Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1855-04-11
Big bugs are never in hurry-it would
not look dignified, you know"

tIC Coptdiu tuo, uc ucafS 0lIu coming
down the cabin stairs. when he Jumps
out of the receptacle and makes for the
port:
81 was fairly outside and safe, as /
thought in the chains, before the captain
opened the cabin door. / sat there a
minute drying myself, and then was 60
ing to begin to dress when / heard the
sound of oars coming round the stern of
the vessel, and by the noise of the oars in
the row-locks, knew it was man-'war's
boat, ard OF course, | supposed il was
the first cutter coming alongside, though
1t seemed to me she had come up mighty
quick.
"Here l was in a fix. They would
see me from the boat as soon as she pull.
ed round the stern, and / should have
had work TO tell what was doing, stark
naked in the chains. couldn't get nv
clothes on quick enough to be ready for
company-for | couldn't stand up with
out considerable risk Of being seen from
the poop, in case some fellow happened
to be looking over the larboard side. I
concluded pretty soon what to do. I
first looked into the cabin. The captain
wasn't in sight, so jammed my clio hes
into the muzz'e of the gun, and then got
in, after, myself, feet foremost. 1 told
you, you know, that guns of the kind
they call carronades are short, but have
most tremendous big bores. They are
used in close fighting, and, when moth
ing else comes handy, they load them
with caSk Of nails, and such sort of
things. l showed myself in feet foremost,
because ! knew that if l rammed my
head in first, with my body on top of it
for a wad, it would be rather close quar-
terS for breathing. found it rather a
snug berth as it was; couldn't move
an inch after had got in, but knew /
was out of sight at any rate.
81 supposed that after tie men had
come aboard, the boat would be hauled
out to the booms, and that then could
get out of the gun. But instead of that,
they had the cutter loaded with some
thing, L don't know what, that it took
pretty near an hour, it seemed to me, to
clear her Of. They got a sling on the
main-yard, and could hear the orders
given to hook on it the boat and the
DO sn's mate in the gangway piping to
haul taut and 'hoist-away' and .ayast-
hosting, and come up, over and over
again, until it appeared to me they had
got dozen launch boats over the side.
By this time nay back began to ache with
lying in the bore of that old gun; it
didn't exactly fit my shoulders.
81 now began to hear talking in the
cabin-the gun, you know, was in the
cabin, except the muzzle of it, that run
out of the port. 1 couldn't hear so well
through the iron, though, aud il was
some time before L could make out what
the talk was about. / could distinguish
the captains voice, and could hear the
words lock and wafer, pretty often.
At last he and the man he was talking
with came close up TO the very gun | was
ia; and then l heard him call the gunner
by name in talking to him, and recog-
nised him by his growl. | heard him
rubbing of the gun with his hands and
playing with the lock, and two or three
times he snapped it; and it me feel little
nervous, for 1 didn't know what might
have put in it."
lie finds out at last what they werc
talking about. The gunner has been
making some percus ion-wafers that he
thinks will never miss fire. lie said
they would set the discharge off without
any priming, and wasn't sure that there
would be even eng need Of pricking the
cartridge. The captain tells the guaner-
to try some. Of the new waters on the
very gun the fugitive is IN!
Il was just going to sing out" he
continues. "when the captain asked the
gunner if he was sure the gun wasn't
loaded"
Yes, SIR" says be; "the charges
were all drawn when the ship came in,
and these guns in the cabin haven't been
loaded SINCE"
THAT was not SO bad, after all. They
were only going TO try if the waters
would snap-so L concluded to keep
quiet. 1 didn't quite like the ides,
though, for wasn't quite so well con-
tented with the gunner's trial in the gun
as / should have been out of it. L wasn't
quite as easy in my mind as / had been
an hour before, when / was swinging in
the captains cot. lay still, though,
a. d meant to see it out. / knew there
wasn't any shot in the gun, at all events,
and l didn't think a blank cartridge
would hurt me much, seeing as 1 had
pushed my trowsers and frock in before
| had got in myself. If l had gone in
head foremost, | should have been good,
deal more worried about the matter; but
thinks L to myself, "I'll risk the feet"
$50 there l lay, aching all over, from
having my shoulders and hips jammed in
between the round sides of my berth,
and listening to the talk between tho
captain and the gunner that came in at
the tooch-hole, and strange that / got
every thing mixed up in q heap, in my
mind, as to what was going on outside.
At last, however, / heard the click of the
spring, as the gunner cooked the lock,
and the next instant"
"Well! what then 2"
Al