The daily Alaskan., 1905-06-12
A BAD CROWD
.conyr,rht lsoa. hy Jullus MuIler.l

Numbers of men started to 60 alott but stuck at the crosstrccs, and such sails as were cast loose were not sheet ed home to do their best. We walked mn to her hand after hand and in ball an hour were within biscuit toss and our captain was halllng to know what was wrong. The answer was plain enough without words, Her decks fairly swarmcd with men, all but i've or six of whom were In convtcts' dress As matter of fact, there were just ninety of them. IL was useless for them to reply to the hail. but the yel they uttered In chorus was enough t make the hair curl.
 Our craft was Shccred In bit closer and demand made that the convlcSs surrender. They could plainly see that we were a strong crew and had mount ed guns. but the demand was received with wells of deriSiou. The leader ot tbe gang, whom we had not before Identified, now mounted tho rail and in broken English warned us Co kccI oif or take the consequences. He bold. N declared that they were escaped conyicts from tue Evench penal settle ment
 The defiant attitude ot the convlco seemed to put our captain tn an em barrasSing position, but after mo menrs thought he called out to the fel low on the raii;
 You must have captured the brig Co get away from Cayenne. What has become of the crcwy'
 "ncad-every one of them killed and thrown overboardr' shouted the hend in answer.
 DO you mean to say you murdered captain. mate and an haudsy
 "Yes; all the crew. Now, you've go' the news. and you sheer or and 60 your own way. let Trench ship pur sue us and take us.
 We were compelled to widen the dis tsnce between us to prevent accident through the ubbery manner in which the brig was stecCCd, but we rcduce' sail so as to kCpp abreast or her, anc the captain and bis officers dosccndN to the cabin for consultation. | don't know whether they questioned theh right t0 interfere or diSrUS>cU the best method of rccaVUriUE inc brig, hu, .hey were not absent ovCra quarter oi sn hour. When they came on deCE we got the oulcr to load with solid shot. and In ten minutes every m3n and gun was ready for action. One oi the convicts was alort with glass aud could plainly uOte every movement sboari Of us. and our captain, who was likewise posting us, reported that tho | fellows had avmCd themselves win rltlcs and revolvers and were crcctins shields against the bulwarks A solid shot was fired across hei 1 bows as a sumIaons Co hCavc Co and as a warning of what was in store Tor her if she did not but the roar of the gun was followed by chorus Of wells and three or four bullets came whiz' ziuC over our heads. The brig widencd the gap until out ot rife range, and the captain then said to the crew oi Long Tom:
 "Aim 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 crcatinC havoc aboard, and we were looking for some token Cf surrender when the brSg ported her helm and came bearing uN to our quarter, We had the weather gauge, but she had been three or four points or the wind The fellows were evidently determined to get near enough to use thelr rifles but with their poor SeamanShip they stood no show.
 We gave the ship more sail, and aft CT a couple or tacks were of the brig's quarter and sending solid shot aboard again. There was great confusion among the convictS, and we were hop ing for q signal when the wretches brought two women on deck. We could see them very plainly without . glass, and their presence put a stop te our firing, as the convicts had expect ed. It was a scheme to stop our fire, and every man groaned in spirit as he wondered how our captain would take 1t. 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'll sink her"
 During the next thirty minutes we fired six times, and each time the shot was pumped into her hull but with their craft lying a wreck in the trough of the seas they continued to shout defiance at us. The unfortunate wom. en must down if the convicts did but death would be preferable Co our sailing away and leaving them in the hands of the monsters. We changed cur shot to shell as we loaded Long Tom again, and the gun was pointed to
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