Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1889-09-27

tam Forsyth Ia the 'uHEef y pelicCul
true. His Maiesty's ship, the Invincible,
sailed with our invalid men for England on
June 30
"The prisoner went Oh: Yes, and ar
rived in England at the end of July, weak
and in. and getting my little money went
and drank it all away And that is how il
was that | was found at Bristol where
had gone for another ship; and ever since
then have been IN this accursed Jail.
The fellow is plausible enough, again
remarked Captain Forsyth. lie is certain
" about the height of Williams. Well my
man, l suppose you can prove what you
sayi'
Gay, ay, Captain. Do you remember
on the 10th of June, giving orders for a
night raid on the native town off which We
lay looking out for slaversf
d" yes, do, to be sure.
And we were five boats in all and the
first to the beach was the Captains cutter.
And the first man to jump out was You
Captain.
f" We'll. this is the most extraordinary
thing | ever heardr And turning to the
Judge the Captain said Every word of
this poor fellows story is true, Ny Lord
He may have picked it Up somewhere, but
! can't help beginning to think there's
something behind. Ny ship is still in
foreign service, and | have only returned
to take charge of another one
Well, go on, my man..
"One more word, captain, and maybe
you will believe me. As we were fighting
in the town, a great niger came behind
you with his AK aud would have cut you in
half before you saw him had not man
rushed between you and stopped him with
his cutlass; and yet not quite stopped him.
for that internal nigser's ax slipped down
the cutlass and gashed the mans head
open. Who was that man, Captain'
4" John Williams, was the reply, the
coxs;5 ain of my cutter.
"Ay, ay, Captain, and here is the cut
which the AK made and bending down, he
lifted with one hand the long, untidy hair
and with the other pointed to huge and
fearful scar running for several inches along
the side of the side of the head.
Captain Forsyth leaped from his seat.
d" Good heavens, you are rightt But
how you have changed. My Lord, this
poor fellow had not sailed from the African
coast when the murder was committed; it
is impossible that he could be guilty of it..
! Williams you saved my life; thank God
that | have been able to save yours"
"At those words everybody in the court
stood up and cheered the prisoner with the
widest enthusiasm; the Judge said that in
dscharging him he must at the same time
compliment him on his gallantry; and the
foreman of the jury then and there started
subscription for him which came up to
something near f3O Captain Forsyth or
dered chaise to take him post haste to
London for the purpose of removing
Williams from place with such horrible
associations, and of getting him an appoint
ment from the admiralty. The people in
sisted on dragging the chaise out of town
with their own hands, the horses were then
put to and amid deafening cheers they
drove off-and were never heard of again.
''Why was that" someone asked as the
Colonel paused.
Because it was hoax!'
What" we all exclaimed "a hOax7'
We had listened breathlessly to the tale,
which the Colonel certainly told admirably,
the perspiration standing on his forehead
as with horrible reality he personated the
desperate sailor.
Eyes" he said, "a hoax. 1t was all a
preconcerted arrangement; the Captain was
merely clever accomplice, who played
such parts for those of his associates in
crime who came near receiving their re-
ward. This was probably his biggest per-
formance; but although it answered well
enough then, in these days of telegraphic
communication and multiplied navy lists it
would simply be impossible. English
Magazine.