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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/17053-8.txt b/17053-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..90d452f --- /dev/null +++ b/17053-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11040 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kate Bonnet, by Frank R. Stockton, +Illustrated by A. J. Keller and H. S. Potter + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Kate Bonnet + The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter + + +Author: Frank R. Stockton + + + +Release Date: November 12, 2005 [eBook #17053] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATE BONNET*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Gene Smethers, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17053-h.htm or 17053-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053/17053-h/17053-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053/17053-h.zip) + + + + + +KATE BONNET + +The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter + +by + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + +Illustrated by A. J. Keller and H. S. Potter + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that +wonderful pirate fight." (See page 350.)] + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +New York +D. Appleton and Company +1902 +Copyright, 1901, 1903 +By D. Appleton and Company +All rights reserved +February, 1902 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, A SHIP, AND A FISH + + II. A FRUIT-BASKET AND A FRIEND + + III. THE TWO CLOCKS + + IV. ON THE QUARTER-DECK + + V. AN UNSUCCESSFUL ERRAND + + VI. A PAIR OF SHOES AND STOCKINGS + + VII. KATE PLANS + + VIII. BEN GREENWAY IS CONVINCED THAT BONNET IS A PIRATE + + IX. DICKORY SETS FORTH + + X. CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE + + XI. BAD WEATHER + + XII. FACE TO FACE + + XIII. CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH + + XIV. A GIRL TO THE FRONT + + XV. THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA + + XVI. A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE + + XVII. AN ORNAMENTED BEARD + + XVIII. I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE + + XIX. THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT + + XX. ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH + + XXI. A PROJECTED MARRIAGE + + XXII. BLADE TO BLADE + + XXIII. THE ADDRESS OF THE LETTER + + XXIV. BELIZE + + XXV. WISE MR. DELAPLAINE + + XXVI. DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS + + XXVII. A GIRL WHO LAUGHED + + XXVIII. LUCILLA'S SHIP + + XXIX. CAPTAIN ICHABOD + + XXX. DAME CHARTER MAKES A FRIEND + + XXXI. MR. DELAPLAINE LEADS A BOARDING PARTY + + XXXII. THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER + + XXXIII. BLACKBEARD GIVES GREENWAY SOME DIFFICULT WORK + + XXXIV. CAPTAIN THOMAS OF THE ROYAL JAMES + + XXXV. A CHAPTER OF HAPPENINGS + + XXXVI. THE TIDE DECIDES + + XXXVII. BONNET AND GREENWAY PART COMPANY + +XXXVIII. AGAIN DICKORY WAS THERE + + XXXIX. THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME FROM THE DEATH OF THE WICKED + + XL. CAPTAIN ICHABOD PUTS THE CASE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +FACING PAGE + +"Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that wonderful pirate +fight" _Frontispiece_ + +"If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!" 46 + +"He is my father!" said Kate 124 + +"Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you behind" 155 + +"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be delivered" 241 + +Kate and her father in the warehouse 260 + +Lucilla rescues Dickory 337 + +In an instant Dickory was there 403 + + + + +KATE BONNET + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, A SHIP, AND A FISH + + +The month was September and the place was in the neighbourhood of +Bridgetown, in the island of Barbadoes. The seventeenth century was not +seventeen years old, but the girl who walked slowly down to the river +bank was three years its senior. She carried a fishing-rod and line, and +her name was Kate Bonnet. She was a bright-faced, quick-moving young +person, and apparently did not expect to catch many fish, for she had no +basket in which to carry away her finny prizes. Nor, apparently, did she +have any bait, except that which was upon her hook and which had been +affixed there by one of the servants at her home, not far away. In fact, +Mistress Kate was too nicely dressed and her gloves were too clean to +have much to do with fish or bait, but she seated herself on a little +rock in a shady spot not far from the water and threw forth her line. +Then she gazed about her; a little up the river and a good deal down the +river. + +It was truly a pleasant scene which lay before her eyes. Not half a mile +away was the bridge which gave this English settlement its name, and +beyond the river were woods and cultivated fields, with here and there a +little bit of smoke, for it was growing late in the afternoon, when +smoke meant supper. Beyond all this the land rose from the lower ground +near the river and the sea, in terrace after terrace, until the upper +stretches of its woodlands showed clear against the evening sky. + +But Mistress Kate Bonnet now gazed steadily down the stream, beyond the +town and the bridge, and paid no more attention to the scenery than the +scenery did to her, although one was quite as beautiful as the other. + +There was a bunch of white flowers in the hat of the young girl; not a +very large one, and not a very small one, but of such a size as might be +easily seen from the bridge, had any one happened to be crossing about +that time. And, in fact, as the wearer of the hat and the white flowers +still continued to gaze at the bridge, she saw some one come out upon it +with a quick, buoyant step, and then she saw him stop and gaze steadily +up the river. At this she turned her head, and her eyes went out over +the beautiful landscape and the wide terraces rising above each other +towards the sky. + +It is astonishing how soon after this a young man, dressed in a brown +suit, and very pleasant to look upon, came rapidly walking along the +river bank. This was Master Martin Newcombe, a young Englishman, not two +years from his native land, and now a prosperous farmer on the other +side of the river. + +It often happened that Master Newcombe, at the close of his agricultural +labours, would put on a good suit of clothes and ride over the bridge to +the town, to attend to business or to social duties, as the case might +be. But, sometimes, not willing to encumber himself with a horse, he +walked over the bridge and strolled or hurried along the river bank. +This was one of the times in which he hurried. He had been caught by the +vision of the bunch of white flowers in the hat of the girl who was +seated on the rock in the shade. + +As Master Newcombe stepped near, his spirits rose, as they had not +always risen, as he approached Mistress Kate, for he perceived that, +although she held the handle of her rod in her hand, the other end of it +was lying on the ground, not very far away from the bait and the hook +which, it was very plain, had not been in the water at all. She must +have been thinking of something else besides fishing, he thought. But he +did not dare to go on with that sort of thinking in the way he would +have liked to do it. He had not too great a belief in himself, though he +was very much in love with Kate Bonnet. + +"Is this the best time of day for fishing, Master Newcombe?" she said, +without rising or offering him her hand. "For my part, I don't believe +it is." + +He smiled as he threw his hat upon the ground. "Let me put your line a +little farther out." And so saying, he took the rod from her hand and +stepped between her and the bait, which must have been now quite hot +from lying so long in a bit of sunshine. He rearranged the bait and +threw the line far out into the river. Then he gave her the rod again. +He seated himself on the ground near-by. + +"This is the second time I have been over the bridge to-day," he said, +"and this morning, very early, I saw, for the first time, your father's +ship, which was lying below the town. It is a fine vessel, so far as I +can judge, being a landsman." + +"Yes," said she, "and I have been on board of her and have gone all over +her, and have seen many things which are queer and strange to me. But +the strangest thing about her, to my mind, being a landswoman, is, that +she should belong to my father. There are many things which he has not, +which it would be easy to believe he would like to have, but that a +ship, with sails and anchors and hatchways, should be one of these +things, it is hard to imagine." + +Young Newcombe thought it was impossible to imagine, but he expressed +himself discreetly. + +"It must be that he is going to engage in trade," he said; "has he not +told you of his intentions?" + +"Not much," said she. "He says he is going to cruise about among the +islands, and when I asked him if he would take me, he laughed, and +answered that he might do so, but that I must never say a word of it to +Madam Bonnet, for if she heard of it she might change his plans." + +The wicked young man found himself almost wishing that the somewhat +bad-tempered Madam Bonnet might hear of and change any plan which might +take her husband's daughter from this town, especially in a vessel; for +vessels were always terribly tardy when any one was waiting for their +return. And, besides, it often happened that vessels never came back at +all. + +"I shall take a little trip with him even if we don't go far; it would +be ridiculous for my father to own a ship, and for me never to sail in +her." + +"That would not be so bad," said Master Martin, feeling that a short +absence might be endured. Moreover, if a little pleasure trip were to be +made, it was reasonable enough to suppose that other people, not +belonging to the Bonnet family, might be asked to sail as guests. + +"What my father expects to trade in," said she contemplatively gazing +before her, "I am sure I do not know. It cannot be horses or cattle, for +he has not enough of them to make such a venture profitable. And as to +sugar-cane, or anything from his farm, I am sure he has a good enough +market here for all he has to sell. Certainly he does not produce enough +to make it necessary for him to buy a ship in order to carry them away." + +"It is opined," said Martin, "by the people of the town, that Major +Bonnet intends to become a commercial man, and to carry away to the +other islands, and perhaps to the old country itself, the goods of other +people." + +"Now that would be fine!" said Mistress Kate, her eyes sparkling, "for I +should then surely go with him, and would see the world, and perhaps +London." And her face flushed with the prospect. + +Martin's face did not flush. "But if your father's ship sailed on a long +voyage," he said, with a suspicion of apprehension, "he would not sail +with her; he would send her under the charge of others." + +The girl shook her head. "When she sails," said she, "he sails in her. +If you had heard him talking as I have heard him, you would not doubt +that. And if he sails, I sail." + +Martin's soul grew quite sad. There were very good reasons to believe +that this dear girl might sail away from Bridgetown, and from him. She +might come back to the town, but she might not come back to him. + +"Mistress Kate," said he, looking very earnestly at her, "do you know +that such speech as this makes my heart sink? You know I love you, I +have told you so before. If you were to sail away, I care not to what +port, this world would be a black place for me." + +"That is like a lover," she exclaimed a little pertly; "it is like them +all, every man of them. They must have what they want, and they must +have it, no matter who else may suffer." + +He rose and stood by her. + +"But I don't want you to suffer," he said. "Do you think it would be +suffering to live with one who loved you, who would spend his whole life +in making you happy, who would look upon you as the chief thing in the +world, and have no other ambition than to make himself worthy of you?" + +She looked up at him with a little smile. + +"That would, doubtless, be all very pleasant for you," she said, "and in +order that you might be pleased, you would have her give up so much. +That is the way with men! Now, here am I, born in the very end of the +last century, and having had, consequently, no good out of that, and +with but seventeen years in this century, and most of it passed in +girlhood and in school; and now, when the world might open before me for +a little, here you come along and tell me all that you would like to +have, and that you would like me to give up." + +"But you should not think," said he, and that was all he said, for at +that moment Kate Bonnet felt a little jerk at the end of her line, and +then a good strong pull. + +"I have a fish!" she cried, and sprang to her feet. Then, with a swoop, +she threw into the midst of the weeds and wild flowers a struggling fish +which Martin hastened to take from the hook. + +"A fine fellow!" he cried, "and he has arrived just in time to make a +dainty dish for your supper." + +"Ah, no!" she said, winding the line about her rod; "if I were to take +that fish to the house, it would sorely disturb Madam Bonnet. She would +object to my catching it; she would object to having it prepared for the +table; she would object to having it eaten, when she had arranged that +we should eat something else. No, I will give it to you, Master +Newcombe; I suppose in your house you can cook and eat what you please." + +"Yes," said he; "but how delightful it would be if we could eat it +together." + +"Meaning," said she, "that I should never eat other fish than those from +this river. No, sir; that may not be. I have a notion that the first +foreign fish I shall eat will be found in the island of Jamaica, for my +father said, that possibly he might first take a trip there, where lives +my mother's brother, whom we have not seen for a long time. But, as I +told you before, nobody must know this. And now I must go to my supper, +and you must take yours home with you." + +"And I am sure it will be the sweetest fish," he said, "that was ever +caught in all these waters. But I beg, before you go, you will promise +me one thing." + +"Promise you!" said she, quite loftily. + +"Yes," he answered; "tell me that, no matter where you go, you will not +leave Bridgetown without letting me know of it?" + +"I will not, indeed," said she; "and if it is to Jamaica we go, perhaps +my father--but no, I don't believe he will do that. He will be too much +wrapped up in his ship to want for company to whom he must attend and +talk." + +"Ah! there would be no need of that!" said Newcombe, with a lover's +smile. + +She smiled back at him. + +"Good-night!" she said, "and see to it that you eat your fish to-night +while it is so fresh." Then she ran up the winding path to her home. + +He stood and looked after her until she had disappeared among the +shrubbery, after which he walked away. + +"I should have said more than I did," he reflected; "seldom have I had +so good a chance to speak and urge my case. It was that confounded ship. +Her mind is all for that and not for me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A FRUIT-BASKET AND A FRIEND + + +Major Stede Bonnet, the father of Kate, whose mother had died when the +child was but a year old, was a middle-aged Englishman of a fair estate, +in the island of Barbadoes. He had been an officer in the army, was well +educated and intelligent, and now, in vigorous middle life, had become a +confirmed country gentleman. His herds and his crops were, to him, the +principal things on earth, with the exception of his daughter; for, +although he had married for the second time, there were a good many +things which he valued more than his wife. And it had therefore +occasioned a good deal of surprise, and more or less small talk among +his neighbours, that Major Bonnet should want to buy a ship. But he had +been a soldier in his youth, and soldiers are very apt to change their +manner of living, and so, if Major Bonnet had grown tired of his farm +and had determined to go into commercial enterprises, it was not, +perhaps, a very amazing thing that a military man who had turned planter +should now turn to be something else. + +Madam Bonnet had heard of the ship, although she had not been told +anything about her step-daughter taking a trip in her, and if she had +heard she might not have objected. She had regarded, in an apparently +careless manner, her husband's desire to navigate the sea; for, no +matter to what point he might happen to sail, his ship would take him +away from Barbadoes, and that would very well suit her. She was getting +tired of Major Bonnet. She did not believe he had ever been a very good +soldier; she was positively sure that he was not a good farmer; and she +had the strongest kind of doubt as to his ability as a commercial man. +But as this new business would free her from him, at least for a time, +she was well content; and, although she should feel herself somewhat +handicapped by the presence of Kate, she did not intend to allow that +young lady to interfere with her plans and purposes during the absence +of the head of the house. So she went her way, saying nothing derisive +about the nautical life, except what she considered it necessary for her +to do, in order to maintain her superior position in the household. + +Major Bonnet was now very much engaged and a good deal disturbed, for he +found that projected sailing, even in one's own craft, is not always +smooth sailing. He was putting his vessel in excellent order, and was +fitting her out generously in the way of stores and all manner of +nautical needfuls, not forgetting the guns necessary for defence in +these somewhat disordered times, and his latest endeavours were towards +the shipping of a suitable crew. Seafaring men were not scarce in the +port of Bridgetown, but Major Bonnet, now entitled to be called +"Captain," was very particular about his crew, and it took him a long +time to collect suitable men. + +As he was most truly a landsman, knowing nothing about the sea or the +various intricate methods of navigating a vessel thereupon, he was +compelled to secure a real captain--one who would be able to take charge +of the vessel and crew, and who would do, and have done, in a thoroughly +seamanlike manner, what his nominal skipper should desire and ordain. + +This absolutely necessary personage had been secured almost as soon as +the vessel had been purchased, before any of the rest of the crew had +signed ship's articles; and it was under his general supervision that +the storing and equipment had been carried on. His name was Sam Loftus. +He was a big man with a great readiness of speech. There were, perhaps, +some things he could not do, but there seemed to be nothing that he was +not able to talk about. As has been said, the rest of the crew came in +slowly, but they did come, and Major Bonnet told his daughter that when +he had secured four more men, it was his intention to leave port. + +"And sail for Jamaica?" she exclaimed. + +"Oh, yes," he said, with an affectionate smile, "and I will leave you +with your Uncle Delaplaine, where you can stay while I make some little +cruises here and there." + +"And so I am really to go?" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. + +"Really to go," said he. + +"And what may I pack up?" she asked, thinking of her step-mother. + +"Not much," he said, "not much. We will be able to find at Spanish Town +something braver in the way of apparel than anything you now possess. It +will be some days before we sail, and I shall have quietly conveyed on +board such belongings as you need." + +She was very happy, and she laughed. + +"Yours will be an easily laden ship," said she, "for you take in with +you no great store of goods for traffic. But I suppose you design to +pick up your cargo among the islands where you cruise, and at a less +cost, perchance, than it could be procured here?" + +"Yes, yes," he said; "you have hit it fairly, my little girl, you have +hit it fairly." + +New annoyances now began to beset Major Bonnet. What his daughter had +remarked in pleasantry, the people of the town began to talk about +unpleasantly. Here was a good-sized craft about to set sail, with little +or no cargo, but with a crew apparently much larger than her +requirements, but not yet large enough for the desires of her owner. To +be sure, as Major Bonnet did not know anything about ships, he was bound +to do something odd when he bought one and set forth to sail upon her, +but there were some odd things which ought to be looked into; and there +were people who advised that the attention of the colonial authorities +should be drawn to this ship of their farmer townsman. Major Bonnet had +such a high reputation as a good citizen, that there were few people who +thought it worth while to trouble themselves about his new business +venture, but a good many disagreeable things came to the ears of Sam +Loftus, who reported them to his employer, and it was agreed between +them that it would be wise for them to sail as soon as they could, even +if they did not wait for the few men they had considered to be needed. + +Early upon a cloudy afternoon, Major Bonnet and his daughter went out in +a small boat to look at his vessel, the Sarah Williams, which was then +lying a short distance below the town. + +"Now, Kate," said the good Major Bonnet, when they were on board, "I +have fitted up a little room for you below, which I think you will find +comfortable enough during the voyage to Jamaica. I will take you with +me when I return to the house, and then you can make up a little package +of clothes which it will be easy to convey to the river bank when the +time shall come for you to depart. I cannot now say just when that time +will arrive; it may be in the daytime or it may be at night, but it will +be soon, and I will give you good notice, and I will come up the river +for you in a boat. But now I am very busy, and I will leave you to +become acquainted with the Sarah Williams, which, for a few days, will +be your home. I shall be obliged to row over to the town for, perhaps, +half an hour, but Ben Greenway will be here to attend to anything you +need until I return." + +Ben Greenway was a Scotchman, who had for a long time been Major +Bonnet's most trusted servant. He was a good farmer, was apt at +carpenter work, and knew a good deal about masonry. A few months ago, +any one living in that region would have been likely to say, if the +subject had been brought up, that without Ben Greenway Major Bonnet +could not get along at all, not even for a day, for he depended upon him +in so many ways. And yet, now the master of the estate was about to +depart, for nobody knew how long, and leave his faithful servant behind. +The reason he gave was, that Ben could not be spared from the farm; but +people in general, and Ben in particular, thought this very poor +reasoning. Any sort of business which made it necessary for Major +Bonnet to separate himself from Ben Greenway was a very poor business, +and should not be entered upon. + +The deck of the Sarah Williams presented a lively scene as Kate stood +upon the little quarter-deck and gazed forward. The sailors were walking +about and sitting about, smoking, talking, or coiling things away. There +were people from the shore with baskets containing fruit and other wares +for sale, and all stirring and new and very interesting to Miss Kate as +she stood, with her ribbons flying in the river breeze. + +"Who is that young fellow?" she said to Ben Greenway, who was standing +by her, "the one with the big basket? It seems to me I have seen him +before." + +"Oh, ay!" said Ben, "he has been on the farm. That is Dickory Charter, +whose father was drowned out fishing a few years ago. He is a good lad, +an' boards all ships comin' in or goin' out to sell his wares, for his +mither leans on him now, having no ither." + +The youth, who seemed to feel that he was being talked about, now walked +aft, and held up his basket. He was a handsome youngster, lightly clad +and barefooted; and, although not yet full grown, of a strong and active +build. Kate beckoned to him, and bought an orange. + +"An' how is your mither, Dickory?" said Ben. + +"Right well, I thank you," said he, and gazed at Kate, who was biting a +hole in her orange. + +Then, as he turned and went away, having no reason to expect to sell +anything more, Kate remarked to Ben: "That is truly a fine-looking young +fellow. He walks with such strength and ease, like a deer or a cat." + +"That comes from no' wearin' shoes," said Ben; "but as for me, I would +like better to wear shoes an' walk mair stiffly." + +Now there came aft a sailor, who touched his cap and told Ben Greenway +that he was wanted below to superintend the stowing some cases of the +captain's liquors. So Kate, left to herself, began to think about what +she should pack into her little bundle. She would make it very small, +for the fewer things she took with her the more she would buy at Spanish +Town. But the contents of her package did not require much thought, and +she soon became a little tired staying there by herself, and therefore +she was glad to see young Dickory, with his orange-basket, walking aft. + +"I don't want any more oranges," she said, when he was near enough, "but +perhaps you may have other fruit?" + +He came up to her and put down his basket. "I have bananas, but perhaps +you don't like them?" + +"Oh, yes, I do!" she answered. + +But, without offering to show her the fruit, Dickory continued: +"There's one thing I don't like, and that's the men on board your ship." + +"What do you mean?" she asked, amazed. + +"Speak lower," he said; and, as he spoke, he bethought himself that it +might be well to hold out towards her a couple of bananas. + +"They're a bad, hard lot of men," he said. "I heard that from more than +one person. You ought not to stay on this ship." + +"And what do you know about it, Mr. Impudence?" she asked, with brows +uplifted. "I suppose my father knows what is good for me." + +"But he is not here," said Dickory. + +Kate looked steadfastly at him. He did not seem as ruddy as he had been. +And then she looked out upon the forward deck, and the thought came to +her that when she had first noticed these men it had seemed to her that +they were, indeed, a rough, hard lot. Kate Bonnet was a brave girl, but +without knowing why she felt a little frightened. + +"Your name is Dickory, isn't it?" she said. + +He looked up quickly, for it pleased him to hear her use his name. +"Indeed it is," he answered. + +"Well, Dickory," said she, "I wish you would go and find Ben Greenway. I +should like to have him with me until my father comes back." + +He turned, and then stopped for an instant. He said in a clear voice: "I +will go and get the shilling changed." And then he hurried away. + +He was gone a long time, and Kate could not understand it. Surely the +Sarah Williams was not so big a ship that it would take all this time to +look for Ben Greenway. But he did come back, and his face seemed even +less ruddy than when she had last seen it. He came up close to her, and +began handling his fruit. + +"I don't want to frighten you," he said, "but I must tell you about +things. I could not find Ben Greenway, and I asked one of the men about +him, feigning that he owed me for some fruit, and the man looked at +another man and laughed, and said that he had been sent for in a hurry, +and had gone ashore in a boat." + +"I cannot believe that," said Kate; "he would not go away and leave me." + +Dickory could not believe it either, and could offer no explanation. + +Kate now looked anxiously over the water towards the town, but no father +was to be seen. + +"Now let me tell you what I found out," said Dickory, "you must know it. +These men are wicked robbers. I slipped quietly among them to find out +something, with my shilling in my hand, ready to ask somebody to change, +if I was noticed." + +"Well, what next?" laying her hand on his arm. + +"Oh, don't do that!" he said quickly; "better take hold of a banana. I +spied that Big Sam, who is sailing-master, and a black-headed fellow +taking their ease behind some boxes, smoking, and I listened with all +sharpness. And Sam, he said to the other one--not in these words, but in +language not fit for you to hear--what he would like to do would be to +get off on the next tide. And when the other fellow asked him why he +didn't go then and leave the fool--meaning your father--to go back to +his farm, Big Sam answered, with a good many curses, that if he could do +it he would drop down the river that very minute and wait at the bar +until the water was high enough to cross, but that it was impossible +because they must not sail until your father had brought his cash-box on +board. It would be stupid to sail without that cash-box." + +"Dickory," said she, "I am frightened; I want to go on shore, and I want +to see my father and tell him all these things." + +"But there is no boat," said Dickory; "every boat has left the ship." + +"But you have one," said she, looking over the side. + +"It is a poor little canoe," he answered, "and I am afraid they would +not let me take you away, I having no orders to do so." + +Kate was about to open her mouth to make an indignant reply, when he +exclaimed, "But here comes a boat from the town; perhaps it is your +father!" + +She sprang to the rail. "No, it is not," she exclaimed; "it holds but +one man, who rows." + +She stood, without a word, watching the approaching boat, Dickory doing +the same, but keeping himself out of the general view. The boat came +alongside and the oarsman handed up a note, which was presently brought +to Kate by Big Sam, young Dickory Charter having in the meantime slipped +below with his basket. + +"A note from your father, Mistress Bonnet," said the sailing-master. And +as she read it he stood and looked upon her. + +"My father tells me," said Kate, speaking decidedly but quietly, "that +he will come on board very soon, but I do not wish to wait for him. I +will go back to the town. I have affairs which make it necessary for me +to return immediately. Tell the man who brought the note that I will go +back with him." + +Big Sam raised his eyebrows and his face assumed a look of trouble. + +"It grieves me greatly, Mistress Bonnet," he said, "but the man has +gone. He was ordered not to wait here." + +"Shout after him!" cried Kate; "call him back!" + +Sam stepped to the rail and looked over the water. "He is too far away," +he said, "but I will try." And then he shouted, but the man paid no +attention, and kept on rowing to shore. + +"I thought it was too far," he said, "but your father will be back +soon; he sent that message to me. And now, fair mistress, what can we do +for you? Shall it be that we send you some supper? Or, as your cabin is +ready, would you prefer to step down to it and wait there for your +father?" + +"No," said she, "I will wait here for my father. I want nothing." + +So, with a bow he strode away, and presently Dickory came back. She drew +near to him and whispered. "Dickory," she said, "what shall I do? Shall +I scream and wave my handkerchief? Perhaps they may see and hear me from +the town." + +"No," said Dickory, "I would not do that. The night is coming on, and +the sky is cloudy. And besides, if you make a noise, those fellows might +do something." + +"Oh, Dickory, what shall I do?" + +"You must wait for your father," he said; "he must be here soon, and the +moment you see him, call to him and make him take you to shore. You +should both of you get away from this vessel as soon as you can." + +For a moment the girl reflected. "Dickory," said she, "I wish you would +take a message for me to Master Martin Newcombe. He may be able to get +here to me even before my father arrives." + +Dickory Charter knew Mr. Newcombe, and he had heard what many people had +talked about, that he was courting Major Bonnet's daughter. The day +before Dickory would not have cared who the young planter was courting, +but this evening, even to his own surprise, he cared very much. He was +intensely interested in Kate, and he did not desire to help Martin +Newcombe to take an interest in her. Besides, he spoke honestly as he +said: "And who would there be to take care of you? No, indeed, I will +not leave you." + +"Then row to the town," said she, "and have a boat sent for me." + +He shook his head. "No," he said, "I will not leave you." + +Her eyes flashed. "You should do what you are commanded to do!" and in +her excitement she almost forgot to whisper. + +He shook his head and left her. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TWO CLOCKS + + +It was already beginning to grow dark. She sat, and she sat; she waited, +and she waited; and at last she wept, but very quietly. Her father did +not come; Ben Greenway was not there; and even that Charter boy had +gone. A man came aft to her; a mild-faced, elderly man, with further +offers of refreshment and an invitation to go below out of the night +air. But she would have nothing; and as she sadly waited and gently +wept, it began to grow truly dark. Presently, as she sat, one arm +leaning on the rail, she heard a voice close to her ear, and she gave a +great start. + +"It is only Dickory," whispered the voice. + +Then she put her head near him and was glad enough to have put her arms +around his neck. + +"I have heard a great deal more," whispered Dickory; "these men are +dreadful. They do not know what keeps your father, although they have +suspicions which I could not make out; but if he does not come on board +by ten o'clock they will sail without him, and without his cash-box." + +"And what of me?" she almost cried, "what of me?" + +"They will take you with them," said he; "that's the only thing for them +to do. But don't be frightened, don't tremble. You must leave this +vessel." + +"But how?" she said. + +"Oh! I will attend to that," he answered, "if you will listen to me and +do everything I tell you. We can't go until it is dark, but while it is +light enough for you to see things I will show you what you must do. +Now, look down over the side of the vessel." + +She leaned over and looked down. He was apparently clinging to the side +with his head barely reaching the top of the rail. + +"Do you see this bit of ledge I am standing on?" he asked. "Could you +get out and stand on this, holding to this piece of rope as I do?" + +"Yes," said she, "I could do that." + +"Then, still holding to the rope, could you lower yourself down from the +ledge and hang to it with your hands?" + +"And drop into your boat?" said she. "Yes, I could do that." + +"No," said he, "not drop into my boat. It would kill you if you fell +into the boat. You must drop into the water." + +She shuddered, and felt like screaming. + +"But it will be easy to drop into the water; you can't hurt yourself, +and I shall be there. My boat will be anchored close by, and we can +easily reach it." + +"Drop into the water!" said poor Kate. + +"But I will be there, you know," said Dickory. + +She looked down upon the ledge, and then she looked below it to the +water, which was idly flapping against the side of the vessel. + +"Is it the only way?" said she. + +"It is the only way," he answered, speaking very earnestly. "You must +not wait for your father; from what I hear, I fear he has been detained +against his will. By nine o'clock it will be dark enough." + +"And what must I do?" she said, feeling cold as she spoke. + +"Listen to every word," he answered. "This is what you must do. You know +the sound of the bell in the tower of the new church?" + +"Oh, yes," said she, "I hear it often." + +"And you will not confound it with the bell in the old church?" + +"Oh, no!" said she; "it is very different, and generally they strike far +apart." + +"Yes," said he, "the old one strikes first; and when you hear it, it +will be quite dark, and you can slip over the rail and stand on this +ledge, as I am doing; then keep fast hold of this rope and you can slip +farther down and sit on the ledge and wait until the clock of the new +church begins to strike nine. Then you must get off the ledge and hang +by your two hands. When you hear the last stroke of nine, you must let +go and drop. I shall be there." + +"But if you shouldn't be there, Dickory? Couldn't you whistle, couldn't +you call gently?" + +"No," said Dickory; "if I did that, their sharp ears would hear and +lanterns would be flashed on us, and perhaps things would be cast down +upon us. That would be the quickest way of getting rid of you." + +"But, Dickory," she said, after a moment's silence, "it is terrible +about my father and Ben Greenway. Why don't they come back? What's the +matter with them?" + +He hesitated a little before answering. + +"From what I heard, I think there is some trouble on shore, and that's +the reason why your father has not come for you as soon as he expected. +But he thinks you safe with Ben Greenway. Now what we have to do is to +get away from this vessel; and then if she sails and leaves your father +and Ben Greenway, it will be a good thing. These fellows are rascals, +and no honest person should have to do with them. But now I must get +out of sight, or somebody will come and spoil everything." + +Big Sam did come aft and told Kate he thought she would come to injury +sitting out in the night air. But she would not listen to him, and only +asked him what time of night it was. He told her that it was not far +from nine, and that she would see her father very soon, and then he left +her. + +"It would have been a terrible thing if he had come at nine," she said +to herself. Then she sat very still waiting for the sound of the old +clock. + +Dickory Charter had not told Miss Kate Bonnet all that he had heard when +he was stealthily wandering about the ship. He had slipped down into the +chains near a port-hole, on the other side of which Big Sam and the +black-haired man were taking supper, and he heard a great deal of talk. +Among other things he heard a bit of conversation which, when expurgated +of its oaths and unpleasant expressions, was like this: + +"You are sure you can trust the men?" said Black-hair. + +"Oh, yes!" replied the other, "they're all right." + +"Then why don't you go now? At any time officers may be rowing out here +to search the vessel." + +"And well they might. For what needs an old farmer with an empty +vessel, a crew of seventy men, and ten guns? He is in trouble, you may +wager your life on that, or he would be coming to see about his girl." + +"And what will you do about her?" + +"Oh, she'll not be in the way," answered Big Sam with a laugh. "If he +doesn't take her off before I sail, that's his business. If I am obliged +to leave port without his cash-box, I will marry his daughter and become +his son-in-law--I don't doubt we can find a parson among all the rascals +on board--then, perhaps, he will think it his duty to send me drafts to +the different ports I touch at." + +At this good joke, both of them laughed. + +"But I don't want to go without his cash-box," continued Big Sam, "and I +will wait until high-tide, which will be about ten o'clock. It would be +unsafe to miss that, for I must not be here to-morrow morning. But the +long-boat will be here soon. I told Roger to wait until half-past nine, +and then to come aboard with old Bonnet or without him, if he didn't +show himself by that time." + +"But, after all," said the black-haired man, "the main thing is, will +the men stand by you?" + +"You needn't fear them," said the other with an aggravated oath, "I know +every rascal of them." + +"Now, then," said Dickory Charter to himself as he slipped out of the +chains, "she goes overboard, if I have to pitch her over." + +Nothing had he heard about Ben Greenway. He did not believe that the +Scotchman had deserted his young mistress; even had he been sent for to +go on shore in haste, would he leave without speaking to her. More than +that, he would most likely have taken her with him. + +But Dickory could not afford to give much thought to Ben Greenway. +Although a good friend to both himself and his mother, he was not to be +considered when the safety of Mistress Kate Bonnet was in question. + +The minutes moved slowly, very slowly indeed, as Kate sat, listening for +the sound of the old clock, and at the same time listening for the sound +of approaching footsteps. + +It was now so dark that she could not have seen anybody without a light, +but she could hear as if she had possessed the ears of a cat. + +She had ceased to expect her father. She was sure he had been detained +on shore; how, she knew not. But she did know he was not coming. + +Presently the old clock struck, one, two--In a moment she was climbing +over the rail. In the darkness she missed the heavy bit of rope which +Dickory had showed her, but feeling about she clutched it and let +herself down to the ledge below. Her nerves were quite firm now. It was +necessary to be so very particular to follow Dickory's directions to +the letter, that her nerves were obliged to be firm. She slipped still +farther down and sat sideways upon the narrow ledge. So narrow that if +the vessel had rolled she could not have remained upon it. + +There she waited. + +Then there came, sharper and clearer out of the darkness in the +direction of the town, the first stroke of nine o'clock from the tower +of the new church. Before the second stroke had sounded she was hanging +by her two hands from the ledge. She hung at her full length; she put +her feet together; she hoped that she would go down smoothly and make no +splash. Three--four--five--six--seven--eight--nine--and she let her +fingers slip from the ledge. Down she went, into the darkness and into +the water, not knowing where one ended and the other began. Her eyes +were closed, but they might as well have been open; there was nothing +for her to see in all that blackness. Down she went, as if it were to +the very bottom of black air and black water. And then, suddenly she +felt an arm around her. + +Dickory was there! + +She felt herself rising, and Dickory was rising, still with his arm +around her. In a moment her head was in the air, and she could breathe. +Now she felt that he was swimming, with one arm and both legs. +Instinctively she tried to help him, for she had learned to swim. They +went on a dozen strokes or more, with much labour, until they touched +something hard. + +"My boat," said Dickory, in the lowest of whispers; "take hold of it." + +Kate did so, and he moved from her. She knew that he was clambering into +the boat, although she could not see or hear him. Soon he took hold of +her under her arms, and he lifted with the strength of a young lion, yet +so slowly, so warily, that not a drop of water could be heard dripping +from her garments. And when she was drawn up high enough to help +herself, he pulled her in, still warily and slowly. Then he slipped to +the bow and cast off the rope with which the canoe had been anchored. It +was his only rope, but he could not risk the danger of pulling up the +bit of rock to which the other end of it was fastened. Then, with a +paddle, worked as silently as if it had been handled by an Indian, the +canoe moved away, farther and farther, into the darkness. + +"Is all well with you?" said Dickory, thinking he might now safely +murmur a few words. + +"All well," she murmured back, "except that this is the most +uncomfortable boat I ever sat in!" + +"I expect you are on my orange basket," he said; "perhaps you can move +it a little." + +Now he paddled more strongly, and then he stopped. + +"Where shall I take you, Mistress Bonnet?" he asked, a little louder +than he had dared to speak before. + +Kate heaved a sigh before she answered; she had been saying her prayers. + +"I don't know, you brave Dickory," she answered, "but it seems to me +that you can't see to take me anywhere. Everything is just as black as +pitch, one way or another." + +"But I know the river," he said, "with light or without it. I have gone +home on nights as black as this. Will you go to the town?" + +"I would not know where to go to there," she answered, "and in such a +plight." + +"Then to your home," said he. "But that will be a long row, and you must +be very cold." + +She shuddered, but not with cold. If her father had been at home it +would have been all right, but her step-mother would be there, and that +would not be all right. She would not know what to say to her. + +"Oh, Dickory," she said, "I don't know where to go." + +"I know where you can go," he said, beginning to paddle vigorously, "I +will take you to my mother. She will take care of you to-night and give +you dry clothes, and to-morrow you may go where you will." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE QUARTER-DECK + + +As the time approached when Big Sam intended to take the Sarah Williams +out of port, it seemed really necessary that Mistress Kate Bonnet should +descend from the exposed quarterdeck and seek shelter from the night air +in the captain's cabin or in her own room; and, as she had treated him +so curtly at his last interview with her, he sent the elderly man with +the mild countenance to tell her that she really must go below, for that +he, Big Sam, felt answerable to her father for her health and comfort. +But when the elderly man and his lantern reached the quarter-deck, there +was no Mistress Kate there, and, during the rapid search which ensued, +there was no Mistress Kate to be found on the vessel. + +Big Sam was very much disturbed; she must have jumped overboard. But +what a wild young woman to do that upon such little provocation, for +how should she know that he was about to run away with her father's +vessel! + +"This is a bad business," he said to the black-haired man, "and who +would have thought it?" + +"I see not that," said Black Paul, "nor why you should trouble yourself +about her. She is gone, and you are well rid of her. Had she stayed +aboard with us, every ship in the colony might have been cruising after +us before to-morrow's sun had gone down." + +But this did not quiet the cowardly soul of Big Sam. + +"Now I shall tell you," said he, "exactly what happened. A little before +dark she went ashore in a boat which was then leaving the ship. I +allowed her to do this because she was very much in earnest about it, +and talked sharply, and also because I thought the town was the best +place for her, since it was growing late and her father did not seem to +be coming. Now, if the old man comes on board, that's what happened; but +if he does not come on board, the devil and the fishes know what +happened, and they may talk about it if they like. But if any man says +anything to old Bonnet except as I have ordered, then the fishes shall +have another feast." + +"And now, what I have to say to you," said Black Paul, "is, that you +should get away from here without waiting for the tide. If one of these +rascals drops overboard and swims ashore, he may get a good reward for +news of the murder committed on this vessel, and there isn't any reason +to think, so far as I know, that the Sarah Williams can sail any faster +than two or three other vessels now in the harbour." + +"There's sense in all that," said Big Sam as he walked forward. But he +suddenly stopped, hearing, not very far away, the sound of oars. + +Now began the body and soul of Big Sam to tremble. If the officers of +the law, having disposed of Captain Bonnet, had now come to the ship, he +had no sufficient tale to tell them about the disappearance of Mistress +Kate Bonnet; nor could he resist. For why should the crew obey his +orders? They had not yet agreed to receive him as their captain, and, so +far, they had done nothing to set themselves against the authorities. It +was a bad case for Big Sam. + +But now the ship was hailed, and the voice which hailed it was that of +Captain Bonnet. And the soul of Big Sam upheaved itself. + +In a few minutes Bonnet was on board, with a big box and the crew of the +long-boat. Speaking rapidly, he explained to Big Sam the situation of +affairs. The authorities of the port had indeed sadly interfered with +him. They had heard reports about the unladen vessel and the big crew; +and, although they felt loath to detain and to examine a +fellow-townsman, hitherto of good report, they did detain him and they +did examine him, and they would have gone immediately to the ship had +it not been so dark. + +But under the circumstances they contented themselves with the assurance +of the respectable Mr. Bonnet that he would appear before them the next +morning and give them every opportunity of examining his most +respectable ship. Having done this, they retired to their beds, and the +respectable Bonnet immediately boarded his vessel. + +"Now," cried Captain Bonnet, "where is my daughter? I hope that Ben +Greenway has caused her to retire to shelter?" + +"Your daughter!" exclaimed Big Sam, before any one else could speak, +"she is not here. It was still early twilight when she told me she would +wait no longer, and desired to be sent ashore in a boat. This request, +of course, I immediately granted, feeling bound thereto, as she was your +daughter, and that I was, in a measure, under her orders." + +Captain Bonnet stood, knitting his brows. + +"Well, well!" he presently cried, with an air of relief, "it is better +so. Her home is the best place for her, as matters have turned out. And +now," said he, turning to Big Sam, "call the men together and set them +to quick work. Pull up your anchors and do whatever else is necessary to +free the ship; then let us away. We must be far out of sight of this +island before to-morrow's sunrise." + +As Big Sam passed Black Paul he winked and whispered: "The old fool is +doing exactly what I would have done if he hadn't come aboard. This +suits my plan as if he were trying his best to please me." + +In a very short time the cable was slipped, for Big Sam had no notion of +betraying the departure of the vessel by the creaking of a capstan; and, +with the hoisting of a few sails and no light aboard except the shaded +lamp at the binnacle, the Sarah Williams moved down the river and out +upon the sea. + +"And when are you going to take the command in your hands?" asked Black +Paul of Big Sam. + +"To-morrow, some time," was the answer, "but I must first go around +among the men and let them know what's coming." + +"And how about Ben Greenway? Has the old man asked for him yet?" + +"No," said the other; "he thinks, of course, that the Scotchman has gone +ashore with the young woman. What else could he do, being a faithful +servant? To-morrow I shall set Greenway free and let him tell his own +tale to his master. But I shall tell my tale first, and then he can +speak or not speak, as he chooses; it will make no difference one way or +another." + +Soon after dawn the next morning Captain Bonnet was out of his hammock +and upon deck. He looked about him and saw nothing but sea, sea, sea. + +Big Sam approached him. "I forgot to tell you," said he, "that yesterday +I shut up that Scotchman of yours, for, from his conduct, I thought that +he had some particular reason for wanting to go on shore; and, fearing +that if he did so he would talk about this vessel, and so make worse the +trouble I was sure you were in, I shut him up as a matter of precaution +and forgot to mention him to you last night." + +"You stupid blockhead!" roared Mr. Bonnet, "how like an ass you have +acted! Not for a bag of gold would I have taken Ben Greenway on this +cruise; and not for a dozen bags would I have deprived my family of his +care and service. You ought to be thrown into the sea! Ben Greenway +here! Of all men in the world, Ben Greenway here!" + +"I only thought to do you a service," said Big Sam. + +"Service!" shouted the angry Bonnet. But as it was of no use to say +anything more upon this subject, he ordered the sailing-master to send +to him, first, Ben Greenway, and then to summon to him, no matter where +they might be or what they might be doing, the whole crew. + +The other, surprised at this order, objected that all of the men could +not leave their posts, but Bonnet overruled him. + +"Send me the whole of them, every man jack. The fellow at the wheel +will remain here and steer. As for the rest, the ship will take care of +itself for a space." + +"What can that old fool of a farmer intend to do?" said Big Sam, as he +went away; "he is like a child with a toy, and wants to see his crew in +a bunch." + +Presently came Ben Greenway in a smothered rage. + +"An' I suppose, sir," said he without salutation, "that ye have gi'en +orders about the care o' the cows and the lot o' poultry that I engaged +to send to the town to-day?" + +"Don't mention cows or poultry to me!" cried Bonnet. "I am a more angry +man than you are, Ben Greenway, and as soon as I have time to attend to +it, I shall look into this matter of your shutting up, and shall come +down upon the wrongdoers like sheeted lightning." + +"What a fearful rage ye're in, Master Bonnet," said Ben. "I never saw +the like o' it. If ye're really angrier than I am, I willna revile; +leavin' it to ye to do the revilin' wha are so much better qualified. +An' so it wasna accident that I was shut up in the ship's pantry, +leavin' Mistress Kate to gang hame by hersel', an' to come out this +mornin' findin' the ship at sea an' ye in command?" + +"Say no more, Ben," cried Bonnet. "I am more sorry to see you here than +if you were any other man I know in this world. But I cannot put you +off now, nor can I talk further about it, being very much pressed with +other matters. Now here comes my crew." + +Ben Greenway retired a little, leaning against the rail. + +"An' this is his crew?" he muttered; "a lot o' unkempt wild beasts, it +strikes me. Mayhap he has gathered them togither to convert their souls, +an' he is about to preach his first sermon to them." + +Now all the mariners of the Sarah Williams were assembled aft and +Captain Bonnet was standing on his quarter-deck, looking out upon them. +He was dressed in a naval uniform, to which was added a broad red sash. +In his belt were two pairs of big pistols, and a stout sword hung by his +side. He folded his arms; he knitted his brows, and he gazed fiercely +about to see if any one were absent, although if any one had been absent +he would not have known it. His eyes flashed, his cheeks were flushed, +and it was plain enough to all that he had something important to say. + +"My men," he cried, in a stalwart voice which no one there had ever +heard him use before, "my men, look upon me and you will not see what +you expect to see! Here is no planter, no dealer in horses and fat +cattle, no grower of sugar-cane! Instead of that," he yelled, drawing +his sword and flourishing it above his head, "instead of that I am +pirate Bonnet, the new terror of the sea! You, my men, my brave men, +you are not the crew of the good merchantman, the Sarah Williams, you +are pirates all. You are the pirate crew of the pirate ship Revenge. +That is now the name of this vessel on which you sail, and you are all +pirates, who henceforth shall sail her. + +"Now look aloft, every man of you, and you will see a skull and bones, +under which you sail, under which you fight, under which you gain great +riches in coins, in golden bars, and in fine goods fit for kings and +queens!" + +As he spoke, every rascal raised his eyes aloft, and there, sure enough, +floated the black flag with the skull and bones--the terrible "Jolly +Roger" of the Spanish Main, and which Bonnet himself had hoisted before +he called together his crew. + +For the most part the men were astounded, and looked blankly the one +upon the other. They knew they had been shipped to sail upon some +illegal cruise, and that they were to be paid high wages by the wealthy +Bonnet; but that this worthy farmer should be their pirate captain had +never entered their minds, they naturally supposing that their future +commander would not care to show himself at Barbadoes, and that he would +be taken on board at some other port. + +As for Big Sam, he was more than astounded--he was stupefied. He had +well known the character of the ship from the time that Bonnet had +taken him into his service, and he it was who had mainly managed the +fitting-up of the vessel and the shipping of her crew. He did not know +whom Bonnet intended to command the ship, but from the very beginning he +had intended to command her himself. But he had been too late. He had +not gone among the men as he had expected to do soon after setting sail, +and here this country bumpkin had taken the wind out of his sails and +had boldly announced that he himself was the captain of the pirate ship +Revenge. + +The men now began to talk among themselves; and as Bonnet still stood, +his sword clutched in his hand and his chest heaving with the excitement +of his own speech, there arose from the crew a cheer. Some of them had +known a little about Stede Bonnet and some of them scarcely anything at +all, except that he was able to pay them good wages. Now he had told +them that he was a pirate captain, and each of them knew that he himself +was a pirate, or was waiting for the chance to become one. + +And so they cheered, and their captain's chest heaved higher, and the +soul of the luckless Big Sam collapsed, for he knew that after that +cheer there was no chance for him; at least, not now. + +"Now go, my boys," shouted Bonnet, "back to your places, every one of +you, and fall to your duty; and in honour of that black flag which +floats above you, each one of you shall drink a glass of grog." + +With another shout the crew hurried forward, and Stede Bonnet stood upon +the quarter-deck, the pirate captain of the pirate ship Revenge. + +And now stepped up to his master that good Presbyterian, Ben Greenway. + +"An' ye call yoursel' a pirate, sir?" said he, "an' ye go forth upon the +sea to murder an' to rob an' to prepare your soul for hell?" + +Mr. Bonnet winked a little. + +"You speak strongly, Ben," said he, "but that might have been expected +from a man of your fashion of thinking. But let me tell you again, my +good Ben Greenway, that I was no party to your being on this vessel. +Even now, when my soul swells within me with the pride of knowing that I +am a sovereign of the seas and that I owe no allegiance to any man or +any government and that my will is my law and is the law of every man +upon this vessel--even now, Ben Greenway, it grieves me to know that you +are here with me. But the first chance I get I shall set you ashore and +have you sent home. Thou art not cut out for a pirate, and as no other +canst thou sail with me." + +Ben Greenway looked at him steadfastly. + +"Master Stede Bonnet," said he, "ye are no more fit to be a bloody +pirate than I am. Ye oversee your plantation weel, although I hae often +been persuaded that ye knew no' as much as ye think ye do. Ye provide +weel for your family, although ye tak' no' the pleasure therein ye might +hae ta'en had ye been content wi' ane wife, as the Holy Scriptures tell +us is enough for ony mon, an' ye hae sufficient judgment to tak' the +advice o' a judgmatical mon about your lands an' your herds; but when it +comes to your ca'in' yoursel' a pirate captain, it is enough to make a +deceased person chuckle by the absurdity o' it." + +"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Major Bonnet, "I don't like your manner of +speech." + +"O' course ye don't," cried Ben; "an' I didna expect ye to like it; but +it is the solemn truth for a' that." + +"I don't want any of your solemn truths," said Bonnet, "and as soon as I +get a chance I am going to send you home to your barnyard and your +cows." + +"No' so fast, Master Bonnet, no' so fast," answered Ben. "I hae ta'en +care o' ye for mony years; I hae kept ye out o' mony a bad scrape both +in buyin' an' sellin', an' I am sure ye never wanted takin' care o' mair +than ye do now; an' I'm just here to tell ye that I am no' goin' back to +Barbadoes till ye do, an' that I am goin' to stand by ye through your +bad luck and through your good luck, in your sin an' in your +repentance." + +[Illustration: "If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where +you stand!"] + +"Ben Greenway," cried Captain Bonnet, as he waved his sword in the +air, "if you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand! +You forget that you are not talking to a country gentleman, but to a +pirate, a pirate of the seas!" + +Ben grinned, but seeing the temper his master was in, thought it wise to +retire. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN UNSUCCESSFUL ERRAND + + +For what seemed a very long time to Kate Bonnet, Dickory Charter paddled +bravely through the darkness. She was relieved of the terror and the +uncertainty which had fallen upon her during the past few hours, and she +was grateful to the brave young fellow who had delivered her from the +danger of sailing out upon the sea with a crew of wicked scoundrels who +were about to steal her father's ship, and her heart should have beaten +high with gratitude and joy, but it did not. She was very cold, and she +knew not whither young Dickory was taking her. She did not believe that +in all that darkness he could possibly know where he was going; at any +moment that dreadful ship might loom up before them, and lights might be +flashed down upon them. But all of a sudden the canoe scraped, grounded, +and stopped. + +"What is that?" she cried. + +"It is our beach," said Dickory, and almost at that moment there came a +call from the darkness beyond. + +"Dickory!" cried a woman's voice, "is that you?" + +"It is my mother," said the boy; "she has heard the scraping of my +keel." + +Then he shouted back, "It is Dickory; please show me a light, mother!" + +Jumping out, Dickory pulled the canoe high up the shelving shore, and +then he helped Kate to get out. It was not an easy job, for she could +see nothing and floundered terribly; but he seemed to like it, and half +led, half carried her over a considerable space of uneven ground, until +he came to the door of a small house, where stood an elderly woman with +a lantern. + +"Dickory! Dickory!" shouted the woman, "what is that you are bringing +home? Is it a great fish?" + +"It is a young woman," said the boy, "but she is as wet as a fish." + +"Woman!" cried good Dame Charter. "What mean you, Dickory, is she dead?" + +"Not dead, Mother Charter," said Kate, who now stood, unassisted, in the +light of the lantern, "but in woeful case, and more like to startle you +than if I were the biggest fish. I am Mistress Kate Bonnet, just out of +the river between here and the town. No, I will not enter your house, I +am not fit; I will stand here and tell my tale." + +"Dickory!" shouted Dame Charter, "take the lantern and run to the +kitchen cabin, where ye'll make a fire quickly." + +Away ran Dickory, and standing in the darkness, Kate Bonnet told her +tale. It was not a very satisfactory tale, for there was a great part of +it which Kate herself did not understand, but it sufficed at present for +the good dame, who had known the girl when she was small, and who was +soon busily engaged in warming her by her fire, refreshing her with +food, and in fortifying her against the effects of her cold bath by a +generous glass of rum, made, the good woman earnestly asserted, from +sugar-cane grown on Master Bonnet's plantation. + +Early the next morning came Dickory from the kitchen, where he had made +a fire (before that he had been catching some fish), and on a rude bench +by the house door he saw Kate Bonnet. When he perceived her he laughed; +but as she also laughed, it was plain she was not offended. + +This pretty girl was dressed in a large blue gown, belonging to the +stout Dame Charter, and which was quite as much of a gown as she had any +possible need for. Her head was bare, for she had lost her hat, and she +wore neither shoes nor stockings, those articles of apparel having been +so shrunken by immersion as to make it impossible for her to get them +on. + +"Thy mother is a good woman," said Kate, "and I am so glad you did not +take me to the town. I don't wonder you gaze at me; I must look like a +fright." + +Dickory made no answer, but by the way in which he regarded her, she +knew that he saw nothing frightful in her face. + +"You have been very good to me," said she, rising and making a step +towards him, but suddenly stopping on account of her bare feet, "and I +wish I could tell you how thankful I am to you. You are truly a brave +boy, Dickory; the bravest I have ever known." + +His brows contracted. "Why do you call me a boy?" he interrupted. "I am +nineteen years old, and you are not much more than that." + +She laughed, and her white teeth made him ready to fall down and worship +her. + +"You have done as much," said she, "as any man could do, and more." + +Then she held out her hand, and he came and took it. + +"Truly you are a man," she said, and looking steadfastly into his face, +she added, "how very, very much I owe you!" + +He didn't say anything at all, this Dickory; just stood and looked at +her. As many a one has been before, he was more grateful for the danger +out of which he had plucked the fair young woman than she was thankful +for the deliverance. + +Just then Dame Charter called them to breakfast. When they were at the +table, they talked of what was to be done next; and as, above everything +else, Miss Kate desired to know where her father was and why he hadn't +come aboard the Sarah Williams, Dickory offered to go to the town for +news. + +"I hate to ask too much, after all you have done," said the girl, "but +after you have seen my father and told him everything, for he must be in +sore trouble, would you mind rowing to our house and bringing me some +clothes? Madam Bonnet will understand what I need; and she too will want +to know what has become of me." + +"Of course I will do that," cried Dickory, grateful for the chance to do +her service. + +"And if you happen to see Mr. Newcombe in the town, will you tell him +where I am?" + +Now Dickory gave no signs of gratitude for a chance to do her service, +but his mother spoke quickly enough. + +"Of course he will tell Master Newcombe," said she, "and anybody else +you wish should know." + +In ten minutes Dickory was in his canoe, paddling to the town. When he +was out of the little inlet, on the shore of which lay his mother's +cottage, he looked far up and down the broad river, but he could see +nothing of the good ship Sarah Williams. + +"I am glad they have gone," said Dickory to himself, "and may they never +come back again. It is a pity that Major Bonnet should lose his ship, +but as things have turned out, it is better for him to lose it than to +have it." + +When he had fastened his canoe to a little pier in the town with a rope +which he borrowed, having now none of his own, Dickory soon heard +strange news. The man who owned the rope told him that Major Bonnet had +gone off in his vessel, which had sailed out of the harbour in the +night, showing no light. And, although many people had talked of this +strange proceeding, nobody knew whether he had gone of his own free will +or against it. + +"Of course it was against his will," cried Dickory. "The ship was +stolen, and they have stolen him with it. The wretches! The beasts!" And +then he went up into the town. + +Some men were talking at the door of a baker's shop, and the baker +himself, a stout young man, came out. + +"Oh, yes," said he, "we know now what it means. The good Major Bonnet +has gone off pirating; he thinks he can make more money that way than by +attending to his plantation. The townspeople suspected him last night, +and now they know what he is." + +At this moment Master Dickory jumped upon the baker, and both went +down. When Dickory got up, the baker remained where he was, and it was +plain enough to everybody that the nerves and muscles of even a vigorous +young man were greatly weakened by the confined occupation of a baker. + +Dickory now went further to ask more, and he soon heard enough. The +respectable Major Bonnet had gone away in his own ship with a savage +crew, far beyond the needs of the vessel, and if he had not gone +pirating, what had he gone for? And to this question Dickory replied +every time: "He went because he was taken away." He would not give up +his faith in Kate Bonnet's father. + +"And Greenway," the people said. "Why should they take him? He is of no +good on a ship." + +On this, Dickory's heart fell further. He had been troubled about the +Scotchman, but had tried not to think of him. + +"The scoundrels have stolen them both, with the vessel," he said; and as +he spoke his soul rose upward at the thought of what he had done for +Kate; and as that had been done, what mattered it after all what had +happened to other people? + +Five minutes afterward a man came running through the town with the news +that old Bonnet's daughter, Miss Kate, had also gone away in the ship. +She was not at home; she was not in the town. + +"That settles it!" said some people. "The black-hearted rascal! He has +gone of his own accord, and he has taken Greenway and his fair young +daughter with him." + +"And what do you think of that!" said some to the doubter Dickory. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" said he; and not wishing on his own +responsibility to tell what he knew of Mistress Kate Bonnet, he rowed up +the river towards the Bonnet plantation to carry her message. On his +way, whom should he see, hurrying along the road by the river bank +coming towards the town and looking hot and worried, but Mr. Martin +Newcombe. At the sight of the boat he stopped. + +"Ho! young man," he cried, "you are from the town; has anything fresh +been heard about Major Bonnet and his daughter?" + +Now here was the best and easiest opportunity of doing the third thing +which Kate had asked him to do; but his heart did not bound to do it. He +sat and looked at the man on the river bank. + +"Don't you hear me?" cried Newcombe. "Has anybody heard further from the +Bonnets?" + +Dickory still sat motionless, gazing at Newcombe. He didn't want to tell +this man anything. He didn't want to have anything to do with him. He +hesitated, but he could not forget the third thing he had been asked to +do, and who had asked him to do it. Whatever happened, he must be loyal +to her and her wishes, and so he said, with but little animation in his +voice, "Major Bonnet's daughter did not go with him." + +Instantly came a great cry from the shore. "Where is she? Where is she? +Come closer to land and tell me everything!" + +This was too much! Dickory did not like the tone of the man on shore, +who had no right to command him in that fashion. + +"I have no time to stop now," said he; "I am carrying a message to Madam +Bonnet." + +And so he paddled away, somewhat nearer the middle of the river. + +Martin Newcombe was wild; he ran and he bounded on his way to the Bonnet +house; he called and he shouted to Dickory, but apparently that young +person was too far away to hear him. When the canoe touched the shore, +almost at the spot where the fair Kate had been fishing with a hook +lying in the sun, Newcombe was already there. + +"Tell me," he cried, "tell me about Miss Kate Bonnet! What has befallen +her? If she did not go with her father, where is she now?" + +"I have come," said Dickory sturdily, as he fastened his boat with the +borrowed rope, "with a message for Madam Bonnet, and I cannot talk with +anybody until I have delivered it." + +Madam Bonnet saw the two persons hurrying towards her house, and she +came out in a fine fury to meet them. + +"Have you heard from my runaway husband," she cried, "and from his +daughter? I am ashamed to hear news of them, but I suppose I am in duty +bound to listen." + +Dickory did not hesitate now to tell what he knew, or at least part of +it. + +"Your daughter--" said he. + +"She is not my daughter," cried the lady; "thank Heaven I am spared that +disgrace. And from what hiding-place does she and her sire send me a +message?" + +Dickory's face flushed. + +"I bring no message from a hiding-place," he said, "nor any from your +husband. He went to sea in his ship, but Mistress Kate Bonnet left the +vessel before it sailed, and her clothes having been injured by water, +she sent me for what a young lady in her station might need, supposing +rightly that you would know what that might be." + +"Indeed I do!" cried Madam Bonnet. "What she needs are the clouts of a +fish-girl, and a stick to her back besides." + +"Madam!" cried Newcombe, but she heeded him not; she was growing more +angry. + +"A fine creature she is," exclaimed the lady, "to run away from my +house in this fashion, and treat me with such contumely, and then to +order me to send her her fine clothes to deck herself for the eyes of +strangers!" + +"But, young man," cried Newcombe, "where is she? Tell that without +further delay. Where is she?" + +"I don't care where she is!" interrupted Madam Bonnet. "It matters not +to me whether she is in the town, or sitting waiting for her finery on +the bridge. If she didn't go with her father (cowardly sneak that he +is), that gives her less reason to stay away all night from her home, +and send her orders to me in the morning. No, I will have none of that! +If my husband's daughter wants anything of me, let her come here and ask +for it, first giving me the reason of her shameful conduct." + +"Madam!" cried Newcombe, "I cannot listen to such speech, such--" + +"Then stop your ears with your thumbs," she exclaimed, "and you will not +hear it." + +Then turning to Dickory: "Now, go you, and tell the young woman who sent +you here she must come in sackcloth and ashes, if she can get them, and +she must tell me her tale and her father's tale, without a lie mixed up +in them; and when she has done this, and has humbly asked my pardon for +the foul affront she has put upon me, then it will be time enough to +talk of fine clothes and fripperies." + +Newcombe now expostulated with much temper, but Dickory gave him little +chance to speak. + +"I carry no such message as that," he said. "Do you truly mean that you +deny the young lady the apparel she needs, and that I am to tell her +that?" + +"Get away from here!" cried Madam Bonnet, with her face in a blaze. "I +send her no message at all; and if she comes here on her knees, I shall +spurn her, if it suit me." + +If Dickory had waited a little he might have heard more, but he did not +wait; he quickly turned, and away he went in his boat. And away went +Martin Newcombe after him. But as the younger man was barefooted, the +other one could not keep up with him, and the canoe was pushed off +before he reached the water's edge. + +"Stop, you young rascal!" cried Newcombe. "Where is Kate Bonnet? Stop! +and tell me where she is!" + +Troubled as he was at the tale he was going to tell, Dickory laughed +aloud, and he paddled down the river as few in that region had ever +paddled before. + +Madam Bonnet went into her house, and if she had met a maid-servant, it +might have been bad for that poor woman. She was not troubled about +Kate. She knew the young man to be Dickory Charter, and she was quite +sure that her step-daughter was in his mother's cottage. Why she +happened to be there, and what had become of the recreant Bonnet, the +equally recreant young woman could come and tell her whenever she saw +fit. