The Bedford gazette. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1805-current, 1863-10-16
CHASED By A PIRATE.
EY JOHN II. UNDERWOOD.

s'eail hos cried the lookout man from tht
forceroyalyard Of tho old Pollywog one fine
afternoon in July--the ship being, at the time,
a few degrees south Of the Equator, and some
wherS between twenty and thirty degrees west
longitude, and tumblmg along at the rate Of foul
or five knots ON taut bowline. .f..-
"Where away" demanded Captain Piggles,
starting up from the hencoop upon which he had
been taliingan after-dinncr nap
''On the weather quarter sir"
"What does she look like?"
81 think she's topsail schooner, sir, can
see her fore topsailyard, when she rises on sea,
but bleve she's got gaf-topsal aft"
swell, stay up.there, and sing out as soon as
you can make out what she is.
Gay, ay, sir"
"What in the world do you suppose topsail
schooner is doing way down here 7" exclaimed
Captain Pgglcs, addressing his mate, who had
Just come aft.
sG don't know, sir, unless she's slaver'
81 don't believe she is. In fact, it's my op-
pinion (andhere the captain lowered his voice to
an ominous whsper) that she's pirate"
Now Captain Piggle's prevailing idiosyncrasy
was a fear of pirates. Although, man and boy,
he had known saltwater for upwards of thirty
years and had never been moested by the knights
of the skull and cross bones, and although he
was not, in the broadest sense of the term, a
coward, he was ever and always in fear of fall
ing victim to some bloodthirsty rover Of the sea-;
and the sight of q strange vessel particularly
If she possessed any or all Of the supposed pc
cularties OF the pirate, and was described by
the lookout craft, would instantly throw him
into fever of excitement and trepidation.
On the present occasion, there seemed to be
indeed, more than ordinary cause for alarm; for.
as the stranger rapidly overhaued the slow
going Pollywog, and, one after another, her low
er mastheaas, the gaffs Of her fore and aft rails
and finally her hull, rose into plain sight from
the deck of the Pollywog, it was apparent to
all that she was truly a low, black, raking top
sail schooner, of the genus ''sharpshooters, and
what was still more suspicious-that neither
ensign, nor bunting ofany description whateyer,
was displayed at her masthead, or foated at the
peak of her mainsall.
Whether Captain Piggle's chief mate really
believed the stranger to be pirate, Or whether
he wished to make sport for himself and all hands
by playing upon the ''old mans fears, it is inn
possible to say at all events, he Immediately
conceded in the opinion of his superior in regard
to the character and designs of the schooner,
and boldly offered bet of a months grog that
the ''whole ships company would be in eter-
nifty aforc eight bells"
ssIVhat shall we do, Mr. Barnacle? We can't
get away from her very WELL" exclaimed Pigses,
trembling in every limb
'sNo, should rather think not" replied the
mate, drily, as he cast his eyes towards the
schooner, which was outsailing the Pollywog
three miles to one, "But we kin fight, you know
and, if wust comes to wust, we kin blow the
old scow up, and so cheat the bugsers out other
prize"
At this moment Mrs. Pigges, the better half
of the captain, and the actaal commander of the
ship-for, to tell the truth, she was in the habit
of assuming that bifurcated garment intended
to protect the lower limbs Of the male biped Of
the genus homo vuigate, ''of wearing the bre5oh-
es, made her appearance on deck, and, over
hearing the mates proposal, exclaimed:
"You won't do no such thing. Blow up the
Polywog, indeed Captain Piggles, do you wish
to be blowed up?"
''No, my DEAR" replied the captain, meekly;
"but you know [ shouldn't wish to be taken by |
the pirates. ] don't care so much about myself, |
but shudder to think what your fate would be
when exposed in all your innocence and beauty