The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-06-23

We6Qy SrOWtQ, ana the man Qulckly discovered that he had tumbled into tigress' lair. Fear lending him energy he gave flying leap and came clear of the place, still holding his musket in his hand. As he scrambled on all fours in the grass he gave vent to the yell, and the tigress, with roar of rage, sprang from her place of concealment ready to battle for her home and her offspring. Captain Henley saw the beast first and fired, and the two Se- poys-the first fellow having regained his feet-also fred The shots were well directed, and the tigress rolled over dead. The cub, all oblivious of it's loss, was found rolled up in a little fur " ball in the den, fast asleep, and was taken along by the captain. In Calcut- l ta the tigress was skinned and the skin tanned and the beautiful trophy was decorating Captain Henley's cabin when I was last on board the Sultana. The cub was made a pet of by the cap 1 tain, but the little fellow didn't live long and died of some disease peculiar to his kind before he had gained size and strength enough to become danger ous.
 Well, as I said before, I didn't like the ship was on and wanted to make change, and being impressed with Captain Henley, summoned up courage enough to ask the skipped to take me on his vesesl. He said that he wanted no runaway boys but would see my captain, and sure enough he did, with | the result that I got my discharge and was instructed to move m& kit over to the Sultana.
 "The Sultana was trim, swift-sail- ing ship, built for the China coast trade, and made for speed as well as for carrying purposes She had an armament of eight guns four on each l side, and the cannon were kept on deck and lashed in place. The guns were not for ornamental purposes by any manner of means; the Sultana needed them and could have put as many more to good use, for the run from Calcutta to Macao was through dangerous waters and beset by perils that | might say were worse than jun gle beasts.
 
 joined the Sultana, and dropping down the Ganges into Bengal bay had pleas ant sailing through the Straits of Ma lacca to Singapore At Singapore we lay to for several days, and a shipmas- ter, who had made the run from Hong kong, told Captain Henley, while l was within ear-shot on deck, to avoid I4e- ong-soy bay on the east coast of Hai- nan, as three pirate junks were lurking in that vicinity under. command of a famous sea robber, Queen Wu, and were strong enough to give a ship of the Sultana's size lots of trouble. The shipmaster said further that his bark had had close call, and only escaped from the murderous rovers by showing a clean pair of heels.
 Captain Henley shrugged his shoul- ders at the warning, and pointing to the guns half hidden under pieces of canvas, said that he guessed they would suffice for all the junks in the 1 China sea. We left Singapore and with a smart breeze behind us, made our way up the Anan coast at good clip, and in the course of some days after crossing the southern end of Tong King Gulf, sighted the mountainous coast of Hainan.
 '"The wind held good and as we neared the land we could plainty make out the forbidding nature of the coast, iand mark it's rugged characteristics. Gray cliffs, against which the waves of the ocean beat with tireless fury, rose to the height of several hundred feet, and the few coves and inlets looked like dark caves and water crevices from the deck of our ship. At last we reached I4eong-soy bay, and as bad luck would have it, the wind fell and our ship lay becalmed within about two miles of a barren shore line. The coast, although not at all inviting in appearance, was less mountainous than at the lower end of the island, and several inlets, almost the width of large rivers, were to be ob- served nearly opposite where our vessel floated, We were in the pirates local- ity, and Captain Henley, appreciating
 this, loaded the guns with heavy
 charges of solid shot and placing an extra guard on deck. Nothing hap
 pened during the night but hardly had
 the sun risen when the lookout on the
 yardarm alarmed the ship with the cry
 that four junks and fleet of small
 boats were leaving the larger tnlet on
 the coast. Captain Henley, in his deep
 bass, called to the bo'sun and the shrill screech of the bo'sun's whistle piped all hands on deck. The gun crews fell to their places like old men, ] o'-war' s-men, and the rest of the men about ten in number, scattered along the guardrail armed variously with pistols, marlin-spikes and cutlasses rtady to repell boarders. The high proved junks, with their mat sails spread, and long sweeps of oars extend ing from their sides, looked like ancient
 galleys as they slowly emerged from the inlet, one behind the other. and en. tered the calm waters of the bay 5 Once free of the narrow confines of tho } cove they spread out and swoopet down upon us like red vengeance } while between them we could see 6 score of small boats, which seemed tc be crowded with armed men
 'There was no mistaking the attitude of the people on the junks; they intend. . ed to attack us, and with the naked eye We could discern the thick ranks ot warriors on the decks and could also notice the glint of the early sun or / numberless weapons.
 . 'Captain Henley gave the order tt