Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1912-06-13

There was nothing to do but fall in with her
plan.
I knew about where to find the Florence. We
picked her up in a few days and l boarded her
made sail to meet the Leckwith at the rem
devious. Kate went on to Singapore, where
she took the next ship for England. Six
months later l received word that she had died
suddenly there, before she had applied for a
pardon, and the course of my life was changed
When l rejoined the Leckwith, / told Norton
simply that | had been away on strictly private
business. A day or two later / told him. l had
decided to sell the Florence and Surprise and
quit the business we were in. Norton, dunn
founded, advanced many arguments against
such a course, and finally he lost his temper.
1T may be-" he suggested sneeringly, that
this Is due to the fact that Moy Sen has
threatened to exterminate us. If you don't
want to fight the old scoundrel why don't you
say SOP"
That dart struck a tender spot. would be
the last one to quite under a threat or under
fire, and Norton knew it. Far from running
away from a fight of that kind" | told Norton,
Il should much rather run into 1t. We will
cruise around awhile to see whether the Chink-
les really mean to give us battle. But 1t is the
sport of 1t that | want and nothing else, for If
1t comes off 1t will be a great fight"
Nothing happened for ten days or two weeks,
We saw several junks which we could easily
have stood up and robbed, but | would not per-
NIT 1t. Then. late one evening an enormous
junk appeared suddenly from behind an island.
She appeared to carry only a small crew, but
when we came together it seemed to me for
a moment that she had more Cinnamon on
board than 1 had ever seen before at one time.
Suddenly she swung to starboard and would
have smashed into our bow II we had not gone
full speed astern. AS she passed under our
bowsprit she threw a grapplingiron which
caught on our port bow.
We lit our battle-lamps so that they illu-
minated our deck. where we preferred to fight
because we knew every foot Of 1t.
1t was such a fight as one gets into only in
years, perhaps only once In a lifetime. The
butchery was dreadful, but the excitement Of
it set ones blood ablaze. There was not a
pirate left alive on the junk or on our own
, deck.
Before we had time to congratulate ourselves
or count noses, we discovered a big steamer
almost on top Of us. 1t was the Ly-ce-moon, the
flagship of Moy SENS feet, and, though we did
not know it, the old pirate chief himself was in
command Of her.
The result was a repetition Of what had oc-
CURED with the crew of the junk, but it re-
CURED much longer to accomplish 1t.
Gradually, but slowly at first, we got the
upper hand or them.
1t was broad daylight by the time we had
thrown overheard the last of the dead China
men and washed down the decks, after giving
our W badly wounded men such attention as
was possible under the conditions. We thought
for a time that Moy Sen had escaped, but we
found him, almost chopped to pieces, close to
the observation-disclosures. with three of our men
beside him.
On the Ly-ce.moon were two teak chests,
filled with gold and silver coin and ingots, sill
verware, jewelry and precious and semi-preci
GUS stones of the Oriental variety, apparently
representing the most valuable portions Of sew.
eral stolen cargoes, and these l allowed to be
transferred to the Leckwith, in preference to
throwing them overheard.
It then became a question as to what we
should do with Moy SENS ships. We com
promised the difficulty by ~scuttling the junk
and putting a crew aboard the steamer. W.
went to Singapore, arriving there In the early
part of 1876. as | remember 1t, to close up oul
business, and sold the pirate. ship to our
Chinese agents for a third Of what she was
worth, We also sold to them, for a small part
of its value the loot we had taken from her
but all of that money was. divided UP between
Norton and the crew. / held to my promise
and touched none Of it.
/ left the China sea behind me and never
have returned to II.
After a ~fruitless expedition after buried
treasure In Corea, we sailed for Shanghai ant
from there for London.