The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1897-10-09

THE freight steamer Russian Bea-
was thrashing along down the Pa
cific ocean with her blunt PROV facing
south, and the captain reckOned he was
somewhere off the Queen Charlotte
islands. The Bear was an iron ship of
old-fashioned build and as slow as they
make EN-; any old thing on the ocean
ccu,d pass her; yet, pro tenn. she was a
passenger boat and vas bringing down
the last of the seasons crop of klon-
dixie miners. She was reputed to have
over S., O0 70, 900 worth of gold dust and
nuggets on board and her coming was
watched for with some anxiety.
On the morning of the eth the cap
tain noticed on the western horizon
what appeared to be a steamer coming
towards him. As craft are scarce on
these waters, except in the sealing sea-
son. tie captain watched the strangers
approach with interest not unmiNed
with anxiety. because of the valuable
cargo he had aboard. The sea was
calm for the time of year, and the
steamer seemed to he making for acrosS
the bows of the Bear. The captain or
dCrcd the flag hoistcd, but the oEcomer
showed no answering colors, which did
not tend to make the captain feel less
uneasy. She was Il trim craft. looking
like Il private yacht, painted black with
two slim. tapcrin% maSts set at a rakish
slopc in line with her one funnel. She
came swiftly through the wafer and
turned her hroahsidc toward the Rus
sian Bear. when the man nj the wheel
calculated that she was as near rs WAS
safe. and her engines slowed down so
that the strangers speed more nearly
accorded with the slow progress the
lar ger ship was making. \ man on the
bridge came to the edge nearest the
slower vessel and placing his hands to
his mouth. shouted:
"Ship ahoy. Is that the Russian
Bear"
"Who are you?" roarrd the captain;
Sand what do you want?"
81 want an answer Ia my question;
then I'll tell you what more ! want"
After speaking. however, the new
conner did not wait for an answer, but
gave a command 10 the man at tho
wheel. who promptly %siEnalcd for th"
engines 20 stop. whcrcupon the yacht
dropped to the rear, Notwithstanding
the slowucss of the old Bear. The name
was plainly painted OF the stern. and
the captain of the yacht having seen
that this was the ship he was after.
moved quickly alongside again, this
time with only n couple of hundred feet
of water between the two ships. Dur
ing the slight interval the crew of the
yacht had been busy, and now a for
bidding looking cannon pointed its
ominous muzzle towards the Rear.
I'm after the gold. captain" said the
first speaker. nonchnlantly. ms u"
doubt YOU are aware. I'm going To have
IL quietly or I'm going To sink your
ship. Which is II 10 be?'
whatever gold we have on board. il
We have any, isn't mine. ! don't see
what good the sinking of the ship will
do Won. and IL would he very incor-
v~cnicnt to- me. Better sheer off and we'll
say no more about It. ! can take o
joke ms well ms the next man
For a time it looked ms if the stranger
tec,lrd the good advice given him. The
captain of the Yacht ran full speed
ahead and the sharp prov cut the water
like n knife. Tie yacht described n
large circle and seemed TO he showing
oil It's puces. but this, ms the captain of
the Rear remarked, was unnecessary.
fer he already knew that any scow OBJ