Newspapers / The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, … / Oct. 6, 1907, edition 1 / Page 17
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1. ZT.CH -ILXTQ TIXTIE2 famous novels by Chaflce Reads were -written v.'ith the ex-, r.ress purpose of attacking what he regarded is great wrongs. "It ta , Never Too Lata to Mend" expo tho evils of the (treat English prison system, ts'lt then existed. "Put Yourrelf in His Place" n snails what Keswle called tha tyranny of the labor unions hv Lancashire. "Hard Cash" ; was-written to depict the evils and dangers of the private insane aayluriM and ' of the iJngliih lunacy laws. Each of thes novels roduced a tremendous Impression on tha public mind; for while tfiey had all tho fascination of pur romance, they were tha result of tha most painatakin study and re- , search. In thla respect Reads was the forerunnner of those writers In your , own time who employ Action a a keen weapon against the dangers which actually or supposedly beset society. -. ,. .; "Hard Cash", was written almost wholly In Reade's study la Magdalen College, Oxford, Of which he was a fellow. On reading Its pages, so glowing, so full of action, and so filled with tho spirit of outdoor life. It h difficult to realize that It was composed during months In which the author rarely - saw or spoke to any friend, but spent hia' entire time at hi a desk or in his library..,. ,,,.'-. V.VA -'V-;';..S--vJ '- -.-';-, -i - The passage here' reprinted forme only an' episode in the story" and is - complete in itself. Captain David Dodd, the oommandcr of an English ner ' chant ship, the Agra, hat retired f rem the service, and is now making his ''last voyage from China to England; His chief officer' ' name - is - Sharps. The captain U carrying the savings of a lifetime, amounting , to fourteen ' thousand pounds, in bank-notes, sewed, twin little bag and fastened about - his nock beneath his clothing. A few passengers are making the voyage,wlth -. Jilm. Among then art a British off icer, Colonel Kenealy,, an eccentric Amer- - lean, Joshua Fullalove,. and his negro attendant, and an English lady, Mrs.. .. Beresford. Just before sailing, Captain Dodd has heard rumors that two ' pirate vessels have been committing depredations in the MalawSlraits: but " he takes little notice of the report, and for while the voyage is uneventful . Then occurs the exciting Incident which is recorded here. The Scrap Book! Carmine streaks tinged the eastern sky at the water's edge, and that wat ', er blushed;'', now the streaks turned jttwtiifA t A m nra iraa X- V a 1 vial . f TiATITi '., sparkled. " Thence-splashes of living gold flew and settled on the ship's , white sails, the deck, and the faces ' and with no moreproioguej being so near the llneup-xrame majestioally a .huge flerysolden etV and set the sea flaming. liquid to pas. v ?vC : f . Instant, the lookout at the foretop gallantmaethead . hailed the deck be- "Strange tall! : tfl?ht ahead!" ' The strange nail was "i reported to 1J...' ifaiviatA TVrM h An' ,HBufnk 111 Jill WMi) ee . w v 4-"""'JBs y- cabin. He tame soon after on deck and hailed he lookout; " 5vs - "Which way Is she standing?'' ?C "Can't say, plr. Cant see her move." . Dodd ordered the ..boatswain, to pipe to breakfast; and taking his deck . glass went ilghtly tip to the foretop ? gallantmast ; cross-trees, " :ri Thence, through the Ughr base of a glorious morning, he espied a long, low echoon . er, lateen-rlged, lying close under Point Leat. a small island about nine 1 mjles distant on the weather bow; tnd nearly in the Agra's course, then ap proachlng the Straits of Caspar. ''; - i "She is hove to," said Dodd, very gravely. $ ..;.,' i' ;wvsr; -f.;.v , At 8 o'clock the stranger lay about two miles to windward,; and' still hove to. Byth!s time all eyes were turned upon her half a dozen glasses. Every : body, except the captain, delivered an opinion. ? She was' a Greek tying to for water; she Was a Malay coming north with canes; and short of handsi she was a pirate watching the straits, . The captain leaned silent and som Vber, with his arms on the balwarks, and watched the suspected craft. -Mr. Piilhilnve Inlned the srroiin and leveled a powertul glass of his own' construe tlon. His Inspection was long and ml "liute, and, while the glass was at his -. avn fihanu aoU-Aif him half Ml SL whifl 'Per, could , he make out anything. "Wal," said he, "the varmint looks considerable snaky." Thenf without moving his glass, he tet drop a word at "a time, af it the facta were trickling Into hist teleexiopi t.lhe , lens and out at the sight ."Orie---two--fou---seven false ports." t There was a mementary J murmur among the officers all round; but Brit ish sailors are undemonstrative. ; ' - The "next observation that-trickled out of Fullalove's tube was this: "I judge there are too few bands on , deck, and too. many white eyeballs -glittering at the port-holes' i "Confound it!" muttered Baylies ufl- easily. ''How can you see that?'? , Fullalove replied only by ' handing his glass to Dodd. The captain, thus appealed to, glued .his-eye to the tube., . "Well, sir; see the false ports and he white. eyeballs? (asked Sharpe Ironically"' -:M ':.''' '.''';.'';' "I see this is the best glass I ever looked through," said Dodd doggedly, L without iterruptlng his Inspection. ' "I think he Is a Malay pirate," saia Mr. Grey. . ' s.v '' ;,' t , Sharpe took htm wp very quickly, and indeed angrily: -: ... "Nonsensel And if he is, he, wont ' venture on craft of this size." x "Says the whale to the ' swordnsh1', -sugeated FuUalove w.Ith a little tjut-. tural laugh.--i-i'.