Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-06-21
. A JUST RETRIBUTION.

Twas busy among my maps and charts at
the cabin table when a dull, heavy sound,
twice repeated, came through the open win
dows. Dropping everything hurried mp on
deck.
The marines were gathered along the rail,
looking off 20 the right bank of the creek.
''Was that firing heardr' inquired ca
gerry.
81 think it was the report of gun, cap
TAIN" said Lieut.. Osborne ut came from
the shore, and at distance of scarcely half
a mile"
All listened intently for moment, and
theme came a repetition of the sound, and min
gled with it we seemed to hear cry
l hesitated what course to pursue. An in
vestigation ought to he made; and vet to ven
ture off into the forest with handful of
men seemed very risky proceeding, for
these Arab slave dealers are no mean fight
-ers, and this firing evidently could portend
nothing else tban-that they were about
was IN command of gunboat attached
to the man-of-war Racer, which was sta
toned on the East African coast, some miles
north of Zanzibar, and which was engaged
In the slave blockade. I had been dispatched
some fifty miles up Vannas creek to investi-
gate ru,nor that the Arabs had a slave sta
ton near the head waters somewhere.
Up TO this time I had met with no sue
cess. The country seemed TO be deserted. OF
course we could not recunnotter far from the
banks, for our force was small, and a suffi-
<isnt 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
N
boat to be lowered instantly.
landed my little force-a dozen trusty
marines-in a small cove, and we plunged at
once into the forest
We moved with great caution, and soon
struck rude path that bore traces of recent
travel We continued along this in south
erly direction, and had marched nearly a
mile when the two men whom / had sent
forward as an advance guard hurried back
at full speed and reported that number Of
natives and two white men were only few
rods distant and creating considerable dis
turbance.
This information staggered ne. What
white men could be doing here was moro
than l could understand.
We advanced slowly with rifles in 1eadi-
ness Before us was a break in the forest,
and without any difficulty we gained tho
edge of the bush and obtained a clear view
of the open.
Some fifty or sixty stalwart negroes were
dancing about and making strange gestures,
while a few yards away, at the base of a
small hillock, stood two swarthy men They
were on the defensive, evidently, for they
held rifles in their hands, and three dead ne
groes lay PROSTATE on the ground in front Of
them.
Then I saw something else, for in the CEN
ter of the open lay one great mass of glitter
ing white ivory, tossed carelessly 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 sudden the negroes dashed forward with
a fierce shout. The men must havebeen over
powered in spite of their incessant and deadly
fire; but Just at the critical moment we
swept out from the bushes, and the negroes
fell back in aInazement
The rescued men came forward with out
stretched hands, and l saw on closer view
that they were Portuguese.
''Senor, you have saved our lives,r said the
leader, in tolerably good English he was
an intelligent looking man of thirty or thirty
kill US. Ny name is Torres he continued,
"and this" pointing to his companion, lis
my friend, CASTILLO. We are ivory traders,
and have brought these natives from the in
terror at great cost. We pledged ourselves
TO send them home in safety, but the fools
suddenly made up their minds that we pro-
posed selling them TO the Arabs, and, mad
with rage, they made this sudden attack on
us.n
never did put much faith in Portuguese.
though this man was OF better type than
many had met. Still, he might be speaking
the truth
/ hesitatsd, not knowing what course 10
pursue. The negroes were grouped together
at little distance, suilenly watching our
movements, but making no hostile demon
strations
Suddenly one of them came forward big,
stalwart fellow, with a leopard skin about
his waist, and stopped in front of me-
he began TO jabber out a mixture Of had
English and native African, and, more from
bis gestures than from his speech, cou,pre-
herded what he said He declared that the
Portuguese intended TO sell them into slavery,
and affirmed that he had seen Torres lurking
behind on the previous day to talk toan Arab
Dttll come OUT C1
BE told me that his name was Zuha. that
he was head man in his tribe, and THAI he
had picked up his English at Zanzibar, where
he had been on several occasions BE knew
thai ] WIS English, and that the English
hated the Arabs, so be hoped that I would
protect his friends from the Portuguese and
the slave hunters
Torres swarthy face grew darker as Zuba
poured out his appeal
''The hound lies" he exclaimed, angrily /
when they take the ivory 70 toe coast they
will be paid and sent back home"
'-But see here, Torres" interrupted, for /
was beginning to get sn inkling of the state /
of the case 'You know well that these ma
tives are not safe within c hundred miles Of 4
the coast 1t looks 20 me as though you had (
deceived them, whether you intended TO sell I
them to the Arahsor not They are certainly /
ignorant OF their real peril"
The Portuguese grew confused, and tried |
TO stammer out some explanation, but ] made 4
up my mind at once that il was a clear case I
Of treachery.
lt was an extremely perilous situation all /
round, and one that called for prompt action.
81 once ordered the arrest of the two Portu-
grfese, and before they could think OF resist
ance my marines had dsarn1ed them ana
piaioned their limbs.
The delighted negroes crowded round rs
Win cries OF gratitude, bur I soon convinced
them that their danger was by no means
over. could not hberate and let them so,
for the bands of slave hunters that roaned 4
the country would soon have seized them; so
my only course was b take them on board
the gunboat and Let the authorities OF the
Racer decide their fate now had no doubt