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VOL. XX VI [.—NO
THE LAZARETTE J 7 THE HUNTRESS;
4 4 OR 4 # I
How the Ship Was Saved.
By < lark Russell.
V'opv right, I’i'.it, by Clark Russell.) '
to ti Brun vick hotel in the !
East India docks for a glass of ale. It was j
in the year ISS.J, and a wet, hot afternoon.
I had bet a on the tramp all day, making
just three week:; of a wretched, hopeless
hunt after a situation on shipboard, and ev
ery bone in me ached vv.th my heart. My
precious timl-.-rs, how poor 1 was! Two
shillings and three penc«—that was ajl the j
met ey 1 posses- -■ i in lite wide world, and
w hen I had pa d for the ale, 1 was poorer j
yet by two pence.
A number of nautical monos various '
II it the bar. I sat
down in a corner to rest, and abandoned j
myself to the most dismal reflections. 1
'■ ml 1 to .■ . Hit to Au: tral a, and nobody, |
it !j.»eins, was wining to ship me in any |
situation and mates howled im off if I at
tempted to ,-r iss th v. j;. Nothing
was to be got in the shipping yards. The
Very crimps sneered at me wh -n 1 told them
that I wanted a berth. “•'Shake your head,
my hawbuck,’’ s.ml one ot mem, in the
presence of a crowd o grinning seamen,
••that the Johns may see the hayseed fly.”
hint was 1, do ye t as... I'l. tell you. 1
was one of ten chil.ir r. v.h-.se father had
be< .. ■ 1.; vmu a. .i, , tin- income “from all
sources” of that sam clergyman had never
ex-'cc i -.i t.'.t* a year. 1 was a lumbering,
hulking lad, withou friends, and, as 1 am
now perfectly sensible,without brains, with
out any kind ot taste f« any pursuit, ex
ecrating tiie notion o* clerkship-, and per
fectly willing to maka away with myself
sooner than be glued to a three-legged
stool. But enough of this. The long and
short i: . ! a.;, thi: tmg to -t out to Aus
tralia, n< ■c> . .- that 1 snou.u easily
make my f> rtune tie r- .
; sat m ti < ri, -. in the Brunswick ho
tel, scowling at the r .r, with my long
legs thrust out. and my I..inns buried deep
in my breeciu ] • Presently 1 was
seisit.de that s<am on stood beside me,
ann h.oki; , up, I bvheiu a young fellow
staring With til his migni, vvioi a slow grin
of re<<> miion wrinkling his face. 1 seem
ed to 1< . -lid - • kill.
“Mr. William I•ph o. ain’t it?” said he.
“Whj i. ‘and you and you—‘f’
“You d- n’t remcini er Jen Back, then,
sir?”
“Yes, I do, perfectly well. Sit down.
Back. Ar-- yo: .liter? i am so dead
beat the' I • .II; -■ ir iy I
Jem J. 0,. le ■ i .at a ’.:.:;l:ard of ale to
i ■ me. He was
a y >uth "t my ■ . . ■ nd J knew him as
tl ■ ■ ■ fathi r. !ie
how ...... what is called
a sailor ma: l .. We tell . -> <. n. ers;.: .on.
He informed me tl ... ■ . ar. undt rsl< w-
ard on board a large s ip • • ti. • Hun-
tress, that was bound out of the Thames
in a coup.i oi gays :or Salm .., N-vv S-mth
Wales. io- ir. . .a. . y< . - in her,
and hopeu to sign as head steward next
voyage in a smaller ship.
“Tin re’ll be a good <! >i of waiting this
bout," said he; “. •■’]••• taxing a cuddy full
of swells out. There's Sir 1 nomas A1..-oa—
he goes as governor; there’s his lady and
turve ciaught and ,i s.--1 of suv-t (lie
means str.) “sails along with tlte boiling.”
So i e rattled on.
“Can’t you help me to find a berth in that
ship?” said I.
“i’m afraid not,” he answered. “What
could you offer yourself as. sir? They
wouldn't h ive you forward, and aft were
i <-.-k. If you could manage to
st mv yourself away—they wouldn’t chuck
• -- --- " -..-V
y : overboard when you turned up at sea;
they’d make you useful and land you safe
as if you was the governor himself.”