-';,.t-y l".f '..The captain,4 with the Amerlcan glass at his eye, turned half .round to the" man at the wheel: . ''u -"Starboard 1" ..!'i;V-w,.,iv ' "Starboard It ta.x'l-?:K!r;?i?'i "Steer south-southeast - "Aye.aye, sir." And the ship's course was thus altered two points. , This order lowered1 Dodd fifty ' per - cent In Mr.. Sharpe's estimation. He held his tongue as long as he could; but at last his surprise and dissatisfac tion burst out of him: , , "Won't that bring htm out on us?" "Very likely, sir," replied Dodd. ' , l."B?gging your pardon, I captain, would It not be wiser to- keep our course and show the blackguard we don't fear him? "When we do? Sharpe, he has made up his mind an hour ago whether to lie still of bite; f:tny' changing' my courst two point ; won't change his : mind; hut H may.nfake him declare it; and I must know what he floes Intend before 1 run the ship Into the narrows' head." M'-. 'm:' x-'i j -4 . ' "Oh, I see," said Sharpe, half con- ' Vlnced. '''XlMr:-.,:, ;. The alteration In the Agra's course " produced no movement on the part of the mysterious Schooner. . She Jay to under the land 'stlir. and with only a ' few hands n deck, while the Agra ' eged away from her and entered the " straits- between Long Island and olnt Leat leaving the schooner about two miles and a halt distant to the north west. ' - V' Ah! The strangers deck swarms yrk with men. . ' i , . VHis sham portsfell as 1f bx. magic; bisgtms grinned through the gaps like black teeth; his huge foresail rose arid filled, and out he came tn chase. So (bounds the tiger on his unwary,,.pry. There were stout hearts among the officers of the peacable Agra; but dan ger In a 50W form shakes the brave; r and this was their first pirate., Their dismay broke put In ejaculations not loud but deep,- , , . ' . "Hush!" jrald vDodd doggedly. "The ' Jady!" . v,;':'v .yv:,.'; ; Mrs.-Beresford had Just come von deck to enjoy the balmy morning. t "Sharpe," said Dodd In a tone that ' conveyed no suspicion to the newcom er, "set the rfyals and flying Jib. Port!" ' "Port It Ji" cried the man at the , helm. - , - "Steer due south!" 'And; with these words in his mouth, Dodd dlveji to the gun-dMk. , t While Sharpe "and his hands were ; setting every rag the ship ould carry on that tack, the other officers, hav ing unlucky n order to execute, stood - gloomy, and helplei, with their eyw glued, by a sort or sontber fascination, on that coming fate; and they literally jumped and jarred when lira Beres iord. her heart opened by the lovely i day; broke In on their nerves with her CAr.L" light treble: , - ' . v What a aweet morning, gentlemen t After all a voyage is a-delightful thing. On, , what a splendid seal And the !e,bre2?a ,1 warm. Ah, and there's a little ship sailing along. Here, Fred dy. Freddy darling, leave off beating the sailor's legs and come here and see this pretty ship. What a pity it Is so far oft! Ah, Ah! What is that dread ful noise?" . , , . - For her horrible ' small talk that grated on those anxious souls like the mockery of some infantine fiend, was cut short by ponderous blows and tre mendous smashing below. It waa the water poured out at the scuppers. 'Clearing-the lee guns," said a mid dy off his guard, v ..-- K Colonel Kenealy pricked up his ears, drew his cigar from his mouth, and smelt' powder.); x& - "What, for action r said he briskly. "Where's the enemy ? . , "f ' Fullalove made, him a signal, and they went below, t -ro ;U- w', - " : ; Mrs. Beresford had not" heard, ! or not appreciated, the remark; She prat tled on till she made the; mates and midshipmen shudder, y ,; .; ' Realize the situation and the strange incongruity between the : senses' and the mind in these poor fellows! The day had ripened its beautyr beheath a purple heaven shone, sparkled, and laughed a blue sea. In whose waves the tropical sun seemed to have fused his beams; beneath that fair, sinless, peaceful sky, wafted by balmy breexe over those smtllfig, transparent. golden waves, a ; bloodthlrst j pirate uviq uunu vu .mem wuu ft 1 view ut human tigers: and a lady 'babble-babble-babble-babble- babbleJbabible-babbled In their quivering eara But now the captain came bursting on deck, eyed the loftier sails, sav they were drawing well, ; appointed four midshipmen a staff to convey his Orders; gave" Bayliss charge of. the carronades. Grey of the cutlasses, and directed Mr. Tickell to break the bad news gently to Mrs. Beresfotd, and to take her below to the orlop deck; or dered the purser, to serve out , beef, biscuit, and grog to' all hands, saying: Men cn't ' work, on an empty sto mach; efnd fighting Is hard work;" then beckoned the officers to come round htm. ;1 . ."aentlomen," said be-confldentlaMy, "in crowding sail On this ship, I had no -hope bf escaping that fellow ion this tack, (but I was, and am, most anxious to gain the open sea, where I can square my yards and run for it if I see a chance. At present I shall carry on till ; he comes up within range;;, and then, fto; keep' the com pany's canvass from, being shot to rags, I shall shorten sail;, and, -to save ship and cargo and aH our lives; I shall flght ;while a plank of her swims. Better be: killed in hot blood than walk the plank In cold." ? The officers Cheered falntfly; the captain's dogged resolution stirred up theirs. . . . , - The pirate had gained another quarter of a mWe and snore. The ship's crew were hard at their beef , and grog, and agreed among themselves it was a comfortable ship; they guessed what was coming and wo to the ship in that hour if the captain had not won their respect! v 6trange to say, there were two gen -Hefnen In the Agra-to whom the pi rate's approach was not altogether unwelcome, Colonel Kenealy and, Mr. Fullalove were rlvail sportsmen and rival theorists. Kenealy stood out "for a smooth-bore and a four-ounce ball; Fullalove for a? rifle of his own con struction. .Many a doughty argument they had and many a bragging match; either could" convert the oth er. At last, Fulialovo hinted that by going ashore at the Cape and getting eah behind a tree at one hundred years and poping at one another, one or other would toe convinced, v "Welt, .but," said .Kenealy, f-if-he-ls dead, he will be no fviser; besides, to a fellow like me, jwhi has had the luxury of popping at his enemies, pop ping at a friend Is poor, insipid work.'s' That Is true,', said the other re gretfully, "But