The daily silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1903-1907, 1904-06-27

1T cant be q feet" rcDlieI Captain
Jones. There are not so many Of
the enemy's ships together in t..cse
waters. if we are correctly informed.
| suspect /. Eiust he Il lot of merchant
men and transports conveyed Ly two
or three men of-war. Now is our op-
%portunity. gentlemen he continued.
his eyes sparkling with delight. They
are apparently beating in for Halifax.
and probably the Mellish. orr trans
port. will tie among them. We viii
pay them . visit tonight in any event.
| wouldn't let them pass by without Il
bow or two If they were a feet of two
Geckers."
Apparently this reckless brdvado en-.
tirely suited the ships company. for
one OF the men WHO had leard the
doughty captains speech called fol
three cheers. which were given with a
will.
AYE. that's a fine, hearty crew AMI
full of fight. Call on all hands, Mr..
Simpson"
THIS was more or less q perfunct0Ty
order. since every man from the jack.
of-the-dust to the captain was already
on deck.
MIR. Seymour said Jones to tie
first lieutenant, who had taken tie
trumpet at the call of all hands. w
must dress for the ball, and our Lest
disguise for tie present viii be Il a. Of
a merchantman. | don't Suppose that
the English imagine hat we have q
cr;v nAr,4 Il. 4I4acn xx-,fa.- IN aA--i.
by they can't see us against this e-oad
bank in this twilight. as We can see
them against the setting sLn; but we
will be on the safe side for the few
moments of daylight left us. They
may be locking at u over there. so
we will hoist the English flag al
once. and. as we are nearing them
a little too rapidly, better brazil UP the
fore ana main sails and take in the
royals and the fore and mizzen topgal-
liant sails for the present and slack OF
the running gear. Then beat TO quar-
tiers and have tie guns III in and dou-
bic shotted. close tie ports ard Lave
tie arms distributed: clear tie fore
castle. too. except of two or three men.
and bid everybody observe tie ~.fictest
quiet, especially wien we get in among
tie convoy" he continued rapidly.
You can see them now from the
deck. SIR said Lieutenant Simpson.
handing the glass to the captain.
AYE. SO you can. but not well.
Main royal there. can you make them
out any better:"
YES, sir. There's eighteen sail of
them; enc is a frisate and Il loo@s
like a sloop of war. sir. Tie rest is
merchantmen. some of EN- armed"
Very good. Have they seen us YETI
Don't appear to take no notice on Us
SO far. SIR"
Come down from aloft then and get
your grog and guinea. Jack. We won't
need you IN there any more. 1t is se.-
ting too dark to see anything there
anyway. Beat to quarters. Mr.. Sey-
mour. All. there go the lights in the
convoy.
For the next few moments the decks
presented a scene of wild confusion.
which gradually settled down into an
orderly quiet. the various directions OF
tie captain were promptly carried out
and the ship was speedily prepared fer
the conflict. though outwardly she had
lost her warl,ke appearance and now
resembled a peaceful trader.
While tie Ranger had beer slowly
drawing nearer to the sluggish fee OF
merchantmen and their convoy tie
early twilight Of tie late season faded
away ana soon gave place to darkness.
The night was cloudy. tie sky being
much overcast. and there WAS rc
l.o~n, all OF which was well Cor the
present purpose.
The men thoroughly appreciated the
hazardous nature of this advance upon
the unsuspecting fleet, projected by
two heavy vessels of war. either of
which was probably much stronger
than their own ship. but the very au-
dacity and bo.dness with which the af-
far was being carried out thoroughly
suited the daring crew.
Most of them had stripped to the
waist in anticipation of the coming
conflict. for they felt confident that Tie
feet would not escape without Il bat
tie. and during tie mex hour they clus
tered about the guns. quietly whisper
ing among themselves and eagerly
waiting the events of tie night. The
nervous strain appeared TO affect ev-
erybody except the imperturbable cap
tain. but the deep silence was un3ro-
Ken save by low voiced commands from
the first lieutenant. All sail had been
made as soon as ii lad become thor
oughly dark. the yards properly Traced
and the guns run out again.