Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1893-05-12
SELECTED STORIES.
THE MUTINEERS.

earth In hourly peril Of the elemental A ]
leaned upon the quarter deck rail, gazing
pensively at the beautiful scene about me,
my spirit hew back to my own New Eng
land home, where beloved wife and two
bright children awaited me. The moon
shone down from q starlit sky, the refeo-
tion dancing like silver ON the gently murs
nuring waters, while the forest giants OF
the darkly outlined shore seemed bsckon-
ing me mysteriously. The soothing calm,
the gentle sleep of nature wrapped their In
fuence round my senses, and slumbered.
From dreamland ! again came back by
imperceptible degrees to q realization Of
my surroundings, and a. dawning con-
seriousness revisited my eyes / found them
resting intently on an object floating just
below me. With q smothered exclamation
l shook myself and stared again. Surely
not boati
And yet such IL was-a rude, native ca
noe at the mercy Of the waves without oc-
cupant or paddle. There 1t rode right In the
track OF the reflected moon, oscillating gen.
tly on the swell
After the first moments Of silent surprise
naturally cast about me for some explar
nation of the phenomenon. / scanned the
waters In all directions and tried to pierce
the gloomy blackness of the shore, but the
deeper shadows moving there were the
creatures Of my own imagination. No un-
usual object met my view, and when ran
my eyes over the deck found It equally
deserted
However little credence might put In
the idea Of ghosts and goblins, thought II
best to suppress the occurrence from my
more superstitious mates, and the next
morning the crew weighed anchor and
trimmed the sails for home in happy igno
rance Of the mysterious canoe
But the affair rankled In my memory, and
caught myself pondering on it by fits and
starts in way that annoyed my own good
sense. Not that l was superstitious, for
the same good sense assured me that spirits
never made use of material objects In the
exercise of their erratic capers, but dread
ed some mischief which could not define
to myself And ] was soon to learn my
fears were not without foundation.
A gloomy day of gusty winds and lower
ing clouds, rolled above each other like .
scroll. had settled down upon the sea
Damp, drizzling, penetrating, the very
masts and rigging seemed to reek and shiv-
or under its depressing influence, while the
men huddled together in their storm coats
for the purely human desire Of mutual com
fort and support.
was pacing the quarter deck alone,
wrapped in meditation, when a touch upon
my arm reused me. Old Jack Marley, my
first mate, stood at my side. his phlegmatio
features illumined by an unusual express
sion of animation. Ee had even suffered
his pipe to 60 out-a sure sign that some
thing was amiss.
"Cap'n," he said, there's foul work
afoot here I've Jest been down In the hold
an heard voices behind the false bulk
head"
"voicesr' exclaimed.
"Aye, aye, sirp' he responded, rubbing
his nose with vexation There's four OF
'em, mutineers, sir, as was set ashore on
the Guinea coast" and then he went on
deliberately to reveal a plot which he had
overheard-a plot to seize the brig-so dis-
bolical in Its details a. TO bar description.
listened in dumfounded amusement to
his narration, while my mind hew back
over the various suspicious circumstances
Of the case, now made clear, with severe
contempt for my own lack of penetration.
The mystery Of the empty boat was ex-
plained-the convicts had stolen aboard and
secreted themselves while was asleep.
When / reused myself and asked old Jacks
counsel, he was ready with 1t promptly.
"You just let me speak out, cap'n, and
I'll spin you a plan that'll fetch them out
of there in hurry. In the fust place, veer
the vessel broadside to the waves and let
the wind keel her over. Then let some one
sing out for the lifeboats, and, mark my
words, they'll scramble up quicker n,
they went down. We can meet 'em at the
hatchway and bowl 'em over like 30 many
ninepins."
No time was lost In putting the plan into
al tha 20 h.
one in order to avoid suspicion by any un-
usual movement and informed them Of the
circumstances.
They certainly brought the ship about
with surprising rapidity, and as she heaved
over with violent lurch we stationed our
selves on each side of the hatchway, armed
with ropes and clubs. 1 had given strict
orders that the rascals were to be no more
than knocked over, and when all was ready
directed old Jack, who had the most ter
rifle voice among us, to sing out, and, my
conscience, he didi
"Breakersl Breakersi Breakers to the lee
wardp'
Then gave the orders in furious shout
to lower away the boats. and while the
helmsman plunged her nose into the waves
my men raised an appalling yell that might
well give those below the impression that
pduucDuOuluh uhh DTOhcu lOoSc.
The effect was magical We heard vio-
lent scrambling and cursing as Of men in
dire terror, and Immediately after several
dark forms appeared rushing for the deck
ugly looking customers even by the dim
light
Having seen my prisoners secured, had
the brig put about on her course again and
then led them below, where questioned
them. But why attempt to depict their
mad rawlings, beginning with dire threats
Of vengeance and terminating in cowardly
appeals for mercyi We could get little sat
isfaction out of them and concluded, after
q brief discussion, that out safest course
would be to send them back whence they
had come
Our course lay in the track of vessels en-
gagged In African traffic. and we were 20 for
tunate few days later as to fall In with Q
ship bound for the coast. The captain will
ingly agreed to take the prisoners In hand,
and the sea being calm we lost no time In
shifting their berths. Not until then did
We sleep In peace
Well, the voyage terminated satisfactorily
to all concerned. but you may rest assured
that taught me the lesson never again TO
all asleep while on the watch.-C. c. Archer
b Cincinnati Post.
THEUR R0MANCE