LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume V, Issue 584, 3 May 1876, Page 3

LITERATURE.

A CHINESE SPECULATION. ( Concluded) What was I to do? I might by denouncing the plot to the admiral in command of the station, frustrate, or defer its execution, but that was all. It needs a strong case to procure any action on the part of the imperial authorities against a rich Chinaman, and I had but my bare word to set against the assertions of Bates and Sin. I might resign, but then, with a more compliant captain, the Cassandra would go to sea, and ‘Why, Hepburn, are you asleep or awake ?’ cried a genial voice, as I found myself confronted by an especial friend of mine, Commander or Captain Hamilton of H.M. gunboat Wasp, a dashing officer, and an excellent seaman, who had never forgotten, in the difference of our present rank, old schoolboy frolics in England, Well, I could not have wished for a safer confidant, and in a few minutes I had told him all. A long talk we had together, and when we separated Hamilton’s parting words were: ‘Leave it to me, Frank, to see you well through this. ’ We sailed in fair weather, and with a smooth sea, and just wind enough to fill the white sails of the pleasure boats that danced merrily around us. Lilian stood among the ladies on the quay, waving her handkerchief. I marvelled to myself what would have been her feelings had she known how soon the spotless deck of the Cassandra was to be reddened with blood. Ah-chang and his partner Sin were there too, to give us a parting blessing as we went out like sheep, as they fully intended, to the slaughter. But I kept my own counsel, and the rascally owners of the steamer saw in me nothing but a dupe. There were, as I have said, sundry passengers, rich Chinese for the most part, with some Europeans, and a few ladies and children. The cabins were large and commo dious, and we kept, as usual in that luxurious country, a capital table, at which mirth and merriment reigned. And all this while, as the champagne corks popped, and the piano tinkled, and gay groups chatted under the awning aft, murder, stealthy and pitiless, lurked like a cou chant tiger, ready to spring upon his prey. Bates was there, civil, silent, scrupulously attentive to his duty, but often to be seen conferring; with a set of brawny, brasscomplexioned mariners belonging to the Chinese portion of the crew, and whose countenances belied them sorely if they would not have been more at home on the deck of a pirate junk than on that of a respectable craft like ours. Of the European sailors, by far the most reliable were four or five stalwart A.B.s, lately discharged from the Windsor Castle, and in whose courage and steadiness I felt that I could trust.

From what I had overheard, I was perfectly well aware at what juncture of our voyage the peril awaited us. I knew the ‘ Narrows ’ to he the name of the most contracted part of the channel, lying between a long chain of islets and the mainland, a place notorious for outrages on the part of the numerous pirates whom the indolence or connivance of the Chinese government permits to infest the coast. Nothing was easier than for a force of determined men to lie hid among the many creeks that intersect the shore, and to assail an unprotected merchantman before their intention was conjectured. The Cassandra was a swift vessel y and with a good head of steam on, and the cannon which she carried, I should have had little doubt of her power to repulse an attack, could I but have relied on my crew. With traitors on board, however, ready at a signal to assist the enemy, there could be no hope of a successful defence. The more I saw of the Chinese moiety of the crew, the less I liked their scarred, sallow faces, some of which bore the singular and undefinable expression that came of long sojourning in the Taepiug camp, while all had the air of truculent marauders. Most of the Christian seamen were Portuguese—docile, swarthy creatures, but not over-warlike ; while the English sailors, with the exception of the draft from the Windsor Castle, really were what Sin had described—the sweepings of the grog-shops on the wharf. It needed all my self-control and command of features to maintain an unruffled aspect, join in general conversation, and avoid giving Bates, the traitor, the slightest inkling that I knew or suspected anything. He, on his part, was discretion itself. I could tell, by various signs, that he was annoyed at my refusal to maintain a high rate of speed, so as to enter the Narrows during the hours of the darkness, which would probably have facilitated his projects ; but on finding that I was firm,Jhe accepted my decision with a tolerably good grace, and it was not until the morning that we quitted the broader channel, and ran into the straits, ‘ How beautiful ! How lovely ! What sweet islands !’ exclaimed the ladies who stood on the steamer’s poop, admiring the effect of the rosy morning light as it played on the waving groves and dense vegetation of the many islands, of all sizes and shapes, between which and the coast we were now threading our way; and the children clapped their hands with delight as the red flamingoes and silver plumaged ducks rose from the swamps on clanging wing. But the sight I most desired to behold was the open sea beyond, if, as was unlikely, we should be allowed to reach it in safety. ‘Captain,’said the third mate, Hardy, a brave and good lad, as he came hurrying towards me, ‘ there’s a net—so the look-outs declare—right ahead of us, blocking the channel. ’ I sprang into the shrouds, glass in hand, and one glance sufficed to confirm the youngster’s words. Across the practicable seaway, from shoal to shoal, stretched a huge net, supported here and there by a line of stakes, and marked by a streak of foaming water. We were indeed in the toils, for 1 had heard often of this favourite device of the pirates. My best course was, clearly, to keep on. * Run, Louis, to Mr Bradshaw, the engineer,’ said I to a smart boy, the steward's lad, beside me; ‘ desire him to put the full head of steam on, and keep the Cassandra at her highest rate of speed. Off with you, and come back to report.’ The boy went, but did not return. The engines worked but slackly, and soon a hoarse, confused* noise arose from below. ‘ Something wrong in the engine room ! ’ said I wonderingly. ‘ Mr Hardy, go below and inquire what is amiss. 1 But the mate had scarcely begun to descend the ladder before he called out:

