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Show Til.. COMMODORE. I v i durlns the time of powdered iair and mi keii hats ibe year 1781 Off Philadelphia lay the twenty-gun ihlp rlel Just arrhed under the command com-mand of Commodore Paul Jones Ihere were In the clt many persons who had neter seen that lemarkable nan, among them lien Wilson a trim, powerful young Jack Tar of le, who bad lately married Susan Omy. n humble hum-ble but beautiful damsel nf IS There had been another suitor, also a sailor, named Thomis Wright, who bated Wilson because Susan had preferred him. and who. Icing of cruel, mali cious disposition, longed to do hi in some Injury Urn shipped aboard the Artel, that ho might eerte under the tenuwned hero Learning that lien had shipped, Wright, who like the former had nevnf seen Jonc, also become one of the Ariel's crew Neither, hoe ever could yet get sight of ths commodore, who waa absent would not be back for A week. In a few daya Wright was chosen to act In tho place of- the Iwatawaln'J mate, who was at the time 111 Hit duties, besides blowing on the call, etc, now being to punish with the colt a coll of rope from two to three ft long-and also with the eat-o'-nlne-talla. usually termed tho "cat." such of the sailors as "offended' against the rules of the ship lie ardently hoped thit he might ct have a chance to Hog with his cruel halt the man lis hated for winning pretty Susan One day some of the crew were granted rermlsslon to go ashore. They were ordered to return to tho ship nt 9 o'clock The boatswain's mate. Wright, and Hen Wilson, were among them Unfortunately lien drank, and In n stale of partial Intoxication he visited, a few minutes before D o'clock when he should have repaired to tho boat the Dolphin, n tavern not twenty nrds from the lindlng Here tho landlord accommodated him with a glass of brandy, which the young man lifted high, salng at the same time In n loud voire A health to Commodoro Paul Jones!" Then he left the place, not to go to the boat, but Intending to seek some other tavern It was a dark night, but by the bright light streaming through the house Pen could see a inlddllng-glsed, broad-shouldered man enveloped In a shaggy overcoat, watching him with "HOLD, YOU UASCAI-t" a mingled expression of stern dlssp pruval and amusement on his broad, weather-beaten face "Hold, theye. my man," said this person, laying a hand on his shoulder "What's your name, and rhat ship do you delong to?' "My name? Why, now. my name Is lien Wilson, and my ship Is the Ariel, but blast me If I know what business It Is of yours " "It Is time you went to the boat You will get yourself Into trouble If you don't ko In time Ilear n hand " "Ay, ay, all very well; but I ain't ready yet, do you secf" "Come, you must gol" and the hand on Wilson's shoulder pressed It heavily heav-ily "!.ct go of met" cried lien angrily, but the other, half-imlllng, gripped him yet more firmly Then Pen made a blow nt him, which tho man parried, when a struggle strug-gle ensued lien fought his best, but the man at length succeeded In grasping grasp-ing him around the arms from behind , In which position Wilson was literally carried to within a few fathoms of the boat, when, seeing a number of the ssllors approaching, the atranger re leased his hold, and, laughing made off In the darkness "It's lucky you came when you did " said the coiswaln "We wouldn't have walled for you many seconds longer" "I wouldn't have been here If old Nick or somebody Ilka htm hadn't brought me," was the reply Jutt then the boatswaln'a male, Wright, who had been an unseen wit ncss of the struggle toward Its termination, termi-nation, but who In the gloom had not been able to obtain a good view of the stranger's face, made his appearance coming In tho same direction In which the man had vanished "It was I," he whispered to the coxswain, coxs-wain, "who brought Wilson Us attacked at-tacked me near tho Dolphin, becauio I requested him to go to the boat I had to 1st blm loose when I got blm almost here, nd run, as you saw, for I was afraid he would stab me." The boat's crew was soon aboard, when V'rlght lost no time In reporting report-ing thai he bad been attacked and struck bv Wilson This the latter de-denied, de-denied, of course, saying It was a cltl sen a id a stranger with whom he had bad his combat, but ho was not believed be-lieved Tne court-martial waa held the neit iy, when Jones arrive I on board, n 'n being still kept in the brig, h nee he could not see the comrao-We comrao-We There was a singular esprcsslon en the face of Paul Jones when the eourt-ntartlnl was ended, and the sentence sen-tence of the prisoner 100 lashes on Uie bare back with the eat was pronounced pro-nounced The next morning was appointed for the execution of the sentence When the lime come the master-of-ntmt brought up tho prisoner nnd took off his Irons On one of the gratings, placed Jtut forward of the gangway, he was made to stand, his feet being fastened with worming nnd his hands secured wide apart, to the bulwarks. Along eime Wright, scarcely ablo to conceal his exultation as ho drew the eat from Its sheath and lovingly stroked the string 'On one. boatswain's mate," said the eapialn U right llftnl the lash on high bill t thst moment the voice of Paul Jenes wpo now appeared, boomed like thunder on his startled enr- 'Hold' Atsst you rascal!" And he stepped around so that Wilson Wil-son mnld see him The )oung sillor looked up at him wllh n start, then colored then turned pale Commodore. ' he stammered, "I I my tlod, sir I was n Utile In liquor n that night, but I recognise your fsee It was you who took hold of me there by the Dolphin tavern and carried car-ried me almost to the boat flo.1 knows I would not have struck at you In 1 I known who It wns" "Enough,1 answered the latter; "I forahe you " Then he turned on Wright' "The court martial was n farce," continued Paul Jones "I wanted tn see If this Wright would really have the heart tu cnry out his falsehool Now cut loose that man Wilson and put Wright In his place, (live him n round dnarn then let him be broken arid put In the after-guard " The commodoro a orders wero obeyed Wright, with every man against him after this, led such an unhappy un-happy life aboard the Ariel that he attempted one night to desert from the ship When In the water he waa seen by a marine on guard nnd ordered to come back but not obeying, he was shot through the head and killed As to Wilson, never after that, greatly to the Joy of his pretty wife Susin, would he touch another drop of alcohol |
