Butte record. (Bidwell, Butte County, Cal.) 1853-1858, 1855-06-23
Gbe 5torg.
IFrom the Log Book of an old Captain.l
MY PASSENGER
An adventure with the BourBen Pirates.
by sYLvASUs COBB. JR.

Ny ship cleared from Liverpool, and |
was bound for the Indies. In the cabin
| had sAne dozen passengers, most of
whom were army officers, who had been
home on l"avc of absence. Bes,dcs
these, had a widow woman named Les
grand, and her son whom she called Wal
ter. Walter Legrand was, according to
the register, five and twenty years ofage.
lie was very slight in his build, and at
least he seemed SO, when compared with
the stout infantry officers who surround
ed him; but there was no signs Of feeble
Eess about h m. He was Of medium
height, and smaller than the ordinary
class of men. His hair was long and
curly, and as black as night. II s eyes
we're large and full and burned like orbs
iof light set in jet. His countenance
was very pale, and the brow, which was
much higher and fuller than is often
seen, was strongly marked by the blue
veins which stood boldly out upon it
Hs features were regular, and eminent
( IL handsome--the nose prominent and
st.xi aht, and tie lips very thin and color
less. His hruds were small, and deli
cate as babes. His whole appearance
Indicated the clos =, unwcarying student,
and / think he had the least Of the ami
NAL man in his phys!l gomy OF any per-
sou whom have ever s, zen. Mrs. Lo-
grand must have been marrlt d when very
young, for she could not have Lec more
than forty years of age, and she " as as
beautiful as ever A more lovely N'o-
man is seldom seee. Her hair was o.
gold hue, aud her eyes seemed made
for the abode of smiles and love, though
It was now often sad and downcast Her
husband had died in India, and she was
now Going out 10 settle the estate, she
having an only brother still there. Her
ausbaad lad been a colonel of cavalry,
and a brave and !onest man.
Mrs. Leg. and had one female servant
to accompany Ter, and together Icy oc-
cupied small sta te room, which she had
fitted up, with my consent, at her own
expense
We found Walter to b. very agree
able cosapanion, though he n'as reserved
aud sedate lie could converse freely
on subjects ,f general interest, and at
timrs ho was strangely eloquent. l'9r
one, | enjoyed his conversation much,
though sometimes noticed that some oi
the military passengers We're inclined to
wear a snecr upon their lips when he |
went deep into moral philosophy.
Matters pa <sed on quite pleasantly for
several weeks. To be sure, at times,
Young Legrand received treatment from !
one or two of The passengers which l /
thought meant insult, and which should |
have resented, but he took 40 notice of
it, and SO | did not make myself uneasy.
One man in particular seemed to dislike
the youth. 1t was an infantry captain
named Savage. lie was profane, ,veck-
less man, and he seemed to hate Lcgrand
simply because he was SO unlike himself
Legrand never laughed, nor even smiled
at any of bis profane, vulgar jokes, but,
OF the contrary, plainly showed by his
looks that he did not like them.
We had cleared the southern capes of
Afr ca. and we're standing up into the
Indian Ocean. One day at the dinner
table, Captain Savage allowed himself to
become more profane than usual Neither
os the females were present, and ne
launched out into course of stories and
tests which we're indecent in the extreme.
The wine circulated freely, and his loon
companions seemed to enjoy the sport
hugely. Several times Legrand cast
reproving g'ance at Savage, and the lat
ter noticed it, but instead of becoming
more decent, he only tried the harder to
diSplease and annoy the quiet passenger.
At length the infantry captain became
so outrageously pFofane and vulgar that
Lecrand would stand it no longer, and
quickly moving his chair back, he arose
from the table and moved towards the
door
/ ucome back here Shouted Savage.
BIT the young man took no notice Of
him