Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1894-07-05

:, run, yoh bloody little scoundrel!'
!. said the captain.
Scarcely had he got the words out o.
:. his mouth before there was another
!. puff OF smoke-this time from hcl
stern, and almost Immediately there
. came a crash md hundred voices cried
out In alarm and Indignation.
The shot had struck the Corinthian
lust abaft the bridge; torn away about
ten feet Of her upper works and gone
through the stern taifmil Three men
were knocked down by the splintcrs.
Capt Jamison was livid with honest
, rage and he stamped his foot andswore
terribly. "By the God Of nations" he
said, ARE we living in the daysof Capt.
Kidd or in the nineteenth century,
sid come to, II were you said his
mate. "rhat fellow will hull us pres
emily We never can catch him.
Come TOP" exclaimed the sturdy
British captain "I'll break his back.
Do you think an English steamer goes
dowr on her marrow bones to every
tramp she mcets?'
The vessel was now racing through
! tho water at an Increased speed and
the action OF tho engines made an
audible throb.
There was intense excitementamong
the passengers, many Of whom were
calling up to the captain to stop tho
vessel.
lilo looked over the brass rail OF the
bridge at them with indignant con-
tempt. As he did so, one man pulled
q pistol and shouted: T.ook here, we
don't want to be sent to the bottom on
account Of your id gold. Stop
there where she Is, We can defend our
selves al close quarters, but VIC don't
want to be sunk"
TO the captains utter nmazement
twenty other passengers shouted:
aye, aye, shut of your steam.
Even then some horrible suspicion Of
the truth must have flashed upon the
wretched officers mind as he looked
down upon this group Il0 eauglt the
rail moment with both hands, ihaD
wheeled round and, folding his arms,
said to'his companion on the bridge,
"Stop hcrl"
AS II In anticipation Of this, tho Han
Pedro Ind slackcncd speed and was
now blowing white cloud OF steam
For ten minutes everybody on tho
Corinthian watched the vessels ap.
proach each other and, when they
were less than u thousand feet apart,
every ono could see the line Of heads
along the smaller vessels taifrul,
The sen was unusually calm and
CLASSY, and presently boat manned
by six men put of from the Sun Pedro.
When the young man who repre-
scented The pirate had reached the deck
OF the cornthian he found himself
facing a crowd Of men md women in
every condition Of nlarm and anxiety
lie was dressed In blue shirt md
common duel. trousers and glazed cap;
IN his belt he calrcda regulation navy
revolver He saluted the captain po-
ltcly and said, IN u pleasant voice
u ain instructed, hir, W ass you to
order your people below We viii
come alongside and remove your spc.
cic No harn will be done md no h.
dignity offered to your crew or passcn.
gers"
Damn your impudcncc, sirl' re-
torted Capt Jamison. 1--WE u grcat
mind to chuck you into the sea myself
Go back and tell your buccanccr that
u British captain sinks with his ship
and cargo. lie doesn't hand them over
to the first cowarlly rascal he mccta."
"As You please, sir" the young nan
replied "Itwould DO o cruel necessity
TO send this vessel and its people to
the bottom"
lie turned TO 20 to his boat after
making another salute and one Of the
passengers again interfercd.
"We object to the arrangement" he
said, "and IRE not going to be muir
dercd on the high seas to save your
gold"
Whereupon twenty other passengers
armed with rcvolvcrs stepped ont and
repeated aye, ago Take the gold,
but we want to reach our destination"
The upshot was that tho captain and
his officers were locked IN the cabin,
the passengers ordered below and tho
San Pedro dashed alongside. II took
seventy-nve men two hours and half
to transfer the gold from one vessel to
another, ind q sharp lookout was kept
for approaching steamships. When
the task was accomplished, the on.
gineers were ordered on deck und
three Of the l'edro's crew went below
md eifectually disabled the ma
chincry of the Corinthian. This took
another hour.
The last thing the pirates saw was
the white hair OF Capt. Jamison blow
Ing In the wind that had sprung up
from the northeast, a. he shook his
fist at them And the last words they
heard were: III hang every dog VI
you before die'
CHAPTER VII
No one knew 50 well Us Hendricks,
who sat IN the cabin of the San Pedro,
that all this was child's play to
what was to come. lie had sixteen
hundred miles to run, lie was loaded
heavily with coal and the gold had
weighted bis vessel too seriously to
think Of getting anything like the
speed ont Of her that he desired. She