The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1914-03-27

was like looking for Il needle in hay
stack. II WAS rather late in the day
20 begin then. for 1t was growing dark.
told him there was some choice wine
IN the ship which could point out to
him that had been taken aboard when
we had touched mt Spanish port on
our way southwark. and the ship was
well stocked with provisions for the
homeward voyage.
He decided to remain aboard him
self with prize crew of eight men
till the treasure had been found. He
ordered one of his captives to prepare
n supper. and | filled a demijohn of
wine and brought it to him.
He seemed to wish to appear friend
ly to me. His reason was plain. l
might help him in the matter of the
treasure and l might stand in his way.
From what had told him he believed
that a box of gold coins-probably
pieces of eight-had been brought
abo2rd to be taken to England. for
pirate ships were fitted out there, and
investors must get their share of the
plumber. When supper was ready my
captor invited me to join him, and i
accepted his invitation.
A scheme was forming in my mind.
There was but little chance 1t would
win, but it was not hopeless. We were
five unarmed prisoners. guarded by
eight pirates. With death staring us
in the face we were all ready for any
desperate enterprise. / hoped a pos
sibility for such might arise during the
night and would have liked to speak to
my mates about it, but dared not be
seen talking with any of them. !
therefore went, in to supper with the
captain without having been able to
tell them to be on the lookout.
There was hard drinking in those
days. and many villain who would
have been invincible while sober got
his deserts from his thirst for liquor.
1t was soon plain to me that the cap
tain was bound to drink hard. but he
was smart enough not to get drunk.
leaving me sober. He would not begin
a fresh bottle himself without forcing
me to finish the one before me.
Suddenly l remembered the expert
ence with olive oil that my father had
given me. There was none on the
table. but a-plenty IN the ship. that had
been taken aboard when we took on
the wine. | told the captain that with
his permission 1 would make him
salad such as he had never before
tasted, but to do so l must 60 for some
oil. He consented, and taking a small
pitcher, filed 1t and drank half of it.
Then. replacing what l had taken,
carried it. with head of lettuce taken
on With supplies at Kingston. and
went back to my host. l then pre-
pared salad Of the lettuce and fruits.
which the captain pronounced excel.
lent.
After this kept up with the captain
in finishing my bottle, then began to
get ahead Of him. 1t piqued him to be
beaten by n beardless boy. and be
poured down bottle after bottle. do
ing the same. but feeling comparn-
lively little effect from the fumes of
the wine.
Suddenly l heard loud laugh for
ard. 1t was followed by a shout. then
a yelp. My heart bounded with de-
light. The crew had doubtless seen
me drawing the wine from the cask
and had appropriated more Of 1t to
their own use. The captain heard the
noise, and 1t tended to sober him since
he knew what 1t meant. He started to
rise from the table, but was unable to
do so. I passed him his bottle and
filed his glass. He forgot what he
had intended to do and drained 1t.
1 now waited for the captain to fall
into stupor and the men outside to
follow his example. Their shouts grew
louder for awhile, then fainter as one
after another they dropped Off into un-
consciousness. Meanwhile the captain
was snoring under the table.
Selling a pair of pistols. went out,
battered I'm the door of the cubbyhole
In which my mates were confined and
released them. AS soon as they were
armed we held consultation as to
what to do next We decided to bind
the captain and his men with view
il we could get away-to take them to
England for trial. Rope Is easily
found on u ship. and without awaken
ing the pirates we bound them and put
each one in separate compartment
Our next problem was to get away
from the pirate vessel which was
standing near us We must not hoist
a sail for fear of being heard Besides.
there was scant breeze. The night
was cloudy. with no moon. We low
cred boat. muflled the oars. attached
n hawser to the capstan. took the other
end to the boat and pulled away. We
could see The pirate, but not plainly.
and hoped that our movement would
not be noticed
1t was not long before we lost sight
of her Then we redoubled our &c
forts and after an hours pull returned
to our ship. hoisted jib and with this
slender motive power sailed till we
dared hoist more canvas. When day
came the pirate was hull down on the
southern horizon
Our crew was small. but we man
aged to get the vessel safely to Eng
land. | made search for the treasure
box and found 1t under the flooring in
tbn m ntoi,,,e oh;D NVa onnolu1aI n 4