t. The sails of the _Drake_ were cut
to pieces, her decks were red with blood, and at last her captain fell
dead. In an hour after the fight began, just as the sun was going down
behind the Irish hills, there came a cry for quarter from the _Drake_,
and the battle was at an end. Off went Captain Jones, with his ship and
his prize, for the friendly shores of France, where he was received with
great praise.

Soon after this the French decided to help the Americans in their war
for independence. After some time Captain Jones was put in command of
five ships, and back he sailed to England to fight the British ships
again.

The vessel in which he sailed was the biggest of the five ships. It had
forty guns and a crew of three hundred sailors. Captain Jones thought so
much of the great Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who had written a book of good
advice, under the name of "Poor Richard," that he named his big ship for
Dr. Franklin. He called it the _Bon Homme Richard_, which is French for
"good man Richard." But the _Bon Homme Richard_ was not a good boat, if
it was a big one. It was old and rotten and leaky, and not fit for a
warship, but its new commander made the best he could of it.

The little fleet sailed up and down the English coasts, capturing a few
prizes, and greatly frightening the people by saying that they had come
to burn some of the big English sea towns. Then, just as they were about
sailing back to France, they came--near an English cape, called
Flamborough Head--upon an English fleet of forty merchant vessels and
two war ships.

One of the war ships was a great English frigate, called the _Serapis_,
finer and stronger in every way than the _Bon Homme Richard_. But
Captain Jones would not run away.

"What ship is that?" called out the Englishman. "Come a little nearer,
and we'll tell you," answered plucky Captain Jones.

The British ships did come a little nearer. The forty merchant vessels
sailed as fast as they could to the nearest harbor, and then the
warships had a terrible battle.

At seven o'clock in the evening the British frigate and the _Bon Homme
Richard_ began to fight. They banged and hammered away for hours, and
then, when the British captain thought he must have beaten the
Americans, and it was so dark and smoky that they could only see each
other by the fire flashes, he called out to the American captain: "Are
you beaten? Have you hauled down your flag?"

And back came the answer of Captain J