s of
stuff in my pocket that's been printed about him. Well, in '77 he
shipped on the Andrew Doria for the defense of the Delaware River, an'
when that scrimmage was over, he found himself drafted to the frigate
Virginia, when, as everybody knows, he was taken by the Britishers
again, an' held for nearly a year before bein' exchanged for the
lieutenant of the Mermaid. Then he went out in a letter of
marque--meanin' a privateer--with Captain Robinson; they had but
twelve guns, a mighty small stock of powder, an' only thirty-five men,
but bless you those fellows thought nothin' of tacklin' the British
privateer Rosebud, full of men an' guns. Forty-seven of the enemy were
killed or wounded, an' aboard the Yankee only one was wounded. They
sailed to Bordeaux, took on a cargo of brandy, shipped seventy men,
mounted eighteen guns, an' on the voyage home had a runnin' fight
lastin' well on to two days, when they captured their game.

"Then it was that Barney got married, an' about a month afterward,
when drivin' in a gig from Philadelphia to Baltimore, he was robbed of
every cent he had in the world. He never told anybody of his loss; but
turned back to Philadelphia, took service aboard the Saratoga, sixteen
guns, an' made a big voyage, capturin' one ship of twelve guns,
another of thirty-two, an' two brigs. Then he was taken by the
Intrepid, an' mighty barbarous treatment he got for well on to a year,
when the young officer escaped, an' after he got home the government
gave him command of the Hyder Ally, with which he soon took the
British ship General Monk, as this 'ere bit of paper will show."

Darius took from his pocket a well-worn slip cut from some newspaper,
which purported to be an extract from the Hyder Ally log-book, and as
it was mighty interesting to me, I'm going to set it down here just as
it was printed.

"April 8th, 1782, at 10 A.M. laying at anchor under Cape May
(Delaware) discovered three sail standing in from sea with a
light wind from the eastward; at 11 perceived that they were a
frigate, a ship, and an armed brig. At meridian the frigate
stood for Cape Henlopen channel, the ship and brig standing in
for Cape May; made a signal for our convoy to get under weigh,
and followed the convoy. At 1 P.M. the ship and brig came into
the bay, by Cape May channel, the frigate coming around under
Cape Henlopen; prepared for action, all hands to quarters.

"At th