Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-03-16
THEMATE0F THE Hindu
By Captain RALPH DAvM
(Copyright. 1900. by the Author.l
CHAPTER XIV.
A DEATH ON BOARD.

| O0Af LEN AV.
| A DEATH ON BOARD.
At an early hour next morning AFTER
u tragedy recorded in the previous
.hapter number Of the mutineers ap-
peared ON the beach, where their pro-
visions yet lay in heap, and began to
.arry of various articles. Our hope that
Johnson might have been one Of the trio
seized by the sharks was soon disst.
pated, as he was the fourth or fifth
nan to appear. Without SO much as q
box at the ship he began shouting or.
iers. and for nm hour was constantly In
Ngnt. At the end or that time every
thing had been carried out OF sight
among the bushes. When ready to go.
Johnson turned to face Us, drew himself
up, and, fastening his gaze on Captain
Clark, he said:
Captain, I was playing you soft yes
terday when told you that we'd be
content with the provisions. We want
the bark, and we'll keep trying for
her as long ~ there's man left alive.
You've shown us no mercy and need
expect none from us. ;"
"Well. what's your point?'' asked the
captain rs the fellow paused.
Its Just this: Give Us the bark.
and we'll 60 away in her and leave you
| In comfortable shape on the island. Re
| fuse us, and we'll find way to destroy
ship and all Of you, even II We perish
at the same time. IL shouldn't rest with
you and your bloody mates to say no to
| this, for the men with wives and chill
dren ought to have word. Look here.
Saunders. Smith. Williams. you women
who want to see home again, are you
going to-
Captain Clark had O rife in his
hands. He raised il tn his shoulder and
covered the convict and said to him:
'.I'll count five and then drop you
dead in your tracks,
He counted one, two. three, and then
Johnson turned and walked away. Ii
| Ii was not bluff OH the captains part.
His finger was pressing the trigger, and
he would surely have sent bullet into
tho fellows head. Hc would have been
justified in doing it, but thus far We
had shed blood only in defense. Some
Of the people were disposed to believe
that il tho mutineers meditated any
further move Johnson would have been
too polite to utter threats, but two or
| three OF US took u different view Of the
matter He was not diplomat He
was q man utterly without fear. and
when there was chance for fight he
never thought Of using strategy to se-
cure an advantage Defeat had worked
him up to that pitch where he must
free his mind, and he would need watch
ing none the less for announcing his de-
termination.
II the wind had not shifted directly
into the south, making il an utterly i'm
possible thing to sail the bark out OF the
bay, no matter how large crew she
might have had aboard, think our cap
tain would have carried her out and
made shift to ut least reach another an.
chorage Tho nervous strain had begun
| to tell on Us and some OF the women
were right down i'll and the knowledge
that we were still in peril and might
have to fight for our lives ut any min
ute had no consolation in il.
II don't know what plans they
have" snid Captain Clark rs we coun-
seled together. "but we must be wide
awake for them day and night. II they
\ Ia ,oo .,r,,la ,nrata, and hn vouu1c nf
ammunition we might have to make
terms with them. Thank the Lord that
they haven't! They'll cook up some
devilish scheme. however. and. rs l said,
we must be watchful. Let them once
get possession and they'd show mercy
to neither man, woman nor child. "
What secretly dreaded was that they
would fire the forest, which was just then
very dry. The thought came to them,
no doubt, but the Hindu would have
also been consumed, and their plan was
to possess her. However, by noon Of the
day have been speaking about it came
OH to rain in grand style. and the storm
continued until next morning without
break. Everything being thoroughly
drenched, with q certainty OF more rain
ut brief intervals. there was no longer
the fear that the forest might be fired
by accident or design.
All the men, tho single women and
Mary Williams were counted of and
divided into three watches. Awnings
were placed fore and aft to protect the
watch Oh deck from the weather. and
during the day, unless too wet, one man
In tho watch was to DO stationed in the
crosstrees with q glass and rifle. AS
came ON duty on the second morning,
having Mary and Haskell in my watch,
was the first one to take trick aloft.
left my rifle at the crosstrees and went
up until ! had q clear view Of the island
over the trees judged it to be about
two miles square, and it was thickly
covered with trees and bushes except in
occasional spots The mutineers had
made camp about half mile due
north Of the ship The sail had been
stretched on stakes, and two or three
fires were smoldering, but 1t was o
o'clock before got sight Of any OF the
men. Then they came crawling ont. one
by one, and soon had proof that all had
not gone merry with them. With the
glass / could bring each man 80 close
that it seemed as if I could lay hand
ON his shoulder.
There seemed to be . dispute about
who should act as cook, and from words
the gang soon came to blows. There were
half dozen fights going Oh ut once,
and saw Ben johnson using hands, feet
and club to restore order. When the
fighting ceased, ten of the men seized
part Of the provisions and went OF
through the forest toward the western
shore. They defied johnson and had Sc
lected new leader.
Whether the move would turn out
rood or i'll for US was to be determined.
The more they fought among them.
selves the less likely they were to attack
us, and yet we should now have two
different gangs, each working independ-
emily of the other, to look out for.
The day and the night passed away
without an alarm, but ut an early hour
ON the following morning the entire
force Of the smaller party appeared on
the beach and hailed the bark. They
were pretty evenly divided between con-
victs and sailors, and they put forward
as their speechmaker the sailor who
had served as bos'n Of the bark. Az
everybody came ON deck in response to
the alarm, the party on the beach un.
/ L.. l.. s..~ 4-.I