The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1886-08-26

took5on shell and grape Tor our cannon.
Q dozen reYolYers were purchased for
the crew.; and on tile very day we left
the Captain brought aboard two y1erV
heavy rifles which he had picked ID
g somewhere at q bargain. 1 call them
;;r ! but they were young cannon.
carrying al IN g three ounce bal, with pow
der enough behind it to kick the m ,arks-
man half way across the ship.
LETT Singapore as we'll prepared rs i /
merchant q vessel could be, and it seems
5 u u the Captain was advised to bear
well veil up: to Borneo, and give the Red
Islands, llsla3f q wide berth. We crossed the
equator at least a hundred miles TO the
east Of the islands, as overheard the
captain say, and then altered our
course to the southeast, calculating to
pass to the east Of Billion Island before
hauling away from Sunda Strait.
$.E The bark made good weather of ii,
and we had crossed the equator and run
down on the new counS antil Billion
might have been sighted from the .
masthead, when there came /, calm,
The wind had died away about mid
forenoon, and the driftof the bark was
to the north. We looked for a change
Of sunset, but nothing came, and5the
night passed without wind enough to
move n a: feather. My watch was below,
when daylight came. and we got the
word to turn up lively. To the north
east, off the coast of Borneo, two or
three green islands were in sight, and
between US and tho islands were two
native craft bearing down upon us.
These craft were about the size of
pilot boats. half tdecked over, and
rugged like a catboat. They. had been
sighted when six or eight miles away,
and as my watch came on deck the
mate descended from the perch aloft,
where he had been using the glass, and
reported to the Captain that the craft
were approaching US BY the use Of
sweeps. The calm still held, but it
was clear enough to a sailors eye that
we should have a breeze as soon as the
sun began to climb UP. No man asked
himself the errand of these boats max
ing out for the Huntress. At that time
and locality there could be but one an
aswer. The captain presently called us
aft and said: .l
Men, the craft which you see pull.
ing out for us are pirates. We shall
have a breeze within an hour, but they
will be here first. If we can not beat
them off we are dead men. They take
no prisoners. i look to see every man
do his duty. = Y, s E y
F We gave him q cheer and began our
preparations. The cook was ordered to
fill his coppers full of water and start
a rousing fire, and the arms were
brought up and served out. There were
three or four men who had served at q
heavy gun, and these took charge of
the cannon, and the piece was loaded
with a shell. When the captain called
for some one to use the rifles, the only
man who answered was an American.
He took them aft, loaded them with his
own hands, and by the time the pirates
were within q mile we were as ready as
we could be. The bark was lying with
her head to the east, and the fellows
were approaching us from the north on
our broadside. The mate kept his glass
going and announced that both craft
were crowded with men, but he could
see no canno They made slow pro-
gress, and We were impatient to open
the fight. By and by, when they might
have been three quarters Of q mile
away, the captain passed word for the
gnnners to send them shot. In a few
seconds the big gun roared. and we all
saw that the shell flew over the pirates
and burst in The air. 1t was a good line
shot and something to encourage, but
before the cannon sent another shot
the American had to try with one of
the rifles. The mate was watching his
shot from the rigging, and the report
had scarcely died away before he
shouted: q ~ y; nj .5};5 I Z:
Good for the Yankee! He hit at
least a couple Of them. = t'5S5 B.
The second shell from the cannon
burst over one Of the boats and took
effect on some of the men, as reported
by the mate. The American then fired
again, and again his bullet told. We
were doing bravely and were full of en-
thusiasm. but the struggle was yet to
come. u Tie fellows bent their. energies
to creeping closer, and pretty soon
they opened on us with musketry, and
the balls began to ring through the
rigging in a lively manner. We had
our musk ets read VI but the Captain or
dered us to. hold our fire and keep
sheltered behind the rail. One of the
piratical craft was q quarter Of mile
| in advance Of the other. aud the third
she'll from the cannon bursts aboard of
her and must have killed and wounded
"a dozen or more men. There was
l3great confusion aboard, and she re-
manned stationary until the other craft
came up. During this interval the
American gotiin two more shots which
found victims. We now looked upon
the victory as assured, and there was
cheering from one end of the ship to
the other. We were a little ahead OF
time. The third shot from our big gun
burst il. and although none Of the
men were hurt We were thus deprived
of q great adyantage II! a
As soon as the Captain knew what
Ihad happened lie called upon all the
l$creW to shelter themselves and wait to
lire at close quarters One man was
detailed to assist the cook with the hot
water, anu powder and bullets were
placed handy for reloading the muskets.
l8IsWas stationed near the gun carriage,
and I noticed several shells lying about
under foot The American kept firing
with the rifles, ocking over a pirate
at every shot, and pretty soon the two
$craft were near en- ugh for us to open
fire with the mus kets presume we
wasted good many shots, forswe were
green hands and greatly excited, but !
am likewise certain thatswe also did
great execution. We had a plunging
III fra flOyvi 1lnOn a. m go q IF h al FIN afl