I thought this a very line id. a, and asked
Back :■> t< 11 me how I should go to work to
hide mys> i;. He set med to ret dl, I thought,
w,,en 1 i st the matter to him earn-,
1. it he was .ei ’mnest. klndly-heuru. d young
f.-il ,w. and renienibcied my father with a I
certain degree of respect, and even of af
f-rtion; l.j had known me ;.s a boy— at a
distance to be sure; there was the sympa
thy of association ami of memory between
U-; he looked at the old suit of clothes 1 sat
in, and at my hollow, anxious lace, and he
crooked ills eyebrows with an expression
of pain when 1 told him that all the money
1 had was two and a penny. and that J.
must starve and be found floating a corpse
in the dock yard basin it 1 did not get out
to Ju. riaii.i. We sa' for at least an hour
over our ale, talking very earnestly, and
when w rose and trifle each other farewell
1 mid settled with him what to do.
T ; ie Huntress was a large frigate-built
snip of l.ltiti tons. On the morning of the
day in which she was to haul out to doi-k
1 went on board < ' h< r. Nobody took any
noth ‘ of me. The vessel was lull of busi
ness, clamorous with the life and hurry of
the s'.art lor the other side of the world.
Cargo was still swinging over the main
hold, down whose big, dark square a tall,
strong’, red-li ir I' d chief mate v:i- roaring
to the stevedore's men engulfed in the !
bowels of the ship. A number of drunken
sailors w* sing.ng and cutting’ cap- rs on
th. for'.-list: Tim main deck warn full of
st. era: . or, m limy were then termed,
’tweend'-ek pass- ng> rs—grimy met., and
seedy v. ■ omit a. i wailing babes, ami fright
en, i. staring chi.'.; mi. 1 did nut pause to
muse upon th' scene, nor did 1 gaze aloft at
th towering spars, where, forward, up in
the dingy sky of the Isle of Dogs, flea ted
that familiar symbol of departure, Blue
Beter. I saw several young met; in shining
buttons aid cloth caps with gold badges,
ami knew them to be midshipmen, and en
vied them. 11’.’; instant I expected to be
ordered out of the ship by some one with
hurricane lung;; ami a vast command of in
jurious language, and my heart beat fast
1 mate my way to t-h ■ cuddy front, and '
jest as i halted I side a grdup of women i
at the booby hatch. James Back came to |
the door of th- salo- : He motioned to n.e •
with a slight to-. H his head.
“Don’t look about you,” he whispered; j
“just follow me straight.
I Stepped after him into the saloon. It
W as‘ like entering a grand drawing room.
Mirrors and silver lamps sparkled; the
paneled bulkheads were rich with hand
;,>■!”! ms’ flowers hung i i plenty und r th ■
in "lobes of crystal. These things ami '
n . . . the space of af< w heart- |
beats.
j went after James Back down a wide ;
stair -ase that sa de through a large h..t-h
situate 1 a d zen pm-'s fn m the cuddy ;
from- Wh ii 1 reached the bottom 1 found
my. elf in a 1< ng c irridor, somew hat dark -
some, wit ...
took me into one of those cabins and closed
♦he door.
“Now listen, Mr. Feploe.” -aid he. “I’m :
roing to .. >t ■ i '■ iin the 1 izai tt« .
■.. - . eket
on which was a rude tracing.. T.»is is the j
inside of the lazaretto,” he continued, point
ing to the tracing. “There are some
casks of flour up in this corner. They’ll
make you a safe hiding place. You’ll lind a. i
bag of ship’s biscuit and some bottles of •
wine and wat-r and a panikin stowed be- I
hind th- in casks. There’s cases of bottled
ale in the Jazarette, and plenty of tinned i
stuffs and grub for the cabin table. But j
don’t br iach anything if you can hold out.” ,
"When am I to show myself?”
“When we’re out of soundings.”
“Where’s that?” said I.
“Ch ar of the Chops.” he answered. “Ts
you come up when the land’s in sight the
captain’ll send you ashore by anything
that’ll take you, and you’ll be handed over
to the authorities and charged.”
“How sh ill I know when we’re clear of
the chops?” said I.
“11l drop down into the lazaretto on some
excusi and tell you,’’ he answered. “Y’ou’ll
be very careful when you turn up, Air. Pep
loe, not to let them guess that anybody’s |
lent you a hand in this here hiding job. if i
they find out I’m your friend, then it’s vom- ‘
us with Jem Baek. He’s a stone-broke ;
young man, and his parents’ll be wishing 1
.. \ " ■ w
I
-
' ' ' X'
r o»® \ \ X
‘ k
-*-* s
/ L
I COULD DISTINCTLY” HEAR THE HARSH GRIT OF THE AIECHANISM AS IT
REVOLVED. x
themselves dead rather than they should i
have lived to see this hour."
"I have sworn, and vou may trust me, |
Baek.”
“Right.” said he. “And now, is there ,
ee’r a que.-'tion you’d like to ask before you |
drop lr 1 j w?”
