The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1894-01-27

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With Giant Strength He Dashed
Them to the Bottom of the Boat.
other ceased rowing, but held his grip,
while the unbalanced boat waved dan
gerously into the trough Of the sea.
Before they had time to regain their
lost ground W. had loaded again.
Bang! bang! bang!
All three went wide Of the mark,
and the pirades came speeding up to
the side of our ship.
Just then there came the sweetest
sound l ever heard. Borne on the gale
came the ''boom" of an approaching
vessel. Our volley had been seen and
answered.
Down, Jennie! Down beneath the
bulwarks!" 1t was getting rather hot
for the little woman, and she quickly
did as she was bid. The captain and
1 stood up together to draw our assail-
ants fire. Bang! bang! bang! bang!
With no more damage, however, than
a hole through the shippers cap. 1t
was no place for long, clumsy firearms.
Dalton and our old crew were now
at our side, each armed with a heavy
capstan bar. The three scounderly
Spaniards lurked near the f%orecastle,
eXcitedly awaiting the turn of events.
Boom! The sound was nearer now.
Would help be too late? The boat
%grappled. There was fully a dozen
Of the savages, and their murderous
dirks cleaned in the Pickering moon
light most awfully. They, too, had
heard the approaching rescue, and were
growing desperate.
Up the side they swarmed like wild
cats. A blow from Dalton gave a
final settler to one of them, while the
rest of lis succeeded in beating them
back into their galley. The second at
tempt the pirates were rather more
successful. Two of them leaped over
the rail, and before we knew it one
of our sturdy fellows lay prone upon
the deck, stabbed to the heart.
We could i'll spare him, particularly
as we had to divide our attention. But
there was help at hand that we had not
expected. The sturdy-hearted little
woman, though covering beneath the
rail, had not been idle all this time,
and the discharge from her reloaded
weapon "a so well directed that there
was nc longer anything to fear from
the two who had got on board.
And Dalton with his giant strength
seized the wounded rufiians one after
another and hurled them down upon
their climbing companions, dashing all
in confusion to the bottom Of the boat.
Boom! once more, and SO near this
time that it put fresh courage into us
and fresh desperation into our piratic
assailants. To get ON board and drop
u cable was now their thought. This
done, three minutes more would have
seen us smashed upon the rocks and
theirs as much booty as they might
save.
Up they swarm once more, nine
against five, using all the strategy their
experience had taught them. Two of
them cling low down to the channel
irons. while the rest draw their boat
further along the side to the davits,
by which they try to Chamber up. In
this way they divide our efforts and
their numbers. There is a long and bit
ter struggle; Dalton's right arm is pierre
ed by a dirk and rendered useless, the
captain and I are both wounded severe
~ in the hands-heaven help us! Sud
denly there is a rush of %unreeving tao
kle, followed by a crash; the stern Of
the long boat has dropped from the
davits plump into the galley of our as
sailant, crushing one of them into in.
sensibility and so disconcerting the 9TH
ers that they lose their hold of the
briggs side and in half a minute are
founder1ng far astern. Jennie had
played another trump card, God bless
her!
"Hurrah, lads!" yelled the captain,
grabbing his brave little wife in his
arms and kissing her.
'Three cheers for Admiral Jennie!"
cried Dalton. though, poor devil, he
vas pale rs a ghost from loss of blood.
Load, Tom-quick, now! We must
give these fiends 4 parting shot, ana
at the same time let the approaching
vessel know our whereabouts"
The words had scarcely passed his
lips when there was a sharp crack Of
fifty rifles, a scream Of pain, and the
pirates galley drifted helplessly from
our sight into the darkness. Our rescue
was nearer than we had supposed. She
proved to be the Alert, a British cruiser
Of ten good guns and some half a hun
dred sharpshooters.
She had somehow got word Of our
disaster, and, allowing for wind and
tide, had come fairly close to us, when
the flash of our first volley showed her
where we were.
But she wasn't a bit too soon, for
even If the pirates had not returned
to the attack with increased numbers,
our cable was well-nigh chafed through,
and another fifteen minutes would have
seen Jul complete destruction.
The brave little woman whose pluck
and presence of mind had saved us now
put on her femininity ICE mor and
promptly tainted. On our arrival at
Gibraltar, whittier the cruiser towed us,
she was taken down with nervous pros
'%tration, and it was not until she set
foot on her native shore again that
she fully recovered from the shock of
her terrible experience.
That was the way in which I passed
the New Year of 1864.
An Important Omission.