Earl of Selkirk’s place nearby, and it was very fortunate that the old earl was not at home or he would have been taken away as a prisoner.
Some time before these events, Capt. Jones had tried to surprise and capture a British man-of-war named the “Drake” in the Irish harbor of Carrickfergus. Everything had gone wrong, his cable had broken, the plan had been discovered and the bold project given up. But now the “Drake” was instructed to sail out, and find the wicked “Ranger,” and punish her as she deserved for her recent little excursion along the British shore. Now it happened that at the same time, the “Ranger” was searching for the “Drake,” for Capt. Jones was anxious to have the fight which he bad promised himself a month or two before. They met off Carrickfergus, and, as usual, the British vessel was larger and better fitted than the one in which Capt. Jones sailed. He never fought a battle in all his life where he had any advantage to begin with. When the two