“Win a docs the ship haul out?”
“Tim, m.y be doing of it even whilst I
we're talking.” he said.
“Can I make my escape out of the Inza- ;
rette sl. iiiid I feel very ill. or as if I was
going to suffocate?”
"Yes, the hatch is a little-un. The cargo
sits tall under him, and you can stand up
ami shove the natch clear of its bearings
should anything go seriously wrong with
you. But don’t be in a hurry to feel ill or
short o’ breath. There’s no light, but
there’s air enough. The united smells, per
haps. ain’t all violets, but the place is
warm.”
He ] .used, locking at me inquiringly. 1
could think of nothing more to ask him. He
opened the door, warily peered out, then
whispered to me to follow', and I walked
the stern. I heard voices in the cabins on
either hand of me; some people came out of
one of the after-berths, and passed us,
talking noisily, but they took no heed of
me or my frjend. They w- >v pa senders,
and strangers to the ship, ami would sup
pose nt" a passenger also, or an utt derstew
ard, like Jem Back, who, however, now
looked iiis vocation, attired as he was in a
camel jacket, black cloth breeches and a
white shli t.
We halted at a little hatch like a trap
door :: short way forward of the bulk
heads of lac stem cabins. Back grasped
the ring in the center of the hatch, ami
easily lifted the thing, and laid open the
hold.
“All’s clear,” said he, looking along the
corrid r. “Down with you, Air. Feploe.” I
peered into the abyss, as it seemed to me;
the light her>-::bouts was so dim that but
little of it fell through the small square of
hatchway, ami I could scarcely descent the
outlines of the cargo below’. I put my legs
over and sank, holding on with a first voy- i
aecr's grip to the coaming of the hatch;
then, eeling the cargo feet, I let
go, and tn ■ instant 1 withdrew my hands
back popped the hatch.
The uiaekn- was awful. If affected me
for some minims like 'lie want oi' air. I
thought I should smother, and could hardly
hinder myself from thrusting the hatch up
for light, and for the comfort of my lungs.
Presently the sense of suffocation passed.
The corridor was uncarpeted; I heard the
sounds of footsteps on the bare planks
overhead, ami, never knowing but that at
any moment somebody might come into this
lazaretto, I very cautiously began to grope
my way over the cargo. I skinned my
hands and knees, and cut my small clothes
against all sorts of sharp edges in a very
short time. 1 nevi r could have realized the
like of such a blackness as i was here grop
ing through. Th- de- pest midnight over
hung by the electric could would be as
bright as dawn or twilight compared to it.
1 carried, however, in my head the sketch
Back had drawn of this interior, and re
membering that I had faced aft when my :
companion hud closed me down, 1 crawled |
in the direction in which 1 imagined the I
casks and my stock of bread and wine lay; i
and to my great joy, after a considerable 1
ATL.VNTA, GA.,
bit of crawling and crawling about, during
which 1 repeatedly wounded myself, I
touched a canvas bag, which I felt, and
found full of ship’s bread, and on putting
my h:‘.nd oi-t in another direction, but close
by whepe the bag was, I touched a number
of bottles. On this I felt around, carefully
stroking the blackness with my maimed
hand -, and discovered that I had crawled
into a recess formed by the stowage of a
number of casks on their bilge; a little
space was left behind them and the ship's
wall; it was the hiding place Baek had in
dicated, and I sat down to breathe and
think, and to collect my wits.
I had no means of making a light; but. I
don't believe that in any case I should have
at; united to kindle a. Dame, so great world
have been my terror of setting the ship nil
tire. I kept my eyes shut, fancying th .t
th::t would be a good way to accustom my
vision to the blackness. And here I very
ini pportunely recollected that one of Ut
most dreadful prison punishments inflicted
upon mutinous and ill-behaved felons is
the locking them up in a blackroom,
where it is thought proper not to k -ep tn- n
very long 1< -I they should go mad; and 1
wondered how many days or hours it would
take to make a lunatic of me in this Jaza
rette, that was as black certainly as any'
black room ever built for refractory cr.m
inals.
1 had no clothes save those 1 wore. Stow-
av.ays, as a rule, do not carry much luggage
to i with them. I had heard tell of snips
slop chests, however, and guessed, when 1
was enlarged and put to work, the captain
would let me choose a suit of cl ithes and
p.: . tin- :> iin uni of iny wag.-s. 1 did not
th'-n k . a. ;h:.i it is not < ustom.try tor com
mamlm s of ships lo p ,-y sto.>a w tys for
their services. Ind <d, I aft ‘"war Is got to
hear that far better men titan .ii ■ average
rm; of stowaways were, in their anxiety to
got aboard, very will: e. to sign articles for
a. shillin',’, a month, and lead the lives of
dogs for that wage.
