South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1893-01-27

unbound, and was free to move
about the boat as 1 pleased, but |
was cautioned to make no noise in
case we were pursued by the ship.
For nearly an hour we continued
our course in silence, then Peters
said:
"'I reckon thar amt no use in
disguisin' matters, now that we've
got the by in our power. The
fact is he continued, addressing
me, we've iist relieyed the jean
neatts nv little ~ her gold
about s1eo, 900, reckon-and we
want yer ter help US git away with
it. The gold all belonged to them
heather Cinnamon, an it didn't
look like the fair thing for them to
take it out Of the country where
they made it, an we decided to
bring part Nv it back-kind Nv m
export duty, you see. Now, if
you'll help us git to Formosa we'll
do tho fair thing by you, an you'll
git your part Of the gold.'
"I don't want any OF it, 1 re-
piled Indignantly. Il will not be a
party to your robbing scheme, but
l suppose l can't help myself about
assisting you to get ashore, since L
am with you, but don't think that
| would not give you all over to the
authorities if 1 could
"'Oh, we'll risk that laughed
Peters. only you pilot us to For
mesa and we'll do the rest. Well
see that you don't lose nothing,
and besides we know you've been
waptin' a chance to try your skill
at navigatin,' and we amt in favor
Nv koepin' a boy back when he
wants TO learn.
"'This speech brought a hearty
laugh from the sailors.
81 now began to understand the
situation in which was placed.
That the men would have no mer-
cy on me if l failed to do their bid
ding i well knew, yet [ felt it my
duty to make some attempt to
thwsrt their plans. But j must
have time to think, and to gain
this it was necessary for me to APP
pear as passive as possible not to
excite suspicion. AS soon as the
robbery was discovered l knew that
tho Jeannetts would double on her
course and try to run down the
robbers, and there might be a
chance of my arfesting them if l
managed matters rightly, but any
attempt to deceive my captors
would be dangerous undertaking,
and should be discovered would,
il all probability, cot ma my life.
Knowing this, L recognized the
necessity of using the greatest eau
ton in what l did.
"The night was still dark, with
a heavy mist hanging over the sea,
affOrding an excellent opportunity
for the boat to escape the vessel.
1t was fully two hours before Pet
ers would allow even a match to be
lit to look at the compass, to ascer-
tain our course. Then the boat
was headed for tho northwest.
"The night passed, and when
morning dswned the sea was still
covered with dense fog. On tax
ing my bearing l found, as near as
] could calculate, that We we're 81
dogs. IL minis. north latitude, and
1872 dogs. 81 Minis. east longitude.
This would make our petition
about 40 miles east by some 30
miles south Of the island of For
mosa, aud nearly 500 miles east Of
Hong Kong. BY keeping on q d.
rect western course ] could readily
see that we would miss Formosa
fully thirty miles and follow in the
wake Of the Jeanette. AZ I re-
Elected on this fact it suddenly oc-
Cured to me that / might mislead
the robbers az to our true position,
and while pretending to pilot then,
to FOrmosa 1 might induce them to
continue on toward Hong Kong,
thereby providing a possibility Of
encountering the Jeanette. But
scarcely had this resolution taken
place in my mind when Peters APP
preached and began to examine the
chart, asking mo to show him our
position.
I'm response 70 his request I
pointed to a spot one degree north