Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-05-07

I suppose. TO keep rs in state of panic
and anxiety.
Again the day dawned. again the
blaze of sunlight streamed over the
waters. What is it that is making
such stir in the swarm on board
the brigantine? Why. are they get
ting out their sweeps again in such
haste? Are they e ing al last to at
tack US? Are they?- But no! their
stern is toward us. They are moving
in the opposite direction! Is help COM
ing to us? Are they moving off in
fear? Our Captain rushed up into
the maintop with his glass, and even
before he had reached that height, the
shout of "A sail!' came from his lips,
and his finger pointed over our lar
board quarter. Eagerly we strained
our eyes in that direction. AID far
away, hull down beneath the horizon,
in the very quarter to which the brigan-
tine was steering. we saw the CLEAN of
white which betokened the presence of
a large vessel under sail.
"A large merchantmen, homeward-
bound. | should say the Captain
shouted from the top. That villain
must have been waiting for her when
he fell in with us. Let us hope she
will get away from him. She seems
to have breeze. at any rate
What relief it was to see that
swarm of miscreants moving off bv
their own exertions! How we fol-
lowed them with our eyes and glasses
as hour after hour their sweeps 70 ;e
and fell upon the now subsiding sur
face of the sea! By-and-by. her sails
seemed to fill, she heeled slightly to
one side; her sweeps were no longer
to be seen-she had breeze.
Shortly after this an exclamation
from our skipper attracted my at.en-
tention. i thought so, he said;
there are two of them" and as we
looked, just clear of the merchantmen
on the other side We saw a suspicious
looking schooner. The brigant ne at
once hoisted signal and fired
gun. as we could zee by the white
smoke; and then the two evidently
converged upon the great merchant
man. She, too. saw them. that was
evident, for she piled up canvas upoa
canvas. TO WOO the too sluggish breeze.
Now the foe were nearing her, and al
d sguise was evidently thrown aside,
for puff after puff of white smoke
darted from their sides. responded
to, we were glad TO see, by puffs at
longer intervals from hers; and family
on the nearing tr'eze caught
The sound of the explosions. But closer
still and closer crept the foe. and every
eye was strained upon the desperate
fight, and all minds intent on that
alone, when All hands make sail!'
shouted the Captain; here is the breeze
right oa top of us" And sure enough.
there it was. coming down crisp and
fresh almost before we were ready 70
it. Quickly our good fellows covered
the good ship with cloui of canvas;
and as she felt the gentle power of the
young breeze and heeled ever to it. and
the bubbles began swiftly to course
astern, terrible load fell from our
hearts. and we felt that we were
saved"
The Colonel paused a moment. his
eve fixed on vacancy, as if he saw HIM
S If once more upon the deck of TIE AL
fred.
"And what became of the merchant
man?' l asked. when silence had Ia tied
for some moments.
Don't ask NEEDN'T ask me.' he
replied, in agitated tones. Poor
souls! murdered-every one of them
and the ship scuttled.'
And was no vengeance eXactcd for
SO terrible crimc?'
Before an hour had passed after our
arrival. th:rty-six gun frlgatc had
sailed on or informal or to capture or
destroy those m SCRABBLE villains here
soever they m ght find them; but YES.
sells such as those NAV 60 where no
great warship can follow them. and
the intricate passages and keys of the
West Indies were better known to such
Outcasts of land and sea than to His
Majest s officers"
And they escapede
within a month from the time of
our encounter. those vessels were
caught IN furious West Indian tor
nadO: were dismaSted. and. after toss
ing about for days at the mercy Of the
storm. were wrecked on one of the
islands, where most of their crew
persisted in the + efforts to
swim through the surf. Their leader
however. and one or two more. man
aged to reach the shore alive. where
natives had come down to render what
help they could; but, being immediate
" recognized, they were seized and
hanged without mercy on the nearest
tree There, madam! that is one of the
experiences of subaltern in the old
lays. and you will agree with me in
tn hiking it by no means a pleasant
Dne."
Il do. indeed" replied 1. '.But did
you ever hear the name of the man
who commanded those two vessels?"
HIS name! Yes, of course. used
TO know his name well enough once:
out my memory is getting weak. What
IN earth now was that scoundrel's
name! Gossett? Castor? Gaspard?-
Yes, that's it! l think his name was
iaspard. as far as can recollect; but
won't be certain. Gaspard. yes; that's
he name, 1 believe. Chambers