The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1889-07-17
u JUST RETRIRuTIoN.
BY WILLIAM N. aRAYDoN.

dull, heavy sound, twice repeated,
came through the open windows.
Dropping everything I hurried up
on deck.
The marines were gathered along
the rail, looking off to the right
bank of the creek.
aWas that firing l heard2'' in
quired. eagerly.
II think it was the report of a
gun, captain said Lieutenant 0s-
borne. at came from the shore, at
a distance of scarcely half mile"
All listened intently for moment,
and then came a. repetition of the
sound, and mingled with it we
seemed to hear cry,
] hesitated what course to pursue.
An investigation ought to made;
and yet to venture off into the for
est with a handful of men seemed to
be a very risky proceeding, for
these Arab slave dealersaren no mean
fighters, and this firing evidently
could portend nothing else than that
they were about.
l was in command of "a gunboat
attached to the man of-war Racer,
which was stationed on the East
African coast, some miles north of
Zanzibar, and which was engaged
in the slave blockade. / had been
dispatched some fifty miles up Van
mas Greek to Investigate rumor
that the Arabs had slave station
near the head waters somewhere.
Up to this time L had met with no
success. The country seemed to be
deserted. OF course we could not
reconnoiter far from the banks, for
our force was small, and sufficient
guard must always be left in charge
of the gunboat.
For these reasons I hesitated to
advance into the jungle; but two
more shots in rapid succession re-
moved all doubts, and / ordered a
boat to be lowered instantly.
/ landed my little force-a dozen
trusty marines-in small cove, and
we plunged at once into the forest.
We moved with great caution, and
soon struck the rude path that bore
traces of travel. We continued
along this in southerly direction,
and had marched nearly a mile
when the two men whom / had sent
forward as an advance guard hur-
ried back at full speed and reported
that a number of natives and two
white men were only few rods dis
tant and creating considerable dis
turbance.
This information staggered me-
What white men could be doing
here was more than 1 could under
stand. We advanced slowly, with
rifles in readiness. Before us was a
break in the forest, and withoutany
difficulty we gained the edge of the
bush and obtained a clear view of
the open.
Some fifty or sixty stalwart ne
groes were dancing about and max
ing strange gestures, while q. few
yards away, at the base of small
hillock, stood two swarthy men,
They were on the defensive, evi-
IDENTIFY, for they held rifles in their
hands, and three dead negroes lay
PROSTATE on the ground in front of
them.
Then 1 saw something else, for in
the center of the open lay one great
mass of glittering white ivory, toss
ed carelcssly in heap. 1t was an
ivory caravan from the interior; for
these negroes belonged to no coast
tribes.
What the dispute was about
could not even guess, nor did have
time to do SO, for of a sudden the
negroes dashed forward with force
shout. The men must have becn
overpowered in spite of their inces-
SAINT and deadly FIRE; but just at the
critical moment we swept out from
the bushes, and the negroes fell back
in amazement.
The rescued men came forward
with outstretched hands, and / saw
on closer view that they were Por-
tuguese.
Ssenor, you have saved our lives .
said the leader, in tolerably good
English. He was an intelligent
looking man of thirty or thirty five.
"These scoundrels were deter
mined to kill us. Ny name is
Torres" he continued, "and this, .
pointing to his companion, dis my
friend, CASTILLO. We are ivory ira
ders, and have brought these ma
tives from the interior at great cost.
We pledged ourselves to send them
home in safety, but the fools sud-
denly made up their minds that we
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