Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-05-22

rush back TO my heart and congeal
there; but l mastered my excitement
and concealed it rs bestI might.
What can we do?' said i, in . low
voice.
".Not much. I fear returned he
calmly. 'Wo have two guns, carron-
AIDES, but a very small supply of shot
and powder, and if it came to fighting
IN that way, he could lie of and sink
us at his leisure. But he won't do
that; that is not his business-he must
take first, and sink afteward; and if it
comes to boarding-God help us!-say
nothing about it down below to the
ladies' he added. They will know it,,
II 1T is true, far too soon as it is; but
you might give q hint to your brother
with a heavy heart, | made my
way to the hatchway to whisper dis
may and terror to my friends below.
What a terrible breakfast that was!
10 SIT with the CHASTITY secret weigh
ing down my heart like lead, and hear
the gay chatter of the ladies as
they anticipated - speedy arrival,
laid out their plans for the future, and
rallied me and the other men on our
want OF spirits. We tried after break!
fast, by various excuses, to keep them
down below; but they laughed us aside,
n gaily scrambled up the hatchway
to renew their acquaintance with the
stranger, full of eager hope that she
might be within speaking distance. How
they laughed to see her roll till her
copper showed bright and radiant half
way to her keel; how they piled the
skipper with questions about her; ven
tured to imagine that she might have
friends of theirs on board, and finally
waved handkerchiefs to her in their
gu.lelcssness!
eat last the Captain made some ex-
cuse for requesting the ladies to retire
below, and having succeeded in his OBJ
lect. took us all into his counsel and
laid the matter before us.
eff, as l have every reason TO fear.
gentlemen said he. the craft astern
of us is a pirate, we must face the fact
and try and make some plan of escape.
At present, I believe we are safe from
him as long as this calm and this ire
mendous ground-swell last. He can
not come any nearer, there being no
wind; he a not hoist out his boats
and tow up to lis in so heavy a roll. MY
idea is, that he will wait for the roll to
go down and the breeze to spring up,
and then take us at his ease, knowing
that we a not escape now. But
there are n or two things in our IA
vor;; he can not have been waiting for
as, for our cargo would be worthless
to him. He has'probably fallen across
us by accident, and he will wan to
know what we are before he attacks
us. Vessels of his trade have OCCASION
ally caught a tartar. and they learn to
be wary. If he thinks we are worth
taking, he will not, as he might, stand
off and play at long-bowls. because that
would result in the probable sinking Of
the ship and loss of her cargo On
the other hand. he will be very wary of
boarding, should he anticipate ! de-
term;ned resistance from a large num-
Der of armed men; and in that case, the
best thing we can do, as it seems to
me, is to let him believe that we have
troops on board, and that any attempt
on his part to board will meet with 4
warm reception. What do goa think,
gentlemenp
THE Captain was undoubtedly cor
rect in his reasoning. and his opinion
was at once acted upon. All of us
who held a commission in the army
put on IL uniforms and appeared in
them on the upper deck; while some of
the hands forward were rugged up in
ess-jackets, ETC., supplied by the Of
ficers for the purpose, and were in
structed to show themselves at inter-
walls on the f%orecastle. multiplying
themselves as much as possible; while
a soldier-servant of the Majors was
ordered to do sentry-go with a musket
aft. Moreover, our two t~wenty-four
FOUNDER carronades were loaded each
with a round shot and a large bag of
musket-bullets; muskets-for we had a
few-were served out to the men, with
a cutlass apiece; and we who had
swords and sporting-guns and pistols
made them ready for use.
"But all this preparing of arms and
%unpacking Of uniforms could not be
done without the knowledge of the Ia
dies Of our party; and the apprehen-
sions of the Majors wife were first
aroused, and gradually spread in ter
rified whispers to the whole of the
party, until at last it was necessary
to take them partially into our con
tidence and let them know that there
was danger.
Gas night fell we fancied that the
swell was somewhat less in bulk, but it
might be only fancy; anyhow, the Cap
tain would not hear of us all keeping
watch all night, which was what we
youngsters especially proposed to do.
No, gentlemen, said he. go and turn
in, and get what rest you can while
you have the chance
81 went below, and turned in at his
bidding, and, wearied with excitement
and watching. 1 fell asleep, a troubled.
unsatisfactory sleep, it is true; but not
the less sleep; and from this troubled
rest 1 was aroused by hearing my name
whispered and feeling a gentle touch
upon my arm. 1 started up, and saw
by the dim light of a lantern the figure
Of our old quartermaster. Beg par
don, SIR said he. but the Captain
sent me down to say the brigantine is
on the move, and he'd like You to
know.'
Il jumped up, seized my arms, and
hurried on deck. 1t was about two in
the morning; the swell had gone down
considerable thOuph still yerv great.