St. Landry democrat., 1888-12-15

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and inflicted a stab which proved fata
within half an hour After thus USING
his knife, he took up his quarters i
the fo'castle, and swore that he woult
kill any man who dared descend ate
him. We pulled the cover over AM
made him prisoner, but in short tim,
we realized that we We're in the fix O
the man who dare not let go of tn,
bear. None of us had change o
clothes Or could turn in.
In this emergency Mr.. Waters tool
the responsibility of hauling thu
captain out Of his berth and trying te
make him understand the situation
The beast got back enough sense t.
realize that his sacred person We, ne
Ing pulled and hauled about. and Ii
got hold OF pistol end threatened tt
shoot the rext man who disturbed him
LII this emergency we held fo'castie
council. Some were for ,',itt..i.ss back
others for ''rnaih9 into GEORGETOWN
ane others for holding on until next
DAY and seeing how the captain would
come out. 1t was while we were eli;
gagged in this discussion, and no One
mad an eye on the Weather, that il,i
"ox-eye" struck the brig, ard brought
both masts down together as if thew
mad been chopped Off. The insti1eta
OF sailor set every mar ii work with
out orders but the old hulk got pretty
badly banged about before we had the
"reckage cut clear and the danger
aVerted. The negro murderer tar4e
on deck during the Confusion, but, in
stead ct aiding us to save the BRIG. he
got the yawl into the water, put in
water and provisions, and when we
were finally at liberty tc look about Us
he was ready to shove off. He was too
quick for us, and away Ne dtifted into
the darkness 10 ieeward, the yawl
| bouncing like q cork, and seemingly
about to upset, bat the fellow was
as cool as ice, and got her
Off before the seas. Az the main
mast came Down q block or strap
| fell upon the head of a. sailor nar,gd
Chester We could not give him anv
attention for half an hour, and when
we got around to it he was dead. We
were dismasted, had two corpses
ABOARD, our only boat was gone, and
the captain was still drunk Sailor
Jack has some curious adventures. and
is surrounded by strange circum-
stances, but none could have well been
In a worse fix than we were aboard Of
the Duchess.
The question OF what we could or
should do had been narrowed down
very Materially. The hull was not
much damaged, and we knew that it
could never sink with those b,~rrels
aboard. We hauled the eorpses cut Of
the way, covered them with a spare
sail, and then every man was at liberty
to do as he pleased. All disci pline was
gone, and as the hull sat high out Of
water no one felt any Immediate dam
ger The wind and sea both fell after
the blast that dismasted us, and before
ten o'clock | believe that every Jack
aboard was sound asleep. I remember
that it was after sunrise when ! went
on deck, and was the first one up. In
about three minutes the captain made
his appearance. He was not yet over
his spree, and had, doubtless, come on
deck to have row. One look around
him was sufficient to change his mind
on that point. He was completely
knocked out at what he saw, and his
eountenance betrayed all the emotions
in the calendar as he approached me
and asked:
"W- what is it, Reefer2''
''We We're struck by squall last
evening and dismasted, sir"
''And Il"
1--WE tried to call you up, sir, but
you were dead drunk
It was my opportunity to give it to
him straight, and / did not spare him:
Eyes, SIR [ went on, as he passed |
his hand over his eyes as if to clear
away q vail, nit Was ali your fault. |
YOU wete drunk when we left port, and |
you got stupid soon after that. You
are responsible for what this covers,
sir. as well as the loss of this brig"
took his arm and walked him over
to the bodies, and pulled off the sail.
1t was q shocking eight, and no
wonder he started back with cry of |
horror.
''How-was-it?" he slowly de-
''The niger stabbed the mate, sir,
and the man was killed as the masts
went over. Both deaths are laid at
yagr door. This is the result of your
lying drunkl''
"Great God! Great Godr' he gasped,
rs he held up his hands in horror
Eyes. sir, it's an awful aight's work"
said in reply. ''And what are We to
10 nowP"
Dead! Both dead! And the brig
yreck!" he whispered, as he glared
lround him.
At that moment the men began to
appear On deck, and the captain COW
red his face with his hands for a
and then rushed into his !,
abin. We gathered about the stump
# the foremost as all came on deck,
'ut not over ten minutes had elapsed !,
When the steward came out, shouting
hat the captain was gone. We rushed ,
# in body, and there he was on his ,
ack in the water, hands over his eyes
nd the water psf covering them. He ,
yas probably dead then, but if not we !
yere helpless. We had no boat, and !