These Were The Fellows That I Had Considered To Be
Reduced "From Wolves To Lambs"!
I was determined not to be balked, but to insist upon the punishment of
the ringleader.
I accordingly went toward him with the intention of
seizing him; but he, being backed by upward of forty men, had the
impertinence to attack me, rushing forward with a fury that was
ridiculous. To stop his blow and to knock him into the middle of the
crowd was not difficult, and after a rapid repetition of the dose I
disabled him, and seizing him by the throat I called to my vakeel Saati
for a rope to bind him, but in an instant I had a crowd of men upon me
to rescue their leader.
How the affair would have ended I cannot say; but as the scene lay
within ten yards of my boat, my wife, who was ill with fever in the
cabin, witnessed the whole affray, and seeing me surrounded, she rushed
out, and in a few moments she was in the middle of the crowd, who at
that time were endeavoring to rescue my prisoner. Her sudden appearance
had a curious effect, and calling upon several of the least mutinous to
assist, she very pluckily made her way up to me. Seizing the opportunity
of an indecision that was for the moment evinced by the crowd, I shouted
to the drummer boy to beat the drum. In an instant the drum beat, and at
the top of my voice I ordered the men to "fall in." It is curious how
mechanically an order is obeyed if given at the right moment, even in
the midst of mutiny.
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