by Jim Thomasson
Through shark infested waters, two ships quietly approached the isle of Neuocolby in the early morning mist. The loyal crew of the British Treasure island of Governor Smythe had foiled a mutiny, and today was the day the culprits were to hang. Smythe and his staff were all at the jail awaiting the next hanging (one every 45 minutes!), when a shot was heard and the church bell began to ring. The dreaded scream of "Pirates!" was heard by all. The ships had come to rescue their mates in the jail and find gunpowder for their cannons. They also needed food, fresh water and any foul and desirable maidens they could rummage up! No broadsides were fired for fear of blowing up the town's warehouse and its gunpowder. The pirates were down to only enough powder for their pistols, muskets and blunderbuss'. As 40 pirates began to wade ashore, 10 troopers of the local Redcoat Militia spread out along the half constructed seawall near the docks and began firing into the surf. Several pirates were shot down and sharks seized three more! The local merchant crew was ill armed, so ran towards the island's Rum Factory. A shot was fired, killing the mate, so the rest fled back to the ship to defend their cargo (or possibly sail it out of harm's way). As the second pirate kicked from the gallows, the governor, his lady and their party were hustled back out of gun range. They headed into town where a crowd of the local citizens grabbed axes, knives and pistols to defend their island. Firing from both sides soon began. The local native village sent their warriors to the shore to save their canoes and to stop the invaders. A huge fight began between sailors, militiamen, natives and 20 pirates swarming the beach. Muskets fired, spears were thrown, blowguns zipped and hand to hand fighting erupted on the dock. All 20 pirates were shot down -- none made it to the shore. When the militia and natives were filing back into town, a gorilla came leapt out of the bushes and attacked. A native blowgun dispatched it with one shot, though! The natives decided to celebrate their success at the rum factory. Meanwhile, a lone militiaman held out in the guardpost on the beach. He shot six pirates before finally being hacked to pieces. At the jail, the guards were shot, releasing seven mutineers to help the attacking pirates. As they butchered townies, the church bell kept ringing. The Governor and his servant were sliced up amidst the sugar cane fields, while his lady was captured. Just then, the Governor's Mounted Guard returned from a patrol and saw the danger. While Troop One (five men) was ambushed and swept from their saddles, the other 10 formed a line and fired pistols, killing eight pirates in one turn! As the fighting between men ebbed, nature ran wild. A herd of elephants roared into town and trampled three citizens, while a rhino killed Mr. Green, the town barkeep! Mrs. Reilly calmly took an axe, though, and flattened the animal! Of the crew of 50 pirates, only seven remained to limp back to the beach. The mounted guard rode down the pirates holding the governor's wife, rescuing her. The natives sipped rum and sang an island love song as the sun was set on just another busy day at Neuvocolby. The last thing that could be seen as the light faded was a pirate falling into the gunpowder factory with a torch in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other...BOOM (end of report)! Back to The Herald 54 Table of Contents Back to The Herald List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by HMGS-GL. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com |