Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-04-24

My ETdHOIdlneT. VINO was SedAdE-
ing man almost from the time he was
born till he was sixty. told me this
story when / was boy. There were
certain incidents and pictures in his
narrative that made a lasting impress
sion on my childish mind. l cannot
give them as infinitely as he who was
the central figure of the story nor de-
scribe the tropical scenery as he saw
It, lighted by a full moon. 1 can only
mention the salient points as l remem-
Der them aftsr an interval of many
years.
Il was first mate" he said. ''of the
bark Ann Eliza. We were lying one
night in the mouth of St. Johns river,
Florida The crew had gone ashore to
a dance at one of the plantations, and
the captain had gone in the same
boat with them to attend to some bust
ness. l was left aboard in command
of ten men. The captain had heard
that there was a good deal OF insubor-
dination among the negro slaves in
that region and that bands OF ne
groes had cut loose from their masters
and were going about looting what
ever of value they could find. He
charged me, therefore. to keep sharp
lookout for boats approaching the ship
and not permit them to come too near.
Il was sitting on the quarterback
with a minimum of clothing on me.
for the weather was hot, smoking
cigar The full moon was about an
hour high and lit up the palms on the
shores and the moss hanging on the
forest trees. giving the scenery pc
culiarly weird effect. There was not
a cloud in the sky and no sound ex-
cept the waves rolling in on the beach
about q mile away. the monotonous
rustling being occasionally broken by
a song from q negro hut near the river
bank.
Il was enjoying the simmer of
the moonlight on the water when
/ discovered a black speck in it.
The water was comparatively smooth.
so thet l could keep the speck al
ways in view. 1t soon grew more
distinct, and l could distinguish what
looked like a couple of paddles. one on
each side, flashing alternately in the
moonlight. AS the spot drew nearer
l saw that these were not paddles, but
the arms Of some one swimming hand
over hand. the spot being the swim
mer's head.
Pretty soon the swimmer, man,
approached the ship. ! leaned over
the taffrail and asked him what he
wanted
please. cap'n.' he said. let me
come aboard and I'll tell you
u ordered a rope ladder lowered.
and the man came up. He was not
much above the poor white trash or
der. He said ne owned a small plan
tation fronting on the river bank just
below us, with a few negroes. He had
learned that they were that night in
tending to murder him ard all his
family and take possession OF his plan
tation. He had come to us for assist
ance.
According to the mans story-and
he seemed very much affected-unless
/ sent a force to guard him and his
family l would permit their death. If
l sent only a part of my men they
might also be killed. If l sent them
all it would leave the ship unprOtect-
ed. A man begging for the life of his
wife and children is pretty hard to re-
sist l would be disobeying the cap
tains orders and putting the ship in
jeopardy If l yielded to his solicita-
tons and would permit murder if l
refused him.
Il never liked doing things by halves.
Having decided to send a force to the
imperiled family's assistance, / deter
mined TO send every man 1 had. This
would give them the greatest strength
in face of danger and throw all the
responsibility for the safety Of the ship
upon me. If she were attacked during
their absence ] would be killed.
didn't wish any one killed with me. l
preferred to take all the risk or none.
81 ordered a boat lowered and every
man on board in it. The planter got
into the stern with the coxswain IN
order TO direct the course. / put the
party under the command Of an old
salt named O'Neill and told him that
if he saw anything to cause him TO
suspect treachery TO tumble the plant
er overheard and return at once. The
men pulled out, and 1 watched them
in the simmer till they were lost IN
der the bank.
when / saw a boat coming from the
shore on which they were to land, but
more nearly opposite the vessel
81 knew in a moment that I had
been tricked. The swimmer had come
to lure away my men in order that a
force might loot the ship. In all my
seafaring life, with all its dangers,
death never seemed so near to me. I
resolved TO make the best fight could
and kill as many Of my enemies as
possible. 1 had aboard plenty of mus
kets, cutlasses and a few hand gre
nades. I ran below. gathered half a
dozen muskets, two pistols. two cut
lasses and a stock of hand grenades.
The muskets and pistols loaded. then
carried the outfit on deck. depositing
# amidsbips on the side the boat was
approaching. BY the time was ready
for a fight the boat was within a ca