Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1881-05-12

ana studding sails. About the ml0dle
of the forenoon We saw a long quiaC
built boat or vessel, come out from one
Of the coves OF the island. leyeled
my glass upon the craft, and found il
TO be full of men. There were seven,
ty-five at least
Captain, what is she ? asked Saw.
age, approaching the spot where
stood.
Il think there is not much danger in
setting her down for a pirate | re,
piled. i have heard that there was 8
nest of pirates on the Bourbon Island
and think we are likely to find il
true
Pirates |! uttered Savage. turning
pale. They will be likely to be ugly
customers, won't they +?
OF course they will. They certain
ly outnumber us three to one, and are
in all probability, all of them stout,
reckless fellows.
But you don't think they will fol-
low the rule of putting all their pris-
oners to death, do you 2
you can judge of that as well as |
can, was my reply and then ! re-
turned to the men.
could see that Savage was much
frightened; and, In fact, nearly all
were startled by the appearance of the
suspicious boat. The presence of a pi-
rate is not pleasant theme for any
one, and more especially these land
pirates, for they generally make 1t a
practice to put their prisoners to death,
so that their haunts may not be eX.
posed.
We had no carriage gun, but there
were cutlasses and pistols enough on
board for the crew, and | lost no time
in arming my men. All told we mus
tered forty one men. The ships crew,
including myself, made twenty mine,
and there were twelve of the pasSen-
gers, though | knew not whether to
count upon Walter Legraad or not.
However, he could fire a pistol, land
that was something.
By the time l had made these ar
rangements, the quiac was within two
cables length of us; and we could see
that there were nearly eighty men on
board of her-not so great odds as we
had at first supposed, but still two to
one against us. We could see, too,
that they were all of them powerful
looking fellows, and of all shades and
complexions-some of them white,
some red, some brown and some black.
[ arranged the men close to the bull
wark with what muskets we could
muster, and then turned to see If Le-
grand was upon deck. He stood by
the cabin companion way with a sword
in his hand and with two superbly
mounted pistols stuck in his belt. The
sword had not seen before, and Of
course | judged that it must be his
own. 1t was broad and heavy, of the
most exquisite polish, and mounted in
a hilt of gold and precious stones. I
was for the moment chained to the
scene The youth looked most strange.
ly. His face was yet pale and calm,
but its expression was changed. The
fire of his eyes was deep and intense,
and the usual sedate, melancholy ex-
preston had given place to sort of
exaltant, smiling satisfaction. l did
not speak to him; saw that he stood
over the place where his mother had
found refuge.
By this time the quiac was nearly
along side. | waited until the mo-
ment for pistol shooting came, and
then gave the order to fire. There
was long, wild yell from the boat,
and on the next moment she struck
our side, and the pirates began to
Chamber up our rigging. Our shot had
not done much execution, for nearly
all who had sat in the quiac leaped for
the ship. We beat them back as we
could, but they began to gain upon US,
and at length my men gave way. 7
urged them all 1 could, but the bloody
pirates came on in such wild fury that
to stay them seemed impossible
Savage fell back to the poop, and
his companions followed him. The
pirates struck down three Of my men,
and the rest fell back to the opposite
side of the deck. BY a hasty count l
made out that there were about seven.
ty of the enemy, and we had thirty
eight left. For few moments there
was mutual suspension of hostilities.
The pirates had all gained the deck
all that were alive, and their chieftain
stepped out in front of them. He was
a Spaniard, but spoke English well.
De you surrender your ship P he
asked,
'Of course we surrender, spoke Saw
age, seeing that | hesitated. I'VE may
receive quarter if we surrender quiet
ly.'
'Never p spoke calm, clear voice,
and on turning we beheld Walter Le-
grand. Meier p he repeated, while
his dark eye flashed proudly. Are
a0e Englishmen p
I saw that these words produced a
wonderful effect upon my crew, and
so they did upon the other passengers,
and | must confess that they went to
my heart with nerving power. Only
Captain Savage seemed to dislike them.
Upon him they seemed to grate
harshly.