Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1862-02-16

tL~.> W Heu VI inc craft IN our wake, an(
M va. We must make the best Of q very bad lob
: that II it came to brush, / felt suye- ssid
mat every mothers son of them would fiebt n
me last, to defend the good ship and the twt
helpless women and the poor little children VIII,
we're amongst us. Mitchell also told them 4
oDey me In everything, as was kings Off
Ger. and up to fighting affairs. E le'.i7
,he men answered with cheer, and one old
lenoW, who was called "Old Joe, !" at once step
pea forward and said:"If you please, your honor
was captain OF gun for many wears on hoard
kings ship; and If 80 be there should be any.
Ining Oh that sort on board, and Bill here',-
WNn JERK OF his thumb over his shoulder
vTansno# them how to handle them" Mitch.
81 now remembered that there were couple Of
old carronades somewhere in the hold, but he
could not exactly state their whereabouts!
Inc hint, however, was sufficient, and an ex.
Piorlng party wasspeedily sent below to search.
nNer = tedious and anxious rummage below,
.ne Joyful cry was heard from Old Joe: "Here
.ney are my hearties; go bear hand to get
them clewed up" And there, indeed, appeared
Two old ship guns, with their carriages, but from
their looks hardly hoped that they would etand
charge of powder! However, the hold was
quickly opened; and, by the help of an extempo-
rary derrick, our pieces of ordnance were safely
hoisted upon deck.
The preparing Of these guns for service Ileft
Ior oIo Joe and his shipmates, whilst and my
and pistols We could find on board, M. de s.
nao good sword and pair of dueling pistols
mr. johnson had brace of pistols also, aud /
mad sword and pistols The bayonets we set
70 work and spliced on the capstan bsrs, and 90
rigged out some capital lboarding-pikes; the FIRE.
arms we cleaned, and the cutlasses we sbarpened
py grinding on the carpenters stone, When all
wasready, Old Joe proposed to "scale the guns ),
and In order to appear as formidable as we could.
we contrived to fire the two guns In succession
on the star6oard side, and then run them over
70 port, and fire them again! By this device
We appeared to carry four guns. We tried our
sinai arms also In the same manner, firing the
muskets and pistols in volleys.
Much time was consumed in these nroceed-
ings, and whether 1t was that our stratarem hs a
told with some effect or not, it was evident that
the brigantine sweeps had been laid In, and
tnat she had advanced no nearer in the interval.
Wetheretore concluded taat the pirate intend
ed 70 wait till nighttaH before he ran us aboard.
God help us! 1t was O fearful thoueht Rut
every one bore up like hero, and we made the
best preparations that we could devise to resist
the anticipated assault.
Toward sundowh, another sail was seen on
the horizon, and the pirate appeared 10 perceive
ner az tne same moment, for he once more "out
sweeps" and pulled toward the ill-fated sail
smart pace. Every eye was strained in
watcnlng the two vessels; and just as it became
zoo oarS 10 distinguish distant objects, flash !
followed by loud report, startled the sto,te at
hearts amongst us Further surmises were ,,se-
less, for up to this moment, though some had
still tried to "hope against hope" that the
strange craft was not pirate after ali, the dread
tut Certainty fell like lead upon the hearts of
all! That gunshot had told a tale that mona
could doubt the meaning of; and unless q nd
should send help, either by night breeze. or
some ship with which she might act in concert.
and 30 beat off this scoundrel, our doom muat
IN oil probability, be indeed fearful one. But
\ was OF no use to give way to despair; and
darkness having now closed 10, we extinguished
every light on board, even in the binnacle, and
enforced the strictest silence fore and aft in the
snip lneed not say there was no sleep for us
that night. Anxiety had murdered sleep.n
and none even attempted to "turn in." Long
and drearly passed the feverish hours of that ter
rlble nights and by the first faint stroke OF
daWning light every eye was strained to see if
the pirate was still in sight. Alas! glance
was sufhcient. Not only was the pirate there,
but another uesseI with him, evidently the prize
he had captured the night before. Still tbey
we're at come distance astern of us, and Il seem.
ed that the misfortune of this vessel had prob
ably saved US from the night-attack we had ex-
pected.
Our nerves had been so overstrained for many
nours' tnat some now began to show signs Of
WaVerlng and despair; under the circumstances,
therefore, thought it better to order a good al
loWance OF grog to be served out to the poor fel.
lows, and keep them employed in exercising
their guns, etc, as much as our small stock Of
powder would admit. Thus passed another
wretched day OF suspense and misery
| AS evening was approaching, we saw the pi-
! rate again making use of her sweeps, and she
advanced this time 80 close to US, that with the
naked eye we could see her decks sWarminp
with men, and "Long Tom Tor large swivel
gun) amid-ships at once ordered eyery man
his station, as we all anticipated an immediate
attack; but, to our astonishment, after delib-
crate survey, she went about, and swept back
again to her prize. She evidently thought we
were rather too well armed and prepared for an
easy prey during daylight; 80 we once more set
ourselves for our long and anxious night watch.
Some Of our men were so wearied out, that
sent them below to snatch little rest; but by
nlghtfall, of their own accord, all hands had
again mustered on deck.
Il The lights were once more extinguished, and
was pacing the poop with silent and sorrow full
steps, when suddenly felt cool air tanning
my cheek. Yes, truly it was no delusion: q
breeze had sprung up at last! Thank God! In.
stansly springing down upon deck, gave or.
ders to set every stitch upon her ''beloW and
aloft, and to trim tho yards so as to feel the
full benefit of the breeze. All was now hustle
and activity; and after altering our course, by
she skipper's good advice, we once more heard
the Joyful ripple Of the waters as they danced
by the good ships bows.
But our JOY was short-lived, for Just as we
were congratulating ourselves on our deliv-
eranoe, our destruction was almost accom-
plished.
1 / was standing on the lee-quarter, watching
what progress our ship Was making, when dis
timely heard asound that sent my blood tingling
to my very extremities, and almost paralyzed
me-Mltted oars! from one, two, three different
points! Merciful God protect us! Silence was
useless now, 60 sprang amongst the crew, and
shouted at the top OF my voice: "Men, TO your
stations; the enemy's boats are alongsidem |
rushed to the gun on the larboard side, and hur-
ried Old Joe and his comrades to the other, and
with the crew about equally divided between us,
we silently awaited the attack, each of rs be-
ing armed with couple Of cannon balls in our
hands. We had not long to wait, for, finding
by the hustle on board that they were discoy ar.
ed, the pirates, with a yell, pulled boldly under
the main chanDels, and In an instant were
swarming up the ships side. In another mo-
ment, the savagos would have been amongst us,
but shouting 70 my men: "Lst them have il,
boys" hurled the heavy balls with all my
strength into the boat, and prepared to defend
myself with my sword. But the avalanch Of
cold iron had done its work, and the boat along.
side was q mass of shattered timbers with her
rufian crew already beaten down and struggling
III Al e. Al. a. a