Bradford opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1874-1881, 1876-01-15

BRADI
dangerous and impolitic for you to ID
seen on our deck. If we do not NEE
again. you will not think Of mo as al
q And the gallant old Frenchman shool
the lad warmly by the hand. Befor
the latter, with his three companions
was halfway down the ladder which lee
to the cockpit, boom went one Of th.
Englishman's guns, carrying away {
portion Of the st. Pierre's rigging, anG
laying two OF her seamen dead on the
deck. Boom-boom went the st.
Pierre's guns in answer; and then the
: action began in earnest, and the cockpit
was soon full Of the dead and dying.
The fishermen, who in oil their lives
had never beheld such scene, crept
with white faces into O corner, their
clothes red with the blood which spout,
ed from the severed arteries OF the
wounded men. Hastings, half suffo-
Gated with the stencil of blood and pow
der in that narrow space, had taken up
his position on water barrel, Just under
the port through which the little current
of air in that sitting polluted atmosphere
managed to creep. The surgeon, whose
hands were full enough, looked UP from
hhis work-the amputation of sailors
arm which had been smashed into atoms
by musket ball-and said dryly:
"You had better descend from there,
my friend, in case of accidents, for /
shall not have time to attend to you."
The remark was well timed, for scarce
ly had Hastings vacated his seat than
ng-crash-smash l-came q cannon
ball through the port, smashing the
barrel into atoms, mingling the water
with the othor liquid with which the
floor was already saturated, until the
crimson sea rose above the men 8 ankles.
and saving the surgeon job by putting
three of his patients out of their mise
ry. He looked up with grim smile.
"AfiUe tonnerres, monsieur, but yours
was an escape! Look there He is a
| better operator than I; he does his
work cleanly-he!" he said, pointing to
the three dead bodies.
self no longer. Boom-boom! went
the guns overhead, and with every mo-
ment the carnage increased. The at
mosphere of the cockpit became op.
pressive and sickening, the stencil SO
foul that he was determined, come what |
might, to have one breath of fresh air,
and at the same time, if possible, dis.
cover in whose favor the battle was be-
ing decided. So he ran quickly up the
ladder and arrived on deck just as the
brave old French captain was carried
past dead, with bullet through his
brain. The English were evidently
gaining the day, and the direst confu-
sion reigned on the Frenchman's deck.
Young Hastings was on the point of
going below again, when horrid sight
met his view. A sailor fearfully wound
ing the outer wall of his chest being
literally torn away by round shot, was
lying, still alive, close to the bulwarks
two sailors, almost naked, presenting
terrific appearance from the blood and
powder with which they were besmeared,
at signal from the second offioor. ad-
vanced, and lifting the quivering body
of their unfortunate messmate, proceed
ed deliberately to throw him overheard.
The Irish lad, with cry OF horror,
sprang forward to the rescue, but an
officer stopped him, saying firmly:
eft must be SO; the men are already
panic stricken, and such sights make
them worse; at furthest he could only
live few minutes, and it is more merci
full to put him out of his agony"
The men then raised him and with all
their force threw him over the side; but
the wretched creature, with an amount
of vitality which in his condition Hast
ings would have deemed impossible had
he not seen it, clutched at rope hang
ing over the ships side with the des
perate tenacious grippe of n drowning
man. Tt was hideous sight The
poor wretch hung on, his face ivid and
distorted with agony, his eyes starting
out of his head, and the blood yelling
from the wound in hischest. They tried
unsuccessfully to shake him off; at
length an officer stepped forward with
cutlass in his hand, and. bending over
the side. cut the rope across, and with
an awful despairing cry which made it.
self heard above the booming of the
guns and the yells of the sailors the mis-
erable creature sank beneath the waves.
Sick with horror the boy, unaccustomed
as yet to the active duties of his profess
sion, turned to go below, when-p ping
ping bullet struck the feshy part of
his arm, and the limb fell nerveless at
his side. His friend the surgeon quick !
ly extracted the wicked little bit of lead,
and with grace which only French .
man could assume under the circumstan-
ces presented it to him as souvenir of
his sojourn on board the st. Pierre; then .
he bound up the arm, and half an hour
the French ship, commander ]
less, with more than half her crew
dead or dying, struck to the English ]
{
The officers of the Invincible- such {
was the name of the British vessel {
boarded their prize, and on going below j
the first sight that met their eyes was 6
the four Irishmen, who on the entrance
of their countrymen rose, scarcely able
to contain their joy at this unexpected
deliverance.
But you may imagine their horror ,
when, instead of being welcomed with !
open arms as they had expected, their q
story was received with incredulity and
suspicion. They implored to be taken '
before the English captain, and their re- !
quest was complied with; but unhapily ..
for them that individual was of q very :
different stamp from that of the courte-
Gus French commander. He was one |
Of those tyrannical, hectoring, clustering :
bullies who some years ago were rather :
too frequently to be met with iu the !
royal navy, who, having as a youngster !
himself tasted weeviled biscuit and the
ropes end pretty freely. had determined, :
when his day came, that life should not !
be one whit sweeter for his subordinates
than it had been for HIM. Added to :
these amiable qualities he had the bit . :.
terest contempt and hatred for his neigh :
bors on the other side of the channel !:
in fact, the name of Frenchman had =
pretty much the same effect on him as a =
bit Of red flag on a bull, and as for =
[rishmen, I'm not sure that he did not
ha ta fhon, rokbar IN owo cOr1io11v