The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-06-06

llIlle WIS near at mana. Anu, out lor
| the mulish obstinacy Of the captain, all
| might have been prevented! had no
less than three Colts revolvers with
ammunition in my cabin-trunk, two OF
them presents from friends in Singa-
| pore to others in Swallow. What might
we not have done by timely display!
And now; oh, the pity of it! 1 Won
\ dered whether they intended to kill me
| where l sat- I wondered, too, l re-
! member, whether it would be Of any
| use telling them that, as doctor 1
could make myself useful to them IL
| they would spare my life. Not very
heroic this, perhaps; but then, again,
there's nothing heroic either in having
| your throat cut like a ration Sleeps. l
| was prepared to go great lengths in the
way of eating humble-pie to avoid any
such fate at such hands. Having fin
| ished transshipping the silver together
with some of the casks and cases off
the main-deck, the pirates, rather to
my surprise, dragged along the two as
| yet unconscious passengers, and threw
them heavily on to the junk. Then, at
| last, from somewhere or other sudden
ly appeared Jimmy. Fumbling about,
| apparently to see that my bonds were
| secure, l heard a zip as one of the
strained coir strands flew asunder to
the touch of keen knife. Then came
an imperative call. and he fled swiftly
into the shadows cast by the junk's
great sails just as the steward and the
Malay walked up to me. The moon was
under cloud; but they carried a Ian
tern, by whose light they viewed me
| all over, soon discovering the knife and
the cut rope. / saw the steward ex-
anime the knife closely while the Ma
| lay knotted me UP afresh, and more
| tightly than ever. Then the seteward
taking a thick silk kerchief from
around my throat, proceeded to effectu-
ally gag me. And seeing that I was not
to be done to instant death, said new
er word.
Good night, DOCTOR remarked the
Malay. Personally I don't wish you
any harm; but you've seen too much.
| According to my calculations, the Ly-
chez will blow UP in about couple of
hours. And, anyhow, you'll make a
better ending than if Kwa Flung here
had his way with you. Good-by," and
the pair turned and went. A few min
utes later / saw the dark sails Of the
junk swaying to the wind like the
wings Of some great night bird, as she
glided past the Ly-chee's stern, leaving
me alone and helpless with the dead.
Save for the ripple of the little waves
against the bows, and the grind of
chains as the sea twisted rudder and
wheel alternately to port and starboard
the ship was silent. In vain I strained
my gaze down on the main deck, where,
| among the dark hollows and crannies
of the cargo, knew the captain and
second mate must be lying, dead or
| desperately wounded. could see moth
ing. For a while / sat there, swathed
in ropes, helpless as any mummy, star
ing over the moonlit sea. Then all at
once, as caught sight of a dark speck
far astern, knowing it for the junk,
remembered the Malay's last words,
and my thoughts fled to the engine
room, and in my fancy I saw the big
i Scotsman lying there dead, and the
fires roaring fiercely under the newly
filled boilers, fast generating steam for
whose force there was no outlet but a
general burst-up. About another hour
and the explosion would take place!
everp pore, / strained and heaved at
my bonds until they cut deep into my
flesh and 1 was near choking Alas!
they never slackened an inch. Even the
chair was ble--lashed to the
vessels rail. BEFORE leaving, the pirates
had run up the trysail and jib, and
these filling on the starboard tack, the
steamer was drifting rapidly away
seaward from that low, dark line I'M
der the moon that l knew must be the
coast between Hong Kong and Swallow.
How long had the junk been gone?
wondered. Was my time nearly up for
saying good-by to this world?
must try and pray. But do what I
might, I could not keep my attention
fixed. All my soul seemed in my ears,
and to the sound of louder creak
among the cargo, or a shriller note of
the wind in the rigging, my nerves
ieaped and thrilled; expectant of the
last dread moment Truly the sorrows
of death compassed me, and the pains
of hell came about me, and yet could
not as felt T ought to do make my
soul for the next one. From where I
sat, the glass skylight of the engine
room was all aglitter in the pale sheen,
and on this my eyes became fixed with
a dreadful intensity, until at last the
CLEAN of the glass seemed to burn them
like an incandescent fire. The breeze
was cold, but my clothes were wet
through with sweat, and I could see it
dripping from my finger-tips like water
on to the deck: Brave men are said to
: have waited for death with indiffer-
ence, fearing nothing. But think that,
in most cases, they had company. And,
believe me, it is a very terrible thing to
sit bound, helpless, dumb alone, ex-
pecting eternity with each passing mo-
ment, and with the agony of great
fear in full possession of both soul and
body, think that If I could have cried
aloud, have cursed, or wept or prayed
with an audible voice the strain had
lightened. But the gag, although soft
and not hurting much, allowed me only
the making of inarticulate groans, as I
painted for breath and stared with eyes
that felt like hot Goals, ever fixed fas-
| cinated on the moonlit glass of the
. engine-room. Presently I somehow
fell to thinking of favcrite colie-dog
I had once owned at Merryong, who,
every time he wished to attract my at
tention, used to beat my legs with his
long tail. I fancied that he was doing
: it now. With an absolutely physical
1