The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1866-1891, 1879-05-22

thoroughly 1rlPnleuell, ulu stS All w ing,
not bad sailor himself, told them.
Manson put the helm hard down. and in
moment we had come about, the sails
were drawing, and we were well to wind
ward, and under full headway: gave
my revolver to All Wing, with directions
rs to what he was to do; and no "Cau-
casian could have obeyed more prompt
ly and intelligently. We dragged the
lowdah aft, and pinioned hands and feet,
in anticipation of his coming to himself.
Manson had the helm, and l asked him
to give it to one Of the crew. Ah Wing
was then told (and to this day, re-
member how curiollsly the pidgeon Eng
lish contrasted with the grim nature of
the communication to make it clear to
the helmsman, that if the boat went one
inch to leeward Of her course, and to the
two sailors that if they moved, except
under orders, from the positions in which
they were placed-covered by the revol-
ver-they were dead men.
"You sabe due?n (you perfectly under
stand) I asked All Wing.
He was one of the few Cinnamon who
have what the plainsmen happily call
sand, or dogged grit, and l saw it in his
| eve as he cooked the revolver and replied |:
.Alla lightee Gall right! Mi can do"
AT your leisure" said cool voice,
"perhaps you will tell me what this is
all about" and Manson lighted fresh
cheroot. I explained to him that we
had barely escaped destruction by treach-
cry, and were even then in dire strait.
We could not expect to sail as fast rs the
pirates, and our only hope was in their
being so far to leeward, and in range of
our rifles. was perfectly sure of my
man, and there was positively none in
my whole acquaintance whom / would
so readily have with me rs my old friend,
the blaSe, indifferent, dilettante Manson.
He shook me by the hand, and said in n
CHEEKY voice, wholly unlike his ordinary
one:
"All right, old fellow, We'll beat
them"
A more impetuous though equally
brave man would have been far less eff
cicnt. Indeed, nothing could have been
finer than his behavior. The rifles, six
in number, were brought up and laid side
by side on the top of the cabin. All How
told me that he "sabe loadee that gun" :"
and to my great surprise, our old fat
cook ("Buddha," we used to call him,
rs his countenance expressed the idea OF
eternal silence and resD volunteered his
services in this line as well. Then we
settled down to our work, no old Paladln
or Viking ever more collected and delib-
crate, and at the same time showing more
of the ga,tCliunl certanatntS than our old
uscd-up, bored member of the class of
1856. Could we keep those junks out of
iingal range until we reached place Of
safety? They had high sterns, and the
steersman could be plainly seen. Man
son took his Kentucky rifle, knelt down
away aft and aimed slowly and careful
ly. Almost simultaneously succeeded
in drawing O. bead" on q large man in
the bow of the junk nearer to us. Just
us the rifles cracked she fell off visibly
and lost way before the dead steersman
could be replaced, nor was the large man
again visible.
u am afraid can't do as well with
the elephant rifle" said Manson, " but |
can try Let US both fire continually at
the s4eersmen." We did so, with vary
ing success. All How and the cook
loaded rapidly and well, but the rifles
were soon somewhat heated, and the
breech-loaders missed fire several times.
The junks were heavily manned and
could quickly fill the places of those
whom we shot. They also arranged
some kind of protection for the helms
men, although we pierced it more, than
once. began to feel terribly wolfish,
and so filled with rage at our antago-
nists that I could only with difficulty
control myself sufficiently to aim delib-
erately; but my friend never showed
signs of an acceleration of his pulse. AS
regular as clock-work he took the gun
from the Cinnamon, and never fired n
second befo&S his aim was perfect.
We rested a short time at last to take q
survey of the situation, and could not
disguise from ourselves that it was ser
ious. The junks were nearer, and we
were still quite long way from Paou-
shan. There was nothing for it but to
90 to work again, and we did. Fer ten
minutes or more we kept up an inces-
SAINT fire, and, although we evidently
did much damage, the distance between
us and them had been perceptibly les
sened. We must soon expect to hear
the report of jingals. 1t came in a
moment more, and the clumsy ball fell
but little short Oft Manson turned to
me, still CHEEKY and cool.
Il believe there is n foreigner there"
said he, "who is directing and inspiring
them. He has escaped us thus far. If
l can get sight of him and can hit him,
I believe we shall get rid Of this junk.
Since you picked off that last stecrSman
of the hindmost one, she has fallen off
decidedly. Well, that is not so bad"
he continued, as a jingal ball struck the
mast. lie asked All How to let linn
load the Kentucky rife hinself, and
measured out the powder, wrapped the
ball in scrap Of buckskin and rammed
it carefully home. Then he knelt down
and watched his chance. All this time
All Wing had kept his eyes and the re-
volver on the steersman, and our boat
had done her best. The jingal balls
were getting uncomfortably frequent,
and it was only q small satisfaction to
me to have sent an Enfield bullet
through the head Of one gunner, just rs
he was getting his sight. All at once |
heard the report of Manson's rifle and
the quiet remark from him:
"Habetm
I saw the junk fall off, saw manifest
confusion on board, saw an opening for
two or three good shots, and had seized
fresh gun, when I heard All How
cry:
Master, hab got steamer, welly
near"
Hardly one Of us had glanced ahead
for half an hour. AS for the steersman
and the crew, they had clearly but one
thought, and that was-to save their
heads. 1t was with strange feeling of
,.ol; of opd satisfaction that I saw III nj .
gunboat Petulant putting along toward
and l saw my friend Lieutenant Gra-
hams jolly face over her rail.
"What the deuce is the row, old fel-
low?" he asked in perplexed way. |
explained as briefly as possible, and told