I had < >me into the ship with a parcel of
bread and citeese in my pocket; feeling hun
gr; pai ook of this modest refreshment,
and ektwing around touched a bottle, pulled
th" I'josely-litted cork out and drank. " liis
small 1’ past heartened me; gr-‘W al. .“.la
b. afraid of the profound bl.ickness, and
of the iilue and green lights which ••a:ne
and went upon it, and began to hope I
should not go mad.
The hours sneaked along. Now and again
a sor' of '■r<.-akin.'. noise ran ’.h.rou.'ii the
interior, which made, me suppose that the
ship was p;we ding down la river in tow
of a. tug. ya •<•;:.i.eaally 11 • ard the tread of
par. eiigirs overhead. It iiiiased lie to
lit. r that sound. It soothed me by dinrn
ishiiig the intolerable sens., of loneliness
lif' I by li.c midnight blackness in v. tin ti I
ia ’ ’i ■ .ulmosphere was wai’id, I >*■ I
drew breath without dillieulty. The general
smell was, indeed, a complicated thing; in
l i t, li ■ laza.rvit' was a st i ■<•!<,.ml. I
m uned to taste bam, tolia ’eo, ch- es and
fifty other such matters in th?
1 j: id . Ppi V"rj ill on the preceding night,
an , iiii r 1 had been for some hours in the
la:-..lie t felt weary and stretchi d myself
along the deck b< tween the casks and the
ships' v. ti, and jiillowe 1 n y imad on my
coat. i slept, and iny slumber was
<b" i> and long. .dy dr; uns were
lull ot‘ ent.agitig imagiiiaticns—of
)iui-ge(s of extraordinary size chiefly and
1< ago of rich pasture land whitened by
c" aioio.-v. sheep, all branded with the let
ter P. But after I had awakened and
gathered my was together I understood
that I had lost all count of time; that I
should not know what o'clock it was and
wheiher it was day or night until .1 had
got out. i was glad to find that the black
i) -ss was not so intolerable as 1 had
dread;- i. 1 felt for the biscuits and bottles
and and drank us appetite dictated.
Nobody in ail this wiiile lifted the hatch.
No doubt the steward had plenty of stores
for current use in hand and there might be
no need to break out fresh provisions for
sonit 1 wccßs.
I had lain, according to my own compu
tation, vei y. m-arly two days in this black
hole when I felt a movement in the ship
which immediately upset my stomach. The
vessel, i might suppose, was in the channel;
h r piiehing grew heavier, the iazarette
was right aft and in no part of the vessel
save the bows could her motion be more
sensibly f.'it. 1 was speeiiily overcome with
naii.-ea and for many long hours lay mis
erably ill, unable to eat or drink. At the
expiration of this time the sea. ran smooth
ly; at ail events the ship’s motion grew
gentle; l lie feeling of sickness suddenly
passrd. leaving me, indeed, rather weak,
yet not so helpless but I could sit up and
drink from a bottle of wine and water and
eat a (try ship’s biscuit.
Whilst I was munching the tasteless piece
of sea broad, sitting in the intense black
| ness, pining for the fresh air and the sun
' shine and wondering how much longer I
: was to wait for Baek's summons to emerge,
: the hatch was raised. J shrank and held
I my breath, with my hand grasping the
• biscuit poised midway to my mouth, as
’ though I had been withered by a. blast of
: lightning. A faint sheen floated in the lit
: tie square. It was the dim luster of dis
tant lamplight, whence I guessed it was
I night. The figure of a man cautiously
1 dropped through the hatchway and by some
I means, and all very silently, he contrived to
i readjust the hatch, shutting himself down
I as Baek had shut me down. The motion of
the ship, as I have said, was gentle, the
creaking noises throughout the working
i fabric were dim and distant.; indeed, I
could hear the man breathing as iie seemed
i to pause after bringing the hatchway to
i its beoring:; over his head. I did not sup
i pose that the captain ever entered this part
of th.- ship. The man. for all I could con-
• jecture, might be one of the mates or the
' I oatswain or the head steward, visiting ttie
lazarette on some errand of duty and com-
I ing down very quietly that the passengers
l who slept in the cabins on either hand the
i corridor should not be disturbed. Accord
; ingly 1 shrank into the cotnpactest posture
1 could < ontort myself into and watched.
