The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-03-08
THE M%UTINEERs' SHIP.

l ndu EOilllllu "a III JAZZ LFN-F
good ship. md ono which had pr mud
money into tho hands OF her owl:crs. Sh'
had been built for the India TRACE ant.
with the exception Of ono voyage toSmyrna
She stuck to the purpose for whictr she had
been put together. On the occasion OF tn,
present adventure l was bound for India,
with an assorted and valuable cargo. l had
n few passengers, among whom were three
officers going cut to join their Regiments
after a long furlough in England.
We had doubled the southern capes o;
Africa, and were working well into the
Indian Ocean. when n lookout in the forc.
top reported a sail directly ahead, in tho
line of our course.
some homeward bouud fndimnal
probably" remarked Mr. Lee, my mate.
The wind was now n little south OF cas-.
so hat we stood upon our course northeast
with freedom. The coming ship had been
heading directly towards us. but W -
came nearer she seemed inclined 20 Leg
away to the westward.
Is it an English ship" isl cd one of
my p~assengers-a gray-hairoi old man
1 told him ] thought L WIS. J4,s - !
answered, my second mate car.e down :fOu
the foretop, where he la! Teen 'Hib u glAss
| observed that his face wo:c a t~.cIy:-s
look, and that he was i~ClNiCu. t. speak ard
his glance at the aged passsLSa. gave "a
10 understand that he cared not 70 speak IA
his presence. took the hint, AID wa!ke4
forward. At the gangway NJ. Reject the
mate in question, stopped NE.
what is il " / asked.
Captain" he replied, trembling. "tis
ship ahead Of us is the 'Dorattl' There.
not another ship from England with s
with their flowing drapery. are not to be
mistaken"
Are you sure the ship in tho di-t.ncS
has that igure-head 2"
Yes, sir you'll be able 10 sec IL fr.u
here pretty soon"
But" said /, " the Dorset las net
yet had time to reach Sydney. let alone
getting back as far as this"
OF course she hasn't" Acknowledged
Beckett; "but, - he added, casting a quick
.lance around, didn't You ever hear a.
ships being turned from their true courF,
without the orders of their proper comma
iorsY"
"Ah!" l uttered thus much, and then
bowed my head beneath the stroke of IN!
mates intimation.
You remember what sort of a cary,
lie Dorset took out =" Beckett suggested.
1 remembered very well; for | had met
her captain on the very day before he sailed
and dInod with him. lie was one Of my
oldest and best frionds-Harry Bumstead
his name was, and as good n sailor as ever
trod the deck. The facts, us l knew them.
wero these The Dorset" had sailed
two weeks before | did, taking ont twenty
three conyicts, who had bccn sentenced TO
transportation. These, of course, he was
10 drop ut Sydney. or Port Jackson ami
Is ho had part of n cargo for that place. he
vas TO make that his first port. So | knew
that tho dorset " had no business 10 he
running out from the Indian Ocean nt this
timc.
What do you think about il :" asked
.]!ccsct. who Ind been watching me mar.
rowly.
] asked him to let me take the glass. and
with il | went upon tho horse block, and
-et the focus. The coming ship wns now
so near that her hull Yves up, with hei
h~gure-head entirely upon the waite line /
turned tho glass in that direction, and n
moments scrutiny told me that my mate
~as right. There could be no mistakins
:!ls three graceful ]intortwincd figures TIM.
adorned the head Of tho Dorset" cut
watuf. They we've beautiful in appear
nnCc.
Mr.. Beckett ! said, stepping back tc
his side, that IL the Dorset and no mis-
take."
SO 1 am sure. And what do you max,
of her present course ="
- What do you mako of it / asked.
not for want OF information, but from q
shrinking from being the first TO give worI,
20 n terrible truth.
lie answered promptly, 81 think thu
c~onvicts have taken the ship!
so do II" And having thus spoken. !
walked aft to where my first mate stood T.,
The wheel, and taking him inside told lin,
my fears. lie leaped upon the rail au'
gnzed Off upon our neighbor, and was soou.
by my side again and greatly ngitatcd,
1t is certainly "a you say, captain
What shall we do 7"
Ayc-what could We do? The shin
was how within half q mile of us and MI
questions rs to her identity was ut an end.
We knew her to be the Dorset" and it
was equally evident That the convict9 hal
by some means gained possession.
She has not only corvicts," said Ice.
but there were men among her crew moi
fit to be trusted. Ono or two of them, Il,
least, l knew for rs precious scRmps as
ever went %unhung."
This made the matter still worse. OF
ny whole available force 1 could muster
but thirty men, counting the three nhll
bodied passengers. l had set five OF III,
crew on shore Mt st. Helena, i'll with foyer.
and had been unable Mt the time to make
their places good. On board the Dorset.
in all probability, there would be the thrc,
and twenty convictS, and very likely q part
Of the crew. From Mr.. Lees representa-
ton. il would be safe to conclude that =
majority Of her crew might be found in
iuutiny. What should we dog To allow
the ship to pass on under such circum
stances seemed hardly tho thing for an Eng.
;ish officer, and to openly eDgago such u
force would be sheer madness. ] asked my
officers what they thought, and they could
only answer that I must think, and they
would stand by me. And the three military
officers said the same.
During this time the skip in question had
been nearing us, VIC having steered SO MS to
speak to her, and when she was neal
enough under our leo bow. J hailed her:
Ship ahoyl"
Halo =" was the answcr.
What ship is that ?"
The Ocean Star"
Where are you bound: -
10 America"
DO you belong thcreE'
AYE, aye!"
At this point she had ranged ahead far
enough so that l could sec that she hud the
American ensign at her peak which hai
been before hidden by her canvas. There
were from thirty 10 forty men leaning over
her rail, and | knew That we could not opcn
Y overcome them. / cannot tell how !
felt Mt that moment but ] know, had j
been near enough, l would have boarded
ler nj NIL lazarlS What had herorne pf