The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1892-11-12

Gentle ON Land, But vsritsbis Tiger o
tho Water.


tho Water.
Lasu.da that was the name OF the
native whose hut was reared just be.
yond my fense and La-su.da WAS Ia
me the most obliging OF neighbors.
His ciyilities went as far as catching
an occasional stray chicken OF mine
La-Du-da was OF pure Malay stock
and showed no Chinese blood We
were quite sociable after q month or
two and accepted his aid In thatch-
ing lean-to ! had added 70 my cot
tage. was not willing TO let him
work for nothing. and gave. him .
small amount OF money. suppose !
was careless as to my gardening tools
leaving them about when a sudden
rain came on. but Inever missed my
thing felt then quite assured as to
his honesty.
La-su da's occupation seemed vari-
cd. He had small patch OF
vegetables some kind OF edible tuber
which the Malays eat In u half
iermented state and he did some
little work In wedding his plot. He
was however moro Of u fisherman.
and would be absent sometimes for
IL week. III !, little river O-diian ran
directly into the sea which was not
more than six miles distant as the
crow would fly. but the creek twisted
and doubled so that the SEA was fully
eighteen miles away. l would some
t mes watch La.su.da padding along.
and thought had never seen such
an expert boatman.
had missed him for several days
when one evening was surprised by
receiving visit from him. His arm
was bandnged and he was Hmping.
Ia-su-da exhibited to me q fairly
deep cut In his FORE arm and showed
n leg that had been apparently grazed
by shot. did not inquire how my
patient had been hurt but ut once
applied to his wounds such simple
remedies as had. In two weeks he
was fairly we'll again.
He seemed as II he wanted to show
me his gratitude. One day found
on my window sill a very handsome
bolt OF some kind OF Chinese ,brocaded
silk. scarcely knew what to do
with tho stuff. which had every
reason TO believe worth ut least 81 or
more yard. and there were twenty
two yards OF it wanted to return
tho stuff. but La-su.da had made u
mysterious disappearance
About month afterward Iheard
cOmmotion at La, SUI as hut and
went out 10 SEQ what had happened.
Two OF my native friends In the
village hearing the noise. nc
companied me. When we entered
the hut there was my Malay friend
extended on the floor stark dead. Ho
had been run through several times
with spear and there was an ugly
cash across his face.
'How did this happen?' asked.
quite Mortified.
why. 1t was to be expected. La.
su-da was n pirate. but good pirate.
He never did any harm to soul on
the land. but no sooner was he in his
boat than his business changed.
Along the river he could collect in
half hour twenty leading. men in
his profession - iirst-chop pirates
and then they stood out to sea in u
craft OF some twenty-five tons and
they plundered any junk they came
across.
.Ia-su-da was captain. and q very
brave man no was--a perfect tiger
when his blood was up We had
great deal OF respect for him. He
was civil, obliging. and ne er wronged
any OF us in the village. We never
however. went on the water without
his permission. He wanted tribute
and we paid him. but not much. Oh.
he is to bo forgiven.
You must understand that oui
ways are not your ways For q
thousand years or more tho family oil
Lu-su .da have been In the piracy bus.
mess. 1t was their nature Poor
fellow! We are sorry for him. but he
has two or three sons and, as they
will certainly carry out their father $
calling. there will be more Cinnamon
who will suffer- We shall miss him
very much. for he used to sell US tie
best opium very cheap and there wa,
nothing close or mean about him.
'.Hut this La-su-da may have killed
many a poor sailor or trader" said.
Many Why count your teeth
over twenty times and you would
about come near the number OF mer
La-su- da has killed. on the Coas
of Malacca