A lueifer match was struck; the flame
threw out the figure of a man standing
on the cargo just under the hatch. Lie
pulled out a little bull’s-eye lamp from his
pocket and lighted it and carefully extin
guished the match. The long, misty beam
of the magnilied flame swept the interior
like the revolving spoke of a wheel as the
man slowly turned the lens about in a crit
ical search, of the place, himself being in
blackness. The line of light broke- on the
cask lie-hind which X crouched and left me
in deep shade unperceived. After some
minutes of this sort of examination the
man came a little way forward and
crouched down upon a bale or something of
the sort directly abreast of the casks,
through whose cant-lines 1 was peering,
lie op ned the lamp and pla ,ed it beside
him; the light was then full upon his lig
ut ?.
He might have been an officer of the sh'p
for ail 1 knew. His uress was not dis
tinguishable, but 1 had his face very plain
in my sight. He was extremely pale; his
; triose was long and aquiline; he wore mus
tache, wliiski-rs and short beard, black, but
well streaked with gray. His eyebrows
were bushy and dark; his eyes were black
and the reflected lamplight shot in gleams
from them like to the level spoke of radi
ance with which he had swept this laza
rette. .His hair was unusually long even
for that age ot tin- fashion and his being
without a hat made me guess he was not
from the deck, though 1 never doubted
i that he was one of the ship’s comi>an;.-.
V i.< n hr- opened the bull s-eye lamp and
I sei :■ town he drew something out of his
' pock which glittered in his hand. I
j stra' d my sight, yet should not have
i m d to make out what he grasped
I b-:’ ,v -r his. holding it close to the light; 1
' V ■ ■ . .. i : vas a : ■bi ass
whose side fi ll a. length < . black line, he
then shut the lamp and flashed it. upon
what 1 saw was a. medium-sized barrel,
such, perhaps, as a brewer would call a
four and a half gallon cask. It rested cn
jfs bilge, after the manner in which the
casks behind which X lay hidden were
stowed.
X now saw him pull a spile or spike of
wood out of the head of the barrel and
insert the end of the black line attached
'to the small black piece in the orifice. This
done he Htted a key to the brass box and
' wound it up. 11 ■ may have taken i'A'. iij'
turns with the key; the lazarette was eg
quiet that 1 could distinctly hear the harsh
grit of the uv.-i-li.iiii.ni as it revolved. All
the while lie was thus employed he pre
served his scrowling smile and wnispered to
himself. After lie had wound up the piece
of clockwork lie placed it on the bale wh- re
his lamp stood, and taking the light imide
fur the hatchway, underwiiich lie came to
a stand whilst he extinguished the L-uli’s
; eye. 1 then heard him replace Che hatch
1 and knew he was gone.
! The arraiig'-meut he had wound up ticked
- with the noise ol a Dutch clock, i had but
' little brains in those oays, as 1 have told
j you, ami in sad truth X am not overloaded
I with that particular sort of cargo .it ti.is
i hour, but X was not such a joI as i.ot to
1 i be able to guess what the man inti tided
1 t do and what that hollow, desperate
■ i ticking -mniti .1. Oh, my great G-.d, I
■ j thought to mys.-ls, it is an infernal machine
' ! mid the s.t'tp V. ill be blown up!
'Uy imn n ami fright went far beyond
paralyzing form; they ran a sort of
nvidimss nite my blood and vitalized me
into d.-sper.it • instant action. Utterly heed
less now of hurting and wounding myself,
i 1 scrambled over the casks, and directed
by tiie noise of the ticking, stretched forth
m’v bund and grasped the brass machine.
.1 fiercely tugged it, then filling for the
i slow match, as 1 guessed the line to be, X
i ran it through my lingers to make sure 1
! i had pull d that end out of the barrel. The
murderous tiling ticked in my hand with tl ■
energy' of a hotly-revolved capstan, whi'le
I stood bri-atl mg short, considering what
I should do, whilst the perspiration soaked
through my clothes as though a bucket of
oil had been upset over me. Heavens! the
horror of standing in that black lazarette
with an infernal machine ticking in my
hands and a large barrel of gunpowder, as
1 easily guessed, within reach of a kick of
my foot! 1 trembled in every limb and
sweated at <-v. ry pore and seemed to want
brains < m.mgli to tell me what ought ne.tt
to be done.
How long I stood thus irresolute I don’t
know; still clutching the hoarsely-ticking
piece of clockwork, X crawled in the direc-
I tion in which X supposed lay ths casks be
: hind wlticii I hail hidd'-n. 1 had scarcely
i advanced half a dozen feet win n the me
i chanism snapped in my lingers; a bright
! flash like to the leap of a flame m the pan
i of a flint musket irradiated the lazarette;
j the match was kindled and burnt freely.
