Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-01-30

hSAb tiihC you uO uucct uiuus
said Hamilton as we resumed our
walk, don't give him a chance. Drill
a hole through him as soon as he gets
within ten PAGES, and then clear out
of Samoa as quick as you can"
Quite a month after this / had to
visit the little port of Asaua, on the
island of Savai'i, and as 1 was aware
that Flash Harry" was in the vicinity
of the place on a malaga, or pleasure
trip, l kept a sharp lookout for him,
and always carried with me in my
jumper pocket a small but heavy Der
ringer, the bullet of which was as big
as that of a Snider rifle. l did not
want to have my arm pulled out, and
knew that "Flash Harry" being twice
my weight almost. would give me a
sad time if he could once get within
hitting distance of me; for, like most
men-of-war's men, he was very smart
with his hands, and I was but a strip
ling, not yet 20.
I had come to Asaua with a load of
timber to be used in the construction
of a church for the French mission,
and in the evening went to the resi-
dent priest to obtain a receipt for de-
livery. As he could not speak Eng
fish and 1 could not speak French, we
had to struggle along in Samoan, to
0J1r onrnrnnn rnr1caynnrf Iouau
we managed very well, and I was
about to accept his hospitable offer
to remain and have supper with him
when a young chief named Ulufanua
("Top of a High Tree"), who knew
me well, came in hurriedly and told
us that "Flash Harry and ten or fif-
teen young men, all more or less
drunk, were coming to the village that
night with the avowed intention of
boarding the cutter under the pre-
tence of trading, then, after Selling
all the liquor, they meant to give me
a father of a beating-the latter to
avenge the insult of a month before.
Laughingly telling the priest that
under the circumstances discretion
was the better part of valor, ! babe
him good-by, and walked down to my
boat, which was lying on the beach.
With two native sailors pulling, we
started for the cutter, a mile away
The night was beautifully calm, but
dark; and as I was not well %acquaint-
ed with the inner part of Asaua har-
Dor, / several times ran the boat on
submerged coral boulders. Finally I
lost the narrow channel altogether.
Then I told n of my men-a
sturdy, splendid specimen of a native
of the Gilbert islands, named TIE
Manu- Uraura ("Red Bird"), to come
aft, and take the steer-oar, knowing
that his eyesight, like that of all
Polynesians, was better than that of
any white man.
The poor fellow laughed good-na-
turedly. I little thought that this
simple order of mine would, when he
came aft and took the steer oar from
me, Indirectly be the cause of an in
jury which would cripple him for life.
I then seated myself on the after
thwart and began to pull. We were at
this time about 80 yards from the
beach, between it and the inner reef
of the harbor. The boat had been sent
along for two or three hundred yards
without a hitch, and I was thinking
of what my cook would have for sup
per, when we suddenly pumped into
a patch of dead coral and stuck hard
and fast.
Knowing that the tide was falling,
we all jumped out, and pushed the
boat eff into deeper water as quick
ly as possible, just as half-a-dozen
bright torches of coco-nut leaves
flared up on the shore, which revealed
the boat dimly to the torch bearers,
AT first | imagined that the chief of
the village had sent some of his PEG.
pie to help us through the channel,
but I was quickly undeceived when l
heard "Flash Harry's" voice.
"I've got you now, my saucy, quar-
terdeckstyle of rotten pup. Slew round
and come ashore, or I'll blow your
head off,"
One glance towards the beach
showed me that we were in a desper-
ate position. "Flash Harry" who was
all but stark naked, having only a
girdle of ti-tree leaves round his
waist, was covering the boat with his
Winchester rifle, and his armed fol
lowers were ready to fire a volley in
to us-if they had not been SO drunk.
"They cant hit us, re Manu." I cried
to the Gilbert islander, whose Unborn
fighting proclivities were showing in
his cleaning eyes and short, painting
breaths. "Most of them have no car
tridges in their guns, and they are all
too drunk to shoot straight. Let us
go on"
Te Manu- gripped the haft of the
steer oar and swung the boats head
round; and then 7 and the native at
the bow oar-a mere boy of 16-pulled
for all we were worth, just as "Flash
Harry" dropped on mi knee and fired.
Poor TIE Manu- swayed to and fro
for a few moments, and then cried
out, "He has broken my hand, siri
But go on, pull-pull hard!"
Under a scattering fire from the
beach-comber's drunken companions,
we pulled out into deeper water and
safety; then, shipping my oar, I
sprang to Ie Manu's aid. The bullet
had struck him on the back Of the
right hand, and literally cut off three
of the poor fellows knuckles. I did
what I could to stop the loss of blood,
and told him to sit down; but he re-
fused, and although suffering intense
pain, insisted on steering with his left
hand. As soon as we reached the cut
ter / at once hove up anchor and