Meanwhile the _Serapis_, which was a brand-new ship with twice the number and weight of guns that Jones had, was raking the _Richard_ fore and aft, and shooting great, ragged holes in her sides. The sea came pouring into the ship and the British prisoners came running up, yelling frantically, “We are sinking!” By sheer force of will and fear of eye, Paul Jones and Richard Dale drove those excited Englishmen back into the hold to work the pumps, as though they would pump the North Sea dry. Jones sailed his ship close to the _Serapis_, intending to catch hold of its side with hooks called grappling-irons. This made it possible for the men on both ships to fight hand to hand. The _Richard_ came alongside with such force that a spar which stuck out at the side (called the jib-boom) was driven into the ropes which held the mast nearest the stern of the _Serapis_ (called the mizzenmast). The grip which Captain Jones now had on the _Serapis_ was like that of a Boston bulldog who has an English mastiff by the throat. If one ship went down, the other would have to go too. “Well done, my brave lads. We have got her now!” shouted Jones; and he ordered the sailing master to haul the _Richard’s_ cable over and tie the jib-boom of the _Serapis_ to his own mizzenmast. When the cable caught and became tangled the master uttered an oath. “Don’t swear,” said Jones calmly. “In another moment we may be in eternity; but let us do our duty.” The ropes and spars of the two ships were now so tangled that the men in the top of the _Richard_ scrambled across into the rigging of the enemy, like monkeys in two treetops. In spite of all the captain’s efforts, the _Richard_ was now on fire in a dozen places. The people on shore cheered, for it looked as if the English were burning the “pirate” ship. The master-at-arms, hearing a report that the captain and Dale had both been killed, started with two others to surrender to the commander of the _Serapis_, all three shouting, “Quarter!” The commander of the _Serapis_, hearing the cry, asked Jones if he was ready to give up. “No,” shouted the American commander, “_I have not yet begun to fight!_” By this time even the masts of the _Richard_ were burning; but an American sailor saw a chance to do great harm to the enemy. Seizing a hand grenade, or bomb, he crept across the yardarms of both ships and threw it down upon the deck of the _Serapis_. The bomb fell and burst on a train of gunpowder scattered by broken cartridges. The flame blazed along past several of the big guns, ending in a terrific explosion. This turned the tide of the battle. The Americans swarmed on board the _Serapis_ and took possession of it. The English commander surrendered by pulling down the flag of his ship. In giving up his sword to Jones he said, with a sneer, “It is painful to me that I must resign to a man with a halter around his neck.”