The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1889-07-13

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steadied himself against the topmast rig
ging, and again narrowly examined the
surface of the water.
Suddenly he closed the glass with q quick
snan, hung 1t about his neck by means OF
the strap attached to it, and grasping
Eackstay, came down hand Under hand to
the deck, his eagerness being too great to
permit the descent to be made in the usual
way, by means Of the shrouds and ratlines.
He came at once to where Captain Sea-
breeze was standing, and iii low, hurried
tones gave him an account Of what he had
seen while aloft
There's barque to leeward, sir, and
she's hard and fast aground, sir, without a
doubt There are more than o dozen Malay
proas around her, some alongside ind some
at anchor short distance off. think the
Malays have possession Of her, and there's
signal of distress flying, the Engliae flag,
union down."
The commander Of ship can hardly be
plac ed in more trying circumstances or un-
der conditions requiring cooler judgment
IL an Captain Seabreeze now found himself.
The flag fluttering at the masthe ad Of the
stranded vessel was to him a CRY Of distress,
call for aid from fellow beings in their
extremity, and every impulse of his heart
urged him to assist those whose lives de-
pended upon his action.
Then came to his mind the remembrance
of his responsibility to the owners of the
Forward and her cargo, and of his duty in
caring for the lives of the men he command
ed, and he reflected that in attempting to
drive tie Malays from their prey he must
also be able to resist an attack upon his own
ship. Thoughts of the danger in which he
would place his ship by a nearer approach
to the shoal Upon which the barque had
struck presented themselves before him,
and as he mechanically took the spyglass
from the outstretcbed hand of Mr. Burton,
his pale face and compressed lips indicated
the struggle through which he was passing;
Re looked long and earnestly at the barque,
now ind:stinctly visible from where we
were staining, and said in low tone; as if
in answer to his own thoughts;
1.-THE only safe way is to give those fellows
"a wide berth, but have never yet passed
signal of distress unanswered; 1 cannot
leave them to their fate"
The news of the proximity of the Malays
had soon spread to all parts of the ship, and
the whole crew were soon on deck looking
now at the feet Of proas. then towards Gap,
tain Seabreeze, as il anxious to know what
the ''old man." as captain of d merchant
man is usually styled by his crew, was going
to do. Mrs. Seabreeze, too, had been in.
formed of the cause of the excitement, and
coming from the cabin she, too. looked in
the direction in which all eyes were turned.
In the freshness of her youth and beauty,
so fairy like in contrast with the rough-vis-
aged and coarsely dressed men about her,
she seemed Ike the guardian angel of tho
ship, as, approach 'ng her husband and plac.
ing her hard upon his arm. she said:
"Tom, can't you help those poor fellows
over there. You are not going to leave
them, are your
Her face flushed with excitement and her
eyes fillcl with tears as she spoke, and
Captain Seabreeze with one quick glance
at her upturned face, again looked out over
, the water as he replied;
but those rascals outnum5er us three TO
one How can place my men in such dan
ger, and what would be your fate In case
we were overpowercd."
"Don't think OF me-" she replied, II ani
ready to share the danger with you, but if
iOu pass tIltU VESSEL WIbluuJ dSSlStlltS
in Their distress, YOU will regret it to your
dying day, Tom"
The brave words OF Mrs. Seabreeze had
put to fight any doubt existing in the mind
of her husband regarding the course that
he ought to pursue He was brave man
and thorough sailor, and no fears for his
personal safety would have caused him to
I hesitate. He had more than once been
called Upon to give assistance to vessel in
distress, to lower boat in half gale TO
save the life of some unfortunate sailor who
had fallen overheard and whose days but
/ for him would have been numbered; for
such an emergency, SO often occurring in
the life at sea, he wGs prepared. But now
, he was called Upon to contend against q
force of men, ire lcherous and bloodthirsty,
accustomed to deeds of violence and who
greatly outnumbered his own crew. They
/ were no doubt supplied with firearms, and
from his Own knowledge of the Malay char
acter, he was sure they would show no
mercy toward any who might fall into their
hands.
Captain Seabfeeze turned from his wife,
and with his head bowed In deep thought
commenced to pace the deck. After a few
moments thus spent he raised his head with
a look of determination on his face, went to
the quarterback, and said to the sailors
who were anxiously watching his move
ments
'.Men, that barque is in the hands Of
! pirates 1 intend to drive them off, or at
least make the attempt, and ask you all to
stand by ms and do your best"
There seemed to be not only no reluctance
on the part of the crew to engage in the en-
! terprise, but their eagerness to do so was
: shown by chorus Of answers. A tussle
with the natives was to them but an adven.
ture in an otherwise uneventful and monot-
onous voyage. and feeling no responsibility
! they had no anxiety regarding the result.
AYE, aye, STRIP .'We are ready to take
| 6 handr' "You can count on us, sir" were
the hearty responses to the short speech of
Captain Seabresze, and with these assur-
ances he at once proceeded to execute the
plans which he had 80 quickly formed.
| About twenty minutes had now elapsed
since the barque was first seen. The wind
was light, from the eastward, hardly strong
| enough to straighten out the folds Of our
flag, which had been hoisted at the mizzen
| peak, and under all sail the ship was max.
| ing but four Knots an hour. Captain Sea
breeze ordered the heimsman to steer in the
direction of the bark, now about three
miles distant, and at the same time leads
| man was sent to the forechalns with orders
to take frequent soundings and report at
once any decrease in the depth OF water.
The second mate, Mr.. Hardy, was directed
to take the starboard watch, reduce sail to
topsails and make preparations for anchor
| ing. while Mr.. Burton, in charge Of the
port watch, proceeded to get up the arms
and ammunition.
1t was the custom then, and is, no doubt,
at the present day, for ships engaged in the
China trade to carry sufficient quantity of
| firearms to furnish their crews with means
of defense in case Of an attack by Chinese
or Malay pirates, and the Forward was
well provided in that respect. Two nine
| Founders were carried on the quarter deck,
and in the armory adjoining the forward
| cabin were muskets pistols, boarding pixies
and cutlasses, dozen of each kind, together
with ammunition for all the guns, both
great and small.
These articles were all passed on deck,
and while some busted themselves in loading
1