Dispatches from across the Atlantic were slow to come in. Once they arrived, however, the national press feasted on them with bold headlines and overblown stories. America’s appetite for updates about this sudden and bizarre clash of arms seemed insatiable. American honor had been impugned once too often by the Barbary States, and if European governments were too timid or corrupt to stand up to the pirates, then by God the United States would show the world that at least one country would. “This plays right into President Jefferson’s hands,” Richard commented as he sat in the kitchen of Agreen’s modest but well-appointed home on Pleasant Street, nodding at the latest issue of the Boston Traveler spread out on the table. “How so?” Agreen inquired. “In a good way, I mean. I’m as surprised as anyone by the president’s strong stand on this war, particularly on why he believes it justifies a strong Navy. Listen to this.” Richard read from the article he had been reading.
