Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-11-24

canoe had been taken away l took up one of the shotguns loaded with buckshot, dropped a bullet into the barrel and then crept around the cabin to discover the villains outside location. He kept as still as mouse for few minutes but by and by heard him move and mutter. Then I brought the gun to bear so as to pepper his legs and blazed away. He fell down. shrieking and cursing, and, grasping one of the revolvers, dashed out. The charge had taken him in the right leg at the knee, and it was 0 fatal wound, but he pulled himself up and came at mo hopping on leg, while the blood literally flooded the deck behind him. saw that I must finish him and didn't hesitate to do 1t. When our crew of natives returned most of them recognized the man. He was a robber ulld had several times been i'm prisoncI, and they clung to it that his sole idea in coming aboard was to despoil us. In his idea murder went with robbery. It was a necessary adjunct. If he was, as they claimed, only second class desperado, one Of the first class would probably have the as- surance to attack merchant ship single handed
 My second adventure was at town called kwei-Ling. had been there a month, and my business and social relations had been ex- tremely pleasant. went one night to sup with and spend the night at the house of the mayor, who was also our local agent. He lived out in the suburbs with a very fine gar den about his house, and the room assigned me was on the ground floor, front. It had two windows, and while not over eight feet wide, was fully twenty-four feet long. Lying in my bed, could see the whole length of the room, and as the night was very hot and close, left the lower sash up. had my re- voEver at hand, and being a light sleeper knew that the slightest noise would arouse me. We sat up to a late hour and it was after midnight when got to bed. 1 at once fell asleep, and at o'clock found myself sit ting bolt upright in bed and man climbing in at the window. had my revolver on him before he was on his feet in the room and called out to him in Chinese to stand where he was or l would shoot him. My clothes were on chair between him and me, and if he had been intent on robbery alone he might have grabbed them and made off But he wanted to rob and kill, too; and although he could have seen the gleam of my revolver in Ill the moonlit room, he came for the bed on run, brandishing the ugliest looking knife ever set my eyes on. pulled for him over the footboard when he was only ten feet away, and he fell. When lights and help arrived we found that my bullet had glanced around his skull and stunned him. There were six or eight of us at hand, but the fel- low fought like giant, and we could not se- cure him until had rapped him over the head with the butt of my pistol He was all right again as an officer arrived, and lol he ac- tually followed the policeman to the station house! l was a stranger. The other was an official While be fought to murder me, he was as humble as a dog in the presence of official power.
 1t turned out that the man coveted my pOl0 watch hat had had several previous chances to rob me, he let them slip because he could not also kill me. The man was tried that self same day, found guilty, and the next morning at o'clock was led out and beheaded He walked before the executioner, seemingly as placid as the morning, and when ordered to kneel down, he promptly obeyed and held his neck in the best position to have his head struck off. A single blow decapitated him.
 Near Siang-tian, few months later, was captured by two of mountain band of rob- bers. Their first thought was to slay me. I was alone and on a donkey, and they sprang upon mo so suddenly out of the bushes that I had no time to prepare myself. Both slashed at me with their swords, but dodged them, and called out that was an English official of great importance, and that if they did me harm tho heads of twenty mandarins would
 
 ott, ana, luckily for mo, the leader of the band came up. He was 0 native of Turkes- tan--a wicked fellow, and one who delighted to shed blood, but my reiteration of my inn portance had its effect upon me- He req soned with his fellow robbers as follows:
 "Here we have prisoner. It is plain that he Is an Englishnan He doesn't want to be killed. II we kill him, the mandarin will send soldiers after us, and we shall have trouble. We shall all be killed, and his friends will want large sum of money be- sides. That will make so much trouble that no one else will dare to rob. We will not kill him, but as we have been to much trouble he must pay us ransom"
 :But want to cut his throatl' protested one of my captors.
 That is true, but we will spare his life and kill four other men to pay for it."
 was taken up a ravine into the mountain, where we found three other members of the band. But for the leader I should have been murdered off hand. They took my watch, money and trinkets, and then debated the question of ransom. When they had fixed the sum the leader said
 "You must pay us sum equal to e5 in English money or we shall kill you at the end of the week,
 They seemed to think the sum an extrapa- gant one, and were considerably surprised when l sent @ note in to our local agent and the money was forthcoming. The Chinese still howled for my life, and as I departed for the town, cleaned out and on foot, the leader was protesting:
 My children, it is sad that we cannot kill him, but am doing for the best. You may kill the next eight men you meet, and if some are Turks or Russians we will not care."-New York Sun.