The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-01-11

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o, the agony Of these moments!
could neither stand nor sit, and dread
ed that before long l should be seizet
with cramp; yet it was imperative tina
/ should keep quite still, if l wished t,
take my assailants at disadvantage.
1t was not very long before the shad
ows on the sail again reappeared, and
this time noticed that one of them wa,
armed with longIkitchen knife. The
thought of the cold steel made me shud
der, and my heart stopped beating for
moment. l felt my revolver to assure
myself that it was all right, and the1
saw that the hatchway was darkened.
had no time for further thought. One
of the men was coming down the steps
into my cabin. could see him dis
tinctly, but | was in the dark, so he was
unable to see me. / noticed CLEAN Of
steel in his hand, and the second man
was following close behind him. Now
was my time. l brought back my right
arm for a good cut at him with the life
within reach. A second later l had
felled him with fearful blow on the
temples. l rushed over his PROSTATE
form, and fired my revolver at the Sec
ond figure, now retreating up the steps.
He uttered cry of pain and an Qkth
showing that had hit him, but-Stis &.
ran on. l followed quickly, rushed up
the hatchway and again fired at him,
just as he was picking up crCwbar.
This time he fell on the deck, and l now
saw the third man and the boy, t1or-
oughly scared, making for tne further
hatchway. In moment | made uI my
mind what to do. / FOLLOWED them and
having with difficulty PLACED the heavy
lid on the hatch, proceeded to cover 1t
with every thing l could lay hanes on,
on the deck. Luckily there was some
pig-iron lying about, and with these and
various other articles oDthe top of them
l was sure that they were safe prisoners.
/ now had to look tothe other men, to
see that they were Incapable of doing
further mischief.
The one l had shot On deck was Bar
tolo. My two bullets had taken effect
one in the left arm, and the other in the
| leg. | drew him to the side of the ship
and dashed him there with some rope
and told him if he attempted to gel
loose, l should shoot him dead; then
looking into my cabin, l saw Antonio
lying where he fell.
repeated my tactics of covering w
the hatchway to prevent his getting out
and then went to the tiller, thorough
exhausted after all had been through
both physically and mentally, but mos
thankful for my narrow escape.
Soon, however, saw that if had got
out of one danger, it was only to ia !
into another. / knew nothing of navt'
cation. and was not even aware in whidt
direction to steer. | might run the shtI
to ground, or sudden squall Nigh
swamp her. l did not know how *
shorten sail, and was afraid to interfere
with the ropes.
What could do? The moon had nSv
gone down, and it was pitch dark. ThAt
was no lamp or light of any sort abou
the ship, as far as could see. Withthd
help of a match 1 looked at my MRS,hl
1t was two o'clock. g
/ thought of calling the man and boy
out of the hold and threatening to shoot
them if they did not navigate the ship
properly. but myself felt so tiEed and
exhausted that did not dare trust them,
in case | should fall asleep.
On the whole, it was best to leave my
=, self in the hands of Providence.
o, the dreariness of those hours OF
darkness, and the joy with which
hailed the first streak of dawn!
Every now and then Bartolo would
give curse and a groan, and that was
the only sound TO break the silence OF
the night. | had placed some water by
his side and asked him if he wanted any
thing. but he only swor. at me. lef
him alone.
At last the sun began to rise, and
scanned the horizon for the welcome
sight of land or friendly sail. Alas
there was nothing to break the dull
mass of water, and was still miles ava,
from rescue. The pangs of hunger wer'
beginning to make themselves felt, anC
l had nothing to eat. If this state O
affairs continued much longer, SHOULD
be obliged to call up the man and boy
and in my weak state felt l should bt
entirely at their mercy.
was beginning thoroughly to despair
after so many hours of constant watch
ing and straining of my eyes, whel
about eight o'clock saw speck on thu
horizon. My heart leaped with excite
ment as l instantly turned the helm il
that direction. The speck grew bigge
and bigger, until at last made out tn
form of brig sailing towards me. Sool
l could make out fiag-the American
stars and stripes. tied my handker
chief to stick, and made signals of dis
tress. For some time she took no notice
and seemed about to pass me. Ny hear
sank. The thought that was so@rsn.
rescue, and yet could not attract atten
ton, was awful. At last, to my JOY, Shit
hove to and lowered boat. In a few
minutes it was alongside, and an office
and crew boarded the felucca.
The sudden relief to my strained
nerves was almost more than l coul(
bear, and it was some seconds before
spoke.
There was an expression of horror OF
the mems faces as they looked round OF
the scene of bloodshed, the wounded
men, and then scanned my face for al
explanation. Did they take me for
mailman, or a common murderer?