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A PAIR OF SHOES AND STOCKINGS + + +The tide was running down, and Dickory made a swift passage to the town. +Seeing on the pier the man from whom he had borrowed the rope, he +stopped to return him his property, and thinking that the good people of +the town should know that, no matter what had befallen Major Bonnet, his +daughter had not gone with him and was safe among friends, he mentioned +these facts to the man, but with very few details, being in a hurry to +return with his message. + +Before he turned into the inlet, Dickory was called from the shore, and +to his surprise he saw his mother standing on the bank in front of a +mass of bushes, which concealed her from her house. + +"Come here, Dickory," she said, "and tell me what you have heard?" + +Her son told his doleful tale. + +"I fear me, mother," he said, "that Major Bonnet's ship has gone on +some secret and bad business, and that he is mixed up in it. Else why +did he desert his daughter? And if he intended to take her with him, +that was worse." + +"I don't know, Dickory," said good Dame Charter reflectively; "we must +not be too quick to believe harm of our fellow-beings. It does look bad, +as the townspeople thought, that Major Bonnet should own such a ship +with such a strange crew, but he is a man who knows his own business, +and may have had good reason for what he has done. He might have been +sailing out to some foreign part to bring back a rich cargo, and needed +stout men to defend it from the pirates that he might meet with on the +seas." + +"But his daughter, mother," said Dickory; "how could he have left her as +he did? That was shameful, and even you must admit it." + +"Not so fast, Dickory," said she; "there are other ways of looking at +things than the way in which we look at them. He had intended to take +Mistress Kate on a little trip; she told me that herself. And most +likely, having changed his mind on account of the suspicions in the +town, he sent word to her to return to her home, which message she did +not get." + +Dickory considered. + +"Yes, mother," he said, "it might have been that way, but I don't +believe that he went of his own accord, and I don't believe that he +would take Ben Greenway with him. I think, mother, that they were both +stolen with the ship." + +"That might be," said his mother, "but we have no right to take such a +view of it, and to impart it to his daughter. If he went away of his own +accord, everything will doubtless be made right, and we shall know his +reasons for what he has done. It is not for us to make up our minds that +Major Bonnet and good Ben Greenway have been carried off by wicked men, +for this would be sad indeed for that fair girl to believe. So remember, +Dickory, that it is our duty always to think the best of everything. And +now I will go through the underbrush to the house, and when you get +there yourself you must tell your story as if you had not told it to +me." + +Before Dickory had reached his mother's cottage Mistress Kate Bonnet +came running to meet him, and she did not seem to be the same girl he +had left that morning. Her clothes had been dried and smoothed; even her +hat, which had been found in the boat, had been made shapely and +wearable, and its ribbons floated in the breeze. Dickory glanced at her +feet, and as he did so, a thrill of strange delight ran through him. He +saw his own Sunday shoes, with silver buckles, and he caught a glimpse +of a pair of brown stockings, which he knew went always with those +shoes. + +"I am quite myself again," she said, noticing his wide eyes, "and your +mother has been good enough to lend me a pair of your shoes and +stockings. Mine are so utterly ruined, and I could not walk barefooted." + +Dickory was so filled with pride that this fair being could wear his +shoes, and that she was wearing them, that he could only mumble some +stupid words about being so glad to serve her. And she, wise girl, said +nothing about the quantities of soft cotton-wool which Dame Charter had +been obliged to stuff into the toes before they would stay upon the +small feet they covered. + +"But my father," cried Kate, "what of him? Where is he?" + +Now Dame Charter was with them, her eyes hard fixed upon her son. + +Dickory, mindful of those eyes, told her what he had to tell, saying as +little as possible about Major Bonnet--because, of course, all that he +knew about him was mere hearsay--but dilating with much vigour upon the +shameful conduct of Madam Bonnet; for the young lady ought surely to +know what sort of a woman her father's wife really was, and what she +might expect if she should return to her house. He could have said even +more about the interview with the angry woman, but his mother's eyes +were upon him. + +Kate heard everything without a word, and then she burst into tears. + +"My father," she sobbed, "carried away, or gone away, and one is as bad +as the other!" + +"Dickory," said Dame Charter, "go cut some wood; there is none ready +for the kitchen." + +Dickory went away, not sorry, for he did not know how to deport himself +with a young lady whose heart was so sorely tried. He might have +discovered a way, if he had been allowed to do so; but that would not +have been possible with his mother present. But, in spite of her sorrow, +his heart sang to him that she was wearing his shoes and stockings! Then +he cheerfully brought down his axe upon the wood for the dinner's +cooking. + +Dame Charter led the weeping girl to the bench, and they talked long +together. There was no optimist in all the British colonies, nor for +that matter in those belonging to France or Spain, or even to the Dutch, +who was a more conscientious follower of her creed than Dame Charter. +She sat by Kate and she talked to her until the girl stopped sobbing and +began to see for herself that her father knew his own business, and that +he had most certainly sent her a message to go on shore, which had not +been delivered. + +As to poor Ben Greenway, the good woman was greatly relieved that her +son had not mentioned him, and she took care not to do it herself. She +did not wish to strain her optimism. Kate, having so much else upon her +mind, never thought of this good man. + +When Dickory came back, he first looked to see if Kate still wore his +shoes and stockings, and then he began to ask what there was that he +might now do. He would go again to the town if he might be of use. But +Kate had no errand for him there. Dickory had told her how he had been +with Mr. Newcombe at her home, and therefore there was no need of her +sending him another message. + +"I don't know where to go or where to send," she said simply; "I am +lost, and that is all of it." + +"Oh, no," cried Dame Charter, "not that! You are with good friends, and +here you can stay just as long as you like." + +"Indeed she can!" said Dickory, as if he were making a response in +church. + +His mother looked at him and said nothing. And then she took Kate out +into a little grove behind the house to see if she could find some ripe +oranges. + +It was a fair property, although not large, which belonged to the Widow +Charter. Her husband had been a thriving man, although a little inclined +to speculations in trade which were entirely out of his line, and when +he met his death in the sea he left her nothing but her home and some +inconsiderable land about it. Dickory had been going to a grammar-school +in the town, and was considered a fair scholar, but with his father's +death all that stopped, and the boy was obliged to go to work to do what +he could for his mother. And ever since he had been doing what he +could, without regard to appearances, thinking only of the money. + +But on Sunday, when he rowed his mother to church, he wore good clothes, +being especially proud of his buckled shoes and his long brown hose, +which were always of good quality. + +They were eating dinner when oars were heard on the river, and in a +moment a boat swung around into the inlet. In the stern sat Master +Martin Newcombe, and two men were rowing. + +Now Dickory Charter swore in his heart, although he was not accustomed +to any sort of blasphemy; and as Miss Kate gazed eagerly through the +open window, our young friend narrowly scrutinized her face to see if +she were glad or not. She was glad, that was plain enough, and he went +out sullenly to receive the arriving interloper. + +When they were all standing on the shore, Kate did not think it worth +while to ask Master Newcombe how he happened to know where she was. But +the young man waited for no questions; he went on to tell his story. +When he related that it was a man fishing on a pier who had told him +that young Mistress Kate Bonnet was stopping with Dame Charter, Kate +wondered greatly, for as Dickory had met Master Newcombe, what need had +there been for the latter to ask questions about her of a stranger? But +she said nothing. And Dickory growled in his soul that he had ever +spoken to the man on the pier, except to thank him for the rope he had +borrowed. + +Martin Newcombe's story went on, and he told that, having been extremely +angered by the conduct and words of Madam Bonnet, he had gone into the +town and made inquiries, hoping to hear something of the whereabouts of +Mistress Kate. And, having done so, by means of the very obliging person +on the pier, he had determined that the daughter of Major Bonnet should +have her rights; and he had gone to his own lawyer, who assured him that +being a person of recognised respectability, possessing property, he was +fully authorized, knowing the wishes of Mistress Kate Bonnet, to go to +her step-mother and demand that those wishes be complied with; and if +this very reasonable request should be denied, then the lawyer would +take up the matter himself, and would see to it that reasonable raiment +and the necessities of a young lady should not be withheld from her. + +With these instructions, Newcombe had gone to Madam Bonnet and had found +that much disturbed lady in a state of partial collapse, which had +followed her passion of the morning, and who had declared that nothing +in the world would please her better than to get rid of her husband's +daughter and never see her again. And if the creature needed clothes or +anything else which belonged to her, a maid should pack them up, and +anybody who pleased might take them to any place, provided she heard no +more about them or their owner. + +In all this she spoke most truthfully, for she hated her step-daughter, +both because she was a fine young woman and much regarded by her father, +and because she had certain rights to the estate of said father, which +his present wife did not wish to recognise, or even to think about. So +Martin Newcombe was perfectly welcome to take away such things as would +render it unnecessary for the girl to now return to the home in which +she had been born. Martin had brought the box, and here he was. + +It was not long before Newcombe and the lady of his love were walking +away through the little plantation, in order that they might speak by +themselves. Dickory looked after them and frowned, but he bravely +comforted himself by thinking that he had been the one into whose arms +she had dropped, through the blackness of the night and the blackness of +the water, knowing in her heart that he would be there ready for her, +and also by the thought that it was his shoes and stockings that she +wore. Dame Charter saw this frown on her son's face, but she did not +guess the thoughts which were in his mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +KATE PLANS + + +It was nearly an hour before Kate and Mr. Newcombe returned, and when +they came back they did not look happy. Dickory observed their sad +visages, but the sight did not make him sad. Kate took Dame Charter by +the hand and led her to the bench. + +"You have been so kind to me," she said, "that I have almost come to +look upon you as a mother, even though I have known you such a little +while, and I want to tell you what I have been talking about, and what I +think I am going to do." + +Mr. Newcombe now stood by, and Dickory also. His mother was not quite +sure that this was the right place for him, but as he had already done +so much for the young lady, there was, perhaps, no reason why he should +be debarred from hearing what she had to say. + +"This gentleman," said Kate, indicating Martin Newcombe, "sympathizes +with me very greatly in my present unfortunate position: having no home +to which I can go, and having no relative belonging to this island but +my father, who is sailing upon the seas, I know not where; and +therefore, in his great kindness, has offered to marry me and to take me +to his home, which thereafter would be my home, and in which I should +have all comforts and rights." + +Now Dickory's face was like the sky before a shower. His mother saw it +out of the corner of her eye, but the others did not look at him. + +"This was very kind and very good," continued Kate. + +"Not at all, not at all," interrupted Master Newcombe, "except that it +was kind and good to myself; for there is nothing in this world which +you need and want as much as I need and want you." + +At this Dickory's brow grew darker. + +"I believe all you say," said Kate, "for I am sure you are an honest and +a true man, but, as I told you, I cannot marry you; for, even had I made +up my mind on the subject, which I have not, I could not marry any one +at such a time as this, not knowing my father's will upon the subject or +where he is." + +The sun broke out on Dickory's countenance without a shower; his mother +noticed the change. + +"But as I must do something," Kate went on, "a plan came to me while Mr. +Newcombe was talking to me, and I have been thinking of it ever since, +and now, as I speak, I am becoming fully determined in regard to it; +that is, if I can carry it out. It often happens," she said, with a +faint smile, "that when people ask advice they become more and more +strengthened in their own opinion. My opinion, and I may say my plan, is +this: When my father told me he was going away in his ship, he agreed to +take me with him on a little voyage, leaving me with my mother's brother +at the island of Jamaica, not far from Spanish Town. In purposing this +he thought, no doubt, that it would be far better for me to be with my +own blood, if his voyage should be long, rather than to live with one +who is no relative of mine, and does not wish to act like one. This, +then, being my father's intention, which he was prevented, by reasons +which I know not of, from carrying out, I shall carry it out myself with +all possible dispatch, and go to my uncle in Jamaica by the earliest +vessel which sails from this port. Not only as this is my natural refuge +in my trouble, but as my father intended to go there when he thought of +having me with him, it may be a part of his plan to go there any way, +even though I be not with him; and so I may see him, and all may be +well." + +Clouds now settled heavily on the faces of each of the young men, and +even the ordinarily bright sky of Dame Charter became somewhat overcast; +although, in her heart, she did not believe that anybody in this world +could have devised a better plan, under the circumstances, than this +forsaken Mistress Kate Bonnet. + +"Now there is my plan," said Kate, with something of cheerfulness in her +voice, "if it so be I can carry it out. Do either of you know," glancing +at the young men impartially, but apparently not noticing the bad +weather, "if in a reasonable time a vessel will leave here for Jamaica?" + +Dickory knew well, but he would not answer; Kate had no right to put +such a thing upon him. Newcombe, however, did not hesitate. "It is very +hard for me to say," he made reply, "but there is a merchantman, the +King and Queen, which sails from here in three days for Jamaica. I know +this, for I send some goods; and I wish, Mistress Bonnet, that I could +say something against your sailing in her, but I cannot; for, since you +will not let me take care of you, your uncle is surely the best one in +the world to do it; and as to the vessel, I know she is a safe one." + +"But you could not go sailing away in any vessel by yourself," cried +Dame Charter, "no matter how safe she may be." + +"Oh, no!" cried Kate; "and the more we talk about our plan the more +fully it reveals itself to me in all its various parts. I am going to +ask you to go with me, my dear Dame Charter," and as she spoke she +seized both of the hands of the other. "I have funds of my own which +are invested in the town, and I can afford the expense. Surely, my good +friend, you will not let me go forth alone, and all unused to travel? +Leaving me safely with my uncle, you could return when the ship came +back to Bridgetown." + +Dame Charter turned upon the girl a look of kind compassion, but at the +same time she knit her brows. + +"Right glad would I be to do that for you," she said, "but I cannot go +away and leave my son, who has only me." + +"Take him with you," cried Kate. "Two women travelling to unknown shores +might readily need a protector, and if not, there are so many things +which he might do. Think of it, my dear Dame Charter; to my uncle's home +in Jamaica is the only place to which I can go, and if you do not go +with me, how can I go there?" + +Dame Charter now shed tears, but they were the tears of one good woman +feeling for the misfortunes of another. + +"I will go with you, my dear young lady," she said, "and I will not +leave you until you are in your uncle's care. And, as to my boy here--" + +Now Dickory spoke from out of the blazing noontide of his countenance. + +"Oh, I will go!" he cried. "I do so greatly want to see Jamaica." + +Without being noticed, his mother took him by the hand; she did not +know what he might be tempted to say next. + +Mr. Newcombe stood very doleful. And well he might; for if his lady-love +went away in this fashion, there was good reason to suppose that he +might never see her again. But Kate said no word to comfort him--for how +could she in this company?--and began to talk rapidly about her +preparations. + +"I suppose until the ship shall sail I may stay with you?" addressing +Dame Charter. + +"Stay here?" exclaimed the good dame. "Of course you can stay here. We +are like one family now, and we will all go on board ship together." + +Kate walked to the boat with Mr. Newcombe, he having offered to +undertake her business in town and at her father's house, and to see the +owners of the King and Queen in regard to passage. + +Dickory stood radiant, speaking to no one. Master Martin Newcombe was +the lover of Mistress Kate Bonnet, but he, Dickory, was going with her +to Jamaica! + +The following days fled rapidly. Long-visaged Martin Newcombe, whose +labours in behalf of his lady were truly labours of love, as their +object was to help her to go where his eyes could no longer feast upon +her, and from which place her voice would no longer reach him, went, +with a bitter taste in his mouth, to visit Madam Bonnet, to endeavour +to persuade her to deliver to her step-daughter such further belongings +as that young lady was in need of. + +That forsaken person was found to be only too glad to comply with this +request, hoping earnestly that neither the property nor its owner should +ever again be seen by her. She was in high spirits, believing that she +was a much better manager of the plantation than her eccentric husband +had ever been, and she had already engaged a man to take the place of +Ben Greenway, who had been a sore trouble to her these many years. She +was buoyed up and cheered by the belief that the changes she was making +would be permanent, and that she would live and die the owner of the +plantation. She alone, in all Bridgetown and vicinity, had no doubts +whatever in regard to her husband's sailing from Barbadoes in his own +ship, and with a redundancy of rascality below its decks. The +respectability and good reputation of Major Bonnet did not blind her +eyes. She had heard him talk about the humdrum life on shore and the +reckless glories of the brave buccaneers, but she had never replied to +these remarks, fearing that she might feel obliged to object to them, +and she did not tell him how, in late years, she had heard him talk in +his sleep about standing, with brandished sword, on the deck of a pirate +ship. It was her dream, that his dreams might all come true. + +So Kate's baggage was put on board the King and Queen, a very humble +vessel considering her sounding name, and Dame Charter's few belongings +were conveyed to the vessel in Dickory's canoe, the cottage being left +in charge of a poor and well-pleased neighbour. + +When the day came for sailing, our friends, with not a few of the +townspeople, were gathered upon the deck, where Kate at first looked +about for Dickory, not recognising at the moment the well-dressed young +fellow who had taken his place. His Sunday costume became him well, and +he was so bravely decked out in the matter of shoes and stockings that +Kate did not recognise him. + +To every one Mistress Kate Bonnet made clear that she was going to her +uncle's house in Jamaica, where she expected to meet her father; and +many were the good wishes bestowed upon her. When the time drew near +when the anchor should be heaved, Kate withdrew to one side with Mr. +Newcombe. "You must believe," said she kindly, "that everything between +us is just as it was when we used to sit on the shady bank and look out +over the ripples of the river. There will be waves instead of ripples +for us to look over now, but there will be no change either the one way +or the other." + +Then they shook hands fervently; more than that would have been +unwarrantable. + +The King and Queen dropped down the stream, and Master Newcombe stood +sadly on the pier, while Kate Bonnet waved her handkerchief to him and +to her friends. Dame Charter sat and smiled at the town she was leaving +and at the long stretches of the river before her. She knew not to what +future she was going, but her heart was uplifted at the thought that a +new life was opening before her son. In her little cottage and in her +little fields there was no future for him, and now to what future might +he not be sailing! + +As for Dickory, he knew no more of his future than the sea-birds knew +what was going to happen to them; he cared no more for his future than +the clouds cared whether they were moving east or west. His life was +like the sparkling air in which he moved and breathed. He stood upon the +deck of the vessel, with the wind filling the sails above, while at a +little distance stood Kate Bonnet, her ribbons floating in the breeze. +He would have been glad to sing aloud, but he knew that that would not +be proper in the presence of the ladies and the captain. And so he let +his heart do his singing, which was not heard, except by himself. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BEN GREENWAY IS CONVINCED THAT BONNET IS A PIRATE + + +"But how in the name o' common sense did ye ever think o' becomin' a +pirate, Master Bonnet?" said Ben Greenway as they stood together. "Ye're +so little fitted for a wicked life." + +"Out upon you, Ben Greenway!" exclaimed the captain, beginning to stride +up and down the little quarter-deck. "I will let you know, that when the +time comes for it, I can be as wicked as anybody." + +"I doubt that," said Ben sturdily. "Would ye cut down an' murder the +innocent? Would ye drive them upon an unsteady plank an' make them walk +into the sea? Could ye raise thy great sword upon the widow an' the +orphan?" + +"No more of this disloyal speech," shouted Bonnet, "or I will put you +upon a wavering plank and make you walk into the sea." + +Now Greenway laughed. + +"An' if ye did," he said, "ye would next jump upon the plank yoursel' +an' slide swiftly into the waves, that ye might save your old friend an' +servant, knowin' he canna swim." + +"Ben Greenway," said Bonnet, folding his arms and knitting his brows, "I +will not suffer such speech from you. I would sooner have on board a +Presbyterian parson." + +"An' a happier fate couldna befall ye," said Ben, "for ye need a parson +mair than ony mon I know." + +Bonnet looked at him for a moment. + +"You think so?" said he. + +"Indeed I do," said Ben, with unction. + +"There now," cried Bonnet, "I told you, Ben, that I could be wicked upon +occasion, and now you have acknowledged it. Upon my word, I can be +wickeder than common, as you shall see when good fortune helps us to +overhaul a prize." + +The Revenge had been at sea for about a week and all had gone well, +except she had taken no prizes. The crew had been obedient and fairly +orderly, and if they made fun of their farmer-captain behind his back, +they showed no disrespect when his eyes were upon them. The fact was +that the most of them had a very great respect for him as the capitalist +of the ship's company. + +Big Sam had early begun to sound the temper of the men, but they had +not cared to listen to him. Good fare they had and generous treatment, +and the less they thought of Bonnet as a navigator and commander, the +more they thought of his promises of rich spoils to be fairly divided +with them when they should capture a Spanish galleon or any well-laden +merchantman bound for the marts of Europe. In fact, when such good luck +should befall them, they would greatly prefer to find themselves serving +under Bonnet than under Big Sam. The latter was known as a greedy +scoundrel, who would take much and give little, being inclined, +moreover, to cheat his shipmates out of even that little if the chance +came to him. Even Black Paul, who was an old comrade of Big Sam--the two +having done much wickedness together--paid no heed to his present +treasons. + +"Let the old fool alone," he said; "we fare well, and our lives are +easy, having three men to do the work of one. So say I, let us sail on +and make merry with his good rum; his money-chest is heavy yet." + +"That's what I'm thinking of," said the sailing-master. "Why should I be +coursing about here looking for prizes with that chest within reach of +my very arm whenever I choose it?" + +Black Paul grinned and said to himself: "It is your arm, old Sam, that I +am afraid of." Then aloud: "No, let him go. Let us profit by our good +treatment as long as it lasts, and then we will talk about the +money-box." + +Thus Big Sam found that his time had not arrived, and he swore in his +soul that his old shipmate would some day rue that he had not earlier +stood by him in his treacherous schemes. + +So all went on without open discontent, and Bonnet, having sailed +northward for some days, set his course to the southeast, with some +hundred and fifty eyes wide open for the sight of a heavy-sailing +merchantman. + +One morning they sighted a brig sailing southward, but as she was of no +great size and not going in the right direction to make it probable that +she carried a cargo worth their while, they turned westward and ran +towards Cuba. Had Captain Bonnet known that his daughter was on the brig +which he thus disdained, his mind would have been far different; but as +it was, not knowing anything more than he could see, and not +understanding much of that, he kept his westerly course, and on the next +day the lookout sighted a good-sized merchantman bearing eastward. + +Now bounded every heart upon the swiftly coursing vessel of the +planter-pirate. There were men there who had shared in the taking of +many a prize; who had shared in the blood and the cruelty and the booty; +and their brawny forms trembled with the old excitement, of the +sea-chase; but no man's blood ran more swiftly, no man's eyes glared +more fiercely, than those of Captain Bonnet as he strapped on his +pistols and felt of his sword-hilt. + +"Ah, ye needna glare so!" said Ben Greenway, close at his side. "Ye are +no pirate, an' ye canna make yoursel' believe ye are ane, an' that ye +shall see when the guns begin to roar an' the sword-blades flash. Better +get below an' let ane o' these hairy scoundrels descend into hell in +your place." + +Captain Bonnet turned with rage upon Ben Greenway, but the latter, +having spoken his mind and given his advice, had retired. + +Now came Big Sam. "'Tis an English brig," he said, "most likely from +Jamaica, homeward bound; she should be a good prize." + +Bonnet winced a little at this. He would have preferred to begin his +career of piracy by capturing some foreign vessel, leaving English +prizes for the future, when he should have become better used to his new +employment. But sensitiveness does not do for pirates, and in a moment +he had recovered himself and was as bold and bloody-minded as he had +been when he first saw the now rapidly approaching vessel. All nations +were alike to him now, and he belonged to none. + +"Fire some guns at her," he shouted to Big Sam, "and run up the Jolly +Roger; let the rascals see what we are." + +The rascals saw. Down came their flag, and presently their vessel was +steered into the wind and lay to. + +"Shall we board her?" cried Big Sam. + +"Ay, board her!" shouted back the infuriated Bonnet. "Run the Revenge +alongside, get out your grappling-irons, and let every man with sword +and pistols bound upon her deck." + +The merchantman now lay without headway, gently rolling on the sea. Down +came the sails of the Revenge, while her motion grew slower and slower +as she approached her victim. Had Captain Bonnet been truly sailing the +Revenge, he would have run by with sails all set, for not a thought had +he for the management of his own vessel, so intent he was upon the +capture of the other. But fortunately Big Sam knew what was necessary to +be done in a nautical manoeuvre of this kind, and his men did not all +stand ready with their swords in their hands to bound upon the deck of +the merchantman. But there were enough of Pirate Bonnet's crew crowded +alongside the rail of the vessel to inspire terror in any peaceable +merchantman. And this one, although it had several carronades and other +guns upon her deck, showed no disposition to use them, the odds against +her being far too great. + +At the very head of the long line of ruffians upon the deck of the +Revenge stood Ben Greenway; and, although he held no sword and wore no +pistol, his eyes flashed as brightly as any glimmering blade in the +whole ship's company. + +The two vessels were now drawing very near to each other. Men with +grappling-irons stood ready to throw them, and the bow of the +well-steered pirate had almost touched the side of the merchantman, +when, with a bound, of which no one would have considered him capable, +the good Ben Greenway jumped upon the rail and sprang down upon the deck +of the other vessel. This was a hazardous feat, and if the Scotchman had +known more about nautical matters he would not have essayed it before +the two vessels had been fastened together. Ignorance made him fearless, +and he alighted in safety on the deck of the merchantman at the very +instant when the two vessels, having touched, separated themselves from +each other for the space of a yard or two. + +There was a general shout from the deck of the pirate at this +performance of Ben Greenway. Nobody could understand it. Captain Bonnet +stood and yelled. + +"What are you about, Ben Greenway? Have you gone mad? Without sword or +pistol, you'll be--" + +The astonished Bonnet did not finish his sentence, for his power of +speech left him when he saw Ben Greenway hurry up to the captain of the +merchantman, who was standing unarmed, with his crew about him, and +warmly shake that dumfounded skipper by the hand. In their surprise at +what they beheld the pirates had not thrown their grapnels at the proper +moment, and now the two vessels had drifted still farther apart. + +Presently Ben Greenway came hurrying to the side of the merchantman, +dragging its captain by the hand. + +"Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he cried; "this is your old friend, +Abner Marchand, o' our town; an' this is his good ship the Amanda. I +knew her when I first caught sight o' her figure-head, havin' seen it so +often at her pier at Bridgetown. An' so, now that ye know wha it is that +ye hae inadvertently captured, ye may ca' off your men an' bid them +sheathe their frightful cutlasses." + +At this, a roar arose from the pirates, who, having thrown some of their +grappling-irons over the gunwale of the merchantman, were now pulling +hard upon them to bring the two vessels together, and Captain Bonnet +shouted back at Ben: "What are you talking about, you drivelling idiot; +haven't you told Mr. Marchand that I am a pirate?" + +"Indeed I hae no'," cried Ben, "for I don't believe ye are are; at +least, no' to your friends an' neebours." + +To this Bonnet made a violent reply, but it was not heard. The two +vessels had now touched and the crowd of yelling pirates had leaped upon +the deck of the Amanda. Bonnet was not far behind his men, and, sword +in hand, he rushed towards the spot where stood the merchant captain +with his crew hustling together behind him. As there was no resistance, +there was so far no fighting, and the pirates were tumbling over each +other in their haste to get below and find out what sort of a cargo was +carried by this easy prize. + +Captain Marchand held out his hand. "Good-day to you, friend Bonnet," he +said. "I had hoped that you would be one of the first friends I should +meet when I reached port at Bridgetown, but I little thought to meet you +before I got there." + +Bonnet was a little embarrassed by the peculiarity of the situation, but +his heart was true to his new career. + +"Friend Marchand," he said, "I see that you do not understand the state +of affairs, and Ben Greenway there should have told you the moment he +met you. I am no longer a planter of Barbadoes; I am a pirate of the +sea, and the Jolly Roger floats above my ship. I belong to no nation; my +hand is against all the world. You and your ship have been captured by +me and my men, and your cargo is my prize. Now, what have you got on +board, where do you hail from, and whither are you bound?" + +Captain Marchand looked at him fixedly. + +"I sailed from London with a cargo of domestic goods for Kingston; +thence, having disposed of most of my cargo, I am on my way to +Bridgetown, where I hope to sell the remainder." + +"Your goods will never reach Bridgetown," cried Bonnet; "they belong now +to my men and me." + +"What!" cried Ben Greenway, "ye speak wi'out sense or reason. Hae ye +forgotten that this is Mr. Abner Marchand, your fellow-vestryman an' +your senior warden? An' to him do ye talk o' takin' awa' his goods an' +legal chattels?" + +Bonnet looked at Greenway with indignation and contempt. + +"Now listen to me," he yelled. "To the devil with the vestry and da--" +the Scotchman's eyes and mouth were so rounded with horror that Bonnet +stopped and changed his form of expression--"confound the senior warden. +I am the pirate Bonnet, and regard not the Church of England." + +"Nor your friends?" interpolated Ben. + +"Nor friends nor any man," shouted Bonnet. + +"Abner Marchand, I am sorry that your vessel should be the first one to +fall into my power, but that has happened, and there is no help for it. +My men are below ransacking your hold for the goods and treasure it may +contain. When your cargo, or what we want of it, is safe upon my ship, I +shall burn your vessel, and you and your men must walk the plank." + +At this dreadful statement, Ben Greenway staggered backward in +speechless dismay. + +"Yes," cried Bonnet, "that shall I do, for there is naught else I can +do. And then you shall see, you doubting Greenway, whether I am a pirate +or no." + +To all this Captain Marchand said not a word. But at this moment a +woman's scream was heard from below, and then there was another scream +from another woman. Captain Marchand started. + +"Your men have wandered into my cabin," he exclaimed, "and they have +frightened my passengers. Shall I go and bring them up, Major Bonnet? +They will be better here." + +"Ay, ay!" cried the pirate captain, surprised that there should be +female passengers on board, and Marchand, followed by Ben Greenway, +disappeared below. + +"Confound women passengers," said Bonnet to himself; "that is truly a +bit of bad luck." + +In a few minutes Marchand was back, bringing with him a middle-aged and +somewhat pudgy woman, very pale; a younger woman of exceeding plainness, +and sobbing steadfastly; and also an elderly man, evidently an invalid, +and wearing a long dressing-gown. + +"These," said Captain Marchand, "are Master and Madam Ballinger and +daughter, of York in England, who have been sojourning in Jamaica for +the health of the gentleman, but are now sailing with me to Barbadoes, +hoping the air of our good island may be more salubrious for the lungs." + +Captain Bonnet had never been in the habit of speaking loudly before +ladies, but he now felt that he must stand by his character. + +"You cannot have heard," he almost shouted, "that I am the pirate +Bonnet, and that your vessel is now my prize." + +At this the two ladies began to scream vigorously, and the form of the +gentleman trembled to such a degree that his cane beat a tattoo upon the +deck. + +"Yes," continued Bonnet, "when my men have stripped this ship of its +valuables I shall burn her to the water's edge, and, having removed you +to my vessel, I shall shortly make you walk the plank." + +Here the younger lady began to stiffen herself out as if she were about +to faint in the arms of Captain Marchand, who had suddenly seized her; +but her great curiosity to hear more kept her still conscious. Mrs. +Ballinger grew very red in the face. + +"That cannot be," she cried; "you may do what you please with our +belongings and with Captain Marchand's ship, but my husband is too sick +a man to walk a plank. You have not noticed, perchance, that his legs +are so feeble that he could scarce mount from the cabin to the deck. It +would be impossible for him to walk a plank; and as for my daughter and +myself, we know nothing about such a thing, and could not, out of sheer +ignorance." + +For a moment a shadow of perplexity fell upon Captain Bonnet's face. He +could readily perceive that the infirm Mr. Ballinger could not walk a +plank, or even mount one, unless some one went with him to assist him, +and as to his wife, she was evidently a termagant; and, having sailed +his ship and floated his Jolly Roger in order to get rid of one +termagant, he was greatly annoyed at being brought thus, face to face, +with another. He stood for a moment silent. The old gentleman looked as +if he would like to go down to his cabin and cover up his head with his +blanket until all this commotion should be over; the daughter sobbed as +she gazed about her, taking in every point of this most novel situation; +and the mother, with dilated nostrils, still glared. + +In the midst of all this varying disturbance Captain Marchand stood +quiet and unmoved, apparently paying no attention to any one except his +old neighbour and fellow-vestryman, Stede Bonnet, upon whose face his +eyes were steadily fixed. + +Ben Greenway now approached the pirate captain and led him aside. + +"Let your men make awa' wi' the cargo as they please--I doubt if it be +more than odds an' ends, for such are the goods they bring to +Bridgetown--an' let them cast off an' go their way, an' ye an' I will +return to Bridgetown in the Amanda an' a' may yet be weel, this bit o' +folly bein' forgotten." + +It might have been supposed that Bonnet would have retaliated upon the +Scotchman for thus advising him, in the very moment of triumph, to give +up his piratical career and to go home quietly to his plantation, but, +instead of that, he paused for a moment's reflection. + +"Ben Greenway," said he, "there is good sense in what you say. In truth, +I cannot bring myself to put to death my old friend and neighbour and +his helpless passengers. As for the ship, it will do me no more good +burned than unburned. And there is another thing, Ben Greenway, which I +would fain do, and it just came into my mind. I will write a letter to +my wife and one to my daughter Kate. There is much which I wish them to +know and which I have not yet been able to communicate. I will allow the +Amanda to go on her way and I will send these two letters by her +captain. They shall be ready presently, and you, Ben, stand by these +people and see that no harm comes to them." + +At this moment there were loud shouts and laughter from below, and +Captain Marchand came forward. + +"Friend Bonnet," he said, "your men have discovered my store of spirits; +in a short time they will be drunk, and it will then be unsafe for +these, my passengers. Bid them, I pray you, to convey the liquors +aboard your ship." + +"Well said!" cried Bonnet. "I would not lose those spirits." And, +stepping forward, he spoke to Big Sam, who had just appeared on deck, +and ordered the casks to be conveyed on board the Revenge. + +The latter laughed, but said: "Ay, ay, sir!" + +Returning to Captain Marchand, Bonnet said: "I will now step on board my +ship and write some letters, which I shall ask you to take to Bridgetown +with you. I shall be ready by the time the rest of your cargo is +removed." + +"Oh, don't do that!" cried Ben; "there is surely pen an' paper here, +close to your hand. Go down to Captain Marchand's cabin an' write your +letters." + +"No, no," cried Bonnet, "I have my own conveniences." And with that he +leaped on board the Revenge. + +"That's a chance gone," said Ben Greenway to Captain Marchand, "a good +chance gone. If we could hae kept him on board here an' down in your +cabin, I might hae passed the word to that big miscreant, the +sailing-master, to cast off an' get awa' wi' that wretched crowd. The +scoundrels will be glad to steal the ship, an' it will be the salvation +o' Master Bonnet if they do it." + +"If that's the case," said Captain Marchand, "why should we resort to +trickery? If his men want his ship and don't want him, why can't we +seize him when he comes on board with his letters, and then let his men +know that they are free to go to the devil in any way they please? Then +we can convey Major Bonnet to his home, to repentance, perhaps, and a +better life." + +"That's good," said Ben, "but no' to punishment. Ye an' I could testify +that his head is turned, but that, when kindness to a neebour is +concerned, his heart is all right." + +"Ay, ay," said the captain, "I could swear to that. And now we must act +together. When I put my hand on him, you do the same, and give him no +chance to use his sword or pistols." + +The captain of the pirates sat down in his well-furnished little room to +write his letters, and the noise and confusion on deck, the swearing and +the singing and the shouting to be heard everywhere, did not seem to +disturb him in the least. He was a man whose mind could thoroughly +engage itself with but one thing at a time, and the fact that his men +were at work sacking the merchantman did not in the least divert his +thoughts from his pen and paper. + +So he quietly wrote to his wife that he had embraced a pirate's life, +that he never expected to become a planter again, and that he left to +her the enjoyment and management of his estate in Barbadoes. He hoped +that, his absence having now relieved her of her principal reason for +discontent with her lot, she would become happy and satisfied, and +would allow those about her to be the same. He expected to send Ben +Greenway back to her to help take care of her affairs, but if she should +need further advice he advised her to speak to Master Newcombe. + +The letter to his daughter was different; it was very affectionate. He +assured her of his sorrow at not being able to take her with him and to +leave her at Jamaica, and he urged her at the earliest possible moment +to go to her uncle and to remain there until she heard from him or saw +him--the latter being probable, as he intended to visit Jamaica as soon +as he could, even in disguise if this method were necessary. He alluded +to the glorious career upon which he was entering, and in which he +expected some day to make a great name for himself, of which he hoped +she would be proud. + +When these letters were finished Bonnet hurried to the side of the +vessel and looked upon the deck of the Amanda. + +Captain Marchand and Greenway had been waiting in anxious expectation +for the return of Bonnet, and wondering how in the world a man could +bring his mind to write letters at such a time as this. + +"Take these letters, Ben," he said, leaning over the rail, "and give +them to Captain Marchand." + +Ben Greenway at first declined to take the letters which Bonnet held out +to him, but the latter now threw them at his feet on the deck, and, +running forward, he soon found himself in a violent and disorderly +crowd, who did not seem to regard him at all; booty and drink were all +they cared for. Presently came Big Sam, giving orders and thrusting the +men before him. He had not been drinking, and was in full possession of +his crafty senses. + +"Throw off the grapnels," exclaimed Big Sam, "and get up the foresel!" +And then he perceived Bonnet. With a scowl upon his face Big Sam +muttered: "I thought you were on the merchantman, but no matter. Shove +her off, I say, or I'll break your heads." + +The grapnels were loosened; the few men who were on duty shoved +desperately; the foresail went up, and the two vessels began to +separate. But they were not a foot apart when, with a great rush and +scramble, Ben Greenway left the merchantman and tumbled himself on board +the Revenge. + +Bonnet rushed up to him. "You scoundrel! You rascal, Ben Greenway, what +do you mean? I intended you to go back to Bridgetown on that brig. Can I +never get rid of you?" + +"No' till ye give up piratin'," said Ben with a grin. "Ye may split open +my head, an' throw overboard my corpse, but my live body stays here as +long as ye do." + +With a savage growl Bonnet turned away from his faithful adherent. +Things were getting very serious now and he could waste no time on +personal quarrels. Great holes and splits had been discovered in the +heads of the barrels of spirits, and the precious liquor was running +over the decks. This was the work of the sagacious Big Sam, who had the +strongest desire to get away from the Amanda before the pirate crew +became so drunk that they could not manage the vessel. He was a deep +man, that Big Sam, and at this moment, although he said nothing about +it, he considered himself the captain of the pirate ship which he +sailed. + +For a time Bonnet hurried about, not knowing what to do. Some of the men +were quarrelling about the booty; others trying to catch the rum as it +flowed from the barrels; others howling out of pure devilishness, and no +one paying him any respect whatever. Big Sam was giving orders; a few +sober men were obeying him, and Captain Stede Bonnet, with his faithful +servant, Ben Greenway, seemed to be entirely out of place amid this +horrible tumult. + +"I told ye," said Ben, "ye had better stayed on board that merchantman +an' gone back like a Christian to your ain hame an' family. It will be +no safe place for ye, or for me neither, when that black-hearted +scoundrel o' a Big Sam gets time to attend to ye." + +"Black-hearted?" inquired Bonnet, but without any surprise in his voice. + +"Ay," said Ben, "if there's onything blacker than his heart, only Satan +himsel' ever looked at it. It was to be sailin' this ship on his own +account that he's had in his villainous soul ever since he came on +board; an' I can tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it won't be long now +before he's doin' it. I had me eye on him when he was on board the +Amanda, an' I saw that the scoundrel was goin' to separate the ships." + +"That was my will," said Bonnet, "although I did not order it." + +Ben gave a little grunt. "Ay," said he, "hopin' to leave me behind just +as he was hopin' to leave ye behind. But neither o' ye got your wills, +an' it'll be the de'il that'll have a hand in the next leavin' behind +that's likely to be done." + +Bonnet made no reply to these remarks, having suddenly spied Black Paul. + +"Look here," said he, stepping up to that sombre-hued personage, "can +you sail a ship?" + +The other looked at Bonnet in astonishment. "I should say so," said he. +"I have commanded vessels before now." + +"Here then," said Bonnet, "I want a sailing-master. I am not satisfied +with this Big Sam. I am no navigator myself, but I want a better man +than that fellow to sail my ship for me." + +Black Paul looked hard at him but made no answer. + +"He thinks he is sailing the ship for himself," said Bonnet, "and it +would be a bad day for you men if he did." + +"That indeed would it," said Black Paul; "a close-fisted scoundrel, as I +know him to be." + +"Quick then," said Bonnet; "now you're my sailing-master; and after +this, when we divide the prizes, you take the same share that I do. As +to these goods from the Amanda, I will have no part at all; I give them +all to you and the rest, divided according to rule. + +"Go you now among the men, and speak first to such as have taken the +least liquor; let them know that it was Big Sam that broke in the +hogsheads, which, but for that, would have been sold and divided. Go +quickly and get about you a half-dozen good fellows." + +"Ye're gettin' wickeder and wickeder," said Ben when Black Paul had +hurried away; "the de'il himsel' couldna hae taught ye a craftier trick +than that. Weel ye kenned that that black fellow would fain serve under +a free-handed fool than a stingy knave. Ay, sir, your education's +progressin'!" + +At this moment Big Sam came hurrying by. Not wishing to excite +suspicion, Bonnet addressed him a question, but instead of answering the +burly pirate swore at him. "I'll attend to your business," said he, "as +soon as I have my sails set; then I'll give you two leather-headed +landsmen all the hoisting and lowering you'll ever ask for." Then with +another explosion of oaths he passed on. + +Bonnet and Ben stood waiting with much impatience and anxiety, but +presently came Black Paul with a party of brawny pirates following him. + +"Come now," said Bonnet, walking boldly aft towards Big Sam, who was +still cursing and swearing right and left. Bonnet stepped up to him and +touched him on the arm. "Look ye," said he, "you're no longer +sailing-master on this ship; I don't like your ways or your fashions. +Step forward, then, and go to the fo'castle where you belong; this good +mariner," pointing to Black Paul, "will take your place and sail the +Revenge." + +Big Sam turned and stood astounded, staring at Bonnet. He spoke no word, +but his face grew dark and his great eyebrows were drawn together. His +mouth was half open, as if he were about to yell or swear. Then suddenly +his right hand fell upon the hilt of his cutlass, and the great blade +flashed in the air. He gave one bound towards Bonnet, and in the same +second the cutlass came down like a stroke of lightning. But Bonnet had +been a soldier and had learned how to use his sword; the cutlass was +caught on his quick blade and turned aside. At this moment Black Paul +sprung at Big Sam and seized him by the sword arm, while another fellow, +taking his cue, grabbed him by the shoulder. + +"Now some of you fellows," shouted Bonnet, "seize him by the legs and +heave him overboard!" + +This order was obeyed almost as soon as it was given; four burly +pirates rushed Big Sam to the bulwarks, and with a great heave +sent him headforemost over the rail. In the next instant he had +disappeared--gone, passed out of human sight or knowledge. + +"Now then, Mr. Paul--not knowing your other name--" + +"Which it is Bittern," said the other. + +"You are now sailing-master of this ship; and when things are +straightened out a bit you can come below and sign articles with me." + +"Ay, ay, sir," said Black Paul, and calling to the men he gave orders +that they go on with the setting of the main-topsail. + +"Now, truly," said Ben, "I believe that ye're a pirate." + +Bonnet looked at him much pleased. "I told you so, my good Ben. I knew +that the time would come when you would acknowledge that I am a true +pirate; after this, you cannot doubt it any more." + +"Never again, Master Bonnet," said Ben Greenway, gravely shaking his +head, "never again!" + + * * * * * + +The brig Amanda, with full sails and an empty hold, bent her course +eastward to the island of Barbadoes, and the next morning, when the +drunken sailors on board the Revenge were able to look about them and +consider things, they found their vessel speeding towards the coast of +Cuba, and sailed by Black Paul Bittern. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DICKORY SETS FORTH + + +Mr. Felix Delaplaine, merchant and planter of Spanish Town, the capital +of Jamaica, occupied a commodious house in the suburbs of the town, +twelve miles up the river from Kingston, the seaport, which +establishment was somewhat remarkable from the fact that there were no +women in the family. Madam Delaplaine had been dead for several years, +and as her husband's fortune had steadily thriven, he now found himself +possessor of a home in which he could be as independent and as +comfortable as if he had been the president and sole member of a club. + +Being of a genial disposition and disposed to look most favourably upon +his possessions and surrounding conditions, Mr. Delaplaine had come to +be of the opinion that his lot in life was one in which improvement was +not to be expected and scarcely to be desired. He had been perfectly +happy with his wife, and had no desire to marry another, who could not +possibly equal her; and, having no children, he continually thanked his +happy stars that he was free from the troubles and anxieties which were +so often brought upon fathers by their sons and their daughters. + +Into this quiet and self-satisfied life came, one morning, a great +surprise in the shape of a beautiful young woman, who entered his office +in Spanish Town, and who stated to him that she was the daughter of his +only sister, and that she had come to live with him. There was an +elderly dame and a young man in company with the beautiful visitor, but +Mr. Delaplaine took no note of them. With his niece's hands in his own, +gazing into the face so like that young face in whose company he had +grown from childhood to manhood, Mr. Delaplaine saw in a flash, that +since the death of his wife until that moment he had never had the least +reason to be content with the world or to be satisfied with his lot. +This was his sister's child come to live with him! + +When Mr. Delaplaine sufficiently recovered his ordinary good sense to +understand that there were other things in this world besides the lovely +niece who had so suddenly appeared before him, he remembered that she +had a father, and many questions were asked and answered; and he was +told who Dame Charter was, and why her son came with her. Then the uncle +and the niece walked into the garden, and there talked of Major Bonnet. +Little did Kate know upon this subject, and nothing could her uncle tell +her; but in many and tender words she was assured that this was her home +as long as she chose to live in it, and that it was the most fortunate +thing in the world that Dame Charter had come with her and could stay +with her. Had this not been so, where could he have found such a +guardian angel, such a chaperon, for this tender niece? As for the young +man, it was such rare good luck that he had been able to accompany the +two ladies and give them his protection. He was just the person, Mr. +Delaplaine believed, who would be invaluable to him either on the +plantation or in his counting-house. In any case, here was their home; +and here, too, was the home of his brother-in-law, Bonnet, whenever he +chose to give up his strange fancy for the sea. It was not now to be +thought of that Kate or her father, or either one of them, should go +back to Barbadoes to live with the impossible Madam Bonnet. + +If her father's vessel were in the harbour and he were here with them, +or even if she had had good tidings from him, Kate Bonnet would have +been a very happy girl, for her present abode was vastly different from +any home she had ever known. Her uncle's house on the highlands beyond +the town lay in a region of cooler breezes and more bracing air than +that of Barbadoes. Books and music and the general air of refinement +recalled her early life with her mother, and with the exception of the +anxiety about her father, there were no clouds in the bright blue skies +of Kate Bonnet. But this anxiety was a cloud, and it was spreading. + + * * * * * + +When the Amanda moved away from the side of the pirate vessel Revenge +she hoisted all sail, and got away over the sea as fast as the +prevailing wind could take her. When she passed the bar below Bridgetown +and came to anchor, Captain Marchand immediately lowered a boat and was +rowed up the river to the recent residence of Major Stede Bonnet, and +there he delivered two letters--one to the wife of that gentleman, and +the other for his daughter. Then the captain rowed back and went into +the town, where he annoyed and nearly distracted the citizens by giving +them the most cautious and expurgated account of the considerate and +friendly manner in which the Amanda had been relieved of her cargo by +his old friend and fellow-vestryman, Major Bonnet. + +Captain Marchand had been greatly impressed by the many things which Ben +Greenway had said about his master's present most astounding freak, and +hoping in his heart that repentance and a suitable reparation might soon +give this hitherto estimable man an opportunity to return to his former +place in society, he said as little as he could against the name and +fame of this once respected fellow-citizen. When he communicated with +the English owners of his now departed cargo, he would know what to say +to them, but here, safe in harbour with his vessel and his passengers, +he preferred to wait for a time before entirely blackening the character +of the man who had allowed him to come here. Like the faithful Ben +Greenway, he did not yet believe in Stede Bonnet's piracy. + +Madam Bonnet read her letter and did not like it. In fact, she thought +it shameful. Then she opened and read the letter to her step-daughter. +This she did not like either, and she put it away in a drawer; she would +have nothing to do with the transmission of such an epistle as this. +Most abominable when contrasted with the scurrilous screed he had +written to her. + + * * * * * + +Day after day passed on, and Kate Bonnet arose each morning feeling less +happy than on the day before. But at last a letter came, brought by a +French vessel which had touched at Barbadoes. This letter was to Kate +from Martin Newcombe. It was a love-letter, a very earnest, ardent +love-letter, but it did not make the young girl happy, for it told her +very little about her father. The heart of the lover was so tender that +he would say nothing to his lady which might give her needless pain. He +had heard what Captain Marchand had told and he had not understood it, +and could only half believe it. Kate must know far more about all this +painful business than he did, for her father's letter would tell her all +he wished her to know. Therefore, why should he discuss that most +distressing and perplexing subject, which he knew so little about and +which she knew all about. So he merely touched upon Major Bonnet and his +vessel, and hoped that she might soon write to him and tell him what she +cared for him to know, what she cared for him to tell to the people of +Bridgetown, and what she wished to repose confidentially to his honour. +But whatever she chose to say to him or not to say to him, he would have +her remember that his heart belonged to her, and ever would belong, no +matter what might happen or what might be said for good or for bad, on +the sea or the land, by friends or enemies. + +This was a rarely good love-letter, but it plunged Kate into the deepest +woe, and Dickory saw this first of all. He had brought the letter, and +for the second time he saw tears in her eyes. The absence of news of +Major Bonnet was soon known to the rest of the family, and then there +were other tears. It was perfectly plain, even to Dame Charter, that +things had been said in Bridgetown which Mr. Newcombe had not cared to +write. + +"No, Dame Charter," said Kate, "I cannot talk to you about it. My uncle +has already spoken words of comfort, but neither you nor he know more +than I do, and I must now think a little for myself, if I can." + +So saying, she walked out into the grounds to a spot at a little +distance where Dickory stood, reflectively gazing out over the +landscape. + +"Dickory," said the girl, "my mind is filled with horrible doubts. I +have heard of the talk in Bridgetown before we left, and now here is +this letter from Mr. Newcombe from which I cannot fail to see that there +must have been other talk that he considerately refrains from telling +me." + +"He should not have written such a letter," exclaimed Dickory hotly; "he +might have known it would have set you to suspecting things." + +"You don't know what you are talking about, you foolish boy," said she; +"it is a very proper letter about things you don't understand." + +She stepped a little closer to him as if she feared some one might hear +her. "Dickory," said she, "he did not put that thing into my mind; it +was there already. That was a dreadful ship, Dickory, and it was filled +with dreadful men. If he had not intended to go with them he would not +have put himself into their power, and if he had not intended to be long +away he would not have planned to leave me here with my uncle." + +"You ought not to think such a thing as that for one minute," cried +Dickory. "I would not think so about my mother, no matter what +happened!" + +She smiled slightly as she answered. "I would my father were a mother, +and then I need not think such things. But, Dickory, if he had but +written to me! And in all this time he might have written, knowing how I +must feel." + +Dickory stood silent, his bosom heaving. Suddenly he turned sharply +towards her. "Of course he has written," said he, "but how could his +letter come to you? We know not where he has sailed, and besides, who +could have told him you had already gone to your uncle? But the people +at Bridgetown must know things. I believe that he has written there." + +"Why do you believe that?" she asked eagerly, with one hand on his arm. + +"I think it," said Dickory, his cheeks a little ruddier in their +brownness, "because there is more known there than Master Newcombe chose +to put into his letter. If he has not written, how should they know +more?" + +She now looked straight into his eyes, and as he returned the gaze he +could see in her pupils his head and his straw hat, with the clear sky +beyond. + +"Dickory," she said, "if he wrote to anybody he also wrote to me, and +that letter is still there." + +"That is what I believe," said he, "and I have been believing it." + +"Then why didn't you say so to me, you wretched boy?" cried Kate. "You +ought to have known how that would have comforted me. If I could only +think he has surely written, my heart would bound, no matter what his +letter told; but to be utterly dropped, that I cannot bear." + +"You have not been dropped," he exclaimed, "and you shall know it. Kate, +I am going--" + +"Nay, nay," she exclaimed, "you must not call me that!" + +"But you call me Dickory," he said. + +"True, but you are so much younger." + +"Younger!" he exclaimed in a tone of contempt, not for the speaker but +for the word she had spoken. "Eleven months!" + +She laughed a little laugh; her nature was so full of it that even now +she could not keep it back. + +"You must have been making careful computation," she said, "but it does +not matter; you must not call me Kate, and I shall keep on calling you +Dickory; I could not help it. Now, where is it you were about to say you +were going?" + +"If you think me old enough," said he, "I am going to Barbadoes in the +King and Queen. She sails to-morrow. I shall find out about everything, +and I shall get your letter, then I shall come back and bring it to +you." + +"Dickory!" she exclaimed, and her eyes glowed. + +There was silence for some moments, and then he spoke, for it was +necessary for him to say something, although he would have been +perfectly content to stand there speechless, so long as her eyes still +glowed. + +"If I don't go," said he, "it may be long before you hear from him; +having written, he will wait for an answer." + +She thought of no difficulties, no delays, no dangers. "How happy you +have made me, Dickory!" she said. "It is this dreadful ignorance, these +fearful doubts of which I ought to be ashamed. But if I get his letter, +if I know he has not deserted me!" + +"You shall get it," he cried, "and you shall know." + +"Dickory," said she, "you said that exactly as you spoke when you told +me that if I let myself drop into the darkness, you would be there." + +"And you shall find me there now," said he; "always, if you need me, you +shall find me there!" + +Dame Charter had been standing and watching this interview, her foolish +motherly heart filled with the brightest, most unreasonable dreams. And +why should she not dream, even if she knew her dreams would never come +true? In a few short weeks that Dickory boy had grown to be a man, and +what should not be dreamed about a man! + +As Kate ran by the open door towards her uncle's apartments, Dame +Charter rose up, surprised. + +"What have you been saying to her, Dickory?" she exclaimed. "Do you know +something we have not heard? Have you been giving her news of her +father?" + +"No," said the son, who had so lately been a boy, "I have no news to +give her, but I am going to get news for her." + +She looked at him in amazement; then she exclaimed: "You!" + +"Yes," he said, "there is no one else. And besides I would not want any +one else to do it. I am going to Bridgetown in the brig which brought us +here; it is a little sail, and when I get there I will find out +everything. No matter what has happened, it will break her heart to +think that her father deserted her without a word. I don't believe he +did it, and I shall go and find out." + +"But, Dickory," she said, with anxious, upraised face, "how can you get +back? Do you know of any vessel that will be sailing this way?" + +He laughed. + +"Get back? If I go alone, dear mother, you may be sure I shall soon get +back. Craft of all kinds sail one way or another, and there are many +ways in which I can get back not thought of in ordinary passage. When +any kind of a vessel sails from Jamaica, I can get on board of her, +whether she takes passengers or not. I can sleep on a bale of goods or +on the bare deck; I can work with the crew, if need be. Oh! you need not +doubt that I shall speedily come back." + +They talked long together, this mother and this son, and it was her +golden dreams for him that made her invoke Heaven's blessings upon him +and tell him to go. She knew, too, that it was wise for her to tell him +to go and to bless him, for it would have been impossible to withstand +him, so set was he in his purpose. + +"I tell you, Dame Charter," said Mr. Delaplaine an hour later, "this son +of yours should be a great credit and pride to you, and he will be, I +stake my word upon it." + +"He is now," said the good woman quietly. + +"I have been pondering in my brain," said he, "what I should do to +relieve my niece of this burden of anxiety which is weighing upon her. I +could see no way, for letters would be of no use, not knowing where to +send them, and it would be dreary, indeed, to sit and wait and sigh and +dream bad dreams until chance throws some light upon this grievous +business, and here steps up this young fellow and settles the whole +matter. When he comes back, Dame Charter, I shall do well for him; I +shall put him in my counting-house, for, although doubtless he would +fain live his young life in the fields and under the open sky, he will +find the counting-house lies on the road to fortune, and good fortune he +deserves." + +If that loving mother could have composed this speech for Master +Delaplaine to make she could not have suited it better to her desires. + +When the King and Queen was nearly ready to sail, Dickory Charter, +having been detained by Mr. Delaplaine, who wished the young man to +travel as one of importance and plentiful resources, hurried to the +house to take his final instructions from Mistress Kate Bonnet, in whose +service he was now setting forth. It might have been supposed by some +that no further instructions were necessary, but how could Dickory know +that? He was right. Kate met him before he reached the house. + +"I am so glad to see you again before you sail," she said. "One thing +was forgotten: You may see my father; his cruise may be over and he may +be, even now, preparing for me to come back to Bridgetown. If this be +so, urge him rather to come here. I had not thought of your seeing him, +Dickory, and I did not write to him, but you will know what to say. You +have heard that woman talk of me, and you well know I cannot go back to +my old home." + +"Oh, I will say all that!" he exclaimed. "It will be the same thing as +if you had written him a long letter. And now I must run back, for the +boat is ready to take me down the river to the port." + +"Dickory," said she, and she put out her hand--he had never held that +hand before--"you are so true, Dickory, you are so noble; you are +going--" it was in her mind to say "you are going as my knight-errant," +but she deemed that unsuitable, and she changed it to--"you are going to +do so much for me." + +She stopped for a moment, and then she said: "You know I told you you +should not call me Kate, being so much younger; but, as you are so much +younger, you may kiss me if you like." + +"Like!