The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-02-16

NJ IlOIC lu:tu II VIII rush
down the slope Of the
beach, u dash over the beachcombers'
breastworks of sand and a brief hand
to hand scrimmage around the old
cabin. In all accounts he had ever read
OF such affairs and in all ideas he had
entertained on the subject this had al
ways been the case. The two bodies
had shocked. together like 4 college
rush, there had been five minutes play
of knife and club and gun, confused
Whirl of dust and smoke, and all was
over before one had time either to
think or be afraid. But nothing of
the kind happened that morning
The Bertha Millners crew, in a long
line, Moran at one end, Wilbur at the
other and Charlie in the center, came
on toward the beachcombers step by
step. There was little cutlery Each
contestant singled out his enemy and
made slow y for him with eyes fixed
and weapon ready, regardless of the
movements of his mates.
''See any rifles among them, Charlie:"
shouted Moran, suddenly breaking the
silence
mo. tink no laab got" answered
Charlie.
Wilbur took another step forward
and cooked his revolver. One of the
beachcombers shouted out something
in angry vernacular, and Charlie in
line had been slowly advancing upon
the enemy, and Wilbur began to Won
der how long that Notwithstanding sus-
pense was to continue. This was not
at all what he had imagined. Already
he was within twenty feet of his man,
could see the evil CLINT Of his slant.
small! eye and the shine of his yellow
body, naked to the belt. Still foot by
foot the forward movement continued.
The Chinese ON either side had begun
exchanging insults. The still, hot air
OF the trOplc dawn was vibrant with
the Cantonese monosyllables tossed
back and forth like tennis balls over
the low sand rampant The thing was
degenerating into a farce-the Rerthas
Cinnamon would not fight.
Back there, under the shelter of the
schooner. it Was all very We'll to talk,
and they had been very brave when
they had all flung themselves upon
Hoang. Here, face to face with the
enemy, the SUE striking off Telegraph
flashes from their knives and spades,
it was 4 vastly different matter The
thing, to Wi1bur's mind, should have
been done suddenly if it was to be
done at all. The best course now was
to return to camp and try some other
plan. Charlie shouted direction to
him in pigeon English that he did not
understand, but he answered "All
rlght!' and moved forward another
step so as to be i'm line With the cody
at his left
The liquor that he had drunk before
starting began suddenly to affect him,
yet he knew that his head was vet
clear. He could not bring himself to
run away before them all, but he
would have given mHGh to have dis
| covered a good reason for postponing
the fight, if fight there was to be.
He remembered the cooked revolver
III his hand and, suddenly raising it,
hred point blank at his man, not if
| teen feet away. The hammer snapped
on $le nipple, but the cartridge did not
explode. Wilbur turned to the China
man next him in line. exe1aiminc ex-
cited1y:
'Here, say, have you got a knife
something l can fight with? This gun
is no good.''
There was shout from Moran:
'Look out! Here they comev'
Two of the beachcombers suddenly
sprang over the sand breastworks and
ram toward Charlie, their knives held
low in front Of them, ready to rip.
"Sboot! Shoot! Shoot" shouted Mo-
ran rapidly.
Wllburs revolver was a self cocker.
he raised it again, drawing hard on
the trigger as he did so. It roared and
1eaped in his hand, and a Whit of
burned powder came to his nostrils.
Then Wilbur was astonished to hear
himself shout at the top of his voice:
"Come on now, get into them-get
into them now, everybodyv'
The Bertha's Cinnamon were all run
ming forward, three of them well in
advance of the others. In the rear
Charlie was at grapples with a beach
comber who fought with a knife in
each hand, and Wilbur had sudden
glimpse of another sitting on the sand
with his hand to his mouth, the blood
squirting between his fingers.
Wilbur suddenly realized that he
held knife and that he was directly
abreast the sand rampant: How he got
the knife he could not tell, though
he afterward distinctly remembered