‘Mutiny, sir, below. Some of these Chinese villains have’ Then he was dragged down by unseen hands, and left the sentence unfinished; while almost instantly the screw ceased to revolve, and the steam came rushing up the waste-pipe, as the Cassandra floated idly down the current. A cry of surprise was uttered by the passengers, and was answered by another cry—the fierce, exulting yell of barbarians assured of an easy victory, as forth from the mangrove-fringed waters of a neighbouring creek there emerged three lorchas, their straw sails spread to catch the breeze, and their long sweeps lashing the water into froth, as the frantic rowers tugged at them ; while, outstripping these, came on a score of boats, sampans, and canoes, full of wild and scantily clothed figures, who came on as fast as paddle and pole could urge their light skiffs, flourishing their weapons with every possible gesture of brutal menace. I looked around for Bates. He was, as-1 expected, among the Chinese on the foredeck, some of whom had overpowered the engineer and firemen, and stopped the engines, while the others were obviously preparing for a rush aft. Then I threw a glance at the approaching pirates. ‘lf Hamilton is unable to keep his promise, Heaven help us,’ said I, with a groan, as my eye ranged over land and water, without seeing aught but what was hostile. ‘ They shall not, anyhow, say that I failed to do my best. Cast loose that gun,’ I ordered, pointing to a brass carronade ; * train it forward, and when I give the word, fire !’ The pick of my English crew obeyed, as sailors do obey when they respect their officer; and the advancing Chinamen, in whose hands now 'gleamed knives and swords, drew back as they were confronted by the threatening muzzle of the cannon. * Chicken hearts!’ thundered Bates, who was a really bold villain, and he added some words in Chinese which revived their courage. ‘You’d best give up, Captain. It’s no use. I spiked every gun of the lot with my own hands.’ ‘ I know you did, you traitor !’ shouted Duckett, the second mate, emerging, armed to the teeth, from the cabin hatch, ‘ but Captain Hepburn and I were clever enough to set all right, without your being the wiser. Ah ! you thought me stupefied, did you, with the drugged liquor ? You’re mistaken, my hearty, for I pitched brandy and opium overboard together, and’ Before the second mate could complete his speech, Bates had drawn his revolver, and fired three shots, the first of which grazed Duckett’s left temple, while the third wounded me slightly in the shoulder. Bang! in answer, went the brass gun, and the grape-shot swept the fore deck as with the scythe of death, mowing down the mutineers like grass. But already the canoes and sampans were grappling with us, and the ladies’ shrieks blended with the war-cry of the pirates, as wild forms came clambering over the Cassandra’s bulwarks, and the Chinese crew, cowed for a moment, plucked up spirit enough to renew the attack. What was that ? Surely, I could not be mistaken. It must be—it was a ringing British cheer that reached me, in the midst of that fiendish discord, and promised hope. A boat, yes, and another, came towards us as fast as the gallant rowers could urge them with their tough ashen oars. The boats of H.M.S. Wasp, no doubt, for here, from behind the friendly shelter of a mangrove tufted creek, emerges the gunboat herself, sending shot and shell with unei-ring aim into the enemy’s midst; so that, before five minutes were spent, one of the lorchas had sunk, and another was on fire; while the savages in the canoes were only too thankful to beat a retreat as rapidly as possible shorewards. As soon as the gunboat was seen, and the Wasp’s blue-jackets came scrambling up the side, the rascally native confederates of the pirates flung down their arms, and with abject entreaties for mercy, fell upon their knees, and were put in irons to await their trial at Shanghai. Bates, the chief culprit, lay dead upon the deck, riddled with grape shot from the very gun which he had confidently believed himself to have rendered harmless; but we had to deplore the loss of poor Hardy and of the head engineer, both Of whom had been cruelly put to death by the Chinese mutineers, on whom had devolved the task of stopping the engines as the steamer drew near to the net spread to intercept her passage. The pirates received on that day a severe lesson, for the Wasp kept up her fire until the third lorcha also was destroyed, and the flames were rising from the huts of a village whither our late foes had fled. ‘ I’ve kept my word, Frank, as you see ! * said Hamilton, as we shook hands, on the gun-boat’s quarter-deck, after the straits had been swept clear of the pig-tailed enemy ; ‘ but though, by means of native spies and a bright look-out, I managed to prepare my counter- ambush without yonder sea-thieves having a suspicion that a gun-boat lay hidden so close to that man-trap of theirs, I confess it was a near-run thing after all. The cunning of that Bates, or whatever his name was, in stopping the engines, was what I was unprepared for; and but for the bold face you put on it, old fellow, I should have only been in time to find the Cassandra’s deck a shambles. To you, quite as much as to me, belongs the credit of this affair.’ So the mercantile community of Shanghai and the naval officers of the squadron were good-natured enough to think, for, on the steamer’s return to part, I found myself lionised and made much of by all, and more of a hero, I am sure, in Lilian’s eyes than I deserved to be, for, after all, I had but done my plain duty. The gratitude of the merchants to whom the cargo belonged took a practical form, for not only was I presented with a handsome sum as salvage, but was appointed to command the Dalhousie, a fine barque in the China and Australian trade, of which I am still captain, while it is understood that on my return from my next voyage, Lilian is to become my wife. As for the treacherous owners of the Cassandra, Messrs Ah-chang and Sin-lin-tsi, they at first assumed an expression of injured innocence, but were at last overboume by the evidence given by their accomplices; and finding Shang-hai too hot to hold them, decamped to some other province, having, as it was said, bribed the local mandarins to connive at their flight. As for the Cassandra, she was, I believe, confiscated to the use of the Chinese Viceroy, and sent up the river; but at all events I saw no more of her.