I reckon we shall nev er settle It by argument W . . Theorists are amazing; and tt was plain, by the alacrity , with, r- which these good creatures loaded the rival instruments, that to them the pirate came not so much a pirate as a solu tion. Indeed, Kenealy, in the act. of charging his piece, was heard to mut ter "Now, this is rucky." ; However, these theorists were no sooner loaded thnn something octured to make them more serious, They were sent for In haste W Dodd's ca!blnr they - found him giving Sharps a- new order. . s "Shorten sail to the taunsels and Jib, get the colors ready .on-the .haily yards, and then send the men aft;' f-harpe raimut of sea! and tumbled over Ramgolam, who was stooping remarkably- near the keyhole, Dodd. hastily bolted tha - cabin-door and looked with trembling Hp and piteous earnestness In Kenealy's face and Ful" lalove'8' They ' were route, with sur prise at a gaze so eloquent ye mys- teOUS. ir , ; ii-U-i " U . , J v He manned himself and opened his mind to them with deep emotion, yet not without a certain simple dignity. ''Colonel," said he, "you are an old friend; you, sir, are a new one; but I esteem you highly, and what , my young gentlemen chaff you about, you calling all men brothers, and making that jpoor negro love -you . instead of fear you, that shows mef -you have a ge"at h,eart My ; dear "friends, t have been unlucky enough to bring my children's fortune on board this ship. Here it' is under my shfrt-four-teerf"thousand pounds! This ' weighs m down.' Oh, If they should lose it, after all? Do, pray, give me a hand apiece, and pledge your sarred -words tc take It home safe to my wife at Barklngton. if yoa of eltker'of you, should see the, sun set to-day and I should nbt". v. ' .VWhy Dodd,-old- fellow," said -Kenealy cheerfully, v"thls Is not the way to go into action.'" . ' ' "Colonel," replied Dodd, "to save this ehlp and cargo I mvust be wher ever the bullets are, and 1 .will,' too." Fullalove, more sagacious than the worthy colonet, said, earnestly: "Captain Dodd, may I never" see Broadway again, ana never see Heav en at the end of my time. If I fail you. There's my hand.' "And mine," said Kenealy warmly, i They all three Joined hands, and Dodd seemed to cling to them, ; "Ood bless you1 both! God bless you! Oh, what a weight your true hands "have pulled off any heart! Oood-y for a tew minutes. The time is short I'll Just offer a prayer "to the Almighty for wisdom, and then JPU come up and say a word to the men, and fight the ship, according to my lights." Sail was no sooner shortened, and the crew ranged, than the captain came briskly on deck, saluted, jump ed on" a carronade, and stood ereet Ho was not theroan to show the crew his forebodings. 1 ' Pipe) ''Silence fore and aft!" - 'My men,' the schooner coming up on our weather quarter: is a pirate. His character, is known; he scuttles all the ships he boards, dishonors the women and .murders the. crew.We cracked on td get out of the narrows, and now; we have' shortened sail to fight this blackguard and teach him to molest a British ship. I promise, in the company's name, twenty pounds' prize-money to every man before the mast if we beat him off or oubma neuvre htm; t thirty if we' sink him, ahd forty it we tow him astern into a friendly port. Eight guns are cle"ar below three o the weather side, fivo on the-lee; for, if he kiiowg his bust-, jiess, he will come up on the lee quar ter; if he doesn't that Is no fault of yours or mine. The muskets are. all loaded, the cutlasses ground like ra sors " i , . "Hurrah!" - ' i "We have women to'defend " "Hurrah!" "A good ship under our feet, the God of Justice overhead, British heartB in our bosoms, and British colors fly ing run 'em up! over our heads.'! The ship's colors flew to the fore; and the Union Jack to the anlzzen peak. "Now, lads, I mean to fight this ship while a plank of her" stamping on the deck ''swims beneath my foot, andwhat do you say?" -? Th reply was a Aerce "Hurrah!' from a hundred throats, so loud, so deep, so full of volume, It made the ship vibrate, and rang In the creep-Jng-on pirate's ears. Fierce, but cun ning, he saw mischief in those styrt ened sails, and that Union Jack, the terror of his tribe, rising to a British cheer;' he lowered his mainsail, and crawled up on the weather qoarter. Arrived within a cable's length, he double-reefed his foresail to reduce his rate of sailing nearly to that of the ship; and the next moment a ton gue of flame and then a gush of smoke, issued from his lee bow, and the ball flew screaming like a sea-gull I over the Agra's mlzzentop. He then put his neim up ana nrea nis otner bow-chaser, and sent the shot hissing and skipping on the water past the ship. This prologue made the novices wince. Bayliss wanted to reply with a carronade, but Dodd forbade hlnr sternty.'saymg: "If we keep him aloof we are done for." ' 0 - : v The pirate drew nearer and fired both guns in succession, hulled the Agra amidships, and sent an eight' pound ball through her foresail. Most of the faces were pale on tho quarter deck; it was very trying to be shot at and ht, and make no return. The next double discharge sent one shot smash through the stern" ostbtn window, and splintered the bulwark with another, wounding a seaman slightly. "hie down forward!" shouted (Dodd. "Bayliss,glve htm a shot" Tjie carronade was fired with a tre mendous report, but no visible effect The pirate crept nearer, steering in and out like a snake to avoid the car ronades, and firing those two heavy guns alternately into the devoted ship. He hulled the Arra now nearly every shot ' " ',' - - - ..:...'