Wichita eagle., 1888-11-06

were on their feet after our fire. Two or
three men had been left in charge of the
craft, and as soon as they heard the firing
and yelling a panic seized them and they
pushed the boat of, sprang into her and
made off down the rip. Nine natives were
thus left in the lurch. They raised great
cutlery, calling and commanding, but those
in the boat did not even reply.
The situation was this: We had the fellows
penned up on neck of sand without cover,
and we had firearms and they had none. l
have no doubt we had been spied upon before
they came TO make the attack, and very
likely they believed there were three of us.
They were afraid to attack us, and as for
surrender II was not to be thought Of. In the
tive years sailed among the islands | never
knew a quarrel between white men and
natives to terminate IN a draw. One party
or the other ran away or were wiped out.
! These wreckers had meant to butcher US.
| Had offered them terms, they would have
refused Had they captured US alive, they
would have lanced us of hand, and been as
tonlshed at any protest. Lying in our rife
I pits, we both realized that it was question
of the survival of the strongest. and that we
would have no relief until the last man was
wiped out. We heard them fchattering and
curslng for al hour or so, the leader evidently
seeking to work their courage up to the at
tacking point, and then all was quiet
Daylight came at last, and what was our
| astonlshment to discover that the nine had
| crossed the channel to the sand bar, leaving
! most Of their weapons on the main shore.
We also soon discovered why they had braved
the sharks to reach that spot. The boat had
run down the rip, circled around outside the
surf, which was very light there, and at
tempted to land On the head Of the bar. The
! fellows had swan over expecting to be taken
| CT, but the craft had struck rock and filed
and sunk in fifteen feet of water There
/ must have been three men with her, for the
/ number on the bar was now twelve. Tho
| only explanation of why tie sharks did not
! seize any OF the nine was that they had fol-
lowed the boat out and around Well, that
! was the situation, and no two men ever had
neater drop on gang Of cut Threats. They
1 had their knives alone, while we had shot
/ guns, and it would have been the easiest sort
Of work to bowl them over in succession by
OF hand shots. By our volley when at
tackled we had killed three ard wounded a
fourth so that he could not leave the spot
That made the strength Of tho attacking
party sixteen.
could talk all the LIMOGES Of the islands,
and | asked the wounded man who they
were and why they had attacked US He
said tho boat was from the Pindos and the
name of her captain was Abyan. They had
attacked us for the sole object of plumber
The fellow had several buckshot in his left
groin and others IN his leg, and told him
he was fatally wounded
at was so written" he calmly replied.
BE SO kind as to finish me-"
Kill youg'
Certainly. I would do as well by you"
But l cannot do it."
Then [ will. | waited for morning, in
hopes my friends would kill you, but as they
have not, and as all must die, will go first"
He had his naked knife in his hand, and
before | could move to prevent he drew it
across his throat, and two minutes later was
dead. We now had the living to look out
for. As told you, it was only about sixty
feet across the rip, and we could look right
into their eyes. A more bloodthirsty dozen
could not have been scraped together in the
east. Had they been humbled by the situa-
ton | should at least hoped to see them get
away: but they were not. On the contrary
they were brazen and defiant. As soon as
they saw US moving they uttered shouts of
defiance and bcandishcd their knives, and
because we did not begin shooting they taunt-
Ell US with cowardice.
just what steps TO take / did not know. I
stood guard while my companion prepared
breakfast, but there was little fear of any of
them crossing the channel. The sharks had
come in until they actually crowded each
other, and out beyond the surf we could
see their dorsal fms by the score. The ma
tlyeS saw the situation in all its dangers, but
they continued defiant ] called to as. them
why they had attacked US, as we had done
them no harm and were not trrspassing on
their domain, and TIE leader shouted back:
You are dog You are not fit to live!
NeS, You are dog and a cowardl / have
wet my hands il the blood OF half hundred
white faced dogs, and am only sorry that
haven't your heart to throw to these fishes."
We'll, what are you going to dof' | asked
as / choled back my anger
"Nh hat is it to you, dog! Comet You asS
a coward. Now that it is daylight you
tremblc before Us and dare not shootl Ha!
l believe you VIII run awayl'
ny companion was FOR killing them OF at
once, but | was more merciful. While |
know they thirsted for my blood, and would
Kill me if they got the chance, it seemed
awful to shoot them down in their helpless
situation. After breakfast we sat down OPP
pos:te them wlrl our guns III our hands,
when those who hal knives began to flourish
them and their taunts were renewed Tue
leader finally worked himself up to such
pitch OF anger that he throw his knife across
at ne. 1t came whiriing and whistling
through the air and entered the sand beside
me. | replied with snap shot which
stretched him dead. His fail only enraged
the others, and l had scarcely finished re-
loading when my companion said:
Take care They are going to try and
swim the channeln'
They scattered along the bar its full length,
Ike silirmisherS going to the front, and at q
given signal all sprang into the water. Had
there been no sharks we could have answered
for every black head crossing the channel
By spreading out they hoped TO distract the
attention OF the monsters, and reasoned that
n portion Of them woald get over to attack
Us Bat there were too many sharks. For
about FIVE minutes the sight was terrible. Il
seemed rs If there were three or four sharks
for every victim, and they fought over the
feast like so many tigers. Not ulaa lived
to make twenty strokes toward US, In ten
minutes after | fred my shot we were rid of
the whole gang and ready to resume our
laborS, nor were We annoyed again before
tie schooner tooa Us c.f.-New ORR Sun.
As 3 Matter OF Business.
As matter of fact. the American News
company stands between the community ami
biackpaalh Il throttles lioei on its threshold.
Circumstances which are an Inherent part OF
its business have forced 1t TO assume the role