Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1870-07-21

He dropped his paddle, struck, as sup
pose, in the arm. was safefon that side
at present, as the confusion. and loss of
headway would be sufficient to cause her
to lose her chance of grasping the chain
plates fnp3 r4is-,- al .;r..s. $50
. 1 rushed across the deck just in time to
meet the other canoe as she fell alongside.
One of my Quaker mariners with hick-
ory backbone stood conveniently at hand;
lifted it and dashed it upon the heads of
the savages, telling two of them. They
also lost their hold and. drifted astern
But by this, time third and fourth were
almost upon me. / was ready with wea-
pons on both sides, and now that was
fairly in for it, felt far less anxiety than
when the fight was, only in anticipation.
One of them made clumsy work of it,
dashing her PROV violently against the
ships side, and being thrown adrift on
the rebound But while l was observing
this the other, on the starboard side, had
secured a firm hold and two grinning
warriors had made good their footing on
the ,plankshear. A rush, with the thought
that was striking for my own life and
that of the child a single sweep of the
keen boarding-knife, and the two man
gled barbarians fell back upon their com
rades. was clear of that crew by sin
gle cut, dividing their warp of cocoanut
cordage. I had received wound in the
side from spear thrown at me-a ragged
cut by a series of sharks teeth-but, I
hardly felt it then. rod on ire
Meanwhile the brave little girl had stood
at the helm, steering the ship as well as 1
could have done it myself, and carefully
noting my orders, conveyed to her by q
wave of my hand. There were still two
more canoes ahead, butt led one of them
into trap by directing Jessie to make q
broad yaw,sand then suddenly bringing
the ship back to her former course Taken
by SURPRISE he had no time to get clear
from under our bows, The canoe was
crushed, and SUNK instantly, thotgh it wasr
quite impossible to drown her ,amphibi-
GUS navigators. Her consort kept out Of
reach, and fell in abeam of us at a safeid dis.
tanca, not daring TO make als an attack qn-
supported. ~ ~
( / felt now Tcompatativelyt safe, for al.
though all the canoes astern were steadily
gaining upon us, they must approach us at
a; great disadvantage, and, besides, they
had lost confidence and prestige; for, with
savages, the first surprise Is everything. l.
could now take my stand aft, near my little
companion, and could use firearms with de-
liberation. ali II Iais aTsdt f7oa,l
But while doing SO with deadly effect
upon the man whom supposed to be high
chief as before mentioned, / was startled
by a cry from Jessie and turning, beheid
the shocky head of stalwart savage ris-
ing into view on the other quarter He
had poised his spear for the act of dsrting
at me, when, quick as thought, the little
girl, who let go the helm, slHng billetio of
wood directly in his face. He was thrown,
off his balance and fell backward, while
the spear dropped harmlessly-in in on deck
was on the spot before another man
could climb up; and the danger was over.
The breeze was freshening little, and
the two boats were now plainly in view
and fast nearing us. directed Jessie to-
keep little more. of, SO as to head di-
rectly for them for had more sea room
now, and felt that could afford to laugh
at the whole bloodthirsty pack, who, now
in full cry, were hcvering In our wake. 5
The rwarps of the two fully
whale boats were skillfully thrown up to.
me, and with those twelve resolute. sea-
men. on her deck, the Warsaw might bid
defiance to any number of piratical
canoes. The topsails were hoisted at once,
and everything trimmed. We closed
rapidly with the other ship, and L soon
had the pleasure of shaking by the hand
my former shipmate, Baylies, now in COM
mand Of the Calypso, and of presenting
my heroic little lieutenant, Jessie.
A gang of men were spared sufficient
to work the Warsaw, and together the two
ships bore away for Sydney. Here the
damages were repaired, crew shipped,
and the consul put me in charge of her to
take her home. -T145 tgs sgii
The little Scotch girl, thus left upon the
world, became member of our family.
My mother and Maria would have as
sented to any arran cement, if I had sug-
gested it; but their whole hearts were en-
listed in the orphans welfare, when they
learned the whole story of the adventures
which she had. shared with me. 6 The
small sum of money found among her
fathers effects was carefully applied
toward her clothing and education'; and
bidding her tender farewell, i left her to
follow up my profession. .no,t f,-,.-
I made two voyages after this, and at
each return found Jessie all that the
fondest and most careful guardian could
desire, In all respects she was equal, in
some superior, to my sister and, had they
been twins, they could not have loved
each other better g.! tni4 "a OCT
r Jessieiwas twenty years old at the-t time
I arrived home in command of the Green
wich. / know not at what particular time
during that voyage i began to think it
was possible that she and might love
each other. / think this feeling came
upon me very gradually. Perhaps it may
have been something In the tone of her
letters s. for she always wrote to me much
as sister might write to an elder brother;
but her letters, on this voyage, were not
quite SO affectionate as at first. There was
q little embarrassment in the manner and
style Yet this was but natural when 1
reflected upon it But it must have been
this very change that put me I'M the way
of rejecting. There was, after all, moth
ing very awkward or anomalous in our
position toward each other. She was
simply member of our family, an adopt
ed daughter, as 1T were, Of my mother.
But, wishing to support herself, she. had
found employment as a, teacher and in
sisted upon paying her board This i
had learned from the various letters re-
ceived and, of course, I admired her in
dependent spirit. -'A a'i'
I kept pondering the matter till It
formed the chief subject of my ithonghts
through many long night watch. I did
not know of any other woman whom I
could love SO we1l-Iwas only thirty-three,
even though had been bearded second
mate when she was wee sprite of child.
After all, the disparity of age was not so
very great, and perhaps -..s
But I could not bear the thought of haV-
ing her marry meas perhaps she might,
if I asked her-from any feeling of graft
tude or obligation. Though am satisfied