The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1879-02-20

beneath the awning on the msin deck
would have quickly avenged their leaders
fall. : ~
Drawing the curtains aside, the girl
was revealed to his eager gaze. She vas
standing in the centre OF the small .nart.
ment, pale and motionless as a ststne
Watching the doors against which she
had piled all the movable furniture of the
cabin. Every moment the doors threaten.
ed to give way, while the enraged cries
of the half-drunken wretch echoed
through the room not unlike the subdued
growing of a tiger.
Softly Ralph called to the girl; her
name in the excitement of the moment
he had lost. His handsome honest face
caught her startled eyes as she turned to.
ward the stern ports. A few words
sut1iced to reveal his rank aud object.
Another moment and she was in his arms.
1t was none too soon. The doors gave
Eay with crash; the Spaniard, raging
like wild man, reeled into the apart
ment, only to find his prize SLIPPED
through his fingers. A yell of baffled
rage and alarm was waited to Ralph's ears
as the old canoe tloated quietly down the
stream safe from the eyes of a thousand
men in all that gloom.
"Who goes there2 Answer, or your life
shall pay the penalty!" a stern voice
whispered in Ralph's ear, as a dozen
hands caught the gunwhale OF his canoe.
"All right, Weathersby: it is I, end
here is the girl. Miss-what the deuce
is her name2 Any way, have got her;
she has tainted, SO lay her in the stern
sheets-so. Now I am with you and
the Esmeralda is ours"
It was the launch coming up the river.
The two hours had elapsed, and Wealth
ersby WIS not the man to lose a moment
of valuable time. Although burning
with impotence to hear the details of his
friends adventure, there was no time
then to satisfy his curiosity.
The guns Of the Esmeralda had been
loaded and run out in anticipation of an al
tack, but the man f-war's men had not
been expected so soon. With cheer the
launch ran alongside; the blue jackets,
closely followed by the marines, swarmed
over the low rail; the slaves started to
their feet only to meet the fate they 50
richly merlted, and in less than five min
utes the beautiful but guilty vessel had
chaHged hands.
In the meanwhile how had it Jared with
Captain Jules Gaspardo2 At the first
note Of alarm, he had seized cutlass
with the intention of heading
his men, but the surprise had
been SO complete he saw at once that all
was lost. He then turned his attention
to his own safety. Darling up the
wharf, he leaped into the mango swamp,
closely followed, however, by Ralph. Jack
Weather>by, and a few of the seamen who
had been on the lockout for him.
Some burning brands were caught up
from a tire the negroes had been using,
and holding them on high, the pursr :,
party rapidly followed on the trail Of re
Spaniard, who was leaping from root to
root, which formed network beneath
his feet half submerged by the water o
the swamp. The fugitive had hoped to
escape in the dark reccsses Of the jungle,
but that hope was gone now. All he
could rely upon was to outstrip his foes.
Shot after shot whistled about linn as
he kept fearlessiy on. The fellow seemed
to bear charmed life, while his sneering
laugh rang continuously in their ears.
1t was astonishing what speed the MAJ,
made as he sprang from one yielding
beugh to another, and Ralph, thoroughly
exhausted, was on the point Of giving IN
the chase, TO- he time at least, when ack
with convu eve grip Of his arm, sue.
denly halted, at the same time cxclalming
in an awe-srruck whisper:
'For Gods sake, Ralph, halt! Look
there!'
Entwined amid the profuse foliage Of
q large mango tree, the shining scales and
slimpy folds Of an immense serpent wert
revealed IN the rudy blaze of the torches
1t was huge boa-constrictor, who
alarmed at the noise and light, had raise {
his head from the coil and the eyes fan,
ing with fires of hell, the jaws thrown
open to their widest extent, stood revealed
in all their frightful terror.
The Spaniard, his eyes fastened upor
the hideous spectacle, stood as if fasci
mated, his body thrown back, and hands
extended as if to ward IF the danger
Arms he had none; the cutlass had Ions
since been thrown aside in his race fol
liberty.
A shar> hiss rang through the swan,
as the threatening head of the reptile wa
thrown back, the folds appeared t.
wrlthe for moment, there was fash o
the gl;ttering scales, yell of mortal ter
ror and distress as the Spaniard Wa
caught in that fatal embrace.
Faint with terror ana disgust, Ralpl
gave the order to retreat out Of the infer
nal lurking place Of the serpent, which
order was gladly obeyed by all. The,
could have coolly drove their cutlasse
through and through the Spaniari's bod,
without compunction of conscience, bu
such an awful death as he had met wa
too much for their nerves.
With early day the Esmeralda was go
under way, and before many hours wa
lying under the guns of the corvette.
Ralph had carried out the command
er>s instructions to the letter. Not
prisoner had he taken. But the girl
Miss Wlnne-how had she Jared while il
, the pirates power2
Under the skilltul care of the surgeon
she in time recovered portion Of he
former life and spirits, and with shudde
related her tale OF suffering. Thanks t.
the corvette's vigilance and energetic &C
ton, she had escaped from the Spaniard
who had been given little or no leisure t.
devote to Ills hapless captive. Ferociou
threats had escaped him, his temper ris
ing to pitch Of madness when the part
ing shot of the Fire Fly killed the maj
at the wheel, splintered the main boon,
and severely wounded himself in the hcat
: with the flying debris of the spar.
But it was all over now: the girl coult
only thank her protectors, for she had II,
one left in the world upon whom she hat
claim.
Ralph eagerly offered her home will
his own proud relatives, and before tn
Fir-Fly reached Goree the offer had beer
accepted.
A vessel bound for the United State
conveyed Miss Ashton to her new home
and at the end of three years Ralph re
turned from his cruise broken in health