; Tim first eating spark was out small; 1 ex
i tinguished the fiery glow between my
tliumb .‘.nd forelinger, S'ltieezing it in my
; t- rvor with the power of the human jaw.
i' The til king ceased; tiie murderous tiling
i lay silent and black in my hand. X waited
i for some minutes to recover myself, and
I then nmide up my mind to get out of the
lazarette anil go on deck, and tell the peo
! pie that there was a barrel of gunpowder
I in the afterhold, and that X had saved the
j ship from having her side or stern blown
out.
I pocketed the brass box and match, but
it took me half an hour to get out of the
infernal hole. 1 fell into crevices, went
sprawling over pointed edges, and twice
' came very near breaking my leg. Happily
- I was tall, and when I sto >d on the upper
j tier of cargo I could feel the deck above me,
; and once, whilst thus groping, I. touched
! the edge of tiie hatchway, thrust up the
‘ cover and got out.
I I walked straight down the corridor,
i Which was sown with passenger's boots,
! mounted the wide staircase and gained the
j quarterdeck. I reeled and nearly fell, so
, intoxicating was the effect of the gushing
i draught of sweet, fresh night wind after
tiie stagnant, cheesy atmosphere of the laz
i erette. A bull’s-eye shone on the face of a
I clock under the break of the poop; the hour
was U;2O. Nothing stirred on the maindeck
! and waist; the forward part of the ship was
I hidden in blackness. She was sailing on a |
! level keel before the wind, and the pallid
i spaces of her canvas soared to the triu-l.
wan as the delicate curls and shreds 01.
VFipor which floated under th(* bright
I ascended a flight of steps whkh led to
the- poo]i, and saw tiie shadowy figures of.
two midshipmen walking on one side of the
i deck, whilst on the other side, abreast of
I the mizzen rigging, stood a third person. I
' guessed by his being alone that he was tiie'
; officer of tiie watch, and stepped over to
i him. He drew himself erect as X ap-
I proached, and sang out, “Hallo! who the
i devil are you?”
“I’m. just out of your lazerette,” said I,
“where X’ve just saved this ship from hav
ing bn- stern blown out by an infernal ma
chine.”
lie bent his head forward and stared into
my face, but it was too dark for him to
make anything of me. i reckoned lie was
the second mate; his outline against the
stars d -lined a square, bulletdieaded, ihick
iiei-ked man. On a sudder he bawled out to
tin- two midshipmen, who had come to a
stand on t’other sicte the sKyltglit;
Air. Freeting, jump below and call the
captain. B:g mm to come on deck at once,
j onag gentleman. ’
’the midshipman rushed into tiie cuddy.
\\ hat s tins yarn about blowing out
the ship’s stern'.'' continued the second
ni ate., is i rigl . him to be.
J. related my story as straignttorwaruiy
«.s inj command ol words permitted. I told
■ han that 1 had wanted to get to Austra
lia, txiat I was too poor to pay my passage,
that, x had been unable to find employim-nt
on board a ship, that 1 had hidden inj.iif
m the lazarette of tin- Huntress, and that
whilst there, and within the past hour, X
had seen a man lit a slow match into what
J reckoned was a barrel of gun powder,
and disappear after setting nis in riiiX
machine agoing. And thus speaking, 1 pull
ed the infernal machine out ol m. pocket
and put it in his hand.
deck, in- was a tall man, with ... \ ry ueep
At tins moment the captain ari .eu on
; voice, slow, cool and deliberate in manner
and speech.
“\\ hat’s the matter?” he inquired, and
instantly adued: “Who is this min?”
The second mate gave him my story al
most as X had delivered it.
The captain listened in silence, took the
infernal machine, stepped to the- : Kylight,
miller which a lamp was -ilmly burning,
aim examined the piece of mechanism. His
I manner ol handling it by seme means
i sprang the trigger, which sitruck th ■ ilint,
! and tm re flasried out a little sur.-bright
I name that lired the match. ! jm»q-<-d to
! his side and squeezed tin- lire out ir-twi en
I my thumb and forefinger as before. The
captain 1 Sd the two miitshipm- ti to rouse
i up tin chief mate and send the boatswain
i and carpenter aft.
“I.et there be no noise,” said he to the
I secund mate. “We want no panic aboard
I us. “Describe the man,” said he, addressing
me, “whom you saw fitting this appartus I
to the barrel.” X did so. "Do you recog- i
nize the person by tile lad’s description'.'''
said the captain to the second mate.
The second mate answer d that he knew
no one on board who answered to the like
nes.-' I had drawn.
