Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1909-10-22

although up to this time there had
been no shooting.
Chase. In advance, suddenly gave
vent to a loud cry and boldly dashed
out into the open. disregarding all
were Fastening toward the gate from
another direction. Outside the huge.
barred gate a throng of men and
women were congregated. Some of
the men were vigorously slashing
away at the bars with sledges and
crowbars; others were c%rouching with
rifles leveled-in the other directionl
Its Bowles!" shouted Chase eagerly.
The situa lion at once became clear
to those inside the walls. Bowles and
his friends. a score all told. had man
aged to reach the upper gate and were
now clamoring for admission, beset on
all sides by the enemy's pickets.
"For Gods sake, be quickr shouted
Bowles. There's a thousand of them
coming up the mines road!!"
The gates were unlocked by the pa
troll. and the panic stricken throng
tumbled through them and scattered
like sheep behind the high. sheltering
walls. Once more the massive gates
were closed and the bolts thrown
down just in time to avoid a fusillade
of bullets from the outside.
Once inside the chateau the fugi-
tives. shivering with terror, fairly col
lapsed. There were three Englishmen
In the party besides Bowles. and
DuL~.o -o.,-ao5 AHo n--o- -tr1.
OF Jacob o Blitz among the women
who had Deea obliged to cast their lot
with the refugees from Arafat The
sister of Neenah and five or six other
women who had peer sold into the
island made up the remainder of the
little group of trembling females.
The remainder of the men In the
party, fourteen or fifteen In all. were
of many castles and n~ationalities and
Of various ages. There were brown
Observation-Disclosures rnm-C~aieutta n cen
pie of sturdy Greeks, an Egyptian and
a Persian. three or four Assyrians and
as many Maoris. As to their walks In
life, among them we're clerks and
guards from the bank. members of the
native constabulary. Indian takers and
showmen and vendors Of foreign gew-
gaws.
Bowles. his thin legs still shaking
perceptibly, although he strove might
lily to hold them at strict attention"
was the spokesman. A valiant heart
rhumped once more against the seam
Of the little red jacket. If his hand
trembled and his voice shook 1t was
because of the unwonted exertion to
which both had been put in that stir
ring fight at dawn.
"For some time we have been pre-
pairing for the outbreak" he said. f1n-
gering the glass of brandy that Britt
had poured for him. Ever since
Chase began to go in so noticeably for
the ladies-ahemr'
Chase glared at him. The others tit
tered.
81 don't mean the old story, sir, of
The Persians, and I'm saying, sir,
what's more, there wasn't Il word of
truth In i'll mean the ladies of the
chateau, begging pardon too. Won
Blitz came to me often with COM
plants that you were being made a
fool of by a pretty face or two and
that you were going over to the enemy
body and soul. When | heard that
they tried to kill you the night before
last ! made up my mind that no white
man was to be left to tell the tale.
Last night we locked all the company's
books in the vaults. got together all
the bank notes and gold we had on
hand and made preparations to go on
board the steamer when she called this
morning. My plan was to tell them of
the trouble here and try to saw you.
We were all expected to die Of the
plague-thats what we were-and l
realized that Tommy Atkins was of
the boards forever.
I'VE hadn't any more than got the
cash and valuables ready to smuggle
aboard when down came Rasula upon
us-10 o'clock last night, your lord
ship. He had a dozen men with him,
and he told every mothers son OF US
that our presence In the town vas not
desired until after the ship had sailed
away. We were taken up into the
hills by a squad of men. There wasn't
a mar among us that didn't know that
we were to be killed as soon as the
ship had gone. With our OWL eyes we
saw the mail bags rifed and nearly all
of the mail destroyed. The pouches
from the chateau were burned. Ra-
sula politely informed us that the
plague had broken u among the cha
teau servants and that no mail could
be sen out from that place. He said
he intended to warn the ships officer
of the danger in landing. and-weil.
that explains the short stay Of the
ship and the absence of nearly all mail
from the island. There won't be an
other boat for three weeks. and they
won't land because Of the plague.
They will get word, however. that