Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-08-26
THE NANCY LEE

the hail dismissed II after few SC
onds as the cry of bird. Scarcely had
done ~ when II came again, and this
tims knew IL was the soice ~ wo-
man. There was no ne~i to hail the
mate on watch. for he heard the cry NJ
veil. We were jogging along under
easy sail. and be seirsi the gla~~ AMI ran
up the forerigging. There was . sort Of
steam Using from the water. but the
mate hal not climbed thirty feet when
down be came again. and In one breath
ordered the ship into the wind. the cap
tain arous.sl and boat lowered.
We ~ the watch hal no doubt that
the .hip hal bc.n hailed by cAstaway,.
but the boai was down before any u Us
made out . lone woman Ia n rort ~
oano. craft about two cables length
away on our port bow. She hal neither
paidls nor car. and her craft was drty.
Ing with the wind and "a. while she at
covering In the stern. Our boat was
SOU alongside % her craft. and the
woman and canoe were soon aboard Ut
the Admiral Nelson. The watch below
hal bc-n turned up. and everybody was
on deck 90 -. what was guing on. The
woman wa- white. and. as we soon asccr.
tained. American. say white. bat
bruno would H. the better term. for II
was evident that she hal long been e1.
po-ssl a. tropical weather She was u
u.lium siEe. regular features and about
~ years % agc. anil hal at one time been
gcol looking.
"wh0 AMI where IL Oh. captain of this
shipY' she suddenly snapped. A. shs
rcachci the deck
"Iicrc. maam." calamity replied our
oil man. a. be stepped bnskiy forward.
II want to talk "a You In your cabin"
she oJuiinusl. her fingers working ncry.
ously and her EYES ahr.
They hal not b-cn gone n quarter OF
An hour when both rcaN-arci on deck.
wa. at the WHEEL and therefore hcari
all that was aid. II APPEARED that
the woman. whose name was Mr
Thomas, ownoi anil sail~i trading
schOoncr which h.si been left her nc her
husbands death. IL was strange vo-
cation for woman. but Il seemed she
like,i IL aud also had good business
heal on her. She hal crew ~ siH. her
mats bcing an ERglishman and the
other. I.ascars. anil she hal been sailing
between nearly all tho towns ON the
Gulf. Thrc. days befur, We picked her
up her schooner hal left Suinatra bound
for the Indian coast. The crew -e-med
a. H. perfectly quiet and content. but at
10 oclock 10 the previous night. headed
by the mate. hal suddenly laid violent
hands on hcr AMI scnt her a.irft without
water. fcoi or paddle. The intention
was a. run away with the schooner and
cargo and Ill them. and this plan might
haye bccn carried out bu, for her rrscue.
She VA. the spunkie-, little woman I
ever saw. She was ~ nal shs couldn't
stand still for thrco seconds at . time.
What she wanted was for our ship b. ~
In pursuit. Her schooner was armed
with two bras six Founders, while We
hal -four twelycs, and she erprc-~'-i her
entire willingness % go her craft sent
should benefit by their acts. Capt
whccler was pretty well along In
years, very careful on the question Of
Insurance. and his mind was not made
up until after breakfast Then be de-
.idci 10 lua up toward the Andaman
Islands In search of tho schooner. and lac
almost PROMISED % give her taste u
our metal II she would not surrender.
Tn. little woman managed to eat .
dos.n mOuthfuls of breakfast, and then
returned to the deck "a alinost assume
control. She ordered ma aloft, bo-sed
the Job of casting loo-s the guns and grt-
ting up powder and shot. and every ten
minutes she was hAiling the lookout %
know N anything was In sight Luck
was In her favor. While We hal bcsn
Jogging along al night the schooner. 10
ing further ~ the east, had b.en almost
b.calIne,l. We rais~i her almost dead
ahcai about noon. and ~ luck would
have II again We had plenty of wind,
while .he had nonc until the vessels were
10, over two miles apart. The schooner
could have no suspicion that the woman
was aboard II us. and We bew signal
that we wanted 10 spcak her. She at
once lay "a, and NJ we ran down to her
saw Mrs. Thomas grit her tceth, clinch
her hands and show other evidences Of
her feelings. She had borrowed the
mates ,ix shooter, donned q hat and
coat to di.aui.s herself. and as We lay ~
about cable. length away no eye could
have male out her sex Schooner
ahoy.- called our captain.
"Ay. ny. sir' This 10 tho Nancy Lss.
bound from Sumatra to the mainland
"Arc you the oaptainr
"No, cir. He. very sick In his berth.
"Run out tho~s guns whispsrcd the
old man to us, and down went tho port
shutters, and out went ths big barksrs,
and such Of the crew ~ were not at the
guns rested their musksts along the rail
"rye got your captain here, and shell
he put aboard q your shoutsd the cap
tain III you attempt any resistAnes
III sink your
The Nancy. mate ordered his crow 70
one Of the guns. but they refused 70
ot-y. every man Of than sulkins for
ward and disappearing down the hatch
The fellow left the deck long enough TO
arm himself with . cutlAss. and - We
lowered . boat he called out that no
would split the head Of the hr.s ma
who attempted 10 board the schooner.
Our first mate, the boatswnin and two
Of ma forrmast hands went In the boat
with Nh. Thomas, aud ~ we hooked ou
20 the schooner's chains the boAtswain
pulled q revolver and climbed In over
The bows The mutinesr retreatsd Al,
and them we al boarded The woman
hal not spoken word sincs leaving the
ship. She was pale - death. and hes
eyes glarci like tiger'A A she dropped
frpm the rail 10 the deck she cooked the
weapon In her hand. walked Aft and
rieht M 20 the mate. and - he nour'
iahesi his cutlaas and commanded her tc
kssp Oh she shot him dsad In his trackA
..irs ths Law Of the 80" !" shs quietly
remarked, - she turned 10 ~ "Now 70
rout out thoss LAscarsr"
"Bus you woa't hil thsmr sAad our
mate.
'sNo, not gutter We her grim answw.
- shs handsd him ths smoking rsvolvsr.
Casting . look st TIE dssd mutinssr.
70 b surs that hs W. dad. shs vsui
forward, took . bslaying pan out oe ths
port M and. soiag 70 The hatch. oai'sd