The Forrest City times., 1888-02-25

saw the wreck of ship m the last stages '" dilapdation. It had been great Ness~ q three masts. but hal lain so long expaSoi :, the weather, that 1t was hung about witi great webs of dripping sea-weed, ana on the dock of it shore bushes had taken root and nov nlufished thick with flowers. ! It was a sad sight but i, showed us that tle . anchorage was calm.
 Now" said Hands. Hook there; there's pet bit for to beach ship in. flhc m. . sand. never catspaw. trees all around oi | it, and flowers a-blowing like garding Oh l that old ship.'
 And once beached," inquired. "how shall we get her of againY
 "why so," he replied; you take me ashore there on the other side at low water take turn about one O them big pines' bring fl back. take turn round the capstan, and ile.to for the tide. Come high water. all hands take q pull upon the line and oil she comes as sweet as natur'. And now. boy, you stand by. We're nelr the bt now, and she's too much way on her. Starboard llt so-steady-starboard- nttie --steady-steady!
 So he issued his commands, which l breathlessly obeyed; till, all of sudden, ne cried, Now, my hearty, luifv" And put the helm hard up, and the Hispaniola swung round rapidly, and ran stem on for the low wooded shore.
 The excitement of these last maneuyers had somewhat interfered with the watch l had kept hitherto, sharply enough. upon the coxswan. Even then l was still SO much interested, waiting for the ship to touch, that had quite forgot the peril that hung over my head. and stood craning over tho starboard bulwarks and watching the rip- ples spreading wide before the bows. l might have fallen without q struggle for my l life, had not a sudden dlsquietude seized up- on me and made me turn my head. Per haps had heard a creak. or seen his shad- ow moving with the tail of my eye; perhaps it was an instinct like a cats; but, sure enough, when 1 looked round, there was Hands, already half way toward me, wftn the dirk in his right hand.
 YTe u..,s: 5o.i haze cri"t out aloud when | our eyes met but while mine was the shr'a 1 cry Of terror. his was a roar of fury iike charging bulls. At the same instant ne 1 threw himself forward, and l leapt side was toward the bows. As did so, l ieit 1 hold of the tillcr, which sprung sharp to iee- warl; and I think this saved my life, for It struck Hands across the chest, and stopped l him. for the moment, dead.
 Before he could recover, l was safe out of the corner where he had me trapped, with 1 all the deck 10 dodge about. Just forward of the mainmast l stopped, drew pistol from my pocket, took cool aim. though nc had already turned and was once more d. reetlv after me- aNd drew tho trigger. The hammer fell, but there followed neither
 flash nor sound; the prlming was useless
 with sea water. 1 cursed myself for my neg
 lect Why had not I, lorg before, reprimed
 and reloaded my only weapensP Then
 should not have been as now, q mere fleeing
 sheep before this butcher
 1 Wounded as he was, 1t was wonderful
 how fast he could move, his grizzled hair
 tumbling over his face, and his face itself as
 red as a red ensign with his haste and fury.
 1 had no time to try my other pistol, nor, in-
 deed, much inclination. for 1 was sure if
 would be useless. One thing saw plainly;
 1 must not simply retreat before him, or he
 would speedily hold me boxed into the bows
 as a moment since he had so nearly boxed
 me in the stern Once so caught and nine
 or ten inches of the blood-stained dirk would
 be my last experience on thls side of eterni-
 ty. 1 placed my palms against the main
 mast which was of goodsh bigneSs, and
 waited, every nerve upon the stretch.
 Seeing that I meant to dodge, he also
 paused; and a moment or two passed in
 feints on his part and corresponding move
 ments upon mine. IL was such game as
 had often played at home about the rocks
 of Black Hill Cove; but never before, you
 may be sure with such a wildly beating
 heart as now. Still, as say, it was boy's
 game, and thought could hold my own at
 it against an elderly seaman with a wound
 ed thigh Indeed, my courage had begun to
 rise so high that l allowed myself few
 dartIng thoughts on what would be the end
 of the affair; and while l saw certainly thai
 I could spin it out for long, l saw no hope
 of any ultimate escape.
 Well, while things stood thus, suddenly
 the llispanioa struck, staggered. ground for
 an instant in the sand and then, swift as a
 blow, canted over to the port side, till the
 deck stood at an angle of forty five degrees
 and about puncheon of water spashed in
 to the scuppcrholes, and lay in pool be-
 tween the deck and bulwark.
 We were both of us capsized in a second,
 and both of us rolled, almost together. into the scuppers; the dead red-cap with his
 arms still spread out, tumbling stifiiy after us. So near were We. indeed, that my head
 came against the coxswain's foot with p crack that made my teeth rattle. Blow an | au. was the first afoot again; for Hands had got involved with the dead body. The ; sudden canting of the ship had made tn, , deck no place for running on; had to finG ? some new way of escape, and that upon the ; instant for my foe was almost touching me. , Quick as thought sprang into the mzzen
 shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did } not draw breath till l was seated on thd cToSStreeS
 had been saved by being prompt; the dirk had struck not half a foot below me, as , 1 pursued my upward flight; and there stood Israel T tuds with his mouth open and his face upturned to mine perfect statue F of surprise and disappointment Now that l had moment to myselr'
 lost no time in changing the prir.lng of my pistol and then having one ready for serv. n Ice, and to make assurance dOubly sure, |. proceeded 10 draw the load of the other U and recharge it afresh from the beginning I My new employment struck Hands all ol F a heap; he began to see the dice going
 against him; and after an obvious hesitation '- he also hauled himself heavily into me '' shrouds, and, with the dirk in his teeth, DC c gan slowly and painfully to mount It cost + him no end of time and groans to haul m a wounded leg behind him; and had qnietl v I VI t much more than a third of the way up a Then, with pistol in either hand, l ad : dressed him.
 "One more step, Mir. Hands" said l, "ant l I'll blow your brains out! Dead men don n bite, you know" l added, with chuckle. i lie stopped instantly. l could see by th' Y working of his face that he was trying | . think, and the process WIS so slow an' laborious that in my new-found security, ;. laughed aloud. At last, with swallow O ~ two, he spoke, his face still wearing th same expression of extreme perplexity Il
 onier to speak he had to take the dagge " from hIs mouth. but, in all else, he remalne o unmoved.
 n Jim" says he "I reckon we're fouled d you and me. and we'll have to sign articles ,t I'd have had you but for that there iureh but don't have luck. not 1; and l reckol | Vs -st,