The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-09-24

ohem on we are dead men. They take
no prisoners. Hook to see eevery man
90 his duty" ~
we gave him cheer and began our
preparations. The cook was ordered
to till his coppers full of water and
start rousing j,and the arms were
brought up and served out. There were
three or fourmen who had served at a
heavy gup and these took charge OF the
cannon and the piece was loaded with
She: When the Captain called for
solNe 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 We're within mile, we were as
ready as we could be.
The bark was lying with her head
TO the east, and the fellows were APP
| preaching us from the north, on our
broadside. The mate kept his glass
gong and announced that both craft
We're crowded with men, but that he
could seeno cannon. They made slow
progress, and we were impatient
to open the fight By and by,
when they might have been three
quarters OF mile away, the Cap
tain passed word for the gunners to
SEND SEND thema shot. In few seconds the
blg gun roared, and we all saw that
the shell flew over the pirates and
nurst IN the air. 1t was q good line
shot and something to encourage, but
| before the cannon sent another shot
the American had a try with one OF
the tltles. The mate was watching his
shot from the rigging, and the report
had scarcely died away before he
shouted:
Good for the Yankee! He hit at
| least couple OF them.''
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 We're doing bravely and were full
ofenthusiasm, but the struggle was
yet to come. The fellows bent their
energies to creeping closer, and pretty
soon they opened onus with muskety,
and the balls began to sing through
the rigging in lively manner. We
had our muskets ready, but the Cap.
tain ordered us to hold our fire and
keep sheltered behind the rail.
One OF the piratica craft was
quarter OF q mile in advance of the
other and the third shell from the can
non burst aboard OF her and must
have killed and wounded a dozen or
more men. There was great confusion
on board, and she remained station
ary until the other craft came up.
During this interval the American got
IN two more shots; which found vic
tins.
We now looked upon the victory as
assured, and there was cheering from
oneend OF the ship to the other. We
were little ahead of time. The third
shot from our big gun burst it, and
although none OF the men was hurt,
we were thus deprived OF q great ad-
vantage.
As soon as the Captain knew what
had happened. he called upon all the
crew to shelter themselves and wait
to ire at close quarters. One man
was detailed to assist the cook with
the hot water, and powder and bull
lets We're placed handy for reloading
the muskets. l was stationed near
the gun carriage, and | noticed several
shells lying about under foot. The
American kept firing away with the
rifles, knocking over pirate at
every shot, and pretty soon the two
crafts We're near enough forus to open
fire with the muskets. l presume
We wasted a good many shots, fol.
We were green hands and greatly ex-
cited, but | am likewise certain
that we also did great execution. We
had a plunglng fire down upon q mass
of hall naked fellows, and we must
have weeded out a full third of them
There was no air stirring, and the
smoke soon grew about us. BY and
by the shouts and yells OF the pirates
sounded close at hand, and their craft
were laid alongside. We now flung
down the muskets and used the re-
volvers and pixies. When the revol,
vers We're empty weused capstan bars,
clubbed muskets, or whatever would
serve to strike blow. One dhow lay
on our quarter and the other on the
bow, and the fellows tried to carry us
by boarding.
| can't describe the fight to you, fur
ther than to say that there was shoot
ing, CLUBBING and stabbins all along our
port rail. We beat them off the rail
again and again, and twice | Drained
pirates who reached the deck over the
blades OF pixies. By and by l heard
some one sing out that the fellows had
boarded us forward. l did not see
how we could spare man from the
quarter, for two had gone down and
the rest OF us were hard pressed.
All OF Il sudden | thought of the
shells lying at my feet There we're
half a dozen burning wads on our decks
from the jingals of the pirates, and
with one of these lighted the fuse to
a three-second shell and gave the ball
toss for the dhow. 1t fell right into
the thickest of her crew, and it was a
settler. Our rail was clear in half q
minute, and then picked up another
shell and burning wad and ran for.
ward. A dozen natives had gained
the bow and were pushing our men
back. lighted the fuse, and gave the
shell roll along the deck into
the crowd, and l give you my
word that not one of them
was left alive after the explosion. One
Of our men on the quarter threw
third shell, and brought the fourth
one and threw it from the bow.
The fight had ended. A bit OF wind
blew the smoke away. and we looked
down upon a terrible sight. The
boats seemed full of dead and wound
ed; the living having sought shelter
under the half decks. Why, there
were bodies without heads, heads
without bodies, and arms and legs
and pieces af bloody meat enough to
make the bravest turn pale. As we
cut their lashines t',ey drifted off, and
the American with his big rifles, and
two or three of the men with muskets
kept up a fire on everything that
moved