The daily morning Alaskan., 1903-11-10
A BAD CROWD.
TCoDyrIght. i103- by IuIu7 MuIIoFl

at the English flag
 Numbers of men started to go aloft
 but stuck at the crossrees, and such uals as were cast loose were not sheet cd home to do their best We walked up to her hand after hand and in holi an hour were within biscuit toss, and our captain was hailing to know what
 was wrong. The answer Was plain enough without words. Her decks fairlv swarmed with men, all but five OF six of whom were in c0nvicts' dress As matter of fact, there were just
 ninety of them It was useless for them to reply to the hail. but the yell they uttered in chorus was enough to| make the hair curl
 Our craft was sheered In a bic closer md a demand made that the conyicts surrender They could plainly see that we were a strong crew and had mount cd guns, but the demand was received with yelis of derision The leader of the gang. whom We had not before identified. now mounted the rau and in broken English warned us Go keep of or take the consequences. He bold ly declared that they were escaped convicts from the French penal settle. ment
 The defiant attitude of the convicts seemed to put our captain In am em.
 barrassing position, but after mo menrs thought he called out to the fel- 
 low on the rail;
 'You must have captured the brig Jl get away from Cayenne. What A"s become of the crew.
 "Dead- one of them killed and thrown overboard" shouted Che hend in answer.
 "Do you mean to say you murdered captain. mate ond an handst
 "Yes; an the crew. Now, you've got the news. and you sheer on and go your own way. Leta French ship pur- sue us and take us.'
 We were compelled to widen the dis tance between us to prevent accident through the mbbery manner in which the brig was stccrcd. but we reduced sail SO as to keep abreast or her. and the captain and bis officers descended to the cabin for consultation. ] don't know whether they questioned their right to interfere or discussed the best method of recapuring the brig. bui ! they were not absent over a quarter or an hour When they came on deck, we got the order to load with solid shot and In ten minutes every man and gun was ready for action One of the conyicts was aioft with glass and could plainly note every movement aboard of us. and our captain. who was . likewise posting us, reported that Che fellows had armcd themselves with rides and revolycrs and were erecting shields against the buiw0rks. A solid shot was fired across her bows as a summons to heayc to and as a warning Of what was in store for her if she did not but the roar of the gun was followed by chorus of yells and three or four bullets came wlIz- zlng over our heads. The brig wideued the gap until out of rifle range, and the captain then said to the crew Of Long Tom:
 "Alm to strike her above the water ! line. A few shots may take the light out of them
 The first shot passed between her ! fore and main mast without touching anything. but the second smashed her bulwarks and killed two men. A third and fourth were fired. both of them creating havoc aboard, and we were looking for some token of surrender when the brIg ported her helm and came bearing mp to our quarter We had the weather gauge. but she had been three or four points off the w.nd- ! The fellows were evidently determined to get near enough to use their rifles. but with their poor seamanship they stood no show
 We gave the ship more sail, and alJ- CT couple of lacks were of the hr'g's quarter and sending solid shot aboard again. There was great confusion among the convicts. and we were hop- ing for a signal when the wreJches brought two women on deck. We could see them very plainly without a glass. and their presence put a stop t0 our firing. as the convicts had expect ed. It was a scheme to stop our fire. and every man groaned iu spirit os he wondered how our captain would take It He must have realized that there was but one course open to him. and after a bit he said to the captain Of our big gun.
 "Aim at her foremast and try to cripple her She must surrender or I'D sink her"
 During the next thirty minutes We ! fired six times. and each time the shot was bumped into her hull. bu, with their craft lying a wreck iu the trough Of the seas they continued to shout defiance at us. The unfortunate wom- en must so down if the convicts dih but death would be preferable to ou- sailing away and leaving them in the hands of the monsters. We changed our shot to shell as We loaded Long Tom again. and the gun was pointed to strike tue hull One after another five shells were sent into the brig. each onf tearing great hole and carrying
 wounds and death and we had reload | cd for the sixth time when it was seen