The times., 1897-07-04
A FOURTH OF JULY
WITH PIRATES.

"a
WITH PIRATES.
We were lying at the port of Foo-ChoW'
China, waiting for orders, wheh the Ihl-
nese government chartered the White SquaIl
20 convey small but very sol d cargo 10
the proper way would have been 10 sehd
consisted Of 100000 in silver, ana Inos'
of the sum was fresh from the mint. / mere
was a line of steamers TO the north, and
the proper way would have been To send
the money in the strong room OF a steam
craft The Chinese government hdl Ici-
of-war and other crafts at command buu
il preferred the old way Of doing business
and the old way was tochaTter any OUTSIDE
craft which could he got for a certain sum
When Capt. White came aboard one
day and announced the charter We had
to hustle to get things ready to san on
tie date appointed Only the three Oh
fjcers ana the cook had been retained
The captain sa W 10 getting the Kegs OF
dollars aboard, Mr.. Fenwck brought down
four cannon from the arsenal and sa W
TO their mounting, while | siIruished
around and picked up sixteen American
ana English sailors. Under the terms OF
our charter we were supplied with twelve
armed Cinnamon, the four cannon ana
enough curlasSes and muSkets to ann the
| crew There was no secret made OF the
shtpment OF the treasure, and IN thtSe days
there were plenty of piratiCal iunks SAIL
ing up ana down the China Sea That the
shipment would he published broadcast was
| a foregone e conclusion, and that we'd have
some fighting to 60 kefOTe we landed the
money could he counted as UIe thing
The White Squall was a bark, built in
Maine ana owned in Boston, and she sailed
| ike a top and was commanded by a man
with a lions heart. The day after we got
! the guns mounted and the kegs aboard we
| cleared for Korea and every mother sson OF
| a Chinarnan in Foo-Chow knew 20 a dollar
| how much We had aboard For the firsl
| three days out the men We're drilled at the
| guns. and W. found them a stout and
I fearless lot of fellows. The Chinese sol
| diers were under command or Il lieutenant,
| and though ne talked very bIs - TO what
| would happenin case we " ere attacked, We
! sized his crowd up for lot OF ssulks. They
| Were a haIf-staTved Criuging lot, armed
! with musSetS almost as dangerous 10 them
/ as to an enemy, and w left them out
! Of the count altogether when figuring on
! our chances.
| on the morning of our fourth day out OF
! Foo-CLow. which was on the morning OF
| certain July 3 we found suspicious
| looking Junk bearing down on Us fIom the
| west She ran down TO within mile OF
| Us. established our identity, and then laid
| her course parallel with ours, As the
! breeze was ligtt all day the junk held heT
| own, and just al sundown two more crafts
! OF her size came down on US from the lee
! OF the Chin-Chin islands. Word must have
been sent on at least three days ahead
Of US. We had turn at scrutiuizing each
craft through the glass, and Capt. White
| said:
They are pirate junks without doubt,
and they are after the dollars in the cabin
They won't atteack us tonight, but to-
morrow morning they'll close in Tell that
| heather lieutenant to step AFT.
The native officer came aft, trying TO
| look very brave. He and his men had made
up their minds as to the iunks and We're
already wishing themselves back at Foo
Chow. Capt White had been in the China
| trade for twenty years, and could speak
TIE language almost like a native.
Look here Ling" he said, to the lieu
tenant, those three junks are full of
| pirates
Yes, they are pirates,' was the an
| swer.
There must he "a hundred nieu alto
getheT while we have less than thirty.
Dye think we can beat them off3''
'0f course not. We must give up the
dollars and hope they Will spare our lives
1t would he foolish TO expect to beat them
off,
"Oh, that's the way you feel about it, is
it!'' growled the captain, as his face took
on firmer look. ''See here, you squint-
eyed, white-livered heatheu, did you ever
hear of a country called the United States
of American
II hear of that" was the sul1y reply
''Aud have you ever heard that we have
a day over there called the Fourth of
July-a holiday on which everybody
whoops, yells, gets drunk, fights and goes
to bed happy?''
II no hear
'Then you hear me now. Tomorrow is
the dav We shall be in the China Sea
instead of the United States. but that makes
I no difference. We are going to whOop,
yell and fight II those iunks attack us
we are going to lick blazes out o them, and
have patriotism enough left for fireworks
| already looking for q hole to crawl into,
but let me tell you something more. II
you sknlk-if you don't stand right up to
the rack and fight like devils, then, by the
goshen, we 1lturn loose on you and wipe you
outl''
'How-how can thirty men fight hun
dred?' falterefl the native.
How? How? Why, go for 'em like a
ton OF Wild cats, and never let up until the
last one is lickedl They won't attack us
before daylight. and you've got all night
to brace up your backbone Go back 70
| your men and tell 'em what / say Wen
| have our eyes Oil you as well as the pl-
rates and tell YOU, you've got to fight or
he shot down.
| The entire crew heard the captains
| words, us he meant they should, and they
| cheered again and again as the native
[ officer Withdrew The five EpgliShmen
among them didn't relish the Fourth OF
July business to aay great extent. but they
were happy over the anticipated fight,
| and If the crew of white men had been
| thirty we should have felt no uneasiness
| Night closed Down with the three juuSs d