The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1895-05-31

| hlmseII again IN lew days
Burrows took the precaution to bind
the captain hand and foot Then GO
ing on deck he called the men around
him.
d" Boys he said, we are in for it
now If let the captain out he will
swing me to the yardarm tomorrow,
and probably some Of the others with
me. What shall we dog
Throw him overboardr yelled
most of the crew, but a few of them
held back. and that made the mate
cautious.
No; that would be murder he said,
but If we all stay on the ship he will
have Us arrested for mutiny as soon as
as we get into port. Then we will be
in bad box together.
What do You suggest, Billy?'
asked one of the lads.
"'Thatwe put him ashore on the near
est island with water and provisions
| enough to last him until passing ship
| takes him of
But will that help US in the end?
If he gets back to port won't he tell
the whole storyg
I'VE need not go back to Boston.
said the mate, with sly wink at some
of the lads
You mean We can keep the ship?'
I've might pick up living with
her.
TO make the story shorter, it was
then and there agreed that we were to
| put the captain ashore at the nearest
| island, take possession OF the Lucy
/ Maroon, and. after delivering her car
go, run up the black flag and turn pi-
rate. There were some of US on board
who were opposed to any such plan.
/ and would have been glad enough to
! be out of it. but we knew that if we
/ said anything then we would be put on
the island with the captain. We ap-
I parently agreed to the plan, intending
to take our chances of escaping from
the vessel when she was in port dis
charging her cargo.
The reason il was decided TO deliver
the cargo on board was that the Off
Ger IN command was TO collect the
money in gold for part of it, and
that the vessel would need provisions.
water and guns before turning pirate.
All those could be obtained, it was be
lieved. and the vessel got out to sea
again without arousing suspicion.
Early the following morning We
came in sight of a bit of land. 1t
proved to be little more than a coral
reef There was neither water nor
vegetation on the island. which was
only few acres in extent But there
they landed Capt. Jim Reed, in spite OF
all his threats and pleadingS
THE pirates, for the crew of the
Lucy Maroon had voted to turn
pirates. gave Reed enough water and
food to last him not more than three
/ days. They did not give him change
Of clothing, or anything with which he
could signal to passing vessel To
me it did not seem that he had one
chance in thousand of being found
and taken of by passing vessel
While was not taken into all the
secrets of the crew, I soon learned
that what had supposed to be small
island was in reality only a quantity
of shifting coral reef. and that it was
far out of the track OF all trading yes
sells. In fact our young pirates had
! put Capt Reed there to die of thirst,
| for they knew that in that tropical
heat, with the fever caused by his
wound, he could not live a day after
his supply Of fresh water gave out.
Brutal and cruel as he had been to
all of US, felt pang Of regret for his
fate, but I was pOweriess to do any
thing to save him.
The Lucy Maroon was put back on
her course. and in due time reached
| Colon The cargo was discharged, the
money collected. and then the vessel
was ready for a cruise under the black
| flag. \ large stock of provisions and
plenty of water was taken on board by
! daylight. Guns and ammunition We're
loaded under cover Of darkness
Three nights after she had dis
charged her cargo the Lucy Maroon
| slipped out of port without clearance
papers, and stood out 70 sea in the
track of trading vessels, with the black
flag flying from her mizzen-
For month we cruised around the
West Indies and the Bahamas. with
about the poorest success any pirates
ever had We stopped and boarded
several vessels without finding any
| thing OF value that we could safely dis
pose OF. The crew were getting dis
( Custed with the venture. but Burrows,
who was in command. kept trying so
cheer them up with promises OF better
| success next time
/ One moonlight night we were go
ing under light sail right across the
! track OF American vessels II the Cen
traI American and Mexican trade.
About nine O'Clock the outlook saw
( large bark two miles of our starboard
bow under full sail We Immediately
/ changed our course. ran up every
stitch OF canvas and were of in pur-
suit The bark seemed 70 be a poor
sailer. and We gained rapidly. If she
! had sighted Us. Il was evident that she
had no thought Of danger She kept
straight on her course ami made no at
tempt TO increase speed
Burrows decided to run the Lucy
Maroon right alongside the bark before
we made known our real character.
The plan seemed easy enough We
We're close enough 10 make oct in the
bright moonlight the British flag hy-
ing over the bark fore and aft
But when we were within quarter
Of q mile black clouds began flying
across the horizon and shut out the
moonlight occasionally. At such
tines we would lose sight of the bark