Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-07-02

| lng ports \ moment lAttr her topnlen
wcrs swarming Nleft To set hcr iopsnil,
and royals ADD she struvc 10 cross The
| Glosic's bows and rake her again. The
French captain. however. brought BIZ,
| frgate's head ronud. aud the TWO rode
sidc by side within easy pistol shot. pour.
ing hroadsidcs into each other IN one
~ Those munlorous duels which. cpull
they Nh he recorded, would mottle Oui
charts with blood
IN lhnt h@ty tropical air. with va
liant q hrccg,, the smoke formed a thicl,
bank fonnj the two vessels from which
me topmnsts Gully protruded Neither
enid seen anything u It's enemy save thu
thNbs of fire In tue darkness, and thu
guns were Sponged and trained aud fred
INTO q delisc wall OF yapor On the poop
and the funcastlc the marines. In two
little rNl lines. were pouring in their
NoUrrs hut neither they nor the sea-
mep gunnefs could See what effect their
hre was having Nor indeed could they
t'll how far they were suffering them.
selves, for, standing nj gun. one could
XIV Manly see that upon the right aud
Tue lefi, Hut above The rour " the
canncn .came the sharper sound OF The
piping shot, the crashing Of riven blanks
Nld the occasional heavy thnd ns snnr
~ nioNk came hurtling on the deck.
INC l.uiennnis paced up and down h.,
I'M the llhe, If guns, while Captain
ms cooked hat and peefed eagerly OUT.
!, This is rare, Bobby" said he, as The
hVutenant joined him. Ther. suddenly
tns,slr9ining himself what have We iosi,
Mr Nhartopi'
,@onr maintopsoil yard and our eaa,
Where's the fnrg"
Zone overheard, sir"
Ihey " think we've struck, Lash a
hoars ensign on the starboard arm OF
ths inlzzen cross jack yard.
Yes, sir."
y round SHOT dashed the hinnaclc TO
picccs between them. \ se.ond knocke,l
.Wo marines into q bloody, palpimtlng
mass For q moment the smoke rose
and the English captain saw that His
odNArsniy's heavier metal was producing
horrible effect The lcda WIS a shat.
tercd wreck. Her deck was str,wod with
eorpscs, Several OF her portfolios were
knocked into one. lnl one of her Is
Pound guns had been thrown right mck
ON To her hrcreh aud pointed straight
M 10 the sky, The thin limo Of lnnrnos
still loaded and fired. hnt half the guns
We're silent and their crews ,vern piled
thicky round Thorn
stand by to rnell hoarlersw Yelled
the cAntain.
"Cullhsses, lads, cuilasscs!" reared
Wharton.
Hold yonr vollcy I'll, they touchr'
cried the captain ol marines.
The huge loom of the l'rcnchman was
seen bursting through the smoke. Thcl,
clusters of hoardcrs hung upon her siilcs
aud shrouds, A final brnadside lcapcd
from her ports and the mninmust OF tho
ledn swapping short OF few feet above
The deck, spun into the air and crashed
down upon the port guns, killing ten
men aud putting the whole battery out
OF action, An instant later the two
ships. scnpcd together aud the star,
board bower anchor Of the Glorc caught
lhe hi5zen chain Of the leda upon tho
port side With yell the black swarm
of hoardcr steadicd themselves for
spring.
But their feet were never To reach
that hloodstained deck, From ennir.
where there came Il wcll-nimed whin of
grape, aud another, and another The
English marines aud aennen. willing
with cntl0ss aud muskrt behind the
silent guns saw with nmnzemcnt the
dark MASSES thinning and shrrdding
away ~ the same time the port broad
roar.
Clear away the wreck" roarcd the
captain. %. What the devil are they
Get the guns clear!r painted the
lieutenant "We'll do them vet boysW
The wreckage WAS torn and hacked
aud splintcred until first one gun nnd
then another roarcd into action again.
Inc frenchman's anchor had been cut
away and the leda had worked herself
free from that fatal hug. Hut now sud
denly there was scurry M the shronds
OF The GlOire and hundred Englishmen
were. shouting themselves h0nise
-, They re rgnningl They're runningl
lhry e. running!
Aud II was true The Frenchmnn
doll Ia fnas 81.
would carry.
But that shouting hundred could not
clhlm j all as their own. As tho smoke
cleared L was not difficult to see the
reason. The ships had gained the mouth
81 the estuary during the fight. and
there about four miles out to sea was
the Lsdn's consort bearing down under
fun sail To the sound of the guns. Cnpt.
de Million had done his pnrt for one ,lny
and presently the Gluirc was driving on
swiftly To the north while the Dido was
bowling along az her skirts, rattlmg
aWny With her b0wcusers, until head
lnnd lid them from view
But the Leda lay sorcly stricken with
her mainmnsi gone, her bulwarks shat.
tered, her miZzennGst aud gan shot
away, her sails like bcggnr's rhgs nnI
hundred Of her crew dead md wound.
ed. Close beside her mass Of wreck
NNf uohltu upon tue waves. II was the
stcrnpost Of manglod vessel, nnl
across II In white letter on a black ground
was printed ''l'hc Slappiug Sail.'
by the Lord, II was tho brig that
saved nsl' cried Mr. Wharton. 'IIud.
son brought her into action with tile
Frnclnnn and was blown ont Of the
water by brOadside."
The captain turned on his heel and
paced up and down the deck. Alrcaly
his crew was plugging the shot holes
knotting aud splicing and mcndlBg.
When be came back Tho lieutenant saw Il
softening Of the stern lines about his
mouth and eyes.
Are they all gomez
Every man. They must have sunk
with the wreck"
The two officers looked down at tie
sinister nnlnc and at the STUMP of
wrcckago which floaicd in the dscolored |
water. Something black washed to and |
fro beside u spliniored gaf and tnngle |
of hAllinrds. II was the outrageous en-.
sign, and near It a scarlet cap was iloat-
ing"
'lIc was n villain, but he was Brit.
on" said the captnin at last. "lle lived |
like a dog, but by God he died like q |
man,