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

dOanS sat on the sand IN the midst
OF the circle. The file and coil of rope
lay On the ground near by. The beach
comber was talking in high keyed
singsong, but with lisp. He told them,
partly in pigeon English and partly in
Cantonese, which Charlie translated,
and that they had intended to seize the
schooner that night, but that probably
his own capture had delayed their
plans. They had no rifle. \ shotgun
had been on board, but had gone down
with the sinking of the junk. The am
bergris had been cut into two Jumps
and would be found in a couple of old
-four sacks in the stern Of the boat in
which he and his men had come ashore
They were all armed with their little
hatchets. He thought two of the men
carried knives as well. There was
neither pistol nor revolver among them.
ut seems to me- said Wilbur. that
we've got the long end"
ave calcium boss, too" said Char
lie, pointing to Hoang.
'And we are better armed" assent
ed Moran. "We'vc got the clltting-in
spades"
''And the revolver, if it will shoot
any farther than it will kick"
"They'H give us al! the fight we
want" declared Moran.
"Oh, him Kai-gingh, him fight all
same DEVIL
"Give the men brandy, Charlie,' COM
manded Moran. "We'll rush that camp
right away"
The demijohn ;of spirits was brought
down from the Bertha and passed
around, Wilbur and Moran drinking
from the tin cup, the coolies from the
bottle. Hoang was fettered and lock
ed in the Berthas cabin
"Now, then, are we ready:' cried
Meran.
II tinlk all light" answered Charlie.
Hhe party set off down the beach,
The moon had long since gone down,
and the dawn was whitening over the
eastern horizon. Landward, ragged
blankets of morning mist lay close in
the hollOws here and there. 1t was
profoundly still. The stars were still
out. The surface of Magdalena bay
was smooth as a sheet of gray silk.
Twenty minutes passed. half an hour,
an hour. The party trampcd steadily
forward, Moran, Wilbur and Charlie
leading, the coolies close behind car
rying the cutting-in spades over their
shoulders. Slowly and in silence they
made the half circuit of the bay. The
Bertha Millner was far behind them by
now, a vague gray mass in the early
morning light
did you ever fight before:' Moran
suddenly demanded Of Charlie.
Zone time 1 fight plenty much in
San Francisco in Washington stleet.
Fight I'm See Yups''
Another half hour passed. At times
when they halted they began to hear
the faint murmur Of the creek, Just
beyond which was the broken and
crumhllng shanty, relic of an old
Portuguese whaling camp, where the
beachcombers were camped. At Char
lies suggestion the party made a cir
cult describing a half moon, to land
ward, so as to come out upon the enc
my sheltered by the sand dunes.
Twenty minutes later they crossed the
creek about 400 yards from the shore.
Here they spread out into a long line
and, keeping an interval of about fif-
teen feet between each Of them, moy-
ed cautiously forward. The uneven
ness of the sand breaks hid the shore
from view, but Moran, Wilbur and
Charlie knew that by keeping the
creek upon their left they would come
out directly upon the house
A few minutes later Charlie held up
his hand, and the men halted. The
noise Of the creek .chattering into the
tideWater of the bay Was plainly au-
dible just beyond. a ridge of sand
covered thinly with ssagebrush and a
faint column of smoke rose into the
air over the ridge itself. They We're
close in. The coolies We're halted, and,
dropping upon their hands and knees.
the three leaders crawled to the top of
the break. Sheltered by a couple of
sagebushes and lying flat to the
ground, Wilbur looked over and down
upon the beach. The first object he
made out was crazy, roof1ess house,
built of driftWood, the chinks plaster
ed with adobe mud, the door fallen in.
Beyond, on the beach, was fat bot
toned dingey, implanted and foul with
dirt. But all around the house the
sand had been scooped and piled to
form low barricade, and behind this
barricade Wilbur saw the beachcomb-
ers. There were eight of them. They
were alert and ready, their hatchets
in their hands. The gaze of each Of
them was fixed directly upon the sand
break which sheltered the Bertha Mill
ner's officers and crew. They seemed
to Wilbur to look him straight in the
eye. They neither moved nor spoke.
The silence and absolute lack of mo-
ton on the part of these small, half
naked Cinnamon, with their apelike
muzzles and twinkling eyes, were ON
nous.
There could be no longer any doubt
that tho Ind 1-porr,, 80