-.. ! The two available carronades re plied noisily and jumped as usual; they sent one thirty-two-pound shot clean through the'schooifer's deck and side; but that was aH they did "Worth speaking of. , ; a, "Curse them!' cried Dodd. "Load them with grape I They are not to be trusted with ball. And all- my Jgh-teen-pounders -dumb! The coward won't come alongside and give them a:chapce." ; ,: -- y- - At cne next , discharge the pirate chipped the mizzenmast and knocked a sailor into dead pieces on the fore castle. Dodd put his helm down, ere the smoke cleared and got three car ronades to bear, heavily laden with grape. Several pirates fell, dead or wounded,, on the crowded deck, and some holes appeared In the foresail. This one interchange was quite In fa vor of the ship. f : ; -w, cv- But the lesson made the enemy more cautious; he crept nearer, but steered so adroitly, now right astern, sow on the quarter, that . the ship could seldom bring more than one carronade to bear, while he raked her fore and art with grape and bail. ' In this alarming situation Dodd kept as 'many of the men below as possible;' but for all he could do, four were kilted and seven wounded. Fullalove's word came too. true; It waa tho ewordnsh and the whale. It was a fight of hammer and anvil; one hit the other made a noise. Cautious and cruel, the pirate hung' on the poo? hulking creature's' quarters 'and raked her at point-blank distance. ? And her captain! To see the splin tering hull, te parting shrbuds, the shivered gear and hear. the. shrieks and groans of his wounded, and the unable to reply in kind! The sweat of agony.' poured down his facer Oh if be could but reach the open sea and square, his yard and - make a tong chase of It Perhaps fall In; with aid! Wincing under each heavy blow, he crept doggedly, patiently on toward that one visible' hope; . . f At 4ast, whn the ship was cloved with "shot agd peppered with grape the channel opened; In five 'minutes more he could put bar dead before the' wind, V: v".r': r-";" ' t "' "' o ' No. The pirate, eh whose side Ick had been from the : first, got half- a broadside to bear at long musket-shet, killed a midshipmen by Dodd's side, cut away two of the Agra's mlzzen shrouds, wounded the ; gaff, and cut tHe Jib-stay. Down feM that powerful sail into th t water :V and dragged across n the ship's ; forefoot, stopping her way to the open sea she panted tor. The mates groaned; the crew cheered stoutly, as British tars do in any great disaster; the pirates yelled with ferocious triumph, Hike the devils they .'looked. - , , But most human events, even ca lamity, have, two sides, The Agra e lng brought almost to. a standstill, the pirate forged -ahead against his win, and the combat took a new and ter rible form. The elephant-gun popped, and the -rifle, cracked, .in toa Agra' mlsxentep, and the- nn - at 'th pi rate's helm Jumped lnt ,the air and fell dead. Both theorists claimed him. r i , . . i :. ' ; i . ! I ,o .! - . . . . ; a- i t .1 ' e gun-t..-. a it a word ia. 'le ell J...er was not t..ia man to auis a . vt-! alor--u Ja in a quiet sea; be pent two round, shot clean through 1.1m; the third splintered his bulwark and swept across his deck. "Ills masts! Fire at his masts!" roared , Dodd to .Monk, through his trumpet. He then got the Jib ctear and made what sail he could wlthont tak ing all the hands from the guns. . This kept the -vessels nearly along side a few minutes, and the light was hot as fire. The pirate now for the first time hoisted his- flag. It was black as Ink. His crew yelled as it rose: the Britons instead of quailing, cheeered with fierce derision. The pi rates wild crew of yellow Malays, black, chlnless Papuans, and bronzed Portuguese, served their side guns, twelve-pounders,; well and with fero cious criesp the white Britons, drunk with battle now, naked to the waist, grimed with powdter and spotted like leopards with blood, their own and their mates', replied with loud un daunted cheers and deadly bail of grape from th. qua'rter-decky while the master - gunner and s bis mates, loading with, a rapidity the mixed rac es opposed could not rival, hulled the schooner well between wind and wa ter, and then fired chain-shot at her masts, v . i , Meantl ne, Fullalove and Kenealy, aided by Vespasian,, m ho loaded, were quietly butchering the pirate crew two a minute, and hoped to settle the question they were . fighting . for. smooth-bore versus rifle; but unlucki ly neither fired once without killing; so there was nothing proven.": 'r The pirate, bold as he was, got sick of fair fighting first; he hoisted1 hia mainsail and drew rapidly - ahead with a slight bearing to wlnward, and dismounted , a carronade and etove In the ship's Quarter-boat, by, way. of a parting kick. , ''-i:vt. Uv'-, ' - k;" The mer hurled a . contemptuous cheer after him;, they t thought they had beaten him off. But Dodd knew better.' He waa. but retiring a little way to make a jnore deadly attack than ever;. he would soon wear and cross the Agra's defenseles bows, to rake her .fore and aft at pistol-shot distance; or grapple, and board the enfeebled "ship two ! hundred strong,1. Dodd flew to the helm, and with hla own hands put it hard a weather, to give the -deck-guns one mor chance, the last-of sinking or disabling the destroyer. As the ship obeyed, and a deck-gun bellowed benow him, he saw a vessel running out from Long Is land and coining swiftly up on"his lee quarter."':-;.'. .';! :: It was a schooner. Was she coming to.hls aid? V, ' -h - . ' , -.: ' Horror! i A5 black flag floated from heV foremast-head. ' ' While Dodd'r eyes were staring al most out of hi head at this death blow to hope. Monk fired again;, and Just then a pale face came close to Dodd's. and a solemn voice whispered in his ear: . , . ' "Our ammunition is nearly done!" Dodd seized Sharpe's hand convul sively and pointed to the pirate's con sort coming up to finish them, and said, with the cfilm of a brave man's despair: "Cutlasses, and die hard!" At that moment the master gunner fired his last gun. tt sent a chain-shot on board the retiring pirate, took oft a Portuguese head and spun off clean Into the sea ever, so far to windward, and cut the schooner's foremast, so nearly through that It tremblad and nodded, and presently snapped with a loud crack and came down like a broken tree, .with the yard and sail the .latter overlapping the