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE + + +It was truly surprising to see the change which came over the spirits of +our young Kate Bonnet when she heard that the King and Queen had sailed +from Kingston port. She was gay, she was talkative, she sang songs, she +skipped in the paths of the garden. One might have supposed she was so +happy to get rid of the young man on the brig which had sailed away. And +yet, the news she might hear when that young man came back was likely to +be far worse than any misgivings which had entered her mind. Kate's high +spirits delighted her uncle. This child of his sister had grown more +lovely than even her mother had ever been. + +Now came days of delight which Kate had never dreamed of. She had not +known that there were such shops in Spanish Town, which, although a +youngish town, had already drawn to itself the fashion and the needs of +fashion of that prosperous colony. With Dame Charter, and often also +with her uncle in company, this bright young girl hovered over fair +fabrics which were spread before her; circled about jewels, gems, and +feathers, and revelled in tender colours as would a butterfly among the +blossoms, dipping and tasting as she flew. + +There were some fine folk in Spanish Town, and with this pleasant +society of the capital Mr. Delaplaine renewed his previous intercourse +and Kate soon learned the pleasures of a colonial social circle, whose +attractions, brought from afar, had been warmed into a more cheerful +glow in this bright West Indian atmosphere. + +To add to the brilliancy of the new life into which Kate now entered, +there came into the port an English corvette--the Badger--for refitting. +From this welcome man-of-war there flitted up the river to Spanish Town +gallant officers, young and older; and in their flitting they flitted +into the drawing-room of the rich merchant Delaplaine, and there were +some of them who soon found that there were no drawing-rooms in all the +town where they could talk with, walk with, and perchance dance with +such a fine girl as Mistress Kate Bonnet. + +Kate greatly fancied gallant partners, whether for walking or talking or +dancing, and among such, those which came from the corvette in the +harbour pleased her most. + +Those were not bright days for Dame Charter. Do what she would, her +optimism was growing dim, and what helped to dim it was Kate's gaiety. +It did not comfort her at all when Kate told her that she was so +light-hearted because she knew that Dickory would bring her good news. + +"Truly, too many fine young men here," thought Dame Charter, "while +Dickory is away, and all of them together are not worth a curl on his +head." + +But, although her dreams were dimmed, she did not cease dreaming. A +stout-hearted woman was Dickory's mother. + +But it was not long before there were other people thereabout who began +to feel that their prospects for present enjoyment were beginning to +look a little dim, for Captain Christopher Vince, having met Mistress +Kate Bonnet at an entertainment at the Governor's house, was greatly +struck by this young lady. Each officer of the Badger who saw their +captain in company with the fair one to whom their gallant attentions +had been so freely offered, now felt that in love as well as in +accordance with the regulations of the service, he must give place to +his captain. Moreover, when that captain took upon himself, the very +next day, to call at the residence of Mr. Delaplaine, and repeated the +visit upon the next day and the following, the crestfallen young fellows +were compelled to acknowledge that there were other houses in the town +where it might be better worth their while to spend their leisure hours. + +Captain Vince was not a man to be lightly interfered with, whether he +happened to be engaged in the affairs of Mars or Cupid. He was of a +resolute mind, and of a person more than usually agreeable to the female +eye. He was about forty years of age, of an excellent English family, +and with good expectations. He considered himself an admirable judge of +women, but he had never met one who so thoroughly satisfied his +aesthetic taste as this fair niece of the merchant Delaplaine. She had +beauty, she had wit, she had culture, and the fair fabrics of Spanish +Town shops gave to her attractions a setting which would have amazed and +entranced Master Newcombe or our good Dickory. The soul of Captain Vince +was fired, and each time he met Kate and talked with her the fire grew +brighter. + +He had never considered himself a marrying man, but that was because he +had never met any one he had cared to marry. Now things were changed. +Here was a girl he had known but for a few days, and already, in his +imagination, he had placed her in the drawing-rooms of the English home +he hoped soon to inherit, more beautiful and even more like a princess +than any noble dame who was likely to frequent those rooms. In fancy he +had seen her by his side, walking through the shaded alleys of his grand +old gardens; he had looked proudly upon her as she stood by him in the +assemblages of the great; in fact, he had fallen suddenly and absolutely +in love with her. When he was away from her he could not quite +understand this condition of things, but when he was with her again he +understood it all. He loved her because it was absolutely impossible for +him to do anything else. + +Naturally, Captain Vince was very agreeable to Mistress Kate, for she +had never seen such a handsome man, taking into consideration his +uniform and his bearing, and had never talked with one who knew so well +what to say and how to say it. Comparing him with the young officers who +had been so fond of making their way to her uncle's house, she was glad +that they had ceased to be such frequent visitors. + +The soul of Mr. Delaplaine was agitated by the admiration of his niece +which Captain Vince took no trouble to conceal. The worthy merchant +would gladly have kept Kate with him for years and years if she would +have been content to stay, but this could not be expected; and if she +married, from what other quarter could come such a brilliant match as +this? What his brother-in-law might think about it he did not care; if +Kate should choose to wed the captain, such an eccentric and +untrustworthy person should not be permitted to interfere with the +destiny that now appeared to open before his daughter. These thoughts +were not so idle as might have been supposed, for the captain had +already said things to the merchant, in which the circumstances of the +former were made plain and his hopes foreshadowed. If the captain were +not prepared to leave the service, this rich merchant thought, why +should not he make it possible for him to do so, for the sake of his +dear niece? + +With these high ambitions in his mind, the happily agitated Mr. +Delaplaine did not hesitate to say some playful words to Kate concerning +the captain of the Badger; and these having been received quietly, he +was emboldened to go on and say some other words more serious. + +Then Kate looked at him very steadfastly and remarked: "But, uncle, you +have forgotten Master Newcombe." + +The good Delaplaine made no answer, for his emotions made it impossible +for him to do so, but, rising, he went out, and at a little distance +from the house he damned Master Newcombe. + +Days passed on and the captain's attentions did not wane. Mr. +Delaplaine, who was a man of honour expecting it in others, made up his +mind that something decisive must soon be said; while Kate began greatly +to fear that something decisive might soon be said. She was in a +difficult position. She was not engaged to Martin Newcombe, but had +believed she might be. The whole affair involved a question which she +did not want to consider. And still the captain came every day, +generally in the afternoon or evening. + +But one morning he made his appearance, coming to the house quite +abruptly. + +"I am glad to find you by yourself," said he, "for I have some awkward +news." + +Kate looked at him surprised. + +"I have just been ordered on duty," he continued, "and the order is most +unwelcome. A brig came in last night and brought letters, and the +Governor sent for me this morning. I have just left him. The cruise I am +about to take may not be a long one, but I cannot leave port without +coming here to you and speaking to you of something which is nearer to +my heart than any thought of service, or in fact of anything else." + +"Speaking to my uncle, you mean," said Kate, now much disturbed, for she +saw in the captain's eyes what he wished to talk of. + +"Away with uncles!" he exclaimed; "we can speak with them by-and-bye; +now my words are for you. You may think me hasty, but we gentlemen +serving the king cannot afford to wait; and so, without other pause, I +say, sweet Mistress Kate, I love you, better than I have ever loved +woman; better than I can ever love another. Nay, do not answer; I must +tell you everything before you reply." And to the pale girl he spoke of +his family, his prospects, and his hopes. In the warmest colours he laid +before her the life and love he would give her. Then he went quickly on: +"This is but a little matter which is given to my charge, and it may not +engage me long; I am going out in search of a pirate, and I shall make +short work of him. The shorter, having such good reason to get quickly +back. + +"In fact, he is not a real pirate anyway, being but a country gentleman +tiring of his rural life and liking better to rob, burn, and murder on +the high seas. He has already done so much damage, that if his evil +career be not soon put an end to good people will be afraid to voyage in +these waters. So I am to sail in haste after this fellow Bonnet; but +before--" + +Kate's face had grown so white that it seemed to recede from her great +eyes. "He is my father," said she, "but I had not heard until now that +he is a pirate!" + +The captain started from his chair. "What!" he cried, "your father? Yes, +I see. It did not strike me until this instant that the names are the +same." + +Kate rose, and as she spoke her voice was not full and clear as it was +wont to be. "He is my father," she said, "but he sailed away without +telling me his errand; but now that I know everything, I must--" If she +had intended to say she must go, she changed her mind, and even came +closer to the still astounded captain. "You say that you will make short +work of his vessel; do you mean that you will destroy it, and will you +kill him?" + + +[Illustration: "He is my father!" said Kate.] + +Captain Vince looked down upon her, his face filled with the liveliest +emotions. "My dear young lady," he said, and then he stopped as if +not knowing what words to use. But as he looked into her eyes fixed +upon his own and waiting for his answer, his love for her took +possession of him and banished all else. "Kill him," he exclaimed, +"never! He shall be as safe in my hands as if he were walking in his own +fields. Kill your father, dearest? Loving you as I do, that would be +impossible. I may take the rascals who are with him, I may string them +up to the yard-arm, or I may sink their pirate ship with all of them in +it, but your father shall be safe. Trust me for that; he shall come to +no harm from me." + +She stepped a little way from him, and some of her colour came back. For +some moments she looked at him without speaking, as if she did not +exactly comprehend what he had said. + +"Yes, my dear," he continued, "I must crush out that piratical crew, for +such is my duty as well as my wish, but your father I shall take under +my protection; so have no fear about him, I beg you. With his ship and +his gang of scoundrels taken away from him, he can no longer be a +pirate, and you and I will determine what we shall do with him." + +"You mean," said Kate, speaking slowly, "that for my sake you will +shield my father from the punishment which will be dealt out to his +companions?" + +He smiled, and his face beamed upon her. "What blessed words," he +exclaimed. "Yes, for your sake, for your sweet, dear sake I will do +anything; and as for this matter, I assure you there are so many ways--" + +"You mean," she interrupted, "that for my sake you will break your oath +of office, that you will be a traitor to your service and your king? +That for my sake you will favour the fortunes of a pirate whom you are +sent out to destroy? Mean it if you please, but you will not do it. I +love my father, and would fain do anything to save him and myself from +this great calamity, but I tell you, sir, that for my sake no man shall +do himself dishonour!" + +Without power to say another word, nor to keep back for another second +the anguish which raged within her, she fled like a bird and was gone. + +The captain stretched out his arms as if he would seize her; he rushed +to the door through which she had passed, but she was gone. He followed +her, shouting to the startled servants who came; he swore, and demanded +to see their mistress; he rushed through rooms and corridors, and even +made as if he would mount the stairs. Presently a woman came to him, and +told him that under no circumstances could Mistress Bonnet now be seen. + +But he would not leave the house. He called for writing materials, but +in an instant threw down the pen. Again he called a servant and sent a +message, which was of no avail. Dame Charter would have gone down to +him, but Kate was in her arms. For several minutes the furious officer +stood by the chair in which Kate had been sitting; he could not +comprehend the fact that this girl had discarded and had scorned him. +And yet her scorn had not in the least dampened the violence of his +love. As she stood and spoke her last bitter words, the grandeur of her +beauty had made him speechless to defend himself. + +He seized his hat and rushed from the house; hot, and with blazing eyes, +he appeared in the counting-room of Mr. Delaplaine, and there, to that +astounded merchant, he told, with brutal cruelty, of his orders to +destroy the pirate Bonnet, his niece's father; and then he related the +details of his interview with that niece herself. + +Mr. Delaplaine's countenance, at first shocked and pained, grew +gradually sterner and colder. Presently he spoke. "I will hear no more +such words, Captain Vince," he said, "regarding the members of my +family. You say my niece knows not what fortune she trifles with; I +think she does. And when she told you she would not accept the offer of +your dishonour, I commend her every word." + +Captain Vince frowned black as night, and clapped his hand to his +sword-hilt; but the pale merchant made no movement of defence, and the +captain, striking his clinched fist against the table, dashed from the +room. Before he reached his ship he had sworn a solemn oath: he vowed +that he would follow that pirate ship; he would kill, burn, destroy, +annihilate, but out of the storm and the fire he would pick unharmed the +father of the girl who had entranced him and had spurned him. He laughed +savagely as he thought of it. With that dolt of a father in his hands, a +man wearing always around his neck the hangman's noose, he would hold +the card which would give him the game. What Mistress Kate Bonnet might +say or do; what she might like or might not like; what her ideas about +honour might be or might not be, it would be a very different thing when +he, her imperious lover, should hold the end of that noose in his hand. +She might weep, she might rave, but come what would, she was the man's +daughter, and she would be Lady Vince. + +So he went on board the Badger, and he cursed and he commanded and he +raged; and his officers and his men, when the hurried violence of his +commands gave them a chance to speak to each other, muttered that they +pitied that pirate and his crew when the Badger came up with them. + +Clouds settled down upon the home of Mr. Delaplaine. There were no +visitors, there was no music, there seemed to be no sunshine. The +beautiful fabrics, the jewels, and the feathers were seen no more. It +was Kate of the broken heart who wandered under the trees and among the +blossoms, and knew not that there existed such things as cooling shade +and sweet fragrance. She could not be comforted, for, although her uncle +told her that he had had information that her father's ship had sailed +northward, and that it was, therefore, likely that the corvette would +not overtake him, she could not forget that, whatever of good or evil +befell that father, he was a pirate, and he had deserted her. + +So they said but little, the uncle and the niece, who sorrowed quietly. + +Dame Charter was in a strange state of mind. During the frequent visits +of Captain Vince she had been apprehensive and troubled, and her only +comfort was that the Badger had merely touched at this port to refit, +and that she must soon sail away and take with her her captain. The good +woman had begun to expect and to hope for the return of Dickory, but +later she had blessed her stars that he was not there. He was a fiery +boy, her brave son, but it would have been a terrible thing for him to +become involved with an officer in the navy, a man with a long, keen +sword. + +Now that the captain had raged himself away from the Delaplaine house +her spirits rose, and her great fear was that the corvette might not +leave port before the brig came in. If Dickory should hear of the things +that captain had said--but she banished such thoughts from her mind, she +could not bear them. + +After some days the corvette sailed, and the Governor spoke well of the +diligence and ardour which had urged Captain Vince to so quickly set out +upon his path of duty. + +"When Dickory comes back," said Dame Charter to Kate, "he may bring some +news to cheer your poor heart, things get so twisted in the telling." + +Kate shook her head. "Dickory cannot tell me anything now," she said, +"that I care to know, knowing so much. My father is a pirate, and a +king's ship has gone out to destroy him, and what could Dickory tell me +that would cheer me?" + +But Dame Charter's optimism was beginning to take heart again and to +spread its wings. + +"Ah, my dear, you don't know what good things do in this life +continually crop up. A letter from your father, possibly withheld by +that wicked Madam Bonnet--which is what Dickory and I both think--or +some good words from the town that your father has sold his ship, and is +on his way home. Nobody knows what good news that Dickory may bring with +him." + +The poor girl actually smiled. She was young, and in the heart of youth +there is always room for some good news, or for the hope of them. + +But the smile vanished altogether when she went to her room and wrote a +letter to Martin Newcombe. In this letter, which was a long one, she +told her lover how troubled she had been. That she had nothing now to +ask him about the bad news he had, in his kindness, forborne to tell +her, and that when he saw Dickory Charter he might say to him from her +that there was no need to make any further inquiries about her father; +she knew enough, and far too much--more, most likely, than any one in +Bridgetown knew. Then she told him of Captain Vince and the dreadful +errand of the corvette Badger. + +Having done this, Kate became as brave as any captain of a British +man-of-war, and she told her lover that he must think no more of her; it +was not for him to pay court to the daughter of a pirate. And so, she +blessed him and bade him farewell. + +When she had signed and sealed this letter she felt as if she had torn +out a chapter of her young life and thrown it upon the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BAD WEATHER + + +When Dickory Charter sailed away from the island of Jamaica, his reason, +had it been called upon, would have told him that he had a good stout +brig under him on which there were people and ropes and sails and +something to eat and drink. But in those moments of paradise he did not +trouble his reason very much, and lived in an atmosphere of joy which he +did not attempt to analyze, but was content to breathe as if it had been +the common air about him. He was going away from every one he loved, and +yet never before had he been so happy in going to any one he loved. He +cared to talk to no one on board, but in company with his joy he stood +and gazed westward out over the sea. + +He was but little younger than she was, and yet that difference, so +slight, had lifted him from things of earth and had placed him in that +paradise where he now dwelt. + +So passed on the hours, so rolled the waves, and so moved the King and +Queen before the favouring breeze. + +It was on the second day out that the breeze began to be less favouring, +and there were signs of a storm; and, in spite of his preoccupied +condition, Dickory was obliged to notice the hurried talk of the +officers about him, he occupying a point of vantage on the quarter-deck. +Presently he turned and asked of some one if there was likelihood of bad +weather. The mate, to whom he had spoken, said somewhat unpleasantly, +"Bad weather enough, I take it, as we may all soon know; but it is not +wind or rain. There is bad weather for you! Do you see that?" + +Dickory looked, and saw far away, but still distinct, a vessel under +full sail with a little black spot floating high above it. + +He turned to the man for explanation. "And what is that?" he said. + +"It is a pirate ship," said the other, his face hardening as he spoke, +"and it will soon be firing at us to heave to." + +At that moment there was a flash at the bow of the approaching vessel, a +little smoke, and then the report of a cannon came over the water. + +Without further delay, the captain and crew of the King and Queen went +to work and hove to their brig. + +Young Dickory Charter also hove to. He did not know exactly why, but his +dream stopped sailing over a sea of delight. They stood motionless, +their sails flapping in the wind. + +"Pirates!" he thought to himself, cold shivers running through him, "is +this brig to be taken? Am I to be taken? Am I not to go to Barbadoes, to +Bridgetown, her home? Am I not to take her back the good news which will +make her happy? Are these things possible?" + +He stared over the water, he saw the swiftly approaching vessel, he +could distinguish the skull and bones upon the black flag which flew +above her. + +These things were possible, and his heart fell; but it was not with +fear. Dickory Charter was as bold a fellow as ever stood on the deck in +a sea fight, but his heart fell at the thought that he might not be +going to her old home, and that he might not sail back with good news to +her. + +As the swift-sailing pirate ship sped on, Ben Greenway came aft to +Captain Bonnet, and a grievous grin was on the Scotchman's face. + +"Good greetin's to ye, Master Bonnet," said he, "ye're truly good to +your old friends an' neebours an' pass them not by, even when your +pockets are burstin' wi' Spanish gold." + +A minute before this Captain Stede Bonnet had been in a very pleasant +state of mind. It was only two days ago that he had captured a Spanish +ship, from which he got great gain, including considerable stores of +gold. Everything of value had been secured, the tall galleon had been +burned, and its crew had been marooned on a barren spot on the coast of +San Domingo. The spoils had been divided, at least every man knew what +his share was to be, and the officers and the crew of the Revenge were +in a well-contented state of mind. In fact, Captain Bonnet would not +have sailed after a little brig, certainly unsuited to carry costly +cargo, had it not been that his piratical principle made it appear to +him a point of conscience to prey upon all mercantile craft, little or +big, which might come in his way. Thus it was, that he was sailing +merrily after the King and Queen, when Ben Greenway came to him with his +disturbing words. + +"What mean you?" cried Bonnet. "Know you that vessel?" + +"Ay, weel," said Ben, "it is the King and Queen, bound, doubtless, for +Bridgetown. I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it was a great deal o' +trouble an' expense ye put yersel' to when ye went into your present +line o' business on this ship. Ye could have stayed at hame, where she +is owned, an' wi' these fine fellows that ye have gathered thegither, ye +might have robbed your neebours right an' left wi'out the trouble o' +goin' to sea." + +"Ben Greenway," roared the captain, "I will have no more of this. Is it +not enough for me to be annoyed and worried by these everlasting ships +of Bridgetown, which keep sailing across my bows, no matter in what +direction I go, without hearing your jeers and sneers regarding the +matter? I tell you, Ben Greenway, I will not have it. I will not suffer +these paltry vessels, filled, perhaps, with the grocers and cloth +dealers from my own town, to interfere thus with the bold career that I +have chosen. I tell you, Ben Greenway, I'll make an example of this one. +I am a pirate, and I will let them know it--these fellows in their +floating shops. It will be a fair and easy thing to sink this tub +without more ado. I'd rather meet three Spanish ships, even had they +naught aboard, than one of these righteous craft commanded by my most +respectable friends and neighbours." + +Black Paul, the sailing-master, had approached and had heard the greater +part of these remarks. + +"Better board her and see what she carries," said he, "before we sink +her. The men have been talking about her and, many of them, favour not +the trouble of marooning those on board of her. So, say most of us, +let's get what we can from her, and then quickly rid ourselves of her +one way or another." + +"'Tis well!" cried Bonnet, "we can riddle her hull and sink her." + +"Wi' the neebours on board?" asked Greenway. + +Captain Bonnet scowled blackly. + +"Ben Greenway," he shouted, "it would serve you right if I tied you +hand and foot and bundled you on board that brig, after we have stripped +her, if haply she have anything on board we care for." + +"An' then sink her?" asked the Scotchman. + +"Ay, sink her!" replied Bonnet. "Thus would I rid myself of a man who +vexes me every moment that I lay my eyes on him, and, moreover, it would +please you; for you would die in the midst of those friends and +neighbours you have such a high regard for. That would put an end to +your cackle, and there would be no gossip in the town about it." + +The sailing-master now came aft. The vessel had been put about and was +slowly approaching the brig. "Shall we make fast?" asked Black Paul. "If +we do we shall have to be quick about it; the sea is rising, and that +clumsy hulk may do us damage." + +For a moment Captain Bonnet hesitated, he was beginning to learn +something of the risks and dangers of a nautical life, and here was real +danger if the two vessels ran nearer each other. Suddenly he turned and +glared at Greenway. "Make fast!" he cried savagely, "make fast! if it be +only for a minute." + +"Do ye think in your heart," asked the Scotchman grimly, "that ye're +pirate enough for that?" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FACE TO FACE + + +With her head to the wind the pirate vessel Revenge bore down slowly +upon the King and Queen, now lying to and awaiting her. The stiff breeze +was growing stiffer and the sea was rising. The experienced eye of Paul +Bittern, the sailing-master of the pirate, now told him that it would be +dangerous to approach the brig near enough to make fast to her, even for +the minute which Captain Bonnet craved--the minute which would have been +long enough for a couple of sturdy fellows to toss on board the prize +that exasperating human indictment, Ben Greenway. + +"We cannot do it," shouted Black Paul to Bonnet, "we shall run too near +her as it is. Shall we let fly at short range and riddle her hull?" + +Captain Bonnet did not immediately answer; the situation puzzled him. He +wanted very much to put the Scotchman on board the brig, and after that +he did not care what happened. But before he could speak, there appeared +on the rail of the King and Queen, holding fast to a shroud, the figure +of a young man, who put his hand to his mouth and hailed: + +"Throw me a line! Throw me a line!" + +Such an extraordinary request at such a time naturally amazed the +pirates, and they stood staring, as they crowded along the side of their +vessel. + +"If you are not going to board her," shouted Dickory again, "throw me a +line!" + +Filled with curiosity to know what this strange proceeding meant, Black +Paul ordered that a line be thrown, and, in a moment, a tall fellow +seized a coil of light rope and hurled it through the air in the +direction of the brig; but the rope fell short, and the outer end of it +disappeared beneath the water. Now the spirit of Black Paul was up. If +the fellow on the brig wanted a line he wanted to come aboard, and if he +wanted to come aboard, he should do so. So he seized a heavier coil and, +swinging it around his head, sent it, with tremendous force, towards +Dickory, who made a wild grab at it and caught it. + +Although a comparatively light line, it was a long one, and the slack of +it was now in the water, so that Dickory had to pull hard upon it before +he could grasp enough of it to pass around his body. He had scarcely +done this, and had made a knot in it, before a lurch of the brig brought +a strain on the rope, and he was incontinently jerked overboard. + +The crew of the merchantman, who had not had time to comprehend what the +young fellow was about to do, would have grasped him had he remained on +the rail a moment longer, but now he was gone into the sea, and, working +vigorously with his legs and arms, was endeavouring to keep his head +above water while the pirates at the other end of the rope pulled him +swiftly towards their vessel. + +Great was the excitement on board the Revenge. Why should a man from a +merchantman endeavour, alone, to board a vessel which flew the Jolly +Roger? Did he wish to join the crew? Had they been ill-treating him on +board the brig? Was he a criminal endeavouring to escape from the +officers of the law? It was impossible to answer any of these questions, +and so the swarthy rascals pulled so hard and so steadily upon the line +that the knot in it, which Dickory had not tied properly, became a +slipknot, and the poor fellow's breath was nearly squeezed out of him as +he was hauled over the rough water. When he reached the vessel's side +there was something said about lowering a ladder, but the men who were +hauling on the line were in a hurry to satisfy their curiosity, so up +came Dickory straight from the water to the rail, and that proceeding +so increased the squeezing that the poor fellow fell upon the deck +scarcely able to gasp. When the rope was loosened the half-drowned and +almost breathless Dickory raised himself and gave two or three deep +breaths, but he could not speak, despite the fact that a dozen rough +voices were asking him who he was and what he wanted. + +With the water pouring from him in streams, and his breath coming from +him in puffs, he looked about him with great earnestness. + +Suddenly a man rushed through the crowd of pirates and stooped to look +at the person who had so strangely come aboard. Then he gave a shout. +"It is Dickory Charter," he cried, "Dickory Charter, the son o' old Dame +Charter! Ye Dickory! an' how in the name o' all that's blessed did ye +come here? Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he shouted to the captain, who +now stood by, "it is young Dickory Charter, of Bridgetown. He was on +board this vessel before we sailed, wi' Mistress Kate an' me. The last +time I saw her he was wi' her." + +"What!" exclaimed Bonnet, "with my daughter?" + +"Ay, ay!" said Greenway, "it must have been a little before she went on +shore." + +"Young man!" cried Bonnet, stooping towards Dickory, "when did you last +see my daughter? Do you know anything of her?" + +The young man opened his mouth, but he could not yet do much in the way +of speaking, but he managed to gasp, "I come from her, I am bringing you +a message." + +"A message from Kate!" shouted Bonnet, now in a state of wild +excitement. "Here you, Greenway, lift up the other arm, and we will take +him to my cabin. Quick, man! Quick, man! he must have some spirits and +dry clothes. Make haste now! A message from my daughter!" + +"If that's so," said Greenway, as he and Bonnet hurried the young man +aft, "ye'd better no' be in too great haste to get his message out o' +him or ye'll kill him wi' pure recklessness." + +Bonnet took the advice, and before many minutes Dickory was in dry +clothes and feeling the inspiriting influence of a glass of good old +rum. Now came Black Paul, wanting to know if he should sink the brig and +be done with her, for they couldn't lie by in such weather. + +"Don't you fire on that ship!" yelled Bonnet, "don't you dare it! For +all I know, my daughter may be on board of her." + +At this Dickory shook his head. "No," said he, "she is not on board." + +"Then let her go," cried Bonnet, "I have no time to fool with the +beggarly hulk. Let her go! I have other business here. And now, sir," +addressing Dickory, "what of my daughter? You have got your breath now, +tell me quickly! What is your message from her? When did you sail from +Bridgetown? Did she expect me to overhaul that brig? How in the name of +all the devils could she expect that?" + +"Come, come now, Master Bonnet!" exclaimed the Scotchman, "ye are +talkin' o' your daughter, the good an' beautiful Mistress Kate, an' no +matter whether ye are a pirate or no, ye must keep a guard on your +tongue. An' if ye think she knew where to find ye, ye must consider her +an angel an' no' to be spoken o' in the same breath as de'ils." + +"I didn't sail from Bridgetown," said Dickory, "and your daughter is not +there. I come from Jamaica, where she now is, and was bound to +Bridgetown to seek news of you, hoping that you had returned there." + +"Which, if he had," said Ben, who found it very difficult to keep quiet, +"ye would hae been under the necessity o' givin' your message to his +bones hangin' in chains." + +Bonnet looked savagely at Ben, but he had no time even to curse. + +"Jamaica!" he cried, "how did she get there? Tell me quickly, sir--tell +me quickly! Do you hear?" + +Dickory was now quite recovered and he told his story, not too quickly, +and with much attention to details. Even the account of the unusual +manner in which he and Kate had disembarked from the pirate vessel was +given without curtailment, nor with any attention to the approving +grunts of Ben Greenway. When he came to speak of the letter which Mr. +Newcombe had written her, and which had thrown her into such despair on +account of its shortcomings, Captain Bonnet burst into a fury of +execration. + +"And she never got my letter?" he cried, "and knew not what had happened +to me. It is that wife of mine, that cruel wild-cat! I sent the letter +to my house, thinking, of course, it would find my daughter there. For +where else should she be?" + +"An' a maist extraordinary wise mon ye were to do that," said Ben +Greenway, "for ye might hae known, if ye had ever thought o' it at all, +that the place where your wife was, was the place where your daughter +couldna be, an' ye no' wi' her. If ye had spoke to me about it, it would +hae gone to Mr. Newcombe, an' then ye'd hae known that she'd be sure to +get it." + +At this a slight cloud passed over Dickory's face, and, in spite of the +misfortunes which had followed upon the non-delivery of her father's +letter, he could not help congratulating himself that it had not been +sent to the care of that man Newcombe. He had not had time to formulate +the reasons why this proceeding would have been so distasteful to him, +but he wanted Martin Newcombe to have nothing to do with the good or bad +fortune of Mistress Kate, whose champion he had become and whose father +he had found, and to whom he was now talking, face to face. + +The three talked for a long time, during which Black Paul had put the +vessel about upon her former course, and was sailing swiftly to the +north. As Dickory went on, Bonnet ceased to curse, but, over and over, +blessed his brother-in-law, as a good man and one of the few worthy to +take into his charge the good and beautiful. Stede Bonnet had always +been very fond of his daughter, and, now, as it became known to him into +what desperate and direful condition his reckless conduct had thrown +her, he loved her more and more, and grieved greatly for the troubles he +had brought upon her. + +"But it'll be all right now," he cried, "she's with her good uncle, who +will show her the most gracious kindness, both for her mother's sake and +for her own; and I will see to it that she be not too heavy a charge +upon him." + +"As for ye, Dickory," exclaimed Greenway, "ye're a brave boy an' will +yet come to be an' honour to yer mither's declining years an' to the +memory o' your father. But how did ye ever come to think o' boardin' +this nest o' sea-de'ils, an' at such risk to your life?" + +"I did it," said Dickory simply, "because Mistress Kate's father was +here, and I was bound to come to him wherever I should find him, for +that was my main errand. They told me on the brig that it was Captain +Bonnet's ship that was overhauling us, and I vowed that as soon as she +boarded us I would seek him out and give him her message; and when I +heard that the sea was getting too heavy for you to board us, I +determined to come on board if I could get hold of a line." + +"Young man," cried Bonnet, rising to his full height and swelling his +chest, "I bestow upon you a father's blessing. More than that"--and as +he spoke he pulled open a drawer of a small locker--"here's a bag of +gold pieces, and when you take my answer you shall have another like +it." + +But Dickory did not reach out his hand for the money, nor did he say a +word. + +"Don't be afraid," cried Bonnet. "If you have any religious scruples, I +will tell you that this gold I did not get by piracy. It is part of my +private fortune, and came as honestly to me as I now give it to you." + +But Dickory did not reach out his hand. + +Now up spoke Ben Greenway: "Look ye, boy," said he, "as long as there's +a chance left o' gettin' honest gold on board this vessel, I pray ye, +seize it, an' if ye're afraid o' this gold, thinkin' it may be smeared +wi' the blood o' fathers an' the tears o' mithers, I'll tell ye ane +thing, an' that is, that Master Bonnet hasna got to be so much o' a +pirate that he willna tell the truth. So I'll tak' the money for ye, +Dickory, an' I'll keep it till ye're ready to tak' it to your mither; +an' I hope that will be soon." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH + + +The pirate vessel Revenge was now bound to the coast of the Carolinas +and Virginia, and perhaps even farther north, if her wicked fortune +should favour her. The growing commerce of the colonies offered great +prizes in those days to the piratical cruisers which swarmed up and down +the Atlantic coast. To lie over for a time off the coast of Charles Town +was Captain Bonnet's immediate object, and to get there as soon as +possible was almost a necessity. + +The crew of desperate scoundrels whom he had gathered together had +discovered that their captain knew nothing of navigation or the +management of a ship, and there were many of them who believed that if +Black Paul had chosen to turn the vessel's bows to the coast of South +America, Bonnet would not have known that they were not sailing +northward. Thus they had lost all respect for him, and their conduct was +kept within bounds only by the cruel punishments which he inflicted for +disobedience or general bad conduct, and which were rendered possible by +the dissensions and bad feelings among the men themselves; one clique or +faction being always ready to help punish another. Consequently, the +landsman pirate would speedily have been tossed overboard and the +command given to another, had it not been that the men were not at all +united in their opinions as to who that other should be. + +There was also another very good reason for Bonnet's continuance in +authority; he was a good divider, and, so far, had been a good provider. +If he should continue to take prizes, and to give each man under him his +fair share of the plunder, the men were likely to stand by him until +some good reason came for their changing their minds. So with floggings +and irons, on deck and below, and with fair winds filling the sails +above, the Revenge kept on her way; and, in spite of the curses and +quarrels and threats which polluted the air through which the stout ship +sailed, there was always good-natured companionship wherever the +captain, Dickory, and Ben Greenway found themselves together. There +seemed to be no end to the questions which Bonnet asked about his +daughter, and when he had asked them all he began over again, and +Dickory made answer, as he had done before. + +The young fellow was growing very anxious at this northern voyage, and +when he asked questions they always related to the probability of his +getting back to Jamaica with news from the father of Mistress Kate +Bonnet. The captain encouraged the hopes of an early return, and vowed +to Dickory that he would send him to Spanish Town with a letter to his +daughter just as soon as an opportunity should show itself. + +When the Revenge reached the mouth of Charles Town harbour she stationed +herself there, and in four days captured three well-laden merchantmen; +two bound outward, and one going in from England. + +Thus all went well, and with willing hands to man her yards and a +proudly strutting captain on her quarter-deck, the pirate ship renewed +her northward course, and spread terror and made prizes even as far as +the New England coast; and if Dickory had had any doubts that the late +reputable planter of Bridgetown had now become a veritable pirate he had +many opportunities of setting himself right. Bonnet seemed to be growing +proud of his newly acquired taste for rapacity and cruelty. Merchantmen +were recklessly robbed and burned, their crews and passengers, even +babes and women, being set on shore in some desolate spot, to perish or +survive, the pirate cared not which, and if resistance were offered, +bloody massacres or heartless drownings were almost sure to follow, and, +as his men coveted spoils and delighted in cruelty, he satisfied them to +their heart's content. + +"I tell you, Dickory Charter," said he, one day, "when you see my +daughter I want you to make her understand that I am a real pirate, and +not playing at the business. She's a brave girl, my daughter Kate, and +what I do, she would have me do well and not half-heartedly, to make her +ashamed of me. And then, there is my brother-in-law, Delaplaine. I don't +believe that he had a very high opinion of me when I was a plain farmer +and planter, and I want him to think better of me now. A bold, fearless +pirate cannot be looked upon with disrespect." + +Dickory groaned in his heart that this man was the father of Kate. + +Turning southward, rounding the cape of Delaware, the Revenge ran up the +bay, seeking some spot where she might take in water, casting anchor +before a little town on the coast of New Jersey. Here, while some of the +men were taking in water, others of the crew were allowed to go on +shore, their captain swearing to them that if they were guilty of any +disorder they should suffer for it. "On my vessel," he swore, "I am a +pirate, but when I go on shore I am a gentleman, and every one in my +service shall behave himself as a gentleman. I beg of you to remember +that." + +Agreeable to this principle, Captain Bonnet arrayed himself in a fine +suit of clothes, and without arms, excepting a genteel sword, and +carrying a cane, he landed with Ben Greenway and Dickory, and proceeded +to indulge himself in a promenade up the main street of the town. + +The citizens of the place, terrified and amazed at this bold conduct of +a vessel fearlessly flying a black flag with the skull and bones, could +do nothing but await their fate. The women and children, and many of the +men, hid themselves in garrets and cellars, and those of the people who +were obliged to remain visible trembled and prayed, but Captain Stede +Bonnet walked boldly up the right-hand side of the main street waving +his cane in the air as he spoke to the people, assuring them that he and +his men came on an errand of business, seeking nothing but some fresh +water and an opportunity to stretch their legs on solid ground. + +"If you have meat and drink," he cried, "bestow it freely upon my men, +tired of the unsavoury food on shipboard, and if they transgress the +laws of hospitality then I, their captain, shall be your avenger; we +want none of your goods or money, having enough in our well-laden vessel +to satisfy all your necessities, if ye have them, and to feel it not." + +The men strolled along the street, swarmed into the two little taverns, +soon making away with their small stores of ale and spirits, and +accepting everything eatable offered them by the shivering citizens; but +as to violence there was none, for every man of the rascally crew bore +enmity against most of the others, and held himself ready for a chance +to report a shipmate or to break his head. + +Black Paul was a powerful aid in the preservation of order among the +disorderly. Conflicts between factions of the crew were greatly feared +by him, for the schemes which happy chance had caused to now revolve +themselves in his master mind would have been sadly interfered with by +want of concord among the men of the Revenge. + +Captain Bonnet, followed at a short distance by Dickory and Ben, was +interested in everything he saw. A man of intelligence and considerable +reading, it pleased him to note the peculiarities of the people of a +country which he had never visited. The houses, the shops, and even the +attire of the citizens, were novel and well worthy of his observation. +He looked over garden walls, he gazed out upon the fields which were +visible from the upper end of the street, and when he saw a man who was +able to command his speech he asked him questions. + +There was a little church, standing back from the thoroughfare, its door +wide open, and this was an instant attraction to the pirate captain, who +opened the gate of the yard and walked up to it. + +"That I should ever again see Master Stede Bonnet goin' into a church +was something I didna dream o', Dickory," said Ben Greenway, "it will +be a meeracle, an' I doubt if he dares to pass the door wi' his sins an' +his plunders on his head." + +But Captain Bonnet did pass the door, reverentially removing his hat, if +not his crimes, as he entered. In but few ways it resembled the houses +of worship to which he had been accustomed in his earlier days, and he +gazed eagerly from side to side as he slowly walked up the central +aisle. Dickory was about to follow him, but he was suddenly jerked back +by the Scotchman, who forcibly drew him away from the door. + +"Look ye," whispered Ben, speaking quickly, under great excitement, +"look ye, Dickory, Heaven has sent us our chance. He's in there safe an' +sound, an' the good angels will keep his mind occupied. I'll quietly +close the door an' turn the key, then I'll slip around to the back, an' +if there be anither door there, I'll stop it some way, if it be not +already locked. Now, Dickory boy, make your heels fly! I noticed, before +we got here, that some o' the men were makin' their way to the boats; +dash ye amang them, Dickory, an' tell them that the day they've been +longin' for, ever since they set foot on the vessel, has now come. Their +captain is a prisoner, an' they are free to hurry on board their vessel +an' carry awa wi' them a' their vile plunder." + +"What!" exclaimed Dickory, speaking so earnestly that the Scotchman +pulled him farther away from the church, "do you mean that you would +leave Captain Bonnet here by himself, in a foreign town?" + +"No' a bit o' it," said Ben, "I'll stay wi' him an' so will you. Now +run, Dickory!" + +"Ben!" exclaimed the other, "you don't know what you are talking about! +Captain Bonnet would be seized and tried as a pirate. His blood would be +on your head, Ben!" + +"I canna talk about that now," said Ben impatiently, "ye think too much +o' the man's body, Dickory, an' I am considerin' his soul." + +"And I am considering his daughter," said Dickory fearlessly; "do you +suppose I am going to help to have her father hanged?" and with these +words he made a movement towards the door. + +The eager Scotchman seized him. "Dickory, bethink yoursel'," said he. "I +don't want to hang him, I want to save him, body an' soul. We will get +him awa' from here after the ship has gone, he will be helpless then, he +canna be a pirate a minute longer, an' he will give up an' do what I +tell him. We can leave before there is ony talk o' trial or hangin'. +Run, Dickory, run! Ye're sinfully losin' time. Think o' his soul, +Dickory; it's his only chance!" + +With a great jerk Dickory freed himself from the grasp of the Scotchman. + +"It is Kate Bonnet I am thinking of!" he exclaimed, and with that he +bolted into the church. + +The captain was examining the little pulpit. "Haste ye! haste ye!" +cried Dickory, "your men are all hurrying to the boats, they will leave +you behind if they can; that's what they are after." + +[Illustration: "Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you +behind."] + +Bonnet turned quickly. He took in the situation in a second. With a few +bounds he was out of the church, nearly overturning Ben Greenway as he +passed him. Without a word he ran down the street, his cane thrown away, +and his drawn sword in his hand. + +Dickory's warning had not come a minute too soon; one boat full of men +was pulling towards the ship, and others were hurrying in the direction +of an empty boat which awaited them at the pier. Bonnet, with Dickory +close at his heels, ran with a most amazing rapidity, while Greenway +followed at a little distance, scarcely able to maintain the speed. + +"What means this?" cried Bonnet, now no longer a gentleman, but a savage +pirate, and as he spoke he thrust aside two of the men who were about to +get into the boat, and jumped in himself. "What means this?" he +thundered. + +Black Paul answered quietly: "I was getting the men on board," he said, +"so as to save time, and I was coming back for you." + +Bonnet glared at his sailing-master, but he did not swear at him, he was +too useful a man, but in his heart he vowed that he would never trust +Paul Bittern again, and that as soon as he could he would get rid of +him. + +But when he reached the ship, three men out of each boat's crew, +selected at random to represent the rest, were tied up and flogged, the +blows being well laid on by scoundrels very eager to be brutal, even to +their own shipmates. + +"Ah! Dickory, Dickory," cried Ben Greenway, as they were sailing down +the bay, "ye have loaded your soul wi' sin this day; I fear ye'll never +rise from under it. Whatever vile deeds that Major Bonnet may henceforth +be guilty o' ye'll be responsible for them a', Dickory, for every ane o' +them." + +"He's bad enough, Ben," said the other, "and it's many a wicked deed he +may do yet, but I am going to carry news of him to his daughter if I +can; and what's more, I am not going to stay behind and be hanged, even +if it is in such good company as Major Bonnet and you, Ben Greenway." + +Whatever should happen on the rest of that voyage; whether the +well-intentioned treachery of Ben Greenway, or the secret villainies of +the crew, should prevail; whether disaster or success should come to the +planter pirate, Dickory Charter resolved in his soul that a message from +her father should go to Kate Bonnet, and that he should carry it. + + * * * * * + +The spirits of Dickory rose very much as the bow of the Revenge was +pointed southward. Every mile that the pirate vessel sailed brought him +nearer to the delivery of his message--a message which, while it told of +her father's wicked career, still told her of his safety and of his +steadfast affection for her. Indirectly, the bringing of such a message, +and the story of how the bearer brought it, might have another effect, +which, although he had no right to expect, was never absent from +Dickory's soul. This ardent young lover did not believe in Master Martin +Newcombe. He had no good reason for not believing in him, but his want +of faith did not depend upon reason. If lovers reasoned too much, it +would be a sad world for many of them. + +When the Revenge stopped in her progress towards the heavenly Island of +Jamaica, or at least that island which was the abode of an angel, and +anchored off Charles Town harbour, South Carolina, Dickory fumed and +talked impatiently to his friend Ben Greenway. Why a man, even though he +were a pirate, and therefore of an avaricious nature, should want more +booty, when his vessel was already crowded with valuable goods, he could +not imagine. + +But Ben Greenway could very easily imagine. "When the spirit o' sin is +upon ye," said the Scotchman, "the more an' more wicked ye're likely to +be; an' ye must no' forget, Dickory, that every new crime he commits, +an' a' the property he steals, an' a' the unfortunate people he maroons, +will hae to be answered for by ye, Dickory, when the time comes for ye +to stand up an' say what ye hae got to say about your ain sins. If ye +had stood by me an' helped to cut him short in his nefarious career, he +might now be beginnin' a new life in some small coastin' vessel bound +for Barbadoes." + +Dickory gave an impatient kick at the mast near which he was standing. +"It would have been more likely," said he, "that before this he would +have begun a new life on the gallows with you and me alongside of him, +and how do you suppose you would have got rid of the sin on your soul +when you thought of his orphan daughter in Jamaica?" + +"Your thoughts are too much on that daughter," snapped Greenway, "an' +no' enough on her father's soul." + +"I am tired of her father's soul," said Dickory. "I wonder what new +piece of mischief they are going to do here; there are no ships to be +robbed?" + +Dickory did not know very much, or care very much about the sea and its +commerce, and some ships to be robbed soon made their appearance. One +was a large merchantman, with a full cargo, and the other was a bark, +northward bound, in ballast. The acquisition of the latter vessel put a +new idea into Captain Bonnet's head. The Revenge was already overloaded, +and he determined to take the bark as a tender to relieve him of a +portion of his cargo and to make herself useful in the business of +marooning and such troublesome duties. + +Being now commander of two vessels, which might in time increase to a +little fleet, Captain Bonnet's ideas of his own importance as a terror +of the sea increased rapidly. On the Revenge he was more despotic and +severe than ever before, while the villain who had been chosen to +command the tender, because he had a fair knowledge of navigation, was +informed that if he kept the bark more than a mile from the flag-ship, +he would be sunk with the vessel and all on board. The loss of the bark +and some men would be nothing compared to the maintenance of discipline, +quoth the planter pirate. + +Bonnet's ambition rose still higher and higher. He was not content with +being a relentless pirate, bloody if need be, but he longed for +recognition, for a position among his fellow-terrors of the sea, which +should be worthy of a truly wicked reputation. A pirate bold, he would +consort with pirates bold. So he set sail for the Gulf of Honduras, then +a great rendezvous for piratical craft of many nations. If the father of +Kate Bonnet had captured and burned a dozen ships, and had forced every +sailor and passenger thereupon to walk a plank, he would not have sinned +more deeply in the eyes, of Dickory Charter than he did by thus +ruthlessly, inhumanly, hard-heartedly, and altogether shamefully +ignoring and pitilessly passing by that island on which dwelt an angel, +his own daughter. + +But Bonnet declared to the young man that it would now be dangerous for +him and his ship to approach the harbour of Kingston, generally the +resort of British men-of-war, but in the waters of Honduras he could not +fail to find some quiet merchant ship by which he could send a message +to his daughter. Ay! and in which--and the pirate's eye glistened with +parental joy as this thought came into his mind--he might, disguised as +a plain gentleman, make a visit to Mistress Kate and to his good +brother-in-law, Delaplaine. + +So Dickory was now to be satisfied, and even to admit that there might +be some good common sense in these remarks of that most uncommon pirate, +Captain Bonnet. + +So the Revenge, with her tender, sailed southward, through the fair +West-Indian waters and by the fair West-Indian isles, to join herself to +the piratical fleet generally to be found in the waters of Honduras. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A GIRL TO THE FRONT + + +The days were getting very long at Spanish Town, although there were no +more hours of sunlight than was usual at the season; and even the +optimism of Dame Charter was scarcely able to brighten her own soul, +much less that of Kate Bonnet, who had almost forgotten what it was to +be optimistic. Poor Mr. Delaplaine, whose life had begun to cheer up +wonderfully since the arrival of his niece and her triumphant entry into +the society of the town, became more gloomy than he had been since the +months which followed the death of his wife. Over and over did he wish +that his brother-in-law Bonnet had long since been shut up in some place +where his eccentricities could do no harm to his fellow-creatures, +especially to his most lovely daughter. + +Mistress Kate Bonnet was not a girl to sit quietly under the tremendous +strain which bore upon her after the departure of the Badger. How could +she be contented or even quiet at any moment, when at that moment that +heartless Captain Vince might have his sword raised above the head of +her unfortunate father? + +"Uncle," she said, "I cannot bear it any longer, I must do something." + +"But, my dear," he asked, looking down upon her with infinite affection, +"what can you do? We are here upon an immovable island, and your father +and Captain Vince are sailing upon the sea, nobody knows where." + +"I thought about it all last night," said Kate, "and this is what I will +do. I will go to the Governor; I will tell him all about my father. I do +not think it will be wrong even to tell him why I think his mind has +become unsettled, for if that woman in Bridgetown has behaved wickedly, +her wickedness should be known. Then I will ask him to give me written +authority to take my father wherever I may find him, and to bring him +here, where it shall be decided what shall be done with him; and I am +sure the decision will be that he must be treated as a man whose mind is +not right, and who should be put somewhere where he can have nothing to +do with ships." + +This was all quite childish to Mr. Delaplaine, but for Kate's dear sake +he treated her scheme seriously. + +"But tell me, my dear," said he, "how are you going to find your father, +and in what way can you bring him back here with you?" + +"The first thing to do," said Kate, "is to hire a ship; I know that my +little property will yield me money enough for that. As for bringing him +back, that's for me to do. With my arms around his neck he cannot be a +pirate captain. And think of it, uncle! If my arms are not soon around +his neck, it may be the hangman's rope which will be there. That is, if +he is not killed by that revengeful Captain Vince." + +Mr. Delaplaine was troubled far more than he had yet been. His sorrowing +niece believed that there was something which might be done for her +father, but he, her practical uncle, did not believe that anything could +be done. And, even if this were possible, he did not wish to do it. If, +by some unheard-of miracle, his niece should be enabled to carry out her +scheme, she could not go alone, and thoughts of sailing upon the sea, +and the dangers from pirates, storms, and wrecks, were very terrible to +the quiet merchant. He could not encourage this night-born scheme of his +niece. + +"But there is one thing I can do," cried Kate, "and I must do it this +very day. I must go to the Governor's house, and I pray you, uncle, that +you will go with me. I must tell him about my father. I must make him do +something which shall keep that Captain Vince from sailing after him +and killing him. How I wish I had thought of all this before. But it did +not come to me." + +It was not half an hour after that when Kate and her uncle entered the +grounds of the Governor's mansion. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA + + +The Governor of Jamaica was much interested in the visit of Kate Bonnet, +whom he saw alone in a room adjoining the public apartments. He had met +her two or three times before, and had been forced to admit that the +young girls of Barbadoes must be pretty and piquant in an extraordinary +degree, and he had not wondered that his friend, Captain Vince, should +have spoken of her in such an enthusiastic manner. + +But now she was different. Her sorrow had given her dignity and had +added to her beauty. She quickly told her tale, and he started upright +in his chair as he heard it. + +"Do you mean," he exclaimed, "that that pirate, after whom I sent the +Badger, is your father? It amazes me! The similarity of names did not +strike me; I never imagined any connection between you and the captain +of that pirate ship." + +"That's what Captain Vince said when I last saw him," remarked Kate. + +"It must have astounded him to know it," exclaimed the Governor, "and I +wonder, knowing it, that he consented to obey my orders; and had I been +in his place I would have preferred to be dismissed from the service +rather than to sail after your father and to destroy him. If I had known +what I know now, my orders to Captain Vince would have been very +different from what they were. I would have told him to capture your +father, and to bring him here to me. It cannot be that he is in his +right mind!" + +Now Kate was weeping; the terrible words "destroy him," and the +assurance that if she had thought sooner of appealing to the Governor, +much misery, or at least the thought of misery, might have been spared +her, so affected her that she could not control herself. + +The Governor did not attempt to console her. Her sorrow was natural, and +it was her right. + +When she looked up again she spoke about what she had come to ask him +for; the authority to bring back her father wherever she might find him, +and to defend him from the attacks of all persons, whoever they might +be, until she reached Jamaica. And then she told him how she would seek +for her father on every sea. + +The Governor sat and pondered. The father of such a girl should be saved +from the terrible fate awaiting him, if the thing could possibly be +done. And yet, what a difficult, almost hopeless thing it was to do. To +find a pirate, a fierce and bloody pirate, and bring him back unharmed +to his daughter's arms and to reasonable restraint. + +He spoke earnestly. "What you propose," he said, "you cannot do. It +would be impossible for you to find your father; and if you did, no +matter who might be with you, and no matter how successful you might be +with him, his crew would not let him go. But there is one thing which +might be done. The Badger will report at different stations, and her +course and present cruising ground might be discovered. Thus I might +send a despatch to Captain Vince, ordering him not to harm your father, +but to take him prisoner, and to bring him here to be dealt with." + +Kate sprang to her feet. + +"An order to Captain Vince!" she exclaimed, "an order to withhold his +hand from my father? Ah, sir, your goodness is great, this is far more +than I had dared to expect! When I last saw Captain Vince he left me in +a great rage, but, knowing that he would respect your order, I would +dare his rage. If his revengeful hand should be withheld from my father +I would fear nothing." + +"I beg you to be seated," said the Governor, "and let me assure you, +that in offering to send this order to Captain Vince I do not in the +least expect you to take it. But there is one thing I do not +understand. Why should the captain have left you in a great rage? +Perhaps I have not a right to ask this, but it seems to me to have some +bearing upon his alacrity in setting forth in pursuit of the Revenge." + +"I fear," said Kate, "that this may be true; I do not deem it improper +for me to say to you, sir, that Captain Vince made me an offer of +marriage, and that in order to induce me to accept it he offered, should +he come up with the Revenge, to spare my father and to let him go free, +visiting the punishment he was sent to inflict upon the rest of the +people in the ship." + +"I am surprised," said the Governor, "to hear you say that; such an +action would have been direct disobedience to his orders. It would have +been disloyalty, which not even the possession of your fair hand could +justify. And you refused his offer?" + +"That did I," said Kate, her face flushing at the recollection of the +unpleasant interview with the captain; "I cared not for him, and even +had I, I would not have consented to wed a man who offered me his +dishonour as a bribe for doing so. Not even for my father's life would I +become the bride of such a one!" + +"Well spoken, Mistress Bonnet," exclaimed the Governor, "your heart, +though a tender, is a stout one. But this you tell me of Captain Vince +is very bad; he is a vindictive man and will have what he wants, even +without regard to the means by which he may get it. I am glad to know +what you have told me, Mistress Bonnet, and if I had known it betimes I +would not have sent, in pursuit of your father, a man whose anger had +been excited against his daughter. But now I shall despatch orders to +Captain Vince which shall be very exact and peremptory. After he has +received them he will not dare to harm your father, and would cause him +to be brought here as I command." + +"From my heart I thank you, sir," cried Kate, "give me the orders and I +will take them, or I will--" + +"Nay, nay," said the Governor, "such offices are not for you, but I will +give the matter my present attention. On any day a vessel may enter the +port with news of the Badger, and on any day a vessel may clear from +Kingston, possibly for Bridgetown, where I imagine the Badger will first +touch. Rely upon me, my dear young lady, my order shall go to Captain +Vince by the very earliest opportunity." + +Kate rose and thanked him warmly. "This is much to do, your Excellency, +for one poor girl," she said. + +"It is but little to do," said the Governor, "and that girl be +yourself." + +With that he rose, offered Kate his arm, and conducted her to her uncle. + +When Mr. Delaplaine was made acquainted with the result of the +interview, both his gratitude and surprise were great. He comprehended +far better than Kate could the extent of the favour which the Governor +had offered to bestow. It was, indeed, extraordinary to commute what was +really a sentence of death against a notorious and dangerous pirate for +the sake of a beautiful and pleading woman. An ambitious idea shot +through the merchant's brain. The Governor was a widower; he had met +Kate before. Was there any other lady on the island better fitted to +preside over the gubernatorial household? But, although a man of high +position could not wed the daughter of a pirate, a pirate, evidently of +an unsound mind, could be adjudged demented, as he truly was, and thus +the shadow of his crime be lifted from him. This was a great deal to +think in a very short time, but the good merchant did it, and the +fervour of his thankfulness was greatly increased by his rapid +reflections. + +As they were on their way home Kate's eyes were bright, and her step +lighter than it had been of late. "Now, uncle," said she, "you know we +shall not wait for any chance ship which may take the Governor's +despatch. We shall engage a swift vessel ourselves, by which the orders +may be carried. And, uncle, when that ship sails I must go in her." + +"You!" cried Mr. Delaplaine, "you go in search of the Badger and Captain +Vince? That can never--" + +"But remember, uncle," cried Kate, "it is just as likely that I shall +meet my father's ship as any other, and then we can snap our fingers at +all orders and all captains. My father shall be brought here and the +good Governor will make him safe, and free him, as he best knows how, +from the terrible straits into which his disturbed reason has led him." + +Her uncle would not darken Kate's bright hopes, ill-founded though he +thought them. To look into those sparkling eyes again was a joy of which +he would not deprive himself, if he could help it. + +"Suppose he should capture our vessel," she exclaimed; "what a grand +thing it would be for him, all unknowing, to spring upon our deck and +instantly be captured by me. After that, there would be no more pirate's +life for him!" + +When Dame Charter heard what had happened at the Governor's house and +had listened to the recital of Kate's glowing schemes, her eyes did not +immediately glisten with joy. + +"If you go, Mistress Kate," said she, "in search of your father or that +wicked Captain Vince, I go with you, but I cannot go without my Dickory. +It is full time to expect his return, although, as he was to depend upon +so many chances before he could come back, his absence may, with good +reason, continue longer, and I could not have him come back and find +his mother gone, no man knows where. For in such a quest, what man +could know?" + +"Oh, Dickory will be here soon!" cried Kate; "any ship which comes +sailing towards the harbour may bring him." + +The Governor of Jamaica was a man of great experience, and with a fairly +clear insight into the ways of the wicked. When Kate and her uncle had +left him and he paced the floor, with the memory of the beautiful eyes +of the pirate's daughter as they had been uplifted to his own, he felt +assured that he could see rightly into the designs of the unscrupulous +Captain Vince. Of what avail would it be for him to kill the father of +the girl who had rejected him? It would be an atrocious but temporary +triumph scarcely to be considered. But to capture that father; to +disregard the laws of the service and the orders of his superiors, which +he had already proposed to do; to communicate with Kate and to hold up +before her terror-stricken eyes the life of her father, to be ended in +horror or enjoyed in peace as she might decide--that would be Vince, as +the Governor knew him. + +The Governor knew well his man, and those were the designs and +intentions of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's corvette the +Badger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE + + +Proudly sailed the Revenge and her attendant bark into the waters of +Honduras Gulf, and proudly stood Captain Stede Bonnet upon his +quarter-deck, dressed in a handsome uniform which might have been that +of a captain or admiral in the royal navy; one hand caressed his ornate +sword-hilt, while the other was thrust into the bosom of his +gilt-embroidered coat. A newly fashioned Jolly Roger, in which the +background was very black and the skull and cross-bones ghastly white, +flew from his masthead. + +As night came on there could be seen, twinkling far away upon the +horizon, a beacon light, which in those days was kept burning for the +benefit of the piratical craft which made a rendezvous of the waters off +Belize, then the commercial centre for the vessels of the "free +companions." Having supposed, in his unnautical mind, that his entrance +into the Gulf of Honduras meant the end of his present voyage, and not +wishing to lower his own feeling of importance by asking too many +questions of his inferiors, Captain Bonnet had bedecked himself a day +too soon, and there were some jeers and sneers among his crew when he +descended to his cabin to take off his fine clothes. But his +self-complacency was well armoured, and he did not hear the jokes of +which he was the subject, especially by the little clique of which Black +Paul was the centre. But the sailing-master knew his business, and the +Revenge was safely, though slowly, sailed among the coral-reefs and +islands until she dropped anchor off Belize. Early in the morning the +now dignified and pompous Captain Bonnet, of that terror of the seas, +the pirate craft Revenge, again arrayed himself in a manner befitting +his position, and stationed himself on the quarter-deck, where he might +be seen by the eyes of all the crews of the other pirate vessels +anchored about them and by the glasses of their officers. + +Apart from a general desire to show himself in the ranks of his +fellow-pirates and to receive from them the respect which was due to a +man of his capabilities and general merits, Stede Bonnet had a +particular reason for his visit to this port and for surrounding himself +with all the pomp and circumstance of high piratical rank. He had been +informed that a great man, a hero and chief among his fellows--in fact, +the dean of the piratical faculty, and known as "Blackbeard," the most +desperate and reckless of all the pirates of the day--was now here. + +To meet this most important sea-robber and to receive from him the hand +of fellowship had been Bonnet's desire and ambition since he had heard +that it was possible. + +The morning was advanced and the Revenge was rolling easily at her +anchorage, but Bonnet was somewhat uncertain as to the next step he +ought to take. He wanted to see Blackbeard as soon as possible, but it +would certainly be a breach of etiquette entirely inconsistent with his +present position for him to go to see him. He was the latest comer, and +thought it was the part of Blackbeard to make the first visit. + +Paul Bittern now came aft. "The men are getting very restless," he said; +"they want to go on shore. They'd all go if I'd let 'em." + +Captain Bonnet gave his sailing-master a lofty glare. + +"If I should let them, you mean, sir. I am sorry I cannot break you of +the habit of forgetting that I command this ship. Well, sir, you may +tell them that they cannot go. I am expecting a visit from the renowned +Blackbeard, now in this port, and I wish to welcome him with all respect +and a full crew." + +Black Paul smiled disagreeably. "I will tell you, sir, that you cannot +keep these men on board much longer with the town of Belize within a +row of half a mile. They've been at sea too long for that. There'll be +a mutiny, sir, if I go forward with that message of yours. It will be +prudent to let some of them go ashore now and others later in the day. I +will go in the first boat and see to it that the men come back with me. +And, by the way, it would not be a bad thing if I touch at Blackbeard's +vessel and inform him that you are here; I don't suppose he knows the +Revenge, nor her captain neither." + +"I doubt that, Bittern," said Bonnet, "I doubt it very much. I assure +you that I am known from one end of this coast to the other, and Captain +Blackbeard is not an ignorant man. So you can go ashore and take some of +the men, stopping at Blackbeard's ship. And, by the way, I want you to +go by that bark of ours and give her the old black Roger I used to fly. +I forgot to send it to her, and a man might as well not own and command +two vessels if he get not the credit of it." + +When Black Paul had gone to execute his orders, Ben Greenway heaved a +heavy sigh. "Now I begin to fear, Master Bonnet, that the day o' your +salvation has really gone by. When ye not only murder an' rob upon the +high seas, but keep consort with other murderers an' robbers, then I +fear ye are indeed lost. But I shall stand by ye, Master Bonnet, I shall +stand by ye; an' if, ever I find there is the least bit o' ye to be +snatched from the flames, I'll snatch it!" + +"I don't like that sort of talk, Ben Greenway," cried Bonnet, +"especially at this time when my soul swells with content at the success +which has crowned my undertakings. This Blackbeard is a valiant man and +a great one, but it is my belief that when we have sat down to compare +our notes, it will be found that I have captured as many cargoes, burned +as many ships, and marooned as many people in my last cruise as he has." + +"So I suppose," said Ben, "that ye think ye hae achieved the right to +sink deeper into hell than he can ever hope to do?" + +Bonnet made no answer, but turned away. The Scotchman was becoming more +and more odious to him every day, but he would not quarrel on this most +auspicious morning. He must keep his mind unruffled and his head high. +He had his own plans about Greenway: he was not far from Barbadoes, and +when he left the harbour of Belize it would be of advantage to his peace +of mind as well as to the comfort of a faithful old servant if he should +anchor for a little while in the river below the town and put Ben +Greenway on shore. + +Ben gave no further reason for quarrelling. He was greatly dejected, but +he had sworn to himself to stand by his old master, no matter what might +happen, and when he took an oath he meant what he swore. + +Dickory Charter was in much worse case than Ben Greenway. He was not +much of a geographical scholar, but he knew that the Gulf of Honduras +was not really very far from the Island of Jamaica, where dwelt, waited, +and watched Mistress Kate Bonnet and his mother. If he had known that +during the voyage down from the Atlantic coast the Revenge had sailed +through the Windward Passage, running in some of her long tacks within +less than a day's sail of Jamaica, he would have chafed, fumed, and +fretted even more than he did now. + +"Captain Bonnet," he cried, "if you could but let me go on shore, I +might surely find some vessel bound to Kingston, or to any place upon +the Island of Jamaica, from which spot I could make my way on foot, even +if it were on the opposite end. Thus I could take messages and letters +from you to your daughter and Mr. Delaplaine, and ease the minds both of +them and my mother, all of whom must now be in most doleful plight, not +knowing anything about you or hearing anything from me, and this for so +long a time; then you could remain here with no feelings of haste until +you had disposed of your cargoes and had finished your business." + +Captain Bonnet stood loftily with a smile of benignity upon his face. +"It is a clever plan," said he, "and you are a good fellow, Dickory, but +your scheme, though well intentioned, is unsound. I have too much regard +for you to trust you in any vessel sailing from Belize to Kingston, +where there are often naval vessels. Going from this port, you would be +as likely to be strung up to the yard-arm as to be allowed to go ashore. +Be patient then, my good fellow; when my affairs are settled here, the +Revenge may run up to the coast of Jamaica, where you may be put off at +some quiet spot, and all may happen as you have planned, my good +Dickory. Even now I am writing a letter, hoping for some such +opportunity of sending it to my daughter." + +Dickory sighed in despair. It might take a month or more before Kate's +father could settle his affairs, and how long, how long it had been +since his soul had been reaching itself out towards Kate and his mother! + +When the sailing-master set out in the long-boat, crowded with men, he +stopped at the bark but did not go too near for fear that some of the +crew might jump into his already overloaded boat. + +"You are to run up this rag," cried Black Paul to Clip, the fellow in +command; and so saying, he handed up the old Jolly Roger on the blade of +an oar. "Our noble admiral fears that if you do not that you may be +captured by some of these good vessels lying hereabout." + +Clip roared out with a laugh: "I will attend to the capture as soon as I +get out of reach of his guns, which he will not dare to use here, I take +it. But I want you to know and him to know that we're not goin' to stay +on board and in sight of the town. If you go ashore, so go we." + +"Stay where ye are till orders come to ye," shouted Black Paul, "if ye +want to keep the cat off your backs!" And as he rowed away the men on +the bark gave him a cheer and proceeded to lower two boats. + +From nearly every pirate ship in the anchorage the proceedings of the +newly arrived vessels had been watched. No one wanted to board them or +in any way to interfere with them until it was found out what they +intended to do. The Revenge was a stranger in that harbour, although her +fame was known on not a few pirate decks; but if she came to Belize to +fraternize with the other pirate vessels there gathered together, why +didn't she do it? No idea of importance and dignity, which his position +imposed upon Captain Stede Bonnet, entered their piratical minds. When +the long-boat put forth from the Revenge, a good deal of interest was +excited in the anchored vessels. The great Blackbeard himself stood high +upon his deck and surveyed the strangers through a glass. + +The men in the sailing-master's boat rowed steadily towards Blackbeard's +vessel. Bittern knew it well, for he had seen it before, and had even +had the honour, so to speak, of having served for a short time under the +master pirate of that day. + +As soon as the boat was near enough Blackbeard hailed it in a +tremendous voice and ordered the stranger to pull up and make fast. This +being done, a rope ladder was lowered and Bittern mounted to the deck, +being assisted in his passage over the side by a tremendous pull given +by Blackbeard. + +The great pirate seemed to be in high good spirits, and very glad to see +his visitor. Blackbeard was a large man, wide and heavy, and the first +impression conveyed by his personality was that of hair and swarthiness. +An untrimmed black beard lay upon his chest, and his long hair hung in +masses from under his slouched hat; his eyes were dark and sparkling, +and gleamed like beacon lights from out a midnight sky; the sleeves of +his shirt were rolled up, and his arms seemed almost as hairy as his +head; two pairs of pistols were stuck into his belt, and a great cutlass +was conveniently tucked up by his side. + +"Ho, ho!" he cried, "Black Paul! And where do you come from, and what +are you doing here? And what is the name of that vessel with the +brand-new Roger? Has she just gone into the business, that she decks +herself out so fine? Come now, sit here and have some brandy and tell me +what is the meaning of these two vessels coming into the harbour, and +what you have to do with them." + +Bittern was delighted to know that his old commander remembered him, and +was ready enough to talk with him, for that was the errand he had come +upon. + +"But, captain," said he, "I am afraid to wander away from the gunwale, +for if I have not my eye upon them, my men will be rowing to the town +before I know it. They are mad to be on shore." + +Blackbeard made no answer; he stepped to the side of the vessel and +looked over. "Let go!" he shouted to the man who held the boat's rope, +"and you rascals row out a dozen strokes from my vessel and keep your +boat there; and if you move an oar towards the town I will sink you!" +With that he ordered two small guns to be trained upon the boat. + +The boat's crew did not hesitate one second in obeying these orders. +They knew by whom they were given, and there was no man in the great +body of free companions who would disobey an order given by Blackbeard. +They rowed to the position assigned them and sat quietly looking into +the mouths of the two cannon which were pointed towards them. + +"Now then," said Blackbeard, turning to Bittern, "I think they'll stay +there till they get some other order." + +Between frequent sips at the cup of brandy Bittern told the story of the +Revenge, and Blackbeard listened with many an oath and many a pound upon +his massive knee by his mighty fist. + +"Oh, I have heard of him," he cried, "I have heard of him! He has +played the devil along the Atlantic coast. He must he a great fellow +this--what did you say his name was?" + +"Bonnet," said the other. + +Blackbeard laughed. "That suits him well; he must have clapped his name +over the eyes of many a merchant captain! Where did he sail before he +hoisted the Jolly Roger?" + +At this Bittern laughed. "He never sailed anywhere, he is no seaman; and +if he were not rich enough to pay others to do his navigatin' for him he +would have run his vessel upon the first sand-bar on his way from +Bridgetown to the sea. But he pays some good mariner to sail his +Revenge, and he now pays me. I am, in fact, the captain of his vessel." + +"You mean," cried Blackbeard, "that he knows nothing of navigation?" + +"Not a whit," replied the other; "he doesn't know the backstays from the +taffrail. It was only yesterday that he thought he was already in the +port of Belize, and dressed himself up like a fighting-cock to meet +you." + +"To meet me?" roared Blackbeard; "what does he want to meet me for, and +why don't he come and do it instead of sending you?" + +"Not he," said Bittern. "He is a great man, if not a sailor; he knows +what is politeness on shipboard, and as he is the last comer you must be +the first caller. He is all dressed up now, hoping that you will row +over to the Revenge as soon as you know that he is its commander." + +The hairy pirate leaned back and laughed in loud explosions. + +"He is a rare man, truly," he exclaimed, "this Captain Nightcap of +yours--" + +"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern. + +"Well, one is as good as the other," cried Blackbeard, "and he be well +clothed if it be of the right colour. And you started out with him to +sail his ship, you rascal? That's a piece of impudence almost as great +as his own." + +Bittern did not much like this speech, and wanted to explain that since +he had served under Blackbeard he had commanded vessels himself, but he +restrained himself and told how Sam Loftus had been tumbled overboard +for running afoul his captain, and how he had been appointed to his +place. + +Now Blackbeard laughed again, with a great pound upon his knee. "He is a +man after my own heart," he shouted, "be he sailor or no sailor, this +nightcap commander of yours. I know I shall love him!" And springing to +his feet and uttering a resounding oath, he swore that he would visit +his new brother that afternoon. + +"Now, away with you!" cried Blackbeard, "and tell Sir Nightcap--" + +"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern. + +"Well, Bonnet, or Cap, it matters not to me. Row straight back to your +ship, and let him know that I shall be there and shall expect to be +received with admiral's honours." + +Bittern looked somewhat embarrassed. "But, captain," he said, "my men +are on their way to the town, and I fear me they will rebel if I tell +them they cannot now go there." + +In saying this the sailing-master spoke not only for his men, but for +himself. He was very anxious to go ashore; he had business there; he +wanted to see who were in the place, and what was going on before Bonnet +should go to the town. + +"What!" cried Blackbeard, putting his head down like a charging bull. "I +order you to row back to your vessel and take my message; and if you do +it not I will sink you all in a bunch! Into your boat, sir, and waste +not another minute. If you are not able to command your men, I will keep +you here and give them a coxswain who can." + +Without another word, Bittern scuffled over the side, and, his boat +being brought up, he dropped into it. + +"Now, men," he said, "I have a message from Captain Blackbeard to the +Revenge; bend to it as I steer that way." + +"Give my pious regards to your Sir Nightcap," shouted Blackbeard. And +then, in a still higher tone, he yelled to them that if they disobeyed +their coxswain and turned their bow shoreward he would sink them all to +the unsounded depths of Hades. Without a protest the men pulled +vigorously towards the Revenge, while Black Paul, considering it a new +affront to be called "coxswain" when he was in reality captain, +earnestly sent Blackbeard to the same regions to which he had just +referred. