On November 4, 1776, Paul Jones was placed in command of the _Alfred_, the ship on which he had made his first cruise as a first-lieutenant some nine months earlier. In company with the _Providence_, now under the command of Captain Hacker, he made a cruise of about a month, captured seven merchant ships, several of which carried valuable supplies to the British army, and again cleverly avoided the superior enemy frigates. While making for port they encountered armed transports, the _Mellish_ and the _Bideford_, both of which had been separated from their convoy, the _Milford_, in a terrific gale. Although larger and heavier ships in every way, the Americans attacked and captured them. Shortly afterward the _Milford_, accompanied by a British letter-of-marque, put in an appearance, and gave chase. Once more Paul Jones was too clever for the British frigate. He outsailed and outmaneuvered her, getting away with all his prizes except the smaller of the transports, which had fallen astern. After his return, in early December, from the cruise in the _Alfred_, Paul Jones served on the Board of Advice to the Marine Committee, and was very useful in many ways. He urged strongly the necessity of making a cruise in European waters for the sake of moral persuasion, and offered to lead such an expedition. His energy and dashing character made a strong impression on Lafayette, who was then in the country, and who heartily supported the project. He wrote a letter to General Washington, strongly recommending that Paul Jones be made head of such an expedition. About the same time the young captain had an interview with Washington, in which he appealed against what he considered another injustice. The _Trumbull_--one of the fine new American frigates just completed and built in New Amsterdam in accordance with Paul Jones's own plans--had been placed under the command of Captain Saltonstall, whom the Scotchman considered incompetent. Paul Jones did not get the _Trumbull_ after all; but the interview was not without its effect. A little later the Marine Committee ordered him to enlist seamen for his suggested European cruise. And on June 14, 1777, Congress appointed him to the command of the sloop-of-war _Ranger_, of eighteen guns. IX ABOARD THE "RANGER"