The times., 1898-06-19

through the heart. AS for the boilers.
well. my chief tells me that as they were
worn TO the thinness of brown paper.
and liable to go al any minute. il was
simply a miracle how they stood the eX-
ira pressure, and with the valves wired
down into the bargain. We buried all the
dead al daylight. And I hope" cOntin-
ued he, looking very grim as he gave the
order, Full speed aheadr'-"that well
be able to do more burying, but of an
other sort, before night
BY breakfast time It fell dead calm
and our hopes rose. as, keeping so close
inshore that we at times could almost
have thrown a biscuit on the rocks. we
flew along the coast. leaving the Ly-chee
with her salvage crew 10 come on at her
leisure.
The Psyche was one of the new torpedo
gunboats with engines Of nearly 0y}g
horsepower. drawing only ten feet Of
water. armed with quick-fring guns and
five-barreIed NOrdenfeldts- And as I
looked ahead and saw the mounds of
white water rising from her bow, and
felt the decks quivering underneath me,
and knew that she must be doing a good
eighteen knots, there filled my soul. for
the first time. a savage longing for ven
geance on the bloody and murderOUs au-
thors Of all my suferings throughout
that past but never-tO-be-fOrgOtte night
Late that afternoon a large junk, with
all her sweeps out, was sighted Just
rounding a thickly-timbeTed cape which
they told me was Tin-kO II. indeed
this was the craft we were after then our
luck was undoubtedly in But, Of course.
| could not recognize her again. All hes
itation. however. on that point was soon
set at rest for, when We rounded Tin
kO we found the chase had anchored, and
hat a big boat full of men was hur-
riedly pulling for the shore. Getting his
glass To bear. the captain sang out TO me:
lis there a haIf-caste or Malay among
the crowd?''
Yes. 1 replied. He was the assistant
engineer
And a Chinaman with scar like a
broad burn across his face?'
The steward. I said. 'and. with the
other, the ringleaders OF the whole affair.
Can you see the two prisoners?
No" said the captain. But they may
be in the bottom of the boat. Ready with
the port Nordenfelt. for'ard there, and
fire when you re loaded. l think they'r re
in range"
Rising on my elbow as the gun crashed,
I saw the bullets splashing white water
all around the boat. between which and
ourselves every moment decreased the
going. shoaling our depth. too. as l could
hear every minute by the cries of And
A haIf-eight! quarter r-less-seven-SiX faith
oms,'' that reached me from the chains.
All at once 1 saw the captain touch the
telegraph and motion to the helmsman-
The Psyche slowed, then came round on
her heel, brOadside on almost to the boat
which by now. was close in to the rocks.
Crash, crash! crash! pealed the whole
I - N,l=. ffa !
away only couple of black heads were
visible bobbing UP and down among the
wreck of the boat smashed literally into
matChwood, while from the leadsman
came a short quick cry of by the mark,
twain 1t was splendid piece of work
and we had just two feet TO spare be
tween our bottom and the rocks of Cape
Tin-ko.
only just in the nick of time said
the captain. walking along from his
bridge to where I lay Now doctor. ]
think you can cry quits. As for the sill
yer. probably that's gone. although there
may be just a chance that when they
saw our smoke they left 1t on board the
junk. Wen see, presently, when the boat
returns. Yes, of course, I'm sorry for
your man and the two passengers. But
we couldn't stop to discriminate, yOu
know. Another three minutes and they
us hope that fortune has been kind. and
that Jimmy at least may be one of the
survivors,"
But strangely enough. the pair turned
out to be the Malay and the steward
and both so badly wounded that they
only lived very short time after being
put on board the Psyche.
Meanwhile the gunboat had steamed
alongside the junk, only To find her. with
the stolen cargo, quite empty. Already
the cutter was under the davit falls and
being hooked on, when a shout of sur
prise from the men in her caused me &c
follow their pointing fingers toward the
bows of the junk. where, apparently just
come 10 the surface, fOated a dead body
by Jove. sir suddenly exclaimed the
first lieutenant to the captain. both hel
anchors are on deck. What can she bt
riding to? There's something curiou:
| about that
| Get on board" ordered the captain tC
| the young sub in charge of the boat ''anf
| haul up her cable Pick that body up as
! you go. and bring it back with you"
| After some trouble the men hove up tht
! stout coir hawser, at the end of which
| they found securely lashed not only tn,
| boxes of dollars but two more bodies
/ those of poor Cabbage Jimmy and on,
| of the Chinese passengers. OF the latter
| also was the corpse that had slipped it!
| moorings and risen to tell us it almos
/ seemed. what had become of the money
| On none of the bodies was any mark o
| mortal wound; and without a doubt tn
| three unfortunates had been bound aliv
| to the rope and thrown overheard. thu
not only making more room in the boat
| but enabling the steward to punish Jim
! my for his attempts to befriend me-
Some years have gone by since
found myself the sole survivor of III
looting of the Ly-chee. But even now
at long intervals, | wake from my slee
o. nights with a start and a shudder. a
in my dreams bloody memories fit acros
my brain. Nor, somehow, can l eve
bring myself to sit in a lounge-chair Q
tolerate the sight of white canvas shoe:
| have heard people. noting these pecu
iarities remark that l am affected. Pei
haps YOU who know. may agree wit
me that there is some little reason fo
| s,ch n affectatiOn chambers Journal.