The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1906-06-16
THE NEWS DEMOCRATS DAILY STORY
To be published in daily nstalments on this page
The
SLAVE SQUADRON
A THRILLING TALE OF ADVENTURE
By HARRY COLLINGwOOD
CHAPTER IV.-Continued.

the IA persons IL sustained. IL was a
most fortunate circumtance for them tha'
the weather happened 20 be nne AT une
time for had there happened 10 DC
any great amount of sea running the
crazy concern could not have been KEPT
together for half an hour
We concluded from the appearance O1
the AFFAIR that the castaways had peen
burned out OF their ship; and so they hau,
but not in the manner we supposed hs
we closed with the raft II was seen Una. s..
several sharks were cruising lonslhSy
round and round Il, and occasionally
charging al IL, evidently in the hope OF
being able to drag of some or It's occu-
pants So pertinacious were these raw
enous fish that the boats crew had to
fairly fight their way through them, and
even 10 beat them OF with the oa.s ana
stretchers when they had got alonssIue'
However the poor wretches were res
cued without accident; and In a quarter
Of an hour from the time OF despatchins
the boat she was once more Swinging az
the davits. with the rescued men, most
OF whom were suffering more OF less
severely from burns. safely below In
charge Of the doctor and his assistant.
Later on, when their INJURIES haa peeh
attended 10 and the cravings OF their nun
ger and thirst satisf1ed-they had neither
eaten nor drunk during the previous AZ
hours-Capt. Vernon sent for the skipper
of the rescued crew, TO learn from him
an account OF the mishap.
His story as related TO me by him dur
ing the second dog watch. was to the FOL
"My name is Richards and my ship,
which hailed from Liverpool was called
the Juliet. She was bark OF $50 tens
register, oak built and copper fastened
throughout. and was only five years old;
"Fifty-four days ago today We cleared
from Liverpool for St Paul de Loando,
with a cargo Of Manchester and Birming-
ham goods. sailing the same day with the
"All went well with us until the day
before last, when just before eight bells
in the afternoon watch, one OF the hands
who had gone aloft to stow the maintop-
gallant sail reported a sail dead to lee
ward OF US under q heavy press OF can
vas have been TO st. Paul twice be-
fore and know pretty well the character
OF this coast; moreover on my first trip
I was boarded and plundered by a ras-
cally Spaniard; so thought l would JUST
step up aioft and take look at the
stranger through my glass at once Wen,
sir did So and the conclusion | came 20
was, that though IL was blowing very
fresh ] would give the ship every stitch
of canvas could show TO H. Tho strange
sail was a brig Of about 300 tons or there
abouts, with very taut spars, a tremen-
dors spread of canvas. and her hull paint
ed dead black down TO the copper, which
again. didn't at all like the appearance
of my newly-discovered neighbor; the
craft had a wicked look about her from
her truck down and the press or sail she
was carrying seemed 10 bode me no good.
So as the Juliet happened to be pretty
smart weasel under her canvas, and In
splendid sailing trim, thought i would
do what could to keep the stranger at
arms length. and when the watch was
called. few minutes afterwards, j got
the. topgallant- sails. fying-jib. maintop-
gallant, royal mizzen- -topmast staysais
all on the old barkie. and we began to
smoke through II, ] can tell you That
done set the stranger by compass, and
for, the first hour or so thought we were
hnl1 nfIr mt hky oat Dattl1
see-a great deal too plainly for my own
comfort-that the brig was both weather
ing and forereaching upon us Still she
been dark should have tried TO dodge
the fellow; but that unfortunately was
no use; the sun was no sooner set than
US even more plainly than we could see
him. At o'clock he tackled. and then
felt pretty sure he meant mischief; and
when. at n little before eight bells. h.
tackled again, this time directly In our
wake. had no further doubt about H.
At this time he was about eight miles
astern OF vs., and at midnight he ranged
up on our weather quarter. slapped his
To us without n word OF warning and or
dered us to at once heave to.
my owners had unfortunately sent me
TO sea with only half dozen muskets
on board. and not an ounce OF powder or
shot; so what could l dor Nothing OF
course but heave-to as l was bid; and
we accordingly backed the main top~aIl
without a moments delay, The brig then
did the same. and lowered boat. which
five minutes later dashed alongside us
and threw In upon our decks n crew OF IL
as bloodthirsty-lo ruffians as one
need ever wish 10 see
I'VE were, all hands fore and aft, at
once bound neck and heels and huddled
together aft on the monkey poop. with
two Of the pirates mounting guard over
us. and then the rest OF the gang cooliy
set 20 work and ransacked the ship. The
fellow in command OF the party-a man
about Ave feet six inches in height,
square built, with deeply bronzed features
and black hair and beard-made Il his
first business 10 hunt for the manifest.
(To be continued on Monday