Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-05-23
THE THREE PASSENGERS.
A STORY OF THE SEA.

I entsred the service of the United Com
pany when only fourteen years of age.
The United Company was an organization
of English and Chinese capitalists at
Shanghai which exported teas and other
commodities. 1t had at one time eleven
vessels, eight of which were small schoon-
ers and brigs, which were empoyed in
visiting ports along the coast and various
islands in the China Sea and Pacific
Ocean. 1t is of my first trip I am going
to tell you about.
Ihad run away to sea on vessel bound
from Liverpool to Shanghai, and had left
her on arrival. l found that the Captain
of the Silver Crown, one of the COM
pany's traders, was an old friend of my
fathers, and so it came about that l took
service in the company under him with
the rating of cabin boy. The Grown was
fine new fore-and-a schooner, carrying
crew Of eight men, all told. She Lad a
native cook, but all the others were for
eigners. The Captain, mate, and myself
were English, two of the men Americans,
and the other two were Swedes. While
| rated as cabin boy, had to assist in
sailing the vessel, and was sort of clerk
to the Captain. The schooner carried q
dozen muskets, lot of boarding pixies,
and half dozen cutlasses as an arma-
ment, but everything was boxed up and
stored away, if not forgotten. Captain
Wharton had been in the service for six
years, and had never met with any trouble.
When we got away it was with orders
for the Philippine Islands, among which
the company had many resident agents
who collected products. Our course was
to the southeast, to pass between For
mosa and the Loo-Choo Islands, and we
had made the run thus far without Incl
dent, when one day about noon junk
rugged native craft, which doubtless came
from some port in Formosa, intercepted
us to the eastward of that island. We
were about thirty miles off shore when
she hailed us. She claimed to be short
of water, owing to an accident; but this,
as we afterward came to know, was only
an excuse. When she found that we wers
bound to the Philippines she had three
passengers to transfer. They were three
natives of Formosa, who were going
down there to form a colony, and would
pay literally for passage by the schoon-
er. They claimed to have contracted
with the junk for the round trip, but she
had sprung leak and must return to
port.
I am only giving you the gist of what
was offered in excuse. We lay to for a
couple Of hours, and heard only part
Of what was said. 1t did not seem to
strike Captain Wharton or Mate Will
Jams as queer or suspicious, and after
haggling over terms for while the three
natives were transferred to Our decks and
the vessels separated. Then 1 had time
to look the strangers over, and l was not
long in concluding that did not wish for
an intimate acquaintance. They were a
tough looking trio, and the cook had
scarcely set eyes on them before he de-.
clared that we had made great mistake
in taking them aboard. We had no ac-
commodations for them aft, and as the
schooner was in ballast they had agreed
to occupy the hold. This wasn't such q
bad place with the matches off, and they
looked like fellows used to roughing it
ashore and afoat.
took an early opportunity of COM
municating my suspicious to the Captain,
but he laughed at me in a good-natured
way. tried the mate, but he saw moth
ing to arouse distrust. 1t was singular,
however, that every man of the crew out
side Of the two officers was satisfied that
there was something wrong with the trio.
While their excuse was reasonable enough,
the looks and actions of the men were
suspicious, and it was plain to all that
they were sailors. They let us all severely
alone except the Captain and the cook,
and called it to mind afterward that
while one interested the former the other
two were occupied with the latter.
could "chin- chin" bit and the cook
could speak little English, and so we
managed to understand each other pretty
we'll. Three days after ths men came
aboard "slop-Slip," as we called the
cook, assured me with very serious face
that the strangers were evil-minded men,
who had planned to capture the schooner.