The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-04-08

his regular business, which was seal
poaching. with an occasional snug
Cling trip as a side line
He ordered the four of US hunters
into the small boats, and with pushers
to keep the boats moving we started
of after the seals. A seal hunter, Of
course, must shoot his seals through
the head and not use more than one
bullet, SO as to save the skins That
day the four of US got more than AZ
good skins and that meant for me
trifie more than an even hundred in
good money of the United States.
can tell you that makes me feel al
most like 1 was back again at my
home in Chicago. A few more days of
that sort of work would give me mon
ey enough to go back to Frisco in the
first cabin and travel across the coun-
try in a palace car.
And our luck kept up. For five days
we simply went out in the morning
and butchered seals as fast as we
could carry them out to the schooner.
and most of the nights we worked
stripping off the hides and packing
them away out of sight down in the
hold. Inside of a week we had our
load, as much and more than the
Nanki Pc was fit to carry. But Clark
was a greedy soul and couldn't bear
to pull out while there was an inch
of space left on board. When he I'm
ally got ready to run back to Hako-
date my share of the cash was more
to 60 on no more seal pOaching trips
knew it was dangerous work and be-
sides it was a bloody business 1 didn't
like
I'VE never carried a light at night on
board the Nanki Pc for fear of attract
ing attention, and the first night out
from the seal nursery with our load OF
furs we got safely far down towards
the sOutherly end of Sakhalin Morning
came and found US lying in a dead calm.
Worse than that, we could see {. small
steamer making towards us and not
more than ten miles away. Clark kept
all the white men below decks while we
studied that steamer long enough to
make out that it was a Russian gunboat
patrollfng for just such craft as we
were. Pretty soon a breeze sprung up
and then we started to run for it. But
the Russian had crept up close enough
by that time to fire a shot across our
bow with an accuracy of aim which
promised that we would be sunk if we
Clark pulled down his sails and We
waited. Clark tried to get rid of the
skins by dropping them overheard, but
he soon saw that he was being watched
without detection.
1.-THE Russian came on board, took
possession of the Nanki Pc, put US all
under arrest. and with a Russian crew
started to sail it over across the Japan
sea to Vladivostok. There the Nanki
Pc was confiscated as a pOacher and
sold at auction, and all of us hunters
and boat pushers were given long
terms in the prison at NladivostOk-
Clark and were finally set to work
on the forts around the town. One
day we escaped by dropping down into
a deep gully, where the guards could
MT get a. fair shot at US. We ran down
to the water side until we came to a
Chinese samDan moored to the shore,
with a couple of Chinks aboard of it.
1t took US about a minute to tie the
Chinks and gag them and take their
Chinese clothes off them. Then we hid
the two Cinnamon in a sort of cave
near the shore. where they wouldn't
be easily seen, and put off in the
sampan. Clark stood I'D in his Chi
nese clothes and worked the big
sweep oar at the stern and lay down
fat on the bottom out of sight. 1t
was getting dark as we started, and
Clark steered by the lights of big
English steamer which was lying at
anchor out in the harbor. We got up
alongside it without attracting any at
tention, and first Clark, then l.
climbed up the anchor chain and
finally got on board. The lads of the
crew, when we told them we were
esca ping from a Russian prison, were
all for helping US, and they hid US
away in the coal bunkers until the
ship had been searched next day and
no trace of us discovered For. three
days we had nothing to eat, and we
were glad enough when the ship put
out to sea and we dared to show our
selves.
Kobe, Japan. Clark started right away
ready to sign for another seal poach-
ing trip. But no more of that in
mine It's no fun doing time in a
Russian prison. Chicago Tribune.