The New Bloomfield, Pa. times. (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1877-188?, 1881-05-31


morning within two miles Of each other
Soon after sunrise boat was seen APP
proaching the Bohemid, and Captain
Deroll, though flushed and tremulous
from excitement, restrained himself
and kept civil tongue, until he was
alongside the bark.
Gorham handed him the man.ropes,
and received him with proper courtesy
as he came In on decks. He glared furl-
ously about him, but seemed struck
dumb, for moment, with astonishment
at seeing naught but strange faces.
Where's all my crew." he thunder
ed at last And who are you that pre-
tends to be in charge Of my ship? DO
you know who / am 7 My name is
Deroll, and / am master of this bark
the bohemia. You understand, sir?
take charge OF her now, from this mo-
ment"
The usurper did not seem at all over
whelmed with awe at this, as the speak
er had seemed to expect he would. He
felt that possession was nine points in
the law, and had no idea of loosening
his grip upon the handsome pile of sal
vage-money quietly.
Not so FAST" he said quietly. ''You
say that you are Captain Alfred Deroll,
master of this ship. Any man might
come on board and make the same
claim however 1 am quite willing to
take your word that you are Captain
haf
ly, the commander of this vessel but
you are not so now, sir. The bohemia
is, in certain way prize to the pack
et-ship EndeaUor of New York, of
which am first officer, and 1 am here
as prize-master, taking my instructions
only from Captain Randall of that
ship"
But where's all my menY And my
mate and second mate? And where
are you bound with the ship? And
what's to become of me with my voy-
age all broken up ?' he demanded, fol-
lowing one question up with another in
great excitement.
MY dear sir" said Gorham, "I
know no more about your officers and
crew than you know yourself, for L
know not yet how you left the ship, or
how you came to be in the Draco. AS
to where am bound, as soon as there
is breeze 1 shall go on my way toward
New York, where / am ordered. L am
truly sorry that your voyage is broken
up, but you are sailor, and know that
such things belong to the fortunes of
the sea. L shall be happy to offer you a
passage home in the ship; as to your
personal traps, they are all safe, and at
your disposal"
But it was very hard to persuade the
unfortunate captain to talk or act ration
ally on any subject. He insisted that
he had right to take charge of his own
ship wherever he found her; declared
his intention to call for help from his
friend Captain Nickerson of the DrdcO,
to take her by force, if necessary; vow
ed that the bark should not go home,
for he could take her back to Fayal, and
ship more men. if he could not find his
own, and, in short, he conducted him
self like one demented by his troubles.
His boatsteerer, the same who had
given the name of the brig the day be-
fore, now beckoned him aside, and SEEM
ed to be demonstrating with him to
bring him to reason. A third man was
called into conference, and appeared to
take sides with the boatsteerer. But the
captain was quite unable to see how
anybody could depose him from the
command of his own ship, and seemed
not only angry now, but hurt in his
feelings at the idea of his own men de-
serting his cause, and yielding his YES
sci and cargo to a gang OF usurpers
without struggle for her. Indeed,
could he have mustered a few men, he
would surely have made an attempt to
re-take the Bohemia by force; but Barna
Gorham and his four ship-mates were
| prepared to meet any such movement,
and would have proved themselves
worthy foemen even against great
odds.
But another boat was seen approach
ing; and soon Captain Nickerson, of
the Drdco, answered GOrham's hail,
giving his name and, as the boat shot
alongside, obeyed the request to leave
his crew in the boat until some friendly
understanding could be arrived at. AS
soon as he stepped on board himself,
and offered his hand, Gorham was sat
isfied that he had a cOmmon-sense man
to deal with. A few words were suffi-
cient to make him comprehend the