eve in the discipline
without which no efficiency can be obtained on ship-board. He was an
eighteenth-century Sir Joseph Porter. He believed that all questions
of importance on ship-board should be settled by a vote of the crew;
that the captain was, in a certain sense, only perpetual chairman of a
meeting, and should only execute the will of the sailors. Naturally,
this view of an officer's authority was little relished by Lieut.
Simpson's brother officers, and he had for some time been greatly
dissatisfied with his position.

When it came about, therefore, that the "Ranger," seeing a strange
sail in the offing, left the "Drake" to go in pursuit of the stranger,
Lieut. Simpson saw his chance to make off with the "Drake," and thus
rid himself of the disagreeable necessity of submitting to the orders
of a superior officer. This course he determined to adopt; and when
Jones, having overtaken the stranger and found her a neutral, turned
to rejoin his prize, he was vastly astounded at the evolutions of the
"Drake." The vessel which he had left in charge of one of his trusted
officers seemed to be trying to elude him. She was already hull down
on the horizon, and was carrying every stitch of sail. The "Ranger"
signalled to her colleague to return, but in vain. Several large ships
were in sight; but Jones, perplexed by the strange antics of his
consort, abandoned all thoughts of making captures, and made after the
rapidly vanishing "Drake."

As the "Ranger" cut through the ugly cross seas of the channel, Jones
revolved in his mind the causes which might lead to the inexplicable
flight of his consort. His chief fear was that the prisoners on the
"Drake" might have risen, overpowered their captors, and were then
endeavoring to take the ship into a British port. Convinced that this
was the true explanation of the matter, Jones made tremendous efforts
to overhaul the prize before the night should give her an opportunity
to elude pursuit. Every thing from jib-boom to main-truck, that would
draw, was set on the "Ranger;" and the gallant little vessel ploughed
along at a rate that almost belied her reputation as a slow craft.
After an hour's run, it became evident that the "Ranger" was gaining
ground. Nevertheless, darkness settled over the waters, and the
"Drake" was still far in the lead. It was not until the next day that
the runaway was overhauled. Upon boarding the "Drake," Jones found, to
his intense indignation, that not to