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN ORNAMENTED BEARD + + +It was about the middle of the afternoon when a large boat, well filled, +was seen approaching the Revenge from Blackbeard's vessel. As soon as it +had become known that this chief of all pirates of that day, this Edward +Thatch of England, was really coming on board the Revenge, not one word +was uttered among the crew on the subject of going ashore, although they +had been long at sea. The shore could wait when Blackbeard was coming. +Even to look upon this doughty desperado would be an honour and a joy to +the brawny scoundrels who made up the crew of the Revenge. + +It might have been supposed that everything upon Captain Bonnet's vessel +had been made ready for the expected advent of Blackbeard, but nothing +seemed good enough, nothing seemed as effectively placed and arranged as +it might have been; and with execrations and commands, Bonnet hurried +here and there, making everything, if possible, more ship-shape than it +had been before. + +"Stay you two in the background," he said to Ben Greenway and Dickory; +"you are both landsmen, and you don't count in a ceremony such as this +is going to be. Station your men as I told you, Bittern, and man the +yards when it is time." + +Captain Bonnet, in his brave uniform and wearing a cocked hat with a +feather, his hand upon his sword-hilt, stood up tall and stately. When +the boat was made fast and the great pirate's head appeared above the +rail, six cannon roared a welcome and Bonnet stepped forward, hand +extended and hat uplifted. + +The instant Blackbeard's feet touched the deck he drew from their +holsters a pair of pistols and fired them in the air. + +"Now then," he shouted, "we are even, salute for salute, for my pistols +are more than equal to the cannon of any other man. How goes it with +you, Sir Nightcap--Bonnet, I mean?" And with that he clasped the hand +reached out to him in a bone-crushing grasp. + +His fingers aching and his brain astonished, Bonnet could not comprehend +what sort of a man it was who stood before him. With hair purposely +dishevelled; with his hat more slouched than usual; with his beard +divided into tails, each tied with a different-coloured ribbon; with +half a dozen pistols strung across his breast; with other pistols and a +knife or two stuck into his belt; with his great sword by his side, and +his eyes gleaming brighter than ever and a general expression, both in +face and figure, of an aggressive impudence, Blackbeard stood on his +stout legs, clothed in rough red stockings, and gazed about him. But the +captain of the Revenge did not forget his manners. He welcomed +Blackbeard with all courtesy and besought him to enter his poor cabin. + +Blackbeard laughed. "Poor cabin, say you? But I'll tell you this one +thing, my valiant Captain Cap; you have not a poor vessel, not a poor +vessel, I swear that to you, my brave captain, I swear that!" + +Then, with no attention to Bonnet's invitation, Captain Blackbeard +strolled about the deck, examining everything, cursing this and praising +that, and followed by Captain Bonnet, Black Paul, and a crowd of +admiring pirates. + +Ben Greenway bowed his head and groaned. "I doubt if Master Bonnet will +ever go to the de'il as I feared he would, for now has the de'il come to +him. Oh, Dickory, Dickory! this master o' mine was a worthy mon an' a +good ane when I first came to him, an' a' that I hae I owe to him, for I +was in sad case, Dickory, very sad case; but now that he has Apollyon +for his teacher, he'll cease to know righteousness altogither." + +Dickory was angry and out of spirits. "He is a vile poltroon, this +master of yours," said he, "consorting with these bloody pirates and +leaving his daughter to pine away her days and nights within a little +sail of him, while he struts about at the heel of a dirty freebooter +dressed like a monkey! He doesn't deserve the daughter he possesses. Oh, +that I could find a ship that would take me back to Jamaica! And I would +take you too, Ben Greenway, for it is a foul shame that a good man +should spend his days in such vile company." + +Ben shook his head. "I'll stand by Master Bonnet," he said, "until the +day comes when I shall bid him fareweel at the door o' hell. I can go no +farther than that, Dickory, no farther than that!" + +From forecastle to quarter-deck, from bowsprit to taffrail, Blackbeard +scrutinized the Revenge. + +"What mean you, dog?" he said to Bittern, Bonnet being at a little +distance; "you tell me he is no mariner. This is a brave ship and well +appointed." + +"Ay, ay," said the sailing-master, "it has the neatness of his kitchen +or his storehouses; but if his cables were coiled on his yard-arms or +his anchor hung up to dry upon the main shrouds, he would not know that +anything was wrong. It was Big Sam Loftus who fitted out the Revenge, +and I myself have kept everything in good order and ship-shape ever +since I took command." + +"Command!" growled Blackbeard. "For a charge of powder I would knock in +the side of your head for speaking with such disrespect of the brave Sir +Nightcap." + +The supper in the cabin of the Revenge was a better meal than the +voracious Blackbeard had partaken of for many a year, if indeed he had +ever sat down to such a sumptuous repast. Before him was food and drink +fit for a stout and hungry sea-faring man, and there were wines and +dainties which would have had fit place upon the table of a gentleman. + +Blackbeard was in high spirits and tossed off cup after cup and glass +after glass of the choicest wine and the most fiery spirits. He clapped +his well-mannered host upon the back as he shouted some fragment of a +wild sea-song. + +"And who is this?" he cried, as they rose from the table and he first +caught sight of Ben Greenway. "Is this your chaplain? He looks as +sanctimonious as an empty rum cask. And that baby boy there, what do you +keep him for? Are they for sale? I would like to buy the boy and let him +keep my accounts. I warrant he has enough arithmetic in his head to +divide the prize-moneys among the men." + +"He is no slave," said Bonnet; "he came to this vessel to bring me a +message from my daughter, but he is an ill-bred stripling, and can +neither read nor write." + +"Then let's kill him!" cried Blackbeard, and drawing his pistol he sent +a bullet about two inches above Dickory's head. + +At this the men who had gathered themselves at every available point set +up a cheer. Never before had they beheld such a magnificent and reckless +miscreant. + +Dickory did not start or move, but he turned very pale, and then he +reddened and his eyes flashed. Blackbeard swore at him a great +approbative oath. "A brave boy!" he cried, "and fit to carry messages if +for nothing else. And what is this nonsense about a daughter?" said he +to Bonnet. "We abide no such creatures in the ranks of the free +companions; we drown them like kittens before we hoist the Jolly Roger." + +When Blackbeard's boat left the ship's side the departing chieftain +fired his pistols in the air as long as their charges lasted, while the +motley desperadoes of the Revenge gave him many a parting yell. Then all +the boats of the Revenge were lowered, and every man who could crowd +into them left their ship for the shore. Black Paul tried to restrain +them, for he feared to leave the Revenge too weakly manned, she having +such a valuable cargo; but his orders and shouts were of no avail, and +despairing of stopping them the sailing-master went with them; and as +they pulled wildly towards the town the men of one boat shouted to +another, and that one to another, "Hurrah for our captain, the brave Sir +Nightcap! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +"The dirty Satan!" exclaimed Dickory, as he gazed after Blackbeard's +boat. "I would kill him if I could." + +"Say not so, Dickory," said Captain Bonnet, speaking gravely. "That +great pirate is not a man of breeding, and he speaks with disesteem +alike of friend and enemy, but he is the famous Blackbeard, and we must +treat him with honour although he pays us none." + +"I had deemed," said Greenway calmly, "that ye were goin' to be the +maist unholy sinner that ever blackened this fair earth; but not only +did ye tell a pious lie for the sake o' good Dickory, but, compared wi' +that monstrosity, ye are a saint graved in marble, Master Bonnet, a +white and shapely saint." + + * * * * * + +Blackbeard's boat was not rowed to his vessel, but his men pulled +steadily shoreward. + +With the wild crew of the Revenge, fresh from sea and their appetites +whetted for jovial riot, and with Blackbeard, his war-paint on, to lead +them into every turbulent excess, there were wild times in the town of +Belize that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE + + +As has been made plain, Captain Bonnet of the Revenge was a punctilious +man when the rules of society were concerned, be that society official, +high-toned, or piratical. Thus it was a positive duty, in his mind, to +return Blackbeard's visit on the next day, but until afternoon he was +not able to do so on account of the difficulty of getting a sober and +decently behaved boat's crew who should row him over. + +Black Paul, the sailing-master, had returned to his vessel early in the +morning, feeling the necessity of keeping watch over the cargo, but most +of the men came over much later, while some of them did not come at all. + +Bonnet was greatly inclined to punish with an unwonted severity this +breach of rules, but Black Paul assured him that it was always the +custom for the crew of a newly arrived vessel to go ashore and have a +good time, and that if they were denied this privilege they would be +sure to mutiny, and he might be left without any crew at all. Bonnet +grumbled and swore, but, as he was aware there were several things +concerning a nautical life with which he was not familiar, he determined +to let pass this trespass. + +Dressed in his finest clothes, and even better than the day before, he +was followed into the boat by Ben Greenway, who vowed his captain should +never travel without his chaplain, who, if his words were considered, +would be the most valuable officer on the vessel. + +"Come, then, Greenway," said Bonnet; "you have troubled me so much on my +own vessel that now, perchance, you may be able to do me some service on +that of another. Anyway, I should like to have at least one decent +person in my train, who, an you come not, will be wholly missing. And +Dickory may come too, if he like it." + +But Dickory did not like it. He hated the big black pirate, and cared +not if he should never see him again, so he stayed behind. + +When Bonnet mounted to the deck of Blackbeard's vessel he found there a +very different pirate captain from the one who had called upon him the +day before. There were no tails to the great black beard, there were few +pistols visible, and Captain Bonnet's host received him with a certain +salt-soaked, sun-browned, hairy, and brawny hospitality which did not +sit badly upon him. There was meat, there was drink, and then the two +captains and Greenway walked gravely over the vessel, followed by a +hundred eyes, and before long by many a coarse and jeering laugh which +Bonnet supposed were directed at sturdy Ben Greenway, deeming it quite +natural, though improper, that the derision of these rough fellows +should be excited by the appearance among them of a prim and sedate +Scotch Presbyterian. + +But that crew of miscreants had all heard of the derisive title which +had been given to Bonnet, and now they saw without the slightest +difficulty how little he knew of the various nautical points to which +Blackbeard continually called his attention. + +The vessel was dirty, it was ill-appointed; there was an air of reckless +disorder which showed itself everywhere; but, apart from his evident +distaste for dirt and griminess, the captain of the Revenge seemed to be +very well satisfied with everything he saw. When he passed a small gun +pointed across the deck, and with a nightcap hung upon a capstan bar +thrust into its muzzle, there was such a great laugh that Bonnet looked +around to see what the imprudent Greenway might be doing. + +Many were the nautical points to which Blackbeard called his guest's +attention and many the questions the grim pirate asked, but in almost +all cases of the kind the tall gentleman with the cocked hat replied +that he generally left those things to his sailing-master, being so +much occupied with matters of more import. + +Although he found no fault and made no criticisms, Bonnet was very much +disgusted. Such a disorderly vessel, such an apparently lawless crew, +excited his most severe mental strictures; and, although the great +Blackbeard was to-day a very well-behaved person, Bonnet could not +understand how a famous and successful captain should permit his vessel +and his crew to get into such an unseamanlike and disgraceful condition. +On board the Revenge, as his sailing-master had remarked, there was the +neatness of his kitchen and his store-houses; and, although he did not +always know what to do with the nautical appliances which surrounded +him, he knew how to make them look in good order. But he made few +remarks, favourable or otherwise, and held himself loftier than before, +with an air as if he might have been an admiral entire instead of +resembling one only in clothes, and with ceremonious and even +condescending politeness followed his host wherever he was led, above +decks or below. + +Ben Greenway had gone with his master about the ship with much of the +air of one who accompanies a good friend to the place of execution. +Regardless of gibes or insults, whether they were directed at Bonnet or +himself, he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left, and +apparently regarded nothing that he heard. But while endeavouring to +listen as little as possible to what was going on around him, he heard a +great deal; but, strange to say, the railing and scurrility of the +pirates did not appear to have a depressing influence upon his mind. In +fact, he seemed in somewhat better spirits than when he came on board. + +"Whatever he may do, whatever he may say, an' whatever he may swear," +said the Scotchman to himself, "he is no' like ane of these. Try as he +may, he canna descend so low into the blackness o' evil as these sons o' +perdition. Although he has done evil beyond a poor mortal's computation, +he walks like a king amang them. Even that Blackbeard, striving to be +decent for an hour or two, knows a superior when he meets him." + +When they had finished the tour of the vessel, Blackbeard conducted his +guest to his own cabin and invited him to be seated by a little table. +Bonnet sat down, placing his high-plumed cocked hat upon the bench +beside him. He did not want anything more to eat or to drink, and he +was, in fact, quite ready to take his leave. The vessel had not pleased +him and had given him an idea of the true pirate's life which he had +never had before. On the Revenge he mingled little with the crew, +scarcely ever below decks, and his own quarters were as neat and +commodious as if they were on a fine vessel carrying distinguished +passengers. Dirt and disorder, if they existed, were at least not +visible to him. + +But, although he had no desire ever to make another visit to the ship of +the great Blackbeard, he would remember his position and be polite and +considerate now that he was here. Moreover, the savage desperado of the +day before, dressed like a monkey and howling like an Indian, seemed now +to be endeavouring to soften himself a little and to lay aside some of +his savage eccentricities in honour of the captain of that fine ship, +the Revenge. So, clothed in a calm dignity, Bonnet waited to hear what +his host had further to say. + +Blackbeard seated himself on the other side of the table, on which he +rested his massive arms. Behind him Ben Greenway stood in the doorway. +For a few moments Blackbeard sat and gazed at Bonnet, and then he said: +"Look ye, Stede Bonnet, do you know you are now as much out of place as +a red herring would be at the top of the mainmast?" + +Bonnet flushed. "I fear, Captain Blackbeard," he said, "I very much fear +me that you are right; this is no place for me. I have paid my respects +to you, and now, if you please, I will take my leave. I have not been +gratified by the conduct of your crew, but I did not expect that their +captain would address me in such discourteous words." And with this he +reached out his hand for his hat. + +Blackbeard brought down his hand heavily upon the table. + +"Sit where you are!" he exclaimed. "I have that to say to you which you +shall hear whether you like my vessel, my crew, or me. You are no +sailor, Stede Bonnet of Bridgetown, and you don't belong to the free +companions, who are all good men and true and can sail the ships they +command. You are a defrauder and a cheat; you are nothing but a +landsman, a plough-tail sugar-planter!" + +At this insult Bonnet rose to his feet and his hand went to his sword. + +"Sit down!" roared Blackbeard; "an you do not listen to me, I'll cut off +this parley and your head together. Sit down, sir." + +Bonnet sat down, pale now and trembling with rage. He was not a coward, +but on board this ship he must give heed to the words of the desperado +who commanded it. + +"You have no right," continued Blackbeard, "to strut about on the +quarter-deck of that fine vessel, the Revenge; you have no right to +hoist above you the Jolly Roger, and you have no right to lie right and +left and tell people you are a pirate. A pirate, forsooth! you are no +pirate. A pirate is a sailor, and you are no sailor! You are no better +than a blind man led by a dog: if the dog breaks away from him he is +lost, and if the sailing-masters you pick up one after another break +away from you, you are lost. It is a cursed shame, Stede Bonnet, and it +shall be no longer. At this moment, by my own right and for the sake of +every man who sails under the Jolly Roger, I take away from you the +command of the Revenge." + +Now Bonnet could not refrain from springing to his feet. "Take from me +the Revenge!" he cried, "my own vessel, bought with my own money! And +how say you I am not a pirate? From Massachusetts down the coast into +these very waters I have preyed upon commerce, I have taken prizes, I +have burned ships, I have made my name a terror." + +Now his voice grew stronger and his tones more angry. + +"Not a pirate!" he cried. "Go ask the galleons and the merchantmen I +have stripped and burned; go ask their crews, now wandering in misery +upon desert shores, if they be not already dead. And by what right, I +ask, do you come to such an one as I am and declare that, having put me +in the position of a prisoner on your ship, you will take away my own?" + +Blackbeard gazed at him with half-closed eyes, a malicious smile upon +his face. + +"I have no right," he said; "I need no right; _I_ am a pirate!" + +At these words Bonnet's legs weakened under him, and he sank down upon +the bench. As he did so he glanced at Ben Greenway as if he were the +only person on earth to whom he could look for help, but to his +amazement he saw before him a face almost jubilant, and beheld the +Scotchman, his eyes uplifted and his hands clasped as if in thankful +prayer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT + + +When the boat of the Revenge was pulled back to that vessel Bonnet did +not go in it; it was Blackbeard who sat in the stern and held the +tiller, while one of his own men sat by him. + +When Blackbeard stepped on deck he announced, much to the delight of the +crew and the consternation of Paul Bittern, that the Revenge now +belonged to him, and that all the crew who were fit to be kept on board +such a fine vessel would be retained, and that he himself, for the +present at least, would take command of the ship, would haul down that +brand-new bit of woman's work at the masthead and fly in its place his +own black, ragged Jolly Roger, dreaded wherever seen upon the sea. At +this a shout went up from the crew; the heart of every scoundrel among +them swelled with joy at the idea of sailing, fighting, and pillaging +under the bloody Blackbeard. + +But the sailing-master stood aghast. He had known very well what was +going to happen; he had talked it all over in the town with Blackbeard; +he had drunk in fiery brandy to the success of the scheme, and he had +believed without a doubt that he was to command the Revenge when Bonnet +should be deposed. And now where was he? Where did he stand? + +Trembling a little, he approached Blackbeard. "And as for me," he asked; +"am I to command your old vessel?" + +"You!" roared Blackbeard, making as if he would jump upon him; "you! You +may fall to and bend your back with the others in the forecastle, or you +can jump overboard if you like. My quarter-master, Richards, now +commands my old vessel. Presently I shall go over and settle things on +that bark, but first I shall step down into the cabin and see what rare +good things Sir Nightcap, the sugar-planter, has prepared for me." + +With this he went below, followed by the man he had brought with him. + +It was Dickory, half dazed by what he had heard, who now stepped up to +Paul Bittern. The latter, his countenance blacker than it had ever been +before, first scowled at him, but in a moment the ferocity left his +glance. + +"Oho!" he said, "here's a pretty pickle for me and you, as well as for +Bonnet and the Scotchman!" + +"Do you suppose," exclaimed Dickory, "that what he says is true? That +he has stolen this ship from Captain Bonnet, and that he has taken it +for his own?" + +"Suppose!" sneered the other, "I know it. He has stolen from me as well +as from Bonnet. I should have commanded this ship, and I had made all my +plans to do it when I got here." + +"Then you are as great a rascal," said Dickory, "as that vile pirate +down below." + +"Just as great," said Bittern, "the only difference being that he has +won everything while I have lost everything." + +"What are we to do!" asked Dickory. "I cannot stay here, and I am sure +you will not want to. Now, while he is below, can we not slip overboard +and swim ashore? I am sure I could do it." + +Black Paul grinned grimly. "But where should we swim to?" he said. "On +the coast of Honduras there is no safety for a man who flees from +Blackbeard. But keep your tongue close; he is coming." + +The moment Blackbeard put his foot upon the deck he began to roar out +his general orders. + +"I go over to the bark," he said, "and shall put my mate here in charge +of her. After that I go to my own vessel, and when I have settled +matters there I will return to this fine ship, where I shall strut about +the quarter-deck and live like a prince at sea. Now look ye, youngster, +what is your name?" + +"Charter," replied Dickory grimly. + +"Well then, Charter," the pirate continued, "I shall leave you in charge +of this vessel until I come back, which will be before dark." + +"Me!" exclaimed Dickory in amazement. + +"Yes, you," said the pirate. "I am sure you don't know anything about a +ship any more than your master did, but he got on very well, and so may +you. And now, remember, your head shall pay for it if everything is not +the same when I come back as it is now." + +Thereupon this man of piratical business was rowed to the bark, quite +satisfied that he left behind him no one who would have the power to +tamper with his interests. He knew the crew, having bound most of them +to him on the preceding night, and he trusted every one of them to obey +the man he had set over them and no other. As Dickory would have no +orders to give, there would be no need of obedience, and Black Paul +would have no chance to interfere with anything. + + * * * * * + +When Bonnet had been left by Blackbeard--who, having said all he had to +say, hurried up the companion-way to attend to the rest of his +plans--the stately naval officer who had so recently occupied the bench +by the table shrunk into a frightened farmer, gazing blankly at Ben +Greenway. + +"Think you, Ben," he said in half a voice, "that this is one of that +man's jokes! I have heard that he has a fearful taste for horrid +jokes." + +The Scotchman shook his head. "Joke! Master Bonnet," he exclaimed, "it +is no joke. He has ta'en your ship from ye; he has ta'en from ye your +sword, your pistols, an' your wicked black flag, an' he has made evil +impossible to ye. He has ta'en from ye the shame an' the wretched +wickedness o' bein' a pirate. Think o' that, Master Bonnet, ye are no +longer a pirate. That most devilish o' all demons has presarved the rest +o' your life from the dishonour an' the infamy which ye were labourin' +to heap upon it. Ye are a poor mon now, Master Bonnet; that Beelzebub +will strip from ye everything ye had, all your riches shall be his. Ye +can no longer afford to be a pirate; ye will be compelled to be an +honest mon. An' I tell ye that my soul lifteth itsel' in thanksgivin' +an' my heart is happier than it has been since that fearsome day when ye +went on board your vessel at Bridgetown." + +"Ben," said Bonnet, "it is hard and it is cruel, that in this, the time +of my great trouble, you turn upon me. I have been robbed; I have been +ruined; my life is of no more use to me, and you, Ben Greenway, revile +me while that I am prostrate." + +"Revile!" said the Scotchman. "I glory, I rejoice! Ye hae been +converted, ye hae been changed, ye hae been snatched from the jaws o' +hell. Moreover, Master Bonnet, my soul was rejoiced even before that +master de'il came to set ye free from your toils. To look upon ye an' +see that, although ye called yoursel' a pirate, ye were no like ane o' +these black-hearted cut-throats. Ye were never as wicked, Master Bonnet, +as ye said ye were!" + +"You are mistaken," groaned Bonnet; "I tell you, Ben Greenway, you are +mistaken; I am just as wicked as I ever was. And I was very wicked, as +you should admit, knowing what I have done. Oh, Ben, Ben! Is it true +that I shall never go on board my good ship again?" + +And with this he spread his arms upon the table and laid his head upon +them. He felt as if his career was ended and his heart broken. Ben +Greenway said no more to comfort him, but at that moment he himself was +the happiest man on the Caribbean Sea. He seated himself in the little +dirty cabin, and his soul saw visions. He saw his master, deprived of +all his belongings, and with them of every taint of piracy, and put on +shore, accompanied, of course, by his faithful servant. He saw a ship +sail, perhaps soon, perhaps later, for Jamaica; he saw the blithe +Mistress Kate, her soul no longer sorrowing for an erring father, come +on board that vessel and sail with him for good old Bridgetown. He saw +everything explained, everything forgotten. He saw before the dear old +family a life of happiness--perhaps he saw the funeral of Madam +Bonnet--and, better than all, he saw the pirate dead, the good man +revived again. + +To be sure, he did not see Dickory Charter returning to his old home +with his mother, for he could not know what Blackbeard was going to do +with that young fellow; but as Dickory had thought of him when he had +escaped with Kate from the Revenge, so thought he now of Dickory. There +were so many other important things which bore upon the situation that +he was not able even to consider the young fellow. + +It did not take very long for a man of practical devilishness, such as +Blackbeard was, to finish the business which had called him away, and he +soon reappeared in the cabin. + +"Ho there! good Sir Nightcap--an I may freely call you that since now I +own you, uniform, cocked hat, title, and everything else--don't cry +yourself to sleep like a baby when its toys are taken away from it, but +wake up. I have a bit of liking for you, and I believe that that is +because you are clean. Not having that virtue myself, I admire it the +more in others, and I thank you from my inmost soul--wherever that may +be--for having provided such comely quarters and such fair +accommodations for me while I shall please to sail the Revenge. But I +shall not condemn you to idleness and cankering thoughts, my bold +blusterer, my terror of the sea, my harrier of the coast, my flaunter of +the Jolly Roger washed clean in the tub with soap; I shall give you +work to do which shall better suit you than the troublesome trade you've +been trying to learn. You write well and read, I know that, my good Sir +Nightcap; and, moreover, you are a fair hand at figures. I have great +work before me in landing and selling the fine cargoes you have brought +me, and in counting and dividing the treasure you have locked in your +iron-bound chests. And you shall attend to all that, my reformed +cutthroat, my regenerated sea-robber. You shall have a room of your own, +where you can take off that brave uniform and where you can do your work +and keep your accounts and so shall be happier than you ever were +before, feeling that you are in your right place." + +To all this Stede Bonnet did not answer a word; he did not even raise +his head. + +"And now for you, my chaplain," said Blackbeard, suddenly turning toward +Ben Greenway, "what would you like? Would it suit you better to go +overboard or to conduct prayers for my pious crew?" + +"I would stay wi' my master," said the Scotchman quietly. + +The pirate looked steadily at Greenway. "Oho!" said he, "you are a +sturdy fellow, and have a mind to speak from. Being so stiff yourself, +you may be able to stiffen a little this rag of a master of yours and +help him to understand the work he has to do, which he will bravely do, +I ween, when he finds that to be my clerk is his career. Ha! ha! Sir +Nightcap, the pirate of the pen and ink!" + +Deeply sunk these words into Stede Bonnet's heart, but he made no sign. + +When Blackbeard went back to the Revenge he took with him all of his own +effects which he cared for, and he also took the ex-pirate's uniform, +cocked hat, and sword. "I may have use for them," he said, "and my clerk +can wear common clothes like common people." + +When her new commander reached the Revenge, Dickory immediately +approached him and earnestly besought him that he might be sent to join +Captain Bonnet and Ben Greenway. "They are my friends," said Dickory, +"and I have none here, and I have brought a message to Captain Bonnet +from his daughter, and it is urgently necessary that I return with one +from him to her. I must instantly endeavour to find a ship which is +bound for Jamaica and sail upon her. I have nothing to do with this +ship, having come on board of her simply to carry my message, and it +behooves me that I return quickly to those who sent me, else injury may +come of it." + +"I like your speech, my boy, I like your speech!" cried Blackbeard, and +he roared out a big laugh. "'Urgently necessary' you must do this, you +must do that. It is so long since I have heard such words that they come +to me like wine from a cool vault." + +At this Dickory flushed hot, but he shut his mouth. + +"You are a brave fellow," cried Blackbeard, "and above the common, you +are above the common. There is that in your eye that could never be seen +in the eye of a sugar-planter. You will make a good pirate." + +"Pirate!" cried Dickory, losing all sense of prudence. "I would sooner +be a wild beast in the forest than to be a pirate!" + +Blackbeard laughed loudly. "A good fellow, a brave fellow!" he cried. +"No man who has not the soul of a pirate within him could stand on his +legs and speak those words to me. Sail to Jamaica to carry messages to +girls? Never! You shall stay with me, you shall be a pirate. You shall +be the head of all the pirates when I give up the business and take to +sugar-planting. Ha! ha! When I take to sugar-planting and merrily make +my own good rum!" + +Dickory was dismayed. "But, Captain Blackbeard," he said, with more +deference than before, "I cannot." + +"Cannot!" shouted the pirate, "you lie, you can. Say not cannot to me; +you can do anything I tell you, and do it you shall. And now I am going +to put you in your place, and see that you hold it and fill it. An if +you please me not, you carry no more messages in this world, nor receive +them. Charter, I now make you the first officer of the Revenge under me. +You cannot be mate because you know nothing of sailing a ship, and +besides no mate nor any quarter-master is worthy to array himself as I +shall array you. I make you first lieutenant, and you shall wear the +uniform and the cocked hat which Sir Nightcap hath no further use for." + +With that he went forward to speak to some of the men, leaving Dickory +standing speechless, with the expression of an infuriated idiot. Black +Paul stepped up to him. + +"How now, youngster," said the ex-sailing-master, "first officer, eh? If +you look sharp, you may find yourself in fine feather." + +"No, I will not," answered Dickory. "I will have nothing to do with this +black pirate; I will not serve under him, I will not take charge of +anything for him. I am ashamed to talk with him, to be on the same ship +with him. I serve good people, the best and noblest in the world, and I +will not enter any service under him." + +"Hold ye, hold ye!" said Black Paul, "you will not serve the good people +you speak of by going overboard with a bullet in your head; think of +that, youngster. It is a poor way of helping your friends by quitting +the world and leaving them in the lurch." + +At this moment Blackbeard returned, and when he saw Bittern he roared at +him: "Out of that, you sea-cat, and if I see you again speaking to my +lieutenant, I'll slash your ears for you. In the next boat which leaves +this ship I shall send you to one of the others; I will have no +sneaking schemer on board the Revenge. Get ye for'ad, get ye for'ad, or +I shall help ye with my cutlass!" + +And the man who had safely brought two good ships, richly laden, into +the harbour of Belize, and who had given Blackbeard the information +which made him understand the character of Captain Bonnet and how easy +it would be to take possession of his person and his vessels, and who +had done everything in his power to enable the black-hearted pirate to +secure to himself Bonnet's property and crews, and who had only asked in +return an actual command where before he had commanded in fact though +not in name, fled away from the false confederate to whom he had just +given wealth and increased prestige. + +The last words of the unfortunate Bittern sunk quickly and deeply into +the heart of Dickory. If he should really go overboard with a bullet in +his brain, farewell to Kate Bonnet, farewell to his mother! He was yet a +very young man, and it had been but a little while since he had been +wandering barefooted over the ships at Bridgetown, selling the fruit of +his mother's little farm. Since that he had loved and lived so long that +he could not calculate the period, and now he was a man and stood +trembling at the point where he was to decide to begin life as a pirate +or end everything. Before Blackbeard had turned his lowering visage +from his retreating benefactor, Dickory had decided that, whatever might +happen, he would not of his own free-will leave life and fair Kate +Bonnet. + +"And so you are to be my first lieutenant," said Blackbeard, his face +relaxing. "I am glad of that. There was nothing needed on this ship but +a decent man. I have put one on my old vessel, and if there were another +to be found in the Gulf of Honduras, I'd clap him on that goodly bark. +Now, sir, down to your berth, and don your naval finery. You're always +to wear it; you're not fit to wear the clothes of a real sailor, and I +have no landsman's toggery on this ship." + +Dickory bowed--he could not speak--and went below. When next he appeared +on deck he wore the ex-Captain Bonnet's uniform and the tall plumed hat. + +"It is for Kate's sweet sake," he said to himself as he mounted the +companion-way; "for her sake I'd wear anything, I'd do anything, if only +I may see her again." + +When the new first lieutenant showed himself upon the quarter-deck there +was a general howl from the crew, and peal after peal of derisive +laughter rent the air. + +Then Blackbeard stepped quietly forward and ordered eight of the jeerers +to be strung up and flogged. + +"I would like you all to remember," said the master pirate, "that when I +appoint an officer on this ship, there is to be no sneering at him nor +any want of respect, and it strikes me that I shall not have to say +anything more on the subject--to this precious crew, at any rate." + +The next day lively times began on board the two rich prizes which the +pirate Blackbeard had lately taken. There had been scarcely more hard +work and excitement, cursing and swearing when the rich freight had been +taken from the merchantmen which had originally carried it. Poor +Bonnet's pen worked hard at lists and calculations, for Blackbeard was a +practical man, and not disposed to loose and liberal dealings with +either his men or the tradefolk ashore. + +At times the troubled and harassed mind of the former captain of the +Revenge would have given way under the strain had not Ben Greenway +stayed bravely by him; who, although a slow accountant, was sure, and a +great help to one who, in these times of hurry and flurry, was extremely +rapid and equally uncertain. Blackbeard was everywhere, anxious to +complete the unloading and disposal of his goods before the weather +changed; but, wherever he went, he remembered that upon the quarter-deck +of his fine new ship, the Revenge, there was one who, knowing nothing of +nautical matters, was above all suspicion of nautical interferences, and +who, although having no authority, represented the most powerful +nautical commander in all those seas. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH + + +If our dear Kate Bonnet had really imagined, in her inexperienced mind, +that it would be a matter of days, and perhaps weeks, to procure a +vessel in which she, with her uncle and good Dame Charter, could sail +forth to save her father, she was wonderfully mistaken. Not a +free-footed vessel of any class came into the harbour of Kingston. +Sloops and barks and ships in general arrived and departed, but they +were all bound by one contract or another, and were not free to sail +away, here and there, for a short time or a long time, at the word of a +maiden's will. + +Mr. Delaplaine was a rich man, but he was a prudent one, and he had not +the money to waste in wild rewards, even if there had been an +opportunity for him to offer them. Kate was disconcerted, disappointed, +and greatly cast down. + +The vengeful Badger was scouring the seas in search of her father, +commissioned to destroy him, and eager in his hot passion to do it; and +here was she, with a respite for that father, if only she were able to +carry it. + +Day after day Kate waited for notice of a craft, not only one which +might bring Dickory back but one which might carry her away. + +The optimism of Dame Charter would not now bear her up, the load which +had been put upon it was too big. Everything about her was melancholy +and depressed, and Dickory had not come back. So many things had +happened since he went away, and so many days had passed, and she had +entirely exhausted her plentiful stock of very good reasons why her son +had not been able to return to her. + +The Governor was very kind; frequently he came to the Delaplaine +mansion, and always he brought assurances that, although he had not +heard anything from Captain Vince, there was every reason to suppose +that before long he would find some way to send him his commands that +Captain Bonnet should not be injured, but should be brought back safely +to Jamaica. + +And then Kate would say, with tears in her eyes: "But, your Excellency, +we cannot wait for that; we must go, we must deliver ourselves your +message to the captain of the Badger. Who else will do it? And we cannot +trust to chance; while we are trusting and hoping, my father may die." + +At such moments Mr. Delaplaine would sometimes say in his heart, not +daring to breathe such thoughts aloud, "And what could be better than +that he should die and be done with it? He is a thorn in the side of the +young, the good, and the beautiful, and as long as he lives that thorn +will rankle." + +Moreover, not only did the good merchant harbour such a wicked thought, +but Dame Charter thought something of the very same kind, though +differently expressed. If he had never been born, she would say to +herself, how much better it would have been; but then the thought would +come crowding in, how bad that would have been for Dickory and for the +plans she was making for him. + +In the midst of all this uncertainty, this anxiety, this foreboding, +almost this despair, there came a sunburst which lighted up the souls of +these three good people, which made their eyes sparkle and their hearts +swell with thankfulness. This happiness came in the shape of a letter +from Martin Newcombe. + +The letter was a long one and told many things. The first part of it +Kate read to herself and kept to herself, for in burning words it +assured her that he loved her and would always love her, and that no +misfortune of her own nor wrongdoings of others could prevent him from +offering her his most ardent and unchangeable affection. Moreover, he +begged and implored her to accept that affection, to accept it now that +it might belong to her forever. Happiness, he said, seemed opening +before her; he implored her to allow him to share that happiness with +her. The rest of the letter was read most jubilantly aloud. It told of +news which had come to Newcombe from Honduras Gulf: great news, +wonderful news, which would make the heart sing. Major Bonnet was at +Belize. He had given up all connection with piracy and was now engaged +in mercantile pursuits. This was positively true, for the person who had +sent the news to Bridgetown had seen Major Bonnet and had talked to him, +and had been informed by him that he had given up his ship and was now +an accountant and commission agent doing business at that place. + +The sender of this great news also stated that Ben Greenway was with +Major Bonnet, working as his assistant--and here Dame Charter sat +open-mouthed and her heart nearly stopped beating--young Dickory Charter +had also been in the port and had gone away, but was expected ere long +to return. + +Kate stood on her tip-toes and waved the letter over her head. + +"To Belize, my dear uncle, to Belize! If we cannot get there any other +way we must go in a boat with oars. We must fly, we must not wait. +Perhaps he is seeking in disguise to escape the vengeance of the wicked +Vince; but that matters not; we know where he is; we must fly, uncle, +we must fly!" + +The opportunities for figurative flying were not wanting. There were no +vessels in the port which might be engaged for an indeterminate voyage +in pursuit of a British man-of-war, but there was a goodly sloop about +to sail in ballast for Belize. Before sunset three passages were engaged +upon this sloop. + +Kate sat long into the night, her letter in her hand. Here was a lover +who loved her; a lover who had just sent to her not only love, but life; +a lover who had no intention of leaving her because of her overshadowing +sorrow, but who had lifted that sorrow and had come to her again. Ay +more, she knew that if the sorrow had not been lifted he would have come +to her again. + +The Governor of Jamaica was a man of hearty sympathies, and these worked +so strongly in him that when Kate and her uncle came to bring him the +good news, he kissed her and vowed that he had not heard anything so +cheering for many a year. + +"I have been greatly afraid of that Vince," he said. "Although I did not +mention it, I have been greatly afraid of him; he is a terrible fellow +when he is crossed, and so hot-headed that it is easy to cross him. +There were so many chances of his catching your father and so few +chances of my orders catching him. But it is all right now; you will be +able to reach your father before Vince can possibly get to him, even +should he be able to do him injury in his present position. Your father, +my dear, must have been as mad as a March hare to embark upon a career +of a pirate when all the time his heart was really turned to ways of +peace, to planting, to mercantile pursuits, to domestic joys." + +Here, now, was to be a voyage of conquest. No matter what his plans +were; no matter what he said; no matter what he might lose, or how he +might suffer by being taken into captivity and being carried away, Major +Stede Bonnet, late of Bridgetown and still later connected with some +erratic voyages upon the high seas, was to be taken prisoner by his +daughter and carried away to Spanish Town, where the actions of his +disordered mind were to be condoned and where he would be safe from all +vengeful Vinces and from all temptations of the flaunting skull and +bones. + +It was a bright morning when, with a fair wind upon her starboard bow, +the sloop Belinda, bearing the jubilant three, sailed southward on her +course to the coast of Honduras; and it was upon that same morning that +the good ship Revenge, bearing the pirate Blackbeard and his handsomely +uniformed lieutenant, sailed northward, the same fair wind upon her port +bow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A PROJECTED MARRIAGE + + +Strange as it may appear, Dickory Charter was not a very unhappy young +fellow as he stood in his fine uniform on the quarter-deck of the +Revenge, the fresh breeze ruffling his brown curls when he lifted his +heavy cocked hat. + +True, he was leaving behind him his friends, Captain Bonnet and Ben +Greenway, with whom the wayward Blackbeard would allow no word of +leave-taking; true, he was going, he knew not where, and in the power of +a man noted the new world over for his savage eccentricities; and true, +he might soon be sailing, hour by hour, farther and farther away from +the island on which dwelt the angel Kate--that angel Kate and his +mother. But none of these considerations could keep down the glad +feeling that he was going, that he was moving. Moreover, in answer to +one of his impassioned appeals to be set ashore at Jamaica, Blackbeard +had said to him that if he should get tired of him he did not see, at +that moment, any reason why he should not put him on board some +convenient vessel and have him landed at Kingston. + +Dickory did not believe very much in the black-bearded pirate, with his +wild tricks and inhuman high spirits, but Jamaica lay to the east, and +he was going eastward. + +Incited, perhaps, by the possession of a fine ship, manned by a crew +picked from his old vessel and from the men who had formed the crew of +the Revenge, Blackbeard was in better spirits than was his wont, and so +far as his nature would allow he treated Dickory with fair good-humour. +But no matter what happened, his unrestrained imagination never failed +him. Having taken the fancy to see Dickory always in full uniform, he +allowed him to assume no other clothes; he was always in naval +full-dress and cocked hat, and his duties were those of a private +secretary. + +"The only shrewd thing I ever knew your Sir Nightcap to do," he said, +"was to tell me you could not read nor write. He spoke so glibly that I +believed him. Had it not been so I should have sent you to the town to +help with the shore end of my affairs, and then you would have been +there still and I should have had no admiral to write my log and +straighten my accounts." + +Sometimes, in his quieter moods, when there was no provocation to send +pistol-balls between two sailors quietly conversing, or to perform some +other demoniac trick, Blackbeard would talk to Dickory and ask all +manner of questions, some of which the young man answered, while some he +tried not to answer. Thus it was that the pirate found out a great deal +more about Dickory's life, hope, and sorrows than the young fellow +imagined that he made known. He discovered that Dickory was greatly +interested in Bonnet's daughter, and wished above all other things in +this world to get to her and to be with her. + +This was a little out of the common run of things among the brotherhood; +it was their fashion to forget, so far as they were able, the family +ties which already belonged to them, and to make no plans for any future +ties of that sort which they might be able to make. Such a thing amused +the generally rampant Blackbeard, but if this Dickory boy whom they had +on board really did wish to marry some one, the idea came into the +crafty mind of Blackbeard that he would like to attend to that marrying +himself. It pleased him to have a finger in every pie, and now here was +a pie in the fingering of which he might take a novel interest. + +This renowned desperado, this bloody cutthroat, this merciless pirate +possessed a home--a quiet little English home on the Cornwall coast, +where the cheerful woods and fields stretched down almost in reach of +the sullen sea. Here dwelt his wife, quiet Mistress Thatch, and here his +brawny daughter. Seldom a word came to this rural home from the father, +burning and robbing, sinking and slaying out upon the western seas. But +from the stores of pelf which so often slipped so easily into his great +arms, and which so often slipped just as easily out of them, came now +and then something to help the brawn grow upon his daughter's bones and +to ease the labours of his wife. + +Eliza Thatch bore no resemblance to a houri; her hair was red, her face +was freckled; she had enough teeth left to do good eating with when she +had a chance, and her step shook the timbers of her little home. + +Her father had heard from her a little while ago by a letter she had had +conveyed to Belize. His parental feelings, notwithstanding he had told +Bonnet he knew no such sentiments, were stirred. When he had finished +her letter he would have been well pleased to burn a vessel and make a +dozen passengers walk the plank as a memorial to his girl. But this not +being convenient, it had come to him that he would marry the wench to +the gaily bedecked young fellow he had captured, and it filled his +reckless heart with a wild delight. He drew his cutlass, and with a +great oath he drove the heavy blade into the top of the table, and he +swore by this mark that his grand plan should be carried out. + +He would sail over to England; this would be a happy chance, for his +vessel was unladen and ready for any adventure. He would drop anchor in +the quiet cove he knew of; he would go ashore by night; he would be at +home again. To be at home again made him shout with profane laughter, +the little home he remembered would be so ridiculous to him now. He +would see again his poor little trembling wife--she must be gray by +now--and he was sure that she would tremble more than ever she did when +she heard the great sea oaths which he was accustomed to pour forth now. +And his daughter, she must be a strapping wench by this time; he was +sure she could stand a slap on the back which would kill her mother. + +Yes, there should be a wedding, a fine wedding, and good old rum should +water the earth. And he would detail a boat's crew of jolly good fellows +from the Revenge to help make things uproarious. This Charter boy and +Eliza should have a house of their own, with plenty of money--he had +more funds in hand than ever in his life before--and his respectable +son-in-law should go to London and deposit his fortune in a bank. It +would be royal fun to think of him and Eliza highly respectable and with +money in the bank. A quart of the best rum could scarcely have made +Blackbeard more hilarious than did this glorious notion. He danced among +his crew; he singed beards; he whacked with capstan bars; he pushed men +down hatchways; he was in lordly spirits, and his crew expected some +great adventure, some startling piece of deviltry. + +Of course he did not keep his great design from Dickory--it was too +glorious, too transcendent. He took his young admiral into his cabin and +laid before him his dazzling future. + +Dickory sat speechless, almost breathless. As he listened he could feel +himself turn cold. Had any one else been talking to him in this strain +he would have shouted with laughter, but people did not laugh at +Blackbeard. + +When the pirate had said all and was gazing triumphantly at poor +Dickory, the young man gasped a word in answer; he could not accept this +awful fate without as much as a wave of the hand in protest. + +"But, sir," said he, "if--" + +Blackbeard's face grew black; he bent his head and lowered upon the pale +Dickory, then, with a tremendous blow, he brought down his fist upon the +table. + +"If Eliza will not have you," he roared; "if that girl will not take you +when I offer you to her; if she or her mother as much as winks an +eyelash in disobedience of my commands, I will take them by the hair of +their heads and I will throw them into the sea. If she will not have +you," he repeated, roaring as if he were shouting through a speaking +trumpet in a storm, "if I thought that, youngster, I would burn the +house with both of them in it, and the rum I had bought to make a jolly +wedding should be poured on the timbers to make them blaze. Let no +notions like that enter your mind, my boy. If she disobeys me, I will +cook her and you shall eat her. Disobey me!" And he swore at such a rate +that he panted for fresh air and mounted to the deck. + +It was not a time for Dickory to make remarks indicating his disapproval +of the proposed arrangement. + +As the Revenge sailed on over sunny seas or under lowering clouds, +Dickory was no stranger to the binnacle, and the compass always told him +that they were sailing eastward. He had once asked Blackbeard where they +now were by the chart, but that gracious gentleman of the midnight beard +had given him oaths for answers, and had told him that if the captain +knew where the ship was on any particular hour or minute nobody else on +that ship need trouble his head about it. But at last the course of the +Revenge was changed a little, and she sailed northward. Then Dickory +spoke with one of the mildest of the mates upon the subject of their +progress, and the man made known to him that they were now about +half-way through the Windward passage. Dickory started back. He knew +something of the geography of those seas. + +"Why, then," he cried, "we have passed Jamaica!" + +"Of course we have," said the man, and if it had not been for Dickory's +uniform he would have sworn at him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +BLADE TO BLADE + + +When the corvette Badger sailed from Jamaica she moved among the islands +of the Caribbean Sea as if she had been a modern vessel propelled by a +steam-engine. That which represented a steam-engine in this case was the +fiery brain of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's navy. More +than winds, more than currents, this brain made its power felt upon the +course and progress of the vessel. + +Calling at every port where information might possibly be gained, +hailing every sloop or ship or fishing-smack which might have sighted +the pirate ship Revenge, with a constant lookout for a black flag, +Captain Vince kept his engine steadily at work. + +But it was not in pursuit of a ship that the swift keel of the Badger +cut through the sea, this way and that, now on a long course, now +doubling back again, like a hound fancying he has got the scent of a +hare, then raging wildly when he finds the scent is false; it was in +pursuit of a woman that every sail was spread, that the lookout swept +the sea, and that the hot brain of the captain worked steadily and hard. +This English man-of-war was on a cruise to make Kate Bonnet the bride of +its captain. The heart of this naval lover was very steady; it was fixed +in its purpose, nothing could turn it aside. Vince's plans were +well-digested; he knew what he wanted to do, he knew how he was going to +do it. + +In the first place he would capture the man Bonnet; all the details of +the action were arranged to that end; then, with Kate's father as his +prisoner, he would be master of the situation. + +There was nothing noble about this craftily elaborated design; but, +then, there was nothing noble about Captain Vince. He was a strong hater +and a strong lover, and whether he hated or loved, nothing, good or bad, +must stand in his way. With the life or death, the misery or the +happiness of the father in his hands, he knew that he need but beckon to +the daughter. She might come slowly, but she would come. She was a grand +woman, but she was a woman; she might resist the warm plea of love, but +she could not resist the cold commands of that cruel figure of death who +stood behind the lover. + +Captain Bonnet was returning from his visit to the New England coast, +picking up bits of profit here and there as fortune befell him, when +Captain Vince first heard that the Revenge had gone northward. The news +was circumstantial and straightforward, and was not to be doubted. Vince +raged upon his quarter-deck when he found out how he had been wasting +time. Northward now was pointed the bow of the Badger, and the vengeful +Vince felt as if his prey was already in his hands. If Bonnet had sailed +up the Atlantic coast he was bound to sail down again. It might be a +long cruise, there might be impatient waitings at the mouths of coves +and rivers where the pirates were accustomed to take refuge or refit, +but the light of the eyes of Kate Bonnet were worth the longest pursuit +or the most impatient waiting. + +So, steadily sailed the corvette Badger up the long Atlantic coast, and +she passed the capes of the Delaware while Captain Bonnet was examining +the queer pulpit in the little bay-side town where his ship had stopped +to take in water. + +At the various ports of the northern coast where the Revenge had sailed +back and forth outside, the Badger boldly entered, and the tales she +heard soon turned her back again to sail southward down the long +Atlantic coast. But the heart of Christopher Vince never failed. The +vision of Kate Bonnet as he had seen her, standing with glorious eyes +denouncing him; as he should see her when, with bowed head and proffered +hand, she came to him; as all should see her when, in her clear-cut +beauty, she stood beside him in his ancestral home, never left him. + +Off the port of Charles Town, South Carolina, the Badger lay and waited, +and soon, from an outgoing bark, the news came to Captain Vince that +several weeks before the pirate Bonnet of the Revenge had taken an +English ship as she was entering port, and had then sailed southward. +Southward now sailed the Badger, and, as there was but little wind, +Captain Vince swore with an unremitting diligence. + +It was a quiet morning and the Badger was nearing the straits of Florida +when a sail was reported almost due south. + +Up came Captain Vince with his glass, and after a long, long look, and +another, and another, during which the two vessels came slowly nearer +and nearer each other, the captain turned to his first officer and said +quietly: "She flies the skull and bones. She's the first of those +hellish pirates that we have yet met on this most unlucky cruise." + +"If we could send her, with her crew on board, ten times to the bottom," +said the other, "she would not pay us what her vile fraternity has cost +us. But these pirate craft know well the difference between a Spanish +galleon and a British man-of-war, and they will always give us a wide +berth." + +"But this one will not," said the captain. + +Then again he looked long and earnestly through his glass. "Send aft +the three men who know the Revenge," said he. + +Presently the men came aft, and one by one they went aloft, and soon +came the report, vouched for by each of them: + +"The sail ahead is the pirate Revenge." + +Now all redness left the face of Captain Vince. He was as pale as if he +had been afraid that the pirate ship would capture him, but every man on +his vessel knew that there was no fear in the soul or the body of the +captain of the Badger. Quickly came his orders, clear and sharp; +everything had been gone over before, but everything was gone over +again. The corvette was to bear down upon the pirate, her cannon--great +guns for those days, and which could soon have disabled, if they had not +sunk, the smaller vessel--were muzzled and told to hold their peace. The +man-of-war was to bear down upon the pirate and to capture her by +boarding. There was to be no broadside, no timber-splitting cannon +balls. + +The wind was light and in favour of the corvette, and slowly the two +vessels diminished the few miles between them; but there was enough wind +to show the royal colours on the Badger. + +"He is a bold fellow, that pirate," said some of the naval men, "and he +will wait and fight us." + +"He will wait and fight us," said some of the others, "because he +cannot get away; in this wind he is at our mercy." + +Captain Vince stood and gazed over the water, sometimes with his glass +and sometimes without it. Here now was the end of his fuming, his +raging, his long and untiring search. All the anxious weariness of long +voyaging, all the impatience of watching, all the irritation of waiting +had gone. The notorious vessel in which the father of Kate Bonnet had +made himself a terror and a scourge was now almost within his reach. The +beneficent vessel by which the father of Kate Bonnet should give to him +his life's desire was so near to him that he could have sent a musket +ball into her had he chosen to fire. It was so near to him that he could +now, with his glass, read the word "Revenge" on her bow. His brows were +knit, his jaws were set tight, his muscles hardened themselves with +energy. + +Again the orders were passed, that when the men of the corvette boarded +the pirate they were to cut down the rascals without mercy, and not one +of them was to draw sword or pistol against the pirate captain. He would +be attended to by their commander. + +Vince knew the story of Stede Bonnet; he knew that early in life he had +been in the army, and that it was likely that he understood the handling +of a sword. But he knew also that he himself was one of the best +swordsmen in the royal navy. He yearned to cross blades with the man +whose blood should not be shed, whose life should be preserved +throughout the combat as if he were a friend and not a foe, who should +surrender to him his sword and give to him his daughter. + +"They're a brave lot, those bloody rascals," said one of the men of the +Badger. + +"They've a fool of a captain," said another; "he knows not the +difference between a British man-of-war and a Spanish galleon, but we +shall teach him that." + +Slowly they came together, the Revenge and the Badger, the bow of one +pointed east and the bow of the other to the west; from neither vessel +there came a word; the low waves could be heard flapping against their +sides. Suddenly there rang out from the man-of-war the order to make +fast. The grapnels flew over the bulwarks of the pirate, and in a moment +the two vessels were as one. Then, with a great shout, the men of the +Badger leaped and hurled themselves upon the deck of the Revenge, and +upon that deck and from behind bulwarks there rose, yelling and howling +and roaring, the picked men of two pirate crews, quick, furious, and +strong as tigers, the hate of man in their eyes and the love of blood in +their hearts. Like a wave of massacre they threw themselves against the +drilled masses of the Badger's crew, and with yells and oaths and curses +and cries the battle raged. + +With a sudden dash the captain of the man-of-war plunged through the +ranks of the combatants and stood upon the middle of the deck; his quick +eyes shot here and there; wherever he might be, he sought the captain of +the pirate ship. In an instant a huge man bounded aft and made one long +step towards him. Vast in chest and shoulder, and with mighty limbs, +fiery-eyed, hairy, horribly fantastic, Blackbeard stood, with great head +lowered for the charge. + +"A sugar-planter?" was the swift thought of Vince. + +"Are you the captain of this ship?" he shouted. + +"I am!" cried the other, and with a curse like bursting thunder the +pirate came on and his blade crossed that of Captain Vince. + +Forward and amidships surged the general fight: men plunged, swords +fell, blood flowed, feet slipped upon the deck, and roars of blasphemy +and pain rose above the noise of battle. But farther aft the two +captains, in a space by themselves, cut, thrust, and trampled, whirling +around each other, dashing from this side and that, ever with keen eyes +firmly fixed, ever with strong arms whirling down and upward; now one +man felt the keen cut of steel and now the other. The blood ran upon +rich uniform or stained rough cloth and leather. It was a fight as if +between a lioness and a tigress, their dead cubs near-by. + +As most men in the navy knew, Captain Vince was a most dangerous +swordsman. In duel or in warfare, no man yet had been able to stand +before him. With skilled arm and eye and with every muscle of his body +trained, his sword sought a vital spot in his opponent. There was no +thought now in the mind of Vince about disarming the pirate and taking +him prisoner; this terrible wild beast, this hairy monster must be +killed or he himself must die. Through the whirl and clash and hot +breath of battle he had been amazed that Kate Bonnet's father should be +a man like this. + +The pirate, his eyes now shrunken into his head, where they glowed like +coals, his breath steaming like a volcano, and his tremendous muscles +supple and quick as those of a cat, met his antagonist at every point, +and with every lunge and thrust and cut forced him to guard. + +Now Vince shut himself in his armour of trained defence; this bounding +lion must be killed, but the death-stroke must be cunningly delivered, +and until, in his hot rage, the pirate should forget his guard Vince +must shield himself. + +Never had the great Blackbeard met so keen a swordsman; he howled with +rage to see the English captain still vigorous, agile, warding every +stroke. Blackbeard was now a wild beast of the sea: he fought to kill, +for naught else, not even his own life. With a yell he threw himself +upon Captain Vince, whose sword passed quick as lightning through the +brawny masses of his left shoulder. With one quick step, the pirate +pressed closer to Vince, thus holding the imprisoned blade, which stuck +out behind his body, and with a tremendous blow of his right fist, in +which he held the heavy brazen hilt of his sword, he dashed his enemy +backward to the ground. The fall drew the blade from the shoulder of +Blackbeard, whose great right arm went up, whose sword hissed in the air +and then came down upon the prostrate Vince. Another stroke and the +English captain lay insensible and still. + +With the scream of a maddened Indian, Blackbeard sprung into the air, +and when his feet touched the deck he danced. He would have hewn his +victim into pieces, he would have scattered him over the decks, but +there was no time for such recreations. Forward the battle raged with +tremendous fury, and into the midst of it dashed Blackbeard. + +From the companion-way leading to the captain's cabin there now appeared +a pale young face. It was that of Dickory Charter, who had been ordered +by Blackbeard, before the two vessels came together, to shut himself in +the cabin and to keep out of the broil, swearing that if he made himself +unfit to present to Eliza he would toss his disfigured body into the +sea. Entirely unarmed and having no place in the fight, Dickory had +obeyed, but the spirit of a young man which burned within him led him +to behold the greater part of the conflict between Blackbeard and the +English captain. Being a young man, he had shut his eyes at the end of +it, but when the pirate had left he came forth quietly. The fight raged +forward, and here he was alone with the fallen figure on the deck. + +As Dickory stood gazing downward in awe--in all his life he had never +seen a corpse--the man he had supposed dead opened his eyes for a moment +and gazed with dull intelligence, and then he gasped for rum. Dickory +was quickly beside him with a tumbler of spirits and water, which, +raising the fallen man's head, he gave him. In a few moments the eyes of +Captain Vince opened wider, and he stared at the young man in naval +uniform who stood above him. "Who are you?" he said in a low voice, but +distinct, "an English officer?" + +"No," said Dickory, "I am no officer and no pirate; I am forced to wear +these clothes." + +And then, his natural and selfish instincts pushing themselves before +anything else, Dickory went on: "Oh, sir, if your men conquer these +pirates will you take me--" but as he spoke he saw that the wounded man +was not listening to him; his half-closed eyes turned towards him and he +whispered: + +"More spirits!" + +[Illustration: "Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be +delivered."] + +Dickory dashed into the cabin, half-filled a tumbler with rum and gave +it to Vince. Presently his eyes recovered something of their natural +glow, and with contracted brow he fixed them upon the stream of blood +which was running from him over the deck. + +Suddenly he spoke sharply: "Young fellow," he said, "some paper and a +pen, a pencil, anything. Quick!" + +Dickory looked at him in amazement for a moment and then he ran into the +cabin, soon returning with a sheet of paper and an English pencil. + +The eyes of Captain Vince were now very bright, and a nervous strength +came into his body. He raised himself upon his elbow, he clutched at the +paper, and clapping it upon the deck began to write. Quickly his pencil +moved; already he was feeling that his rum-given strength was leaving +him, but several pages he wrote, and then he signed his name. Folding +the sheet he stopped for a moment, feeling that he could do no more; +but, gathering together his strength in one convulsive motion, he +addressed the letter. + +"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear ... that it shall be ... +delivered." + +"I swear," said Dickory, as on his knees he took the blood-smeared +letter. He hastily slipped it into the breast of his coat, and then he +was barely able to move quick enough to keep the Englishman's head from +striking the deck. + +"How now!" sounded a harsh growl at his ear. "Get you into your cabin +or you will be hurt. It is not time yet for the fleecing of corpses! I +am choking for a glass of brandy. Get in and stay there!" + +In another minute Blackbeard, refreshed, was running aft, the cut +through his shoulder bleeding, but entirely forgotten. + +There was no fighting now upon the deck of the Revenge; the conflict +raged, but it had been transferred to the Badger. The sailors of the +man-of-war had fought valiantly and stoutly, even impetuously, but their +enemies--picked men from two pirate crews--had fought like wire-muscled +devils. Ablaze with fury they had cut down the Badger's men, piling them +upon their own fallen comrades; they had followed the brave fellows with +oaths, cutlasses, and pistols as, little at a time and fighting all the +while, they slowly clambered back into their own ship. The pirates had +thrown their grapnels over the bulwarks of the man-of-war; they had +followed, cut by cut, shot by shot, until they now stood upon the +Badger, fighting with the same fury that they had just fought upon the +blood-soaked Revenge. Blackbeard was not yet with them--whatever +happened, Blackbeard must be refreshed--but now he sprang into the +enemy's ship--that fine British man-of-war, the corvette Badger, which +had so bravely sailed down upon his ship to capture her--and led the +carnage. + +They were tough men, those British seamen, tough in heart, tough in +arms and body; they fought above decks and they fought below, and they +laid many a pirate scoundrel dead; but they had met a foe which was too +strong for them--a pack of brawny, hairy desperadoes, picked from two +pirate crews. The first officer now commanding, panting, bleeding, and +torn, groaned as he saw that his men could fight no longer, and he +surrendered the Badger to the pirates. + +The great Blackbeard yelled with delight. When had any other captain +sailing under the Jolly Roger captured a British man-of-war, a +first-class corvette of the royal navy? His frenzied joy was so intense +that he was on the point of cutting down the officer who was offering +him his sword, but he withheld his hand. + +"Go, somebody, and fetch me a glass of his Majesty's rum," he cried, +"and I will drink to his perdition!" + +The door of a locker was smashed, the spirits were brought, and the +great Blackbeard was again refreshed. + +Standing on the quarter-deck where but an hour or two before Captain +Christopher Vince had stood commanding his fine corvette as she sailed +down upon her pirate enemy, Blackbeard had brought before him all the +survivors of the Badger's crew. + +"Well, you're a lot of damnable knaves," said he, "and you have cost me +many a good man this day. But my crew will now be short-handed, and if +any or all of you will turn pirate and ship with me, I will let bygones +pass; but, if any of you choose not that, overboard you go. I will have +no unwilling rascals in my crew." + +All but one of the men of the Badger, downcast, wounded, panting with +thirst and loving life, agreed to become pirates and to ship on board +the Revenge. + +The first mate would not break his oath of allegiance to the king, and +he went overboard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ADDRESS OF THE LETTER + + +There was hard and ghastly work that day when the Revenge was cleared +after action, and there was lively and interesting work on board the +Badger when Blackbeard and his officers went over the captured vessel to +discover what new possessions they had won. + +At first Blackbeard had thought to establish himself upon the corvette +and abandon the Revenge. It would have been such a grand thing to +scourge the seas in a British man-of-war with the Jolly Roger floating +over her. But this would have been too dangerous; the combined naval +force of England in American waters would have been united to put down +such presumption. So the wary pirate curbed his ambition. + +Everything portable and valuable was stripped from the Badger--her guns +would have been taken had it been practicable to ship them to the +Revenge in a rising sea--and then she was scuttled, fired, and cast +off, and with her dead on board she passed out of commission in the +royal navy. + +During the turmoil, the horror and the bringing aboard of pillage, +Dickory Charter had kept close below deck, his face in his hands and his +heart almost broken. It is so easy for young hearts to almost break. + +When he had seen the British ship come sailing down upon them, hope had +sprung up brightly in his heart; now there was a chance of his escaping +from this hell of the waves. When the Revenge should be taken he would +rush to the British captain, or any one in authority, and tell his tale. +It would be believed, he doubted not; even his uniform would help to +prove he was no pirate; he would be taken away, he would reach Jamaica; +he would see Kate; he would carry to her the great news of her father. +After that his life could take care of itself. + +But now the blackness of darkness was over everything. Those who were to +have been his friends had vanished, the ship which was to have given him +a new life had disappeared forever. He was on board the pirate ship, +bound for the shores of England--horrible shores to him--bound to the +shores of England and to Blackbeard's Eliza! + +He was not a fool, this Dickory; he had no unwarrantable and romantic +fears that in these enlightened days one man could say to another, "Go +you, and marry the woman I have chosen for you." There was nothing silly +or cowardly about him, but he knew Blackbeard. + +Not one ray of hope thrust itself through his hands into his brain. Hope +had gone, gone to the bottom, and he was on his storm-tossed way to the +waters of another continent. + +But in the midst of his despair Dickory never thought of freeing +himself, by a sudden bound, of the world and his woes. So long as Kate +should live he must live, even if it were to prove to himself, and to +himself only, how faithful to her he could be. + +It was dark when men came tumbling below, throwing themselves into +hammocks and bunks, and Dickory prepared to turn in. If sleep should +come and without dreams, it would be greater gain than bags of gold. As +he took off his coat, the letter of the English captain dropped from his +breast. Until then he had forgotten it, but now he remembered it as a +sacred trust. The dull light of the lantern barely enabled him to +discern objects about him, but he stuck the letter into a crack in the +woodwork where in the morning he would see it and take proper care of +it. + +Soon sleep came, but not without dreams. He dreamed that he was rowing +Kate on the river at Bridgetown, and that she told him in a low sweet +voice, with a smile on her lips and her eyes tenderly upturned, that +she would like to row thus with him forever. + +Early in the morning, through an open port-hole, the light of the +eastern sun stole into this abode of darkness and sin and threw itself +upon the red-stained letter sticking in the crack of the woodwork. +Presently Dickory opened his eyes, and the first thing they fell upon +was that letter. On the side of the folded sheet he could see the +superscription, boldly but irregularly written: "Miss Kate Bonnet, +Kingston, Ja." + +Dickory sat upright, his eyes hard-fixed and burning. How long he sat he +knew not. How long his brain burned inwardly, as his eyes burned +outwardly, he knew not. The noise of the watch going on deck roused him, +and in a moment he had the letter in his hands. + +All that day Dickory Charter was worth nothing to anybody. Blackbeard +swore at him and pushed him aside. The young fellow could not even count +the doubloons in a bag. + +"Go to!" cried the pirate, blacker and more fantastically horrible than +ever, for his bare left shoulder was bound with a scarf of silk and his +great arm was streaked and bedabbled with his blood, "you are the most +cursed coward I have met with in all my days at sea. So frightened out +of your wits by a lively brush as that of yesterday! Too scared to count +gold! Never saw I that before. One might be too scared to pray, but to +count gold! Ha! ha!" and the bold pirate laughed a merry roar. He was +in good spirits; he had captured and sunk an English man-of-war; sunk +her with her English ensign floating above her. How it would have +overjoyed him if all the ships, little and big, that plied the Spanish +Main could have seen him sink that man-of-war. He was a merry man that +morning, the great Blackbeard, triumphant in victory, glowing with the +king's brandy, and with so little pain from that cut in his shoulder +that he could waste no thought upon it. + +"But Eliza will like it well," continued the merry pirate; "she will +lead you with a string, be you bold or craven, and the less you pull at +it the easier it will be for my brave girl. Ah! she will dance with joy +when I tell her what a frightened rabbit of a husband it is that I give +her. Now get away somewhere, and let your face rid itself of its +paleness; and should you find a dead man lying where he has been +overlooked, come and tell me and I will have him put aside. You must not +be frightened any more or Eliza may find that you have not left even the +spirit of a rabbit." + +All day Dickory sat silent, his misery pinned into the breast of his +coat. "Miss Kate Bonnet, Kingston, Ja."