The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-10-29

trailing over the water marked the scene of this catastrophe.
 It was a long hour before we reach ed 1t. and at first we feared that we had come too late to save any one splin tered boat and a number of crates and fragments of spars rising and falling and the waves showed Us where the vessel had foundered; but there was no sign of life and we had turned away in despair when heard q cry for help. and saw at some distance d piece of wreckage with man lying stretches across it. When we pulled him aboard the boat he proved to be young seaman of the name of Hudson, who was so burned and exhausted that the could give us no account of what had happend until the following morning.
 It seemed that after we had left Prendergast and his gang had proceeded to put to death the five remaining pris- oners the two warders had been shot and thrown overheard, and so also had the third mate. Prendergast then descended into the 'tWeen-deeks and with his own hands cut the throat of the unfortunate surgeon. There only remained the first mate who was a bold and active man. When he saw the convict approaching him with the bloody knife in his hand he kicked off his bonds, which he had 
 down the deck he plunged into the after hold. A dozen convicts who descended with their pistols in search of him. found him with match box in his hand seated beside an open powder barrel, which was one of a hundred carried on board. and swearing that he would blow all hands up if he were in any way nnolested An instant later the explosion occurred. though Hudson thought it was caused by the misdirected bullet of one of the con victs rather than the mates match Be the cause what 1t may. it was the end of the Gloria Scott and of the rabble who held command of her.
 "'Such. in few words my dear boy, is the history of this terrible business in which was involved. Next day we were picked up by the brig Hotspur. bound for Australia, whose captain found no diff cuty in believing that we were the sur vivors of passenger ship which had 1 foundered. The transport ship Gloria Scott was set down by the admiralty as being lost at sea, and no word has ever leaked out as to her true fate. After an excel lent voyage the Hotspur landed us at Sydney, where Evans and 1 changed our names and made our way to the dggings. where. among the crowds who were gath cred from all nations we had no difficulty in losing our former identities. The rest I need not relate. We prospered. we trav-
 
 England, and we bought country estates. For more than twenty years we have led peaceful and useful lives, and we hoped that our past was forever buried. Imagine, then, my feelings when in the seaman who came to IFS l recognized instantly the man who had been picked off the wreck He had tracked Us down somehow. and had set himself to live upon our fears. You will understand now how 1t was that I strove to keep the peace with him. and you will In some measure sympathize | with me in the fears which i'll me, now | that he has gone from me to his other 1, vlctirp with threats upon his tongue. "Underneath Is written in a hand so | shaky as to be hardly legible, Beddoes | writes in cipher to say H. has told all. | Sweet Lord, have mercy on our sousr That was the narrative which 1 read last night 10 young Trevor, and I think | Watson. that under the circumstances 1t | was a dramatic one. As to the sailor and | Beddoes neither of them was ever heard | of again after that day on which the 1 letter of warning was written They both | disappeared utterly and completely. No l complaint had been lodged with the po- | lice, go that Beddoes had mistaken a threat for a deed. Hudson had been seen