The Weston Democrat. [volume] (Weston, W. Va.) 1875-current, 1875-12-20

| W Nttci llVLu uuulC W VIC Ahot iuehhs
an only brother was killed on the Great
Western railway, in the collision that oc-
Cured near Reading. Well, il you re-
member that evening, we were to have q
great spread ut Donglas'. Thompson,
Wilkinson, and some twenty others were
invited, including Capt. Wilkes. OF
course you know what iovial fellow
Wilkes is, good for story or song, and
can t:.ko his part in m argument with
the Lest of them. Everything went of
very well during dinner; and after the
cloth Ind been removed, and ono or two
song had been given, the call was for
Wilkes. He, however, who is usually so
ready aud willing to obGge, made some
excuse about hoarseness, which, how
over, was so palpably fictitious, that We
all burst out laughing md upon being
pressed again by some Of us, including
old Douglas, he positively refused. aud
iutimAted his intention Of goingon board
Mt once. We could see that something
Ind occurred to irritate him, but for the
life Of us none Of us could guess. Be-
fore leaving the room, however, Douglas
called him to ono side, and asked him the
cause Of his going awoy 80 carly. He
replied that he was uneasy in his mind ;
that depression Of spirits, such as he
Ind never felt before, had come over
him within the last half.hour, but for
which he could not account and asked
Douglas kindly not to detain him, rs he
wanted to go on board to see that every
thing was all right and il he felt better,
they might expect to see him in the
course OF anhour or so. And i'll M hours
time he did return, not to Join our party,
but to horrify us with the details Of
what had occurred on board the Wild
Dayren. DR.. Anderson, who was one OF
our party, went on board Immediately
to attend to you ; and Capt. Wilkesand
two or three Of us proceeded to the
police station to report the matter. The
police took the matter up vigorously /;
and thanks to large reward offered by
the owners, one OF the gang turned
queens evidence; and in the course OF
three or four days tho whole gang was
safely lodged in the Victoria jail. They
were brought up before the magistrate,
and remanded until you are able to ap-
pear against them."
"What time did Capt. Wilkes arrive
on board tho Wild Dayrcl! it was some
time after ten o'clock-ofs that l nm
suro."
EYES," he replied; II believe it was
just half-past ten when he pulled along
side, for five bells were struck from all
the other ships lying alongside OF him,
but not from his own, which ut the time
he noticed rs very singular. As he up
preached the ship he saw two boats com.
lug from tho direction Of her, but ut the
time took no notice of them; but there is
no doubt, he thinks, that these very
boats contained the gang"
"But did they succeed in obtaining
any OF the treasurer" 1 IAgain asked.
"No; not n cent Of it, thanks to
Chubb. They had tried to pick the
lock; nnd when they found that they
could not succeed in that, they tried
gunpowder, but with the same result.
The two English seamen were foundtied
in their hunks, and quite drunk. They
acknowledged that the steward had
given them three bottles OF brandy early
in the evening, rs present; and they
made good use of it, for they were half
drunk tho next morning. Tho rest of
The crew were too much afraid OF their
own necks to offer any resistance or give
the alarm. The Wild Dayrcll sailed n
couple Of days afterward, but with
fresh crew." And SO ended Charley's
account.
About week after this conversation,
continued tho narrator, appeared at the
police court, and swore to every one OF
the gang, eight in number. They were
sent for trial to the high court, and were
all found guilty OF mutiny and conspi-
racy, and sentenced, four OF them to
penal servitude fer life, two for fourteen
years, and the remaining two for seven
years each.
Amongst my letters from home I wns
not long in noticing ono in tho hand.
writing Of my mother; this, singular
though it may appear, ! kept until the
last, and toyed and played with it for Il
minute or two before l opened it. In
TINT letter, gentlemen, occurs tho fol-
lowing passage: "What were you doing,
dear John, on the night Of tho eighth OF
March, Mt about ten o'clock, from that
to half.pastl Twill :ell you my reasons
for asking. I had been very poorly dur.
ing the whole Of tho day; so much SO,
that after cup OF tea, aboutsix o'clock,
l retired for tho night. 1 fell asleep very
soon, but it was disturbed sleep, and l
awoke two or three times. At about
eight o'clock Jane brought nc cup OF
cocoa, and very soon afterward l again
fell asleep, and did not wake until about
halt.past ten, when I awoke with IT
fright. I dreamed that that I had seen
you walking along some strange street,
and following you were three or four
Cinnamon. All ut once they rushed to-
ward you, at which you nn, but they
ran faster than you did, and werc rapid.
ly gaining on you, when you ut once
male for the river, which was somo hun
dred yards distant. You had gone about
halfway when you slipped, and fell
down; Immediately the Chiuamen were
upon you, mud one l saw with long
knife ready to strike you; but with that
/ awoke with scream"
Now, gentlemen, wish to draw ynur
attention to tho fact, TINT on the eighth
OF March, rs mentioned in my mothers
letter, was the sumo day TINT the Wild
Dayrell afTair happened, and that the
time from ten o'clock to half,past was
the eIact time that We were placed in
tho most imminent peril by the smash
ing in Of the door panel. You can call
it what you like-a singular coincidence,
or ANYTHING else yOu plclse; but the fact |