Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-05-05
DAILY SHORT STORY
A CLOSE CALL FOR LIFE.

| tramp steamer. One morning WHICH,
l was sitting in the engine room wait
ing 10 relieve him he told me. this story
! In 1892 while in the Java sea, having
/ Quarreled with my captain. | left the
/ ship at Borneo. | found an English
man who wanted to take tug TO
! Hongkong and agreed TO go with him,
! we two being the sole crew. The tug
/ proved to be II tub. and we soon found
| something the matter with the connec-
| tons between the fire box and boiler.
| We lay TO, put out the fires, then clean
| ed out the fire box. which it was neces-
| sary to enter.
While / was hunting for the trouble
! with lighted candle the Englishman
was keeping watch on deck. Presently
he called for me to come up and show
ed me a suspicious looking craft on the
starbOard quarter. She didn't hy any
flag. set low in the water and appeared
to have no especial purpose.
she's a pirate" he said.
Nonsense l replied; there are no
pirates nowadays"
Don't you believe il. These waters
are full of them. They're not the reg
ular thing they used to be. They're
robbers and murderers in small way,
but they're pirates all the same"
While we were talking the craft
veered and came toward US. What
could we do: There was ne fire in the
box and If there were we couldn't
make more than six knots an hour
while the pirates-if they were such
could make ten or twelve. OF course
we We're nothing of a prize, but there
was no expectation that we would es-
cape with our lives anyway. We east
a wistful glance at one of the Anambas
islands. not more than five miles away
ON the port side.
I'll tell you what Wen do" l said.
we can't swim ashore, but wen
make believe we've tried. There's one
chance for us here We can get into
the fire box. and if they don't happen
to open the door they won't know
we're aboard. What do you say
"One chance in a thousand, but We'll
take 1t. There's nothing else to do
Well. we waited till we were salts
fed there was murder aboard the com
ing craft. then went down. got into
the fire box and pulled the door to.
The latch came down with a click.
Then for the first time | remembered
there was no means Of opening the
door from within and we must meet
death in one of two forms If the pi
rates didn't find us and murder us
we must remain in the box and so
down with the tug If they scuttled it,
and if they didn't we must starve to
death. 1t was HobsOn's choice.
1t wasn't long before we heard
voices, then a bump. then the sound
of people jumping on to the deck.
There was a perfect babel OF voices
that neither of us understood. Then l
heard a quick step coming down, and
in another minute the furnace door
was thrown open.
Instinctively we crOuched on either
side of the opening. After hasty
glance the door was closed with q
bang. 1t had been opened TO see II
the fire was out. | hadn't counted on
not being discovered. / had supposed
that if they opened the door they
would surely see us.
The jabbering on deck was kept up.
and ! was sure a prOmiscuOus lot of
dark skinned devils were debating
what TO do. Presently two voices rose
above the rest in hot dispute, and there
was a pistol shot. After that one Of
the two voices was alone heard and I
made up my mind that the leader had
asserted his, authority and would set
tie the matter ITO suit himself Some
one went down into the hold. and in
I Of
CUR The tug was being scuttled. The
man below came upstairs; the foot
steps above grew less frequent, then
ceased altogether. The pirates had de
parted and left us to sink slowly to the
bottom.
There was one chance Perhaps the
latch on the fire box door hadn't fallen.
l gave the door a push. but II didn't
move. That settled the matter. We
were fastened in, and within an hour
all would be over. l can't conceive OF
a more horrible fix to be in, and 1t
takes the starch out of me even now
to think OF it. This is the last time I'll
ever tell it
How long we had been Gagged don't
know had no idea OF time-when !
heard something outside like a groan.
listened and heard 1t again. Some
one was there and suffering l beat
with my fist on the door We shouted
made noise enough to wake the dead. |
There was no reply. Then we gave it |
up
Some time passed, during which there |
was no sound except the plash OF the |
waves against the sides OF the tug. |
when we heard the latch lifted and the |
door moved aJar. My companion thrust |
an arm through, and I forced the door
wide open.
copper cOlored man covered with
blood had crawled to the door and |
opened it. He couldn't say much. and
we couldn't understand what be did
say. but in time we learned that he
was one OF the pirates and his captain
had shot him for differing with him
about the disposal of the tug Suppos-
Ing him to be dead, they had left him
10 go down with her l.