Thibodaux minerva. [volume] (Thibodaux, La.) 18??-1858, 1856-01-05
within half a mile. and we could see their knives

wltnll nail u IuIe, anu VIC CouAu oeS oAeA noi'SS
plainly. There was just seventy-four of them,
there being twenty seats in the boat, and all Of
them except one or two at the bows and stern
having four men on a seat.
ave shall never be able to beat them off,
SIR" whispered Walker in my ear
ave are able to try, at all events" Ireplied.
&c But just look at their force" he said blan-
ching.
"Then you mean to die like
I'd spoken thus far, when he caught my arm,
for had begun to speak louder, and the men
might hear me-
Ssh" he Kissed, "don't, pray you, say
any more; of course I'll fight"
He grasped his cutlass as he spoke, and
could see that his eye had changed, and there
was now some fire in it. By this time we could
see the faces of the Malays plainly, and in all
my wanderings don't think ever saw such
another set of diabolical ugly, bloody looking
villains. In two minutes more l saw those who
worked the paddles take their knives in their
teeth. l had the men stand by with their pis-
tolls and l ordered them to fire one volley before
the boat got fairly alongside.
At this moment, just as the pirate was within
cables length, l felt cool puff Of wind upon
my cheek. turned and saw that the wind had
whipped out from the north'd. Quick as light
ming ordered the yards squared, and by some
means the men obeyed me promptly; but while
this was being done, the Malay was coming on.
The pirates saw that our sails had caught the
new breeze, and with few quick and strong
strokes they sent their craft alongside like a
| rocket.
"Fre!'' / shouted.
And my men did fire, but their hands must
have trembled, for not more than half dozen
of the enemy fell. called the men to shove
their pixies over. but tell you those few pixies
looked kind O. dismal in the faces of seventy
stout, blood-thirsty, Malay pirates. took one
look into that proa, and my heart sank, for
knew they would make but short work with us.
We might kill a score of them, and even then
they'd be up with us.
"What do you want ?" shouted with oil my
might.
"You mooney-you blood! you sheep, you
ing dom crappoo Shawn Bull ~
/, The fellow evidently thought US John Bulls,
and what the crappoo meant l couldn't tell, I'M
less he had got the French and English mixed
up However, hadn't time to think of that
| In another moment they would be alongside.
Already were the pirates upon their feet, their
long knives in their mouths clenched firmly be-
tween their teeth, and in a moment more they
would leap. The bows of the proa touched our
sweeping swiftly in as she shot ahead. At that
moment something brushed past me towards
the stern, and smelt strong, rank fumes of tur-
pentine. Before had time to look or to think,
sheet of smoke and flames danced before my
eyes, and on the next instant howl like the
| roar of a hundred lions broke upon my ears.
| "Beat 'em off, beat 'em off, cried sharp,
clear voice. which at once recognized rs Ned's,
and as heard it the whole truth flashed upon
me. / sprung to where half dozen of the
villains, all covered with flames, were trying to
crowd up over the side. l awoke the men to
comprehension of the fortune that had burst
upon us, and the few who were trying to board
| us were either shot or driven back The breeze
was now fresh and in a few moments more we
shot ahead, leaving the proa, all enveloped in
flames, at safe distance behind, while the
crew, every man Of them, had leaped into the
water to extinguish the fire that chung to them.
As soon as we were safe, and our nerves had
become somewhat composed, we looked into the
strange fortune that had saved us, and we soon
understood it. Noble Ned Grover, while l
thought him hiding away from the enemy, was
setting on foot plan which had entered his
head alone. In the fore peak there was q large
can of pure spirits Of turpentine. Ned had
taken the cooks great copper kettle, which
held some twelve gallons, and filled it as full as
he had dared with the infammable stuff and
then he watched his opportunity. The mo-
ment he thought the proa near enough, be set
| fire to the spirits, and then lifting the kettle
high up by its sides, he went oft, so that the
wind would help him, and with a strong, care
full throw, he sent the fiery mass into the boat
1t went in one sheet, all blazing and Kissing and
the light, cotton clothing of the pirates ignited
instantly. Of course the villains were blinded
and stunned by the unexpected visitation, aud
l don't 'spose they knew much what they were
about until they had got into the water. The
wind, which was just now starting fresh, carried
the blazing liquid the whole length of the boat,
and you know even dozen drops of it would
have been enough to set their cotton shirts afre.
The old Yankee now gathered Roadway good,
and ere long the proa and hef crew were far
astern. The boat was still burning and smok-
ing like mad, and we could see that most of the
pirates were striking out for the island, for Of
course they could not go near their boat But
it isn't likely one of 'em ever reached the shore,
for the fresh breeze had kicked up q smart
wave, and their heads were under water half
the time. I took my glass and went up into the
mizzen top, and for while I watched the
bloody scamps. I could see 'em, one after an
other, sink out of sight, and knew that none
of them would ever do any more murders. But
in little time the few heads that were left
struggling above water were beyond the reach
of my sight, and came down.
IT isn't much use Of my telling now Ned Gro
| yer was disposed Of, for you can judge for your
selves. Yet he was mild and modest as ever,
and begged US to say nothing more about it.
When we got home, the owners made him accept
thousand dollars. and made me premise to
teach him navigation. Ned is now four and
twenty-as noble fellow as you could wish to
see-and last month he left New York as the
captain Of the good ship Daniel Boone. Now,
who comes next?
The NATIONAL DEBT OF GREAT BRITAIN
The present national debt Of Great Britain is
E794 GAS ,O18, with an annual interest Of e22,
557, 355. The London Economist adds:
s.The present war has added already e16,-
600, 900 to this debt, and the war has hardly
commenced. It is to be observed that the
average interest in 1920 was 3.5 per cent, and
is now per cent. This reduction has been
effected in seasons Of abundance of money, by
reducing the rates of interest-that is to say, if
the government paid now the same rate as in
1920, the annual interest on its present debt
would be G26, SOC, 0OO-that is to say, 3,748,-
645 more than Il actually pays From this re-