Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1892-08-12
RAN DOWN A SLAYER.

Never surely. did the cry fall upon
more welcome ears save and except
those of men becalmed in boat upon
the open sea- For twelve weary days
and nights had we. the officers and
men of H. NJ. ship Petrol (six guns)
Commander B. r. Nevillel been
cooped up in our iron prison. patrol
ing one OF the hottest sections of tho
terrestrial globe, on the lookout for
slavers From longitude north to
longitude south was our beat, and
we dared not venture beyond these
limits Our instructions were to keep
out OF sight Of land aud try to inter-
cept some of the large vessels which
it was suspected, carried cargoes of
slaves from the - coast.
Sail ho!" The man. in his excite
ment. repeated the shout before he
could be hailed from the deck.
Where away" sang out the cap
tain.
Two points on the weather bow.
sir was the reply.
keep her away two points" said
Commander Neville. and the order
was promptly obeyed.
In Il Jew moments the news had
spread through the ship and then we
clustered on the bulwarks. straining
our eyes to get a glimpse of the
stranger. Even the stokers. poor fell
lows. showed their sooty faces at the
engine room hatchway. OF course the
stranger might be- and probably was
an Innocent trader; but then she
might be a SLAYER. The golden vision
OF prize money foated before the eyes
Of every man and boy on board.
We did not steam very fast as our
supply of coal was limited. and it was
about two hours before shutdown when
We fairly sighted the stranger She
was long three. masted schooner,
rith tall raking masts lying very
DIV in the water All her canvas was
set and as a little wind had sprung
ip. she was slipping through the
water at fair pace.
''She looks for all the world like q
SLAYER sir " remarked Mr.. Brabazon.
She first lieutenant, TO the commander.
Neville said nothing, but his lips
were firmly compressed and a CLEAN
Vi SACllcUueuJ was III his eve.
Fire blank cartridge Mr. ORR
ley" said he to the second easenant
and signal her to give her nation
atty and her code number"
This was done and in answer TO
the signal the schooner slowly holsted
the American colors.
Fire a shot Mr. O'Riley-wide
OF course" said the commander"
Again the deafening report OF the
big gun sounded in our ears. and we
could see the splash OF the shot as it
struck the water about fifty yards
from the schooner. Immediately a
flag was run up. then another and
another and we saw that she was not
giving us her code number but was
spelling out her name. letter by letter
The Black Swan.
just look that up in the United
States registry" said the captain to
the first lieutenant And in half a
minute he had reported: NO such
name. sir"
This was something more than sus-
picious. And the wind was rising.
Hoist tho signal for her to heave-
to-" cried Commander Neville. Take
a boat aud a half-dozen of hands Mr..
O'Riley." he continued; board her.
inspect her papers and come back to
report II her papers are not in Or
der added he. you may search for
slaves but il they are. you had better
do nothing further. You know it is
clearly set down in the protocol that
we are not entitled TO search the hold
II the papers are in order. and there
have been complaints lately against
some over-zealous officers who have
got into trouble as a consequence. So
be careful But keep your eyes open.
Note any suspicious circumstances.
and come back as soon as you can 10
report"
Before Lieut. O'Riley reached the
ship he saw that everything about her
had been sacrificed to speed. Her
spars were unusually heavy for craft
of her size.
The British officer was received by
a little. thin. elderly man speaking
with a strong Yankee accent
"Produee your papers IL you
please said ORiley. They were
handed out at at once and seemed
regular.
What have you got on boardp
was the next question.
General cargo-dry goods and so
on"
why isn't your name on the
registerp"
.'Ain't It nowP Well. guess II
must be because this is now ship
We cant put our name on the register
by telegraph mister"
OF course ORiley could only return
20 the Petrol and report all this to
his commander. I'm convinced she
Is q SLAYER. sir said he in conclusion