“Gentlemen, I swear he's in the ship!” I '
i cried, and described him again as 1 had j
: seen him when the bulls-eye lantern allow- :
I ed the light to stream fair upon his face, i
But now tiie arrival of the chief ofli er. I
the boatswain :i.nu the carpenter occasioned |
i snine bustle. My story was hastily retold. I
! 'fhi- carpi nt'-r fi-tehed a lantern, and th<
■ •< the in' .il ma- .
■■ ■ '■ r lie >- {
‘There's no qu- -o. to th? --b? t -'f
1 this piece of clock-work, sir,” said the I
chief officer. I
“None.” exclaimed the captain; “it flash- j
ed a few minutes ago in my hand. The i
thing seems alive. Softly now. The pas- •
1 sengers must not hear of this: there must I
I lie no panic. Take the boatswain and the j
' carpenter along with you. Air. Merritt, into '
| the lazarette. Rut mind your fire.” And he |
I then told them where the barrel was stor- :
I ed as 1 had describ'd it.
The three men bft the poop. The cap- |
! tain now examined me afresh. He showed
no temper whati-vor at my having hidden |
! myst-if on board his shin. All his questions ■
; concerns I the appearance of the man who ,
I had adjusted the machine, how he had ,
I gone to work. what, he said when he talk j
• ed to himself-but this question I could I
■ not answer. AVhen b-- had his in- >
' nuirics he sent for the chief steward, to |
i whom he related what had happened, at I
tb f, n asked him if there was such a per
son in the ship as I had described. The
man answer 1 there was.
“tVhat's his name 9
“He was booked as .iohn Howland,
Tie’s a steerage ri imu-'-ngci- His cabm s No. i
2on the starb >ard side. Hi 3mi als are taken I
!
'c ',; ' .. A
“A '' /' ' ’ * -
r:..
\
i : A'- . nt" '-’.Ax. cr/T:',—.. ’ j
A hl a i?-' - ■
■ .
Z .'-¥A
W/ ¥ w-’ ’
“IS THAT THE MAN.” SAID THE CAI’ TAIN.
to him in his cubin, and I don t think h»* s
ever been out 01 it since lie came abu.ird,"
“(tO and see it lie’s in his cabin, said the
Ca \s a the steward left the poop tiie chief
mate, the boatswain and carpenter re
lt“ll’as the young man states sir.” said
Mr Morritt. “There’s a barrel of gun
nowdi r stowed where he says it is with a
hole in tin-, head ready to receive the end
O '“j , '.i‘.¥n\’iv clear it out. and get it stowed
-iw-iv in the magazine,” said the captain
c-Hmlv “This lias i-■-n u mirrow escape.
| Carpenter, go forward and lu'ing a pair of
handcuffs :il mg. is there only one bu..l
of gunpowdet below, d’ye say, Mr. Morritt?”
“No more, sir.”
“How could such a thing find its way into
tiie lazaeritc?” said tin- eaptam, addressing
the second mate.
‘‘God -jlcmi* knows!” burst out. the otlmr.
h • come t noard masked in some
way, and it deceived me. Unless there’s tb.e
hum! of i lumper ’n tiie job—does he know
no more about it than what he says?” he
cried, rounding upon me.
At This moment ths steward came rushing
from the companion way and said to the
cantain. in a trembling voice; “The man
XTtXCE FIVE CENTS
lies din! in his bunk, sir, with? his throat
horribly cut.”
“See if it’s the same man; come you along
with us,” said th<- captain, in his deep,
'•alm voice, ad In ssing me. and tin whole
of us, saving the carpenter and second
mate, went below.
We walk' ; along the cumd"!- obedient
to t’’i- i-;ipl;ii’i’s whispiri-d injunction to
tread lightly and to make n i noise. The
midnight lantern faintly illuminated the
length of thi The
steward conducted us t > a cabin that was
almost aft and thrt w open the door. A
bracket lamp tilled the it)t«--- or with light.
There were two i,links undt-r the porthole,
and in Hu- lower hunk lay the figure of the
man I had I . His
throat was terribly gash'd, and his right
hand still grasped the razor with which
the wound was mth ■ I.
”Js that the man?” said the captain.
“That’s the man,” 1 answered, trembling
from h'-ad to foot, a;i-< k and famt witn
the horror of the sight.
“Steward, fetch the ductor,” said tin- cap
tain, "and ten the carpenter we shan't
want any handcuffs here.’’
The narrative of my tragic, experience
may be completed by the tr.inscription of
two newspaper accounts, which 1 preserve
pasted in my commonpl • boo';, iae first
is from The Sunday Amr ii Hi-raii;. After
telling about the arrival of rite Huntress,
and the disembarkation of I is ■ liency
and suite, the writer proei--.is thin .
