Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-08-25

sharply to the steersman and gave him
the order to bring the ship up into the
wind. Both the second mate and
stared ut him silently. too much sur
prised to ask any questions, even II
the expression Of his face hadn't for
hidden 1t. But In fact he seemed diff
ferent man from the moment when the
fall of Tie skipper had placed him In
command His rough manner had be-
come mastcr:i!l decision. Even the
angular lines Of his face and figure had
developed new force and rough dig
nifty that were impressive. Two or
three quick. percmptory orders to the
crew followed that to the man at the
wheel. and before l could understand
villa. wus being done he had brought
her head 20 TIE wind and laid her to.
Good heavens. Was he going to sur
render without an effort?
1t seemed so. and the question broke
from r.y lips as stared in astonish-
ment across the wounded body Of the
skipper. whose suggestion he had treat
ed so contemptuously not ten minutes
before.
INA. M, SIR" he answered grimly;
"A'll no be sayin' that a'tegither, but
Am thinkin' there's naething to be got
by gettin' blawn tae bits. Please the
Lord, We'll haze bit fecht fort yet"
Next moment he ordered two Of the
men to carry the captain below. There
was something even more cool and de-
liberate than usual in his way Of speak
Ing, which certainly had an effect on
the sailors. who when the firing first
began seemed inclined to become de-
moralizcd. Now his clear. hard tones
seemed to act on the men like tonic.
and they sprang to carry out each or
der as 1t was given in way that show
ed renewed confidence both in their
commander and themselves. They lift.
ed the shippers body from the deck
and proceeded to carry 1t below.
Menzies turned to the second mate.
yell see him pit dacently in his
berth, Mr.. Jarvis. but yell no be losin'
time aboot it. All be wantin' ye here
the noo." he said.
Perhaps Menzies' action in lying to
had surprised our pursuers, too, for
the schooner wasted no more shot upon
us, but, tiattening the sails against the
mast once more. headed for us directly.
Menzies eyed her for second or two
with a hard, cynical look on his face
as he noticed that so far his tactics had
resulted as he had expected. Then he
turned away with sound that was
almost like ~chuckle, remarking for
my benefit:
"Weel. Am thinkin' it's efter sun
doom, onyway. sac 1t II no be unbe-
comm tae haul doom that bit ensign.
II the Lord pleases. 1t may cen gle
the deevils a. the mair confidence"
He called sailor and gave the order.
which was instantly obeyed, and then.
casting another look at the schooner.
which looked gray in the fading light.
he descended to the main deck with
the same heavy. deliberate step he
would have used in walking the deck
In calm.
had often seen what discipline can
do in moments of emergency and dam
ger, but that was my first experience
of the effect Of purely personal char
acter. felt It myself, and could see
how It told upon every man Of the
crew as soon as he came into contact
with it. Something Of the cool. cynical
determination of the man seemed to
enter into each one he spoke to, and
in less than five minutes he had set
each to work in his preparation for de-
fense. There were four guns on deck,
and these he had cleared away and
loaded with q miscellaneous assort-
ment Of odds and ends instead Of ball,
while lie took special interest in the
fifth one on the forecastle. which he
loaded himself. The guns and ammu-
milton were served out under his in
spectlon, and each Of the crew was
provided with a cutlass, Menzies him
self selecting the largest among them.
The men worked with a will, and the
mate appeared to be everywhere at
once and to direct everybody, though
he never seemed to be In hurry. At
last everything had been done, and
the sailors, of whom there were twen-
ty-five, were armed and ready. Then
Menzies stepped deliberately up the
steps to the poop deck and looked
around in the gathering twilight Aft
er few seconds he leaned over the
unbroken part of the rail and spoke.
moo. my lauds. haud yersel's ready.
The first ane II be alangside in two
or three meenutes. We Gamma stop
them frae boarGin' us. but yell mind
an let fly WI the cannons. Mr.. Jarvis,
when All gle the word. All reckon
they'll jist abOot sweep the decks. Ye
medina mind the ane OH the focksle.
We might want 1t later OH. Moo, mind
We, Am no sayin' we'll beat them, but
Am thlnkin' it's jlst death onyway. an
it's mair becomin' tae dee, II we maun
dee, fechtin' than seekin' mercy frae
q wheen thrown deevils like yOn."
The men were beginning to cheer,
but he. held up his hand to stop them.
INA, ma, lauds,' he said. Keep yer
braetA till ye need 1t, an that II no be
lung. Dinna let them guess we're gaun
tae fecht till we Gamma help It."
There was a dead silence, and the
men looked at one another. l glanced
along the line of weather beaten faces
and noticed that some Of them seemed
uncertain what to do next.
"Look here. my men," said. Keep
steady. See that your guns are all
ready. Stand well back on this side
of the deck and be ready to fire when
I give you the word-not a moment
sooner-and then fire low"
AYE, aye, sir; that's RIGHT. Mind,
men, an whan we've fired yell jist cot
cutlasses an follow me. Am comm
doom whan she comes alangside, but
no till then. They MIGHT want tae
speak till us, though All dinna expec
that muckle manners frae them"
Silence fell on the deck again when
he stopped. and some Of the men
looked at the caps on their muskets to
see that all was ready. There was
hardly q sound except the occasional
| tapping of a sail or the crisp dash OF
wave against the ship. The light
was fading rapidly, and the horizon
| was closing in. gray and misty. and as
I listened fancied could hear the
splash of water. as II thrown of from
q vessels bows close at hand, and once