Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1889-05-31

cook might have known of the presence
of the wine there, but I did not. had
never looked into the place. There was
a tin pail, holding about ten quarts, in the
| galley, and this l filled and carried to the
main hatch, with several glasses, and
everybody proceeded to help himself.
| Now that we were at anchor all discipline
had ceased, and one man was as good as
another. They were prowiing all over
the schooner, and perfectly at home
The wine must have tickled ther pal
| ates nightly, for a second pailful was
soon demanded It was while / was
| drawing it that / noticed the barrel had
no bung in it, and [ wondered why the
wine had not soured. | retired to the
galley as soon as I had filed the second
order, and for half an hour there was
great deal of loud talk and laughter. All
of a sudden, while [ was rejecting on the
situation, and perhaps crying bit in my
sorrow and anxiety, it struck me that
things were wonderfully quiet. looked
out Of the galley to see half dozen fig
ures lying on the deck, and later on, when
I had summoned courage to walk the
length of the schooner, l found every
man aboard apparently asleep. Their
breathing was labored, but supposed
this was the result of too much drink.
The night had come down dark and gusty,
with the wind directly off shore, and as
the sleepers continued to lie quiet some
strange ideas came to me. l was tempted
to take one of their knives and begin
killing, but doubted nay nerve. The
yawl was at the davits, and l planned to
lower it and let the breeze carry me out
to sea- I held to this idea for few
minutes, and then surrendered it for an
other would swim ashore and hide in
the forest. 1had to abandon that scheme
as well, for [ saw at a glance that the
tide was running out strong. [ was
wondering if I should not start fire in
the forecastle or cabin when I discovered
that the craft was under way. She had
her light anchor out and had been tug
ging heavily under the tide and gust.
The chain had ground off against some
sharpedged rock or the pin had slipped
from shackle. 1t was probably the lat
ter case, as heard a splash as of the end
of the chain falling from the have hole.
She drove off stern first and then, as she
began to swing about, stepped softly
back to the wheel, put it over to get her
off, and then extinguished the two Ian
terms on deck and the lamp in the cabin.
I am not Boosting of my nerve in stepping
over the sleepers to do this work or of
my sagacity in getting the idea. [ was
working like one in dream and could
hardly have identified myself.
What occurred between the time I put
out the lights and daylight next morning,
[ never can clearly remember. The
schooner took care of herself for any eff
fort of mine, and think went into the
galley and crept behind the stove. At
least I crawled out of that contracted
space soon after daylight, in response to
a call. I suppose was called to prepare
breakfast for the pirates, but I was no
sooner out of the galley than saw large
ship hove to a quarter of a mile away,
while one of her boats, with five men in
it, was alongside the schooner. I must
have looked and acted like stupid, for
as couple of men came over the rail one
of them gave me a hearty shaking and
growled out:
"You idiot, can't you get your mouth
open?"
There were twenty-five men lying on
the decks and in the cabin sound asleep.
No! Dead! Every one of them dead and
cold, and the only living thing aboard.
It took some time to explain matters and
get at all the particulars, but with what [
could tell them and what they could see
it finally became plain to all. That bar
rel of wine had been dosed with some
deadly drug. The cook must have done
it previous to the attack, or the bung had
been left out by another, and some poi
sonous reptile had crept in to die. No
one could tell for certain, but the drink
ers were all dead, and all had died in
sleep. The ship was English, and the
schooner was over thirty miles off the
land. One of Fl. M. men-of-war, as
sisted by civil functlonary, attempted an
investigation, but nothing came of it.
Our crew had been slaughtered and the
schooner captured, but she had recaptured
herself and brought off twenty-five
corpses. Not living man could ever be
found among the islands who would
acknowledge that he had ever seen the
schooner, much less participated in her
capture. York 4Sua.