save their lives. And one of the
marines, who was fighting on the yard-arms, dropped a hand grenade into
an open hatch of the "Serapis." It set fire to a heap of gun cartridges
that lay below, and these exploded, killing twenty of the gunners and
wounding many more, while the ship was set on fire. This ended the
fight. The fire of the marines from the mast-tops had cleared the decks
of the "Serapis" of men. Commodore Jones aided in this with the
9-pounders on his deck, loading and firing them himself. Captain Pearson
stood alone, and when he heard the roar of the explosion he could bear
the strain no longer. He ran and pulled down the flag, which had been
nailed to the mast.

"Cease firing," said Paul Jones.

The "Serapis" was his. Well and nobly had it been won.

Never had there been a victory gained in such straits. The "Bon Homme
Richard" was fast settling down into the sea. Pump as they would, they
could never save her. Inch by inch she sank deeper. Jones and his
gallant crew boarded the "Serapis," and at nine o'clock the next morning
the noble old craft sank beneath the ocean waves, laden with honor, and
with her victorious flag still flying. The "Serapis" was brought safely
into port.

Captain Pearson had fought bravely, and the British ministry made him a
knight for his courage.

"If I had a chance to fight him again I would make him a lord," said
brave Paul Jones.

Never before or since has a victory been won under such desperate
circumstances as those of Paul Jones, with his sinking and burning ship,
his bursting guns, his escaped prisoners, and his treacherous consort.
It was a victory to put his name forever on the annals of fame.

CHAPTER XIV

MARION THE SWAMP FOX AND GENERAL GREENE

FAR away back in old English history there was a famous archer named
Robin Hood, who lived in the deep woods with a bold band of outlaws like
himself. He and his band were foes of the nobles and friends of the
poor, and his name will never be forgotten by the people of England.

No doubt you have read about the gallant archer. No man of his time
could send an arrow so straight and sure as he. But we need not go back
for hundreds of years to find our Robin Hood. We have had a man like him
in our own country, who fought for us in the Revolution. His name was
Francis Marion, and he was known as the "Swamp Fox"; for he lived in the
swamps of South Carolina as Robin Hood did in the forests of England,
and he was