Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-06-09
A YARN FROM The SEA-.

JuSt rs HlBnt Was IduIHS lHio ud"h,
thought | heard a voice hailing us from
the surface of the sea. There are SCI
birds which cry out almost like human
beings, and although ! was startled by
the hail, | dismissed it after a few seconds
as the cry of a bird. Scarcely had | done
SO when it came again, and this time
knew it was the voice of n m Their,
was no need to hail the mate on watch,
for he had heard the cry as well. We
were jogging along under easy sail, and
he seized the glass and ran up to the fore
rigging. There was sort of steam rising
from the water, but the mate had not
climbed thirty feet when he came down
again, and in one breath ordered the ship
into the wind, the captain and the boat
lowered. We of the watch had no doubt
that the ship had been hailed by cast
Always, but the boat was down before
n of us made out a lone woman in a
sort of canoe craft about two cables length
away on our port bow. She had neither
paddle nor oar, and her craft was driving
with the wind and sea, while she sat COW
ering i'm the stern. Our boat was soon
alongside of her craft, and wona and
canoe were soon aboard of the Admiral
Nelson. The watch below had turned up,
and everybody was on deck TO see what
was going on. The woman was white.
and, as we soon ascertaIned, American.
| say white, but bronze would be the bet
ter term, for ii was evident that she had
long been exposed to tropical weather.
She was of medium size, regular features
and about forty years OF age, and at one
time had been good looking.
who is the captain" she snapped, as
she reached the deck.
"Iere, ma am" replied our old man,
as he stepped forward.
II want to talk TO you in your cabin
she continued, her fingers working nerv-
ously and her eyes swapping fire.
They had not been gone a quarter of
an hour when both reappeared on deck.
| was at the wheel and therefore heard
all that was said. 1t appeared that the
woman, whose name was Mrs. Thomas,
owned and sailed a trading schooner.
which had been left her at her husbands
death. 1t was "A strange vocation for a
woman, but il seemed she liked it, and
also had a good business head on her.
She had a crew of six, her mate being an
Fnglishman and the others Lascars, and
she had been sailing between nearly all
the towns of the Gulf.
Three days before we picked her up
her schooner had left Sumatra bound for
the Indian coast. The crew seemed to be
perfectly quiet and content. but the mate
they had suddenly laid violent bands on
hat nt,I 1g,tt hon utpifl ,A,tI.n,, ,.n,.-
food or paddle. The intention was to
run away with the schooner and cargo,
and sell them, and this plan night have
been carried out but for her rescue.
She was the spunkiest little woman !
ever saw. She was SO mad she couldn't
stand still for three seconds at "A time.
What she wanted was for our ship to go
in pursuit. Her schooner was armed
with two brass siX-pounders, while we
had four twelves, and she expressed her
entire willingness to see her craft sent to
the bottom befor the mutinous crew
should benefit by their acts. Captain
Wheeler was pretty well along in years,
very careful on the question of insurance,
and his mind was not made up until after
breakfast. Then he decided to luff up
towards the AndamaD Islands in search
of the schooner, ana he almost promised
to give her a taste Of our metal is she
should be sighted and would not surren-
der.
The little woman managed to eat a
dozen mouthfuls of breakfast and then
returned to the deck to almost assume
control. She ordered a man aloft, bossed
the job Of casting loose the guns and
getting up powder and shot, and every
ten minutes she was hailing the look
out to know if anything was
in sight. Luck was in her
favor. While we had been jogging along
all night the schooner, being farther to
the east, had been almost becalmed. We
raised her almost dead ahead about noon,
and as luck would have it again we had
plenty of wind, while she had none until
the vessels were not two miles apart.
The schooner could have no suspicion
that the woman was aboard of us, and we
flew a signal tHaI we wanted to speak to
her. She at once lay to, and as we ran
down to her | saw Mrs. Thomas grit her
teeth, clinch her hands. and show other
evidences of her feelings. She had Dor
rowcd the mate six shooter. donned a
hat and coat to disguise herself, and as
we lay about a cables length away no
eye could have made out her sex.
Schooner aboy!' called our captain.
Aye, aye. sir. Thisi is the Nancy Lee,
bound from Sumatfa TO the mainland"
Are you the captain?'
No, Sir, he's very sick in his berth"
Run out those guns whispered the
old man to us, and down went the big
bankers. and such Of the crew as were not
at the runs rested their muskets along the
rail.
I've got your captain here and she'll
be put aboard of you" shouted our cap
tain. IF You attempt any resistance I'll
sink your
The Englishman ordcrad his crew to
nan n of the guns, but they refused to
obey, every man of them skipping for
ward and disappearing down the hatch.
The fellow left the deck long enough to
arm himself with a c~utlass, and AS we
lowered a boat he called out that he
would split the head of the first man who
attempted 10 board the schooner.
Our first mate. the beatswain, and two
of Us foremost hands went into the boat
with Mrs. Thomas and rs we hooked to
the s%chooner's chains the b~oatswain
pulled a revolver and climed over in the
bows. The mutineer retreated aft and
then we all boarded. The woman had
not spoken a word since leaving the shin