THE ADVENTURES OF RALPH GREEN, A.B.

Otago Witness, Issue 2287, 30 December 1897, Page 51

THE ADVENTURES OF RALPH GREEN, A.B.

(Written tor the Boy Readers of the Witness Little Folks' Page.) By JAMES M. PEEBLES (Brings Point)

ADVENTURE NO. IX.

The Ctlestials seemed to be very much surprised to hear the music floating out on the night breeze, and at once orders were given to observe strict silence while thejank's progress was checked and the course changed till they thought that all was quist aboard the ship. Yung San was all impatienca for tha attack to begin, the wretch knowing well that the ship would prove a large fortune to him and his crew if they managed to tako her.

Ib would be about 1 30 a.m., as near as I could judge, when he ordered the advance to be made, and to aid his foul scheme a heavy mist from the land had begun to move seaward, and had already almost obscured the vessel from view. As* we neared her not; a sound was hsard save the lapping of the waves againsc her Bides. Yang Sun moved forward to where I was sitting, and in his broken English told me that I was to board first, directly they made fast to the vessel, and that I was to bo followed by his cutthroat gang. The boarding was to be effected from the bow, the junk running up aud making fast to the ship's cable. I merely aaid, " Very well, Young Sun, leave it all te me 1 " The fog waß by this time very dense, and great care bad to be taken that we did not ■ overshoot our mark or, worse still, run right into her. Yung Sun, after giving me his order?, retired. Although I could not see a soul on board the junk (for tbe fog hung round us like a pall), I could hear his whispered commands to the crew. Silently I stripped off my coat and vest (I had left my boots ashore aa useless encumbrances) and stood ready to board the vessel as soon as we got close enough. I could h^ar ths crew of the junk moving forward, and just at that moment we glided in under the bowsprit.

Grasping the dolphin-striker firmly with both hands, my feet resting on the tide Of the junk, I brought all my strength to bear on her, and to my joy managed to sheer her off. Drawing myself up I easily got astride o£ the bowsprit, and from thence bounded on to the deck. The officer of the watch roused himself from a coil of ropes at my approach, and holding a piatol at my head demanded my business. Hurriedly I told him to call all hands to arms to repel boarders, and to hasten his movements, I cried in his ear, " Chinese pirates ! " His method of rousing the ship's company was certainly original and startling. He ran along the deck discharging his pistols and yellicg out in stentorian tones : " All hands on deck I All bands on deck I "

The effect was electrical, for the crew tumbled up iv a very few seconds, and the arms being served out all stood expectant and ready to fight for their floating home. Not a moment too soon either, for the junk had now made fast astern and the pirates were swarming on to the deck. They were determined, and bo were we. They certainly had the advantage of xxa in numbers, and, in fact, they needed all the force they had to gain a footing at all, for as soon as their figures appeared above the bulwarks they were shot and cut down in twenties. Eventually some ten or a dozen were forced on Seek, driven by their comrades x^ressicg from behind. They managed to evade the bullets which rained about them, but they were in a fearful funk, and they made off along the deck towards the forecastle yelling and shrieking in fear — Yung Sun among them — and immediately some three or four of the sailors started in pursuit;. Feeling convinced that the pirates were almost beaten at the stern, I went forward to see what became of ifang Sun and his mates. They were standing at bay on the forecastle head, and when I came upon the scene Yung Sun quickly recognised me, and with a yell of rage and defiance he hurled himself npon me. I met his onslaught with a stiff left-hander nnder his nose which sent him sprawling to the deck. He was certainly most dogged and determined, for with a snarl he bounded at me again. I closed with him, bat the fiend almost choked me, having clutched at my throat with his long, talon-like hand. Never shall I forget the djsgtpt I fctt.afj bis claw* sack into t&c

flesh of my throat. Patting forth all' my strength I lifted him clean off the deck, and, twisting his body for a second in the air, I hurled it over the bulwarks into the sea, where it fell with a sullen splash. "He left me this as a remembrance," said Green, baring his throat and showing four long white marks round hia throat. " That is Yung Sun's last tribute of affection."

We soon got rid of the pirates after this, and I was invited by tho* captain to come down to his cabin. The sHip waa called the Rover, commanded by Captain Wilson, a hale and hearty old Scotchman. In the cabin I found two ladies, whom he introduced to me as his wife and daughter. The ladies had been in a great state of alarm, he explained, during the attack, but on learning the issue they soon regained their spirits and proved most charming hostesses. The elder lady had a face of serene calm— ona of those faces to look upon which makes the gazsr, iC he thinks at all,* liken it to a emiling lake, which, calm and beautiful on the surface, yet contains within its innermost recesses riches and a store of beautiful thiegs, till perchance when a great ' storm falls and everything is gloomy and dark around and the water lashes itself into fury, these beautiful objects appear, and to the beholder suggest that everywhere, in animate and inanimate nature, there falls in the time of adversity a ray of hops and beauty which can only be likened unto the light from above. Such -was the impression the face of the captain's wife gave me, and needless to say I found her character not a whit behind my expectations. Her husband, a fine old gentleman with a grey beard and ruddy cheeks, was as kindly as his looka betokened; and as to Miss Nellie, the only daughter of this worthy pair, I can only liken her to a smiling spring morning. I mention these few details just to show you the good company I had fallen in with, and if you think that I have enthused over them too much, I can only say that they proved themsolves worthy of all the good I say about them.

" Ob, yes," saucily interrupted Mies Katie M'Dougal, " and no doubt this Miss Nellie proved herself more than that in the long run if we knew all — perhaps " — with a pretty poub — " you made her Mra Ralph Green when the vessel git to port."

Green replied not to thin geatle insinuation, but after joining in the hearty laagli which resulted from Mise Katie's speech, resumed his narrative. After I had been supplied with refreshments I had to give them an outline of nay wanderings, and soon after that we retired. On Christmas Day the inevitable roast beef (or as near an approach to it as they coultt mußter) and plum pudding were preceded by a. short service on the poop conducted by Captain Wilaou, who in simpla words retnrned thanks to Him whose protecting arm had 'aided thorn to ward off their late enemies. Two days later we completed our cargo, bent the sails, and were' steering for " merrjo England." Aftev an evdhtfnl voyage we ranched our destination. I said " Cfood-bya '' to my friends of the Rover, drifted to America, anil joined the Scylla gut from 'Frisco. Tha rest you all know — how I fell overboard, and eventually into one of the Scylla's boats, ending with your picking me up. (To he continued.)