The times., 1897-04-25

pathies, and / finally agreed 70 10 IT,
1t was an easy thing for boy VINO was
running about the ship. and in the cabin
on errands, To hand a note 20 passenger,
and the giIl put herself in my way 10 re-
ccive it, as il she Were expecting some
such thing. A few hours later / earned
her written answer back TO Early. and
nothing more passed between them for
week. 1 do not know what plan the
young man had when ne broke jail TO
join the ship. but take it that it was moth
ing worse than TO follow her to Jamaica
and make her his wife If such it was
it might have been carried out without
atragedy but for our secondmate, in whose
watch Early was drafted An ordinary
or able seamen are antagOnistc 10 lands
men on general principles and all mates
drive them around without mercy.
That Early did has best have no doubt
but The mate was not satisfied with that,
and took every occasion To abuse him. We
were only a week out, and the mate had
shown his hand three or four times, when
climax came. In the early morning watch
he gave some order which was not readhy
understood and promptly Obeyed, and as a
result brutaHy assaulted tweor three men
Of his watch. Early was OF the number
and they pitched into the mate and nearly
killed him. For this they were putin irons,
TO be tried when the ship reached Jamaica
10 NAV have been that the Uncalled-for
brutality OF the mate aroused the sympa-
thies OF the entire crew, or the Change OF
plans made by Early won them over Tney
were an average lot Of sailors, or mixed
nationalities, and the men had been IN
irons only two or three days when heard
enough to satisfy me that trouble was
| brewing.
| went 10 the chief mate with scraps
OF conversation had heard, and received
kick and a curse for my pains A
| few hours later was sure that the crew
| contemplated open mutiny, but, afraid
! of the reception the captain might give
| me, / held my tongue. Two nights later,
| in the second mates watch, ne was seized
| from behind and throw overheard
4 Then the watch off duty was notified,
1 and. armiRg themselves as best they could.
| and led by George Early, they called the
| caDtain and chief officers on deck, and
| secured them and had possession or tho
/ ship Every sailor aboard except the
\ carpenter and sailmakcr was in the plot,
| and after the ship had been seized these
| two men cast their lot with the mutt
\ neers 1 was routed out only after the
| men had secured the officers, and 1 then
| found all the passengers dressed and In
| the cabin, and George Early and Mary
| Sinclair talking together The change
| OF elan was to seize the ship and 20 sail
| ing to some island, where the men could
| enjoy themselves in their own way. with
| piracy, perhaps, at the fms.
4 1t was currently reported that the Iron
| Duke had large amount Of specie board,
! besides a valuable cargo, and Young Early
| was a good talker among such ignorant
| men as inhahit the forecastle. As matter
| of fact, there was some specie few
| thousand dollars in Silyer-but as TO the
4 men TeapinC any benefit out OF q mutiny,
| each and all must have known better had
| they stopped 30 a rgue the matter The ship
| held to her course, and nothing was done
| until next morning
| An hour after daylightthe crew gathered
| and elected George Early as captain As
he had not been two weeks at sea, thls
| was a queer thing to do, but the men want
| ed to honor him for leading the mUtiny.
! The captain made a speech in which
he Offered to overlook the whole matter
if the .nen would return to duty. They
| ieered and mocked him in reply some
| were for killing the two men at once,
i
| show. One Of the quarter boats was
launched and provisioned for week
| and the two officers ordered into her.
They went without a word. seeming to
| realize that nothing they could say
! would change the plans of the mutt
| neers, and then came the question Of
| the fate of the passengers. Early had,
perhaps, planned to keep them aboard.
| but every one begged TO be sent away
! with the Officers. Even Mary Sinciair's
/ aunt was included, although she was
| fifty years of age in poor health, and
| knew that hardship and suffering
/ awaited her. As for the girl herself, she
| looked upOn her lover as hero, and
/ was for helping aim to carry out his
| plans.
| She was not only thoroughly infatuated
! with the goOd-lOoking criminal, but had
| become perfectly reckless of consequences.
| After long wrangIe the passengers were
! allowed to go in the boat, and more water
| and food were put into her. Not one OF
| the crew expressed desire to go along,
| and that I was permitted to depart has
! ALWAYS been matter Of wonder, as
| would have been OF use aboard, and the
other apprentice was detained That
did get away was owing to the fact that
/ was sent down into the boat to keep her
| Tended off from the shiy
| when seat adFift without a sail or com
| pass, aad with only two oars seven OF US -
| we were about 500 miles from the nearest
| land, which was the land we had sailed
from. 1t was, fortunately, midsummer
| weather, and we did not suffer from cold,
but for thirteen days we were knocking
| about on short ratiOns and wet to the skin
most of the time.
The only use made of the oars was to
keep the boats head to the seas. and day
| and night we kept lookout for rescue. 10
was on the mourning Of the fourtecnthday,
and just as a gale was piping up, that
| French brig, homcward bound. sighted and
| picked us up, with Mrs. MUShcr so near
dead that she gasped her last as she was
| lifted to the deck Of the brig. The remain
| der OF us were half-starved and thorough
| IL worn out, and two or three days more
| y-o,iId have brought death To half the mum
| ber.
We we're landed at a French port and
sent on to Liverpool. and that was the
last 1 heard of my fellow-sufferers; but
! the Iron Duke had adventures wldcn some
of YOU may have read in the public prints.
| Two DAYS after we were sent adrift she
was SPOKEN by an English man-of-war.
She had altered her course aud was run
ming to the south, presumably intending TO
round the Horn As she refused 10 answer
signals she was chased for fifty miles
as q suspicious character, but OutSailed
1 Il