Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1897-03-23
THEMATEOF THE Hindu
By Captain RALPH DAvm
toopyrish. ipa by tho Au.hoe.l
CHAPTER XVII.
THE RraISNINg or THE END

Il ~e~~e'S
CHAPTER XVII.
THE BEGINNING or tn. END.
It was broad daylight before we heard
from the mutineers Then the whole
crowd Of them swarmed ont Of the for.
est and down on the beach, and In their
madness and desperation they were no
longer men. Their cursing was some
thing awful to hear, and but for the six
or eight great sharks cruising around in
the bay they would certainly have tried
to board the bark in the face of our fire.
arms They showered us with pebbles,
and some Of them even picked up hand.
fuls Of sand and flung them in our di.
rection. II was long quarter Of an
hour before they cooled down, and then
Ben Johnson stepped to the front and
said:
AYE. Captain Clark. you gave us the
slip last night. but we count ourselves
no worse of. Within week we'll have
the Hindu and the life Of every man,
woman and child aboard!'
Having exhausted their rage. they re-
tired to the shelter Of the forest and
their camp. 1t was raining that morn-
ing, and cannot tell you how thankful
was. Those men had been worked up
to that pitch that they would have fired
the bushes without an hours delay in
hopes to encompass the death Of all
aboard the bark. They would ten times
rather have destroyed her than to sec as
sail away. The last threat Of johnson s
could not lake US any more vigilant,
for there was never minute we were
of our gumd. Even the children were
put on watch during the day.
So far rs could observe from aloft,
the mutinoers stuck pretty closely to
their camp, while the quarrels among
them were frequent and violent In one
of the alterations one Of the sailors
was killed. and through the glass
could plainly see them dig shallow
grave and roll him into it as il his body
had been the carcass Of a dog.
On the morning Of the twenty-secon6
day Of our anchorage in the bay the sun
came up in cloudless sky. The bad
weather was not yet over. but this wa
q lull or break In il. / came ON duty al
z o'clock that morning, and AZ soon as
reaching my accustomed perch aloft l
made out brig, with her sails aback
and only about mile away 10 the west.
The signal flag which the mutineers had
kept flying had evidently attracted at
tention From the number Of bosts on
the davits believed the brig to be o
whaler; but. if so. she must have blown
inshore or had some business l could
not well reason out. She showed no
colors, but took her to be q German
or Dane.
I turned my glass ON the camp Of the
| mutineers and saw them all running
down to the west shore in great haste.
I hailed the deck and told Captain Clark
what was going on, and he at once came
up to me. bringing the British ensign
and rife. just as he got up small
boat with four men in her pulled away
from the br +, toward the shore. At the
same moment we saw such Of the mu-
tinecrs as wore the uniforms Of convicts
secrete themselves in the thicket, while
the sail ors were pushed to the front.
Ralph, we must block that game, F"
said the captain after look through
the glass. IF they take otf those men.
the brig will bc seized, her crew muir
dered. and the mu,ineers will make of.
I'll set the ensign flying, and do you
load and fire tho rifle as fast as you
can.
The boats crew had got within half
q cables length Of the beach before our
signals were seen and heard. They could
see our flag over the tree tops, and the
reports Of the rifle must have been very
| distinct. The boat was held steady for
three or four minutes, and then the brig
signaled for her return. ! saw man
going aloft with glass and was salts
fed that he could SEQ me and would
make such a report rs would stop the
boat. She pulled back to the brig, and
then came pulling along the west shore
until she opened the bay and got sight OF
us. We signaled for them to come in,
but they were evidently afraid OF a
trap, and when we lowered boat to
pull out to them they at once took to
their oars and rowed for the brig. We
hoped her captain might investigate,
but he evidently became ala. ned at
their report and swung his yards and
made sail. Had he como in to us, he
might have lent us few men to navi.
gate the Hindu down the coast, but in
driving him of we had ut least baked
the plans of the mutineers.
From the lookout aloft ! saw them
return to their camp. They were wran'
Cling and quarreling, and many Of them
stopped to shake their fists in the direc.
ton of the bark. We expected another
visit from them Ell masse. but they did
not appear. About midafternoon the
weather shut down again, accompanied
by rain, and aboard ship We settled
down into the old routine. We were
daily looking for the appearance OF q
man war, and I think every man Of
us felt more hopeless and discouraged
that night than at any time since we
had been embayed. You can therefore
imagine our joyful surprise when. an
hour after midnight, we heard the boom
of guns ON the open ocean to the south.
That signified that the long expected re-
lief ship had arrived. From the moment
we got the report Of her first gun up to
daylight we were up and down and on
the watch. We could make out her
lights and knew that she was lying to
for the day to break.
It seemed to us as il daylight would
never come, but when it finally did il
was q glad sight which met our eyes.
There was the old Endeavor lying out
there, carrying forty odd guns and crew
of over 200 men, and we had only made
her out when q boat left her side and
came pulling into the bay. Captain
Clark was taken of in her to make re-
port of our case, and soon after his ar.
rival ON board the Hindu her captain
sent us of four sailors and six marines.