led out from his horse:

"Say, good fellow, can you tell if the Honorable Samuel Tucker lives
here or hereabouts?"

The workman looked up with a quizzical glance from under the brim of his
tarpaulin and replied:

"Honorable, honorable! There's none of that name in Marblehead. He must
be one of the Salem Tuckers. I'm the only Samuel Tucker in this town."

"Anyhow, this is where I was told to stop. A house standing alone, with
its gable-end to the sea. This is the only place I've seen that looks
like that."

"Then I must be the Tucker you want, honorable or not. What is it you
have got to say to him?"

He soon learned, and was glad to receive the news. Early the next
morning he had left home for the port where the _Franklin_ lay, and not
many days passed before he was out at sea.

The _Franklin_, under his command proved one of the most active ships
afloat. She sent in prizes in numbers. More than thirty were taken in
1776--ships, brigs, and smaller vessels, including "a brigantine from
Scotland worth fifteen thousand pounds."

These were not all captured without fighting. Two British brigs were
taken so near Marblehead that the captain's wife and sister, hearing the
sound of cannon, went up on a high hill close by and saw the fight
through a spy-glass.

The next year Captain Tucker was put in command of the frigate _Boston_,
and in 1778 he took John Adams to France as envoy from the United
States.

It was a voyage full of incidents. They passed through days of storm,
which nearly wrecked the ship. Many vessels were seen, and the _Boston_
was chased by three men-of-war.

She ran away from these, and soon after came across a large armed
vessel, which Captain Tucker decided to fight. When the drum called the
men to quarters, Mr. Adams seized a musket and joined the marines.

The captain requested him to go below. Finding that he was not going to
obey, Tucker laid a hand on his shoulder and said firmly:

"Mr. Adams, I am commanded by the Continental Congress to deliver you
safe in France. You must go below."

Mr. Adams smiled and complied. The next minute there came a broadside
from the stranger. There was no response from the _Boston_. Other shots
came, and still no reply. At length the blue-jackets began to grumble.
Looking them in the eyes, Tucker said, in quizzical tones:

"Hold on, lads. I want to get that egg without breaking the shell."

In a few minutes more, having got into the position he wished