deck and burying Itself, black flag and all, in tHe sea: and there, ik one moment, lay the destroyer buffeting and wriggling illke a heron in the water with his long wing broken aff utter cripple. The victorious crew raised a stun ning cheer. , 'ilne!" roared Dodd with his trumpet. M hands make sail!" I He set his courses, bent a new jib and stood out to windward close-hauled. In hopes to make a good oiling, and then put his ship dead before the wind, which was now rising to a stiff breeze. In doing this he crossed the crippled pirate's, within eighty yards; and sore was the temptation to rake htm; but his ammunition being short, and his danger being Imminent from the other pirate, he had the self- com mand to resist the great temptation. He hailed the mlzzentop. "Can you two hinder them from fir ing that gun?" - ; "I rather think we can," said Ful atove, ."eh, colonel?' and tapped hi long Tlflo. The ship no sooner crossed th schooner's bows being disabled, the aohooneCs head had come round to windward, though she was drifting to leeward than a-Malay ran '.'orward with a linstock. Pop went tae colon el's ready carbine;; the Malay fell over dead, and the Jlnstojpk flew out of hla hand. At all Uortuguese. with a move ment of rage, snatched It up and dart ed to the gun; the Yankee rifle crack ed, but a moment too late. Bang went the pirate's bow-haser, and crashed Into the Agra's side, and passed near ly through her. Y missed, him I Ye missed 'html" cried the rival theorist Joyfully. - . He was mistaken; the smoke clear ed, and there was the pirate captain leaning wounded against the main mast , with a Yankee bullet In a his shoulder, and his crew uttering, yells Of dismay and vengeance. They jump ed and raged and brandished their knives and made horrid gesticulation of revenge; the white eyeballs of the Malays and Papuans glittered flend tah'ty; and the wounded captain rais ed hla sound amn and had a signal hoisted to his consort and she bore up In chase, and. Jamming her fore lateen flat as a board. , lay far near rvthe wind than the Agra could, and said three feet to her two besides. On this superiority being made clear, the situation of the merchant vessel, though not so utterly deeper, ate as "before Monk fired ..his lucky shot, became pitiable enough. If she ran before the wind, the fresh pirate would cullies off; If she lay to wlndt wardshe mirht postpone the ' inevi table an fatal collision with a fo as strong as that she had only escaped by a rare piece of luck; but this would give the crippled pirate time to refit and unite to destroy her. Add to this the falling ammunition and the thinned ciew. ' ' Dodd cast his eyes all round iha horizon for help. . . J . The sea was blank. The bright sun was hidden now; drops tot rain, fell, and the wind was beginning to. aliu.. and the sea to rl little. "Oentleimen.", said he, "let us knel down and pray for wisdom; in this sore strait." - - . j He and hla officers kneeled on the huarter-deck. When they tos. Dodd .stood rapt about a minute; his great thoughtful eye saw no more the en my, the seat nor anything external; It was turned Inward. His officer looked at him .in silence. , , "Sharpe,' aald he at last ?'ther must be, way ut of them both with such a breese as this Is now; if we could but; 'see- It." ; . . v ;m '-,; "Aye, if." groaned Sharps. V1' "About ship!" ald he softly, like an absent man, h :,,..,; 'Steer du nortn!' .ald he, stimilko eifvnoH nma wu eisew(Mre -. While- the ship was coming about he gave ''minute orders to the mates l. .1 i i . ..: 1 : '. i f l.-i.int-jvrc-s t ...t v. j .) 5:. re u u t.t !. The wind was .;t-northwc;t; ha was standins north; one plrato lay on his Ice beam, "torpinsr a l--k bc-tween wind . and- water, and tonkin?- the deck clar of his 'broken mast and yards. The other, fresh and thlrstin? for the easy prey, came up to weath er on him aud hang on his quarter, pirate fashion. When they -were distant about a cable's length, the fresh pirate, ta meet the ship's change of tactics, Changed, his own, luffed up, and gave the ship a .broadside, well aimed, nut not destructive, the uns being load ed with ball. - j i,v. r,y ,..--... Dodd, Instead of replying Immedl at&ly, put hla helm hard up and raa under the pirate's stern, while he was jammed up In the wind, and with his five eighteen-poundera, raked him fore and aft, then paying oft, , gave .him three carronades crammed with grape and cannister.' w y . . - The rapid discharge of eighty guns made the ship .tremble, and envelop ed her in thick smoke.- Loud shrieks and groans . were heard, from the schooner,. The smoke cleared; the pi rates mainsau nung on aecic. nis iio- boom was cut oft like a carrot and the sail struggling; his foresail look- ea lace; lanes ot dead and wounaea lay still vor writhing on bis deck, and his lee scuppers ran blood Into the sea. Dodd squared bis yards and bore away. , :;,e-s -v-..;--;.-' ' The ship was silent. She had no Shot leaving the schooner staggered and all abroad, But not for long; the pi rate wore and fired bis ' bow-chasers at the now flying ' Agra, split -one of the carronades In two, klled a Kascar, and made a hole in' the foresalL This done; he hoisted his mainsail again la a trice, sent his wounded below, flung bis dead overboard, to the horxor of their foes, and came after the flying ship, yawning and firing' his ' The ship was Rent Bhe bad no shot to throw away. Not only did she take three blows like a coward, but; all signs of life disappeared on her, ex cept two men at the wheel, and the captain on the1 main amrway. Dodd had ordered .the crew out of the rigging, rmed them with cutlass es, and laid them flat' on the forecas tle. He also compelled Kenealy and Fullalove to come down out of harm's way, no wiser on the smooth-bore question, than they, went up. '- The great patient ship ran envir oned by her foes; one destroyer right in her course, another in her wake, followln her with yells of vengeance and pounding away at 'her but no reply. , . Suddenly the