The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-07-27

Williams. first mate Of the schooner II.
+. Merry. which isunloading coal al the
Il. A d. docks, and who calls this city
his residence, went aboard the schooner
on Monday night about half past III. IN
with George Nichols, of this
city. a seaman on hat boat. aud who is
the son Of Capt. Charles Nichols. the
commander Of the Merry. Both the
men retired Mt once. Williams goingto
sleep in a small room just on the cabin
and Nichols going "a bed in the forecas-
tie. As the night was warm Williams
left the cabin door and the door Of his
sleeping room both open. lie SAYS that
be had not been asleep more than "
hours, when he was awakened suddenly
by a sharp, singing sensation In his side
aud feeling his hammock violently lar
red. lie thinks the time was about |
O'Clock in the morning. There was a
small lamp burning on the table In the
cabin, and by the dim light thus afford
ed he saw 4 mar standing over his bed
holding in his hand "A LUCE kuife drip
ping with blood
As quick as "A flash Williams realized
that he had been stabbed, and be struck
the man a terrible blow with his fist and
sent the villain reeling into the cabin.
Williams then leaped out 81 his ham
mock and seized Il large Chinese knife,
4 terrible weapon with a curved blade
about ten inches long, and u point like
. needle, the point being poisoned by a
peculiar process known to the Chinese.
Williams jumped into the cabin and dis
covered AZ that juncture that he had two
antagonists instead Of one, ns he had at
first believed. lie leaped towards the
second villain and buried the knife to
the hilt in the would-be murdcrer's per-
son. Then ensued one Of the most des-
peratc and bloody hand-to-hand encoun-
tiers that ever took place in this section
Of country. The small lamp referred
70 as being on the table in the cabin was
thrown down and cxtinguished the
table was overturned and the chairs
were scattered p~romiScuously about the
cabin. Ii total darkness, and with =
terrible wound in his side. from which
the blood flowed profusely, Williams be-
gan An attack upon the two villains with
all the desperation Of a man who fights
for his life against such odds. lie
welded his poisoned knife with terrible
effect, and says that NJ one time, when he
plunged il into one Of the villains, he felt
the blade CRATE on the bones and heard
them crack and give way before the steel.
He had the would-bc assassins at a great
disadvantage. In the total darkness
they scarcely dared use their knives for
fear Of cutting each other, while Will
liams struck out right and left, regard
less Of any thing except the protection
Of his person, knowing that every
time his weapon entered flesh il drew
blood from an enemy Thus he could
slash away in the darkness with no fear
Of hurting a friend. The cabin proper
Of the boat, like those Of all schooncrs,
Is a very small apartment. and during
the progress Of the terrible fight the
blood Of the three men literally ran on
the floor in streams, and spattcred all
over the walls. The frightful encoun-
ter was Of short duration. While VIII
llams was pressing one Of the would-be
assassins 10 the wall aud stabbing him,
the other villain-having probably lost
ms knife IN the melec-wrenched off u
leg Of the cabin table and knocked Will
liams senscless with il. Then the vii
lains fed from the cabin supposing that
they had killed their victim. In going
up the cabin stairs the blood flowed pro-
fnsely from their wounds, and they left
a blocd-red trail which marked their
course out Of the cabin and along the
deck. On the rail Of the vessel are two
very large spots Of blood, and the marks
"a bloody fingers, etc, showing where
The fiends crawlcd over the side Of the
boat.
Streams Of blood ran down the side
81 the schooner, and the red drops on
me fender streaks show that the fellows
evidently steadied themselves a m
On the raj. before sliding down to the
deck, the blood in the meantime drip
ping from their wounds and from of
thelr clothes. Their course along the
dock for a few feet can be plainly traced
py blood stains on the timbers then the
trail Is lost, as the fellows evidently en-
tered a small boat al that point and pull
ca out into the bay.
Capt Nichols, the commander of the
Merry, went 20 his vessel nj 3
2 clock in the morning and was horror
stricken nc finding what he supposed 70
oe the dead body Of man, literally cov-
'ered with blood, lying atthe foot Of the
CABIN stairs. He recognized Williams,
VINO lay perfectly insensiblc ON the floor
y q pool Of blood, with no clothing on
ms person except a thin undershirt,
which was pierced with knife -holes and
covered with blocd-clots. Williams was
4 terrible looking object, and the sight
q him in that condition made a cold
shiser run through the Captain. Dnr-
ing the entire fight in the cabin not a
word . been spoken by any a the
principals TO the frightful ARRAY, Gs an
az alarm was something to be especially
by the would be murlerers: