The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1897-11-12

ATE OF them DiN DGtu hIIIfOi lIlCJ
wouId show us no mercy.
Astb = schooner came to the wharf We
saw That she had at least 80 men aboard,
and they , radc great show Of firearms
as UohIins climbed over the rail and ad-
vanced upon III barllcade; he was matted
ten yards ,,vov and asked what he want
cd lie rcnIiri Nat he had come after the
money and yn. >ound to have it. If
Coombs dared to fire on the crowd, they
would burn him alive and he made such
threats ms 10 what shout be done with the
daughter that twice | w. = about 10 pun
the trigger on him. Coon. Us quietly but
sturdily answered that the 9 no ma bren
taken away on the tender, and 'aif he was
there to defend government pro- very. II
attacked, he should do this best 70 peas
them off.
Hobbins laughed wicked laugh and
returned to the schooner, which you Wi
understand was within pistol shot Of us
Above her rail we could see the men max
ing preparations, and al of "A sudden nine
or ten of them, led by Hobbins i'll person.
made dash for us. They he'd arms IN
their hands and murder in their hearts,
and we did not hesitate 10 fire Tie girl
Kate killed u man from one of the win
dows, Coombs killed another, and the
man I aimed at went down with Il bullet
in the hip. Our rollcy stopped the charge,
and as the gang halted the keeper seized
an extra muSket and wounded another
man. Those who could use their legs has
tened aboard of the schooner, and tl"o or
three minutes later sharp fire was opened
on us all along her port rail. We retired
into the lighthouse and let them waste
their lead, though we could easily have
picked off some of them as their heads
showed above the rail.
The fusilladc against us was kept mp for
ii quarter of IN hour, and then HObbins
waved handkerchief and demanded TO
know if we had surrendered Coombs re-
piled that we had not and did not propose
to, and gave them liberty to remove their
wounded TO the schooner. This offer they
took advantage of, and also gathered up
the weapons Of the dead, and for an hour
after they returned aboard everything was
quiet. During this interval the daughter
came down stairs to ask what the next
move would be- She had killed u man,
Bring only one shot, and she had heard
the awful threats uttered by Hobbins, but
she was not even nervous over the sltua-
ton. l had been biting my lips and feel
ing weak in the knees, and her GOODNESS
put me TO the blush. Coombs said the
wrcckers would come again, and that,
having entered upon the fight, they would
hang by us for days if necessary. The
light was one which had long interfered
with their piratical operations, and now
they would seek to destroy it and secure
revenge at the same time. The second at
tack was made without warning, and was
participated i'll by all the men aboard the
schooner
IL was well for Us that we were on our
guilYuI. About 20 men came dashing at
us, cheering and yelling. l had two mus
kets and 4 pistol, Coolnbs rifle and pistol
and the girl II double barTeled shotgun.
Some of tho men reached and sought to
lear away the barricadc, but they could
net stand our fire. Three were killed in
their tracks anal two badly wounded, and
again they sought shelter aboard the
schooner While they were retiring Coombs
Icapcd the barracks and secured II shotgun,
two rifles and lot of ammunition, and,
though fired at before he got back. he was
untouched. Ten minutes later Hobbins
asked for permission TO remove his wound
cd, and this being granted, he no sooner
had them aboard than he sailed away.
When out of grlnshot, we went out to
examine the dead They were a tough
looking lot, and conscience did not trouble
us any over the shooting. In the sand
under one OF them VIC found loaded pistol
a nd on another Il long knife. We dug
tt .nch i'll the sand and gave them rough
bu .'ial and then we had only to wait to sec
VIII; 4 would turn up. Coombs was sure
HobSns had gone off to the reefs to secure
help ;snd would return by night, and he
was right about it.
just at sunset two schoonCrs came sail
ing in, and we Judged the number OF men
aboard of til, I'll to be at least 90. They
began firing on Us before they were last to
the wharf, and the girl was called down
from above TO help defend the barricade
COolnhs was as cool as if eCing about his
everyday duties lnd except that her lips
were bloodlcss al d her eyes shining, the
girl showed no signs OF NERVOUSNESS. Alt
er II hot fire for IL quarter of an hour the
wrcclcrs suddenly swarmed over The bull
warkS and charged us.
We began dropping them at once, isut
the weight of numbers sent them folW,ih'
and presently IL dozen OF them were pl;li-
ing and tearing at the barricadc and flrlng
at us through the Gre" ices. Coombs was
wounded i'll the side, the girl in the shout
der, and I got Ii bullet i'll the mouth, which
passed ou5 through the right check. None
until the wrcckers had bean driven back.
They left five dead and seven wounded
men on the sands, but were permitted to
gather up the latter and TAKE them aboard
This had only been accomplished when
beth craft set sail and made Of, and that
was the last we saw ui them.
We wondered ut their going until we
climbed over the barTic;ue and tot nd Hob
bins among be dead lie was TIN ruling
spirit among the lawlrsS fratCIlIl ", and
when we went down they were panic
stricken and could not get AMY fast
enough We lad killed lOmcn and wound
ed | / that We knew Of AS a1terNNraEod as
eertaiIlcd the number of wounded an01nt-
Ell TO Il, three CT whom died later en-. We
were left III peace when tho schooHFs
sailed away. and when the gOvel nItSts
heard of our defense each OF us resolved
medal and an official letter c; thanks
was picked up by the tender OH her nexf
trip and never saw Coombs or his daugh-
ter again. They were there On the Island
when tIlc great gale came ON. and after
the gale no isla ad was to be tc and.