Sharp County record., 1877-08-31
Mask,
iflc Combat in the Dark.

|otIl Of FIRST mate Ol the ScHoollcI H.
town Of which is unloading coal at the
Eht the ocks. and who calls this city
|rglary, nee. went aboard the schooner
|ut loss ly night about half-paSt II, in
injury with George Nichols, of this
Henry aman on that boat, and who is
EStable, Il Capt. Charles Nichols, the
ID from. ler of the Merry. Both the
Street. ed at once. Williams goingto
be Old small room just off the cabin
lediate ols going to bed in the fOrecaS-
Alfred the night was warm Williams
nd Mr. abin door and the door Of his
Int on room both open. He says that
lie, but ot been asleep more than two
bf the hen he was awakened suddenly
lie was %, singing sensation in his side
huSual no his hammock violently jar
/ suS. thinks the time was about |
is bed n the morning. There was a
ooked mp burning on the table in the
ndow, Id by the dim light thus afford
TO the va man standing over his bed
win in his hand a l.uge knife drip
reach blood.
E bed ok as flash Williams realized
!, and lad been stabbed, and he struck
chiefs terrible blow with his fist and
Peded villain reeling into the cabin.
|alled then leaped out of his ham,
man ID seized large Chinese knife,
rated E weapon with a curved blade
mber n inches long, and point like
and the point being poisoned by a
acpd process known to the Chinese.
h de. S siumped into the cabin and dis
them at that juncture that he had two
keen lists instead of one, as he had at
was ieved. He leaped towards the
AXE illain and buried the knife to
and in the wOuld-be murderer'o per-
do. hen ensued one OF the most des-
the nd bloody hand-to-hand encOun-
bu- ever took place in this section
b a Try. The small lamp referred
d to inc on the table in the cabin was
bt if down and eXtinguiShed; the
bnr as overturned and the chairs
hem altered promiscuously about the
nor III total darkness, and with a
of wound in his side, from which
hon. ID flowed profuSely, Williams be-
bm- attack upon the two villains with
Ind desperation of man who fights
iod life against such odds. He
|aI bis poisoned knife with terrible
mo nd says that at one time, when he
of Lii into one of the villains, he felt
ai, lie crate on the bones and heard
in. aek and give way before the steel.
rb the would-be asSassinS at a great
Cov ntage. In the total darkness
hal arcely dared use their knives for
oT cutting each other, while VIII
no. truck out right and left, regard
w any thing except the protection
an wn person, knowing that every
Ed sweapon entered flesh it drew
Y rom an enemy. Thus he could
no. way in the darkness with no fear
,9 mg friend The cabin proper
Iv )oat, like those OF all SchOOners,
b1 Y small apartment, and during
Dd ,greSs of the terrible fight the
In ,fthe three men literally ran on
|c r in streams, and spattered all
> lie walls. The frightful eneOun-
10 sOf short duration. While Will
h vas pressing one of the wOuld-be
h. ms to the wall and stabbing him,
Ee ler villain-haying probably lost
10 fe in the melee-wrenched off q
the cabin table and knocked Will
o senseless with it. Then the vii
led from the cabin supposing that
ad killed their victim. In going
+ cabin stairs the blood flowed pro-
from their wounds, and they left
dwed trail which marked their
out Of the cabin and along the
eOn the rail of the vessel are two
arge spots of blood, and the marks
odv fingers, etc, showing where
,nds crawled over the side of the
cams of blood ran down the side
schooner, and the red drops on
nder Streaks show that the fellows
ntly steadied themselves moment
erail before sliding down to the
the blood in the meantime drip
from their wounds and from off
clothes. Their course along the
for few feet can be plainly traced
God stains on the timberS then the
is lost, as the fellows evidently en-
asmall boat at that point and pull
it into the bay.
pit Nichols, the commander of the
)ner Merry, went to his vessel at 3
ok in the morning and was horror
Ken at finding what he supposed to
dead body of a man, literally coy-
with blood, lying at the foot of the
stairs. He recognized Williams,
lay perfectly ly insensible on the floor
pool Of blood, with no clothing on
person except a thin underShirt,
b was pierced with knife-holes and
red with blood-clots. Williams was
rible looking object, and the sight
m in that condition made a cold