yells of the pirates on both sides ceased, and there was a moment of dead silence on the sea. Yet nothing fresh had happened, s Yes, this had happenedthe pirates to windward and the pirates to loe ward of the Agra had found out at one an the same moment that the mar chant captain they had lashed and bullied and tortured '.was a patient but tremendous man. It was not only to rake the fresh schooner he had put his ship before tha wind, but al so by a double, daring master-stroke to hurl his monster ship bodily on the other. Without a foresail she could never get out of the way. The pirate crew had stoppod the leak, and cut away and unshipped the 'broken fore mast, and were stopping a new one, when they saw the huge sblp bear ing down In full sail, "Nothing easier than to slip out of her way could thjey get the foresail to draw; but tho time was short the deadly intention manifest, the coming destruction swift. . -Alter that solemn silence came a storm i of cries and curses, as their seamen went to work to fit the yard and raise thes all: while their fighting men seized their matchlocks and trained the guns. They were weH commanded by an heroic, able villain. Astern the consort thundered; but the Agra's response was a dead silence more awful than broadsides. For then waa seen with what maj esty the enduring Anglo-Saxon fights. One of that Indomitable race on the gangway, one at the foremast two at the wheel, conned ana steered the great ship down on a hundred match lockks and a grinning broadside, just as they would have conned and steer ed, her Into a British harbor. "Starboard!" said Dodd, in a deep calm voice, with a motion of his hand. "Starboard it is." ' 'The pirate wriggled ahead a little. The man forward made a silent signal to Dodd. - "Port!" said Dodd quietly. ' "Port it Is." At this critical moment the plrale astern sent a mischievous-shot and knocked, one of the men to atoms at the helm. Dodd waved . his hand with out a word, andandther man rose from the deck, took his place in silence and laid his unshaktng hand on tho wheel stained with that man's warm blood whose place he took. ? v The high ship was now scarce sixty yards distant; she seemed to know: she reared her lofty figurehead with But no,w tho panting . pirates got their new. foresail hoisted with a Joy. ful shout: It drew, the schooner gath ered way, trad their furious consort close on the Agra's heels Just then scourged her deck with grape. "Port!" said Dodd calmly. ,,. ' "Port It la." ' The giant prow darted at the es caping pirate. That a.-re of cornier canvas took the wind out of the swift schooner's foresail; It flapped; oh, then she was doomed! That awful mo ment parted ths jracea on board her, the Papuans and Sooloos. their blank faces livid and blue with horror, leap ed yelling Into the sea, or crotehd and whimpered ; tha yellow Malays and brown Portuguese, thought blan ed to one color now, turned on death like dying panthers, fired two cannon into the ship's bows, and snapped their .muskets and matvh locks at their solitary s exocutloner ' on the ship's gangway, and out flew their knives like crushed wasp's stings. Crash! The Indlaman's cutwater In thick smoke beat in the ehonner's broadside; . down went her masts to leeward like fishing-rods whipping tho water; there was a horrible shrieking yell: wild forms leaped oft on the Ag ra, and were hacked to nieces aknott ere they reached thje deck a surge, a chasm' m the aea, filled with an In stant ruah'of engulfing waves, a long awful gratlngV grinding noise, ne.ver to be forgotten in this world, all long under the ship's keel and the fearful majestic monster ; pawed on over the blank she had made, wltli a pale crew standing silent and awe struck oh her deck; a cluster of will heads and staring eyeballs bobbing like corks In her foaming wake, sole rell of the blotted-out destroyer; and a wounded man staggering .on the gangway, with hands uplifted ,"" and staring eyes, t Shot in two places, tho head and the breast ' - .l ' With a loud cry of plty and dismay, Sharps, Fullalove, Kenealy, and oth ers rushed to catch blm but, - ere they got near, the captain of the trl. umphant ship fen down on hls:hands and knees, his head sunk over the gangway, and his blood ran fast and pattered tn the midst of them, on, the deck h had defended so bravely. ' They got to the wounded captain, and ralacd him. He revived a little; and -tha moment- he caught sight -uf Mr. tfhar-pe, he clutched him, nCt crlod, "t3tun.isl ; , yirnrous DLgost at the i:stf-o of Tu? Wilson It's Snre to l'lay Al. Kauf inann to Win Sonie Ti'kka feneak eil Into the Hi no Fits the Human lcckle, Breaks Two KIbs ia a Side of Beef "Training Wasn't ' Kverj' thing, Mr. Muldoon, When I Went Into a Fight." After Tug Wilson, whose real name was Joe Collins, got 97.000 for hugging me and crawling on, the floor n Madi son Square Garden In the euimmer of 1882, and then escaped back to Eng land before I could get him into a ring again, some admirers of the English man tried to show that It was my bus iness to cross the waiter end fight him on hla own ground. - A little man held me up in front of the Fifth vemie Hotel One night Boon after Tug's es cape, and pushed it Into me to" that effect- ; '.kh'u ' 'X:V'-'-f":-:; '.:' "Yon tallow faced dude.' ways I to him, "If I went over to England after him he'd Jump to Sandwich Islands to get. out ef my way, fox ii ewer wa come together again they'll have to take him out of the ring on a stretcher." ' Wilson stayed the four rounds In the Garden ; because I couldn't etop htm from hugging me and the floor long enough to get at him right Another thing that helped Tug a whole kt was the fact that I was so, cock sure of him that I didn't do much training ex cept to get a hair cut and a shave. We made a second match, and I trained hardlDTthab3Wtne oops wouldn't let us Dull It off. is In order to hold me on Wilson made a match with Jimmy ElMott and Rich ard K, Fox put up $600 forfeit as backer for Tug. This was to be under