--and this on a letter written in +the dying moments of an English captain, a high and mighty captain who +must have loved as few men love, to write that letter, his life's blood +running over the paper as he wrote. And could a man love thus if he +were not loved? That was the terrible question. + +Sometimes his mind became quiet enough for him to think coherently, then +it was easy enough for him to understand everything. Kate had been a +long time in Jamaica; she had met many people; she had met this man, +this noble, handsome man. Dickory had watched him with glowing +admiration as he stood up before Blackbeard, fighting like the champion +of all good against the hairy monster who struck his blows for all that +was base and wicked. + +How Dickory's young heart had gone out in sympathy and fellowship +towards the brave English captain! How he had hoped that the next of his +quick, sharp lunges might slit the black heart of the pirate! How he had +almost wept when the noble Englishman went down! And now it made him +shudder to think his heart had stood side by side with the heart of +Kate's lover! He had sworn to deliver the letter of that lover, and he +would do it. More cruel than the bloodiest pirate was the fate that +forced him thus to bear the death-warrant of his own young life. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +BELIZE + + +There were not many captains of merchantmen in the early part of the +eighteenth century who cared to sail into the Gulf of Honduras, that +body of water being such a favourite resort of pirates. + +But no such fears troubled the mind of the skipper of the brig Belinda, +which was now making the best of her way towards the port of Belize. She +was a sturdy vessel and carried no prejudices. Sometimes she was laden +with goods bought from the pirates and destined to be sold to honest +people; and, again, she carried commodities purchased from those who +were their legal owners and intended for the use of the bold rascals who +sailed under the Jolly Roger. Then, as now, it was impossible for +thieves to steal all the commodities they desired; some things must be +bought. Thus, serving the pirates as well as honest traders, the sloop +Belinda feared not to sail the Gulf of Honduras or to cast anchor by the +town of Belize. + +As the good ship approached her port Kate Bonnet kept steadfastly on +deck during most of the daylight, her eyes searching the surface of the +water for something which looked like her father's ship, the Revenge. +True, Mr. Newcombe had written her that Major Bonnet had given up piracy +and was now engaged in commercial business in the town, but still, if +she should see the Revenge, the sight would be of absorbing interest to +her. She was a girl of quick observation and good memory, but the town +came in view and she had seen no vessel which reminded her of the +Revenge. + +As soon as the anchor was dropped, Kate wished to go on shore, but her +uncle would not hear of that. He must know something definite before he +trusted Kate or himself in such a lawless town as Belize. The captain, +who was going ashore, could make inquiries, and Kate must wait. + +In a little room at the back of a large, low storehouse, not far from +the pier, sat Stede Bonnet and his faithful friend and servitor, Ben +Greenway. The storehouse was crowded with goods of almost every +imaginable description, and even the room back of it contained an +overflow of bales, boxes, and barrels. At a small table near a window +sat the Scotchman and Bonnet, the latter reading from some roughly +written lists descriptions and quantities of goods, the value of each +item being estimated by the canny Scotchman, who set down the figures +upon another list. Presently Bonnet put down his papers and heaved a +heavy sigh, which sigh seemed to harmonize very well with his general +appearance. He carried no longer upon him the countenance of the bold +officer who, in uniform and flowing feather, trod the quarter-deck of +the Revenge, but bore the expression of a man who knew adversity, yet +was not able to humble himself under it. He was bent and borne down, +although not yet broken. Had he been broken he could better have +accommodated himself to his present case. His clothes were those of the +common class of civilian, and there was that about him which indicated +that he cared no more for neatness or good looks. + +"Ben Greenway," he said, "this is too much! Now have I reached the depth +in my sorrow at which all my strength leaves me. I cannot read these +lists." + +The Scotchman looked up. "Is there no' light enow!" he asked. + +"Light!" said Bonnet; "there is no light anywhere; all is murkiness and +gloom. The goods which you have been lately estimating are all my own, +taken from my own ship by that arch traitor and chief devil, Blackbeard. +I have read the names of them to you and I have remembered many of them +and I have not weakened, but now comes a task which is too great for me. +These things which follow were all intended for my daughter Kate. Silks +and satins and cloth of gold, ribbons and fine linen, laces and +ornaments, all these I selected for my dear daughter, and by day and by +night I have thought of her apparelled in fine raiment, more richly +dressed than any lady in Barbadoes. My daughter, my beautiful, my proud +Kate! And now what has it all come to? All these are gone, basely stolen +from me by that Blackbeard." + +Ben Greenway looked up. "Wha stole from ye," he said, "what ye had +already stolen from its rightful owners. An' think ye," he continued, +"that your honest daughter Kate would deign to array hersel' in stolen +goods, no matter how rich they might happen to be! An' think ye she +could hold up her head if the good people o' Bridgetown could point at +her an' say, 'Look at the thief's daughter; how fine she is!' An' think +ye that Mr. Martin Newcombe would tak' into his house an' hame a wife +wha hadna come honestly by her clothes! I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that +ye should exalt your soul in thankfulness that ye are no longer a +dishonest mon, an' that whatever raiment your daughter may now wear, no' +a sleeve or button o' it was purloined an' stolen by her father." + +"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Bonnet, striking his hand upon the table, "you +will drive me so mad that I cannot read writing! These things are bad +enough, and you need not make them worse." + +"Bless Heaven," said the Scotchman, "your conscience is wakin', an' the +time may come, if it is kept workin', when ye will forget your plunder +an' your blude, your wicked vanity, your cruelty an' your dishonesty, +an' mak' yoursel' worthy o' a good daughter an' a quiet hame. An' more +than that, I will tak' leave to add, o' the faithful services o' a +steadfast friend." + +"I cannot forget them, Ben," said Bonnet, speaking without anger. "The +more you talk about my sins the more I long to do them all over again; +the more you say about my vanity and pride, the more I yearn to wear my +uniform and wave my naked sword. Ay, to bring it down with blood upon +its blade. I am very wicked, Greenway; you never would admit it and you +do not admit it now, but I am wicked, and I could prove it to you if +fortune would give me opportunity." And Captain Bonnet sat up very +straight in his chair and his eyes flashed as they very often had +flashed as he trod the deck of the Revenge. + +At this moment there was a knock at the door and the captain of the +Belinda came in. + +"Good-day, sir!" said that burly seaman. "And this is Captain Bonnet, I +am sure, for I have seen him before, though garbed in another fashion, +and I come to bring you news. I have just arrived at this port in my +sloop, and I bring with me from Kingston your daughter, Mistress Kate +Bonnet, her uncle, Mr. Delaplaine, and a good dame named Charter." + +Stede Bonnet turned pale as he had never turned pale before. + +"My daughter!" he gasped. "My daughter Kate?" + +"Yes," said the captain; "she is on my ship, yearning and moaning to see +you." + +"From Kingston?" murmured Bonnet. + +"Yes," said the other, "and on fire to see you since she heard you were +here." + +"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Ben Greenway, rising, "we must hasten to that +vessel; perhaps this good captain will now tak' us there in his boat." + +Bonnet fixed his eyes upon the floor. "Ben Greenway," he said, "I +cannot. How I have longed to see my daughter, and how, time and again +and time and again, I have pictured our meeting! I have seen her throw +herself into the arms of that noble officer, her father; I have heard +her, bathed in filial tears, forgive me everything because of the proud +joy with which she looked on me and knew I was her father. Greenway, I +cannot go; I have dropped too low, and I am ashamed to meet her." + +"Ashamed that ye are honest?" cried the Scotchman. "Ashamed that sin nae +longer besets ye, an' that ye are lifted above the thief an' the +cutpurse! Master Bonnet, Master Bonnet, in good truth I am ashamed o' +ye." + +"Very well," said the captain of the Belinda, "I have no time to waste; +if you will not go to her, she e'en must come to you. I will send my +boat for her and the others, and you shall wait for them here." + +"I will not wait!" exclaimed Bonnet. "I don't dare to look into her +eyes. Behold these clothes, consider my mean employment. Shall I abash +myself before my daughter?" + +"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Greenway, hastily stepping to the doorway +through which the captain had departed, "ye shallna tie yoursel' to the +skirts o' the de'il; ye shallna run awa' an' hide yoursel' from your +daughter wha seeks, in tears an' groans, for her unworthy father. Sit +down, Master Bonnet, an' wait here until your good daughter comes." + +The Belinda's captain had intended to send his boat back to his vessel, +but now he determined to take her himself. This was such a strange +situation that it might need explanation. + +Kate screamed when he made known his errand. "What!" she cried, "my +father in the town, and did he not come back with you? Is he sick? Is he +wounded? Is he in chains?" + +"And my Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "was he not there? Has he not yet +returned to the town? It must now be a long time since he went away." + +"I know not anything more than I have told you," said the captain. "And +if Mr. Delaplaine and the two ladies will get into my boat, I will +quickly take you to the town and show you where you may find Captain +Bonnet and learn all you wish to know." + +"And Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "my son Dickory! Did they give you no +news of him?" + +"Come along, come along," said the captain, "my men are waiting in the +boat. I asked no questions, but in ten minutes you can ask a hundred if +you like." + +When the little party reached the town it attracted a great deal of +attention from the rough roisterers who were strolling about or gambling +in shady places. When the captain of the Belinda mentioned, here and +there, that these newcomers were the family of Blackbeard's factor, who +now had charge of that pirate's interests in the town, no one dared to +treat the elderly gentleman, the pretty young lady, or the rotund dame +with the slightest disrespect. The name of the great pirate was a safe +protection even when he who bore it was leagues and leagues away. + +At the door of the storehouse Ben Greenway stood waiting. He would have +hurried down to the pier had it not been that he was afraid to leave +Bonnet; afraid that this shamefaced ex-pirate would have hurried away to +hide himself from his daughter and his friends. Kate, running forward, +grasped the Scotchman by both hands. + +"And where is he?" she cried. + +"He is in there," said Ben, pointing through the storeroom to the open +door at the back. In an instant she was gone. + +"And Dickory?" cried Dame Charter. "Oh, Ben Greenway, tell me of my +boy." + +They went inside and Greenway told everything he knew, which was very +much, although it was not enough to comfort the poor mother's heart, who +could not readily believe that because Dickory had sailed away with a +great and powerful pirate, that eminent man would be sure to bring him +back in safety; but as Greenway really believed this, his words made +some impression on the good dame's heart. She could see some reason to +believe that Blackbeard, having now so much property in the town, might +make a short cruise this time, and that any day the Revenge, with her +dear son on board, might come sailing into port. + +With his face buried in his folded arms, which rested on the table, +Stede Bonnet received his daughter. At first she did not recognise him, +never having seen him in such mean apparel; but when he raised his head, +she knew her father. Closing the door behind her, she folded him in her +arms. After a little, leaving the window, they sat together upon a bale +of goods, which happened to be a rug from the Orient, of wondrous +richness, which Bonnet had reserved for the floor of his daughter's +room. + +"Never, my dear," he said, "did I dream you would see me in such +plight. I blush that you should look at me." + +"Blush!" she exclaimed, her own cheeks reddening, "and you an honest man +and no longer a freebooter and rover of the sea? My heart swells with +pride to think that your life is so changed." + +Bonnet sadly shook his head. + +"Ah!" he said, "you don't know, you cannot understand what I feel. +Kate," he exclaimed with sudden energy, "I was a man among men; a chief +over many. I was powerful, I was obeyed on every side. I looked the bold +captain that I was; my brave uniform and my sword betokened the rank I +held. And, Kate, you can never know the pride and exultation with which +I stood upon my quarter-deck and scanned the sea, master of all that +might come within my vision. How my heart would swell and my blood run +wild when I beheld in the distance a proud ship, her sails all spread, +her colours flying, heavily laden, hastening onward to her port. How I +would stretch out my arm to that proud ship and say: 'Let down those +sails, drop all those flaunting flags, for you are mine; I am greater +than your captain or your king! If I give the command, down you go to +the bottom with all your people, all your goods, all your banners and +emblazonments, down to the bottom, never to be seen again!'" + +[Illustration: Kate and her father in the warehouse.] + +Kate shuddered and began to cry. "Oh, father!" she exclaimed, "don't +say that. Surely you never did such things as that?" + +"No," said he, speaking more quietly, "not just like that, but I could +have done it all had it pleased me, and it was this sense of power that +made my heart beat so proudly. I took no life, Kate, if it could be +helped, and when I had stripped a ship of her goods, I put her people +upon shore before I burned her." + +Kate bowed her head in her hands. "And of all this you are proud, my +father, you are proud of it!" + +"Indeed am I, daughter," said he; "and had you seen me in my glory you +would have been proud of me. Perhaps yet--" + +In an instant she had clapped her hand over his mouth. "You shall not +say it!" she exclaimed. "I have seized upon you and I shall hold you. No +more freebooter's life for you; no more blood, no more fire. I shall +take you away with me. Not to Bridgetown, for there is no happiness for +either of us there, but to Spanish Town. There, with my uncle, we shall +all be happy together. You will forget the sea and its ships; you will +again wander over your fields, and I shall be with you. You shall watch +the waving crops; you shall ride with me, as you used to ride, to view +your vast herds of cattle--those splendid creatures, their great heads +uplifted, their nostrils to the breeze." + +"Truly, my Kate," said Bonnet, "that was a great sight; there were no +cattle finer on the island than were mine." + +"And so shall they be again, my father," said Kate, her arms around his +neck. + +It was then that Ben Greenway knocked upon the door. + +Stede Bonnet's mind had been so much excited by what he had been talking +about that he saluted his brother-in-law and Dame Charter without once +thinking of his clothes. They looked upon him as if he were some unknown +foreigner, a person entirely removed from their customary sphere. + +"Was this the once respectable Stede Bonnet?" asked Dame Charter to +herself. "Did such a man marry my sister!" thought Mr. Delaplaine. They +might have been surprised had they met him as a pirate, but his +appearance as a pirate's clerk amazed them. + +Towards the end of the day Mr. Delaplaine and his party returned to the +Belinda, for there was no fit place for them to lodge in the town. +Although urged by all, Stede Bonnet would not accompany them. When +persuasion had been exhausted, Ben Greenway promised Kate that he would +be responsible for her father's appearance the next day, feeling safe in +so doing; for, even should Bonnet's shame return, there was no likely +way in which he could avoid his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +WISE MR. DELAPLAINE + + +Early in the next forenoon Kate and her companions prepared to make +another visit to the town. Naturally she wanted to be with her father as +much as possible and to exert upon him such influences as might make him +forget, in a degree, the so-called glories of his pirate life and return +with her and her uncle to Spanish Town, where, she believed, this +misguided man might yet surrender himself to the rural joys of other +days. Nay, more, he and she might hope for still further happiness in a +Jamaica home, for Madam Bonnet would not be there. + +As she came up from below, impatient to depart, Kate noticed, getting +over the side, a gentleman who had just arrived in a small boat. He was +tall and good-looking, and very handsomely attired in a rich suit such +as was worn at that day by French and Spanish noblemen. A sword with an +elaborate hilt was by his side, and on his head a high cocked hat. There +was fine lace at his wrists and bosom, and he wore silk stockings, and +silver buckles on his shoes. + +Kate started at meeting here a stranger, and in such an elaborate +attire. She had read of the rich dress of men of rank in Europe, but her +eyes had never fallen upon such a costume. The gentleman advanced +quickly towards her, holding out his hand. She shrank back. "What did it +mean?" + +Then in a second she saw her father's face. This fine gentleman, this +dignified and graceful man, was indeed Stede Bonnet. + +He had been so thoroughly ashamed of his mean attire on the preceding +day that he had determined not again to meet his daughter and Mr. +Delaplaine in such vulgar guise. So, from the resources of the +storehouses he had drawn forth a superb suit of clothes sent westward +for the governor of one of the French colonies. He excused himself for +taking it from Blackbeard's treasure-house, not only on account of the +demands of the emergency, but because he himself had taken it before +from a merchantman. + +"Father!" cried Kate, "what has happened to you? I never saw such a fine +gentleman." + +Bonnet smiled with complacency, and removed his cocked hat. + +"I always endeavour, my dear," said he, "to dress myself according to my +station. Yesterday, not expecting to see you, I was in a sad plight. I +would have preferred you to meet me in my naval uniform, but as that is +now, to say the least, inconvenient, and as I reside on shore in the +capacity of a merchant or business man, I attire myself to suit my +present condition. Ah! my good brother-in-law, I am glad to see you. I +may remark," he added, graciously shaking hands with Dame Charter, "that +I left my faithful Scotchman in our storehouse in the town, it being +necessary for some one to attend to our possessions there. Otherwise I +should have brought him with me, my good Dame Charter, for I am sure you +would have found his company acceptable. He is a faithful man and an +honest one, although I am bound to say that if he were less of a +Presbyterian and more of a man of the world his conversation might +sometimes be more agreeable." + +Mr. Delaplaine regarded with much earnestness and no little pleasure his +transformed brother-in-law. Hope for the future now filled his heart. If +this crack-brained sugar-planter had really recovered from his mania for +piracy and had a fancy for legitimate business, his new station might be +better for him than any he had yet known. Sugar-planting was all well +enough and suitable to any gentleman, provided Madam Bonnet were not +taken with it. She would drive any man from the paths of reason unless +he possessed an uncommonly strong brain, and he did not believe that +such a brain was possessed by his brother-in-law Bonnet. The good Mr. +Delaplaine rubbed his hands together in his satisfaction. Such a +gentleman as this would be welcome in his counting-house, even if he did +but little; his very appearance would reflect credit upon the +establishment. Dame Charter kept in the background; she had never been +accustomed to associate with the aristocracy, but she did not forget +that a cat may look at a king, and her eyes were very good. + +"There were always little cracks in his skull," she said to herself. "My +husband used to tell me that. Major Bonnet is quick at changing from one +thing to another, and it needs sharp wits to follow him." + +After a time Major Bonnet proposed a row upon the harbour--he had +brought a large boat, with four oarsmen, for this purpose. Mr. +Delaplaine objected a little to this, fearing the presence of so many +pirate vessels, but Bonnet loftily set aside such puerile objections. + +"I am the business representative of the great Blackbeard," he said, +"the most powerful pirate in the world. You are safer here than in any +other port on the American coast." + +When they were out upon the water, moving against the gentle breeze, +Bonnet disclosed the object of his excursion. "I am going to take you," +said he, "to visit some of the noted pirate ships which are anchored in +this harbour. There are vessels here which are quite famous, and +commanded by renowned Brethren of the Coast. I think you will all be +greatly interested in these, and under my convoy you need fear no +danger." + +Dame Charter and Kate screamed in their fright, and Mr. Delaplaine +turned pale. "Visit pirate ships!" he cried. "Rather I would have +supposed that you would keep away from them as far as you could. For +myself, I would have them a hundred miles distant if it were possible." + +Bonnet laughed loftily. "It will be visits of ceremony that we shall +pay, and with all due ceremony shall we be received. Pull out to that +vessel!" he said to the oarsmen. Then, turning to the others, he +remarked: "That sloop is the Dripping Blade, commanded by Captain Sorby, +whose name strikes terror throughout the Spanish Main. Ay! and in other +parts of the ocean, I can assure you, for he has sailed northward nearly +as far as I have, but he has not yet rivalled me. I know him, having +done business with him on shore. He is a most portentous person, as you +will soon see." + +"Oh, father!" cried Kate, "don't take us there; it will kill us just to +look upon such dreadful pirates. I pray you turn the boat!" + +"Oh! if Dickory were here," gasped Dame Charter, "he would turn the boat +himself; he would never allow me to be taken among those awful +wretches." + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing. It was too late to expostulate, but he +trembled as he sat. + +"I cannot turn back, my dear," said Bonnet, "even if I would, for the +great Sorby is now on deck, and looking at us as we approach." + +As the boat drew up by the side of the Dripping Blade the renowned Sorby +looked down over the side. He was a red-headed man; his long hair and +beard dyed yellow in some places by the sun. He was grievous to look +upon, and like to create in the mind of an imaginative person the image +of a sun-burned devil on a holiday. + +"Good-day to you! Good-day, Sir Bonnet," cried the pirate captain; "come +on board, come on board, all of you, wife, daughter, father, if such +they be! We'll let down ladders and I shall feast you finely." + +"Nay, nay, good Captain Sorby," replied Bonnet, with courteous dignity, +"my family and I have just stopped to pay you our respects. They have +all heard of your great prowess, for I have told them. They may never +have a chance again to look upon another of your fame." + +"Heaven grant it!" said Dame Charter in her heart. "If I get out of +this, I stay upon dry land forever." + +"I grieve that my poor ship be not honoured by your ladies," said Sorby, +"but I admit that her decks are scarcely fit for the reception of such +company. It is but to-day that we have found time to cleanse her deck +from the stain and disorder of our last fight, having lately come into +harbour. That was a great fight, Sir Bonnet; we lay low and let the +fellows board us, but not one of them went back again. Ha! ha! Not one +of them went back again, good ladies." + +Every pirate face on board that ill-conditioned sloop now glared over +her rail, their eyes fixed upon the goodly company in the little boat, +their horrid hair and beards stained and matted--it would have been hard +to tell by what. + +"Oh, father, father!" panted Kate, "please row away. What if they should +now jump down upon us?" + +"Good-day, good-day, my brave Captain Sorby," said Bonnet, "we must e'en +row away; we have other craft to visit, but would first do honour to you +and your bold crew." + +Captain Sorby lifted high his great bespattered hat, and every grinning +demon of the crew waved hat or rag or pail or cutlass and set up a +discordant yell in honour of their departing visitors. + +"Oh! go not to another, father," pleaded Kate, her pale face in tears; +"visit no more of them, I pray you!" + +"Ay, truly, keep away from them," said Mr. Delaplaine. "I am no coward, +but I vow to you that I shall die of fright if I come close to another +of those floating hells." + +"And these," said Kate to herself, her eyes fixed out over the sea, +"these are his friends, his companions, the wretches of whom he is so +proud." + +"There are no more vessels like that in port," said Bonnet; "that's the +most celebrated sloop. Those we shall now call upon are commanded by men +of milder mien; some of them you could not tell from plain merchantmen +were you not informed of their illustrious careers." + +"If you go near another pirate ship," cried Dame Charter, "I shall jump +overboard; I cannot help it." + +"Row back to the Belinda, brother-in-law," said Mr. Delaplaine in a +strong, hard voice; "your tour of pleasure is not fit for tender-hearted +women, nor, I grant it, for gentlemen of my station." + +"There are other ships whose captains I know," said Bonnet, "and where +you would have been well received; but if your nerves are not strong +enough for the courtesies I have to offer, we will return to the +Belinda." + +When safe again on board their vessel, after the sudden termination of +their projected tour of calls on pirates, Kate took her father aside and +entered into earnest conversation with him, while Mr. Delaplaine, much +ruffled in his temper, although in general of a most mild disposition, +said aside to Dame Charter: "He is as mad as a March hare. What other +parent on this earth would convey his fair young daughter into the +society of these vile wild beasts, which in his eyes are valiant +heroes? We must get him back with us, Dame Charter, we must get him +back. And if he cannot be constrained by love and goodwill to a decent +and a Christian life, we must shut him up. And if his daughter weeps and +raves, we must e'en stiffen our determination and shut him up. It shall +be my purpose now to hasten the return of the brig. There's room enough +for all, and he and the Scotchman must go back with us. The Governor +shall deal with him; and, whether it be on my estate or behind strong +bars, he shall spend the rest of his days upon the island of Jamaica, +and so know the sea no more." + +He was very much roused, this good merchant, and when he was roused he +was not slow to act. + +The captain of the Belinda was very willing to make a profitable voyage +back to Jamaica, but his vessel must be well laden before he could do +this. Goods enough there were at Belize for that purpose, for +Blackbeard's supplies were all for sale, and his chief clerk, Bonnet, +had the selling of them. So, all parties being like-minded, the Belinda +soon began to take on goods for Kingston. + +Stede Bonnet superintended everything. He was a good man of business, +and knew how to direct people who might be under him. There was a great +stir at the storehouse, and, almost blithely, Ben Greenway worked day +and night to make out invoices and to prepare goods for shipment. + +Bonnet wore no more the clothes in which his daughter had first seen him +after so long and drear a parting. On deck or on shore, in storehouse or +on the streets of Belize, he was the fine gentleman with the silk +stockings and the tall cocked hat. + +One day, a fellow, fresh from his bottle, forgetting the respect which +was due to fine clothes and to Blackbeard's factor, called out to +Bonnet: "What now, Sir Nightcap, how call you that thing you have on +your head?" + +In an instant a sword was whipped from its scabbard and a practised hand +sent its blade through the arm of the jester, who presently fell +backward. Bonnet wiped his sword upon the fellow's sleeve and, advising +him to get up and try to learn some manners, coolly walked away. + +After that fine clothes were not much laughed at in Belize, for even the +most disrespectful ruffians desired not the thrust of a quick blade nor +the ill-will of that most irascible pirate, Blackbeard. + +A few days before it was expected that the Belinda would be ready to +sail Bonnet came on board, his mind full of an important matter. Calling +Mr. Delaplaine and Kate aside, he said: "I have been thinking a great +deal lately about my Scotchman, Ben Greenway. In the first place, he is +greatly needed here, for many of Blackbeard's goods will remain in the +storehouse, and there should be some competent person to take care of +them and to sell them should opportunity offer. Besides that, he is a +great annoyance to me, and I have long been trying to get rid of him. +When I left Bridgetown I had not intended to take him with me, and his +presence on board my ship was a mere accident. Since then he has made +himself very disagreeable." + +"What!" cried Kate, "would you be willing that we should all sail away +and leave poor Ben Greenway in this place by himself among these cruel +pirates?" + +"He'll represent Blackbeard," said Bonnet, "and no one will harm him. +And, moreover, this enforced stay may be of the greatest benefit to him. +He has a good head for business, and he may establish himself here in a +very profitable fashion and go back to Barbadoes, if he so desires, in +comfortable circumstances. All we have to do is to slip our anchor and +sail away at some moment when he is busy in the town. I will leave ample +instructions for him and he shall have money." + +"Father, it would be shameful!" said Kate. + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing; he was too angry to speak, but he made up +his mind that Ben Greenway should be apprised of Bonnet's intentions of +running away from him and that such a wicked design should be thwarted. +This brother-in-law of his was a worse man than he had thought him; he +was capable of being false even to his best friend. He might be mad as a +March hare, but, truly, he was also as sly and crafty as a fox in any +month in the year. + +Wise Mr. Delaplaine! + +The very next morning there came a letter from Stede Bonnet to his +daughter Kate, in which he told her that it was absolutely impossible +for him to return to the humdrum and stupid life of sugar-planting and +cattle-raising. Having tasted the glories of a pirate's career, he could +never again be contented with plain country pursuits. So he was off and +away, the bounding sea beneath him and the brave Jolly Roger floating +over his head. He would not tell his dear daughter where he was gone or +what he intended to do, for she would be happier if she did not know. He +sent her his warmest love, and desired to be most kindly remembered to +her uncle and to Dame Charter. He would make it his business that a +correspondence should be maintained between him and his dear Kate, and +he hoped from time to time to send her presents which would help her to +know how constantly he loved her. He concluded by admitting that what he +had said about Ben Greenway was merely a blind to turn their suspicions +from his intended departure. If his good brother-in-law, out of kindness +to the Scotchman, had brought him to the Belinda and had insisted on +keeping him there, it would have made his, Bonnet's, secret departure a +great deal easier. + +Kate had never fainted in her life, but when she had finished this +letter she went down flat on her back. + +Leaving his niece to the good offices of Dame Charter, Mr. Delaplaine, +breathing hotly, went ashore, accompanied by the captain. When they +reached the storehouse they found it locked, with the key in the custody +of a shop-keeper near-by. They soon heard what had happened to +Blackbeard's business agent. He had gone off in a piratical vessel, +which had sailed for somewhere, in the middle of the night; and, +moreover, it was believed that the Scotchman who worked for him had gone +with him, for he had been seen running towards the water, and afterward +taking his place among the oarsmen in a boat which went out to the +departing vessel. + +"May that unholy vessel be sunk as soon as it reaches the open sea!" was +the deadly desire which came from the heart of Mr. Delaplaine. But the +wish had not formed itself into words before the good merchant recanted. +"I totally forgot that faithful Scotchman," he sighed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS + + +There were jolly times on board the swift ship Revenge as she sped +through the straits of Florida on her way up the Atlantic coast. The +skies were bright, the wind was fair, and the warm waters of the Gulf +Stream helped to carry her bravely on her way. But young Dickory +Charter, with the blood-stained letter of Captain Vince tucked away in +the lining of his coat, ate so little, tossed about so much in his +berth, turned so pale and spoke so seldom, that the bold Captain +Blackbeard declared that he should have some medicine. + +"I shall not let my fine lieutenant suffer for want of drugs," he cried, +"and when I reach Charles Town I shall send ashore a boat and procure +some; and if the citizens disturb or interfere with my brave fellows, +I'll bombard the town. There will be medicine to take on one side or the +other, I swear." And loud and ready were the oaths he swore. + +A pirate who carries with him an intended son-in-law is not likely, if +he be of Blackbeard's turn of mind, to suffer all his family plans to be +ruined for the want of a few drugs. + +When Dickory heard what the captain had to say on this subject his heart +shrank within him. He had never taken medicine and he had never seen +Blackbeard's daughter, but the one seemed to him almost as bad as the +other, and the thought of the cool waves beneath him became more +attractive than ever before. But that thought was quickly banished, for +he had a duty before him, and not until that was performed could he take +leave of this world, once so bright to him. + +An island with palm-trees slowly rose on the horizon, and off this +island it was that, after a good deal of tacking and close-hauling, the +Revenge lay to to take in water. Far better water than that which had +been brought from Belize. + +"Do you want to go ashore in the boat, boy?" said Blackbeard, really +mindful of the health of this projected member of his family. "It may +help your appetite to use your legs." + +Dickory did not care to go anywhere, but he had hardly said so when a +revulsion of feeling came upon him, and turning away so that his face +might not be noticed, he said he thought the land air might do him good. +While the men were at work carrying their pails from the well-known +spring to the water-barrels in the boat, Dickory strolled about to view +the scenery, for it could never have been expected that a first +lieutenant in uniform should help to carry water. At first the scenery +did not appear to be very interesting, and Dickory wandered slowly from +here to there, then sat down under a tree. Presently he rose and went to +another tree, a little farther away from the boat and the men at the +spring. Here he quietly took off his shoes and his stockings, and, +having nothing else to do, made a little bundle of them, listlessly +tying them to his belt; then he rose and walked away somewhat brisker, +but not in the direction of the boat. He did not hurry, but even stopped +sometimes to look at things, but he still walked a little briskly, and +always away from the boat. He had been so used, this child of outdoor +life, to going about the world barefooted, that it was no wonder that he +walked briskly, being relieved of his encumbering shoes and stockings. + +After a time he heard a shout behind him, and turning saw three men of +the boat's crew upon a little eminence, calling to him. Then he moved +more quickly, always away from the boat, and with his head turned he saw +the men running towards him, and their shouts became louder and wilder. +Then he set off on a good run, and presently heard a pistol shot. This +he knew was to frighten him and make him stop, but he ran the faster and +soon turned the corner of a bit of woods. Then he was away at the top of +his speed, making for a jungle of foliage not a quarter of a mile +before him. Shouts he heard, and more shots, but he caught sight of no +pursuers. Urged on even as they were by the fear of returning to the +ship without Dickory, they could not expect to match, in their heavy +boots, the stag-like speed of this barefooted bounder. + +After a time Dickory stopped running, for his path, always straight +away, so far as he could judge, from the landing-place, became very +difficult. In the forest there were streams, sometimes narrow and +sometimes wide, and how deep he knew not, so that now he jumped, now he +walked on fallen trees. Sometimes he crossed water and marsh by swinging +himself from the limbs of one tree to those of another. This was hard +work for a young gentleman in a naval uniform and cocked hat, but it had +to be done; and when the hat was knocked off it was picked up again, +with its feathers dripping. + +Dickory was going somewhere, although he knew not whither, and he had +solemn business to perform which he had sworn to do, and therefore he +must have fit clothes to wear, not only in which to travel but in which +to present himself suitably when he should accomplish his mission. All +these things Dickory thought of, and he picked up his cocked hat +whenever it dropped. He would have been very hungry had he not bethought +himself to fill his pockets with biscuits before he left the vessel. And +as to fresh water, there was no lack of that. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A GIRL WHO LAUGHED + + +It was towards nightfall of the day on which Dickory had escaped from +the pirates at the spring that he found himself on a piece of high +ground in an open place in the forest, and here he determined to spend +the night. With his dirk he cut a quantity of palmetto leaves and made +himself a very comfortable bed, on which he was soon asleep, fearing no +pirates. + +In the morning he rose early from his green couch, ate the few biscuits +which were left in his pockets, and, putting on his shoes and stockings, +started forth upon, what might have been supposed to be, an aimless +tramp. + +But it was not aimless. Dickory had a most wholesome dread of that +indomitable apostle of cruelty and wickedness, the pirate Blackbeard. He +believed that it would be quite possible for that savage being to tie up +his beard in tails, to blacken his face with powder, to hang more +pistols from his belt and around his neck, and swear that the Revenge +should never leave her anchorage until her first lieutenant had been +captured and brought back to her. So he had an aim, and that was to get +away as far as possible from the spot where he had landed on the island. + +He did not believe that his pursuers, if there were any upon his track, +could have travelled in the night, for it had been pitchy black; and, as +he now had a good start of them, he thought he might go so far that they +would give up the search. Then he hoped to be able to keep himself alive +until he was reasonably sure that the Revenge had hoisted anchor and +sailed away, when it was his purpose to make his way back to the spring +and wait for some other vessel which would take him away. + +With his shoes on he travelled more easily, although not so swiftly, and +after an hour of very rough walking he heard a sound which made him stop +instantly and listen. At first he thought it might be the wind in the +trees, but soon his practised ear told him that it was the sound of the +surf upon the beach. Without the slightest hesitation, he made his way +as quickly as possible towards the sound of the sea. + +In less than half an hour he found himself upon a stretch of sand which +extended from the forest to the sea, and upon which the waves were +throwing themselves in long, crested lines. With a cry of joy he ran out +upon the beach, and with outstretched arms he welcomed the sea as if it +had been an old and well-tried friend. + +But Dickory's gratitude and joy had nothing to found itself upon. The +sea might far better have been his enemy than his friend, for if he had +thought about it, the sandy beach would have been the road by which a +portion of the pirate's men would have marched to cut off his flight, or +they would have accomplished the same end in boats. + +But Dickory thought of no enemy and his heart was cheered. He pressed on +along the beach. The walking was so much better now that he made good +progress, and the sun had not reached its zenith when he found himself +on the shore of a small stream which came down from some higher land in +the interior and here poured itself into the sea. He walked some +distance by this stream, in order to get some water which might be free +from brackishness, and then, with very little trouble, he crossed it. +Before him was a knoll of moderate height, and covered with low foliage. +Mounting this, he found that he had an extended view over the interior +of the island. In the background there stretched a wide savanna, and at +the distance of about half a mile he saw, very near a little cluster of +trees, a thin column of smoke. His eyes rounded and he stared and +stared. He now perceived, from behind the leaves, the end of a thatched +roof. + +"People!" Dickory exclaimed, and his heart beat fast with joy. Why his +heart should be joyful he could not have told himself except that there +was no earthly reason to believe that the persons who were making that +fire near that thatched-roof house were pirates. To go to this house, +whatever it might be, to take his chances there instead of remaining +alone in the wide forest, was our young man's instant determination. But +before he started there was something else he thought of. He took off +his coat, and with a bunch of leaves he brushed it. Then he arranged the +plumes of his hat and brushed some mud from them, gave himself a general +shake, and was ready to make a start. All this by a fugitive pursued by +savage pirates on a desert island! But Dickory was a young man, and he +wore the uniform of a naval officer. + +After a brisk walk, which was somewhat longer than he had supposed it +would be, Dickory reached the house behind the trees. At a short +distance burned the fire whose smoke he had seen. Over the fire hung an +iron pot. Oh, blessed pot! A gentle breeze blew from the fire towards +Dickory, and from the heavenly odour which was borne upon it he knew +that something good to eat was cooking in that pot. + +A man came quickly from behind the house. He was tall, with a beard a +little gray, and his scanty attire was of the most nondescript fashion. +With amazement upon his face, he spoke to Dickory in English. + +"What, sir," he cried, "has a man-of-war touched at this island?" + +Dickory could not help smiling, for the man's countenance told him how +he had been utterly astounded, and even stupefied, by the sight of a +gentleman in naval uniform in the interior of that island, an almost +desert region. + +"No man-of-war has touched here," said Dickory, "and I don't belong to +one. I wear these clothes because I am compelled to do so, having no +others. Yesterday afternoon I escaped from some pirates who stopped for +water, and since leaving them I have made my way to this spot." + +The man stepped forth quickly and stretched out his hand. + +"Bless you! Bless you!" he cried. "You are the first human being, other +than my family, that I have seen for two years." + +A little girl now came from behind the house, and when her eyes fell +upon Dickory and his cocked hat she screamed with terror and ran +indoors. A woman appeared at the door, evidently the man's wife. She had +a pleasant face, but her clothes riveted Dickory's attention. It would +be impossible to describe them even if one were gazing upon them. It +will be enough to say that they covered her. Her amazement more than +equalled that of her husband; she stood and stared, but could not speak. + +"From the spring at the end of the island," cried the man, "to this +house since yesterday afternoon! I have always supposed that no one +could get here from the spring by land. I call that way impassable. You +are safe here, sir, I am sure. Pirates would not follow very far through +those forests and morasses; they would be afraid they would never get +back to their ship. But I will find out for certain if you have reason, +sir, to fear pursuit by boat or otherwise." + +And then, stepping around to the other end of the house, he called, +"Lucilla!" + +"You are hungry, sir," said the woman; "presently you shall share our +meal, which is almost cooked." + +Now the man returned. + +"This is not a time for questions, sir," he said, "either from you or +from us. You must eat and you must rest, then we can talk. We shall not +any of us apologize for our appearance, and you will not expect it when +you have heard our story. But I can assure you, sir, that we do not look +nearly so strange to you as you appear to us. Never before, sir, did I +see in this climate, and on shore, a man attired in such fashion." + +Dickory smiled. "I will tell you the tale of it," he said, "when we have +eaten; I admit that I am famished." + +The man was now called away, and when he returned he said to Dickory: +"Fear nothing, sir; your ship is no longer at the anchorage by the +spring. She has sailed away, wisely concluding, I suppose, that pursuit +of you would be folly, and even madness." + +The dinner was an exceedingly plain one, spread upon a rude table under +a tree. The little girl, who had overcome her fear of "the soldier" as +she considered him, made one of the party. + +During the meal Dickory briefly told his story, confining it to a mere +statement of his escape from the pirates. + +"Blackbeard!" exclaimed the man. "Truly you did well to get away from +him, no matter into what forests you plunged or upon what desert island +you lost yourself. At any moment he might have turned upon you and cut +you to pieces to amuse himself. I have heard the most horrible stories +of Blackbeard." + +"He treated me very well," said Dickory, "but I know from his own words +that he reserved me for a most horrible fate." + +"What!" exclaimed the man, "and he told you? He is indeed a demon!" + +"Yes," said Dickory, "he said over and over again that he was going to +take me to England to marry me to his daughter." + +At this the wife could not refrain from a smile. "Matrimony is not +generally considered a horrible fate," said she; "perhaps his daughter +may be a most comely and estimable young person. Girls do not always +resemble their fathers." + +"Do not mention it," exclaimed Dickory, with a shudder; "that was one +reason that I ran away; I preferred any danger from man or beast to that +he was taking me to." + +"He is engaged to be married," thought the woman; "it is easy enough to +see that." + +"Now tell me your story, I pray you," said Dickory. "But first, I would +like very much to know how you found out that Blackbeard's ship was not +at her anchorage?" + +"That's a simple thing," said the man. "Of course you did not observe, +for you could not, that from its eastern point where lies the spring, +this island stretches in a long curve to the south, reaching northward +again about this spot. Consequently, there is a little bay to the east +of us, across which we can see the anchoring ground of such ships as may +stop here for water. Your way around the land curve of the island was a +long one, but the distance straight across the bay is but a few miles. +Upon a hill not far from here there is a very tall tree, which overtops +all the other trees, and to the upper branches of this tree my daughter, +who is a great climber, frequently ascends with a small glass, and is +thus able to report if there is a vessel at the anchorage." + +"What!" exclaimed Dickory, "that little girl?" + +"Oh, no!" said the man; "it is my other daughter, who is a grown young +woman." + +"She is not here now," said the mother. And this piece of unnecessary +information was given in tones which might indicate that the young lady +had stepped around to visit a neighbour. + +"It is important," said the man, "that I should know if vessels have +anchored here, for if they be merchantmen I sometimes do business with +them." + +"Business!" said Dickory. "That sounds extremely odd. Pray tell me how +you came to be here." + +"My name is Mander," said the other, "and about two years ago I was on +my way from England to Barbadoes, where, with my wife and two girls, I +expected to settle. We were captured by a pirate ship and marooned upon +this island. I will say, to the pirate captain's credit, that he was a +good sort of man considering his profession. He sailed across the bay on +purpose to find a suitable place to land us, and he left with us some +necessary articles, such as axes and tools, kitchen utensils, and a gun +with some ammunition. Then he sailed away, leaving us here, and here we +have since lived. Under the circumstances, we have no right to complain, +for had we been taken by an ordinary pirate it is likely that our bones +would now be lying at the bottom of the ocean. + +"Here I have worked hard and have made myself a home, such as it is. +There are wild cattle upon the distant savannas, and I trap game and +birds, cultivate the soil to a certain extent, and if we had clothes I +might say we would be in better circumstances than many a respectable +family in England. Sometimes when a merchantman anchors here and I have +hides or anything else which we can barter for things we need, I row +over the bay in a canoe which I have made, and have thus very much +bettered our condition. But in no case have I been able to provide my +family with suitable clothes." + +"Why did you not get some of these merchant ships to carry you away?" +asked Dickory. + +The man shook his head. "There is no place," he said sadly, "to which I +can in reason ask a ship to carry me and my family. We have no money, no +property whatever. In any other place I would be far poorer than I am +here. My children are not uneducated; my wife and I have done our best +for them in that respect, and we have some books with us. So, as you +see, it would be rash in me to leave a home which, rude as it is, +shelters and supports my family, to go as paupers and strangers to some +other land." + +The wife heaved a sigh. "But poor Lucilla!" she said. "It is dreadful +that she should be forced to grow up here." + +"Lucilla?" asked Dickory. + +"Yes, sir," she said, "my eldest daughter. But she is not here now." + +Dickory thought that it was somewhat odd that he should be again +informed of a fact which he knew very well, but he made no remarks upon +the subject. + +Still wearing his cocked hat--for he had nothing else with which to +shield his head from the sun--and with his uniform coat on, for he had +not yet an opportunity of ripping from it the letter he carried, and +this he would not part from--Dickory roamed about the little settlement. +Mander was an industrious and thrifty man. His garden, his buildings, +and his surroundings showed that. + +Walking past a clump of low bushes, Dickory was startled by a laugh--a +hearty laugh--the laugh of a girl. Looking quickly around, he saw, +peering above the tops of the bushes, the face of the girl who had +laughed. + +"It is too funny!" she said, as his eyes fell upon her. "I never saw +anything so funny in all my life. A man in regimentals in this weather +and upon a desert island. You look as if you had marched faster than +your army, and that you had lost it in the forest." + +Dickory smiled. "You ought not to laugh at me," he said, "for these +clothes are really a great misfortune. If I could change them for +something cool I should be more than delighted." + +"You might take off your heavy coat," said she; "you need not be on +parade here. And instead of that awful hat, I can make you one of long +grass. Do you see the one I have on? Isn't that a good hat? I have one +nearly finished which I am making for my father; you may have that." + +Dickory would most gladly have taken off his coat if, without +observation, he could have transferred his sacred letter to some other +part of his clothes, but he must wait for that. He accepted instantly, +however, the offer of the hat. + +"You seem to know all about me," he said; "did you hear me tell my +story?" + +"Every word of it," said she, "and it is the queerest story I ever +heard. Think of a pirate carrying a man away to marry him to his +daughter!" + +"But why don't you come from behind that bush and talk to me?" + +"I can't do it," said she, "I am dressed funnier than you are. Now I am +going to make your hat." And in an instant she had departed. + +Dickory now strolled on, and when he returned he seated himself in the +shade near the house. The letter of Captain Vince was taken from his +coat-lining and secured in one of his breeches pockets; his heavy coat +and waistcoat lay upon the ground beside him, with the cocked hat placed +upon them. As he leaned back against the tree and inhaled the fragrant +breeze which came to him from the forest, Dickory was a more cheerful +young man than he had been for many, many days. He thought of this +himself, and wondered how a man, carrying with him his sentence of +lifelong misery, could lean against a tree and take pleasure in +anything, be it a hospitable welcome, a sense of freedom from danger, a +fragrant breeze, or the face of a pretty girl behind a bush. But these +things did please him; he could not help it. And when presently came +Mrs. Mander, bringing him a light grass hat fresh from the +manufacturer's hands, he took it and put it on with more evident +pleasure than the occasion seemed to demand. + +"Your daughter is truly an artist," said Dickory. + +"She does many things well," said the mother, "because necessity compels +her and all of us to learn to work in various ways." + +"Can I not thank her?" said Dickory. + +"No," the mother answered, "she is not here now." + +Dickory had begun to hate that self-evident statement. + +"She's looking out for ships; her pride is a little touched that she +missed Blackbeard's vessel yesterday." + +"Perhaps," said Dickory, with a movement as if he would like to make a +step in the direction of some tall tree upon a hill. + +"No," said Mrs. Mander, "I cannot ask you to join my daughter. I am +compelled to state that her dress is not a suitable one in which to +appear before a stranger." + +"Excuse me," said Dickory; "and I beg, madam, that you will convey to +her my thanks for making me such an excellent hat." + +A little later Mander joined Dickory. "I am sorry, sir," said he, "that +I am not able to present you to my daughter Lucilla. It is a great grief +to us that her attire compels her to deny herself other company than +that of her family. I really believe, sir, that it is Lucilla's +deprivations on this island which form at present my principal +discontent with my situation. But we all enjoy good health, we have +enough to eat, and shelter over us, and should not complain." + +As soon as he was at liberty to do so, Dickory walked by the hedge of +low bushes, and there, above it, was the bright face, with the pretty +grass hat. + +"I was waiting for you," said she. "I wanted to see how that hat fitted, +and I think it does nicely. And I wanted to tell you that I have been +looking out for ships, but have not seen one. I don't mean by that that +I want you to go away almost as soon as you have come, but of course, if +a merchant ship should anchor here, it would be dreadful for you not to +know." + +"I am not sure," said Dickory gallantly, "that I am in a hurry for a +ship. It is truly very pleasant here." + +"What makes it pleasant?" said the girl. + +Dickory hesitated for a moment. "The breeze from the forest," said he. + +She laughed. "It is charming," she said, "but there are so many places +where there is just as good a breeze, or perhaps better. How I would +like to go to some one of them! To me this island is lonely and doleful. +Every time I look over the sea for a ship I hope that one will come that +can carry us away." + +"Then," said Dickory, "I wish a ship would come to-morrow and take us +all away together." + +She shook her head. "As my father told you," said she, "we have no place +to go to." + +Dickory thought a good deal about the sad condition of the family of +this worthy marooner. He thought of it even after he had stretched +himself for the night upon the bed of palmetto leaves beneath the tree +against which he had leaned when he wondered how he could be so cheerful +under the shadow of the sad fate which was before him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +LUCILLA'S SHIP + + +As soon as Dickory had left off his cocked hat and his gold-embroidered +coat, the little girl Lena had ceased to be afraid of him, and the next +morning she came to him, seated lonely--for this was a busy +household--and asked him if he would like to take a walk. So, hand in +hand, they wandered away. Presently they entered a path which led +through the woods. + +"This is the way my sister goes to her lookout tree," said the little +girl. "Would you like to see that tree?