Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-01-29

doubtless made TO enable them TO In
spect us We could make out four or
five men aboard Of her. but no more.
and she did not sit low enough in the
water to prove the presence OF much
cargo in her hold. A glass or two
was no doubt leveled in our direction.
and anxious to make a big showing OF
strength we kept the men lodging
about as briskly as possible. The
stranger must have concluded that we
had from fifteen TO twenty men to de-
fend our decks. and after running a
parallel course OF two or three hours
he dropped back into our wake and
hung there like wolf in chase. SO
wore the day away. and so came the
night The possibility that the dhow
was a peaceful trader like ourselves
was no longer an excuse with us We
could not say on the other hand, that
she was a pirate bent on our capture,
but that was a reasonable view OF it
and one which took firm hold OF
everybody's mind. Had she come
along up and laid u3 aboard and had
done with it, each man would have
felt relieved and given her the best hs
could. 1t was the waiting-the mys-
tery-the speculation as to her inten-
lions that took the nerve out of our
men and made them carry pale faces
The breeze died out with the sun. so
that when night had fairly como we
were not making over a knot an hour,
with full moon to light up the sea
until you could have made out a ships
yawl mile away. There was no use
trying to dodge the stranger on such a
night, and both watches were kept on
deck. with guns and cutlasses at hand
for instant use. At about midnight
the dhow crept up until his bowsprit
was not more than 200 feet from our
rudder post aud every man knelt at
the bulwarks with musket in hand.
We tried our best now TO make out
how many men he had on his decks
but we could see no one not
even ono figure. They were either
hidden by the sails or sheltered by the
bulwarks He had better sight OF
us, and, perhaps. seeing that we were
ready he gradually dropped back
to his old position and there
We found him again at daylight.
To show you how the presence o!
this unknown told on the nerve of the
men. let mo say that after breakfast
the men sent a spokesman aft to re-
quest the captain to luff up and have
it out with him, and If we were oil TO
have our throats cut to have it over
and done with. This he refused to
do, however telling the men that we
were heading straight for Sunda and
the nearer We got to the coast the less
danger there was OF an attack. We
had only moderate breeze during the
day. and the dhow kept her place as
on the previous ono If she meant us
evil she would be pretty certain TO at
tack US that night as the morrow
would bring us almost in sight OF the
coast Darkness did not affect the
breeze which was about a four-knot
one and We had the same moon
light after 10 o'clock. The big
silver orb was hardly finger high
out OF the sea when the dhow began
to close upon US, ard now we felt GER
tain that the climax had come. Nearer
and nearer she came, creeping like O
shadow Of evil and she was only o
cables length of our post quarter,
and evidently all ready to sheer down
upon us and lay us aboard, when she
suddenly luffed up into the wind.
hung for q moment while her sails
Suited and slapped and then went of
to the southeast and was soon out oI
sight and that without our seeing a
soul except the man at the wheel il
was queer enough, as we all agreed.
and it was a mystery we were never
tired Of discussing. but her object and
identity we never ascertained. Every
man forward will believe to the day
of his death that she was spirit ship.
New York Sun.