“When the warship was f;\<- du.'..- out from
the Thames an extrai din meat o< :ur
red. A young- man named Will’ I’eploe,
a stowaway, whilst lii-id n in the tazarette
of the vessel, saw a man - > r the place
in which he was hiding aa-i .-fi i stow
match and an infernal inachin-.- i > a liu.tc-1
of gunpowder stored amidsiiip of tl laza
rette, and, from what we i i .<r. on
top of the cargo! Wii.n th : n l--ft the
hold young Peploe heroieallj w the
match from the pi
machine on deck. Tin.- yotiiii cl> - -I tiie
man, who proved to lie a s>>-li::>~ pas
senger, who lii'il c-mbarked mid- t - name
of John Howland. When tli ■ viliair’- cabin
was entered he was found lying ids bunk
dead, with a severe Wound in his throat
inflicted by his own hand. No to.-son is
assigned for this dastardly att- nipt to de
stroy a valuable ship and c. - o and a
company of souls numbering ti-.c.igh
there seems little reason to dotiiit that the
man was mad. it is certain i , - but for
the fortunate cir ■ oe
lying hidden in the ship’s
stern or side’would hav ■ b n bL.iv.-n out,
and she must have gone down 1“ a stone,
carrying all hands with her. On tnc- passen
gers in due course being ap
prised of their narrow escape, a
purse of let) gitin--u- v.. - sub
scribed and presented by his exec-llency to
young Peploe. The' captai r: him a
free passage and provided him with a i m
fortabie outfit from the ship’s slop chest.
It is also understood that some situation
under the government has been promised
to William Peploe in consideratio.-i of the
extraordinary service rendered on this mem
orable occasion.-’
My next quotation is from the png s ot
The Nautical Magazlne, lated ■ ■ ears
subsequent to the publication of the above
in the Australian paper:
“A bottle was picked up in March last
upon the beach of Terceira, in- of the
Azores, containing a pap-r i :. :.g a nar
rative which, unless it be a hi-::-.. :-■••• -ins to
throw some light on the my -i< affair
of tiie Huntress, for p-irtii-::i:t! s ot which
we refer our readers to our ••diimt.- of lust
year. The paper, as tr.’ir.<m:tu-l by the
1- . < . r. ■■ -
" ‘-'hip Hin-'' ess, at s.. such ■ - 'u h t
da to. 18 >■' —I, v» h - . :-i I<n< w non 1 ‘
vessel as John H<;a:.,n-!. :u.i l' ■ ‘t r -d
this document. Twenty years m; ■ 1 was
unjustly sentenced to a term of transpor
tation across seas, and my tr -atinr-nt at
Norfolk island was such that 1 ’.■ -v.-.'-d by
the God wl o mad to bi rev 1 on
the man whq, acting on the repre-i-ntation
of his creatures, had caused m ■ to be sent
from Hobart Town to that hiTlisl; penal
settlement. That man, with his wife an 1
children, attencted with a suite, is a pas
senger in this ship, and I Im e cot • rted
my plan to send him and those who may
b ; dear to him to that devil to'wh tn the
wretch consigned my soul when he enb red
me sent a further pun -hi nt to Xorfolk
island. The destruction of this ship is in
sured. Nothing can avert it. A barrel of
gunpow'ler was stowed by v, •U- l :-i oil hands
in the E.tst India docks ::i the I.izar tte,
to which I .-Ct of Ihe hold :
by means of a small trap door. ! am writ
ing this thr -e-quorters of an h- 'ir h--fore
I proceed to the execution of my scheme,
ami the realization of my dr-am ot ven
geance. When I have c mpffi ti t u
meiit I will place it in a bottle, which I
I shall carefully cork ami seal ajifl east into
t!.. sea through my cabm p"tihole. I am
| fc orry for the many who must suffer be
g cause of the sins of on ; but tli.it one must
n perish, ainl immediat iy, in which hope,
| eraving that, when this paper is found it
may be transmi’ted t" tiie authorities at
i home, so tlr.it he b'iter em may be
I known. I sul scribe nr . v ,
“isRAEL Tti‘>.'E'S
“Ex-Convict and Tieket-of-Leave Alan.’
The Tdasy <!ia3r.
That is the editor's “Easy < hair,
I At tiie rickety, three-legged table there.
I He comes in smiling; he takes a seat.
And high on the t ible re 5 hi feet;
\; i far from the liill collector s stare.
He leans ’way back in his “Easj Chair.
Then forward he bends, and his rusty pet
Goes fifteen miles o’er the paper tuen.
When never a thought i:
The printer tells him “th : ; pei s tell.
Then the editor smiles, and rcloased front
He,
