⛵ ⛵ ⛵ ⛵...(Tour of "High Island")...Continued...
[Last time...]
The captain quickly swung his scope around to the north. There, a half mile out from shore, at least a dozen Indian war canoes were in all-out pursuit, their paddles flashing in the late afternoon sun like dancing fire!
“Bloody Nora! Can thes git onie mair complicated!” The captain muttered under his breath as he slapped the scope shut and barked orders to the forecastle, ”Man-up th’ carronade! Oan th’ dooble!” (See: @joshuaslane/silver-adventures-captain-joshua-slane-27jn24-less-than-a-mile-out )
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[Great Lake Ontario...near the north shore...]
The Ojibwe Indians doubled down on their paddles as they closed on the heavily ladened ship’s sloop! As their war whoops sounded louder they finally caught the attention of Commander Galligan…
”Indians! Comin' oan fest froms th' north shair!” He called out as he gazed back over his left shoulder.
“Giftin' HBD's was huge... yoo're awesome...” Cockpit Mate Pocketechange mumbled out-loud in a stupor.
“Whit’s he gabbin' aboot?!” Commander Kerrislravenhill asked in dismay.
“Hee’s gangin' delirious! Lay heem doon in th' bottom o' th' sloop afair he takes an arraw!” Galligan ordered.
Just like clockwork, as Kerrislravenhill finished laying him flat in the cockpit of the sloop the first volley of arrows came raining down on the water, fifty feet short!
“They’re testin' th' range!” Galligan yelled as he glanced at the Indian canoes fast approaching and then back south at the Silverton, “Ahh hiner we’re nae th' only ones who see's 'em!”
“Anither braw race recorded in th' books!” Kerrislravenhill replied absently as she eyed the war canoes with worry.
“It won’t be recorded if we don’t make th' Silverton mucker! Keep yer heed doon!”
[On the Silverton…bridge deck…]
The captain held his longscope steady on the attacking war canoes, then slapping it shut, he ran to the front rail of the bridge…
“Standing Officer-Gunner Ironshield an' Able Seaman Bleujay! Wick-up th' carronade an' givs me a load o' grapeshot tois hundred feet in front o' those canoes!”
“Aye Sairrr!” “Aye, aye!”
As the wick was set and Bleujay held a burning torch just over the gun, Ironshield did his very best to line up the shot…
“Up up an' AWAY!!!” He yelled out as he stood back and nodded to Bleujay…
“An' awa' we gang....!” She yelled back as she quickly covered her ears.
Dropping the torch down on the wick, the carronade instantly came alive and belched a ball of fire and hell northwards!
The invisible rumble of grapeshot cutting through the air over the sloop caught Galligan’s attention…
“Grapeshot!”
“Thenk God!” Kerrislravenhill whispered to herself as she sat up straight a moment.
A hundred to a hundred and twenty feet ahead of the approaching war canoes the water exploded in a long blanketing wave of turmoil! The Indians stopped short at the sight and looked ahead in dismay! Some were spooked immediately and began to turn their craft around, while others sat frozen in place, until finally one of the lead warriors pointed south towards the tall sail in the distance and a large cloud of black smoke drifting westward.
“Th' Keptin has 'em spooked!” Galligan said in relief as he gazed back towards the north.
[On the Silverton…]
“One mair time mates! Slightly closer!” The Captain yelled out.
The second boom of the carronade spit forth it’s deadly charge and again the water just ahead of the war canoes exploded! But as fate would have it, two of the grapeshot caught a wave and skipped high in the air, one bursting a hole through the skin of a birchbark canoe and the second lodging itself squarely in the forehead of an unfortunate native!
The impact of the ball sent the warrior catapulting out of the canoe and splashing into the cold waters of the great lake!
“Puttin' someone's heed under water at gunpoint is nae baptism!” Ironshield said in a saddened tone.
“ 'Att is a truth Sairrr…” Bleujay answered softly as she watched the war canoes scatter and head back north.
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📝 Note: "If th' Toor o' High Islain' has caught yer intrest, all o' me stoatin' adventures kin be foond by searchin':
Silver Adventures of Captain Joshua Slane
Oan yer 'Hife Search tool' an' sae forth." 😉 -Keptin
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References: - Pictures from: www.freeimages.com, www.pexels.com, pixabay.com, Hive.blog, Wikipedia an’ www.google.com/maps. Data also loosely interpretted froms: historica.fandom.com, Wikipedia, an' sometimes finely crafted reit from th' author's extensiff personal experience an' such.
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"Confused? Ascared? Seasick? Need tae gab with th' Keptin?- Skelp th' 'Reply' button muckers!" - Keptin
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