London prize ring- rules. Before the data, fixed for the fight Wilson lpped aboard a steamer and was half way to England before his backer and other friends here were wise to him. He had money enough to open a public house on the other side and no doubt laughed hearty many times at the easy Yankees. " THE PLAN FOR KAUFMAN To . , ,j COP THE TITLE. . ::y' There iniust be a sucker born every minute, at least on the coast or they couldn't keep right on doing business. They've had Squires and Phlllie Jack, and tHat didn't stop them from mak ing a 0,000 house to see Jimmy Brltt turn tail to a colored brother, and on admission day a that Tho sporting men out 'Frisco way are certainly a grand lot the way hey surrender their walloita to every biograph artist that needs the leathers. The oftener they are stung the more they are ready for tha next lemon peddlar that cornea along. : " i'; . Out of the ruck of the 'Frisco per formers Billy Delaney Is pullmg one good thing In Al. Kaufmann. and Al. will bear watching from now ont De laney la a crafty sport. He has boost ed some others up the ladder of fame so they could reach the bunches of long rreen that grow at the top, and he will handle Knufmann so he will pick UP a lot of experience while he's edging up where the title can be pall ed. , lit will be pretty safe playing Kauf mann on all his matches for ' some time to come, for you (ramble that De laney won't let mm get into anything where he don't have a hlg chance of ftoming out wltb the long end of H. Delaney will push the youngster against the surest things and the big gest purses until he's squeezed out all the experience and all the -money there Is In the one nlffht stands for h! man, then he'll go in for the title. By tba time the young Callfornian may be due to cop It off. SOME OF THE TRICKS SNEAKED INTO THE RINO. A lot of things (have sneaked into fighting that don't belong there. In the past dozen years or so more tricks have got under the ropes than during the whole history of the ring. All kinds of dope hoe o be pawed over by sports before they put down m bet, even to finding out how tl referee has made his side befs, and then they lose out. Joe Cans has been excused back among good people, the clever Balti more minstrel handing out to line of argument that when he was faking 'Oh, captain," said Bharpe, "let the ship go; it is you wt ara anxious for now." At this Dodd lifted up his hands and beat the air impatiently, and cried again In the thin, querulous voice of a wjunded man,, but eagerly, "Stunaela! 8tinels!" ' . ; ..-. . On this, Sharpe gave the command. "Make sail! All hands, set stunsela 'low and aloft!" ' - While the unwoun Jed hands swa,rmed Into the rigging, the sur geon came aft In all haste; but Dodd declined hmi till all his men should have been looked to. Meantime he had himself carried to the stern, and laid on a mattrpHM, his t bleeding head bound with a wet rambric handker chief, and bU pale face turned toward the hostile schooner.,,. ,; , . , a he had hove to, and was picking u pthe survivors of her blotted-out consort. The group pn tho Agra's quarter-deck watched her to see what she would do next Flushed with im mediate success, the younger officers crowed thoir feara sho.would not be gomsto attdK'kthsm again. Dodd's fears ran the other way; ho said. In the weak voice to which he was now reduced: ' '-..-tiy "':;f': ;;""" ?i "They are taking a wetr blanket aboard. That crew of blackguards we swamped won't want any more of us. It all depends On the pirate captain; If he Is notsdrowned. then blow wind, rise, sea, or there' troublo ahead for us!" ' ' f ; Aa soon as the gchooner had picked up the last swimmer, she hoisted fore salL main&alk and 4lh with, admirable rapidity, and bore down in chase. - The Aera bad. meantime, got a start of more than a mile, and was no.v running before a stiff breese with studding-sails alow and aioft. In an hour the vessels ran nearly twelve miles, and the pirate Sad gained half a mile. ..." At the end of the next hour they were out ot sight of land; wind and sea rising; and the pirate only a quar ter of a mjla astern. The schooner was now rising and falling on the waves; the ship only nodding,; and firm as a rock. . "Blow wind, rise seat", faltered Dodd.- ',' Another half hour passed without perceptibly altering the position - of the vessels. , Then, suddenly, the wounded captain laid aside, hla glass, after a long examlnatioiv and ros unaided to Ws feet In great excite ment and found his manly voice for a moment He - shook his - fist , at tha pitching schoone, and roared: ; - , , ' , - "Oood-by.V y lubbert Outfought owtmaneuvred and outsailed!'? a v ; It was a burst of exaltation rare for him. ' He paid for it by sinking faint nd helples into his friend's arras; and the surgeon, returning soon after. Insisted on his being taken to his cabin. " , - J , ; ' 'As they were carrying, him below, tha pirate captain made the same dU eovery, ihat tha ship waa gaining on him. lie hauld to the wind directly, and abandoned the ch,aso. lights he was the victi i f folks who shewed h:.n hv . home chicken and wait-rm.;!n i. But Cans never had any nl any white traoh to sh think up a trick, and he's nv a: head Of hla class.' t'art of it rii. tk-. to great ability as a fisrhrter ar.,1 fit to be charged to tricks that are won- aers. Tney say tfhat when Gais waa fighting Dal. Hawkins the second time, after Hawkins had trimmed him frion arfiter the battle had got a goot stant. the end man performed thla little Joker ,- -. , "Dal, your shoestring am untied ani may trip yuh up." - .'Hawkins looked down at hia shoe, and Just then Gans pushed over a wal lop that ended h fight. It was a case of Gans running a shoestring into a tannery, for when Hawkins came out of It he found his shoestrings ried light enough. Gans has done well ever stare, but he might have got his finish from Hawkins : it it badnt been for that trick. sv';;-;.'