Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-03-01

stand clear; and with good one, two,
three, from the shoulder, | burst the
door in. There is no doubt must have
looked very pale and very excited as
his first Question to me was
'"Why, Mr.. Topham, what In the
name of goodness is the matter? You
look as pale as death" %
oI told him all thst had happened, and
likewise my suspicious that we had not
seen the end of the affair, and that our
best plan would beat once to arm our
selves. I told him to dress himself,
whilst went on deck to rouse our two
English sailors, whom we could depend
up0n. and bring them aft to the cabin
T had planted one foot in the saloon,
the other being still in Mr.. Spencer's
cabin, and had my eyes directed to the
stairs of the companion, when in the
shade, i thought / described China
man. Thinking that it might be the
steward-in which belief [ was not long
left in doubt. | had turned my head
into Mr.. Spencer's cabin, to tell him of
my suspicious, when thought [ heard
steps stealthily approaching me.
gave rapid glance. and there not four
feet from where Istood, were some five
or six as Misunderstanding Cinnamon
as had ever beheld, armed, some with
bamboos about ten feet long, and others
with swords. In an instant, | had sprung
into the cabin, and closed and bolted
the door. With yell, the whole of the
gang made one simultaneous rush
towards the door; but they had missed
their mark by second. had planted
my back against the door, and thanks
to my weight and the bolts, it resisted
their combined efforts to force it.
Other measures, however, | knew must
be at once resorted to, and that in
stantly. Calling upon Mr.. Spencer to
move his chest and drawers against the
door, and placing two trunks on the top
Of them, we patiently waited the com
ing events. Spencer very fortunately
had couple of Colts revolvers in his
chest of drawers, with which we armed
ourselves. The gang outside were evil
IDENTITY in deep consultation as to their
mode of attack One voice | heard
raised above all the others, and that
one voice was, without doubt, A Tong,
our much respected steward! From
the little Chinese [ was acquainted with
[ gathered that they were bent upon
the treasure, which had come on board
from the Oriental Bank only that after
noon. It had been slowed away in the
captains cabin, and was safely lodged
in one of Miners fire and thief-proof
safes.
"They proceeded to the captain s
cabin; but in very short time return
ed and, knocking at the door with
their bamboos, demanded it to be
opened. At first they used threats,
then entreaties, promising us that not
a hair of our heads should be hurt.
But, though we feared their threats, we
had no faith in their promises, and
fully determined that, if the worst came
to the worst, we would sell our lives
dearly. Oh, how we longed for eleven
o'clock, for Captain Wilkes return.
How patiently and eagerly we listened
for the splash of the oars of the six
stalwart boatmen We heard four bells
from the different ships III the harbor,
some not a couple of hundred yards
away; but it was impossible to reach or
signal them. Instead of large port
hole, there was only the small dead
light, through which we could not even
manage to thrust our heads, much less
our bodies. Well, sirs, when they found
that neither threats nor promises would
avail them, they at once commenced
their work. [ was standing on camp
stool, endeavoring to see what they We're
doing, by looking through the iron
grating on the top of the door, when /
saw one of them with spear, at what,
In military phraseology, would be
termed "shorten arms"-that is. with
the spear drawn back to it's fullest ex-
extent, ready to thrust through the
door. L gave one spring from the
stool, and lucky indeed l did so; for
the next moment the point of a spear
grazed my cheek. Another inch to the
left and | would have been dead man.
eve both then retired to the further
end of the cabin, so as to keep out of
harms way. We knew that they dared
not use firearms, for fear of attracting
the attention of the ships in the neigh
borhood; and no doubt this was our
salvation. Spear after spear was thrust
through, some almost reaching us as
we crouched down on the floor of the
cabin, when all at once we heard a
crash, and, on looking up, to our nor
ror saw that one of the panels of the
door had been forced in sufficiently for
man to thrust his body trough We
both Immediately sprang upon cur
feet, grasping our revolvers more firm
ly, expecting that, in desperation, some
Of them would be hardy enough to try
and force their way into the cabin. But
they were far too cunning for that.
Two of them now got upon chairs, but
taking care to keep out of the line Of
fire of our reyolvers, and by side-thruas
by which they showed that they were
adopts in the use of the weapon-com-
PEELED us to kneel and crouch behind
the chest of drawers one moment, into
the berths the next, and, at last, under
the bottom of them, where we were for
some time comparatively safe. But,
emboldened by their success, they now
faced the broken pannelling; and we
could plainly see that, in another min
ute or two, the matter would end by
our both being speared like wild boars.
[ whispered to Spencer to fire at the
first head that showed itself at the pan