The daily Alaskan., 1913-04-18
A Story of theLast War With England
 By T.. TOWNSEND SMITH

We had good luck in meeting British
 merchantmen aud had secured some
 .prlzes. a few of which we carried Into
 port, and some We let go they not be- ling of mucn value. We were sailing
 lu longitude west from Greenwich 62
 degrees and 40 minutes. latitude 35 de- grecs 10 minutes, when iu the dlrec,
 dou Of the Bcrmudas, to tte wiudward .of us, appeared on Che horizon a saiI
 She had a good breeze, while we were nearly bccalmcd She made straight ! for us and came up with us, breaking l. Che British aag, She was altogether
 too strong for us, and after a short ! 6ght we surrendered
 ] was put down between decks with !. Che others. who. being tired with sev- ! cr0l days constant activity ending with light. were oll very soon asleep.
 Somehow ] couldn't sleep and sat watching our guards, who were as Jagged as We. one by one they drop ped asleep. There wasn't much use of ! their keeping awake, for we couldn't run away, and lt would have been mad
 ness for us to attempt to capture Che ship.
 ! But when ] saw the last man dozing
 on a coll of rope with his cutIass across ] his lap ! concluded to take a walk. ! ] didn't expect to get very far, but l ! found that alI hands, having been on ! duty for several days without sleep, had succumbcd. and ] didn't see a per son awake. Forward ] found the bod ! ics of several men who had been Killed during Che light, laId out for burial- ! that ls. ! saw Che sacks ln which they were Iuolosed. The llca occurred to me that If we were near enough Co land Go swim ashore I might escape by taking a body out of one Of thc sacks. getting in myself and being slid over board 1 knew We were headed for ! tbc Bcrmudas and ] might somehow get Go land
 ! ! would need a knife, but had none. and while I was making up my mind ! to take Che risk ] thought ! would look around for one. A sailor who was sleeping like a log had one in his belt and. though ] risEcd his killing me if ! he awakened while relieving him of it ! l took the chance and succeeded. don believe bc would have opened his eyes if bad kicked him.
 ! Having Che knife gave me nerve. and ! ] resolved Co make a break for liberty ] The great difficulty was getting body out of sack and tossing it oycrboard . There was am advantage for mo in that One sailors, not rclIsbing sleeping near . tle dead men. gave them a wide berth ] |Iwas some time at che job, but finally ! ! had a bag ready and craw.cd iu. ] couldn't lace che opening from Che in side and wondered what thls might
 lead to-
 ] ] lazy perfectly still tn morning, when . ! mucIcd by sounds near mo and words l thut were spoken that the burial was about Co take place heard a man say Heres sack not closed" and felt him closing lt. Then he tied cord about my ankles. and after that . a chaplain read the burial service That ended, ] heard something slide on a board, and presently was taken up and was sliding rapidly, plunging feet ! foremost Into cold water.
 ! It seemed that ] had gone down a hundred yards before ! succeeded iu cutting open the bag and two hundred more before ] cut the rope that bound my ankles Go the sinking shot When free ] commenced to rise, slowly at first, but soon quite rapidly. My breath was gone when reached thC surface but I knew that lf ! sank again ] | would take in water, SO ] eEertcd my self and got a few bre0ths. ] didn't sink again and pretty soon was able
 to look about me.
 There was the ship not fifty yards ! from me and another body just shoot . ing over the side. Fortunately ] was astern. and those engaged at the bur Ial worl, dld not see me. swan for Che rudJer and as there was but little breeze succeeded In reaching it and ! hanging on to thc chains
 There wasn't much sea on or ]
 would soon have been washed from my hold. l had had nothing to eat since the morning before and hadn't much strength, but during the morn ing the cook threw some refuse from . the galley. and [ was enabled to gath CT some pieces of bread and a few bits of meat That helped me considerably About noon saw land on the port quarter and knew we were approach ] ing the Bermudos. Would | be able to ! leave the rudder and appear as some one else than a Yankee tar? An l
 could do was to wait for an opportuni ty. Once ou' twice We approached SO near the lanI that l was tempted to let so and swim for it, but feared ! would be seen trom the ship.
 Then we ran Into the harbor, and a man fishing In a small bo0t was for a few minutes within a hundred feet of me. Before be saw me ] dlved and came up directly before him. He was
 too astonlshed to say anything for a
 few moments. then helped me Into his