The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1855-05-19

"s"'''' W 10y s'''>S' ''SS'~ ''Nt ~ '~S
be made a madman."
Savage was upon the point ofsayng more
when intcrfcrcd
"Captain," said I, set this subject drop
now. You are wholly in the fault, and ]
will see the young man abused no more"
ado you intcricres" exclaimed Savage,
turning madly towards me.
IL do" returned, "and mean what
say. command here, and you will be wise
il you obey"
"And suppose do not choose to obey"
81 think it will be an uncomfortable ex.
pertinent for you to try" was the reply.
Now ! owe to Dame Nature some thanks
for having given me frame more powerful
in its physical mould than she ordinarily
bcstows upon her mortal children, and long
command Of turbulent spirits in the shape
of refractory seamcn, had given me not only
a decision Of character, but had written the
fact pretty plainly on my countcnai.cc. Sa-
wage looked at me a moment, and then he
said, with rather q chop p-fallen expression Of
countenance
40, very well. You are captain, and I
suppose it would be open mutiny to resist
you" And with that he walked away.
Now to tell the truth, hoped the fellow
would have shown some more resistance.
had made up my mind TO knock him down
and put him in irons, but wns disappoi.;.
ed; though upon more calm reflection, of
course was glad affairs turned as they did
This event cast sort of cloud over the
sn'ri Of the passengers for several days,
and though Savage rcfrnined from most OF
his profanity, yet ! could See that not only
he, but the others looked upon Walter Lee
grand as coward. The young man himself
seemed to notice il, for he was ia titurn and
sedatr, and | often noticed that his eyes
dropped before the gaze Of others, and that
his lips troubled.
Early one morning land was reported upon
the lalbonrd bow. knew il TO be the
Bourbon Island Tho wind'was very light,
the ship not making more than three knots
with her royals and studding sails. About
the middle Of the forenoon we saw . long
quiac.built boat, or rather vessel--come Out
from one Of the coves Of the island. lev.
elcd my glass upon the craft, and found it
to be full Of men. They were seventy. five
at least
captain, what is she." asked Savage,
approaching the spot where ] stood.
II think there is not much danger in set
ting her down fora pirate" l replied. 81
have heard that there were . nest Of pirates
on the Bourbon Island, and think we are
likely to find il true"
"Piratesr uttered Savage, turning pale.
"They will be likely to be ugly customers,
won't they"
"Of course they will. They certainly
- -, .aI ;,.
probability, all Of them stout, reckless fcl.
lows"
"But you don't think they will follow the
rule Of putting all their prisoners to death,
Go you;"
"You can judge Of that as we'll as can" "
was my reply, and then | turned to the
men.
could see that Savage was much fright
tned; and in fact, nearly all were startled
BY the appearance Of the suspicious boat
The presence Of pirate is not = pleasant
theme for any one, and more especially
these land pirates, for they generally make
it n practice 10 put their prisoners TO dest6.
so that thrIr hannte vn"y -. 1c eAPoseu.
We had no carrage gun, but there were
cutlasses and pistols enough on board for
the crew, and lost no time in arming my
men. All told we mustered forty-onc men.
The ships crew, including myself made
twenty nine, and there were twelve Of the
passengers, though knew not whether to
count upon Walter Legrand or not. How.
ever, he could fire pistol, and that was
something
Bv the time had made these arrange
mcnts. the quiac was within two cables
lengths Of US, and we could see that there
were nearly eighty men on board OF her
not so great odds as We had at first suppo.
sed, but still two to one against US We
could see, too that they were all Of them
powerful looking fellows, and Of all shades
and complexions--somc Of them white,
some red, some brown and some black.
] arranged the men close to the bulwark
with what muskcts we could muster, and
then turned to see If Lcgrand was upon
deck. He stood by the cabin companion
way with a sword in his hand and two su-
perb,y mounted pistols stuck in his belt
The sword had not seen before, and OF
course Judged that it must be his own. Ii
was broad and heavy, Of the most exquisite
polish, q d mounted in hilt Of gold and
precious stones. | was for one moment
>"' M
most s'range'y, nus 'ace was ye' pa'e an ana
sn.h' ou. "'s eNp..ss,,o" , was I"a.u' ine
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