The Opelousas courier., 1896-11-14

ing for help. A moment after this one
of the murderers smashed in one Of
the cabin windows, and as he was
about to enter through the aperture
the captain fired two shots, striking
one of the men in the foot and putting
them to flight. Then, with the doors
and windows barricaded, Captain
Clarke was placed in a corner where
he could command all the entrances to
the little fort and his wife began to
dress his woands. His head and face
were almost hacked to pieces, and
from that terrible wound in the left
side the lower lobe Of his lung pro-
truded nearly four inches. With the
GOODNESS and courage born of despera-
ton she pushed the lung back into
place and sewed up the wound with o
needle and thread, and stopped the
bleeding which was rapidly taking
away the captains life.
All this time they were entirely ig-
norant as to who were engaged in the
mutiny or what had caused it, and ez-
pected at every moment that the cabin
door would be forced and the murder
Gus work completed. In the mean
time affairs at the forecastle were by
no means peaceful. Holmes, the mate,
had reached there and told the men
that one of the East Indians had cut
him all to pieces. Six of the men made
a sortie with capstan bars as weapons,
but four of the party were stabbed to
death, two escaping, one to the rig
glng and the other to the bathroom.
All this had taken less than half an
hour, and then the Malays barricaded
the forecastle door from the outside.
Having made both ends of the ship Sc
cure from the decks, the Malays next
turned their attention to f. Boothke,
the carpenter, and the man on the
lookout, whom they butchered, and
then they had the decks to themselves,
save for the Chinese cook, All Say,
who was worse than useless, and he
they imprisoned in his galley. The
next day, Sunday, the captain fired a
few shots through the skylight of the
cabin in the hope of hitting the
mutineers and attracting the attention
of the men who might be faithful to
the ship.
The day and the night passed, and
on Monday morning, the water in the
cabin being exhausted, the captain
made his way to the bathroom, where
the cowardly sailor had taken refuge,
and then learned for the first time
that the ship was at the mercy of two
half wild Mslays. The captain then
determined to make a desperate effort
to regain control of his vessel, but the
Malays had prepared for battle, and
had built a barricade on the roof of
the forecabin and armed themselves
with harpoons and javelins, made by
flashing knives to the ends Of long
poles. The sailors, by order of the
captain, kept up such a fusilade
Of revolver shots that the
Malays we're finally dis
lodged from their breastworks,
and the captain, firing through
the cabin to where he knew they we're
standing, struck one of them, wound.
ing him SO badly that he ran to the
forward part of the ship, and, after
putting a plank overheard, went over
himself. Then a man who had been
concealed in the upper rigging came
down to the deck, the captain having
forced open the companionway, and
the sailor who was with him reaching
the deck through the skylight, the
men in the forecastle were released.
While the men were rejoicing over
their release, smoke was seen coming
from the after hatch where the mates
had been killed, and it was found that
the companion of the Malay who had
jumped overheard had secreted him.
self there and set fire to the hemp.
The crew did all that was possible to
fight the fire, but without avail, and
while they were running q line of hose
INTO the hatch the Malay came out
with a jump and went overheard.
The ship was doomed, and after one
boat had been swamped by the men
who had been assigned to it all hands
we're crowded into another boat, and
after rigging a sail of blankets on a
mast made of three oars dashed to-
the captain pointed the nose
of the little vessel fer ST. Helena, 700
miles away, and finally reached the
He and his wife and child
reached the United States by steamer,
and the sailors were cared for by the
For dramatic completeness, grim
romance and heart-freezing terror,
there are few tales OF the sea which
equal that of the Frank N. Thayer, as
there are few which reflect SO much
credit on the noble qualities OF one
captains wife. for there can be
little doubt that with the death of
Clarke the terrible story
never have been told. and the
loss of the Thayer would have been
put down as one Of those mysteries Of
which the annals of the sea are FULL
New York Tribune.
Tho Nouvfnnt, CnnII,