Blown to Bits | Page 9

a Dutch one. She came to these islands in a somewhat curious way.
Sit down here and I'll tell 'ee the little I know about her."
Father and son sat down on a mass of coral rock that had been washed
up on the beach during some heavy gale, and for a few minutes gazed
in silence on the beautiful lagoon, in which not only the islets, but the
brilliant moon and even the starry hosts were mirrored faithfully.
"About thirteen years ago," said the captain, "two pirate junks in the
Sunda Straits attacked a British barque, and, after a fight, captured her.
Some o' the crew were killed in action, some were taken on board the
junks to be held to ransom I s'pose, and some, jumping into the sea to
escape if possible by swimming, were probably drowned, for they were
a considerable distance from land. It was one o' these fellows, however,
who took to the water that managed to land on the Java shore, more
dead than alive. He gave information about the affair, and was the
cause of a gun-boat, that was in these waters at the time, bein' sent off
in chase o' the pirate junks.
"This man who swam ashore was a Lascar. He said that the chief o' the

pirates, who seemed to own both junks, was a big ferocious Malay with
only one eye--he might have added with no heart at all, if what he said
o' the scoundrel was true, for he behaved with horrible cruelty to the
crew o' the barque. After takin' all he wanted out of his prize he scuttled
her, and then divided the people that were saved alive between the two
junks. There were several passengers in the vessel; among them a
young man--a widower--with a little daughter, four year old or so. He
was bound for Calcutta. Being a very powerful man he fought like a
lion to beat the pirates off, but he was surrounded and at last knocked
down by a blow from behind. Then his arms were made fast and he was
sent wi' the rest into the biggest junk.
"This poor fellow recovered his senses about the time the pirates were
dividin' the prisoners among them. He seemed dazed at first, so said the
Lascar, but as he must have bin in a considerable funk himself I suspect
his observations couldn't have bin very correct. Anyhow, he said he
was sittin' near the side o' the junk beside this poor man, whose name
he never knew, but who seemed to be an Englishman from his language,
when a wild scream was heard in the other junk. It was the little girl
who had caught sight of her father and began to understand that she
was going to be separated from him. At the sound o' her voice he
started up, and, looking round like a wild bull, caught sight o' the little
one on the deck o' the other junk, just as they were hoistin' sail to take
advantage of a breeze that had sprung up.
"Whether it was that they had bound the man with a piece o' bad rope,
or that the strength o' Samson had been given to him, the Lascar could
not tell, but he saw the Englishman snap the rope as if it had bin a bit o'
pack-thread, and jump overboard. He swam for the junk where his little
girl was. If he had possessed the strength of a dozen Samsons it would
have availed him nothin', for the big sail had caught the breeze and got
way on her. At the same time the other junk lay over to the same breeze
and the two separated. At first the one-eyed pirate jumped up with an
oath and fired a pistol shot at the Englishman, but missed him. Then he
seemed to change his mind and shouted in bad English, with a
diabolical laugh--'Swim away; swim hard, p'raps you kitch 'im up!' Of
course the two junks were soon out of sight o' the poor swimmer--and

that was the end of him, for, of course, he must have been drowned."
"But what of the poor little girl?" asked Nigel, whose feelings were
easily touched by the sorrows of children, and who began to have a
suspicion of what was coming.
"I'm just comin' to that. Well, the gun-boat that went to look for the
pirates sighted one o' the junks out in the Indian Ocean after a long
search and captured her, but not a single one o' the barque's crew was to
be found in her, and it was supposed they had been all murdered and
thrown overboard wi' shots tied to their feet to sink them. Enough o' the
cargo o' the British barque