The Montana plaindealer. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1906-1911, 1910-10-21
BY A WHALE
oIn SAILOR TELLS STRANGE
STORY OF SEA ADVENTURE
Monster Of the Deep Upsets Boats IN
Which Pirates Were About to
Attack Helpless Vessel In
the Dark.

the English DIlB IlO" ivy CoPN
Scott commander" said an old lake
sailor who had spent his early days
nm a whaler. "She was a dry craft,
vol found, but very slow, and, al
those were risky days along
the heather coasts, owners OF crafts
were stingy about arming them for
protection. We had two old six pound
ers. which had been purchased at a
sale OF condemned ordnance, and ten
or a dozen muskets and cutlasses OF
but little value.
eve called at the Canary islands on
our way down the coast, and there we
got the cannon out of The hold
mounted them on their carriages.
I'VE got light and battling winds
along the Barbary coast, but were
nearing the tropic, when n afternoon
an hour before sunset a strange sail
was seen standing out from the coast
to cut us off. She vas also a brig
and from the very first sight OF her
there was no doubt in our minds but
that she was a pirate. We altered our
course two points to the west.
then began to get ready for her. we
had no sooner set about loading the
guns than it was found that our can
non balls was all too large for the
bore. Not one of them could be made
to fit
"This discovery took the courage out
of US, and it was only in the hope that
we might kill a few of the pirates be-
fore we were all sacrificed that we
loaded with bolts, pieces of chain and
such stuff in place of solid shot The
discharge would be effective at close
quarters.
"The stranger walked up on us at
a rapid rate, and when darkness came
on he was not more than four miles
away. Our captain went into the rig
girg with his glass for a long squint,
and when he came down he called
US aft and said there was no longer
any room to doubt. The stranger was
a pirate, and there was no hope of es-
Gaping him.
AT that very moment the wind,
which was off the land, began to fall,
and ten minutes later we hadn't
| enough to blow a feather. We could
no longer see the stranger owing to
the darkness. We knew that he mus
have lost the wind first, and that he
was all of foul miles away. If the
calm held throughout the night he
> would have to attack in boats, If at all
: and we then stood some show of beat
. ing him off.
i believing that this would be hi
, plan, we made the best preparation
: possible.
: Midnight came and we had hear'
" nothing. The fog was now very thicl
and every man was l%istening. intent,
, to catch the first suspicious sound
when all of a sudden there was
terrific crash followed by shouts an
shrieks. Then another crash, NOR
8 shouts, and a splash in the water a
If an iceberg had rolled over.
From midnight until dawn ever
man stood at his post. When day
light came we saw the pirate bri
about two miles off. Between the tw
vessels was a lot of wreck stuff, whic
the captains glass made out to be tn
shattered remnants of several sma
boats. Only four men could be o.
IN served aboard the brig, and as the ca.
% tain was watching them they got int
Of a fight. One was killed. one ran b
nj low, and the two men left on tt
ia deck got a white cloth from the cab
40 and sem it aloft in place of a flag.
ar I'm about half an hour we got Il
an wind and ran down to her, lowered
IN boat. and went aboard. | went in Il
he boat and followed the mate or dec
ne where we were welcomed by W me
i'd who spoke English.
"One of the men was an Englis
man, the sole survivor of an Englii
vessel wrecked on the Barbary Goa
five years before. The other was
OF American, who had deserted his sh
Is, at the Cape Verde islands three yea
le- previously and while making a voya
ur in a coaster had been captured a.
CHI shared by the vessel he was now {
in The dead man and the one below we
alf native Algerians, as were most of t
IL; briggs crew.
en- ION the previous night, when t
nd wind went down, they got out in thu
ol; boat and towed the brig about a mi
La The entire crew, with the except
of the four men, then armed the
selves and the boats set out to alta
us. What followed could be pre-
safely guessed at. The four DO;
were In company when a whale stru
up at least one of them as he came
is He must have thrown this boat ma
me feet in the air. He might then he
ry, fallen on the others, or shattered tn
get with a RAP of his fukes, but that
destroyed them the evidence was
mo fore us.
mot a man had escaped, and
stead of being captured and forced
walk the plank, as we had reason
expect, we had turned about and c
ota- tured the piratical craft without fir
cen a shot. She was a fine craft, |