Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1861-10-10
gelecten Misrellauy.
A NARROW ESCAPE.

n NAhhOW w ESCAfE.
the spring Of the year 1S-, was re-
turning home from the East Indian station
on promotion, as passenger in merchant
ship of about 500 tons burden, named the
Anne, of London. She was terribly over.
laden, and our progress, though favored by
fair weather and propitious winds, had been
slow and tedious. We had, however, sue
cessfully rounded the Cape. and had water.
cd at St. Helena, when in due course, we
found ourselves bccalmed in the ''horse
latitudes,' SO dreaded by all persons in a
hurry.
Here the good ship lay, not only "all
that day." as the old song says, but for more
than fourteen days, under cloudless sky
and broiling sun, with the pitch bubbling
up between every plank of the scorched
deck. The brass rails on the poop and else
where, and every portion of metal within
the influence of the sun, were not to be
touched with impunity and it was not quite
even safe, if clad in thin duck or nankeen,
to trust to a wooden seat! Time hung hcavi-
ly on the hands of all On board, both passen-
gers and crew. Every one was grumbling
at everything.
Among the passengers, had made the
acquaintance of a very agreeable French
gentleman. who, with bis wife rr and .-Iia I.AA
chIldreN, were returning to la belle Franco,
after protracted sojourn in one of the is
lands in the Indian seas under the British
flag A pretty -colored ayah was their soul
domestic. [ found Nj. dc s. man of
great intelligence, and a very agreeable COM
panion, and his pretty but over-petted wife,
was also very charming, particularly to a
young sailor like myself
Everything had been tried to cnlivcn the
monotony Of our lives, from dancing down
TO pitch-and- toss, and devoutly did we pray
for another "pitch and toss, with ''wct
sheet" and ''capful' of wind. We we're
beginning to hate everything, even our COM
panions in grief, and almost fancied that we
were bewitchcd within the magic blue ring
of the horizon, and doomed 70 remain there
spell bound forever.
Matters were in this state when, one day,
as NJ de s. and myself were moodily
pacing the deck under the awning, small
object far away astern of US caught my eye.
[ saw at once that it was sail of some kind;
but what particularly attracted my attention
was the rapid way in which, though still
many miles distant, it appeared to be ap-
preaching. This puzzled me greatly, as the
sea was of an oily calmness. and not cat S
paw" rufflel the bosom of the deep. l drew
my companion's S attention to the object, and
hurried below for my glass. When re-
turned on deck, NJ de s. exclaimed
This vessel must be steamer, as she seems
to move very fast" Even he, a landsman,
had observed the same thing that had aston
ishcd me.
soon got the glass settled upon the OBJ
iect, and then a terrible solution of the mys-
terry burst upon me.
The vessel was a long, low, rougish-look
ing craft. hermaphrodite rugged, and with
tremendous rake aft ia her tall, taperine
masts; but that which absorbed all my senses
and faculties was the steady rise and fall
the successive fash and disappearance O
sweeps, or long oars, from each side of the
brigatinc. What could this mean? HaC
been cruising amongst the Malays, or even
up the Mediterranean, could have better
understood the matter but here, out at sea
hundreds of miles away from any land
what could this small Misunderstanding
craft be sweeping about for? My heart
sickened at the very thought. Improbable
though it appeared, this vessel must be q
pirate
At this moment, felt some person touch
my arm, and turning round saw the mas
ter of the ship (Mitchell) He appeared
pale and agitated. and whispered, in husky
voice, "What do you make of her, sir? %
Alas this was no time for mincing mat
ters, so l at once told him my suspicious
Great Heavens % said he, 1--WE arc lost
for do not think have firearm on boaro
fit for service, and but trife of powder
my crew, also, are only twenty four men
all told !''
Certainly, this was not very cheering
prospect, with pirate under our lee but
however, I begged him at once to call &
council of war of all the officers of his ship
and the three male passengers, including
myself, in order to consult what to do in thi
frightful emergency.
This he at once did, and without disturb
ing Madame de S, who, fortunately
was not risible that day, being somcwha
iadisposed Chat is to say, too lazy to ge
upD We at once proceeded to the ''cud
dy;'' the council consisting of the master