The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-03-16

us, on coming Closer" said he. Now,
then, to save my chasing her too far
toward Jamaica, where / might run the
risk of falling in with one of those
meddlesome naval cruisers from Port
Royal. want you to take the skiff and
scull it toward her Your father will
be ure to see you and come this way
to pick you up. Your approaching him
from my brig will make him think he
was mistaken as to the character of
my vessel. As he comes on-draws
near, / will suddenly head my craft to-
ward him and get alongside. Your life.
If you do as l have proposed, will be
spared; but, mark well, if you give any
warning sign to your father while in
the skiff ! will cut you down, for. in
any case, neither you nor that ship can
escape my swift Serpent
Il will 60" answered Jack, quickly,
His handouts were taken off; he
dropped into the skiff, unfastened the
rope that held it, and, in order to get
as far as possible from the brig before
the fire was discovered, he sculled the
boat along rapidly, working the oar
with all the strength and skill at his
command Presently he heard loud
cries from the brig, and he then knew
the pirates had found out that their
craft was on fire. ALI was confusion
aboard of her.
He could see the heads of her crew
over the tops of the bulwarks as they
ran to and fro. Soon smoke and flames
came bursting up from the hold. The
flames speedily caught the tarred fore.
rigging, twined about it and in few
moments the foresail and foretopsail
were blazing. In the hold the piles OF
oakum and tarry ropes, now roaring
and cracking as the fire spread amongst
them, resisted all the efforts of the
crew to stop their burning. Yells and
excavations broke from the fierce gang
A dozen pistols were fired at Jack. He
heard the lead whiz about his ears and
cut the water close to the skiff. Eortu.
nately he was now many fathoms
from the brig, and the swaying of the
vessel had disturbed the outlaws aim.
They had no time to shoot at him
again. Every man was wanted to
work at putting out those raging
flames. But it was in vain. Thsy con-
tinued to spread rapidly, and at length
went rolling aft. Then the pirates, on
account of their powder magazine, could
no longer safely stay aboard the craft.
Their boats were lowered, and, crowd.
ing into them, the whole of the crew
put off, leaving the brig to her fate
Before this happened the Ocean Queen
had come round, heading for the skiff,
and Jack, having got alongside of her,
had been picked up to join his over
joyed father and mother. As the ship
again headed off before the wind,
leaving the pirates boat astern, the
lad told his story. 1t was heard by the
listening crew, who gave a rousing
cheer and then came aft to shake
hands with the brave boy who had
saved the ship and all on board of her
from falling into the power of the
merciless pirates.
The next moment a column of flame
was seen shooting sLlyward from the
burning brig, and, with a loud report,
she blew up.
The Ocean Queen reached her des-
tined port few days later, and an
armed schooner was sent TO look for
the pirates who had taken to their
boats. She did not succeed in finding
them, but subsequently they were all
captured by an American sloop-of-war.
Rufus Hale, in n. Y. Ledger