The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-12-10

but carefully covered with mattings. The
| Portuguese stood in the stern guiding the
craft; by his side was half-naked negro,
while four brawny fellows tugged at the
oars.
81 passed the word for all hands to stand
by their arms, while L cooked my double
barreled rifle and loosened the sharp cut
lass in the scabbard which | wore buckled
around my waist. Sallie 1 directed to re-
tire below, and under no circumstances to
come on deck.
"The small, fleet canoe of the Portuguese
/ noticed towing astern OF the larger craft,
but the next instant l was hailing the
Don, who waived his hat in token Of saluta-
ton.
".How much water have your 1
shouted.
"'About one thousand gallons Captain
"'Why are you particular about cover
ing it up 2 1 demanded.
@'Would you have me poison you, Cap
tain, and your beauteous lady7 Do you
think L would allow the roses of her cheeks
to pale by drinking malaria which quickly
taints the water here? On, no, Captain, 1
line, please and we will swing round with
the tide, alongside
"The rope was thrown, and hearing the
voice of the Portuguese conversing in a low
tone with the negro, 1 jumped on the
rail to ascertain the meaning of the con-
ference.
"Lilze magic the mating was jerked
I. l.. c..I l.
leaped suddenly into view, and as their
barbarous war-cry rang out with a stimuli
taneous yell, their huge clubs were brought
heavily down on the tough boarding net
tings.
~The exultant yell of Don Manuel >oused
all the evil blood in my body, and I
gave the word to fire in a voice thick with
passion.
"a shout of defiance burst from the
throats of my little crew as they rallied to
the rescue, while the sharp reports of the
muskets, followed by means and screams,
proved that the fire was not altogether in
effectual.
"a few of the sooty rascals succeeded in
gaining our deck, but stroke from my
cutlass stretched one of them lifeless, and
the remainder sought safety in flight. L
looked about on all sides for the willy Port
uguese and his sooty companion, but they
were nowhere to be seen, and was forced
tc forgo the pleasure of giving them the con-
tents of my rifle, which had been reserved
for the purpose.
",The slush on the schooner's sides had
aided us materially in impeding the efforts
of the darkies to board, and while they
were holding hurried consultation as to
the best course to pursue, assisted their
dull brains by ordering a number of the
men standing by to heave the shot ever
board; for, do you see. young man, WAS
averse to shedding the blood of the mig
gers whom looked upon as mere tools of
the Portuguese.
THE mate carried the order out to the
letter, and as the solid globes of iron went
crashing through the frail timbers of the
canoe, the darkies disappeared if by
magic.
"At that moment 1 heard a low moan
from the cabin, which I recognized at once
as Sallie's, and can tell you my heart was
in my mouth rs 1 sprang toward the COM
panion-way, closely followed by the mate.
"The first thingI saw, through the gloom
of the room, was the form of my wife,
struggling in the brawny embrace of a
negro, and as my cutlass passed through
his Internal carcass, received slashing
cut from the Portugeuse's dirk; and that
was the way, young man, that 1 am in
Z I'LL
with me to my grave.
Il never felt the pain then, but as the
hot blood gushed out, filing my eyes for
the moment, 1 lost sight of the Don. But
the mate was on the alert, and as I stag
gered to one side he caught the rascal just
as he was scrambling through the stern
window, by which he had effected an en-
trance while 1 had been busy on deck.
The light canoe was discovered towing I'M
der the counter, and the rascal had fully
intended to have sheered off with my Salle.
But, thank God he failed.
"By my directions, the Don, as he called
himself, was secured; the men manned the
capstan, and we kedged down the river as
rapidly as the darkness would admit. The
attack we had sustained, and then my
wife, who had recovered from her fright,
found time to dress my wound, which had
become exceedingly painful.
"By daylight we were lying at the
mouth of the river with our lower sails
set, waiting for Al opportunity to cross the
bar. The mate had discovered spring
close by the left bank of the river, and you
may depend, young man, it did not take
me long to obtain limited supply.
"The land breeze had sprung up. was
in readiness to leave the Internal head
lands of Pongo astern, and nothing re-
manned for me but to punish the treachery
of the Portuguese, who, pale and tremb.
ling, was brought on deck, begging in ao-
ject tones for his life.
"Now did not intend TO harm him, that
ia. would not have killed him, but that