Show F 0 n h e ailt 0 n V 8 RATES said the captain I 1 sometimes on slimes wish mish I 1 had imp beau been b born orn a couple of 0 hurt him dred i 3 ea ears s ago I 1 bigat have been be en caught and hanged banged but on the other hand I 1 might have made a fortune and that s a thing belond the reach of 0 any captain ta n of a trading schooner in this year of our lord 1913 but it if you think piracy has been a dept off the face of the waters maters on en tirca boure oure mightily mistaken the canton river san swarms arms with ith that kind of thief and the last time I 1 was in china I 1 had a run in with mith some of them that vis mis flie ears ago I 1 mas lias r second mate on the orion trading bet between beit frisco and hongtong Hong kong on the first trip out I 1 found that lie e I 1 would have to wait malt a couple of weeks before we me could get our return cargo on board I 1 had a friend in cinton a tea merchant and the captain al lowed me to run up and pay him a visit ile he was mas glad to see me ind and to pass the time proposed a trip further tip the river in a houseboat to a place fuhere there was good snipe shooting idon I 1 don t believe I 1 could hit an ostrich flying much less legs a snipe but I 1 it was mas bitterly cold and we had nothing on but our pajamas so you ma amigine how glad wo were mere when atter after stumbling along the b tank I 1 tor for four or blvd miles we me saw tho the lights ot of the guard boat that chink officer was a trump ile ho looked at us bud and laughed shook his finger at us and mide a speech but finding ve me did not understand him he stopped talking took ui down domn into his cabin and gave us a supper of pork dumplings dump lings and hot tea ah kum disappeared at daj light he sent out a party part y to look for our boat the thieves had bad carried away avay everything portable but they had not molested the tha crew so we got bick back to canton without any difficult we felt pretty mean land ing in dirty cajimas there is no doubt that the hocq affair was a put up job of ah kum a tor for he disappeared along with tbt pirates ho never even turned up to ask for his wages m ages and when a china man does dews that theres there s something iri in his conduct he wishes to conceal no the river pirates are not bloods blood thirst as a rule A chink is too practical tor for thit it if he can get what he wants without killing aou ou lie he sont mont take bour our life but it if necessary he ha i i i ra f ik H S a fl i 3 v ty t y i ff xvi wm jik v WW i saw n boyc t M i s 11 i y a y n w y 4 1 y vw 4 I 1 4 i f j 9 f PIRAM PIRA M 13 thought I 1 would like to so see what the back p arts ol of the country were mere like we started one morning early in mend friend a oung boung englishman and my SOHN nine e had with us as cool cook and generi gener I help a crosse sed son of 0 a ma sherman named ah kum lie he had rascal written ritten all over bi bis face but they told me he be was mas the best hand at chicken clen curry in the country I 1 do de ter mined to keep mi ee on him but as matters turned out be kept his on me and raised me one better captain was excited I 1 ve e sailed up the river for three days without getting ery tar far a aft aay ay from ft hero we me started for the cur rent runs six knots an hour wo we went on shore the fourth morning and shot snipe in the rice fields at least the other two men did at night we tied the boat to a tree it a a pleasant way aay of tr traveling aeling it ones not in a hurry hurr about five the next day wo we passed a guard boat the captain of which hailed us we drew up along side and he ha made a speech he beamed to be exciting himself about something but as he spoke chinese we were none the wiser miser we asked ah kum what the man was mas driling at lie smiled and said the captain want mant oil ed a present so we took no further notice of him and sailed on until we came to a creek in which we tied led up tor for the night it might have been about 12 when ben I 1 was mas roused by hearing a ash of oars alongside and short ly after that a number of men jumped on board I 1 shook my friend and he be leaped up and yelled tor for ah ab kum no one obe answered I 1 grabbed tor for my gun but it was gone so I 1 pulled out the derringer I 1 always sleep with under my pillow and fired into the dark ness nes there wai a lell ell as it if somebody had stopped the bullet and n u stinkpot stick pot was as hurled through the win dow right into the middle of us don t know what a stinkpot Is eha h its an earthe earthenware shell filled with some kind of abomination or other and when it is lighted and thrown into a room every on one in that apart ment has to quit or be suffocated clear out of this boys shouted my friend bursting the door ho he rushed out and plunged into the aher we were not long in foll following oming elt one of our visitors made a slash at me with a sword as I 1 passed him but I 1 lodged we scrambled up tho the bank and ran tor for our lives sent bent a bem fem ew shots after us but made no at tempt at pur pursuit sult I 1 guess they were mere riot not particularly anxious to kill us what they wanted was the plunder will mill murder a hundred babies to get GO 50 cents it its a all a question of ex eil ped lenci nov non in the taking of the native boat kuni kum shan which happened ab about ou t a bear ear after I 1 left the country there mas atas considerable bloodshed T that hat was nas because the officers rB and gers showed right fight when the ought to have hae had sense enough to see sea that thea the had no chance about fifty pirates got themselves es up as harmless coolies and paid ther their 1 passage damge to hongtong Hong kong they ds da d a s persed themselves among the other deck passengers and conversed affably about the weather and the state of the ho crops forty miles down the river just where the stream begins to widen a junk 13 ling ing close in shore fired a gun this was mas the signal for each peaceful looking coolie to produce a short sword sord from under his blouse one party dived into the engine room an other lot rushed up to the upper deck those in the engine room made quick work of the first and second engineers they then shut oft off steam bringing the boat to a standstill those on tho the upper deck have an easy job the passengers saw raw them coming and bolted to the captains captain s cabin where the arms were kept there appears to have been considerable of a fight tor for there was a good deal of fixing firing but six or seven white men had bad no chance against forty or fifty pirates anyhow all of 0 the defenders except one young man were killed when the fighting was over three large junks came alongside and the cargo was transferred the boat was emptied not a thing of any value was left on board did the chinese passengers make any resistance 7 9 not bubb tools fools they were ere not armed and it if they had been there ft as no one to lead them so you see parac isn t quito quite a dead trade yet it if ou doubt my word just juat go over to china and take a trip up tile the river in company with a bag of dollars give out that you have money on board and anchor at night in un frequented spots it wont be ba long before you get a chance of proving that I 1 am telling the truth |