I have no wish to eat with them, drink with them, deal with or consort with them in any way; but let me tell the whole truth,--_nor fight_ with them, were it not for the laurel to be acquired by overcoming an enemy so brave, determined, and alert, and every way so worthy of one's steel as they have always proved.
Refitting in a French port, the dashing Blakely took the _Wasp_ to sea again and encountered a convoy in charge of a huge, lumbering ship of the line.

Nothing daunted, the _Wasp_ flitted in among the timid merchant ships and snatched a valuable prize laden with guns and military stores.

Attempting to bag another, she was chased away by the indignant seventy-four and winged it in search of other quarry until she sighted four strange sails.

Three of them were British war brigs in hot pursuit of a Yankee privateer, and Johnston Blakely was delighted to play a hand in the game.

He selected his opponent, which happened to be the _Avon_, and overtook her in the darkness of evening.