n laughed and thought it stuff,
But they knew not the handful of men how tough
On board of the _Arethusa_!

"On deck five hundred men did dance,
The stoutest they could find in France;
We with two hundred did advance,
On board of the _Arethusa_!
Our captain hail'd the Frenchman, `Ho!'
The Frenchman then cried out `Hullo!'
`Bear down, d'ye see, to our Admiral's lee.'
`No, no,' says the Frenchman; `that can't be.'
`Then I must lug you along with me,'
Says the saucy _Arethusa_!

"The fight was off the Frenchman's land.
We forced them back upon their strand,
For we fought till not a stick would stand
Of the gallant _Arethusa_.
And now we've driven the foe ashore,
Never to fight with Britons more,
Let each fill a glass to his fav'rite lass,
A health to our captain and officers true,
And all who belong to the jovial crew
On board of the _Arethusa_!"

"I mind," continued Jerry after another sip at his grog, "that she
carried thirty-two guns, and was commanded by Captain Marshall. It was
in the year 1778, just before the last war broke out. We hadn't come to
loggerheads with the mounseers, though we knew pretty well that it
wouldn't be long before we were that. We and two other frigates sailed
down Channel with a fleet of twenty sail of the line under Admiral
Keppel.

"When off the Lizard, on the 17th of June, we made out two frigates and
a schooner to the southward. On seeing them, and guessing that they
were French, the Admiral ordered us and the _Milford_ to go in chase.
The strangers separated, the _Milford_ frigate and _Hector_, a
seventy-four, following the other ship, which turned out to be the
_Licorne_, and took her; while the _Albert_ cutter pursued the schooner,
and captured her by boarding after a sharp struggle. We meantime alone
followed the other stranger, which was the French forty gun frigate
_Belle Poule_.

"On getting within hailing distance, our captain, in the politest manner
possible, invited the French captain to sail back with him to the
English fleet.

"`No, no,' answered the French skipper, `that it cannot be, seeing I am
bound elsewhere.'

"`Then, mounseer, I must obey orders and make you come with me,' says
our captain just as politely as before, and without further ado he
ordered the crew of the foremost main-deck gun to fire a shot across the
French ship's bows. It was the first shot fired during the war. We in
return got the Fren