The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1890-12-12

bruised leaves of a soothing nature. She
quite won my hart By her kindness, and
was led to hope that my lot might not be
so wretched after all. As far as could
see no guard was placed at the door, nor
was any one appointed to watch me- There
were as many as fifty sampans on the beach
in plain view, and one nights padding to
the south would have brought me to an
island. They reasoned correctly, however.
did not have the nerve to risk it. A boy
at sea in a canoe without food, water or
compass would lie as badly off as among
the Malays on shore
Next morning after breakfast the head
man sent for me. He was chap of great
dignity aud evil look, but the capture of
the schooner had put him in good humor.
He asked me where she belonged, how long
she had been oIt, and many other ques
lions, by which he sought to ascertain
what sort of an investigation might follow.
He examined my foot, which was now al
most well, and then called in an attendant,
who conducted me to the store houses. The
hoes, axes and hatchets were without han
dies, and | was now given to understand
that | must go to work and fit them up.
l wasn't much Of a mechanic, but was
the carpenters chest for tools, and then
started into the forest to search for timber
A dozen or more half grown boys followed
me, and while some of them were inclined
to play me tricks to get up laugh they
offered me no violence Indeed, at the end
of half an hour we were all on friendly
footing. / found a tree which is called
"back va" in Borneo, but which has the
.,h al,
one AK with II handle we having used it
on shipboard. This | had brought along,
and now proceeded to fell the tree, which
was about Il foot thick and very straight
and tall. The boys were astonished beyond
measure at my WY of handling the ak.
The Bornese use Il Ratchet, and strike
while squatted on the ground. 1t would
have taken man two hours to accomplish
what did in fifteen minutes.
| found the wood easy to rive, and that
day began a task which occupied me for
the next three months During this time
l was fairly well used, though given none
too much to eat. The man who had first
planned my work for me continued to be
my boss, and once II day, at least, came
around to see me. As none of the Bornese
would use IL crooked handle in an AK, had
to make them all straight.
The village was very compact, the houses
almost touching each other, while about
twenty acres of land to the north of it was
under cultivation. 1t was the village gar
den, and one day after | had finished my
job and was working in this garden the
woman who had exhibited such kindness
on my first arrival came out to me and
told me that | had been sold to the ruler
of another island to the east of us. An
hour before her coming | had seen IA large
native craft put in, and could not doubt
that she belonged to my new owner. The
woman's Giject i'll warning me was that
might take to the woods, but htSitated
to go. / knew the forests to abound with
vcnomous reptiles and savage wild beasts,
and would be deienseless. And, too, |
had heard that tie Dyaks and other in
terror tribes were as bad or worse than the
Malays, and to cut and run would mean
walking into their hands. 1t was in the
afternoon when the woman came out. |
continued work until almost shutdown,
and then decided to hide out and see if |
could not steal Il sampan during the night
and be off. Our ruler was giving Il feast
to the other, and revclry ran high. 1t was
owing to this fact | made the move did,
hoping | would not be missed.
1t had come 10 o'clock at night, and |
was about to quit my hiding place and go
to the beach when there came n sudden, an
awful explosion. | WAS on my feet, and
was thrown down, and during the next
minute the air seemed to be cholled with
flaming brands, while many boards and
sticks fell around ne. When | stood up
and looked down into the village | saw
only Il great heap of debris, and that was
on fire. at once FASTENED to the spot. A
few people were rushing around in Il crazy
way, and Others were lying on the ground
and shouting over the pain of their inju
ries. could not see one single hut stand
ing. | soon figured out what had hap
pened. The liquors and the powder were
kept in the same store house. Some one
had been sent for more drink, and his care
lessness had caused an explosion. No one
paid the slightest attention to me, and
after "A few minutes | ran down to the
beach. There were plenty of sampans
there, and | selected one and hastily showed
off. The big craft was at anchor below
me, and when had passed her it occurred
to me that all her crew were on shore, and
that l could board her and secure provis-
ions
put about and ran alongside She was
taking care of herself, and as | felt her
tugging at her anchor, and realized that
the tide was going out, the thought came
to me to take her. didn't wait to reason
about it, but ran forward and began saw
ing away at the hempen cable with the
old pocket knife which had brought with
me to the island and carefully guarded ever
since. 1t soon parted, and as the vessel
drifted out of the bay | worked her around
with her head off shore. She was what is
called a kampoug, fitted for both rowing
and sailing, and, boy that was, gave her
enough of the big mainsail to send her off
shore at the rate of four or five miles an
hour. When daylight came | could not
see the island from the deck, but before
sunrise l was alongside of Java trader
coming up from the south, and among
friends. 1t was three months before got
back to Batavia, and it was only then that
the firm knew how the schooner was lost.
Captain and crew had believed that she
slipped her mornings and drifted out to
sea to be lost. A year later Malay who
had a brother in the village destroyed told
me that not over a dozen people escaped
death or serious injury. There was at least
a ton of powder in the store house-New
York Sun.
The Mines of Austria.