The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-03-11

Shers.
Il must see him; I've message toi
him ~,
I'll take it to him." said Simon, 4but
Fer not goin' to poke yer darned ugly face
inside o them works.
Tell him to send an officer"
.Aint an ossifer, ye darned sucker,
re simpleton, greenhorn2 I'm Capn
ATOMS Great Lieutenant BTeVet Bricndiel
Gineral. at yer Service; naow, whatever
ye want III send tn teown I'll take it
That's all. Eff ye're got no business
mere the best thing ye kin do is to git
aboard yer little craft, and git eout o
his ere port or We may git in business.
The officer, finding that hehad no other
alternative than to submit, drew from his
breast pocket package, and handing IT
10 the undaunted Yankee, said:
Take these to the commander of the
tort. and tell him that Lieut.. Berkley
waits his answer"
aAll right, Leftenant; jist wait right
here, an the Cap'n will look over these
sre papers and let ye know in mighty
short order what he thinks on 'em."
With this, the irrepressible Simon, &C
,ompanied by his guard, returned to the
tort. ,u
well, Simon, what do they want?"
asked Griffith, as the faithful Yankee and
his half dozen brave followers climbed
,ver the parapet. -.
Dun know, Capn; here's somethin'
that maybe ye kin understand. IdunknoW
what it is"
The Captain broke the seal and drew
forth a paper. He glanced at it a moment
and then at the deserterof the &enophon,
who was at his side.
Mr.. Burnett, newer read more in
famous proposition, nor do I think one
more infamous was ever put on paper.
What is it," the deserter of the Zeno-
phon asked.
Listen, and I will read"
And Capt. Alton read the proposition,
which was as follows:
ABoARp HR-oF-WAR 8ENoPHoE,
September IA, 1914.
To Captain Griffith Alton, Commander OF hhe
port of Manoa:
DEAR S1R-Haring your town completely
Invested. and your guns as good as spiked
for YOU dare not fire at the &enophon
while Miss Gatrell is aboardl. and having
your town and your people completely at
nv mercy. make you the following terms
81 surrender which. if you will accept and
return herewith in writing. hostilities will
be at an end. You are to run down the
American flag and hoist English eolors.
then with all your men, unarmed. save the
officers, who may retain their SIDE arms
to march outside the works and surrender
to a combined force of land soldiers and
marines.
On these conditions we agree not to In.
lure or destroy private property. and all
men save commissioned officers shall be
paroled at once, save and except such men
as NAV be found to have deserted the army
or navy OF his Britannia Majesty. These
we shall reserve the right to punish ac-
cording to the articles OF war adopted by
the army and navy OF his Britannia Majesty;
and you are to report as soon as possible
on board his Britannia Majesty's man-of-
rSignedI ISAAC MoNT1ETH.
Captain his Britannia Majesty's Man Of
war Xenophon.
SETH BRIDGES.
Major OF Infantry.
For few moments after reading the
proposition as submitted by Capt. Mon
tieth and Major Bridges, both Griffith
Alton and the deserter of the &enophon
we're silently gazing at each other. Grit
fifth WAS first to speak:
What do you think of it?"
Il have but one thing to say-for our
selves it means death.
Yes, and for myself it means the same.
There is on my pant nothing but an un-
conditional surrender. But there IS
something very significant about paroling
the rank and file at once. and refusing 10
parole the commissioned officers.
Il know there is" replied the deserter,
1snd I cannot underst and it, unless it is
IL = nfo-
vorable news from Baltimore, which I
think possible.
The firing there has ceased"
YES"
@Well, Mr.. Burnett, what must We do
to gain timer" said our hero. Il feel like
treating this matter with the indignation
it deserves, and yet with Ola Gatrell
aboard their vessel, they really have our
hands tied. so that We are not able to do
ANYTHING toward defending ourselves
against the ship. What con We do togain
time?"
For a moment the deserter bowed his
head thoughtfully, and at last said:
Demand time to consider"
How long!"
Three days"
Had not better parlcy with them first,
ask them if they will consent to release
Miss Gatrell?"
They might ever agree to that, and
when they had done so, you were pris.,
pner and the troops disarmedss they could
THAT IS very true, yet if We can rai.;
ley with them day or two 1t Will be bet
ter"
Mr.. Burnett thought so too, and con.
sequently our hero sent back the follow.
ing: -, ~, cn
Will you release her and allow her to come
ashore to he. relatives and friends un-
harmed?
Simon took the message and they
watched the boat as it rowed back to the
man -of-war.
1t was an hour before it was seen re-
turning. The same officer was aboard il,
and when Simon had brought the reply,
Captain Alton broke the seal and read:
The terms o: capitulation were substan-
TALLY stated in our first proposition.
ISAAC MoNTIETg, Captain.
SETH BRIDGES, Major Infantry.
Our heros course was now all mapped
out before him. He wrote upon BLANK
sheet of paper the following:
II you viii grant an armistice until the
terms of surrender can be agreed upon:
pledge my honor as an officer to faithful!
comply with my part.
what think you of that?" no asked
handing it to the deserter of the Keno
phon. >.
1T will precludo you from attacking
the vessel during the armistice.
"The armistice, rs I shall arrange it
will expire at midnight and We will attacl
at daylight. have asked but three days