The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-09-11

weather heel once in awhile, and you'll
! soon make the harbor."
81 never thought about the wind"
said the veteran gunner thoughtfully,
his face Frightening as he turned and
listened for it. Eyer honor's right
| twill be plain sailin'. Well, sir, an
| chor's aweigh, an here goesv'
The old seaman, giving great evil
dence of his Discrimination in spite of
! the favoring breeze, at last climbed up
! on the back of his staid old horse and,
resisting the temptation to give him
his direction by pull of the TAIL
got under way and lurched rapidly
down the road. Left to himself, the
! lieutenant mounted his own horse
surprising to state, for a sailor he was
| an excellent horseman-and rode down
toward the sleeping town nestled
| around Scarborough harbor, which
was filled with a large feet of mer-
chant ships conveyed by two men of
war, all riding quietly at their anchors.
Opposite the ACTIVITY on which the
two men had stood and to the north
of the town rose bold, splendid head
| land, or scar, almost an island, to the
height of about 300 feet. The rugged
crest was crowned by a picturesque
old castle. The headland jutted boldly
out into the sea, and the wild waters
dashed upon its walls from every side.
Access to the castle from the town
was 10y means OF a cauSeway and
bridge springing over q rocky and
otherwise impossible connection be-
tween the cliff and the mainland,
which was sometimes flooded at high
tide.
Portions of the castle were in bad
repair or had been dismantled in the
several wars in which it had played a
memora BILE part since its erection near
ly TOO years before by follower Of
William the Conqueror, but a large
part of 1t was still inhabitable and
had been provided with a sufficient
garrison. A heavy water battery.
which lid been placed in position dur
ing the rebellion In 1745, had been re-
Gently 9; rengthened and REINFORCED.
Capta:n Jones, In the Bon Homme
Richa I'd. lad been cruising around the
coasts OF the British islands for some
time. He had heard Of the expected
aN4rsI Of TIE Baltic feet In these wa
ters and hid presumed that II wcnld
make See borough haYbor. Word had
been received from a small trader he
had oveslauied that large number
u ships h<.d assembled in that harbor.
- In o~s~r 10 ascertain whether be
might ~ s~;y attack them with his
aaaIf n,- eeerfpt squadron Ae hafac-
sspted ths voluntary services Of LAeu-
tenant ONeili, seconded by Gunner
Price Of tho Bon Homme Richard.
They had gene ON ahead OF the
sQuadRso in he cutter Alert and had
landed below scarborough headland
and ridden on 10 Scarborough to ascer-
tain the fNets The Alert was to carry
the news bach to Jones, on the Rich
ard. farther down the coast and the
vessels Of his squadron were all to as
senble a day or two later at Bridlfng
ton bay, small and unimportant town
with good harbor within easy reach
ing distance Of the expected prey.
Should the report Of the scouts be ia
vorab,e they would proceed at once to
attack the convoy.
On their Journey to Scarborough
ONe!ll had osce1tained from pass
Ing countEynan that Lord Westbrooke
was still governor Of the castle, and he
at once surm1ged that Lady Elizabeth
HowSsA would probably be there with
her qua rdtah. SIX months more than
the year be had asked for from her
had elapsed. and many untovard cir
cumstances had prevented him from
carrying out his plan of seeking her.
bat she had ever been in his heart,
and time and separation had but in
tensified his passion. The mercurial
Irtshmah had been deeply gmitten by
the proud English beauty, and the con-
stancy Of his devotion evidenced the
depth of the impression she had made
upon him.
When Jones had returned with the
Ranger from his first successful cruise,
be and his officers had been feted and
made much of by the French court
The gallant adventures in which he
had participated lent new charm to
the fascinating personality Of the son
Of the old marshal, whose entree was
already everything that could be de-
sired, and his heart accordingly had
been target for repeated attacks upon
the part of the bright eyed and fasci-
mating danes Of France, but to no
avail had they attempted its capture.
Something Of the story of his devo-
ton had been allowed to leak out,
however. to account for his obduracy,
and they finally understood why he
was so unusually insensible to their
charms. This romance naturally only
added piQuancy to the feminine pur-
suit of which he was the object, al
! though the ladies' sportive love chase
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