Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-14

| ows with leathern throats; every cry heard
| In battle was there-rage, encouragement
Iury, nate and pain. And those of pam
were amazingly distinct. They were yells
| they were bowls. And suddenly as
we approached the ship, but before We
| could make out any sign of her. we came
upon boat. We had to swerve to clear
| her. She Seemed to have dropped ont If
| the fight in utter disarray: she law with ma
| oars out, and tull of men who writhed and
tunpled over each other, shrieking as if
they mad been fayed. Above the writhine
ngufeS IN the middle of the boat a taII
man, upright in the sternsheets rayed aw-
ful imprecations and shook his fists above
his head.
The blunt dingey foamed past that vision
within an oars length, no more, making
straight for the clamor of the fight The
| last pun of wind must have thinned the
| log In the ships track; for, standing up
race forward to pull stroke | saw her
| come out, stern-on to us, from truck to
| waterline, mistily tall and motionless but
| resounding with the most fierce and desne-
rate noises. cluster of empty boats chung
| on the water
We heard now, mingled with the fury and
| nate of shouts reverberating from the
PLACID sails, mighty thuds and crashes, as If
IL mad been combat with clubs and battle
| axes.
| AS / headed for her, big boat, full OF
| men, with many oars, shot across our bows
| ana vanished round the ships counter in
| me twlnkling of an eye. The defenders,
| engaged on the port side, were going to
| De taken In the rear. We were then so
close TO the counter that the cries of
| Death, Death rang over our heads. A
voice VOC % on the poop said furiously in Eng
! iish, stand fast, men," Next moment we
| TOO, rounded the quarter only twenty feet
behind the big boat, but with a slightly
| wider sweep.
l said, Have the pistols ready, Sera-
pima" And she answered ouite staadil,,.
They are ready, Juan"
| NO sooner round than we We're upon then,
we We're upon them SO fast that l had
pareIy the tune TO fling away nv oar and
close my grip on the butt of the njstols
Seraphina pressed into my hand from he
: Find Castro, too, had dropped his oar
anu turning as swift as a cat crouched in
the BOWS ! saw his good arm darting out
| toward their boat ~
! Iney had cast a grapnel cleverly, and.
swung abreast of the main chains. were
gr l busted In boarding the undefended
size IN silence. One had already his leg
over the ships rail, and below hin, three
| more We're clambering resolutely one above
the other The rest of them, standing un
=, IL pooy with their faces to the ship,
purpose that they staggered all together
10 the shock or the dingey, heavily, as IL
the earth had reeled under them.
| castro knew what he was doing sau,
| his only hand hop along the gunwale dra o.
| ging our cookie shell forward very swiftIy
The tottering Spaniards turned their heads
ana Tor moment we looked at each other
! in silence. 49, o.NoA
| 1 was too excited to shout; the srrnr;sa
| seemed to have deprived them of their
senses, and they all had the same grin Of
teeth closed upon the naked blades Of their
knives. the same stupid stare fastened upon
my eyes. 1 pulled the trigger in the nearesf
| face. and the terrific din of the fight going
( on above us was overpowered by the report
| of the pistol, as IL by clap of thunder. The
mans gaping mouth dropped the knife
afrA he CT rad uttf ffvy
| thought, I've missed him. to flash through
my mind before he tumbled clean out of the
boat without touching anything, like q
| wooden dummy tipped by the heels His
headlong fall sent the water flying high
| over the stern of the dingey. With the
second barrel / took long shot at the