The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-12-06

Il
plosion, which might probably send
the )ship!to the bottoms | understood
at once-indeed, there was no room
for doubt after what / had seen and
heard hat the villains had by some
means got hold of the gold on board;
that they had either drugged or over
powered the watch, and that it was
their intention to blow up the ship,
and escape in the confusion; or to get
away a little beforehand, and trust to
the explosion, which must inevitably
follow, to remove all proof of their
crime and all dread Of capture. /
saw what it was but I confess to
YOU. sir. at the risk Of being thought
a coward, that / stood at first unable
ito thsnkI or act to any useful pur-
pose. Had been prompt and deci-i
ded, now was my time to have acted
while the stranger was on deck. but
L own that / stood rooted to the.
spot. with shaky knees, with culver
ing Eos, and with the cold, clammy
perspiration standing on my fore
head. / have often been in peril, but
I never felt so unnamed, before or
since, as did then; and I verify be-
lieve that, had / been left alone, /
should have allowed the ship, and the
gold. and my own life, and the lives of
all on board to take their chance,
rather than venture out to face those
desperadoes. a.sa.s
But I had not the choice. The
chief, after looking at the fire and ex-
aiming the gauges, crossed the stoke
hole to the other passage under the
starboard platform, with the view
probably Of getting at some Of the
grease and tallow that was slowed
away close by where ! had made my
couch. / saw that i must now be
discovered; but with the prospect of
a struggle with one man singly, my
courage revived, my limbs became
steady, and the coward feeling left
my heart. He CROPPED his way slowly
up the passage, and then made the
rush which / have described as neces-
sary to avoid the water from the
waste pipe. This rush brought him
close to me before he stopped, and we
stood face to face. My eyes were ac-
customed to the dim light of the place,
while his were yet dazzled by the
bright glare Of the fires; so that |
could distinguish his features, while
he was yet uncertain whether
there was any one there but
himself. / ought to have seized the
opportunity, and attacked him at
once, but foolishly let the moment
pass, and instead of acting promptly |
sung out, Who is there?' In mo
ment his eyes lit up with look of
fierce intelligence; and with a sup
pressed exclamation, he spraDg upon
me. The rsuddenness of the attack
made me start back; and, my foot be.
ing tripped up by bag Of cotton L
used for bed, we fell heavily to the
deck together, / being undermost.'
His left hand was on my throat, and,
clutching my hair with his right, he,
with quick lift and jerk, moved my
head to one side towards the engine.
| did not resist the movement much,
for had not thought exactly where I
was lying; but, oh ! think what was
my horror at the next instant to see
directly over me the end of the side
lever descending, and not more than
three feet above my head By vio-
lent effort got out of the way just in
time; but even then the cutter at the
end of the lever grazed my forehead
in its descent. The horror of my
position seemed to give me for the
moment preternatural strength, and /
succeeded in rolling my antagonist
over till | became uppermost; then
struck him with my clenched fist
two or three heavy blows on the face
with such effect that his hold of me
relaxed, and | thought that [ had
stunned him. In moment gained
my feet and fed; but had been mis-
taken in fancying | had Quoted my
antagonist; he was nearly as quick as
| was, and pursued me closely. [
rushed through the passage, by the
side of the ship, across the stoke hole,
through the passage between the en-
gines, and thence to the platform and
up the ladder leading to the deck.
The chief was close behind me, SO
that l dared not lose time by turning
my head sand | remember how
4 heard, His feet slip as he crossed the
iron floor of the stoke hole directly
after me. i tried to fling open the door
of the companion, and gain the deck
| thought that my escape was certain.
But ohtsir, | had no Sooner touched
the door than ] found that it was
closed, fastened on the outside. /
looked down. The chief was stand
ing on the platform at the foot of the
ladder; he held a revolving pistol in
| his hand land was then in the act Of
hesitation, and / flung myself right of
the ladder upon him. He fired, but
without having time to take aim, and
| was not hit.6 With the force of my
! fall, we both rolled off the platform
into the passage between the engines
the pistol being at the same time dash.
ed from his hand. How we both es
capped being crushed by the machinery
1 scarcely know; but so it was, anG
directly we were both on our fee
| or11 3D. L. 4