Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1901-01-17

Silently and slowly the boats crept on
toward the town. We had crowded ey-
cry man Of our crew into them, with
the exception of the old man, who was
left in charge of the Scourge. We We're
not pressed for time, as the dons would
hardly be in their first sleep yet. SO
we padded easily, keeping n keen look
out and cursing in a whisper the man
who allowed his oar blade to raise the
slightest splash. / tell you. to some Of
US the effort of that strained silence
was harder work than it would have
been to raise a hearty cheer and race
TO the landing through q hail of Span
ish bullets.
Once Alec's boat got on a ledge of
rocks. and her crew had TO climb over
board and lift her into deep water, and
once mine had to tc eased over a shoal.
But no damage was done to either Of
them, and the quietness with which we
worked prevented any tellta!e sound
from reaching the shore.
Foot by foot we crept on. feeling our
way by instinct. as it We're, through the
velvety darkness. Not 4 light showed
loom Of the high rocks on the harbor's
sides we could hardly tell sea from
land Sheltered from the wind. the
water had become rs smooth as an un-
furnished mirror. and. II spite OF all
the caution with which We dipped ard
raised the oars. & s.5!.!s-h ilar and then
could not be avoided ina over such
n surface sound travels far in the quiet
Of night,
Presently the voices nf two men talk
ing came TO Us across e." water, and
after n minute or 50 one of them chal-
lenged:
"Who goes thereT'
Amigos: Espanoles." replied Willie
TrehaIior.
Mother CT God. those accursed Eng
Ishw exclaimed the man on shore and
fred his pistol. We smothered a laugh
at the poorncss of our boatswain's
Spanish and. as further caution was
now useless. bent to our cars with
will
There's n fort Of some sort here"
shouted Alec. between me and the
shore. Follow in quickly before they
can bring their guns to bear"
Hardly had the words left his lips
when there was a fash and a roar, and
dose Of lead took the tips from our
starboard oars.
''Very prettily aimedw muttered Jan
Pengony, who as a gunner must needs
express his opinion. 'The next may be
closer A demiculverin. too, by the
ring OF Jump her along, lads. an
let's be after the captain afore he's
Etormed the place by hsself Hooray
for Captain ireland an the Scourge"
And so Justify did our fellows lay
their backs to the work that before an
other 80 seconds had PASSED the boat
sprang almost high and dry on the
shore, and the next shot from the demi
culverin whistled safely over our
heads.
"Now, lads" | shouted. up we go
and at 'em AK and hanger! But mind
not to fall foul of our own men, for the
nights as dark as the pit. Stay mo-
ment! There's the captain clamoring
for admitiance on the right yonder.
Wen try If we can't scra mble in at
the sen face"
SO saying | turned and cut across
the rocks to th4 left. with the men aft
er me helter sleiter The fools of Span
iards were still blazing away with can
non and arqucbus overhead, showing
us what a state of confusion they were
IN, and till | had actually squeezed by
big car ass in through an embrasure no
one offered to stop me. And after that,
though many had the will, no one had
the power to cut me down.
Breech to breech with the very demi-
culyerin that had first been fred at US
| held the ground till the others picked
their way through the darkness and
clambered up. Then, yelling to tell
Alec our wherea bouts, we charged to-
gether driving the dons before us with
a tempest of hacks and haws that,
dazed and half awake as they were,
they had no stomach to stand against,
and finally pinned big crowd of them
against a corner of the palsading.
But, in spite Of the success of our
first charge, we were very nearly over
powered, for others kept 1ocking out
of the barrack as the din walked them
from their sleep and, taking us be-
tween two fires, were like to have
made n small mouthful of us by sheer
weight of numbers. Rapidly forming