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Dickory, and he spoke the truth. + +"She goes up to the very top," said Lena, "to look for ships. I would +never do that; I'd rather never see a ship than to climb to the top of +such a tree. I'll show it to you in a minute; we're almost there." + +At a little distance from the rest of the forest and upon a bluff which +overlooked a stretch of lowland, and beyond that the bay, stood a tall +tree with spreading branches and heavy foliage. + +"Up in the top of that is where she sits," said the child, "and spies +out for ships. That's what she's doing now. Don't you see her up there?" + +"Your sister in the tree!" exclaimed Dickory. And his first impulse was +to retire, for it had been made quite plain to him that he was not +expected to present himself to the young lady of the house, should she +be on the ground or in the air. But he did not retire. A voice came to +him from the tree-top, and as he looked upward he saw the same bright +face which had greeted him over the top of the bushes. Below it was a +great bunch of heavy leaves. + +"So you have come to call on me, have you?" said the lady in the tree. +"I am glad to see you, but I'm sorry that I cannot ask you to come +upstairs. I am not receiving." + +"He could not come up if he wanted to," said Lena; "he couldn't climb a +tree like that." + +"And he doesn't want to," cried the nymph of the bay-tree. "I have been +up here all the morning," said she, "looking for ships, but not one have +I seen." + +"Isn't that a tiresome occupation?" asked Dickory. + +"Not altogether," she said. "The branches up here make a very nice seat, +and I nearly always bring a book with me. You will wonder how we get +books, but we had a few with us when we were marooned, and since that my +father has always asked for books when he has an opportunity of trading +off his hides. But I have read them all over and over again, and if it +were not for the ships which I expect to come here and anchor, I am +afraid I should grow melancholy." + +"What sort of ships do you look for?" asked Dickory, who was gazing +upward with so much interest that he felt a little pain in the back of +his neck, and who could not help thinking of a framed engraving which +hung in his mother's little parlour, and which represented some angels +composed of nothing but heads and wings. He saw no wings under the head +of the charming young creature in the tree, but there was no reason +which he could perceive why she should not be an angel marooned upon a +West Indian island. + +"There are a great many of them," said she, "and they're all alike in +one way--they never come. But there's one of them in particular which I +look for and look for and look for, and which I believe that some day I +shall really see. I have thought about that ship so often and I have +dreamed about it so often that I almost know it must come." + +"Is it an English ship?" asked Dickory, speaking with some effort, for +he found that the girl's voice came down much more readily than his +went up. + +"I don't know," said she, "but I suppose it must be, for otherwise I +should not understand what the people on board should say to me. It is a +large ship, strong and able to defend itself against any pirates. It is +laden with all sorts of useful and valuable things, and among these are +a great many trunks and boxes filled with different kinds of clothes. +Also, there's a great deal of money kept in a box by itself, and is in +charge of an agent who is bringing it out to my father, supposing him to +be now settled in Barbadoes. This money is generally a legacy for my +father from a distant relative who has recently died. On this ship there +are so many delightful things that I cannot even begin to mention them." + +"And where is it going to?" asked Dickory. + +"That I don't know exactly. Sometimes I think that it is going to the +island of Barbadoes, where we originally intended to settle; but then I +imagine that there is some pleasanter place than Barbadoes, and if +that's the case the ship is going there." + +"There can be no pleasanter place than Barbadoes," cried Dickory. "I +come from that island, where I was born; there is no land more lovely in +all the West Indies." + +"You come from Barbadoes?" cried the girl, "and it really is a pleasant +island?" + +"Most truly it is," said he, "and the great dream of my life is to get +back there." Then he stopped. Was it really the dream of his life to get +back there? That would depend upon several things. + +"If, then, you tell me the truth, my ship is bound for Barbadoes. And if +she should go, would you like to go there with us?" + +Dickory hesitated. "Not directly," said he. "I would first touch at +Jamaica." + +For some moments there was no answer from the tree-top, and then came +the question: "Is it a girl who lives there?" + +"Yes," said Dickory unguardedly, "but also I have a mother in Jamaica." + +"Indeed," said she, "a mother! Well, we might stop there and take the +mother with us to Barbadoes. Would the girl want to go too?" + +Dickory bent his head. "Alas!" said he, "I do not know." + +Then spoke the little Lena. "I would not bother about any particular +place to go to," said she. "I'd be so glad to go anywhere that isn't +here. But it is not a real ship, you know." + +"I don't think I will take you," called down Lucilla. "I don't want too +many passengers, especially women I don't know. But I often think there +will be a gentleman passenger--one who really wants to go to Barbadoes +and nowhere else. Sometimes he is one kind of a gentleman and sometimes +another, but he is never a soldier or a sailor, but rather one who +loves to stay at home. And now, sir, I think I must take my glass and +try to pick out a ship from among the spots on the far distant waves." + +"Come on," said Lena, "do you like to fish! Because if you do, I can +take you to a good place." + +The rest of the day Dickory spent with Mr. Mander and his wife, who were +intelligent and pleasant people. They talked of their travels, their +misfortunes and their blessings, and Dickory yearned to pour out his +soul to them, but he could not do so. His woes did not belong to himself +alone; they were not for the ears of strangers. He made up his mind what +he would do. Until the morrow he would stay as a visitor with these most +hospitable people, then he would ask for work. He would collect +firewood, he would hunt, he would fish, he would do anything. And here +he would support himself until there came some merchant ship bound +southward which would carry him away. If the Mander family were anyway +embarrassed or annoyed by his presence here, he would make a camp at a +little distance and live there by himself. Perhaps the lady of the tree +would kindly send him word if the ship he was looking for should come. + +It was about the middle of the afternoon, and Lena had dropped asleep +beneath the tree where Dickory and her parents were conversing, when +suddenly there rushed upon the little group a most surprising figure. +At the first flash of thought Dickory supposed that a boy from the skies +had dropped among them, but in an instant he recognised the face he had +seen above the bushes. It was Lucilla, the daughter of the house! Upon +her head was a little straw hat, and she wore a loose tunic and a pair +of sailor's trousers, which had been cut off and were short enough to +show that her feet and ankles were bare. Around her waist she had a belt +of skins, from which dangled a string of crimson sea-beans. Her eyes +were wide open, her face was pale, and she was trembling with +excitement. + +"What do you think!" she cried, not caring who was there or who might +look at her. "There's a ship at the spring, and there's a boat rowing +across the bay. A boat with four men in it!" + +All started to their feet. + +"A boat," cried Mander, "with four men in it? Run, my dear, to the cave; +press into its depths as far as you can. There is nothing there to be +afraid of, and no matter how frightened you are, press into its most +distant depths. You, sir, will remain with me, or would you rather +escape? If it is a pirate ship, it may be Blackbeard who has returned." + +"Not so," cried Lucilla, "it is a merchant vessel, and they are making +straight for the mouth of our stream." + +"I will stay here with you," said Dickory, "and stand by you, unless I +may help your family seek the cave you speak of." + +"No, no," said Mander, "they don't need you, and if you will do so we +will go down to the beach and meet these men; that will be better than +to have them search for us. They will know that people live here, for my +canoe is drawn up on the beach." + +"Is this safe?" cried Dickory; "would it not be better for you to go +with your family and hide with them? I will meet the men in the boat." + +"No, no," said Mander; "if their vessel is no pirate, I do not fear +them. But I will not have them here." + +Now, after Mander had embraced his family, they hurried away in tears, +the girl Lucilla casting not one glance at Dickory. Impressed by the +impulse that it was the proper thing to do, Dickory put on his coat and +waistcoat and clapped upon his head his high cocked hat. Then he rapidly +followed Mander to the beach, which they reached before the boat touched +the sand. + +When the man in the stern of the boat, which was now almost within +hailing distance, saw the two figures run down upon the beach, he spoke +to the oarsmen and they all stopped and looked around. The stop was +occasioned by the sight of Dickory in his uniform; and this, under the +circumstances, was enough to stop any boat's crew. Then they fell to +again and pulled ashore. When the boat was beached one of its occupants, +a roughly dressed man, sprang ashore and walked cautiously towards +Mander; then he gave a great shout. + +"Heigho, heigho!" he cried, "and Mander, this is you!" + +Then there was great hand-shaking and many words. + +"Excuse me, sir," said the man, raising his hat to Dickory, "it is now +more than two years since I have seen my friend here, when he was +marooned by pirates. We were all on the same merchantman, but the pirate +took me along, being short of hands. I got away at last, sir" (all the +time addressing Dickory instead of Mander, this being respect to his +rank), "and shipping on board that brig, sir, I begged it of the captain +that he would drop anchor here and take in water, although I cannot say +it was needed, and give me a chance to land and see if my old friend be +yet alive. I knew the spot, having well noted it when Mander and his +family were marooned." + +"And this is Lucilla's ship," said Dickory to himself. But to the sailor +he said: "This is a great day for your friend and his family. But you +must not lift your hat to me, for I am no officer." + +For a long time, at least it seemed so to Dickory, who wanted to run to +the cave and tell the good news, they all stood together on the sands +and talked and shook hands and laughed and were truly thankful, the men +who had come in the boat as much so as those who were found on the +island. It was agreed, and there was no discussion on this point, that +the Mander family should be carried away in the brig, which was an +English vessel bound for Jamaica, but the happy Mander would not ask any +of the boat's crew to visit him at his home. Instead, he besought them +to return to their vessel and bring back some clothes for women, if any +such should be included in her cargo. + +"My family," said he, "are not in fit condition to venture themselves +among well-clad people. They are, indeed, more like savages than am I +myself." + +"I doubt," said Mander's friend, "if the ship carries goods of that +description, but perhaps the captain might let you have a bale of cotton +cloth, although I suppose--" and here he looked a little embarrassed. + +"Oh, we can buy it," cried Dickory, taking some pieces of gold from his +pocket, being coin with which Blackbeard had furnished him, swearing +that his first lieutenant could not feel like a true officer without +money in his pocket; "take this and fetch the cloth if nothing better +can be had." + +"Thank you," cried Mander; "my wife and daughters can soon fashion it +into shape." + +"And," added Dickory, reflecting a little and remembering the general +hues of Lucilla's face, "if there be choice in colours, let the cloth be +pink." + +When Mander and Dickory reached the house they did not stop, but hurried +on towards the cave, both of them together, for each thought only of the +great joy they were taking with them. + +"Come out! Come out!" shouted Mander, as he ran, and before they reached +the cave its shuddering inmates had hurried into the light. When the +cries and the tears and the embraces were over, Lucilla first looked at +Dickory. She started, her face flushed, and she was about to draw back; +then she stopped, and advancing held out her hand. + +"It cannot be helped," she said; "anyway, you have seen me before, and I +suppose it doesn't matter. I'm a sailor boy, and have to own up to it. I +did hope you would think of me as a young lady, but we are all so happy +now that that doesn't matter. Oh, father!" she cried, "it can't be; we +are not fit to be saved; we must perish here in our wretched rags." + +"Not so," cried Dickory, with a bow; "I've already bought you a gown, +and I hope it is pink." + +As they all hurried away, the tale of the hoped-for clothes was told; +and although Mrs. Mander wondered how gowns were to be made while a +merchantman waited, she said nothing of her doubts, and they all ran +gleefully. Lucilla and Dickory being the fleetest led the others, and +Dickory said: "Now that I have seen you thus, I shall be almost sorry if +that ship can furnish you with common clothes, what you wear becomes you +so." + +"Oho!" cried Lucilla, "that's fine flattery, sir; but I am glad you said +it, for that speech has made me feel more like a woman than I have felt +since I first put on this sailor's toggery." + +In the afternoon the boat returned, Mander and Dickory watching on the +beach. When it grounded, Davids, Mander's friend, jumped on shore, +bearing in his arms a pile of great coarse sacks. These he threw upon +the sand and, handing to Dickory the gold pieces he had given him, said: +"The captain sends word that he has no time to look over any goods to +give or to sell, but he sends these sacks, out of which the women can +fashion themselves gowns, and so come aboard. Then the ship shall be +searched for stuffs which will suit their purposes and which they can +make at their leisure." + +It was towards the close of the afternoon that all of the Mander family +and Dickory came down to the boat which was waiting for them. + +"Do you know," said Dickory, as he and Lucilla stood together on the +sand, "that in that gown of gray, with the white sleeves, and the red +cord around your waist, you please me better than even you did when you +wore your sailor garb?" + +"And what matters it, sir, whether I please you or not?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +CAPTAIN ICHABOD + + +Kate Bonnet was indeed in a sad case. She had sailed from Kingston with +high hopes and a gay heart, and before she left she had written to +Master Martin Newcombe to express her joy that her father had given up +his unlawful calling and to say how she was going to sail after him, +fold him in her forgiving arms, and bring him back to Jamaica, where she +and her uncle would see to it that his past sins were forgiven on +account of his irresponsible mind, and where, for the rest of his life, +he would tread the paths of peace and probity. In this letter she had +not yielded to the earnest entreaty which was really the object and soul +of Master Newcombe's epistle. Many kind things she said to so kind a +friend, but to his offer to make her the queen of his life she made no +answer. She knew she was his very queen, but she would not yet consent +to be invested with the royal robes and with the crown. + +And when she had reached Belize, how proudly happy she had been! She +had seen her father, no longer an outlaw, honest though in mean +condition, earning his bread by honourable labour. Then, with a still +greater pride, she had seen him clad as a noble gentleman and bearing +himself with dignity and high complacence. What a figure he would have +made among the fine folks who were her uncle's friends in Kingston and +in Spanish Town! + +But all this was over now. With his own hand he had told her that once +again she was a pirate's daughter. She went below to her cabin, where, +with wet cheeks, Dame Charter attended her. + +Mr. Delaplaine was angry, intensely angry. Such a shameful, wicked trick +had never before been played upon a loving daughter. There were no words +in which to express his most justifiable wrath. Again he went to the +town to learn more, but there was nothing more to learn except that some +people said they had reason to believe that Bonnet had gone to follow +Blackbeard. From things they had heard they supposed that the vessel +which had sailed away in the night had gone to offer herself as consort +to the Revenge; to rob and burn in the company of that notorious ship. + +There was no satisfaction in this news for the heart of the good +merchant, and when he returned to the brig and sought his niece's cabin +he had no words with which to cheer her. All he could do was to tell her +the little he had learned and to listen to her supplications. + +"Oh, uncle," she exclaimed, "we must follow him, we must take him, we +must hold him! I care not where he is, even if it be in the company of +the dreadful Blackbeard! We must take him, we must hold him, and this +time we must carry him away, no matter whether he will or not. I believe +there must be some spark of feeling, even in the heart of a bloody +pirate, which will make him understand a daughter's love for her father, +and he will let me have mine. Oh, uncle! we were very wrong. When he was +here with us we should have taken him then; we should have shut him up; +we should have sailed with him to Kingston." + +All this was very depressing to the soul of Kate's loving uncle, for how +was he to sail after her father and take him and hold him and carry him +away? He went away to talk to the captain of the Belinda, but that tall +seaman shook his head. His vessel was not ready yet to sail, being much +delayed by the flight of Bonnet. And, moreover, he vowed that, although +he was as bold a seaman as any, he would never consent to set out upon +such an errand as the following of Blackbeard. It was terrifying enough +to be in the same bay with him, even though he were engaged in business +with the pirate, for no one knew what strange freak might at any time +suggest itself to the soul of that most bloody roisterer; but as to +following him, it was like walking into an alligator's jaws. He would +take his passengers back to Kingston, but he could not sail upon any +wild cruises, nor could he leave Belize immediately. + +But Kate took no notice of all this when her uncle had told it to her. +She did not wish to go back to Jamaica; she did not wish to wait at +Belize. It was the clamorous longing of her heart to go after her father +and to find him wherever he might be, and she did not care to consider +anything else. + +Dame Charter added also her supplications. Her boy was with Blackbeard, +and she wished to follow the pirate's ship. Even if she should never see +Major Bonnet--whom she loathed and despised, though never saying so--she +would find her Dickory. She, too, believed that there must be some spark +of feeling even in a bloody pirate's heart which would make him +understand the love of a mother for her son, and he would let her have +her boy. + +Mr. Delaplaine sat brooding on the deck. The righteous anger kindled by +the conduct of his brother-in-law, and his grief for the poor stricken +women, sobbing in the cabin, combined together to throw him into the +most dolorous state of mind, which was aggravated by the knowledge that +he could do nothing except to wait until the Belinda sailed back to +Jamaica and to go to Jamaica in her. + +As the unhappy merchant sat thus, his face buried in his hands, a small +boat came alongside and a passenger mounted to the deck. This person, +after asking a few questions, approached Mr. Delaplaine. + +"I have come, sir, to see you," he said. "I am Captain Ichabod of the +sloop Restless." + +Mr. Delaplaine looked up in surprise. "That is a pirate ship," said he. + +"Yes," said the other, "I'm a pirate." + +The newcomer was a tall young man, with long dark hair and with +well-made features and a certain diffidence in his manner which did not +befit his calling. + +Mr. Delaplaine rose. This was his first private interview with a +professional sea-robber, and he did not know exactly how to demean +himself; but as his visitor's manner was quiet, and as he came on board +alone, it was not to be supposed that his intentions were offensive. + +"And you wish to see me, sir?" said he. + +"Yes," said Captain Ichabod, "I thought I'd come over and talk to you. I +don't know you, bedad, but I know all about you, and I saw you and your +family when you came to town to visit that old fox, bedad, that +sugar-planter that Captain Blackbeard used to call Sir Nightcap. Not a +bad joke, either, bedad. I have heard of a good many dirty, mean things +that people in my line of business have done, but, bedad, I never did +hear of any captain who was dirty and mean to his own family. Fine +people, too, who came out to do the right thing by him, after he had +been cleaned out, bedad, by one of his 'Brothers of the Coast.' A rare +sort of brother, bedad, don't you say so?" + +"You are right, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "in what you say of the wild +conduct of my brother-in-law Bonnet. It pleases me, sir, to know that +you condemn it." + +"Condemn! I should say so, bedad," answered Captain Ichabod; "and I came +over here to say to you--that is, just to mention, not knowing, of +course, what you'd think about it, bedad--that I'm goin' to start on a +cruise to-morrow. That is, as soon as I can get in my water and some +stores, bedad--water anyway. And if you and your ladies might happen to +fancy it, bedad, I'd be glad to take you along. I've heard that you're +in a bad case here, the captain of this brig being unable or quite +unwilling to take you where you want to go." + +"But where are you going, sir?" in great surprise. + +"Anywhere," said Captain Ichabod, "anywhere you'd like to go. I'm +starting out on a cruise, and a cruise with me means anywhere. And my +opinion is, sir, that if you want to come up with that crack-brained +sugar-planter, you'd better follow Blackbeard; and the best place to +find him will be on the Carolina coast; that's his favourite +hunting-ground, bedad, and I expect the sugar-planter is with him by +this time." + +"But will not that be dangerous, sir?" asked Mr. Delaplaine. + +"Oh, no," said the other. "I know Blackbeard, and we have played many a +game together. You and your family need not have anything to do with it. +I'll board the Revenge, and you may wager, bedad, that I'll bring Sir +Nightcap back to you by the ear." + +"But there's another," said Delaplaine; "there's a young man belonging +to my party--" + +"Oh, yes, I know," said the other, "the young fellow Blackbeard took +away with him. Clapped a cocked hat on him, bedad! That was a good joke! +I will bring him too. One old man, one young man--I'll fetch 'em both. +Then I'll take you all where you want to go to. That is, as near as I +can get to it, bedad. Now, you tell your ladies about this, and I'll +have my sloop cleaned up a bit, and as soon as I can get my water on +board I'm ready to hoist anchor." + +"But look you, sir," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, "this is a very important +matter, and cannot be decided so quickly." + +"Oh, don't mention it, don't mention it," said Captain Ichabod; "just +you tell your ladies all about it, and I'll be ready to sail almost any +time to-morrow." + +"But, sir--" cried the merchant. + +"Very good," said the pirate captain, "you talk it over. I'm going to +the town now and I'll row out to you this afternoon and get your +instructions." + +And with this he got over the side. + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing of this visit, but waited on deck until the +captain came on board, and then many were the questions he asked about +the pirate Ichabod. + +"Well, well!" the captain exclaimed, "that's just like him; he's a rare +one. Ichabod is not his name, of course, and I'm told he belongs to a +good English family--a younger son, and having taken his inheritance, he +invested it in a sloop and turned pirate. He has had some pretty good +fortune, I hear, in that line, but it hasn't profited him much, for he +is a terrible gambler, and all that he makes by his prizes he loses at +cards, so he is nearly always poor. Blackbeard sometimes helps him, so I +have heard--which he ought to do, for the old pirate has won bags of +money from him--but he is known as a good fellow, and to be trusted. I +have heard of his sailing a long way back to Belize to pay a gambling +debt he owed, he having captured a merchantman in the meantime." + +"Very honourable, indeed," remarked Mr. Delaplaine. + +"As pirates go, a white crow," said the other. "Now, sir, if you and +your ladies want to go to Blackbeard, and a rare desire is that, I +swear, you cannot do better than let Captain Ichabod take you. You will +be safe, I am sure of that, and there is every reason to think he will +find his man." + +When Mr. Delaplaine went below with his extraordinary news, Dame Charter +turned pale and screamed. + +"Sail in a pirate ship?" she cried. "I've seen the men belonging to one +of them, and as to going on board and sailing with them, I'd rather die +just where I am." + +To the good Dame's astonishment and that of Mr. Delaplaine, Kate spoke +up very promptly. "But you cannot die here, Dame Charter; and if you +ever want to see your son again you have got to go to him. Which is also +the case with me and my father. And, as there is no other way for us to +go, I say, let us accept this man's offer if he be what my uncle thinks +he is. After all, it might be as safe for us on board his ship as to be +on a merchantman and be captured by pirates, which would be likely +enough in those regions where we are obliged to go; and so I say let us +see the man, and if he don't frighten us too much let us sail with him +and get my father and Dickory." + +"It would be a terrible danger, a terrible danger," said Mr. Delaplaine. + +"But, uncle," urged Kate, "everything is a terrible danger in the search +we're upon; let us then choose a danger that we know something about, +and which may serve our needs, rather than one of which we're ignorant +and which cannot possibly be of any good to us." + +It was actually the fact that the little party in the cabin had not +finished talking over this most momentous subject before they were +informed that Captain Ichabod was on deck. Up they went, Dame Charter +ready to faint. But she did not do so. When she saw the visitor she +thought it could not be the pirate captain, but some one whom he had +sent in his place. He was more soberly dressed than when he first came +on board, and his manners were even milder. The mind of Kate Bonnet was +so worked up by the trouble that had come upon her that she felt very +much as she did when she hung over the side of her father's vessel at +Bridgetown, ready to drop into the darkness and the water when the +signal should sound. She had an object now, as she had had then, and +again she must risk everything. On her second look at Captain Ichabod, +which embarrassed him very much, she was ready to trust him. + +"Dame Charter," she whispered, "we must do it or never see them again." + +So, when they had talked about it for a quarter of an hour, it was +agreed that they would sail with Captain Ichabod. + +When the sloop Restless made ready to sail the next day there was a +fine flurry in the harbour. Nothing of the kind had ever before happened +there. Two ladies and a most respectable old gentleman sailing away +under the skull and cross-bones! That was altogether new in the +Caribbean Sea. To those who talked to him about his quixotic expedition, +Captain Ichabod swore--and at times, as many men knew, he was a great +hand at being in earnest--that if he carried not his passengers through +their troubles and to a place of safety, the Restless, and all on board +of her, should mount to the skies in a thousand bits. Although this +alternative would not have been very comforting to said passengers if +they had known of it, it came from Captain Ichabod's heart, and showed +what sort of a man he was. + +Old Captain Sorby came to the Restless in a boat, and having previously +washed one hand, came on board and bade them all good-bye with great +earnestness. + +"You will catch him," said he to Kate, "and my advice to you is, when +you get him, hang him. That's the only way to keep him out of mischief. +But as you are his daughter, you may not like to string him up, so I say +put irons on him. If you don't he'll be playin' you some other wild +trick. He is not fit for a pirate, anyway, and he ought to be taken back +to his calves and his chickens." + +Kate did not resent this language; she even smiled, a little sadly. She +had a great work before her, and she could not mind trifles. + +None of the other pirates came on board, for they were afraid of Sorby, +and when that great man had made the round of the decks and had given +Captain Ichabod some bits of advice, he got down into his boat. The +anchor was weighed, the sails hoisted, and, amid shouts and cheers from +a dozen small boats containing some of the most terrible and bloody +sea-robbers who had ever infested the face of the waters, the Restless +sailed away: the only pirate ship which had, perhaps, ever left port +followed by blessings and goodwill; goodwill, although the words which +expressed it were curses and the men who waved their hats were +blasphemers and cut-throats. + +Away sailed our gentle and most respectable party, with the Jolly Roger +floating boldly high above them. Kate, looking skyward, noticed this and +took courage to bewail the fact to Captain Ichabod. + +He smiled. "While we're in sight of my Brethren of the Coast," he said, +"our skull and bones must wave, but when we're well out at sea we will +run up an English flag, if it please you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +DAME CHARTER MAKES A FRIEND + + +Captain Ichabod was in high feather. He whistled, he sang, and he kept +his men cleaning things. All that he could do for the comfort of his +passengers he did, even going so far as to drop as many of his "bedads" +as possible. Whenever he had an opportunity, and these came frequently, +he talked to Mr. Delaplaine, addressing a word or two to Kate if he +thought she looked gracious. For the first day or two Dame Charter kept +below. She was afraid of the men, and did not even want to look at them +if she could help it. + +"But the good woman's all wrong," said Captain Ichabod to Mr. +Delaplaine; "my men would not hurt her. They're not the most tremendous +kind of pirates, anyway, for I could not afford that sort. I have often +thought that I could make more profitable voyages if I had a savager lot +of men. I'll tell you, sir, we once tried to board a big Spanish +galleon, and the beastly foreigners beat us off, bedad, and we had a +hard time of it gettin' away. There are three or four good fellows in +the crew, tough old rascals who came with the sloop when I bought her, +but most of my men are but poor knaves, and not to be afraid of." + +This comfort Mr. Delaplaine kept to himself, and on the second day out, +the food which was served to them being most wretchedly cooked, Dame +Charter ventured into the galley to see if she could do anything in the +way of improvement. + +"I think you may eat this," she said, when she returned to Kate, "but I +don't think that anything on board is fit for you. When I went to the +kitchen, I came near dropping dead right in the doorway; that cook, +Mistress Kate, is the most terrible creature of all the pirates that +ever were born. His eyes are blistering green and his beard is all +twisted into points, with the ends stuck fast with blood, which has +never been washed off. He roars like a lion, with shining teeth, but he +speaks very fair, Mistress Kate; you would be amazed to hear how fair he +speaks. He told me, and every word he said set my teeth on edge with its +grating, that he wanted to know how I liked the meals cooked; that he +would do it right if there were things on board to do it with. Which +there are not, Mistress Kate. And when he was beatin' up that batter for +me and I asked him if he was not tired workin' so hard, he pulled up +his sleeve and showed me his arm, which was like a horse's leg, all +covered with hair, and asked me if I thought it was likely he could tear +himself with a spoon. I'm sure he would give us better food if he could, +for he leaned over and whispered to me, like a gust of wind coming in +through the door, that the captain was in a very hard case, having +lately lost everything he had at the gaming-table, and therefore had not +the money to store the ship as he would have done." + +"Oh, don't talk about that, Dame Charter," said Kate; "if we can get +enough to eat, no matter what it is, we must be satisfied and think only +of our great joy in sailing to my father and to your Dickory." + +That afternoon Captain Ichabod found Kate by herself on deck, and he +made bold to sit down by her; and before he knew what he was about, he +was telling her his whole story. She listened carefully to what he said. +He touched but lightly upon his wickednesses, although they were plain +enough to any listener of sense, and bemoaned his fearful passion for +gaming, which was sure to bring him to misery one day or another. + +"When I have staked my vessel and have lost it," said he, "then there +will be an end of me." + +"But why don't you sell your vessel before you lose it," said Kate, "and +become a farmer?" + +His eyes brightened. "I never thought of that," said he. "Bedad--excuse +me, Miss--some day when I've got a little together and can pay my men +I'll sell this sloop and buy a farm, bedad--I beg your pardon, +Miss--I'll buy a farm." + +Kate smiled, but it was easy to see that Captain Ichabod was in earnest. + +The next day Captain Ichabod came to Mr. Delaplaine and took him to one +side. "I want to speak to you," he said, "about a bit of business." + +"You may have noticed, sir, that we are somewhat short of provisions, +and the way of it is this. The night before we sailed, hoping to make a +bold stroke at the card-table and thereby fit out my vessel in a manner +suitable to the entertainment of a gentleman and ladies, I lost every +penny I had. I did hope that our provisions would last us a few days +longer, but I am disappointed, sir. That cook of mine, who is a +soft-hearted fellow, his neck always ready for the heel of a woman, has +thrown overboard even the few stores we had left for you, the good Dame +Charter having told him they were not fit to eat. And more, sir, even my +men are grumbling. So I thought I would speak to you and explain that it +would be necessary for us to overhaul a merchantman and replenish our +food supply. It can be done very quietly, sir, and I don't think that +even the ladies need be disturbed." + +Mr. Delaplaine stared in amazement. "Do you mean to say," he exclaimed, +"that you want me to consent to your committing piracy for our benefit?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the captain, "that's what I suppose you would call +it; but that's my business." + +"Now, sir, I wish you to know that I am a Christian and a gentleman," +said Mr. Delaplaine. + +"That's all very true, bedad," said Captain Ichabod, "but you're also +another thing; you're a human being, and you must eat." + +"This is terrible," exclaimed the merchant, "that at my time of life I +should consent to a felony at sea, and to profit by it. I cannot bear to +think of the wickedness and the disgrace of it." + +"Most respected sir," said Ichabod, "if the fellows behave themselves +properly and don't offer to fight us, then there'll be no wickedness, +bedad. I can make a good enough show of men to frighten any ordinary +merchant crew so that not a blow need be struck. And that is what I +expect to do, sir. I would not have any disturbance before ladies, you +may be sure of that, bedad. We bear down upon a vessel; we order her to +surrender; we take what we want, and we let her go. Truly, there's no +wickedness in that! And as for the disgrace, we can all better bear that +than starve." + +Mr. Delaplaine looked at the pirate without a word. He could not +comprehend how a man with such a frank and honest face could thus avow +his dishonest principles. But as he gazed and wondered the thought of a +scheme flashed across the mind of the merchant, a thoroughly +business-like scheme. This bold young pirate captain might seize upon +such supplies as they were in need of, but he, Felix Delaplaine, of +Spanish Town, Jamaica, would pay for them. Thus might their necessities +be relieved and their consciences kept clean. But he said nothing of +this to Ichabod; the pirate might deem such a proceeding unprofessional +and interpose some objection. Payment would be the merchant's part of +the business, and he would attend to it himself. A look of resignation +now came over Mr. Delaplaine's face. + +"Captain," said he, "I must yield to your reason; it is absolutely +necessary that we shall not starve." + +Ichabod's face shone and he held out his hand. "Bedad, sir," he cried, +"I honour you as a bold gentleman and a kind one. I will instantly lay +my course somewhat to the eastward, and I promise you, sir, it will not +be long before we run across some of these merchant fellows. I beg you, +sir, speak to your ladies and tell them that there will be no unpleasant +commotion; we may draw our swords and make a fierce show, but, bedad, I +don't believe there'll be any fighting. We shall want so little--for I +would not attempt to take a regular prize with ladies on board--that +the fellows will surely deliver what we demand, the quicker to make an +end of it." + +"If you are perfectly sure," said Mr. Delaplaine, "that you can restrain +your men from violence, I would like to be a member of your boarding +party; it would be a rare experience for me." + +Now Captain Ichabod fairly shouted with delight. + +"Bravo! Bravo!" he exclaimed; "I didn't dream, sir, that you were a man +of such a noble spirit. You shall go with us, sir. Your presence will +aid greatly in making our hoped-for capture a most orderly affair; no +one can look upon you, bedad, without knowing that you are a high-minded +and honourable man, and would not take a box or case from any one if you +did not need it. Now, sir, we shall put about, and by good fortune we +may soon sight a merchantman. Even if it be but a coastwise trader, it +may serve our purpose." + +Mr. Delaplaine, with something of a smile upon his sedate face, hurried +to Kate, who was upon the quarter-deck. + +"My dear, we are about to introduce a little variety into our dull +lives. As soon as we can overhaul a merchantman we shall commit a +piracy. But don't turn pale; I have arranged it all." + +"You!" exclaimed the wide-eyed Kate. + +"Yes," said her uncle, and he told his tale. + +"And remember this, my dear," he added; "if we cannot pay, we do not +eat. I shall be as relentless as the bloody Blackbeard; if they take not +my money, I shall swear to Ichabod that we touch not their goods." + +"And are you sure," she said, "that there will be no bloodshed?" + +"I vouch for that," said he, "for I shall lead the boarding party." + +She took him by both hands. "Why," she said, "it need be no more than +laying in goods from a store-house; and I cannot but be glad, dear +uncle, for I am so very, very hungry." + +Now Dame Charter came running and puffing. "Do you know," she cried, +"that there is to be a piracy? The word has just been passed and the +cook told me. There is to be no bloodshed, and the other ship will not +be burned and the people will not be made to walk a plank. The captain +has given those orders, and he is very firm, swearing, I am told, much +more than is his wont. It is dreadful, it is awful just to think about, +but the provisions are gone, and it is absolutely necessary to do +something, and it will really be very exciting. The cook tells me he +will put me in a good place where I cannot be hurt and where I shall see +everything. And, Mistress Kate and Master Delaplaine, I dare say he can +take care of you too." + +Kate looked at her uncle as if to ask if she might tell the good woman +what sort of a piracy this was to be, but he shook his head. It would +not do to interfere any more than was necessary with the regular +progress of events. The captain came up, excited. "Even now, bedad," he +cried, "there are two sails in sight--one far north, and the other to +the eastward, beating up this way. This one we shall make for. We have +the wind with us, which is a good thing, for the Restless is a bad +sailer and has lost many a prize through that fault. And now, Miss," he +said, addressing Kate, "I shall have to ask your leave to take down that +English flag and run up our Jolly Roger. It will be necessary, for if +the fellows fear not our long guns, they may change their course and get +away from us." + +"That will be right," said Kate; "if we're going to be pirates, we might +as well be pirates out and out." + +Captain Ichabod glowed with delight. "What a girl this was, and what an +uncle!" + +It was not long, for the Restless had a fair wind, before the sail to +the eastward came fully into sight. She was, in good truth, a +merchantman, and not a large one. Dame Charter, very much excited, +wondered what she would have on board. + +"The cook tells me," said she to Kate, "that sometimes ships from the +other side of the ocean carry the most astonishing and beautiful +things." + +"But we shall not see these things," said Kate, "even if that ship +carries them. We shall take but food, and shall not unnecessarily +despoil them of that. We may be pirates, but we shall not be wicked." + +"It is hard to see the difference," said Dame Charter, with a sigh, "but +we must eat. The cook tells me that they have made peaceful prizes +before now. This they do when they want some particular thing, such as +food or money, and care not for the trouble of stripping the ship, +putting all on board to death, and then setting her on fire. The cook +never does any boarding himself, so he says, but he stands on the deck +here, armed with his great axe, which likes him better than a cutlass, +and no matter what happens, he defends his kitchen." + +"From his looks," said Kate, "I should imagine him to be the fiercest +fighter among them all." + +"But that is not so," said Dame Charter; "he tells me that he is of a +very peaceable mind and would never engage in any broils or fights if he +could help it. Look! look!" she cried, "they're running out their long +brass guns; and do you see that other ship, how her sails are fluttering +in the wind? And there, that little spot at the top of her mast; that's +her flag, and it is coming down! Down, down it comes, and I must run to +the cook and ask him what will happen next." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MR. DELAPLAINE LEADS A BOARDING PARTY + + +Steadily southward sailed the brig Black Swan which bore upon its decks +the happy Mander family and our poor friend Dickory, carrying with him +his lifelong destiny in the shape of the blood-stained letter from +Captain Vince. + +The sackcloth draperies of Lucilla, with the red cord lightly tied about +them, had given place to a very ordinary gown fashioned by her mother +and herself, which added so few charms to her young face and sparkling +eyes that Dickory often thought that he wished there were some bushes on +deck so that she might stand behind them and let him see only her face, +as he had seen it when first he met her. But he saw the pretty face a +great deal, for Lucilla was very anxious to know things, and asked many +questions about Barbadoes, and also asked if there was any probability +that the brig would go straight on to that lovely island without +bothering to stop at Jamaica. It was during such talks as this that +Dickory forgot, when he did forget, the blood-stained letter that he +carried with him always. + +Our young friend still wore the naval uniform, although in coming on the +brig he had changed it for some rough sailor's clothes. But Lucilla had +besought him to be again a brave lieutenant. + +They sailed and they sailed, and there was but little wind, and that +from the south and against them. But Lucilla did not complain at their +slow progress. The slowest vessel in the world was preferable just now +to a desert island which never moved. + +Davids was at the wheel and Mander stood near him. These old friends had +not yet finished talking about what had happened in the days since they +had seen each other. Mrs. Mander sat, not far away, still making +clothes, and the little Lena was helping her in her childlike way. +Lucilla and Dickory were still talking about Barbadoes. There never was +a girl who wanted to know so much about an island as that girl wanted to +know about Barbadoes. + +Suddenly there was a shout from above. + +"What's that?" asked Mander. + +"A sail," said Davids, peering out over the sea but able to see nothing. +Lucilla and Dickory did not cease talking. At that moment Lucilla did +not care greatly about sails, there was so much to be said about +Barbadoes. + +There was a good deal of talking forward, and after a while the captain +walked to the quarter-deck. He was a gruff man and his face was +troubled. + +"I am sorry to say," he growled, "that the ship we have sighted is a +pirate; she flies the black flag." + +Now there was no more talk about Barbadoes, or what had happened to old +friends, and the sewing dropped on the deck. Those poor Manders were +chilled to the soul. Were they again to be taken by pirates? + +"Captain," cried Mander, "what can we do, can we run away from them?" + +"We could not run away from their guns," growled the captain, "and there +is nothing to do. They intend to take this brig, and that's the reason +they have run up their skull and bones. They are bearing directly down +upon us with a fair wind; they will be firing a gun presently, and then +I shall lay to and wait for them." + +Mander stepped towards Dickory and Lucilla; his voice was husky as he +said: "We cannot expect, my dear, that we shall again be captured by +forbearing pirates. I shall kill my wife and little daughter rather than +they shall fall into the bloody hands of ordinary pirates, and to you, +sir, I will commit the care of my Lucilla. If this vessel is delivered +over to a horde of savages, I pray you, plunge your dirk into her +heart." + +"Yes," said Lucilla, clinging to the arm of Dickory, "if those fierce +pirates shall attack us, we will die together." + +Dickory shook his head. In an awful moment such as this he could hold +out no illusions. "No," said he, "I cannot die with you; I have a duty +before me, and until it is accomplished I cannot willingly give up my +life. I must rather be even a pirate's slave than that. But I will +accept your father's charge; should there be need, I will kill you." + +"Thank you very much," said Lucilla coolly. + +To the surprise of the people on the Black Swan there came no shot from +the approaching pirate; but as she still bore down upon them, running +before the wind, the captain of the brig lay to and lowered his flag. +Submission now was all there was before them. No man on the brig took up +arms, nor did the crew form themselves into any show of resistance; that +would have but made matters worse. + +As the pirate vessel came on, nearer and nearer, a great number of men +could be seen stretched along her deck, and some brass cannon were +visible trained upon the unfortunate brig. + +But, to the surprise of the captain of the Black Swan, and of nearly +everybody on board of her, the pirate did not run down upon her to make +fast and board. Instead of that, she put about into the wind and lay to +less than a quarter of a mile away. Then two boats were lowered and +filled with men, who rowed towards the brig. + +"They have special reasons for our capture," said the captain to those +who were crowding about him; "he may be well laden now with plunder, and +comes to us for our gold and silver. Or it may be that he merely wants +the brig. If that be so, he can quickly rid himself of us." + +That was a cruel speech when women had to hear it, but the captain was a +rough fellow. + +The boats came on as quietly as if they were about to land at a +neighbouring pier. Dickory and Lucilla cautiously peeped over the rail, +Dickory without his hat, and Lucilla, hiding herself, all but a part of +her face, behind him; the Manders crouched together on the deck, the +father with glaring eyes and a knife in his hand. The crew stood, with +their hats removed and their chins lowered, waiting for what might +happen next. + +Up to this time Dickory had shown no signs of fear, although his mind +was terribly tossed and disturbed; for, whatever might happen to him, it +possibly would be the end of that mission which was now the only object +of his life. But he grated his teeth together and awaited his fate. + +But now, as the boats came nearer, he began to tremble, and gradually +his knees shook under him. + +"I would not have believed that he was such a coward as that," thought +Lucilla. + +The boats neared the ship and were soon made fast; every help was +offered by the crew of the brig, and not a sign of resistance was shown. +The leader of the pirates mounted to the deck, followed by the greater +part of his men. + +For a moment Captain Ichabod glanced about him, and then, addressing the +captain of the brig, he said: "This is all very well. I am glad to see +that you have sense enough to take things as you find them, and not to +stir up a fracas and make trouble. I overhauled you that I might lay in +a stock of provisions, and some wine and spirits besides, having no +desire, if you treat us rightly, to despoil you further. So, we shall +have no more words about it, bedad, and if you will set your men to work +to get on deck such stores as my quarter-master here may demand of you, +we shall get through this business quickly. In the meantime, lower two +or three boats, so that your men can row the goods over to my vessel." + +The captain of the Black Swan simply bowed his head and turned away to +obey orders, while Captain Ichabod stepped a little aft and began to +survey the captured vessel. As soon as his back was turned, the captain +of the brig was approached by a very respectable elderly gentleman, +apparently not engaged either in the mercantile marine or in piratical +pursuits, who stopped him and said: "Sir, my name is Felix Delaplaine, +merchant, of Spanish Town, Jamaica. I am, against my will, engaged in +this piratical attack upon your vessel, but I wish to assure you +privately that I will not consent to have you robbed of your property, +and that, although some of your provisions may be taken by these +pirates, I here promise, as an honourable gentleman, to pay you the full +value of all that they seize upon." + +The captain of the Black Swan had no opportunity to make an answer to +this most extraordinary statement, for at that moment a naval officer, +shouting at the top of his voice, came rushing towards the respectable +gentleman who had just been making such honourable proposals. Almost at +the same moment there was a great shout from Captain Ichabod, who, +drawing his cutlass from its sheath, raised the glittering blade and +dashed in pursuit of the naval gentleman. + +"Hold there! Hold there!" cried the pirate. "Don't you touch him; don't +you lay your hand upon him!" + +But Ichabod was not quick enough. Dickory, swift as a stag, stretched +out both his arms and threw them around the neck of the amazed Mr. +Delaplaine. + +Now the pirate Ichabod reached the two; his great sword went high in +air, and was about to descend upon the naval person, whoever he was, +who had made such an unprovoked attack upon his honoured passenger, +when his arm was caught by some one from behind. Turning, with a great +curse, his eyes fell upon the face of a young girl. + +[Illustration: Lucilla rescues Dickory.] + +"Oh, don't kill him! Don't kill him!" she cried, "he will hurt nobody; +he is only hugging the old gentleman." + +Captain Ichabod looked from the girl to the two men, who were actually +embracing each other. Dickory's back was towards him, but the face of +Mr. Delaplaine fairly glowed with delight. + +"Oho!" said Ichabod, turning to Lucilla, "and what does this mean, +bedad?" + +"I don't know," she answered, "but the gentleman in the uniform is a +good man. Perhaps the other one is his father." + +"To my eyes," said Captain Ichabod, "this is a most fearsome mix." + +The Mander family, and nearly everybody else on board, crowded about the +little group, gazing with all their eyes but asking no questions. + +"Captain Ichabod," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, holding Dickory by the +hand, "this is one of the two persons you were taking us to find. This +is Dickory Charter, the son of good Dame Charter, now on your vessel. He +went away with Blackbeard, and we were in search of him." + +"Oho!" cried Captain Ichabod, "by my life I believe it. That's the +young fellow that Blackbeard dressed up in a cocked hat and took away +with him." + +"I am the same person, sir," said Dickory. + +"So far so good," said Captain Ichabod. "I am very glad that I did not +bring down my cutlass on you, which I should have done, bedad, had it +not been for this young woman." + +Now up spoke Mr. Delaplaine. "We have found you, Dickory," he cried, +"but what can you tell us of Major Bonnet?" + +"Ay, ay," added Captain Ichabod, "there's another one we're after; +where's the runaway Sir Nightcap?" + +"Alas!" said Dickory, "I do not know. I escaped from Blackbeard, and +since that day have heard nothing. I had supposed that Captain Bonnet +was in your company, Mr. Delaplaine." + +Now the captain of the Black Swan pushed himself forward. "Is it Captain +Bonnet, lately of the pirate ship Revenge, that you're talking about?" +he asked. "If so, I may tell you something of him. I am lately from +Charles Town, and the talk there was that Blackbeard was lying outside +the harbour in Stede Bonnet's old vessel, and that Bonnet had lately +joined him. I did not venture out of port until I had had certain news +that these pirates had sailed northward. They had two or three ships, +and the talk was that they were bound to the Virginias, and perhaps +still farther north. They were fitted out for a long cruise." + +"Gone again!" exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine in a hoarse voice. "Gone again!" + +Captain Ichabod's face grew clouded. + +"Gone north of Charles Town," he exclaimed, "that's bad, bedad, that's +very bad. You are sure he did not sail southward?" he asked of the +captain of the brig. + +That gruff mariner was in a strange state of mind. He had just been +captured by a pirate, and in the next moment had made, what might be a +very profitable sale, to a respectable merchant, of the goods the pirate +was about to take from him. Moreover, the said pirate seemed to be in +the employ of said merchant, and altogether, things seemed to him to be +in as fearsome a mix as they had seemed to Captain Ichabod, but he +brought his mind down to the question he had been asked. + +"No doubt about that," said he; "there were some of his men in the +town--for they are afraid of nobody--and they were not backward in +talking." + +"That upsets things badly," said Captain Ichabod, without unclouding his +brow. "With my slow vessel and my empty purse, bedad, I don't see how I +am ever goin' to catch Blackbeard if he has gone north. Finding +Blackbeard would have been a handful of trumps to me, but the game seems +to be up, bedad." + +The captain of the brig and Ichabod's quarter-master went away to +attend to the transfer of the needed goods to the Restless. Mander, with +his wife and little daughter, were standing together gazing with +amazement at the strange pirates who had come aboard, while Lucilla +stepped up to Dickory, who stood silent, with his eyes on the deck. + +"Can you tell me what this means?" said she. + +For a moment he did not answer, and then he said: "I don't know +everything myself, but I must presently go on board that vessel." + +"What!" exclaimed Lucilla, stepping back. "Is she there?" + +"Yes," said Dickory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER + + +The sea was smooth and the wind light, and the transfer of provisions +from the Black Swan to the pirate sloop, which two ships now lay as near +each other as safety would permit, was accomplished quietly. + +During the progress of the transfer Captain Ichabod's boat was rowed +back to his ship, and its arrival was watched with great interest by +everybody on board that pirate sloop. Kate and Dame Charter, as well as +all the men who stood looking over the rail, were amazed to see a naval +officer accompanying the captain and Mr. Delaplaine on their return. But +that amazement was greatly increased when that officer, as soon as he +set foot upon the deck, removed his hat and made directly for Dame +Charter, who, with a scream loud enough to frighten the fishes, enfolded +him in her arms and straightway fainted. It was like a son coming up out +of the sea, sure enough, as she afterward stated. Kate, recognising +Dickory, hurried to him with a scream of her own and both hands +outstretched, but the young fellow, who seemed greatly distressed at the +unconscious condition of his mother, did not greet Mistress Bonnet with +the enthusiastic delight which might have been expected under the +circumstances. He seemed troubled and embarrassed, which, perhaps, was +not surprising, for never before had he seen his mother faint. + +Kate was about to offer some assistance, but as the good Dame now showed +signs of returning consciousness, she thought it would be better to +leave the two together, and in a state of amazement she was hurrying to +her uncle when Dickory rose from the side of his mother and stopped her. + +"I have a letter for you," he said, in a husky voice. + +"A letter?" she cried, "from my father?" + +"No," said he, "from Captain Vince." And he handed her the blood-stained +missive. + +Kate turned pale and stared at him; here was horrible mystery. The +thought flashed through the young girl's mind that the wicked captain +had killed her father and had written to tell her so. + +"Is my father dead?" she gasped. + +"Not that I know of," said Dickory. + +"Where is he?" she cried. + +"I do not know," was the answer. + +She stood, holding the letter, while Dickory returned to his mother. +Mr. Delaplaine saw her standing thus, pale and shocked, but he did not +hasten to her. He had sad things to say to her, for his practical mind +told him that it would not be possible to continue the search for her +father, he having put himself out of the reach of Captain Ichabod and +his inefficient sloop. If Dickory had said anything about her father +which had so cast her down, how much harder would it be for him when he +had to tell her the whole truth. + + +But Kate did not wait for further speech from anybody. She gave a great +start, and then rushed down the companion-way to her cabin. There, with +her door shut, she opened the letter. This was the letter, written in +lead pencil, in an irregular but bold hand, with some letters partly +dimmed where the paper had been damp: + + "At the very end of my life I write to you that you have escaped + the fiercest love that ever a man had for a woman. I shall carry + this love with me to hell, if it may be, but you have escaped it. + This escape is a blessing, and now that I cannot help it I give it + to you. Had I lived, I should have shed the blood of every one whom + you loved to gain you and you would have cursed me. So love me now + for dying. + + "Yours, anywhere and always, + CHRISTOPHER VINCE." + + +Kate put down the letter and some colour came into her face; she bowed +her head in thankful prayer. + +"He is dead," she said, "and now he cannot harm my father." That was the +only thought she had regarding this hot-brained and infatuated lover. He +was dead, her father was safe from him. How he died, how Dickory came to +bring the letter, how anything had happened that had happened except the +death of Captain Vince, did not at this moment concern her. Not until +now had she known how the fear of the vengeful captain of the Badger had +constantly been with her. + +Over and over again Dickory told his tale to his mother. She interrupted +him so much with her embraces that he could not explain things clearly +to her, but she did not care, she had him with her. He was with her, and +she had fast hold of him, and she would never let him go again. What +mattered it what sort of clothes he wore, or where he had escaped +from--a family on a desert island or from a pirate crew? She had him, +and her happiness knew no bounds. Dickory was perfectly willing to stay +with her and to talk to her. He did not care to be with anybody else, +not even with Mistress Kate, who had taken so much interest in him all +the time he had been away; though, of course, not so much interest as +his own dear mother. + +Then the good Dame Charter, being greatly recovered and so happy, began +to talk of herself. Slipping in a disjointed way over her various +experiences, she told her dear boy, in strictest confidence, that she +was very much disappointed in the way pirates took ships. She thought it +was going to be something very exciting that she would remember to the +end of her days, and wake up in the middle of the night and scream when +she thought of it, but it was nothing of the kind; not a shot was fired, +not a drop of blood shed; there was not even a shout or a yell or a +scream for mercy. It was all like going into the pantry to get the flour +and the sugar. She was all the time waiting for something to happen, and +nothing ever did. Dickory smiled, but it was like watered milk. + +"I do not understand such piracy," he said, "but supposed, dear mother, +that these pirates had taken that ship in the usual way, I being on +board." + +At this he was clasped so tightly to his mother's breast that he could +say no more. + +The boats plied steadily between the two vessels, and on one of the +trips Mr. Delaplaine went over to the brig on business, and also glad to +escape for a little the dreaded interview which must soon come between +himself and his niece. + +"Now, sir," said the merchant to the captain of the brig, "you will make +a bill against me for the provisions which are being taken to that +pirate, but I hope you have reserved a sufficient store of food for +your own maintenance until you reach a port, and that of myself and two +women who wish to sail with you, craving most earnestly that you will +land us in Jamaica or in some place convenient of access to that +island." + +"Which I can do," said the captain, "for I am bound to Kingston; and as +to subsistence, shall have plenty." + +On the brig Mr. Delaplaine found Captain Ichabod, who had come over to +superintend operations, and who was now talking to the pretty girl who +had seized him by the arm when he was about to slay the naval officer. + +"I would talk with you, captain," said the merchant, "on a matter of +immediate import." And he led the pirate away from the pretty girl. + +The matter to be discussed was, indeed, of deep import. + +"I am loath to say it, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "when I think of the +hospitality and most exceptional kindness with which you have treated me +and my niece, and for which we shall feel grateful all our lives, but I +think you will agree with me that it would be useless for us to pursue +the search after that most reprehensible person, my brother-in-law, +Bonnet. There can be no doubt, I believe, that he and Blackbeard have +left the vicinity of Charles Town, and have gone, we know not where." + +"No doubt of that, bedad," said Ichabod, knitting his brows as he +spoke; "if Blackbeard had been outside the harbour, this brig would not +have been here." + +"And, therefore, sir," continued Mr. Delaplaine, "I have judged it to be +wise, and indeed necessary, for us to part company with you, sir, and to +take passage on this brig, which, by a most fortunate chance, is bound +for Kingston. My niece, I know, will be greatly disappointed by this +course of events, but we have no choice but to fall in with them." + +"I don't like to agree with you," said the captain, "but, bedad, I am +bound to do it. I am disappointed myself, sir, but I have been +disappointed so often that I suppose I ought to be used to it. If I had +caught up with Blackbeard I should have been all right, and after I had +settled your affairs--and I know I could have done that--I think I would +have joined him. But all I can do now is to hammer along at the +business, take prizes in the usual way, and wait for Blackbeard to come +south again, and then I'll either sell out or join him." + +"It is a great pity, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "a great pity--" + +"Yes, it is," interrupted Ichabod, "it's a very great pity, sir, a very +great pity. If I had known more about ships when I bought the Restless I +would have had a faster craft, and by this time I might have been a man +of comfortable means. But that sloop over there, bedad, is so slow, +that many a time, sir, I have seen a fat merchantman sail away from her +and leave us, in spite of our guns, cursing and swearing, miles behind. +I am sorry to have you leave me, sir, and with your ladies; but, as you +say, here's your chance to get home, and I don't know when I could give +you another." + +Mr. Delaplaine replied courteously and gratefully, and by the next boat +he went back to the Restless. Captain Ichabod, his brow still clouded by +the approaching separation, walked over to Lucilla and continued his +conversation with her about the island of Barbadoes, a subject of which +he knew very little and she nothing. + +When Kate returned to the deck she found Dickory alone, Dame Charter +having gone to talk to the cook about the wonderful things which had +happened, of which she knew very little and he nothing at all. + +"Dickory," said Kate, "I want to talk to you, and that quickly. I have +heard nothing of what has happened to you. How did you get possession of +the letter you brought me, and what do you know of Captain Vince?" + +"I can tell you nothing," he said, without looking at her, "until you +tell me what I ought to know about Captain Vince." And as he said this +he could not help wondering in his heart that there were no signs of +grief about her. + +"Ought to know?" she repeated, regarding him earnestly. "Well, you and I +have been always good friends, and I will tell you." And then she told +him the story of the captain of the Badger; of his love-making and of +his commission to sail upon the sea and destroy the pirate ship Revenge, +and all on board of her. + +"And now," she said, as she concluded, "I think it would be well for you +to read this letter." And she handed him the missive he had carried so +long and with such pain. He read the bold, uneven lines, and then he +turned and looked upon her, his face shining like the morning sky. + +"Then you have never loved him?" he gasped. + +"Why should I?" said Kate. + +In spite of the fact that there were a great many people on board that +pirate sloop who might see him; in spite of the fact that there were +people in boats plying upon the water who might notice his actions, +Dickory fell upon his knees before Kate, and, seizing her hand, he +pressed it to his lips. + +"Why should I?" said Kate, quietly drawing her hand from him, "for I +have a devoted lover already--Master Martin Newcombe, of Barbadoes." + +Dickory, repulsed, rose to his feet, but his face did not lose its glow. +He had heard so much about Martin Newcombe that he had ceased to mind +him. + +"To think of it!" he cried, "to think how I stood and watched him +fight; how I admired and marvelled at his wonderful strength and skill, +his fine figure, and his flashing eye! How my soul went out to him, how +I longed that he might kill that scoundrel Blackbeard! And all the time +he was your enemy, he was my enemy, he was a viler wretch than even the +bloody pirate who killed him. Oh, Kate, Kate! if I had but known." + +"Miss Kate, if you please," said the girl. "And it is well, Dickory, you +did not know, for then you might have jumped upon him and stuck him in +the back, and that would have been dishonourable." + +"He thought," said Dickory, not in the least abashed by his reproof, +"that the Revenge was commanded by your father, for he sprang upon the +deck, shouting for the captain, and when he saw Blackbeard I heard him +exclaim in surprise, 'A sugar-planter!'" + +"And he would have killed my father?" said Kate, turning pale at the +thought. + +"Yes," replied Dickory, "he would have killed any man except the great +Blackbeard. And to think of it! I stood there watching them, and wishing +that vile Englishman the victory. Oh, Kate! you should have seen that +wonderful pirate fight. No man could have stood before him." Then, with +sparkling eyes and waving arms, he told her of the combat. When he had +finished, the souls of these two young people were united in an +overpowering admiration, almost reverence, for the prowess and strength +of the wicked and bloody pirate who had slain the captain of the Badger. + +When Mr. Delaplaine came on board, Kate, who had been waiting, took him +aside. + +"Uncle," she exclaimed, "I have great news. Captain Vince is dead. At +last he came up with the Revenge, but instead of finding my father in +command he found Blackbeard, who killed him. Now my father is safe!" + +The good man scarcely knew what to say to this bright-faced girl, whose +father's safety was all the world to her. If he had heard that his +worthless and wicked brother-in-law had been killed, it would have been +trouble and sorrow for the present, but it would have been peace for the +future. But he was a Christian gentleman and a loving uncle, and he +banished this thought from his heart. He listened to Kate as she rapidly +went on talking, but he did not hear her; his mind was busy with the +news he had to tell her--the news that she must give up her loving +search and go back with him to Spanish Town. + +"And now, uncle," said Kate, "there's another thing I want to say to +you. Since this great grief has been lifted from my soul, since I know +that no wrathful and vindictive captain of a man-of-war is scouring the +seas, armed with authority to kill my father and savage for his life, I +feel that it is not right for me to put other people who are so good to +me to sad discomfort and great expense to try to follow my father into +regions far away, and to us almost unknown. + +"Some day he will come back into this part of the world, and I hope he +may return disheartened and weary of his present mode of life, and then +I may have a better chance of winning him back to the domestic life he +used to love so much. But he is safe, uncle, and that is everything now, +and so I came to say to you that I think it would be well for us to +relieve this kind Captain Ichabod from the charges and labours he has +taken upon himself for our sakes and, if it be possible, engage that +ship yonder to take us back to Jamaica; she was sailing in that +direction, and her captain might be induced to touch at Kingston. This +is what I have been thinking about, dear uncle, and do you not agree +with me?" + +High rose the spirits of the good Mr. Delaplaine; banished was all the +overhanging blackness of his dreaded interview with Kate. The sky was +bright, her soul was singing songs of joy and thankfulness, and his soul +might join her. He never appreciated better than now the blessings which +might be shed upon humanity by the death of a bad man. His mind even +gambolled a little in his relief. + +"But, Kate," he said, "if we leave that kind Captain Ichabod, and he be +not restrained by our presence, then, my dear, he will return to his +former evil ways, and his next captures will not be like this one, but +like ordinary piracies, sinful in every way." + +"Uncle," said Kate, looking up into his face, "it is too much to ask of +one young girl to undertake the responsibilities of two pirates; I hope +some day to be of benefit to my poor father, but when it comes to +Captain Ichabod, kind as he has been, I am afraid I will have to let him +go and manage the affairs of his soul for himself." + +Her uncle smiled upon her. Now that he was to go back to his home and +take this dear girl with him, he was ready to smile at almost anything. +That he thought one pirate much better worth saving than the other, and +that his choice did not agree with that of his niece, was not for him +even to think about at such a happy moment. It was not long after this +conversation that the largest boat belonging to the Restless was rowed +over to the brig, and in it sat, not only Kate, Dame Charter, and +Dickory, but Captain Ichabod, who would accompany his guests to take +proper leave of them. The crew of the pirate sloop crowded themselves +along her sides, and even mounted into her shrouds, waving their hats +and shouting as the boat moved away. The cook was the loudest shouter, +and his ragged hat waved highest. And, as Dame Charter shook her +handkerchief above her head and gazed back at her savage friend, there +was a moisture in her eyes. Up to this moment she never would have +believed that she would have grieved to depart from a pirate vessel and +to leave behind a pirate cook. + +Lucilla watched carefully the newcomers as they ascended to the deck of +the Black Swan. "That is the girl," she said to herself, "and I am not +surprised." + +A little later she remarked to Captain Ichabod, who sat by her: "Are +they mother and daughter, those two?" + +"Oh, no," said he. "Mistress Bonnet is too fine a lady and too beautiful +to be daughter to that old woman, who is her attendant and the mother of +the young fellow in the cocked hat." + +"Too fine and beautiful!" repeated Lucilla. + +"I greatly grieve to leave you all," continued the young pirate captain, +"although some of you I have known so short a time. It will be very +lonely when I sail away with none to speak to save the bloody dogs I +command, who may yet throttle me. And it is to Barbadoes you go to +settle with your family?" + +"That is our destination," said Lucilla, "but I know not if we shall +find the money to settle there; we were taken by pirates and lost +everything." + +Now the captain of the brig came up to Ichabod and informed him that the +goods he demanded had been delivered on board his vessel, and that the +brig was ready to sail. It was the time for leave-taking, but Ichabod +was tardy. Presently he approached Kate, and drew her to one side. + +"Dear lady," he said, and his voice was hesitating, while a slight flush +of embarrassment appeared on his face, "you may have thought, dear +lady," he repeated, "you may have thought that so fair a being as +yourself should have attracted during the days we have sailed +together--may have attracted, bedad, I mean--the declared admiration +even of a fellow like myself, we being so much together; but I had heard +your story, fair lady, and of the courtship paid you by Captain Vince of +the corvette Badger--whose family I knew in England--and, acknowledging +his superior claims, I constantly refrained, though not without great +effort (I must say that much for myself, fair lady), from--from--" + +"Addressing me, I suppose you mean," said Kate. "What you say, kind +captain, redounds to your honour, and I thank you for your noble +consideration, but I feel bound to tell you that there was never +anything between me and Captain Vince, and he is now dead." + +The young pirate stepped back suddenly and opened wide his eyes. "What!" +he exclaimed, "and all the time you were--" + +"Not free," she interrupted with a smile, "for I have a lover on the +island of Barbadoes." + +"Barbadoes," repeated Captain Ichabod, and he bade Kate a most +courteous farewell. + +All the good-byes had been said and good wishes had been wished, when, +just as he was about to descend to his boat, Captain Ichabod turned to +Lucilla. "And it is truly to Barbadoes you go?" he asked. + +"Yes," said she, "I think we shall certainly do that." + +Now his face flushed. "And do you care for that fellow in the cocked +hat?" + +Here was a cruel situation for poor Lucilla. She must lie or lose two +men. She might lose them anyway, but she would not do it of her own free +will, and so she lied. + +"Not a whit!" said Lucilla. + +The eyes of Ichabod brightened as he went down the side of the brig. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +BLACKBEARD GIVES GREENWAY SOME DIFFICULT WORK + + +The great pirate Blackbeard, inactive and taking his ease, was seated on +the quarter-deck of his fine vessel, on which he had lately done some +sharp work off the harbour of Charles Town. He was now commanding a +small fleet. Besides the ship on which he sailed, he had two other +vessels, well manned and well laden with supplies from his recent +captures. Satisfied with conquest, he was sailing northward to one of +his favourite resorts on the North Carolina coast. + +To this conquering hero now came Ben Greenway, the Scotchman, touching +his hat. + +"And what do you want?" cried the burly pirate. "Haven't they given you +your prize-money yet, or isn't it enough?" + +"Prize-money!" exclaimed Greenway. "I hae none o' it, nor will I hae +any. What money I hae--an' it is but little--came to me fairly." + +"Oho!" cried Blackbeard, "and you have money then, have you? Is it +enough to make it worth my while to take it?" + +"Ye can count it an' see, whenever ye like," said Ben. "But it isna +money that I came to talk to ye about. I came to ask ye, at the first +convenient season, to put me on board that ship out there, that I may be +in my rightful place by the side o' Master Bonnet." + +"And what good are you to him, or he to you," asked the pirate, with a +fine long oath, "that I should put myself to that much trouble?" + +"I have the responsibeelity o' his soul on my hands," said Ben, "an' +since we left Charles Town I hae not seen him, he bein' on ane ship an' +I on anither." + +"And very well that is too," said Blackbeard, "for I like each of you +better separate. And now look ye, me kirk bird, you have not done very +well with your 'responsibeelities' so far, and you might as well make up +your mind to stop trying to convert that sneak of a Nightcap and take up +the business of converting me. I'm in great need of it, I can tell you." + +"You!" cried Ben. + +"I tell you, yes," shouted Blackbeard, "it is I, myself, that I am +talking about. I want to be converted from the evil of my ways, and I +have made up my mind that you shall do it. You are a good and a pious +man, and it is not often that I get hold of one of that kind; or, if I +do, I slice off his head before I discover his quality." + +"I fear me," said the truthful Scotchman, "that the job is beyond my +abeelity." + +"Not a bit of it, not a bit of it," shouted the pirate. "I am fifty +times easier to work upon than that Nightcap man of yours, and a hundred +times better worth the trouble. I put no trust in that downfaced farmer. +When he shouts loudest for the black flag he is most likely to go into +priestly orders, and the better is he reformed the quicker is he to rob +and murder. He is of the kind the devil wants, but it is of no use for +any one to show him the way there, he is well able to find it for +himself. But it is different with me, you canny Scotchman, it is +different with me. I am an open-handed and an open-mouthed scoundrel, +and I never pretended to be anything else. When you begin reforming me +you will find your work half done." + +The Scotchman shook his head. "I fear me--" he said. + +"No, you don't fear yourself," cried Blackbeard, "and I won't have it; I +don't want any of that lazy piety on board my vessel. If you don't +reform me, and do it rightly, I'll slice off both your ears." + +At this moment a man came aft, carrying a great tankard of mixed drink. +Blackbeard took it and held it in his hand. + +"Now then, you balking chaplain," he cried, "here's a chance for you to +begin. What would you have me do? Drain off this great mug and go +slashing among my crew, or hurl it, mug and all--" + +"Nay, nay," cried Greenway, "but rather give half o' it to me; then will +it no' disturb your brain, an' mine will be comforted." + +"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard. "Truly you are a better chaplain than I +thought you. Drain half this mug and then, by all the powers of heaven +and hell, you shall convert me. Now, look ye," said the pirate, when the +mug was empty, "and hear what a brave repentance I have already begun. I +am tired, my gay gardener, of all these piracies; I have had enough of +them. Even now, my spoils and prizes are greater than I can manage, and +why should I strive to make them more? I told you of my young +lieutenant, who ran away and who gave his carcass to the birds of prey +rather than sail with me and marry my strapping daughter. I liked that +fellow, Greenway, and if he had known what was well for him there might +be some reason for me to keep on piling up goods and money, but there's +cursed little reason for it now. I have merchandise of value at Belize +and much more of it in these ships, besides money from Charles Town +which ought to last an honest gentleman for the rest of his days." + +"Ay," said Ben, "but an honest gentleman is sparing of his +expenditures." + +"And you think I am not that kind of a man, do you?" shouted the +pirate. "But let me tell you this. I am sailing now for Topsail Inlet, +on the North Carolina coast, and I am going to run in there, disperse +this fleet, sell my goods, and--" + +"Be hanged?" interpolated Greenway in surprise. + +"Not a bit of it, you croaking crow!" roared the pirate. "Not a bit of +it. Don't you know, you dull-head, that our good King George has issued +a proclamation to the Brethren of the Coast to come in and behave +themselves like honest citizens and receive their pardon? I have done +that once, and so I know all about it; but I backslid, showing that my +conversion was badly done." + +"It must hae been a poor hand that did the job for ye," said Greenway, +"for truly the conversion washed off in the first rain." + +The pirate laughed a great laugh. "The fact is," he said, "I did the +work myself, and knowing nothing about it made a bad botch of it, but +this time it will be different. I am going to give the matter into your +hands, and I shall expect you to do it well. If I become not an honest +gentleman this time you shall pay for it, first with your ears and then +with your head." + +"An' ye're goin' to keep me by ye?" said Greenway, with an expression +not of the best. + +"Truly so," said Blackbeard. "I shall make you my clerk as long as I am +a pirate, for I have much writing and figuring work to be done, and +after that you shall be my chaplain. And whether or not your work will +be easier than it is now, it is not for me to say." + +The Scotchman was about to make an exclamation which might not have been +complimentary, but he restrained himself. + +"An' Master Bonnet?" he asked. "If ye go out o' piracy he may go too, +and take the oath." + +"Of course he may," cried the pirate, "and of course he shall; I will +see to that myself. Then I will give him back his ship, for I don't want +it, and let him become an honest merchant." + +"Give him back his ship!" exclaimed Greenway, his countenance downcast. +"That will be puttin' into his hands the means o' beginnin' again a life +o' sin. I pray ye, don't do that." + +Blackbeard leaned back and laughed. "I swear that I thought it would be +one of the very first steps in conversion for me to give back to the +fellow the ship which is his own and which I have taken from him. But +fear not, my noble pirate's clerk; he is not the man that I am; he is a +vile coward, and when he has taken the oath he will be afraid to break +it. Moreover--" + +"And if, with that ship," said Greenway, his eyes beginning to sparkle, +"he become an honest merchant--" + +"I don't trust him," said Blackbeard; "he is a knave and a sharper, and +there is no truth in him. But when you have settled up my business, my +clerk, and have gotten me well converted, I will send you away with him, +and you shall take up again the responsibility of his soul." + +The Scotchman clapped his horny hands together. "And once I get him back +to Bridgetown, I will burn his cursed ship!" + +"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard, "and that will be your way of converting +him? You know your business, my royal chaplain, you know it well." And +with that he gave Greenway a tremendous slap on the back which would +have dashed to the deck an ordinary man, but Ben Greenway was a +Scotchman, tough as a yew-tree. