Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-06-26

n,an ''e schooner, with twenty. five
T,o'' was headed for the Philinninos
ine rest OF the gang, numbering go go,
VI eight' followed with the natl va craS,
. oo'ied large quantity of meat and erot
."e nest supper possible. and was ~
ton. "io any atten-
we mad brisk wind all night and
auring the next forenoon. and ot aham,
CLOCK we reached an anchoraq,o ~
'he east side Of the main island anh
w, mi'hiil quarter of mile OF the LoanL
Inc native craft passed us and an,araa
'ile mouth of ariver From what could
sat,'er she was going to bring ont mon
anu cannon to the schooner bunt
was niade through the schooner for o,,n
carriages and the discovery of the small
arms seemed to put the fellows in o,o.d
iufnor. There was about 50. 800 in cola
ABOARD in the cabin, and this was Con-
ca out and divided pro rata, or in some
oeher satisfactory manner as we Law at
anchor. Then | was ordered tn draw
painful OF wine from cask in a sort IF
iaZdretto or store room reached from tbo
gailey. The cook might have known of
tiie presence of the wine there but 7 ala
nc NOT had never looked into the place
mere was tin pail holding about ten
quarts in the galley, and this filled and
carried to the main hatch, with several
glasses, and everybody proceeded to helm
himself Now that we were at anchor
all discipline had ceased and one man
was as good as another. They were
proving all over the schooner and per-
fectly at home.
Inc WINE must have tickled their
palates nightly, for second pailful
was soon demanded 1t was while was
drawing 1t that noticed the barrel had
no bung in it. and | wondered wby the
"ine-had not soured. | retired to the
galley as soon as had filed the second
order, and for half an hour there was
good deal OF loud talk and laughter. All
OF sudden while was rejecting on
the situation, and perhaps crying a bit
IN my sorrow and anxiety, it struck me
that things were wonderfully quiet.
looked ont of the galley to see half a
dozen figures lying on the deck. and
later on, when had summoned courage
to walk the length of the schooner. |
found every man aboard apparently
sound asleep. Their breathing was la
bored, bus supposed this vas 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. | was tempted to take one
OF their knives and begin killing, but
doubted my nerve. The yaw was at
the davts, and planned to lower it and
let the breeze carry me out to sea.
held TO this idea for few minutes.
and then surrendered it for another
would swim ashore and hide in the forest,
| had to abandon that scheme as well
for saw at glance that the tide was
running out strong. | was wondering if
| should not start fire in the foreeastle
or cabin when discovered that the craft
was under way, She had her light anchor
out and had been Juggling heavily under
tide and gust. The chain had ground OF
against some sharp edged rock or the pin
had slipped from a shackie. 1t was prob
ably the latter case, as heard a splash
as of the end of the chain falling from
the hawse 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 lanterns on deck and the lang
. in, tho nab5 | hp,gtip1r Of ~
nerve in stepping over the sleepers to do
this work or of my sagacity in getting
the idea was working like one in a
dream and could hardly have identified
myself
What occurred between the time put
out the lights and daylight next morning
| never can clearly remember. The
schooner took care of herself for any
effort of mine, and think went into
the galley and crept behind the stove.
At least crawled out of that contracted
space soon after daylight, in response to
a call. suppose was called to pre-
pare breakfast for tie pirates but | was
no sooner out of the galley than | saw Il
large ship hove to quarter of mile
away. while one of her boats, with five
men in it, was alongside heschooner |
must have looked and acted like stupid,
for as a couple of men came over the
rail one of them gave me hearty shak-
ing and growled out
"You idiot, cant 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,
1t 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 mat
barrel of wine had been dosed with some
deadly drug The cook must have done
il nrpvious to the attack, or the Duh5
had been left out 10y another ana some
poisonous 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, ana the
schooner was over thirty miles OIL inc
land one of her majesty's men-oi-War
assisted by civil functlonary, attempt
ed an investigation. but nothing came
of II Our crew had been slaughtered
and the schooner captured, but she mad
recaptured herself and brought OH
twenty-five corpses. Not living man
could ever be found among the islands
who would acknowledge that he hao
ever seen the schooner, much less par
ticipated in her capture. New 1orb
sun