-. .vii-f',';.;-i ti ;.. ; HOW FITZ CHANGED SOME BET TING ON THE COHBETT FIGHT. Di dyou ever hear thw scory of how Fits changed some of the betting' on ' the fight with Corbett ? Just before the fight he was going along' the street wihen 'he came to a : tutc her-shop here a side of beef was hanging nip outside. ' s, "Walt nd he'll show you what hl'm going to do to this bloke; Oorbett,"" mnym nu o a rnend who was along, With that the human freckle drew back and then landed a mash into the beef. Turning' it around he ahowed two ribs in the beef to be broken. They're were a cottpte of sports who bad been betting on Corbett Just be-1 hind Fits, and they examined he beef, then went off to hedge.- I don't know how true this story ia. but there isn't any doubt In my minor that Fits had a great wallop and that he has it- to day. V--f;;J - ''j:-l:nO:t And a man with a good punch is opt to come-back. It wouldn't surprise-me to see Flta come up and put away some of the windjammers,: Jem' Mace, the Engllsih flgbter, did good work in tjhe ring after he'd passed hte 50th year, and Prof. Mike Donovan gave a good account of nmwelf up to 4S years. These men had taken care of them selves, and Fits has done the eame. You can1 keep a gwd man Ilka Fki down and out at his age, no more than you can put me out of business by Dredictlnar that it's time for irvv wakn. TRAIXINO ISN'T ' EVERYTHING WHEN THE RIN IS REACHED Billy Mukloon, who 'used to go on' the mat for a living and who Is ow getting good money from, sucft ome ons as Ohauncey Depew, Ambassador Choate, Secretary Root, by the simple process of not letting them eat what uhey want. making them work more than they want, and putting them to bed early at night trained me for my. j'fight with Kllraln. nd a newspaper writer a few days ago let go from his system the news that If I bad contin ued to do what Muldoon told me Cor bett couldn't have got my measure. Siy, M'trtdoon's alU right and his system may fit a lot of geysers who are full to the guards with ,hlgh living and brains, but I guess I learned Muldoon as much about troming as he ever parsed up to me. I'm still m business and it's a long time slnco Billy pick ed out my tep, and my own notions of tralnttur. were pretty gojd to brlntf home the money, i ; ; , , There's a lot of harm done by ovr- traming and I never let la.nybodysovr- itrain me. although I admit that Mul doon was pretty severe on me before I met Kllraln. But he had a great con stitution to work on, and if M iwasnt that I had the brawn nd the nerve to make good I couldn't have pulled out of, the sickness and the other things thS't'd been happening to me and gone Into the ring for 75 round with such a hard proposition as Jake Kllraln was. Training dldn t do ajl of it, but Billy Is welcome to cut as much halt as he Mkes from that end of it JOHN It. SULLIVAN. THE WEDDING FASHIONS. Donltonnlrrrs Presented to Guests Generaly The Fashionable Bridal Gown Now thq Simple One. , . New YorK Bun. ' ' In London It is the fashion at weddlnas to present boiitonKien to the BUft generally aa well a to the bridal party. : These wedding favors are. of course, of natural flowws and consist of button-hole bouquets for th men and bouquet a else larger for the women; r-, v '" ' Thy are diatril)uted at the conclusion of the ceremony, while the registry be ing slcnad. Th'J bridesmaids .. and the pnsfis present them. earring them in boskets slung on the arm. Tbey are also distributed in th veatry. - i In Enplund llle ars a favorite flower for wHlllnir: In AmriH the orchid ia preferrel except for the btklal party, for whom lilies of th vel!ey r oranse Mos oms are f:nerj!ly provided, the britla esirylng s larito shwr br.uquet. The brldogrocm glv hl left arm to tho brltlo when conmietfn her rronv the vctry down, to the bridal enrrutge, and it is iiMioiiai i or mo coufie to nod to 'friendi a thry pas The best man should pree!i'ttHm lo the porch, remain there and seo them In tho fnrriaare. The hrld mollier leave immedlttetv ftr the bride n4 brtderroom to be Itv resuinom ft recnH-e ins gutstt as my arrive. Ind-ted, when tho crowd ta great.' for her to lenvo by a side door ts not an mutual thing to do in order to hasten her arrival home. She either receives the guests st the hnd of th4 statrcaAs or lit the drawtn room. The brkb's father Joins her u soon u b returns to assUt in the re ceiving. There U very little formal leavetaklnjr at a wedding reception, us In days gone ty. Many of the gurats ltavssrrom the dining room and do not remain to witness the dtiparture ot the rtlle ami hrhlesroom unls thoy are Intimnte acquaintance. The fIiionniilo brilal gown of to-1ay Is tho aim vie one, which may be and fre quently is tnr -more ... ci!y than one la'ln, with frill and furbelows, for a simple gown requires the hand of an trttxt and rich mnteiinl. A to fabrim, chiffon aatta b very popular; fn stunmer cmnon sause w mucn um,I. Jewell, nr lers wedding gifts or muh prised heir looms, ars sot worn. ' , , . If a widow, the bride wejya a gown the light elophnnt gray or iST lavender or Ixndon snfoke, utually trawling gown If site is going owsy. Food Cheaper In Panama Thau Ilcre. Nashville American. . - - According to Ths Canal ' Recoil published; at Anton. Panama, this was the Wll of far served at dinner at the Culebra Hotel September 8th: "Mtxed pickles, Ithode Island Clara chowder, lobster with mayonnaise, roast young turkey (stuffed) with cranberry sauce, French toast ' with fruit sauce, asparagus iwtth melted butter, ' potatoes in craim, choluta ice cream. Jellycake, cheese, cracker tea, coffee,, coooa. Dinner, & to 1 p. m.' And all it oost was SO cent. Vp hers a glass of water and a tooth pick erst that much. Jlometesd!ng has about run ; course in Missouri, Kansas a n.l ( ; -homa. In the" last threo months o about 11.500 persona made horac i . . entrloa on public lipds trtoro. FraulHn Richer hni bn ed lecturer rn ' 1 'r University, tuo Ii. t 1 matt receiving su.h on u: I
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 6, 1907, edition 1
17
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