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +CAPTAIN THOMAS OF THE ROYAL JAMES + + +When Blackbeard's little fleet anchored in Topsail Inlet, Stede Bonnet, +who had not been informed of the intentions of the pirate, was a good +deal puzzled. Since joining Blackbeard's fleet in the vessel which came +up from Belize, Bonnet had considered himself very shabbily treated, and +his reasons for that opinion were not bad. During the engagements off +Charles Town his services had not been required and his opinion had not +been consulted, Blackbeard having no use for the one and no respect for +the other. The pirate captain had taken a fancy to Ben Greenway, while +his contempt for the Scotchman's master increased day by day; and it was +for this reason that Greenway had been taken on board the flag-ship, +while Bonnet remained on one of the smaller vessels. + +Bonnet was in a discontented and somewhat sulky mood, but when +Blackbeard's full plans were made known to him and he found that he +might again resume command of his own vessel, the Revenge, if he chose +to do so, his eyes began to sparkle once more. + +Ben Greenway soon resumed his former position with Bonnet, for it did +not take Blackbeard very long to settle up his affairs, and in a very +short time he became tired of the work of conversion; or, to speak more +correctly, of the bore of talking about it. Bonnet was glad to have the +Scotchman back again, although he never ceased to declare his desire to +get rid of this faithful friend and helper; for, when the Revenge again +came into his hands, there were many things to be done, and few people +to help him do it. + +"It will be merchandise an' fair trade this time," said Ben, "an' ye'll +find it no' so easy as your piracies, though safer. An' when ye're off +to see the Governor an' hae got your pardon, it'll be a happy day, +Master Bonnet, for ye an' for your daughter, an' for your brother-in-law +an' everybody in Bridgetown wha either knew ye or respected ye." + +"No more of that," cried Bonnet. "I did not say I was going to +Bridgetown, or that I wanted anybody there to respect me. It is my +purpose to fit out the Revenge as a privateer and get a commission to +sail in her in the war between Spain and the Allies. This will be much +more to my taste, Ben Greenway, than trading in sugar and hides." + +Greenway was very grave. + +"There is so little difference," said he, "between a privateer an' a +pirate that it is a great strain on a common mind to keep them separate; +but a commission from the king is better than a commission from the +de'il, an' we'll hope there won't be much o' a war after all is said an' +done." + +There was not much intercourse between Blackbeard and Bonnet at Topsail +Inlet. The pirate was on very good terms with the authorities at that +place, who for their own sakes cared not much to interfere with him, and +Bonnet had his own work in hand and industriously engaged in it. He went +to Bath and got his pardon; he procured a clearance for St. Thomas, +where he freely announced his intention to take out a commission as +privateer, and he fitted out his vessel as best he could. Of men he had +not many, but when he left the inlet he sailed down to an island on the +coast, where Blackbeard, having had too many men on his return from +Charles Town, had marooned a large number of the sailors belonging to +his different crews, finding this the easiest way of getting rid of +them. Bonnet took these men on board with the avowed intention of taking +them to St. Thomas, and then he set sail upon the high seas as free and +untrammelled as a fish-hawk sweeping over the surface of a harbour with +clearance papers tied to his leg. + +Stede Bonnet had changed very much since he last trod the quarter-deck +of the Revenge as her captain. He was not so important to look at, and +he put on fewer airs of authority, but he issued a great many more +commands. In fact, he had learned much about a sailor's life, of +navigation and the management of a vessel, and was far better able to +command a ship than he had ever been before. He had had a long rest from +the position of a pirate captain, and he had not failed to take +advantage of the lessons which had been involuntarily given him by the +veteran scoundrels who had held him in contempt. He was now, to a great +extent, sailing-master as well as captain of the Revenge; but Ben +Greenway, who was much given to that sort of thing, undertook to offer +Bonnet some advice in regard to his course. + +"I am no sailor," said he, "but I ken a chart when I see it, an' it is +my opeenion that there is no need o' your sailin' so far to the east +before ye turn about southward. There is naething much stickin' out from +the coast between here an' St. Thomas." + +Bonnet looked at the Scotchman with lofty contempt. + +"Perhaps you can tell me," said he, "what there is stickin' out from the +coast between here and Ocracoke Inlet, where you yourself told me that +Blackbeard had gone with the one sloop he kept for himself?" + +"Blackbeard!" shouted the Scotchman, "an' what in the de'il have ye got +to do wi' Blackbeard?" + +"Do with that infernal dog?" cried Bonnet, "I have everything to do with +him before I do aught with anybody or anything besides. He stole from me +my possessions, he degraded me from my position, he made me a +laughing-stock to my men, and he even made me blush and bow my head with +shame before my daughter and my brother-in-law, two people in whose +sight I would have stood up grander and bolder than before any others in +the world. He took away from me my sword and he gave me instead a +wretched pen; he made me nothing where I had been everything. He even +ceased to consider me any more than if I had been the dirty deck under +his feet. And then, when he had done with my property and could get no +more good out of it, he cast it to me in charity as a man would toss a +penny to a beggar. Before I sail anywhere else, Ben Greenway," continued +Bonnet, "I sail for Ocracoke Inlet, and when I sight Blackbeard's +miserable little sloop I shall pour broadside after broadside into her +until I sink his wretched craft with his bedizened carcass on board of +it." + +"But wi' your men stand by ye?" cried Greenway. "Ye're neither a pirate +nor a vessel o' war to enter into a business like that." + +Bonnet swore one of his greatest oaths. "There is no business nor war +for me, Ben Greenway," he cried, "until I have taught that insolent +Blackbeard what manner of man I am." + +Ben Greenway was very much disheartened. "If Blackbeard should sink the +Revenge instead of Master Bonnet sinking him," he said to himself, "and +would be kind enough to maroon my old master an' me, it might be the +best for everybody after all. Master Bonnet is vera humble-minded an' +complacent when bad fortune comes upon him, an' it is my opeenion that +on a desert island I could weel manage him for the good o' his soul." + +But there were no vessels sunk on that cruise. Blackbeard had gone, +nobody knew where, and after a time Bonnet gave up the search for his +old enemy and turned his bow southward. Now Ben Greenway's countenance +gleamed once more. + +"It'll be a glad day at Spanish Town when Mistress Kate shall get my +letter." + +"And what have you been writing to her?" cried Bonnet. + +"I told her," said Ben Greenway, "how at last ye hae come to your right +mind, an' how ye are a true servant o' the king, wi' your pardon in your +pocket an' your commission waitin' for ye at St. Thomas, an' that, +whatever else ye may do at sea, there'll be no more black flag floatin' +over your head, nor a see-saw plank wobblin' under the feet o' onybody +else. The days o' your piracies are over, an' ye're an honest mon once +more." + +"You wrote her that?" said Bonnet, with a frown. + +"Ay," said Greenway, "an' I left it in the care o' a good mon, whose +ship is weel on its way to Kingston by this day." + +That afternoon Captain Bonnet called all his men together and addressed +them. + +He made a very good speech, a better one than that delivered when he +first took real command of the Revenge after sailing out of the river at +Bridgetown, and it was listened to with respectful and earnest interest. +In brief manner he explained to all on board that he had thrown to the +winds all idea of merchandising or privateering; that his pardon and his +ship's clearance were of no value to him except he should happen to get +into some uncomfortable predicament with the law; that he had no idea of +sailing towards St. Thomas, but intended to proceed up the coast to burn +and steal and rob and slay wherever he might find it convenient to do +so; that he had brought the greater part of his crew from the desert +island where Blackbeard had left them because he knew that they were +stout and reckless fellows, just the sort of men he wanted for the +piratical cruise he was about to begin; and that, in order to mislead +any government authorities who by land or sea might seek to interfere +with him, he had changed the name of the good old Revenge to the Royal +James, while its captain, once Stede Bonnet, was now to be known on +board and everywhere else as Captain Thomas, with nothing against him. +He concluded by saying that all that had been done on that ship from the +time she first hoisted the black flag until the present moment was +nothing at all compared to the fire and the blood and the booty which +should follow in the wake of that gallant vessel, the Royal James, +commanded by Captain Thomas. + +The men looked at each other, but did not say much. They were all +pirates, although few of them had regularly started out on a piratical +career, and there was nothing new to them in this sort of piratical +dishonour. In the little cruise after Blackbeard their new captain had +shown himself to be a good man, ready with his oaths and very certain +about what he wanted done. So, whenever Stede Bonnet chose to run up the +Jolly Roger, he might do it for all they cared. + +Poor Ben Greenway sat apart, his head bowed upon his hands. + +"You seem to be in a bad case, old Ben," said Bonnet, gazing down upon +him, "but you throw yourself into needless trouble. As soon as I lay +hold of some craft which I am willing shall go away with a sound hull, I +will put you on board of her and let you go back to the farm. I will +keep you no longer among these wicked people, Ben Greenway, and in this +wicked place." + +Ben shook his head. "I started wi' ye an' I stay wi' ye," said he, "an' +I'll follow ye to the vera gates o' hell, but farther than that, Master +Bonnet, I willna go; at the gates o' hell I leave ye!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A CHAPTER OF HAPPENINGS + + +For happiness with a flaw in it, it was a very fair happiness which now +hung over the Delaplaine home near Spanish Town. Kate Bonnet's father +was still a pirate, but there was no Captain Vince in hot pursuit of +him, seeking his blood. Kate could sing with the birds and laugh with +Dickory whenever she thought of the death of the wicked enemy. This was +not, it may be thought, a proper joy for a young maiden's heart, but it +came to Kate whether she would or not; the change was so great from the +fear which had possessed her before. + +The old home life began again, although it was a very quiet life. +Dickory went into Mr. Delaplaine's counting-house, but it was hard for +the young man to doff the naval uniform which had been bestowed upon him +by Blackbeard, for he knew he looked very well in it, and everybody else +thought so and told him so; but it could not be helped, and with all +convenient speed he discarded his cocked hat and all the rest of it, +and clothed himself in the simple garb of a merchant's clerk, although +it might be said, that in all the West Indies, at that day, there was no +clerk so good-looking as was Dickory. Dame Charter was so thankful that +her boy had come safely through all his troubles, so proud of him, and +so eminently well satisfied with his present position, that she asked +nothing of her particular guardian angel but that Stede Bonnet might +stay away. If, after tiring of piracy, that man came back, as his +relatives wished him to do, the good dame was sure he would make +mischief of some sort, and as like as not in the direction of her +Dickory. If this evil family genius should be lost at sea or should +disappear from the world in some equally painless and undisgraceful +fashion, Dame Charter was sure that she could in a reasonable time quiet +the grief of poor Kate; for what right-minded damsel could fail to +mingle thankfulness with her sorrow that a kind death should relieve a +parent from the sins and disgraces which in life always seemed to open +up in front of him. + +About this time there came a letter from Barbadoes, which was of great +interest to everybody in the household. It was from Master Martin +Newcombe, and of course was written to Kate, but she read many portions +of it to the others. The first part of the epistle was not read aloud, +but it was very pleasant for Kate to read it to herself. This man was a +close lover and an ardent one. Whatever had happened to her fortunes, +nothing had interfered with his affection; whatever he had said he still +bravely stood by, and to whatever she had objected in the way of +obstacles he had paid no attention whatever. + +In the parts of the letter read to her uncle and the others, Master +Newcombe told how, not having heard from them for so long, he had been +beginning to be greatly troubled, but the arrival of the Black Swan, +which, after touching at Kingston, had continued her course to +Barbadoes, had given him new life and hope; and it was his intention, as +soon as he could arrange his affairs, to come to Jamaica, and there say +by word of mouth and do, in his own person, so much for which a letter +was totally inadequate. The thought of seeing Kate again made him +tremble as he walked through his fields. This was read inadvertently, +and Dickory frowned. Dame Charter frowned too. She had never supposed +that Master Newcombe would come to Spanish Town; she had always looked +upon him as a very worthy young farmer; so worthy that he would not +neglect his interest by travelling about to other islands than his own. +She did not know exactly how her son felt about all this, nor did she +like to ask him, but Dickory saved her the trouble. + +"If that Newcombe comes here," he said, "I am going to fight him." + +"What!" cried his mother. "You would not do that. That would be +terrible; it would ruin everything." + +"Ruin what?" he asked. + +His mother answered diplomatically. "It would ruin all your fine +opportunities in this family." + +Dickory smiled with a certain sarcastic hardness. "I don't mean," said +he, "that I am going to hack at him with a sword, because neither he nor +I properly know how to use swords, and after the wonderful practice that +I have seen, I would not want to prove myself a bungler even if the +other man were a worse one. No, mother, I mean to fight with him by all +fair means to gain the hand of my dear Kate. I love her, and I am far +more worthy of her than he is. He is not a well-disposed man, being +rough and inconsiderate in his speech." Dickory had never forgiven the +interview by the river bank when he had gone to see Madam Bonnet. "And +as to his being a stout lover, he is none of it. Had he been that, he +would long ago have crossed the little sea between Barbadoes and here." + +"Do you mean, you foolish boy," exclaimed Dame Charter, "to say that you +presume to love our Mistress Kate?" And her eyes glowed upon him with +all the warmth of a mother's pride, for this was the wish of her heart, +and never absent from it. + +"Ay, mother," said Dickory, "I shall fight for her; I shall show her +that I am worthier than he is and that I love her better. I shall even +strive for her if that mad pirate comes back and tries to overset +everything." + +"Oh, do it before that!" cried Dame Charter, anxiety in every wrinkle. +"Do it before that!" + +Mr. Delaplaine was a little troubled by the promised visit from +Barbadoes. He had heard of Master Newcombe as being a most estimable +young man, but the fault about him, in his opinion, was that he resided +not in Jamaica. For a long time the good merchant had lived his own +life, with no one to love him, and he now had with him his sister's +child, whom he had come to look upon as a daughter, and he did not wish +to give her up. It was true that it might be possible, under favourable +pressure, to induce young Newcombe to come to Jamaica and settle there, +but this was all very vague. Had he had his own way, he would have +driven from Kate every thought of love or marriage until the time when +his new clerk, Dickory Charter, had become a young merchant of good +standing, worthy of such a wife. Then he might have been willing to give +Kate to Dickory, and Dickory would have given her to him, and they might +have all been happy. That is, if that hare-brained Bonnet did not come +home. + +The Delaplaine family did not go much into society at that time, for +people had known about the pirate and his ship, the Revenge, and the +pursuit upon which Captain Vince of the royal corvette Badger had been +sent. They had all heard, too, of the death of Captain Vince, and some +of them were not quite certain whether he had been killed by the pirate +Bonnet or another desperado equally dangerous. Knowing all this, +although if they had not known it they would scarcely have found it out +from the speech of their neighbours, the Delaplaines kept much to +themselves. And they were happy, and the keynote of their happiness was +struck by Kate, whose thankful heart could never forget the death of +Captain Vince. + +Mr. Delaplaine made his proper visit to Spanish Town, to carry his +thanks and to tell the Governor how things had happened to him; and the +Governor still showed his interest in Mistress Kate Bonnet, and +expressed his regret that she had not come with her uncle, which was a +very natural wish indeed for a governor of good taste. + +This is a chapter of happenings, and the next happening was a letter +from that good man, Ben Greenway, and it told the most wonderful, +splendid, and glorious news that had ever been told under the bright sun +of the beautiful West Indies. It told that Captain Stede Bonnet was no +longer a pirate, and that Kate was no longer a pirate's daughter. These +happy people did not join hands and dance and sing over the great news, +but Kate's joy was so great that she might have done all these things +without knowing it, so thankful was she that once again she had a +father. This rapture so far outshone her relief at the news of the death +of Captain Vince that she almost forgot that that wicked man was safe +and dead. Kate was in such a state of wild delight that she insisted +that her uncle should make another visit to the Governor's house and +take her with him, that she herself might carry the Governor the good +news; and the Governor said such heart-warming things when he heard it +that Kate kissed him in very joy. But as Dickory was not of the party, +this incident was not entered as part of the proceedings. + +Now society, both in Spanish Town and Kingston, opened its arms and +insisted that the fair star of Barbadoes should enter them, and there +were parties and dances and dinners, and it might have been supposed +that everybody had been a father or a mother to a prodigal son, so +genial and joyful were the festivities--Kate high above all others. + +At some of these social functions Dickory Charter was present, but it is +doubtful whether he was happier when he saw Kate surrounded by gay +admirers or when he was at home imagining what was going on about her. + +There was but one cloud in the midst of all this sunshine, and that was +that Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, and her son Dickory could not forget +that it was now in the line of events that Stede Bonnet would soon be +with them, and beyond that all was chaos. + +And over the seas sailed the good ship the Royal James, Captain Thomas +in command. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE TIDE DECIDES + + +It was now September, and the weather was beautiful on the North +Carolina coast. Captain Thomas (late Bonnet) of the Royal James (late +Revenge) had always enjoyed cool nights and invigorating morning air, +and therefore it was that he said to his faithful servitor, Ben +Greenway, when first he stepped out upon the deck as his vessel lay +comfortably anchored in a little cove in the Cape Fear River, that he +did not remember ever having been in a more pleasant harbour. This +well-tried pirate captain--Stede Bonnet, as we shall call him, +notwithstanding his assumption of another name--was in a genial mood as +he drank in the morning air. + +From his point of view he had a right to be genial; he had a right to be +pleased with the scenery and the air; he had a right to swear at the +Scotchman, and to ask him why he did not put on a merrier visage on such +a sparkling morning, for since he had first started out as Captain +Thomas of the Royal James he had been a most successful pirate. He had +sailed up the Virginia coast; he had burned, he had sunk, he had robbed, +he had slain; he had gone up the Delaware Bay, and the people in ships +and the people on the coasts trembled even when they heard that his +black flag had been sighted. + +No man could now say that the former captain of the Revenge was not an +accomplished and seasoned desperado. Even the great Blackbeard would not +have cared to give him nicknames, nor dared to play his blithesome +tricks upon him; he was now no more Captain Nightcap to any man. His +crew of hairy ruffians had learned to understand that he knew what he +wanted, and, more than that, he knew how to order it done. They listened +to his great oaths and they respected him. This powerful pirate now +commanded a small fleet, for in the cove where lay his flag-ship also +lay two good-sized sloops, manned by their own crews, which he had +captured in Delaware Bay and had brought down with him to this quiet +spot, a few miles up the Cape Fear River, where now he was repairing his +own ship, which had had a hard time of it since she had again come into +his hands. + +For many a long day the sound of the hammer and the saw had mingled with +the song of the birds, and Captain Bonnet felt that in a day or two he +might again sail out upon the sea, conveying his two prizes to some +convenient mart, while he, with his good ship, freshened and restored, +would go in search of more victories, more booty, and more blood. + +"Greenway, I tell you," said Bonnet, continuing his remarks, "you are +too glum; you've got the only long face in all this, my fleet. Even +those poor fellows who man my prizes are not so solemn, although they +know not, when I have done with them, whether I shall maroon them to +quietly starve or shall sink them in their own vessels." + +"But I hae no such reason to be cheerful," said Ben. "I hae bound mysel' +to stand by ye till ye hae gone to the de'il, an' I hae no chance o' +freein' mysel' from my responsibeelities by perishin' on land or in the +sea." + +"If anything could make me glum, Ben Greenway, it would be you," said +the other; "but I am getting used to you, and some of these days when I +have captured a ship laden with Scotch liquors and Scotch plaids I +believe that you will turn pirate yourself for the sake of your share of +the prizes." + +"Which is likely to be on the same mornin' that ye turn to be an honest +mon," said Ben; "but I am no' in the way o' expectin' miracles." + +On went the pounding and the sawing and the hammering and the swearing +and the singing of birds, although the latter were a little farther away +than they had been, and in the course of the day the pirate captain, +erect, scrutinizing, and blasphemous, went over his ship, +superintending the repairs. In a day or two everything would be +finished, and then he and his two prizes could up sail and away. It was +a beautiful harbour in which he lay, but he was getting tired of it. + +There were great prospects before our pirate captain. Perhaps he might +have the grand good fortune to fall in with that low-born devil, +Blackbeard, who, when last he had been heard from, commanded but a small +vessel, fearing no attack upon this coast. What a proud and glorious +moment it would be when a broadside and another and another should be +poured in upon his little craft from the long guns of the Royal James. + +Bonnet was still standing, reflecting, with bright eyes, upon this +dazzling future, and wondering what would be the best way of letting the +dastardly Blackbeard know whose guns they were which had sunk his ship, +when a boat was seen coming around the headland. This was one of his own +boats, which had been posted as a sentinel, and which now brought the +news that two vessels were coming in at the mouth of the river, but that +as the distance was great and the night was coming on they could not +decide what manner of craft they were. + +This information made everybody jump, on board the Royal James, and the +noise of the sawing and the hammering ceased as completely as had the +songs of the birds. In a few minutes that quick and able mariner, +Bonnet, had sent three armed boats down the river to reconnoitre. If the +vessels entering the river were merchantmen, they should not be allowed +to get away; but if they were enemies, although it was difficult to +understand how enemies could make their appearance in these quiet +waters, they must be attended to, either by fight or flight. + +When the three boats came back, and it was late before they appeared, +every man upon the Royal James was crowded along her side to hear the +news, and even the people on the prizes knew that something had +happened, and stood upon every point of vantage, hoping that in some way +they could find out what it was. + +The news brought by the boats was to the effect that two vessels, not +sailing as merchantmen and well armed and manned, were now ashore on +sand-bars, not very far above the mouth of the river. Now Bonnet swore +bravely. If the work upon his vessels had been finished he would up +anchor and away and sail past these two grounded ships, whatever they +were and whatever they came for. He would sail past them and take with +him his two prizes; he would glide out to sea with the tide, and he +would laugh at them as he left them behind. But the Royal James was not +ready to sail. + +The tide was now low; five hours afterward, when it should be high, +those two ships, whatever they were, would float again, and the Royal +James, whatever her course of action should be, would be cut off from +the mouth of the river. This was a greater risk than even a pirate as +bold as Bonnet would wish to run, and so there was no sleep that night +on the Royal James. The blows of the hammers and the sounds of the saws +made a greater noise than they had ever done before, so that the night +birds were frightened and flew shrieking away. Every man worked with all +the energy that was in him, for each hairy rascal had reason to believe +that if the vessel they were on did not get out of the river before the +two armed strangers should be afloat there might be hard times ahead for +them. Even Ben Greenway was aroused. "The de'il shall not get him any +sooner than can be helped," he said to himself, and he hammered and +sawed with the rest of them. + +On his stout and well-armed sloop the Henry, Mr. William Rhett, of +Charles Town, South Carolina, paced anxiously all night. Frequently from +the sand-bar on which his vessel was grounded he called over to his +other sloop, also fast grounded, giving orders and asking questions. On +both vessels everybody was at work, getting ready for action when the +tide should rise. + +Some weeks before the wails and complaints of a tortured sea-coast had +come down from the Jersey shores to South Carolina, asking for help at +the only place along that coast whence help could come. A pirate named +Thomas was working his way southward, spreading terror before him and +leaving misery behind. These appeals touched the hearts of the people of +Charles Town, already sore from the injuries and insults inflicted upon +them by Blackbeard in those days when Bonnet sat silently on the pirate +ship, doing nothing and learning much. + +There was no hesitancy; for their own sake and for the sake of their +commerce, this new pirate must not come to Charles Town harbour, and an +expedition of two vessels, heavily armed and well manned and commanded +by Mr. William Rhett, was sent northward up the coast to look for the +pirate named Thomas and to destroy him and his ship. Mr. Rhett was not a +military man, nor did he belong to the navy. He was a citizen capable of +commanding soldiers, and as such he went forth to destroy the pirate +Thomas. + +Mr. Rhett met people enough along the coast who told him where he might +find the pirate, but he found no one to tell him how to navigate the +dangerous waters of the Cape Fear River, and so it was that soon after +entering that fine stream he and his consort found themselves aground. + +Mr. Rhett was quite sure that he had discovered the lair of the big game +he was looking for. Just before dark, three boats, well filled with men, +had appeared from up the river, and they had looked so formidable that +everything had been made ready to resist an attack from them. They +retired, but every now and then during the night, when there was quiet +for a few minutes, there would come down the river on the wind the sound +of distant hammering and the noise of saws. + +It was after midnight before the Henry and the Sea Nymph floated free, +but they anchored where they were and waited for the morning. Whether +they would sail up the river after the pirate or whether he would come +down to them, daylight would show. + +Mr. Rhett's vessels had been at anchor for five hours, and every man on +board of them were watching and waiting, when daylight appeared and +showed them a tall ship, under full sail, rounding the distant headland +up the river. Now up came their anchors and their sails were set. The +pirate was coming! + +Whatever the Royal James intended to do, Mr. Rhett had but one plan, and +that was to meet the enemy as soon as possible and fight him. So up +sailed the Henry and up sailed the Sea Nymph, and they pressed ahead so +steadily to meet the Royal James that the latter vessel, in carrying out +what was now her obvious intention of getting out to sea, was forced +shoreward, where she speedily ran upon a bar. Then, from the vessels of +Charles Town there came great shouts of triumph, which ceased when first +the Henry and then the Sea Nymph ran upon other bars and remained +stationary. + +Here was an unusual condition--three ships of war all aground and about +to begin a battle, a battle which would probably last for five hours if +one or more of the stationary vessels were not destroyed before that +time. It was soon found, however, that there would only be two parties +to the fight, for the Sea Nymph was too far away to use her guns. The +Royal James had an advantage over her opponents, since, when she +slightly careened, her decks were slanted away from the enemy, while the +latter's were presented to her fire. + +At it they went, hot and heavy. Bonnet and his men now knew that they +were engaged with commissioned war vessels, and they fought for their +lives. Mr. Rhett knew that he was fighting Thomas, the dreaded pirate of +the coast, and he felt that he must destroy him before his vessel should +float again. The cannon roared, muskets blazed away, and the combatants +were near enough even to use pistols upon each other. Men died, blood +flowed, and the fight grew fiercer and fiercer. + +Bonnet roared like an incarnate devil; he swore at his men, he swore at +the enemy, he swore at his bad fortune, for had he not missed the +channel the game would have been in his own hands. + +So on they fought, and the tide kept steadily rising. The five hours +must pass at last, and the vessel which first floated would win the day. + +The five hours did pass, and the Henry floated, and Bonnet swore louder +and more fiercely than before. He roared to his men to fire and to +fight, no matter whether they were still aground or not, and with many +oaths he vowed that if any one of them showed but a sign of weakening he +would cut him down upon the spot. But the hairy scoundrels who made up +the crew of the Royal James had no idea of lying there with their ship +on its side, while two other ships--for the Sea Nymph was now +afloat--should sail around them, rake their decks, and shatter them to +pieces. So the crew consulted together, despite their captain's roars +and oaths, and many of them counselled surrender. Their vessel was much +farther inshore than the two others, and no matter what happened +afterward they preferred to live longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. + +But Bonnet quailed not before fate, before the enemy, or before his +crew; if he heard another word of surrender he would fire the magazine +and blow the ship to the sky with every man in it. Raising his cutlass +in air, he was about to bring it down upon one of the cowards he +berated, when suddenly he was seized by two powerful hands, which pinned +his arms behind him. With a scream of rage, he turned his head and +found that he was in the grasp of Ben Greenway. + +"Let go your sword, Master Bonnet," said Ben; "it is o' no use to ye +now, for ye canna get awa' from me. I'm nae older than ye are, though I +look it, an' I've got the harder muscles. Ye may be makin' your way +steadily an' surely to the gates o' hell an' it mayna be possible that I +can prevent ye, but I'm not goin' to let ye tumble in by accident so +long as I've got two arms left to me." + +Pale, haggard, and writhing, Stede Bonnet was disarmed, and the Jolly +Roger came down. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +BONNET AND GREENWAY PART COMPANY + + +It was three days after this memorable combat--for the vessels engaged +in it needed considerable repairs--when Mr. Rhett of Charles Town sailed +down the Cape Fear River with his five vessels--the two with which he +had entered it, the pirate Royal James, and the two prizes of the +latter, which had waited quietly up the river to see how matters were +going to turn out. + +On the Henry sailed the pirate Thomas, now discovered to be the +notorious Stede Bonnet, and a very quiet and respectful man he was. As +has been seen before, Bonnet was a man able to adapt himself to +circumstances. There never was a more demure counting-house clerk than +was Bonnet at Belize; there never was an humbler dependent than the +almost unnoticed Bonnet after he had joined Blackbeard's fleet before +Charles Town, and there never was a more deferential and respectful +prisoner than Stede Bonnet on board the Henry. It was really touching to +see how this cursing and raging pirate deported himself as a meek and +uncomplaining gentleman. + +There was no prison-house in Charles Town, but Stede Bonnet's wicked +crew, including Ben Greenway--for his captors were not making any +distinctions in regard to common men taken on a pirate ship--were +clapped into the watch-house--and a crowded and uncomfortable place it +was--and put under a heavy and military guard. The authorities were, +however, making distinctions where gentlemen of family and owners of +landed estates were concerned, no matter if they did happen to be taken +on a pirate ship, and Major Bonnet of Barbadoes was lodged in the +provost marshal's house, in comfortable quarters, with only two +sentinels outside to make him understand he was a prisoner. + +The capture of this celebrated pirate created a sensation in Charles +Town, and many of the citizens were not slow to pay the unfortunate +prisoner the attentions due to his former position in society. He was +very well satisfied with his treatment in Charles Town, which city he +had never before had the pleasure of visiting. + +The attentions paid to Ben Greenway were not pleasing; sometimes he was +shoved into one corner and sometimes into another. He frequently had +enough to eat and drink, but very often this was not the case. Bonnet +never inquired after him. If he thought of him at all, he hoped that he +had been killed in the fight, for if that were the case he would be rid +of his eternal preachments. + +Greenway made known the state of his own case whenever he had a chance +to do so, but his complaints received no attention, and he might have +remained with the crew of the Royal James as long as they were shut up +in the watch-house had not some of the hairy cut-throats themselves +taken pity upon him and assured the guards that this man was not one of +them, and that they knew from what they had heard him say and seen him +do that there was no more determined enemy of piracy in all the Western +continent. So it happened, that after some weeks of confinement Greenway +was let out of the watch-house and allowed to find quarters for himself. + +The first day the Scotchman was free he went to the provost-marshal's +house and petitioned an interview with his old master, Bonnet. + +"Heigho!" cried the latter, who was comfortably seated in a chair +reading a letter. "And where do you come from, Ben Greenway? I had +thought you were dead and buried in the Cape Fear River." + +"Ye did not think I was dead," replied Ben, "when I seized ye an' held +ye an' kept ye from buryin' yoursel' in that same river." + +Bonnet waved his hand. "No more of that," said he; "I was unfortunate, +but that is over now and things have turned out better than any man +could have expected." + +"Better!" exclaimed Ben. "I vow I know not what that means." + +Bonnet laughed. He was looking very well; he was shaved, and wore a neat +suit of clothes. + +"Ben Greenway," said he, "you are now looking upon a man of high +distinction. At this moment I am the greatest pirate on the face of the +earth. Yes, Greenway, the greatest pirate on the face of the earth. I +have a letter here, which was received by the provost-marshal and which +he gave me to read, which tells that Blackbeard, the first pirate of his +age, is dead. Therefore, Ben Greenway, I take his place, and there is no +living pirate greater than I am." + +"An' ye pride yoursel' on that, an' at this moment?" asked Ben, truly +amazed. + +"That do I," said Bonnet. "And think of it, Ben Greenway, that +presumptuous, overbearing Blackbeard was killed, and his head brought +away sticking up on the bow of a vessel. What a rare sight that must +have been, Ben! Think of his long beard, all tied up with ribbons, stuck +up on the bow of a ship!" + +"An' ye are now the head de'il on earth?" said Ben. + +"You can put it that way, if you like," said Bonnet, "but I am not so +looked upon in this town. I am an honoured person. I doubt very much if +any prisoner in this country was ever treated with the distinction that +is shown me, but I don't wonder at it; I have the reputation of two +great pirates joined in one--the pirate Bonnet, of the dreaded ship +Revenge, and the terrible Thomas of the Royal James. My man, there are +people in this town who have been to me and who have said that a man so +famous should not even be imprisoned. I have good reason to believe that +it will not be long before pardon papers are made out for me, and that I +may go my way." + +"An' your men?" asked Greenway. "Will they go free or will they be hung +like common pirates?" + +Bonnet frowned impatiently. "I don't want to hear anything about the +men," he said; "of course they will be hung. What could be done with +them if they were not hung? But it is entirely different with me. I am a +most respectable person, and, now that I am willing to resign my +piratical career, having won in it all the glory that can come to one +man, that respectability must be considered." + +"Weel, weel," said the Scotchman; "an' when it comes that +respectabeelity is better for a man's soul an' body than righteousness, +then I am no fit counsellor for ye, Master Bonnet," and he took his +leave. + +The next morning, when Ben Greenway left his lodging he found the town +in an uproar. The pirate Bonnet had bribed his sentinels and, with some +others, had escaped. Ben stood still and stamped his foot. Such infamy, +such perfidy to the authorities who had treated him so well, the +Scotchman could not at first imagine, but when the truth became plain to +him, his face glowed, his eye burned; this vile conduct of his old +master was a triumph to Ben's principles. Wickedness was wickedness, and +could not be washed away by respectability. + +The days passed on; Bonnet was recaptured, more securely imprisoned, put +upon trial, found guilty, and, in spite of the efforts of the advocates +of respectability, was condemned to be hung on the same spot where +nearly all the members of his pirate crew had been executed. + +During all this time Ben Greenway kept away from his old master; he had +borne ill-treatment of every kind, but the deception practised upon him +when, at his latest interview, Bonnet talked to him of his +respectability, having already planned an escape and return to his evil +ways, was too much for the honest Scotchman. He had done with this man, +faithless to friend and foe, to his own blood, and even to his own bad +reputation. + +But not quite done. It was but half an hour before the time fixed for +the pirate's execution that Ben Greenway gained access to him. + +"What!" cried Bonnet, raising his head from his hands. "You here? I +thought I had done with you!" + +"Ay, I am here," said Ben Greenway. "I hae stood by ye in good fortune +an' in bad fortune, an' I hae never left ye, no matter what happened; +an' I told ye I would follow ye to the gates o' hell, but I could go no +farther. I hae kept my word an' here I stop. Fareweel!" + +"The only comfortable thing about this business," said Bonnet, "is to +know that at last I am rid of that fellow!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +AGAIN DICKORY WAS THERE + + +There were indeed gay times in Spanish Town, and with the two loads +lifted from her heart, Kate helped very much to promote the gaiety. If +this young lady had wished to make a good colonial match, she had +opportunities enough for so doing, but she was not in that frame of +mind, and encouraged no suitor. + +But, bright as she was, she was not so bright as on that great and +glorious day when she received Ben Greenway's letter, telling her that +her father was no longer a pirate. There were several reasons for this +gradually growing twilight of her happiness, and one was that no letter +came from her father. To be sure, there were many reasons why no letter +should come. There were no regular mails in these colonies which could +be depended upon, and, besides, the new career of her father, sailing as +a privateer under the king's flag, would probably make it very +difficult for him to send a letter to Jamaica by any regular or +irregular method. Moreover, her father was a miserable correspondent, +and always had been. Thus she comforted herself and was content, though +not very well content, to wait. + +Then there was another thing which troubled her, when she thought of it. +That good man and steady lover, Martin Newcombe, had written that he was +coming to Spanish Town, and she knew very well what he was coming for +and what he would say, but she did not know what she would say to him; +and the thought of this troubled her. In a letter she might put off the +answer for which he had been so long and patiently waiting, but when she +met him face to face there could be no more delay; she must tell him yes +or no, and she was not ready to do this. + +There was so much to think of, so many plans to be considered in regard +to going back to Barbadoes or staying in Jamaica, that really she could +not make up her mind, at least not until she had seen her father. She +would be so sorry if Mr. Newcombe came to Spanish Town before her father +should arrive, or at least before she should hear from him. + +Then there was another thing which added to the twilight of these +cheerful days, and this Kate could scarcely understand, because she +could see no reason why it should affect her. The Governor, whom they +frequently met in the course of the pleasant social functions of the +town, looked troubled, and was not the genial gentleman he used to be. +Of course he had a right to his own private perplexities and annoyances, +but it grieved Kate to see the change in him. He had always been so +cordial and so cheerful; he was now just as kind as ever, perhaps a +little more so, in his manner, but he was not cheerful. + +Kate mentioned to her uncle the changed demeanour of the Governor, but +he could give no explanation; he had heard of no political troubles, but +supposed that family matters might easily have saddened the good man. + +He himself was not very cheerful, for day after day brought nearer the +time when that uncertain Stede Bonnet might arrive in Jamaica, and what +would happen after that no man could tell. One thing he greatly feared, +and that was, that his dear niece, Kate, might be taken away from him. +Dame Charter was not so very cheerful either. Only in one way did she +believe in Stede Bonnet, and that was, that after some fashion or +another he would come between her and her bright dreams for her dear +Dickory. + +And so there were some people in Spanish Town who were not as happy as +they had been. + +Still there were dinners and little parties, and society made itself +very pleasant; and in the midst of them all a ship came in from +Barbadoes, bringing a letter from Martin Newcombe. + +A strange thing about this letter was that it was addressed to Mr. +Delaplaine and not to Miss Kate Bonnet. This, of course, proved the +letter must be on business; and, although he was with his little family +when he opened his letter, he thought it well to glance at it before +reading it aloud. The first few lines showed him that it was indeed a +business letter, for it told of the death of Madam Bonnet, and how the +writer, Martin Newcombe, as a neighbour and friend of the family, had +been called in to take temporary charge of her effects, and, having done +so, he hastened to inform Mr. Delaplaine of his proceedings and to ask +advice. This letter he now read aloud, and Kate and the others were +greatly interested therein, although they cautiously forbore the +expression of any opinion which might rise in their minds regarding this +turn of affairs. + +Having finished these business details, Mr. Delaplaine went on and read +aloud, and in the succeeding portion of the letter Mr. Newcombe begged +Mr. Delaplaine to believe that it was the hardest duty of his whole life +to write what he was now obliged to write, but that he knew he must do +it, and therefore would not hesitate. At this the reader looked at his +niece and stopped. + +"Go on," cried Kate, her face a little flushed, "go on!" + +The face of Mr. Delaplaine was pale, and for a moment he hesitated, +then, with a sudden jerk, he nerved himself to the effort and read on; +he had seen enough to make him understand that the duty before him +was to read on. + +[Illustration: In an instant Dickory was there.] + +Briefly and tersely, but with tears in the very ink, so sad were the +words, the writer assured Mr. Delaplaine that his love for his niece had +been, and was, the overpowering impulse of his life; that to win this +love he had dared everything, he had hoped for everything, he had been +willing to pass by and overlook everything, but that now, and it tore +his heart to write it, his evil fortune had been too much for him; he +could do anything for the sake of his love that a man with respect for +himself could do, but there was one thing at which he must stop, at +which he must bow his head and submit to his fate--he could not marry +the daughter of an executed felon. + +Thus came to that little family group the news of the pirate Bonnet's +death. There was more of the letter, but Mr. Delaplaine did not read it. + +Kate did not scream, nor moan, nor faint, but she sat up straight in her +chair and gazed, with a wild intentness, at her uncle. No one spoke. At +such a moment condolence or sympathy would have been a cruel mockery. +They were all as pale as chalk. In his heart, Mr. Delaplaine said: "I +see it all; the Governor must have known, and he loved her so he could +not break her heart." + +In the midst of the silence, in the midst of the chalky whiteness of +their faces, in the midst of the blackness which was settling down upon +them, Kate Bonnet still sat upright, a coldness creeping through every +part of her. Suddenly she turned her head, and in a voice of wild +entreaty she called out: "Oh, Dickory, why don't you come to me!" + +In an instant Dickory was there, and, cold and lifeless, Kate Bonnet was +in his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME FROM THE DEATH OF THE WICKED + + +It was three weeks after Martin Newcombe's letter came before Ben +Greenway arrived in Spanish Town. He had had a hard time to get there, +having but little money and no friends to help him; but he had a strong +heart and an earnest, and so he was bound to get there at last; and, +although Kate saw no visitors, she saw him. She was not dressed in +mourning; she could not wear black for herself. + +She greeted the Scotchman with earnestness; he was a friend out of the +old past, but she gave him no chance to speak first. + +"Ben," she exclaimed, "have you a message for me?" + +"No message," he replied, "but I hae somethin' on my heart I wish to say +to ye. I hae toiled an' laboured an' hae striven wi' mony obstacles to +get to ye an' to say it." + +She looked at him, with her brows knit, wondering if she should allow +him to speak; then, with the words scarcely audible between her tightly +closed lips, she said: "Ben, what is it?" + +"It is this, an' no more nor less," replied the Scotchman; "he was never +fit to be your father, an' it is not fit now for ye to remember him as +your father. I was faithful to him to the vera last, but there was no +truth in him. It is an abomination an' a wickedness for ye to remember +him as your father!" + +Kate spoke no word, nor did she shed a tear. + +"It was my heart's desire ye should know it," said the Scotchman, "an' I +came mony a weary league to tell ye so." + +"Ben," said she, "I think I have known it for a long time, but I would +not suffer myself to believe it; but now, having heard your words, I am +sure of it." + +"Uncle," said she an hour afterward, "I have no father, and I never had +one." + +With tears in his eyes he folded her to his breast, and peace began to +rise in his soul. No greater blessing can come to really good people +than the absolute disappearance of the wicked. + +And the wickedness which had so long shadowed and stained the life of +Kate Bonnet was now removed from it. It was hard to get away from the +shadow and to wipe off the stain, but she was a brave girl and she did +it. + +In this work of her life--a work which if not accomplished would make +that life not worth the living--Kate was much helped by Dickory; and he +helped her by not saying a word about it or ever allowing himself, when +in her presence, to remember that there had been a shadow or a stain. +And if he thought of it at all when by himself, his only feeling was one +of thankfulness that what had happened had given her to him. + +Even the Governor brightened. He had striven hard to keep from Kate the +news which had come to him from Charles Town, suppressing it in the +hopes that it might reach her more gradually and with less terrible +effect than if he told it, but now that he knew that she knew it the +blessings which are shed abroad by the disappearance of the wicked +affected him also, and he brightened. There were no functions for Kate, +but she brightened, striving with all her soul to have this so, for her +own sake as well as that of others. As for Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, +and Dickory, they brightened without any trouble at all, the +disappearance of the wicked having such a direct and forcible effect +upon them. + +Dickory Charter, who matured in a fashion which made everybody forget +that Kate Bonnet was eleven months his senior, entered into business +with Mr. Delaplaine, and Jamaica became the home of this happy family, +whose welfare was founded, as on a rock, upon the disappearance of the +wicked. + +Here, then, was a brave girl who had loved her father with a love which +was more than that of a daughter, which was the love of a mother, of a +wife; who had loved him in prosperity and in times of sorrow and of +shame; who had rejoiced like an angel whenever he turned his footsteps +into the right way, and who had mourned like an angel whenever he went +wrong. She had longed to throw her arms around her father's neck, to +hold him to her, and thus keep off the hangman's noose. Her courage and +affection never waned until those arms were rudely thrust aside and +their devoted owner dastardly repulsed. + +True to herself and to him, she loved her father so long as there was +anything parental in him which she might love; and, true to herself, +when he had left her nothing she might love, she bowed her head and +suffered him, as he passed out of his life, to pass out of her own. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +CAPTAIN ICHABOD PUTS THE CASE + + +In the river at Bridgetown lay the good brig King and Queen, just +arrived from Jamaica. On her deck was an impatient young gentleman, +leaning over the rail and watching the approach of a boat, with two men +rowing and a passenger in the stern. + +This impatient young man was Dickory Charter, that morning arrived at +Bridgetown and not yet having been on shore. He came for the purpose of +settling some business affairs, partly on account of Miss Kate Bonnet +and partly for his mother. + +As the boat came nearer, Dickory recognised one of the men who were +rowing and hailed him. + +"Heigho! Tom Hilyer," he cried, "I am right glad to see you on this +river again. I want a boat to go to my mother's house; know you of one +at liberty?" + +The man ceased rowing for a moment and then addressed the passenger in +the stern, who, having heard what he had to say, nodded briefly. + +"Well, well, Dick Charter!" cried out the man, "and have you come back +as governor of the colony? You look fine enough, anyway. But if you want +a boat to go to your mother's old home, you can have a seat in this one; +we're going there, and our passenger does not object." + +"Pull up here," cried Dickory, and in a moment he had dropped into the +bow of the boat, which then proceeded on its way. + +The man in the stern was fairly young, handsome, sunburned, and well +dressed in a suit of black. When Dickory thanked him for allowing him to +share his boat the passenger in the stern nodded his head with a jerk +and an air which indicated that he took the incident as a matter of +course, not to be further mentioned or considered. + +The men who rowed the boat were good oarsmen, but they were not +thoroughly acquainted with the cove, especially at low tide, and +presently they ran upon a sand-bar. Then uprose the passenger in the +stern and began to swear with an ease and facility which betokened long +practice. Dickory did not swear, but he knit his brows and berated +himself for not having taken the direction of the course into his own +hands, he who knew the river and the cove so well. The tide was rising +but Dickory was too impatient to sit still and wait until it should be +high enough to float the boat. That was his old home, that little house +at the head of the cove, and he wanted to get there, he wanted to see +it. Part of the business which brought him to Barbadoes concerned that +little house. With a sudden movement he made a dive at his shoes and +stockings and speedily had them lying at the bottom of the boat. Then he +stepped overboard and waded towards the shore. In some of the deeper +places he wetted the bottom of his breeches, but he did not mind that. +The passenger in the stern sat down, but he continued to swear. + +Presently Dickory was on the dry sand, and running up to that cottage +door. A little back from the front of the house and in the shade there +was a bench, and on this bench there sat a girl, reading. She lifted her +head in surprise as Dickory approached, for his bare feet had made no +noise, then she stood up quickly, blushing. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes," cried Dickory; "and you look just the same as when you first put +your head above the bushes and talked to me." + +"Except that I am more suitably clothed," she said. + +And she was entirely right, for her present dress was feminine, and +extremely becoming. + +Dickory did not wish to say anything more on this subject, and so he +remarked: "I have just arrived at the town, and I came directly here." + +Lucilla blushed again. + +"This is my old home," added Dickory. + +"But you knew we were here?" she asked, with a hesitating look of +inquiry. + +"Oh, yes," said he, "I knew that the house had been let to your father." + +Now she changed colour twice--first red, then white. "Are you," she +said, "I mean ... the other, is she--" + +"I left her in Jamaica," said Dickory, "but I am going to marry her." + +For a moment the rim of her hat got between the sun and her face, and +one could not decide very well whether her countenance was red or white. + +"I am very glad to find you here," said Dickory, "and may I see your +father and mother?" + +"Yes," said she, "but they are both in the field with my young sister. +But who is this man walking up the shore? And is that the boat you came +in?" + +"It is," said Dickory. "We stuck fast, but I was in such a hurry that I +waded ashore. I don't know the man; he had hired the boat, and kindly +took me in, I was in such haste to get here." + +For a moment Lucilla bent her eyes on the ground. "In such haste to get +here!" she said to herself; then she raised her head and exclaimed: "Oh, +I know that man; he is the pirate captain who captured the Belinda, +which afterward brought us here." And with both hands outstretched, she +ran to meet him. + +The face of Captain Ichabod glowed with irrepressible delight; one might +have thought he was about to embrace the young woman, notwithstanding +the presence of Dickory and the two boatmen, but he did everything he +could do before witnesses to express his joy. + +Dickory now stepped up to Captain Ichabod. "Oh, now I know you," cried +he, and he held out his hand. "You were very kind indeed to my friends, +and they have spoken much about you. This is my old home; this is the +house where I was born." + +"Yes, yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "a very good house, bedad, a +very good house." But hesitating a little and addressing Lucilla: "You +don't live here alone, do you?" + +The girl laughed. + +"Oh, no," she cried. "My father and mother will be here presently; in +fact, I see them coming." + +"That's very well," said Ichabod, "very well indeed. It's quite right +that they should live with you. I remember them now; they were on the +ship with you." + +"Oh, yes," said Lucilla, still laughing. + +"Quite right, quite right," said Ichabod; "that was very right." + +"I will go meet your father and mother and the dear little Lena; I +remember them so well," said Dickory. He started to run off in spite of +his bare feet, but he had gone but a little way when Lucilla stopped +him. She looked up at him, and this time her face was white. + +"Are you sure," said she, "that everything is settled between you and +that other girl?" + +"Very sure," said Dickory, looking kindly upon her and remembering how +pretty she had looked when he first saw her face over the bushes. + +She did not say anything, but turned and walked back to Captain Ichabod. +She found that tall gentleman somewhat agitated; he seemed to have a +great deal on his mind which he wished to say, feeling, at the same +time, that he ought to say everything first. + +"That's your father and mother," said he, "stopping to talk to the young +man who was born here?" + +"Yes," she answered, "and they will be with us presently." + +"Very good, very good, that's quite right," said Captain Ichabod +hurriedly; "but before they come, I want to say--that is, I would like +you to know--that I have sold my ship. I am not a pirate any longer, I +am a sugar-planter, bedad. Beg your pardon! That is, I intend to be +one. You remember that you once talked to me about sugar-planting in +Barbadoes, and so I am here. I want to find a good sugar plantation, to +buy it, and live on it; I heard that you were stopping on this side of +the river, and so I came here." + +"But there is no sugar plantation here," said Lucilla, very demurely. + +"Oh, no," said Ichabod, "oh, no, of course not; but you are here, and I +wanted to find you; a sugar plantation would be of no use without you." + +She looked at him, still very demurely. "I don't quite understand you," +she said. She turned her head a little and saw that her family and +Dickory were slowly moving towards the house. She knew that with +diffident persons no time should be lost, for, if interrupted, it often +happened that they did not begin again. + +"Then I suppose," she said, her face turned up towards him, but her eyes +cast down, "that you are going to say that you would like to marry me?" + +"Of course, of course," exclaimed Ichabod; "I thought you knew that that +is what I came here for, bedad." + +"Very well, then," said Lucilla, turning her eyes to the face of the man +she had dreamed of in many happy nights. "No, no," she added quickly, +"you must not kiss me; they are all coming, and there are the two +boatmen." + +He did not kiss her, but later he made up for the omission. + +The moment Mrs. Mander saw Captain Ichabod and her daughter standing +together she knew exactly what had happened; she had noticed things on +board the Belinda. She hurried up to Lucilla and drew her aside. + +"My dear," she whispered, with a frightened face, "you cannot marry a +pirate; you never, never can!" + +"Dear mother," said Lucilla, "he is not a pirate; he has sold his ship +and is going to be a sugar-planter." + +Now they all came up and heard these words of Lucilla. + +"Yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "you may not suppose it, but your +daughter and I are about to marry, and will plant sugar together. Now, I +want to buy a plantation. Where is that young man who was born here, +bedad?" + +Dickory advanced, laughing. Here was a fine opportunity, a miraculous +opportunity, of disposing of the Bonnet estate, which was part of the +business which had brought him here. So he told the beaming captain that +he knew of a fine plantation up the river, which he thought would suit +him. + +"Very good," said Captain Ichabod. "I have a boat here; let us go and +look at the place, and if it suits us I will buy it, bedad." + +So with Mrs. Mander and her husband beside her, and with Lucilla and +the captain by her, the boat was rowed up the river, with Dickory and +young Lena in the bow. + +When the boat reached the Bonnet estate it was run up on the shore near +the shady spot where Kate Bonnet had once caught a fish. Then they all +stepped out upon the little beach, even the oarsmen made the boat fast +and joined the party, who started to walk up to the house. Suddenly +Captain Ichabod stopped and said to Mr. Mander: "I don't think I care to +walk up that hill, you know; and if you and your good wife will look +over that house and cast your eyes about the place, I will buy it, if +you say so: you know a good deal more about such things than I do, +bedad. I suppose, of course, that will suit you?" he said to Lucilla. + +It suited Lucilla exactly. They sat in the shade in the very place where +Kate had sat when she saw Master Newcombe crossing the bridge. + +A small boat came down the river, rowed by a young man. As he passed the +old Bonnet property he carelessly cast his eyes shoreward, but his heart +took no interest in what he saw there. What did it matter to him if two +lovers sat there in the shade, close to the river's brink? His sad soul +now took no interest in lovers. He had just been up the river to arrange +for the sale of his plantation to one of his neighbours. He had decided +to leave the island of Barbadoes and to return to England. + +The house suited Captain Ichabod exactly, when Mrs. Mander told him +about it, and Lucilla agreed with him because she was always accustomed +to trust her mother in such things. + +So they all got into the boat and rowed back to Dickory's old home, and +on the way Captain Ichabod told Dickory that when they returned together +to the town he would pay him for the plantation, having brought specie +sufficient for the purpose. + +It was a gay party in the boat as they rowed down the river; it was a +gay party at the house when they reached it, and they would have all +taken supper together had the Manders been prepared for such +hospitality; but they were poor, having taken the place upon a short +lease and having had but few returns so far. But they were all going to +live at the old Bonnet place, and happiness shone over everything. It +was twilight, and the two young men were about to walk down to the boat, +one of them promising to come again early in the morning, when Lucilla +approached Dickory. + +"Where are you going to live with that girl?" she asked in a low voice. + +"In Jamaica," said he. + +"I am glad of it," she replied, quite frankly. + + * * * * * + +They were well content, those Jamaica people, when Ben Greenway came to +live with them. It had been proposed at one time that he should go to +his old Bridgetown home and take charge of the place as he used to, but +the good Scotchman demurred to this. + +"I hae served ane master before he became a pirate," he said, "an' I +don't want to try anither after he has finished bein' ane. If I serve +ony mon, let him be one wha has been righteous, wha is righteous now, +an' wha will continue in righteousness." + +"Then serve Mr. Delaplaine," said Dickory. + + * * * * * + +The Manders soon removed to the little house where Dickory was born. The +mansion of their daughter and her husband was a hospitable place and a +lively, but the life there was so wayward, erratic, and eccentric that +it did not suit their sober lives and the education of their young +daughter. So they dwelt contentedly in the cottage at the head of the +cove, and there was much rowing up and down the river. + + * * * * * + +It was upon a fine morning that the ex-pirate Ichabod thus addressed a +citizen of the town: + +"Yes, sir, I know well who once lived in the house I own. I knew the man +myself; I knew him at Belize. He was a dastardly knave, and would have +played false to the sun, the moon, and the stars had they shown him an +opportunity, bedad. But I also knew his daughter; she sailed on my ship +for many days, and her presence blessed the very boards she trod on. She +is a most noble lady; and if you will not admit, sir, that her sweet +spirit and pure soul have not banished from this earth every taint of +wickedness left here by her father, then, sir, bedad, stand where you +are and draw!" + + +THE END + + + + * * * * * + + + +RECENT FICTION. + + +SOME WOMEN I HAVE KNOWN. + +By MAARTEN MAARTENS, author of "God's Fool," etc. With +Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "Maarten Maartens stands head and shoulders above the average + novelist of the day in intellectual subtlety and imaginative + power."--_Boston Beacon._ + +THE WAGE OF CHARACTER. + +By JULIEN GORDON, author of "Mrs. Clyde," etc. With Portrait. +12mo. Cloth, $1.25. + + Julien Gordon's new novel is a story of the world of fashion and + intrigue, written with an insight, an epigrammatic force, and a + realization of the dramatic and the pathetic as well as more + superficial phases of life, that stamp the book as one immediate + and personal in its interest and convincing in its appeal to the + minds and to the sympathies of readers. + +THE QUIBERON TOUCH. + +A Romance of the Sea. By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, author of "For +the Freedom of the Sea," "The Grip of Honor," etc. With Frontispiece. +12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "This story has a real beauty; it breathes of the sea. Fenimore + Cooper would not be ashamed to own a disciple in the school of + which he was master in these descriptions of the tug of war as it + was in the eighteenth century between battle-ships under + sail."--_New York Mail and Express._ + +SHIPMATES. + +A Volume of Salt-Water Fiction. By MORGAN ROBERTSON, author of +"Masters of Men," etc. With Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + When Mr. Robertson writes of the sea, the tang of the brine and the + snap of the sea-breeze are felt behind his words. The adventures + and mysteries of sea life, the humors and strange complications + possible in yachting, the inner tragedies of the foks'l, the + delightful adventures of Finnegan in war, and the original + developments in the course of true love at sea, are among the vivid + pictures that make up a volume so vital in its interests and + dramatic in its situations, so delightful in its quaint humor and + so vigorous and stirring throughout, that it will be read by sea + lovers for its full flavor of the sea, and by others as a + refreshing tonic. + +A NEST OF LINNETS. + +By F. FRANKFORT MOORE, author of "The Jessamy Bride," "A Gray +Eye or So," etc. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "That 'A Nest of Linnets' is bright, clever, and well written + follows as a matter of course, considering that it was written by + F. 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Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "The attention of the reader is held from start to finish, because + the whole plot is original, and one can not tell what is going to + happen next."--_Washington Times._ + +THE BELEAGUERED FOREST. + +By ELIA W. PEATTIE. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "'The Beleaguered Forest' is not a novel--it is a romance; it is + not a romance--it is a poem."--_Chicago Post._ + +SHACKLETT. + +A Story of American Politics. By WALTER BARR. 12mo. Cloth, +$1.50. + + "As a picture of American political life and possibilities it is + wonderfully vivid and truthful."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER. + +By MAXWELL GRAY, author of "The Silence of Dean Maitland." +12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "An honest piece of work by a story-teller who knows her trade + thoroughly.... It is a book which ought to be in every + hammock."--_Pittsburg Commercial Gazette._ + + + +A WOMAN ALONE. + +By MRS. W.K. CLIFFORD, author of "Love Letters of a Worldly +Woman." 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "Mrs. Clifford is an adroit writer, whose knowledge of the world + and whose brilliancy have not destroyed in her a simple tenderness + to which every sensitive reader must respond."--_Chicago Tribune._ + +MILLS OF GOD. + +By ELINOR MACARTNEY LANE. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "It is a good novel in comparison with even the best in current + American fiction. Its author, in this her maiden effort, easily + takes her place among the Churchills and the Johnstons and the + Runkles."--_New York Herald._ + +THE SEAL OF SILENCE. + +By ARTHUR R. CONDER. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "A novel of marked originality, of extraordinary strength.... I + recommend this very dramatic and exciting story, with its quaint + love interest and its dry, quiet humor, to all lovers of a good + story capitally conceived and happily told."--GEORGE S. + GOODWIN, in _Philadelphia Item._ + +THE MAN WHO KNEW BETTER. + +By T. GALLON, author of "Tatterley," etc. Illustrated by Gordon +Browne. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "The best Christmas story that has appeared since the death of + Charles Dickens.... It is an admirably written story, and merits + warm welcome and broad recognition."--_Baltimore Sun._ + +UNDER THE SKYLIGHTS. + +By HENRY B. FULLER, author of "The Chevalier of Pensieri-Vani," +"The Cliff Dwellers," etc. 12mo. Deckle edge, gilt top, $1.50. + + The charming humor, delightful flavor, and refined quality of Mr. + Fuller's work impart a peculiar zest to this subtly satirical + picture of the extraordinary vicissitudes of arts and letters in a + Western metropolis. + +THE APOSTLES OF THE SOUTHEAST. + +By FRANK T. BULLEN, author of "The Cruise of the Cachalot," +"Idyls of the Sea," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "Mr. Bullen writes with a sympathy and pathetic touch rare indeed. + His characters are living ones, his scenes full of life and + realism, and there is not a page in the whole book which is not + brimful of deepest interest."--_Philadelphia Item._ + +THE ALIEN. + +By F.F. MONTRÉSOR, author of "Into the Highways and Hedges," +etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "May be confidently commended to the most exacting reader as an + absorbing story, excellently told."--_Kansas City Star._ + +WHILE CHARLIE WAS AWAY. + +By MRS. POULTNEY BIGELOW. 