San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-12-08

| and that other Moor, who, in the man
ner of the Turks, had been strangled
and cast overheard.
And now follows much longer pc
riod of silence, but at length that comes
to an end, and we hear Groves voice
again whispering us to come At the
first sound of his voice his three COM
rades rush forward, but Groves, recog-
nizing them, says hoarsely: Back, ev-
cry one Of you but those called, or I'll
brain you There's room but for six in
the boat, and those who helped us shall
go first, as / ordered. The rest must
wait their time. %
So these fellows, who would have
ousted us, give way, grumbling, and
Mr.. Goodwin carrying Moll to the boat
Dawson and waded in after him, and
so, with great gratitude, take our places
as Groves directs. We being in, he and
his mate lay to their oars and pull out
to the felucca, guided by the lanthorn
on her bulwarks.
Having put us aboard safely, Groves
and his mate fetch the three fellows that
remained ashore, and now all being en-
barked they abandon the small boat,
slip the anchor and get out their long
sweeps, all in desperate haste, for that
absence of wind, which at first took to
be a blessing, appeared now to be
curse, and our main hope of escape lay
in pulling far out to sea before Mohand
discovered the trick put upon him and
gave chase. All night long we toiled
with most savage energy, dividing our
number into two patches, so that one
might go to the oars as the other tired,
turn and turn about. Not ore of us but
did his utmost-nay, even Ioll would
stand by her husband and strain like any
man at this work. But for al our labor
Algiers was yet in sight when the break
Of day gave us light to see it. Then was
every eye searching the waters for sign
of sail, be it to save or to undo us.
Sail saw we none, but about 8 o'clock
Groves, scanning the waters over against
Algiers, perceived something which he
took to be galley. Nor were we kept
long in uncertainty, for by 10 it was OBJ
vious to us all, showing that it had
gained considerably upon us in spite of
our frantic exertions, which convinced us
that this was Mohand, and that he had
discovered us with the help of spy
glass maybe.
At the prospect of being overtaken and
carried back to slavery sort of mad
ness possessed those at the oGrs, first oar
pulling with such a fury of violence
that it snapped at the rowlock and was
of no further use. Still we made good
progress, but what could we with three
oars do against the galley which maybe
was mounted with dozen?
Some were for cutting down the mast
and throwing spars, sails and every use
less thing overheard to tighten our ship,
but Groves would not hear of this, see
ing by start in the rain that breeze
was to be expected, and, surely enough,
the rain presently smote us ON the cheek
smartly, whereupon Groves ran up our
sail, which, to our infinite delight, did
presently swell out fairly, careening us
so that the oar on t'other side was use
less.
But that which favored us favored
also our enemies, and shortly after we
saw two sails go up to match our one.
Then Groves called council of us and
his fellows, and his advice was this:
That ere the galley drew nigh enough
for our number to be sighted he and his
fellows should bestow themselves away
in the stern cabin and lie there with
such arms of knives and spikes as they
had brought with them ready to their
hands, and that, ON Mohand boarding
us with his men, we four should retire
toward the cabin, when he and his com
rades would spring forth and fight ey
cry man to the death for freedom, and
he held out good promise of successful
issue For" says he, knowing you
four''-meaning us-'are unarmed, tits
not likely he will have furnished him
self with any great force, and as his
main purpose is to possess this lady he
will not suffer his men to use their fire.
pieces or use them to your destruction.
Therefore, adds he, eff you have the
stomach for Your part Of this business,
which is but to hold the helm as di-
rect, all must go well. But for the lady,
if she hath any fear, we may find a
place in the cabin for her."
This proposal was accepted by all with
gladness, except Moll, who would on no
account leave her husbands side, but
had he not been there l believe she
would have been the last aboard to feel
fear or play cowardly part.
So, without further parley, the fell
lows crept into the little cabin, each fin
gering his naked weapon, which made
me feel very sick with apprehension of
boodshed.
The wind freshening, we kept on at a
spanking rate for another hour, Groves
lying ON the deck with his eyes just over
the bulwarks and giving orders to Daw-
son and me, who kept the helm. Then
the galley, being within quarter of a
mile of us, fred shot as a signal to us
to haul down our sail, and this having
no effect he soon after fires another,