richard_; she had sunk so much that many shot-holes were below the
water-line and could not be plugged. Nearly sixty of her crew lay dead
upon her decks; more than a hundred and twenty were desperately
wounded. Every twelve-pounder of the starboard broadside was either
dismounted, or disabled. The starboard side, which had been opposite
the _Serapis_'s eighteen-pounders, was driven so far in, that, but for
a few frames and stanchions which remained, the whole gun-deck would
have fallen through. She was afire, and the flames licked upward with
an eager hiss.

"Take the wounded aboard the _Serapis_!" commanded Captain Jones. "We
must desert our good ship!"

In an hour's time all were upon the deck of the vanquished Britisher.
No one was left on the _Richard_ but the dead. The torn and tattered
flag was still flying from the gaff, and, as the battered sea-warrior
gradually settled in the long swell, the unconquered ensign fluttered
defiantly in the slight breeze. At length the _Bon Homme Richard_
plunged downward by the head; her taffrail rose momentarily on high,
and, with a hoarse roar of eddying bubbles and sucking air, the
conqueror disappeared from view. To her immortal dead was bequeathed
the flag which they had so desperately defended.

* * * * *

So ended the great battle. Thus Paul Jones had made his name immortal.
And by it he was to be known for all time.

This was not the end of his career, by any means. He never again
fought for the infant Republic of the United States. But he became an
Admiral in the Russian Navy: battled valorously for the great Empress
Catherine against the Turks, and died in Paris, July 18th, 1792.

Buried at the French capital, his body was disinterred in the year
1905, and brought to the United States, to be entombed with military
honors, at Annapolis, Maryland.

Paul Jones loved brave men. The braver they were the more he loved
them. When he went ashore and happened to meet his old s