“That’s the ship you are looking for, I think,” he said.
“Yes; she seems like a new vessel,” said Ethan Carlyle, gazing earnestly at the craft. “See, they are only bending her after sails.”
“She’s a foreigner,” spoke the mate of the schooner who stood by. “Look at the flag she’s flying.”
“I hadn’t noticed that,” said the captain staring at the striped emblem with its cluster of white stars in a blue field. “It can’t be the Ranger, after all, for she wouldn’t be flying those colors.”
Ethan looked at the flag and laughed softly, as did Shamus, who was at his side.
“Faith, then, captain, dear,” said Longsword with a droll twinkle in his eye, “it’s a queer thing indeed if ye don’t know the flag of your own country.”
“To be sure, for I take ye to be an American.”
“You are correct in that,” said the skipper proudly. “But I’ve never seen that flag before.”
“No wonder,” said Ethan, “for I very much doubt if it ever flew above a ship’s deck before. It is the new flag of the United States, recently adopted. I saw the first one not so long ago. Indeed, I had the honor of carrying it from the home of mistress Betsy Ross, who made it, to the State House; and I remember that the members of the Congress and General Washington, who was in the capitol at the time, admired it very much.”
“Well, the design is an improvement over the old rattle-snake and pine-tree flags,” admitted the captain, after careful inspection. “It looks well when it ripples in the breeze, doesn’t it?”
The schooner had drawn near the war ship, and the mate hailed her.
“Ahoy! is that the American ship, Ranger?”
“It is,” came the prompt reply from the deck of the other vessel.
A skiff was lowered over the schooner’s stern, and Ethan and Longsword were rowed to the war ship’s side and clambered to the deck.
“Well, sir,” demanded a harsh looking man in the dress of a lieutenant.
“I desire to see Captain Jones, if he is aboard,” said Ethan, quietly.
“The captain is very busy just now. I am Lieutenant Simpson, and will attend to any business that you may have.”
There was a studied affront in the man’s manner that angered Ethan; but he replied, still quietly:
“My business is with the commander of this ship in person, if you please.”