Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-13
THE YELLOWDANGER
THE STORY OF THE WORLDS GREATEST WAR
BY NJ. P. SHIEL,.
Copyright. 1899. By r. F. Fenno & Co.,

police are iolling on their oars. chatting.
seeing nothing. And the bull's-eyes Of the
lighthouses glare steadily. and the watca
see nothing
The oars are mufTied, and the boat glides
through shadow beneath the poop of the
dirosaki. and when graphing iron steals
upward and fixes in beading of the stern,
we may very we'll say that the British lion
Is crouching to spring.
Up wriggles Brassey by the pole and
ward, up wriggles Hardy. And when
Hardy gains the cornice he coughs lit
tie: and Brassey whispers in his ear long
''Sh-h-h-h.''
Yonder. eight yards from them. is the
officer of the watch walking to and fro be-
tween the mainmast and the aft twelve
incher.
The two lie on their faces and are hidden
by ridge of bulwark abSve the cornice.
| Within reach is coli OF rope, and
Brassey's hand steals between an inter-
space of the taffrail, and with absolute
noiselessness draws forth the COLL makes a
knot round one rail and lowers a rope-end
to the boat.
And now the men arrive rapidly. There
is plenty of room TO receive them. They
are like flies climbing overhanging
rampant by spiders fl de toile
Before the last man Is up three of them
have run STOPPING forward and the officer
drops without groan. Just then, from
for ard man climbs the stair to report
to the officer that the lights are duly burn
ing. IL is MS fidlI-nOuriy duty. And ne
reaches the topmost rung. the sword of
Brassey is in his breast and he drops.
The upper deck of the Hirosaki is VII
lage. nearly five hundred feet long. but an
almost deserted village. Just for'ard of the
foremost funnel two men are talking, one
leaning against the foremost. one with his
hand resting on a boat davit; and a mo-
ment before the sword pierces him the lat
ter gives a light laugh at a jest OF the
other; and the other utters feeble cry and
dies. The upper deck of the Hirosaki is an
English village
They descend 10 the main deck, to the
fo'casles. to the cabins, to the engine
rooms, down to the turtle-back armor deck,
at the water line. and everywhere, with the
silence and the thoroughness of the Angel
of the Passover. they smte. they STAY. As
a man cries out, he dies; he opens his eyes,
and they are sightless. The ship flows with
blood.
At a door for'ard. Hardy lifts lantern
and looks into an apartment in which
sleep fifteen men. He shuts the door upon
them. secures IL and does not kill. They
are the remnant-the only men LETT alive
and he will have need of them.
In the bunkers of the Hrosaki- 700
tons of coal. The Englishmen are soon
crowdng IL the engine room.
Five other ships, besides the Hirosak, are
already in their hands. But their work is
not over. Massacre for massacre-John
Hardy's for Yen How's! Each has his Sab
BATH and his Passover-night.
Once more the six boats put off from the
six captured ships. each containing from
five to nine men, all carefully picked and
mixed. according to their special knowl-
edge of ship work; and these six meet
at an agreed spot opposite the patent
slip of the dock company Then
three of the boats crews abandon their
boats stepping over into the other three
boats and these three row away, each con-
tanning sixteen men.
And each glides beneath the stern Of a
japanese warship. and the men climb and
kill and hurry to the engine rooms.
Down in smoky disaster and eclipse sets
the red moon. and the deep dark which pre-
cedes the morning covers the silent trag-
edy.
Three pistol shots altogether, two in one
ship one In another, have been fired by the
japanese. These shots represent all the
struggle which has taken place
But the darkness which has supervened,
almost as suddenly as the Pickering out of
an out-worn lamp cannot prevent the
watches on other ships from perceiving that
some of the fleet are pouring out an unac-
countable smoke from their tunnels. They
must be lost IN amaZement. unless they |
conclude that the ships have received secret |
orders from the admiral to sail. But they |
look on and DO nothing but look-fOr the !
admiral is with the fleet, borne in the Hiro- |
saki, and all. they think, is under his eyes. |
There is a rattle of chains, and the steam |
windlasses are a-clank, and as the first |
faint hint of day ttngeS the east, the solid |
looking bulk Of the Hirosaki-moves. And /
one after another the nine bulks move, |
vending nOrthwards in file.
Nine-they few in number, but they |
represent a good quarter Of Japan's weight |
in warships. And with that quarter Hardy |
would then and there attack the other |
three-quarterS, were il not that he lacks |
one thing-the men. The crew OF a six |
inch quicS-firer Is FIVE: and five men rep |
resent the third part OF complete ships |
crew In this sparsely manned feet.
But the sound of cannon is good to the !
ear Of Hardy and In mere self-indugence, |
as the Hrosaki steams past the Island or |
Takabok he sends a Wire-gun shell among !
the still slumbering fleet. And the startled |
hills of Nagasak awake. and cry aloud |
with many a voice OF surprise and the |
shell bursts in the engine room of cruiser.
Phe shot Is not answered. There IS an |
amazement so profound as to resemble |
coma. While 1t lasts action is impossible
But the amaZement Of the Japanese navy |
at being shelled by their own admiral ship |
was. if possible, surpassed by the crews OF |
the three new Chinese cruisers, the Hi-Chi, |
Hi-tien and Hai-Shen. when three days |
proceeded without warning to sink them as |
they lay at anchor at Shanghai. They made |
no resistance to this overwhelming assault; |
they simply sank.
In each of the nine were a few Japanese |
who by Hardy's orders. had been spared |
armed, they behaved we'll and from them
was learned the probable station of the |
three Chinese cruisers.
The Hundred and eighty (so-called) |
then proceeded southwark, and touched at |
Hong Kong. intending to take on board |
whatever men they could find there. But
there were no longer any white men at
Hong Kong though there was coal
hey then turned their bows toward the |
west, among them being the Conrad with
her crew of eight.
CFo be continued tomorrow