The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-02-27

Of hearing the dull soup6 Of a fall
upon the deck.
Simultaneously lights were flashing
out for and aft. A revolver spat ven.
omously beside him. Somewhere a
man screamed and fell, whimper1ng
horribly. The revolver expoded see
ond time. There were confused
noises, as of furious struggle, rough
and tumble, and he suspected that obs
or another Of his companions had
been tackled bodily by one Of the
junk's crew. On his own part he
caught a glimpse Of a shadow moving
ghostlike against one of the lights.
and promptly exercised it with shot
By this time the vessel seemed to
be caught in the grip of pandemon'
ium; shouts and shots We'd WITH
screams, groans, confused padding
footsteps, to make the moment one Of
nightmare. The boarding party stood
at bay, MT daring to venture from the
spot on which they had landed, firing
steadily but with discretion.
Huddled together like children il
fear of the powers of darkness, the
three held their fire against the inev
table assault in force, handicapped
fearfully by their absolute Ignorance
of the lay Of the deck, of the numbe1
Of their opponents, and of from which
quarter they had to expect the attack
And the silence and the suspense
wore upon their nerves until the hna
struggle came in the shape OF boon
to save them from madness. And ,
, came with rush and a will, cyconie
tremendous, overpowering. By shes,
weight Of human flesh the Europeans
were pinned against the rail, 1gAti4s
at handgrips with cruel and eaRAiAs
foe far better prepared for such bus
ness than they. For at such clost
quarters pistols were practicail!
worthless save as clubs, while knive:
could slip to stay through almost an!
interstice,, however straitened
O'Rourke had no time to think Of hi
companions. Stung to desperation b!
the silent, unrelenting fury Of his as
sailants-twice he was conscious O.
the White-hot agony of knife-thrust
one penetrating the flesh Of his sidt
and scraping his ribs, the other biting
deep into his thigh-he fired until b.
had but one cartridge left il his re
volver, and expended that blowing ou
the brains of an extraordinarily per
sistent coolie, then dropped the use
less weapon and trusted to his naket
strength.
1t served him we'll for little. On
man, precipitated by the weight
those behind him into the adventur
er's arms, he seized by the throat ant
throttled in twinkling; then lifting
him from the deck, he eXerted hi
power to the utmost, and cast thu
body like a log into the midst of thu
me1ee. Thus clearing a little space, b.
found himself able to step aside ant
let another run past him into the bul
wark; and seeing the sheen Of {
swordblad in the fellows hand, be
fore he could recover seized his wrist
twisted it savagely, and wrenched thu
weapon away.
The finale came moment later, sig
nalized by a binding flash Of ligh
more bright than that of day, which
fell athwart the deck and illuminated
instantaneously every inch of thu
fighting ground. Fervently be blessed
the nearby vessel that had turned its
searchlight on the junk. The scene
it revealed beggared the experience Of
a man whose trade was fghting; il
fell upon decks slippery with blood
and Uttered with the bodies of deat
and wounded; it silenced a confusion
lndescribable. Upon that insane turmoil
the light fell with the effect Of thun
derbolt from a clear sky.
Screaming shrilly in their panic, the
Chinese scattered and fell away, leaV
ing O'Rourke beside Couch, Wheeler
being down and buried beneath three
Chinese corpses. And instantaneouslJ
something grated harshly against the
starboard side Of the junk, and man
his figure stark black against the colo
white glare, leaped upon the rail ano
tumbled inboard Others to the mum
Der of a dozen followed him, swarm
ing over the decks. Couch reeled to
wards them, babbling orders and in
structions.
The second launch had arrived.
Sick and faint, O'RcurHe slouched
back against the rail, watching with
lack-luster eyes the end Of the chap
ter. It was simple to the point o1
seeming farcical in comparison with
that which preceded it. The dazed and
now outnumbered Chinese offered no
further resistance. Disarmed and put
under guard, they disappeared from
his consciousness, while he watched
the men from the second launch,
spurred by Couch, scatter in search OF
the abducted women.