Democratic messenger., 1888-10-27

uu uiuUS tue Ctibst VI DcUuthTk, 6Wcien
and Norway, but never trace was had
! have heart cuddred theories about IT,
hut one was rs good rs another. because
none could l'c proved"
In..ihc year is4s my father was carpen.
ter Of an English ship called the Golden
Rule, chartered from Liverpool TO the
Yves; Indies and return She was small
bu, snug ship. carry about twelve men,
and she had two guns mounted on her
decks as u protection against pirates.--
There were plenty of suspicious crafl s
hanging about the Caribbean Sea In
those days. and all mcchant vessels had to
be prepared to defend themselves. One
guns was big fellow presented 10 the
owner Of the ship by club Of gentlemen.
and after il was mounted he was warned
,ha, il would wrsck the ship :io pieces IL
ever discharged.
The Golden Rule male fine run Of il
until almost down to the islands. when
one morning, u, about 0 o'clock. she came
NJ with hrig flying English colors and
a flag Of distress The captain ordered
the ship To lie to. and the mate io pull of
Ia the stranger in the yawl. The distance
betw ecn them was only quarter of u
mile. and the yawl WAS soon alongside
The mate wen, up first, and the two men
soon followed, and in few minutes the
stranger showed signal which read {:
More help, or we sink !" II was beau.
,ifnl day, with light wind and no sea,
and the captain nj once sent of the sec.
ond mate with four men. This made eight
out Of the twelve.
Neither Of the guns were loaded, but
when the second boat LEFT us my father
when at II and loaded both pieces, having
the help Of one Of the sailors. Into the
smaller they crnnmcd anything to an.
swer foI grape and canister, and into
the larger a solid shot. When the crew
of The second boat reached the brig and
went over the rail they were received
with cheer, but In a few minutes both
boats. crammcd full Of men. left the brig
for the ship. Seeing this my father made
bold TO tell the captain that he believed
the stranger u pirate, and that the boats
should be fired upon. Captain Davis
laughed ut the i,lea, ns the glass revealed
the faces of his'own men In the hoats. or
so he thought. II turned out they had
been forced TO yield up jackets and caps.
but not one of them had left the brig. The
boats pulled right alongside, and when 4,
was too late II was discovered that they
were heavily armed. and were no doubt
pirates. They were aboard In a jiify,
meeting no opposition whatever.
], may perhaps be called cowardicc in
my father for slipping into the cabin AZ
the pirates tumblcd aboard lie found q
hiding place under lounge, and he heard
ali that wen; on, The pirates didn't seem
To he such n murlcrous lot. They towed
their brig alongside. broke out such Of the
cargo as suited their fancy. and cleaned
the lockers Of every dollar in cash. They
were full of horse play and rude jcsis. but
NO one was hurt. Abou, noon they were
ready to depart. The wind was now blow
ing from the west. and they M. all the
ships crew into the yawl without food,
water. SAIL or oars. and turned the boat
adrih The idea was 10 get rid Of them
without hlnodshcd. and !; was pretty
sure way. She drove of. bread side on,
and the slightest increase in the size of
The waves must swamp her. II the wealth.
co held iinr, il was death from thirst and
starvation. When the crew had been dis.
posed of the pirates descended in the hold
and ~red several anger holes through her
bottom. They laughed AMI icsicd as if Il
were u good Joke and all were pretty
drunk when the brig was ready 10 depart
My ia,hrr now removed the impntaiion
-: cnwanlicc iN performing u nervy act
lie didn't knew how many holes had been
bored ar how soon ,hc ship would ~
down but though, from the actions OF the
pirates tina, she would not swim another
hall hour lie felt tla, he was a doomed
man, and he wanted revenge. As soon as
he heard the pirates casting off he crcpt
M the companion, and saw ,ha, the big
gun. which was on that side Of tie ship,
had moi been meddlcd with. lie got a
horn oi powder from the arms chest ,crepi
along the deck 10 the cooks house un.
seen, and there found the iron poker In
stove rcd-hoi. ms II one Of the pirates had
meant 10 use II To carry out some design.
The two vessels had locked yards, and the
brig had some trouble in getting clear
When she finally drew away she fell off
astern, hut as she made sail she came mp
again. She was not more than a pistol
shot away. and was just even with the big
gun, when father kicked the port open,
took has,y sipht, and primed and dis.
charged the cannon. lie was knocked
down and temporarily deafencd by the
loud report. and when he reached his feet
again three manglcd bodies were lying
on the deck, together with great rattle
OF splinters, blocks, boards. and stuff. The
sea around was covered with wrcckage,
while the brig was nowhere TO he seen.
What had happened; Well. sir. the
ball from the big cannon had smashed In.
to the briggs powder magazine and blown
her up. II was entirely chance shot, ,bu,
Il went straight tn the mark Not one
single man Of the sixty or more making
up the pirates crew escaped with his life.
As soon rs my father could realize his
good fortune he ran for some good plugs
and mallet, and dropped into the hold
Not more than foot Of water had enter.
ed, and he soon had the holes plugged
Capt. Davis and his men had. Of course
heard the explosion When they saw the