16mo. Cloth, 75 cents. + + Mrs. Bigelow tells a wonderfully vivid story of a woman in London + "smart" life whose hunger for love involves her in perils, but + finds a true way out in the end. + +D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATE BONNET*** + + +******* This file should be named 17053-8.txt or 17053-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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Stockton</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + text-align: center; + } + + td.left {text-align: left;} + td.right {text-align: right;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + hr.full { width: 100%; } + pre {font-size: 75%;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Kate Bonnet, by Frank R. Stockton, +Illustrated by A. J. Keller and H. S. Potter</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Kate Bonnet</p> +<p> The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter</p> +<p>Author: Frank R. Stockton</p> +<p>Release Date: November 12, 2005 [eBook #17053]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATE BONNET***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Gene Smethers,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (https://www.pgdp.net/)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/cover_01.png" width="50%" alt="Image of book cover"/> + <br /> <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <a name="gs_01" id="gs_01"></a> + <img src="images/gs_01.png" width="50%" alt="You should have seen that wonderful pirate fight." /> + <span class="caption"><br /><br />"Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that wonderful pirate fight." (See page 350.)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + + +<h1>KATE BONNET<br /></h1> + +<h2>The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter<br /></h2> + +<h4>BY</h4> +<h2>FRANK R. STOCKTON<br /></h2> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/tp_01.png" width="30%" alt="Decorative drawing of Kate Bonnet" /> +<br /></div> + + +<h3>Illustrated by A. J. Keller</h3> +<h4>and</h4> +<h3>H. S. Potter<br /><br /></h3> +<h3>NEW YORK</h3> +<h3>D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h3> +<h4>1902<br /><br /><br /><br /></h4> + +<h4><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1901, 1903<br /></h4> +<h3>By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY</h3> +<h4><i>All rights reserved</i></h4> +<h4><i>February, 1902</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></h4> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table cellspacing="15"> +<tr> + <td class="right">CHAPTER</td> + <td class="left"> </td> + <td class="right">Page</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right"><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>I.</b></a></td> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Two young people, a ship, and a fish</span></td> + <td class="right">1</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>II.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A fruit-basket and a friend</span></td> + <td class="right" >11</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>III.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The two clocks</span></td> + <td class="right" >25</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>IV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">On the quarter-deck</span></td> + <td class="right" >35</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>V.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">An unsuccessful errand</span></td> + <td class="right" >48</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>VI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A pair of shoes and stockings</span></td> + <td class="right" >61</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>VII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Kate plans</span></td> + <td class="right" >70</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>VIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Ben Greenway is convinced that Bonnet is a pirate</span></td> + <td class="right" >79</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>IX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Dickory sets forth</span></td> + <td class="right" >103</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>X.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Captain Christopher Vince</span></td> + <td class="right" >117</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>XI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Bad weather</span></td> + <td class="right" >132</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>XII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Face to face</span></td> + <td class="right" >138</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>XIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Captain Bonnet goes to church</span></td> + <td class="right" >147</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV"><b>XIV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A girl to the front</span></td> + <td class="right" >161</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XV"><b>XV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The Governor of Jamaica</span></td> + <td class="right" >165</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI"><b>XVI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A question of etiquette</span></td> + <td class="right" >173</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII"><b>XVII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">An ornamented beard</span></td> + <td class="right" >187</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII"><b>XVIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">I have no right; I am a pirate</span></td> + <td class="right" >194</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX"><b>XIX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The new first lieutenant</span></td> + <td class="right" >203</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XX"><b>XX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">One north, one south</span></td> + <td class="right" >217</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI"><b>XXI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A projected marriage</span></td> + <td class="right" >223</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII"><b>XXII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Blade to blade</span></td> + <td class="right" >230</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII"><b>XXIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The address of the letter</span></td> + <td class="right" >245</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV"><b>XXIV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Belize</span></td> + <td class="right" >251</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV"><b>XXV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Wise Mr. Delaplaine</span></td> + <td class="right" >263</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI"><b>XXVI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Dickory stretches his legs</span></td> + <td class="right" >276</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII"><b>XXVII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A girl who laughed</span></td> + <td class="right" >280</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII"><b>XXVIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Lucilla's ship</span></td> + <td class="right" >295</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX"><b>XXIX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Captain Ichabod</span></td> + <td class="right" >308</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX"><b>XXX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Dame Charter makes a friend</span></td> + <td class="right" >320</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI"><b>XXXI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Mr. Delaplaine leads a boarding party</span></td> + <td class="right" >330</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII"><b>XXXII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The delivery of the letter</span></td> + <td class="right" >341</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII"><b>XXXIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Blackbeard gives Greenway some difficult work</span></td> + <td class="right" >357</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV"><b>XXXIV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Captain Thomas of the Royal James</span></td> + <td class="right" >364</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV"><b>XXXV.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">A chapter of happenings</span></td> + <td class="right" >373</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI"><b>XXXVI.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The tide decides</span></td> + <td class="right" >381</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVII"><b>XXXVII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Bonnet and Greenway part company</span></td> + <td class="right" >392</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVIII"><b>XXXVIII.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Again Dickory was there</span></td> + <td class="right" >399</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIX"><b>XXXIX.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">The blessings which come from the death of the wicked</span></td> + <td class="right" >405</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" ><a href="#CHAPTER_XL"><b>XL.</b></a></td> + <td class="left" ><span class="smcap">Captain Ichabod puts the case</span></td> + <td class="right" >409</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="right" > </td> + <td class="left" ><a href="#RECENT_FICTION"><b>RECENT FICTION.</b></a></td> + <td class="right" > </td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + + +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<table> +<tr> + <td> </td> + <td>FACING PAGE</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_01">"Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that wonderful pirate +fight"</a></td> + <td align="right"><i>Frontispiece</i></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_02">"If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!"</a></td> + <td align="right">46</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_03">"He is my father!" said Kate</a></td> + <td align="right">124</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_04">"Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you behind"</a></td> + <td align="right">155</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_05">"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be delivered"</a></td> + <td align="right">241</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_06">Kate and her father in the warehouse</a></td> + <td align="right">260</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_07">Lucilla rescues Dickory</a></td> + <td align="right">337</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td align="left"><a href="#gs_08">In an instant Dickory was there</a></td> + <td align="right">403</td> +</tr> +</table> + + +<p><br /><br /></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>KATE BONNET</h2> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></h2> + + +<h3>TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, A SHIP, AND A FISH<br /></h3> + +<div><img src="images/chapter_01.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + + +<p>The month was September and the place was in the neighbourhood of +Bridgetown, in the island of Barbadoes. The seventeenth century was not +seventeen years old, but the girl who walked slowly down to the river +bank was three years its senior. She carried a fishing-rod and line, and +her name was Kate Bonnet. She was a bright-faced, quick-moving young +person, and apparently did not expect to catch many fish, for she had no +basket in which to carry away her finny prizes. Nor, apparently, did she +have any bait, except that which was upon her hook and which had been +affixed there by one of the servants at her home, not far away. In fact, +Mistress Kate was too nicely dressed and her gloves were too clean to +have much to do with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span> +fish or bait, but she seated herself on a little +rock in a shady spot not far from the water and threw forth her line. +Then she gazed about her; a little up the river and a good deal down the +river.</p> + +<p>It was truly a pleasant scene which lay before her eyes. Not half a mile +away was the bridge which gave this English settlement its name, and +beyond the river were woods and cultivated fields, with here and there a +little bit of smoke, for it was growing late in the afternoon, when +smoke meant supper. Beyond all this the land rose from the lower ground +near the river and the sea, in terrace after terrace, until the upper +stretches of its woodlands showed clear against the evening sky.</p> + +<p>But Mistress Kate Bonnet now gazed steadily down the stream, beyond the +town and the bridge, and paid no more attention to the scenery than the +scenery did to her, although one was quite as beautiful as the other.</p> + +<p>There was a bunch of white flowers in the hat of the young girl; not a +very large one, and not a very small one, but of such a size as might be +easily seen from the bridge, had any one happened to be crossing about +that time. And, in fact, as the wearer of the hat and the white flowers +still continued to gaze at the bridge, she saw some one come out upon it +with a quick, buoyant step, and then she saw him stop and gaze steadily +up the river. At this she turned her head, and her eyes went out over +the beautiful land<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span>scape and the wide terraces rising above each other +towards the sky.</p> + +<p>It is astonishing how soon after this a young man, dressed in a brown +suit, and very pleasant to look upon, came rapidly walking along the +river bank. This was Master Martin Newcombe, a young Englishman, not two +years from his native land, and now a prosperous farmer on the other +side of the river.</p> + +<p>It often happened that Master Newcombe, at the close of his agricultural +labours, would put on a good suit of clothes and ride over the bridge to +the town, to attend to business or to social duties, as the case might +be. But, sometimes, not willing to encumber himself with a horse, he +walked over the bridge and strolled or hurried along the river bank. +This was one of the times in which he hurried. He had been caught by the +vision of the bunch of white flowers in the hat of the girl who was +seated on the rock in the shade.</p> + +<p>As Master Newcombe stepped near, his spirits rose, as they had not +always risen, as he approached Mistress Kate, for he perceived that, +although she held the handle of her rod in her hand, the other end of it +was lying on the ground, not very far away from the bait and the hook +which, it was very plain, had not been in the water at all. She must +have been thinking of something else besides fishing, he thought. But he +did not dare to go on with that sort of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span>thinking in the way he would +have liked to do it. He had not too great a belief in himself, though he +was very much in love with Kate Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"Is this the best time of day for fishing, Master Newcombe?" she said, +without rising or offering him her hand. "For my part, I don't believe +it is."</p> + +<p>He smiled as he threw his hat upon the ground. "Let me put your line a +little farther out." And so saying, he took the rod from her hand and +stepped between her and the bait, which must have been now quite hot +from lying so long in a bit of sunshine. He rearranged the bait and +threw the line far out into the river. Then he gave her the rod again. +He seated himself on the ground near-by.</p> + +<p>"This is the second time I have been over the bridge to-day," he said, +"and this morning, very early, I saw, for the first time, your father's +ship, which was lying below the town. It is a fine vessel, so far as I +can judge, being a landsman."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "and I have been on board of her and have gone all over +her, and have seen many things which are queer and strange to me. But +the strangest thing about her, to my mind, being a landswoman, is, that +she should belong to my father. There are many things which he has not, +which it would be easy to believe he would like to have, but that a +ship, with sails <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span>and anchors and hatchways, should be one of these +things, it is hard to imagine."</p> + +<p>Young Newcombe thought it was impossible to imagine, but he expressed +himself discreetly.</p> + +<p>"It must be that he is going to engage in trade," he said; "has he not +told you of his intentions?"</p> + +<p>"Not much," said she. "He says he is going to cruise about among the +islands, and when I asked him if he would take me, he laughed, and +answered that he might do so, but that I must never say a word of it to +Madam Bonnet, for if she heard of it she might change his plans."</p> + +<p>The wicked young man found himself almost wishing that the somewhat +bad-tempered Madam Bonnet might hear of and change any plan which might +take her husband's daughter from this town, especially in a vessel; for +vessels were always terribly tardy when any one was waiting for their +return. And, besides, it often happened that vessels never came back at +all.</p> + +<p>"I shall take a little trip with him even if we don't go far; it would +be ridiculous for my father to own a ship, and for me never to sail in +her."</p> + +<p>"That would not be so bad," said Master Martin, feeling that a short +absence might be endured. Moreover, if a little pleasure trip were to be +made, it was reasonable enough to suppose <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span>that other people, not +belonging to the Bonnet family, might be asked to sail as guests.</p> + +<p>"What my father expects to trade in," said she contemplatively gazing +before her, "I am sure I do not know. It cannot be horses or cattle, for +he has not enough of them to make such a venture profitable. And as to +sugar-cane, or anything from his farm, I am sure he has a good enough +market here for all he has to sell. Certainly he does not produce enough +to make it necessary for him to buy a ship in order to carry them away."</p> + +<p>"It is opined," said Martin, "by the people of the town, that Major +Bonnet intends to become a commercial man, and to carry away to the +other islands, and perhaps to the old country itself, the goods of other +people."</p> + +<p>"Now that would be fine!" said Mistress Kate, her eyes sparkling, "for I +should then surely go with him, and would see the world, and perhaps +London." And her face flushed with the prospect.</p> + +<p>Martin's face did not flush. "But if your father's ship sailed on a long +voyage," he said, with a suspicion of apprehension, "he would not sail +with her; he would send her under the charge of others."</p> + +<p>The girl shook her head. "When she sails," said she, "he sails in her. +If you had heard him talking as I have heard him, you would not doubt +that. And if he sails, I sail."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span>Martin's soul grew quite sad. There were very good reasons to believe +that this dear girl might sail away from Bridgetown, and from him. She +might come back to the town, but she might not come back to him.</p> + +<p>"Mistress Kate," said he, looking very earnestly at her, "do you know +that such speech as this makes my heart sink? You know I love you, I +have told you so before. If you were to sail away, I care not to what +port, this world would be a black place for me."</p> + +<p>"That is like a lover," she exclaimed a little pertly; "it is like them +all, every man of them. They must have what they want, and they must +have it, no matter who else may suffer."</p> + +<p>He rose and stood by her.</p> + +<p>"But I don't want you to suffer," he said. "Do you think it would be +suffering to live with one who loved you, who would spend his whole life +in making you happy, who would look upon you as the chief thing in the +world, and have no other ambition than to make himself worthy of you?"</p> + +<p>She looked up at him with a little smile.</p> + +<p>"That would, doubtless, be all very pleasant for you," she said, "and in +order that you might be pleased, you would have her give up so much. +That is the way with men! Now, here am I, born in the very end of the +last century, and having had, consequently, no good out of that, and +with but seventeen years in this century, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span>and most of it passed in +girlhood and in school; and now, when the world might open before me for +a little, here you come along and tell me all that you would like to +have, and that you would like me to give up."</p> + +<p>"But you should not think," said he, and that was all he said, for at +that moment Kate Bonnet felt a little jerk at the end of her line, and +then a good strong pull.</p> + +<p>"I have a fish!" she cried, and sprang to her feet. Then, with a swoop, +she threw into the midst of the weeds and wild flowers a struggling fish +which Martin hastened to take from the hook.</p> + +<p>"A fine fellow!" he cried, "and he has arrived just in time to make a +dainty dish for your supper."</p> + +<p>"Ah, no!" she said, winding the line about her rod; "if I were to take +that fish to the house, it would sorely disturb Madam Bonnet. She would +object to my catching it; she would object to having it prepared for the +table; she would object to having it eaten, when she had arranged that +we should eat something else. No, I will give it to you, Master +Newcombe; I suppose in your house you can cook and eat what you please."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said he; "but how delightful it would be if we could eat it +together."</p> + +<p>"Meaning," said she, "that I should never eat other fish than those from +this river. No, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span>sir; that may not be. I have a notion that the first +foreign fish I shall eat will be found in the island of Jamaica, for my +father said, that possibly he might first take a trip there, where lives +my mother's brother, whom we have not seen for a long time. But, as I +told you before, nobody must know this. And now I must go to my supper, +and you must take yours home with you."</p> + +<p>"And I am sure it will be the sweetest fish," he said, "that was ever +caught in all these waters. But I beg, before you go, you will promise +me one thing."</p> + +<p>"Promise you!" said she, quite loftily.</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered; "tell me that, no matter where you go, you will not +leave Bridgetown without letting me know of it?"</p> + +<p>"I will not, indeed," said she; "and if it is to Jamaica we go, perhaps +my father—but no, I don't believe he will do that. He will be too much +wrapped up in his ship to want for company to whom he must attend and +talk."</p> + +<p>"Ah! there would be no need of that!" said Newcombe, with a lover's +smile.</p> + +<p>She smiled back at him.</p> + +<p>"Good-night!" she said, "and see to it that you eat your fish to-night +while it is so fresh." Then she ran up the winding path to her home.</p> + +<p>He stood and looked after her until she had disappeared among the +shrubbery, after which he walked away.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span>"I should have said more than I did," he reflected; "seldom have I had +so good a chance to speak and urge my case. It was that confounded ship. +Her mind is all for that and not for me."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></h2> + + +<h3>A FRUIT-BASKET AND A FRIEND<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_02.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Major Stede Bonnet, the father of Kate, whose mother had died when the +child was but a year old, was a middle-aged Englishman of a fair estate, +in the island of Barbadoes. He had been an officer in the army, was well +educated and intelligent, and now, in vigorous middle life, had become a +confirmed country gentleman. His herds and his crops were, to him, the +principal things on earth, with the exception of his daughter; for, +although he had married for the second time, there were a good many +things which he valued more than his wife. And it had therefore +occasioned a good deal of surprise, and more or less small talk among +his neighbours, that Major Bonnet should want to buy a ship. But he had +been a soldier in his youth, and soldiers are very apt to change their +manner of living, and so, if Major Bonnet had grown tired of his farm +and had determined <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>to go into commercial enterprises, it was not, +perhaps, a very amazing thing that a military man who had turned planter +should now turn to be something else.</p> + +<p>Madam Bonnet had heard of the ship, although she had not been told +anything about her step-daughter taking a trip in her, and if she had +heard she might not have objected. She had regarded, in an apparently +careless manner, her husband's desire to navigate the sea; for, no +matter to what point he might happen to sail, his ship would take him +away from Barbadoes, and that would very well suit her. She was getting +tired of Major Bonnet. She did not believe he had ever been a very good +soldier; she was positively sure that he was not a good farmer; and she +had the strongest kind of doubt as to his ability as a commercial man. +But as this new business would free her from him, at least for a time, +she was well content; and, although she should feel herself somewhat +handicapped by the presence of Kate, she did not intend to allow that +young lady to interfere with her plans and purposes during the absence +of the head of the house. So she went her way, saying nothing derisive +about the nautical life, except what she considered it necessary for her +to do, in order to maintain her superior position in the household.</p> + +<p>Major Bonnet was now very much engaged and a good deal disturbed, for he +found that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span>projected sailing, even in one's own craft, is not always +smooth sailing. He was putting his vessel in excellent order, and was +fitting her out generously in the way of stores and all manner of +nautical needfuls, not forgetting the guns necessary for defence in +these somewhat disordered times, and his latest endeavours were towards +the shipping of a suitable crew. Seafaring men were not scarce in the +port of Bridgetown, but Major Bonnet, now entitled to be called +"Captain," was very particular about his crew, and it took him a long +time to collect suitable men.</p> + +<p>As he was most truly a landsman, knowing nothing about the sea or the +various intricate methods of navigating a vessel thereupon, he was +compelled to secure a real captain—one who would be able to take charge +of the vessel and crew, and who would do, and have done, in a thoroughly +seamanlike manner, what his nominal skipper should desire and ordain.</p> + +<p>This absolutely necessary personage had been secured almost as soon as +the vessel had been purchased, before any of the rest of the crew had +signed ship's articles; and it was under his general supervision that +the storing and equipment had been carried on. His name was Sam Loftus. +He was a big man with a great readiness of speech. There were, perhaps, +some things he could not do, but there seemed to be nothing that he was +not able to talk about. As <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span>has been said, the rest of the crew came in +slowly, but they did come, and Major Bonnet told his daughter that when +he had secured four more men, it was his intention to leave port.</p> + +<p>"And sail for Jamaica?" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," he said, with an affectionate smile, "and I will leave you +with your Uncle Delaplaine, where you can stay while I make some little +cruises here and there."</p> + +<p>"And so I am really to go?" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling.</p> + +<p>"Really to go," said he.</p> + +<p>"And what may I pack up?" she asked, thinking of her step-mother.</p> + +<p>"Not much," he said, "not much. We will be able to find at Spanish Town +something braver in the way of apparel than anything you now possess. It +will be some days before we sail, and I shall have quietly conveyed on +board such belongings as you need."</p> + +<p>She was very happy, and she laughed.</p> + +<p>"Yours will be an easily laden ship," said she, "for you take in with +you no great store of goods for traffic. But I suppose you design to +pick up your cargo among the islands where you cruise, and at a less +cost, perchance, than it could be procured here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," he said; "you have hit it fairly, my little girl, you have +hit it fairly."</p> + +<p>New annoyances now began to beset Major Bonnet. What his daughter had +remarked in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span>pleasantry, the people of the town began to talk about +unpleasantly. Here was a good-sized craft about to set sail, with little +or no cargo, but with a crew apparently much larger than her +requirements, but not yet large enough for the desires of her owner. To +be sure, as Major Bonnet did not know anything about ships, he was bound +to do something odd when he bought one and set forth to sail upon her, +but there were some odd things which ought to be looked into; and there +were people who advised that the attention of the colonial authorities +should be drawn to this ship of their farmer townsman. Major Bonnet had +such a high reputation as a good citizen, that there were few people who +thought it worth while to trouble themselves about his new business +venture, but a good many disagreeable things came to the ears of Sam +Loftus, who reported them to his employer, and it was agreed between +them that it would be wise for them to sail as soon as they could, even +if they did not wait for the few men they had considered to be needed.</p> + +<p>Early upon a cloudy afternoon, Major Bonnet and his daughter went out in +a small boat to look at his vessel, the Sarah Williams, which was then +lying a short distance below the town.</p> + +<p>"Now, Kate," said the good Major Bonnet, when they were on board, "I +have fitted up a little room for you below, which I think you will find +comfortable enough during the voyage to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>Jamaica. I will take you with +me when I return to the house, and then you can make up a little package +of clothes which it will be easy to convey to the river bank when the +time shall come for you to depart. I cannot now say just when that time +will arrive; it may be in the daytime or it may be at night, but it will +be soon, and I will give you good notice, and I will come up the river +for you in a boat. But now I am very busy, and I will leave you to +become acquainted with the Sarah Williams, which, for a few days, will +be your home. I shall be obliged to row over to the town for, perhaps, +half an hour, but Ben Greenway will be here to attend to anything you +need until I return."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway was a Scotchman, who had for a long time been Major +Bonnet's most trusted servant. He was a good farmer, was apt at +carpenter work, and knew a good deal about masonry. A few months ago, +any one living in that region would have been likely to say, if the +subject had been brought up, that without Ben Greenway Major Bonnet +could not get along at all, not even for a day, for he depended upon him +in so many ways. And yet, now the master of the estate was about to +depart, for nobody knew how long, and leave his faithful servant behind. +The reason he gave was, that Ben could not be spared from the farm; but +people in general, and Ben in particular, thought this very poor +reasoning. Any sort of business which <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>made it necessary for Major +Bonnet to separate himself from Ben Greenway was a very poor business, +and should not be entered upon.</p> + +<p>The deck of the Sarah Williams presented a lively scene as Kate stood +upon the little quarter-deck and gazed forward. The sailors were walking +about and sitting about, smoking, talking, or coiling things away. There +were people from the shore with baskets containing fruit and other wares +for sale, and all stirring and new and very interesting to Miss Kate as +she stood, with her ribbons flying in the river breeze.</p> + +<p>"Who is that young fellow?" she said to Ben Greenway, who was standing +by her, "the one with the big basket? It seems to me I have seen him +before."</p> + +<p>"Oh, ay!" said Ben, "he has been on the farm. That is Dickory Charter, +whose father was drowned out fishing a few years ago. He is a good lad, +an' boards all ships comin' in or goin' out to sell his wares, for his +mither leans on him now, having no ither."</p> + +<p>The youth, who seemed to feel that he was being talked about, now walked +aft, and held up his basket. He was a handsome youngster, lightly clad +and barefooted; and, although not yet full grown, of a strong and active +build. Kate beckoned to him, and bought an orange.</p> + +<p>"An' how is your mither, Dickory?" said Ben.</p> + +<p>"Right well, I thank you," said he, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span>gazed at Kate, who was biting a +hole in her orange.</p> + +<p>Then, as he turned and went away, having no reason to expect to sell +anything more, Kate remarked to Ben: "That is truly a fine-looking young +fellow. He walks with such strength and ease, like a deer or a cat."</p> + +<p>"That comes from no' wearin' shoes," said Ben; "but as for me, I would +like better to wear shoes an' walk mair stiffly."</p> + +<p>Now there came aft a sailor, who touched his cap and told Ben Greenway +that he was wanted below to superintend the stowing some cases of the +captain's liquors. So Kate, left to herself, began to think about what +she should pack into her little bundle. She would make it very small, +for the fewer things she took with her the more she would buy at Spanish +Town. But the contents of her package did not require much thought, and +she soon became a little tired staying there by herself, and therefore +she was glad to see young Dickory, with his orange-basket, walking aft.</p> + +<p>"I don't want any more oranges," she said, when he was near enough, "but +perhaps you may have other fruit?"</p> + +<p>He came up to her and put down his basket. "I have bananas, but perhaps +you don't like them?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I do!" she answered.</p> + +<p>But, without offering to show her the fruit, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span>Dickory continued: +"There's one thing I don't like, and that's the men on board your ship."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" she asked, amazed.</p> + +<p>"Speak lower," he said; and, as he spoke, he bethought himself that it +might be well to hold out towards her a couple of bananas.</p> + +<p>"They're a bad, hard lot of men," he said. "I heard that from more than +one person. You ought not to stay on this ship."</p> + +<p>"And what do you know about it, Mr. Impudence?" she asked, with brows +uplifted. "I suppose my father knows what is good for me."</p> + +<p>"But he is not here," said Dickory.</p> + +<p>Kate looked steadfastly at him. He did not seem as ruddy as he had been. +And then she looked out upon the forward deck, and the thought came to +her that when she had first noticed these men it had seemed to her that +they were, indeed, a rough, hard lot. Kate Bonnet was a brave girl, but +without knowing why she felt a little frightened.</p> + +<p>"Your name is Dickory, isn't it?" she said.</p> + +<p>He looked up quickly, for it pleased him to hear her use his name. +"Indeed it is," he answered.</p> + +<p>"Well, Dickory," said she, "I wish you would go and find Ben Greenway. I +should like to have him with me until my father comes back."</p> + +<p>He turned, and then stopped for an instant. He said in a clear voice: "I +will go and get <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span>the shilling changed." And then he hurried away.</p> + +<p>He was gone a long time, and Kate could not understand it. Surely the +Sarah Williams was not so big a ship that it would take all this time to +look for Ben Greenway. But he did come back, and his face seemed even +less ruddy than when she had last seen it. He came up close to her, and +began handling his fruit.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to frighten you," he said, "but I must tell you about +things. I could not find Ben Greenway, and I asked one of the men about +him, feigning that he owed me for some fruit, and the man looked at +another man and laughed, and said that he had been sent for in a hurry, +and had gone ashore in a boat."</p> + +<p>"I cannot believe that," said Kate; "he would not go away and leave me."</p> + +<p>Dickory could not believe it either, and could offer no explanation.</p> + +<p>Kate now looked anxiously over the water towards the town, but no father +was to be seen.</p> + +<p>"Now let me tell you what I found out," said Dickory, "you must know it. +These men are wicked robbers. I slipped quietly among them to find out +something, with my shilling in my hand, ready to ask somebody to change, +if I was noticed."</p> + +<p>"Well, what next?" laying her hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't do that!" he said quickly; "bet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span>ter take hold of a banana. I +spied that Big Sam, who is sailing-master, and a black-headed fellow +taking their ease behind some boxes, smoking, and I listened with all +sharpness. And Sam, he said to the other one—not in these words, but in +language not fit for you to hear—what he would like to do would be to +get off on the next tide. And when the other fellow asked him why he +didn't go then and leave the fool—meaning your father—to go back to +his farm, Big Sam answered, with a good many curses, that if he could do +it he would drop down the river that very minute and wait at the bar +until the water was high enough to cross, but that it was impossible +because they must not sail until your father had brought his cash-box on +board. It would be stupid to sail without that cash-box."</p> + +<p>"Dickory," said she, "I am frightened; I want to go on shore, and I want +to see my father and tell him all these things."</p> + +<p>"But there is no boat," said Dickory; "every boat has left the ship."</p> + +<p>"But you have one," said she, looking over the side.</p> + +<p>"It is a poor little canoe," he answered, "and I am afraid they would +not let me take you away, I having no orders to do so."</p> + +<p>Kate was about to open her mouth to make an indignant reply, when he +exclaimed, "But here comes a boat from the town; perhaps it is your +father!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span>She sprang to the rail. "No, it is not," she exclaimed; "it holds but +one man, who rows."</p> + +<p>She stood, without a word, watching the approaching boat, Dickory doing +the same, but keeping himself out of the general view. The boat came +alongside and the oarsman handed up a note, which was presently brought +to Kate by Big Sam, young Dickory Charter having in the meantime slipped +below with his basket.</p> + +<p>"A note from your father, Mistress Bonnet," said the sailing-master. And +as she read it he stood and looked upon her.</p> + +<p>"My father tells me," said Kate, speaking decidedly but quietly, "that +he will come on board very soon, but I do not wish to wait for him. I +will go back to the town. I have affairs which make it necessary for me +to return immediately. Tell the man who brought the note that I will go +back with him."</p> + +<p>Big Sam raised his eyebrows and his face assumed a look of trouble.</p> + +<p>"It grieves me greatly, Mistress Bonnet," he said, "but the man has +gone. He was ordered not to wait here."</p> + +<p>"Shout after him!" cried Kate; "call him back!"</p> + +<p>Sam stepped to the rail and looked over the water. "He is too far away," +he said, "but I will try." And then he shouted, but the man paid no +attention, and kept on rowing to shore.</p> + +<p>"I thought it was too far," he said, "but <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span>your father will be back +soon; he sent that message to me. And now, fair mistress, what can we do +for you? Shall it be that we send you some supper? Or, as your cabin is +ready, would you prefer to step down to it and wait there for your +father?"</p> + +<p>"No," said she, "I will wait here for my father. I want nothing."</p> + +<p>So, with a bow he strode away, and presently Dickory came back. She drew +near to him and whispered. "Dickory," she said, "what shall I do? Shall +I scream and wave my handkerchief? Perhaps they may see and hear me from +the town."</p> + +<p>"No," said Dickory, "I would not do that. The night is coming on, and +the sky is cloudy. And besides, if you make a noise, those fellows might +do something."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dickory, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"You must wait for your father," he said; "he must be here soon, and the +moment you see him, call to him and make him take you to shore. You +should both of you get away from this vessel as soon as you can."</p> + +<p>For a moment the girl reflected. "Dickory," said she, "I wish you would +take a message for me to Master Martin Newcombe. He may be able to get +here to me even before my father arrives."</p> + +<p>Dickory Charter knew Mr. Newcombe, and he had heard what many people had +talked <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span>about, that he was courting Major Bonnet's daughter. The day +before Dickory would not have cared who the young planter was courting, +but this evening, even to his own surprise, he cared very much. He was +intensely interested in Kate, and he did not desire to help Martin +Newcombe to take an interest in her. Besides, he spoke honestly as he +said: "And who would there be to take care of you? No, indeed, I will +not leave you."</p> + +<p>"Then row to the town," said she, "and have a boat sent for me."</p> + +<p>He shook his head. "No," he said, "I will not leave you."</p> + +<p>Her eyes flashed. "You should do what you are commanded to do!" and in +her excitement she almost forgot to whisper.</p> + +<p>He shook his head and left her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE TWO CLOCKS<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_03.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was already beginning to grow dark. She sat, and she sat; she waited, +and she waited; and at last she wept, but very quietly. Her father did +not come; Ben Greenway was not there; and even that Charter boy had +gone. A man came aft to her; a mild-faced, elderly man, with further +offers of refreshment and an invitation to go below out of the night +air. But she would have nothing; and as she sadly waited and gently +wept, it began to grow truly dark. Presently, as she sat, one arm +leaning on the rail, she heard a voice close to her ear, and she gave a +great start.</p> + +<p>"It is only Dickory," whispered the voice.</p> + +<p>Then she put her head near him and was glad enough to have put her arms +around his neck.</p> + +<p>"I have heard a great deal more," whis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span>pered Dickory; "these men are +dreadful. They do not know what keeps your father, although they have +suspicions which I could not make out; but if he does not come on board +by ten o'clock they will sail without him, and without his cash-box."</p> + +<p>"And what of me?" she almost cried, "what of me?"</p> + +<p>"They will take you with them," said he; "that's the only thing for them +to do. But don't be frightened, don't tremble. You must leave this +vessel."</p> + +<p>"But how?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Oh! I will attend to that," he answered, "if you will listen to me and +do everything I tell you. We can't go until it is dark, but while it is +light enough for you to see things I will show you what you must do. +Now, look down over the side of the vessel."</p> + +<p>She leaned over and looked down. He was apparently clinging to the side +with his head barely reaching the top of the rail.</p> + +<p>"Do you see this bit of ledge I am standing on?" he asked. "Could you +get out and stand on this, holding to this piece of rope as I do?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "I could do that."</p> + +<p>"Then, still holding to the rope, could you lower yourself down from the +ledge and hang to it with your hands?"</p> + +<p>"And drop into your boat?" said she. "Yes, I could do that."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span>"No," said he, "not drop into my boat. It would kill you if you fell +into the boat. You must drop into the water."</p> + +<p>She shuddered, and felt like screaming.</p> + +<p>"But it will be easy to drop into the water; you can't hurt yourself, +and I shall be there. My boat will be anchored close by, and we can +easily reach it."</p> + +<p>"Drop into the water!" said poor Kate.</p> + +<p>"But I will be there, you know," said Dickory.</p> + +<p>She looked down upon the ledge, and then she looked below it to the +water, which was idly flapping against the side of the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Is it the only way?" said she.</p> + +<p>"It is the only way," he answered, speaking very earnestly. "You must +not wait for your father; from what I hear, I fear he has been detained +against his will. By nine o'clock it will be dark enough."</p> + +<p>"And what must I do?" she said, feeling cold as she spoke.</p> + +<p>"Listen to every word," he answered. "This is what you must do. You know +the sound of the bell in the tower of the new church?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said she, "I hear it often."</p> + +<p>"And you will not confound it with the bell in the old church?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" said she; "it is very different, and generally they strike far +apart."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>"Yes," said he, "the old one strikes first; and when you hear it, it +will be quite dark, and you can slip over the rail and stand on this +ledge, as I am doing; then keep fast hold of this rope and you can slip +farther down and sit on the ledge and wait until the clock of the new +church begins to strike nine. Then you must get off the ledge and hang +by your two hands. When you hear the last stroke of nine, you must let +go and drop. I shall be there."</p> + +<p>"But if you shouldn't be there, Dickory? Couldn't you whistle, couldn't +you call gently?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Dickory; "if I did that, their sharp ears would hear and +lanterns would be flashed on us, and perhaps things would be cast down +upon us. That would be the quickest way of getting rid of you."</p> + +<p>"But, Dickory," she said, after a moment's silence, "it is terrible +about my father and Ben Greenway. Why don't they come back? What's the +matter with them?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated a little before answering.</p> + +<p>"From what I heard, I think there is some trouble on shore, and that's +the reason why your father has not come for you as soon as he expected. +But he thinks you safe with Ben Greenway. Now what we have to do is to +get away from this vessel; and then if she sails and leaves your father +and Ben Greenway, it will be a good thing. These fellows are rascals, +and no honest person should have to do with them. But now <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span>I must get +out of sight, or somebody will come and spoil everything."</p> + +<p>Big Sam did come aft and told Kate he thought she would come to injury +sitting out in the night air. But she would not listen to him, and only +asked him what time of night it was. He told her that it was not far +from nine, and that she would see her father very soon, and then he left +her.</p> + +<p>"It would have been a terrible thing if he had come at nine," she said +to herself. Then she sat very still waiting for the sound of the old +clock.</p> + +<p>Dickory Charter had not told Miss Kate Bonnet all that he had heard when +he was stealthily wandering about the ship. He had slipped down into the +chains near a port-hole, on the other side of which Big Sam and the +black-haired man were taking supper, and he heard a great deal of talk. +Among other things he heard a bit of conversation which, when expurgated +of its oaths and unpleasant expressions, was like this:</p> + +<p>"You are sure you can trust the men?" said Black-hair.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" replied the other, "they're all right."</p> + +<p>"Then why don't you go now? At any time officers may be rowing out here +to search the vessel."</p> + +<p>"And well they might. For what needs an <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span>old farmer with an empty +vessel, a crew of seventy men, and ten guns? He is in trouble, you may +wager your life on that, or he would be coming to see about his girl."</p> + +<p>"And what will you do about her?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, she'll not be in the way," answered Big Sam with a laugh. "If he +doesn't take her off before I sail, that's his business. If I am obliged +to leave port without his cash-box, I will marry his daughter and become +his son-in-law—I don't doubt we can find a parson among all the rascals +on board—then, perhaps, he will think it his duty to send me drafts to +the different ports I touch at."</p> + +<p>At this good joke, both of them laughed.</p> + +<p>"But I don't want to go without his cash-box," continued Big Sam, "and I +will wait until high-tide, which will be about ten o'clock. It would be +unsafe to miss that, for I must not be here to-morrow morning. But the +long-boat will be here soon. I told Roger to wait until half-past nine, +and then to come aboard with old Bonnet or without him, if he didn't +show himself by that time."</p> + +<p>"But, after all," said the black-haired man, "the main thing is, will +the men stand by you?"</p> + +<p>"You needn't fear them," said the other with an aggravated oath, "I know +every rascal of them."</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said Dickory Charter to him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span>self as he slipped out of the +chains, "she goes overboard, if I have to pitch her over."</p> + +<p>Nothing had he heard about Ben Greenway. He did not believe that the +Scotchman had deserted his young mistress; even had he been sent for to +go on shore in haste, would he leave without speaking to her. More than +that, he would most likely have taken her with him.</p> + +<p>But Dickory could not afford to give much thought to Ben Greenway. +Although a good friend to both himself and his mother, he was not to be +considered when the safety of Mistress Kate Bonnet was in question.</p> + +<p>The minutes moved slowly, very slowly indeed, as Kate sat, listening for +the sound of the old clock, and at the same time listening for the sound +of approaching footsteps.</p> + +<p>It was now so dark that she could not have seen anybody without a light, +but she could hear as if she had possessed the ears of a cat.</p> + +<p>She had ceased to expect her father. She was sure he had been detained +on shore; how, she knew not. But she did know he was not coming.</p> + +<p>Presently the old clock struck, one, two—In a moment she was climbing +over the rail. In the darkness she missed the heavy bit of rope which +Dickory had showed her, but feeling about she clutched it and let +herself down to the ledge below. Her nerves were quite firm now. It was +necessary to be so very particular to follow <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span>Dickory's directions to +the letter, that her nerves were obliged to be firm. She slipped still +farther down and sat sideways upon the narrow ledge. So narrow that if +the vessel had rolled she could not have remained upon it.</p> + +<p>There she waited.</p> + +<p>Then there came, sharper and clearer out of the darkness in the +direction of the town, the first stroke of nine o'clock from the tower +of the new church. Before the second stroke had sounded she was hanging +by her two hands from the ledge. She hung at her full length; she put +her feet together; she hoped that she would go down smoothly and make no +splash. Three—four—five—six—seven—eight—nine—and she let her +fingers slip from the ledge. Down she went, into the darkness and into +the water, not knowing where one ended and the other began. Her eyes +were closed, but they might as well have been open; there was nothing +for her to see in all that blackness. Down she went, as if it were to +the very bottom of black air and black water. And then, suddenly she +felt an arm around her.</p> + +<p>Dickory was there!</p> + +<p>She felt herself rising, and Dickory was rising, still with his arm +around her. In a moment her head was in the air, and she could breathe. +Now she felt that he was swimming, with one arm and both legs. +Instinctively she tried to help him, for she had learned to swim. They +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span>went on a dozen strokes or more, with much labour, until they touched +something hard.</p> + +<p>"My boat," said Dickory, in the lowest of whispers; "take hold of it."</p> + +<p>Kate did so, and he moved from her. She knew that he was clambering into +the boat, although she could not see or hear him. Soon he took hold of +her under her arms, and he lifted with the strength of a young lion, yet +so slowly, so warily, that not a drop of water could be heard dripping +from her garments. And when she was drawn up high enough to help +herself, he pulled her in, still warily and slowly. Then he slipped to +the bow and cast off the rope with which the canoe had been anchored. It +was his only rope, but he could not risk the danger of pulling up the +bit of rock to which the other end of it was fastened. Then, with a +paddle, worked as silently as if it had been handled by an Indian, the +canoe moved away, farther and farther, into the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Is all well with you?" said Dickory, thinking he might now safely +murmur a few words.</p> + +<p>"All well," she murmured back, "except that this is the most +uncomfortable boat I ever sat in!"</p> + +<p>"I expect you are on my orange basket," he said; "perhaps you can move +it a little."</p> + +<p>Now he paddled more strongly, and then he stopped.</p> + +<p>"Where shall I take you, Mistress Bonnet?" <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span>he asked, a little louder +than he had dared to speak before.</p> + +<p>Kate heaved a sigh before she answered; she had been saying her prayers.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, you brave Dickory," she answered, "but it seems to me +that you can't see to take me anywhere. Everything is just as black as +pitch, one way or another."</p> + +<p>"But I know the river," he said, "with light or without it. I have gone +home on nights as black as this. Will you go to the town?"</p> + +<p>"I would not know where to go to there," she answered, "and in such a +plight."</p> + +<p>"Then to your home," said he. "But that will be a long row, and you must +be very cold."</p> + +<p>She shuddered, but not with cold. If her father had been at home it +would have been all right, but her step-mother would be there, and that +would not be all right. She would not know what to say to her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dickory," she said, "I don't know where to go."</p> + +<p>"I know where you can go," he said, beginning to paddle vigorously, "I +will take you to my mother. She will take care of you to-night and give +you dry clothes, and to-morrow you may go where you will."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> + + +<h3>ON THE QUARTER-DECK<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_04.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>As the time approached when Big Sam intended to take the Sarah Williams +out of port, it seemed really necessary that Mistress Kate Bonnet should +descend from the exposed quarterdeck and seek shelter from the night air +in the captain's cabin or in her own room; and, as she had treated him +so curtly at his last interview with her, he sent the elderly man with +the mild countenance to tell her that she really must go below, for that +he, Big Sam, felt answerable to her father for her health and comfort. +But when the elderly man and his lantern reached the quarter-deck, there +was no Mistress Kate there, and, during the rapid search which ensued, +there was no Mistress Kate to be found on the vessel.</p> + +<p>Big Sam was very much disturbed; she must have jumped overboard. But +what a wild young woman to do that upon such little provocation, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span>for +how should she know that he was about to run away with her father's +vessel!</p> + +<p>"This is a bad business," he said to the black-haired man, "and who +would have thought it?"</p> + +<p>"I see not that," said Black Paul, "nor why you should trouble yourself +about her. She is gone, and you are well rid of her. Had she stayed +aboard with us, every ship in the colony might have been cruising after +us before to-morrow's sun had gone down."</p> + +<p>But this did not quiet the cowardly soul of Big Sam.</p> + +<p>"Now I shall tell you," said he, "exactly what happened. A little before +dark she went ashore in a boat which was then leaving the ship. I +allowed her to do this because she was very much in earnest about it, +and talked sharply, and also because I thought the town was the best +place for her, since it was growing late and her father did not seem to +be coming. Now, if the old man comes on board, that's what happened; but +if he does not come on board, the devil and the fishes know what +happened, and they may talk about it if they like. But if any man says +anything to old Bonnet except as I have ordered, then the fishes shall +have another feast."</p> + +<p>"And now, what I have to say to you," said Black Paul, "is, that you +should get away from here without waiting for the tide. If one of these +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span>rascals drops overboard and swims ashore, he may get a good reward for +news of the murder committed on this vessel, and there isn't any reason +to think, so far as I know, that the Sarah Williams can sail any faster +than two or three other vessels now in the harbour."</p> + +<p>"There's sense in all that," said Big Sam as he walked forward. But he +suddenly stopped, hearing, not very far away, the sound of oars.</p> + +<p>Now began the body and soul of Big Sam to tremble. If the officers of +the law, having disposed of Captain Bonnet, had now come to the ship, he +had no sufficient tale to tell them about the disappearance of Mistress +Kate Bonnet; nor could he resist. For why should the crew obey his +orders? They had not yet agreed to receive him as their captain, and, so +far, they had done nothing to set themselves against the authorities. It +was a bad case for Big Sam.</p> + +<p>But now the ship was hailed, and the voice which hailed it was that of +Captain Bonnet. And the soul of Big Sam upheaved itself.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Bonnet was on board, with a big box and the crew of the +long-boat. Speaking rapidly, he explained to Big Sam the situation of +affairs. The authorities of the port had indeed sadly interfered with +him. They had heard reports about the unladen vessel and the big crew; +and, although they felt loath to detain and to examine a +fellow-townsman, hitherto of good report, they did detain him and they +did <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span>examine him, and they would have gone immediately to the ship had +it not been so dark.</p> + +<p>But under the circumstances they contented themselves with the assurance +of the respectable Mr. Bonnet that he would appear before them the next +morning and give them every opportunity of examining his most +respectable ship. Having done this, they retired to their beds, and the +respectable Bonnet immediately boarded his vessel.</p> + +<p>"Now," cried Captain Bonnet, "where is my daughter? I hope that Ben +Greenway has caused her to retire to shelter?"</p> + +<p>"Your daughter!" exclaimed Big Sam, before any one else could speak, +"she is not here. It was still early twilight when she told me she would +wait no longer, and desired to be sent ashore in a boat. This request, +of course, I immediately granted, feeling bound thereto, as she was your +daughter, and that I was, in a measure, under her orders."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet stood, knitting his brows.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" he presently cried, with an air of relief, "it is better +so. Her home is the best place for her, as matters have turned out. And +now," said he, turning to Big Sam, "call the men together and set them +to quick work. Pull up your anchors and do whatever else is necessary to +free the ship; then let us away. We must be far out of sight of this +island before to-morrow's sunrise."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span>As Big Sam passed Black Paul he winked and whispered: "The old fool is +doing exactly what I would have done if he hadn't come aboard. This +suits my plan as if he were trying his best to please me."</p> + +<p>In a very short time the cable was slipped, for Big Sam had no notion of +betraying the departure of the vessel by the creaking of a capstan; and, +with the hoisting of a few sails and no light aboard except the shaded +lamp at the binnacle, the Sarah Williams moved down the river and out +upon the sea.</p> + +<p>"And when are you going to take the command in your hands?" asked Black +Paul of Big Sam.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, some time," was the answer, "but I must first go around +among the men and let them know what's coming."</p> + +<p>"And how about Ben Greenway? Has the old man asked for him yet?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the other; "he thinks, of course, that the Scotchman has gone +ashore with the young woman. What else could he do, being a faithful +servant? To-morrow I shall set Greenway free and let him tell his own +tale to his master. But I shall tell my tale first, and then he can +speak or not speak, as he chooses; it will make no difference one way or +another."</p> + +<p>Soon after dawn the next morning Captain Bonnet was out of his hammock +and upon deck. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span>He looked about him and saw nothing but sea, sea, sea.</p> + +<p>Big Sam approached him. "I forgot to tell you," said he, "that yesterday +I shut up that Scotchman of yours, for, from his conduct, I thought that +he had some particular reason for wanting to go on shore; and, fearing +that if he did so he would talk about this vessel, and so make worse the +trouble I was sure you were in, I shut him up as a matter of precaution +and forgot to mention him to you last night."</p> + +<p>"You stupid blockhead!" roared Mr. Bonnet, "how like an ass you have +acted! Not for a bag of gold would I have taken Ben Greenway on this +cruise; and not for a dozen bags would I have deprived my family of his +care and service. You ought to be thrown into the sea! Ben Greenway +here! Of all men in the world, Ben Greenway here!"</p> + +<p>"I only thought to do you a service," said Big Sam.</p> + +<p>"Service!" shouted the angry Bonnet. But as it was of no use to say +anything more upon this subject, he ordered the sailing-master to send +to him, first, Ben Greenway, and then to summon to him, no matter where +they might be or what they might be doing, the whole crew.</p> + +<p>The other, surprised at this order, objected that all of the men could +not leave their posts, but Bonnet overruled him.</p> + +<p>"Send me the whole of them, every man <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span>jack. The fellow at the wheel +will remain here and steer. As for the rest, the ship will take care of +itself for a space."</p> + +<p>"What can that old fool of a farmer intend to do?" said Big Sam, as he +went away; "he is like a child with a toy, and wants to see his crew in +a bunch."</p> + +<p>Presently came Ben Greenway in a smothered rage.</p> + +<p>"An' I suppose, sir," said he without salutation, "that ye have gi'en +orders about the care o' the cows and the lot o' poultry that I engaged +to send to the town to-day?"</p> + +<p>"Don't mention cows or poultry to me!" cried Bonnet. "I am a more angry +man than you are, Ben Greenway, and as soon as I have time to attend to +it, I shall look into this matter of your shutting up, and shall come +down upon the wrongdoers like sheeted lightning."</p> + +<p>"What a fearful rage ye're in, Master Bonnet," said Ben. "I never saw +the like o' it. If ye're really angrier than I am, I willna revile; +leavin' it to ye to do the revilin' wha are so much better qualified. +An' so it wasna accident that I was shut up in the ship's pantry, +leavin' Mistress Kate to gang hame by hersel', an' to come out this +mornin' findin' the ship at sea an' ye in command?"</p> + +<p>"Say no more, Ben," cried Bonnet. "I am more sorry to see you here than +if you were any other man I know in this world. But I can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>not put you +off now, nor can I talk further about it, being very much pressed with +other matters. Now here comes my crew."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway retired a little, leaning against the rail.</p> + +<p>"An' this is his crew?" he muttered; "a lot o' unkempt wild beasts, it +strikes me. Mayhap he has gathered them togither to convert their souls, +an' he is about to preach his first sermon to them."</p> + +<p>Now all the mariners of the Sarah Williams were assembled aft and +Captain Bonnet was standing on his quarter-deck, looking out upon them. +He was dressed in a naval uniform, to which was added a broad red sash. +In his belt were two pairs of big pistols, and a stout sword hung by his +side. He folded his arms; he knitted his brows, and he gazed fiercely +about to see if any one were absent, although if any one had been absent +he would not have known it. His eyes flashed, his cheeks were flushed, +and it was plain enough to all that he had something important to say.</p> + +<p>"My men," he cried, in a stalwart voice which no one there had ever +heard him use before, "my men, look upon me and you will not see what +you expect to see! Here is no planter, no dealer in horses and fat +cattle, no grower of sugar-cane! Instead of that," he yelled, drawing +his sword and flourishing it above his head, "instead of that I am +pirate Bonnet, the new <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span>terror of the sea! You, my men, my brave men, +you are not the crew of the good merchantman, the Sarah Williams, you +are pirates all. You are the pirate crew of the pirate ship Revenge. +That is now the name of this vessel on which you sail, and you are all +pirates, who henceforth shall sail her.</p> + +<p>"Now look aloft, every man of you, and you will see a skull and bones, +under which you sail, under which you fight, under which you gain great +riches in coins, in golden bars, and in fine goods fit for kings and +queens!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke, every rascal raised his eyes aloft, and there, sure enough, +floated the black flag with the skull and bones—the terrible "Jolly +Roger" of the Spanish Main, and which Bonnet himself had hoisted before +he called together his crew.</p> + +<p>For the most part the men were astounded, and looked blankly the one +upon the other. They knew they had been shipped to sail upon some +illegal cruise, and that they were to be paid high wages by the wealthy +Bonnet; but that this worthy farmer should be their pirate captain had +never entered their minds, they naturally supposing that their future +commander would not care to show himself at Barbadoes, and that he would +be taken on board at some other port.</p> + +<p>As for Big Sam, he was more than astounded—he was stupefied. He had +well known the character of the ship from the time that Bonnet had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span>taken him into his service, and he it was who had mainly managed the +fitting-up of the vessel and the shipping of her crew. He did not know +whom Bonnet intended to command the ship, but from the very beginning he +had intended to command her himself. But he had been too late. He had +not gone among the men as he had expected to do soon after setting sail, +and here this country bumpkin had taken the wind out of his sails and +had boldly announced that he himself was the captain of the pirate ship +Revenge.</p> + +<p>The men now began to talk among themselves; and as Bonnet still stood, +his sword clutched in his hand and his chest heaving with the excitement +of his own speech, there arose from the crew a cheer. Some of them had +known a little about Stede Bonnet and some of them scarcely anything at +all, except that he was able to pay them good wages. Now he had told +them that he was a pirate captain, and each of them knew that he himself +was a pirate, or was waiting for the chance to become one.</p> + +<p>And so they cheered, and their captain's chest heaved higher, and the +soul of the luckless Big Sam collapsed, for he knew that after that +cheer there was no chance for him; at least, not now.</p> + +<p>"Now go, my boys," shouted Bonnet, "back to your places, every one of +you, and fall to your duty; and in honour of that black flag which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span>floats above you, each one of you shall drink a glass of grog."</p> + +<p>With another shout the crew hurried forward, and Stede Bonnet stood upon +the quarter-deck, the pirate captain of the pirate ship Revenge.</p> + +<p>And now stepped up to his master that good Presbyterian, Ben Greenway.</p> + +<p>"An' ye call yoursel' a pirate, sir?" said he, "an' ye go forth upon the +sea to murder an' to rob an' to prepare your soul for hell?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bonnet winked a little.</p> + +<p>"You speak strongly, Ben," said he, "but that might have been expected +from a man of your fashion of thinking. But let me tell you again, my +good Ben Greenway, that I was no party to your being on this vessel. +Even now, when my soul swells within me with the pride of knowing that I +am a sovereign of the seas and that I owe no allegiance to any man or +any government and that my will is my law and is the law of every man +upon this vessel—even now, Ben Greenway, it grieves me to know that you +are here with me. But the first chance I get I shall set you ashore and +have you sent home. Thou art not cut out for a pirate, and as no other +canst thou sail with me."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway looked at him steadfastly.</p> + +<p>"Master Stede Bonnet," said he, "ye are no more fit to be a bloody +pirate than I am. Ye oversee your plantation weel, although I hae <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span>often +been persuaded that ye knew no' as much as ye think ye do. Ye provide +weel for your family, although ye tak' no' the pleasure therein ye might +hae ta'en had ye been content wi' ane wife, as the Holy Scriptures tell +us is enough for ony mon, an' ye hae sufficient judgment to tak' the +advice o' a judgmatical mon about your lands an' your herds; but when it +comes to your ca'in' yoursel' a pirate captain, it is enough to make a +deceased person chuckle by the absurdity o' it."</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Major Bonnet, "I don't like your manner of +speech."</p> + +<p>"O' course ye don't," cried Ben; "an' I didna expect ye to like it; but +it is the solemn truth for a' that."</p> + +<p>"I don't want any of your solemn truths," said Bonnet, "and as soon as I +get a chance I am going to send you home to your barnyard and your +cows."</p> + +<p>"No' so fast, Master Bonnet, no' so fast," answered Ben. "I hae ta'en +care o' ye for mony years; I hae kept ye out o' mony a bad scrape both +in buyin' an' sellin', an' I am sure ye never wanted takin' care o' mair +than ye do now; an' I'm just here to tell ye that I am no' goin' back to +Barbadoes till ye do, an' that I am goin' to stand by ye through your +bad luck and through your good luck, in your sin an' in your +repentance."</p> + +<p><a name="gs_02" id="gs_02"><br /><br /><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_02.png" width="50%" alt="If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!" /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />"If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!"<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," cried Captain Bonnet, as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +he waved his sword in the +air, "if you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand! +You forget that you are not talking to a country gentleman, but to a +pirate, a pirate of the seas!"</p> + +<p>Ben grinned, but seeing the temper his master was in, thought it wise to +retire.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></h2> + + +<h3>AN UNSUCCESSFUL ERRAND<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_05.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>For what seemed a very long time to Kate Bonnet, Dickory Charter paddled +bravely through the darkness. She was relieved of the terror and the +uncertainty which had fallen upon her during the past few hours, and she +was grateful to the brave young fellow who had delivered her from the +danger of sailing out upon the sea with a crew of wicked scoundrels who +were about to steal her father's ship, and her heart should have beaten +high with gratitude and joy, but it did not. She was very cold, and she +knew not whither young Dickory was taking her. She did not believe that +in all that darkness he could possibly know where he was going; at any +moment that dreadful ship might loom up before them, and lights might be +flashed down upon them. But all of a sudden the canoe scraped, grounded, +and stopped.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span>"What is that?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"It is our beach," said Dickory, and almost at that moment there came a +call from the darkness beyond.</p> + +<p>"Dickory!" cried a woman's voice, "is that you?"</p> + +<p>"It is my mother," said the boy; "she has heard the scraping of my +keel."</p> + +<p>Then he shouted back, "It is Dickory; please show me a light, mother!"</p> + +<p>Jumping out, Dickory pulled the canoe high up the shelving shore, and +then he helped Kate to get out. It was not an easy job, for she could +see nothing and floundered terribly; but he seemed to like it, and half +led, half carried her over a considerable space of uneven ground, until +he came to the door of a small house, where stood an elderly woman with +a lantern.</p> + +<p>"Dickory! Dickory!" shouted the woman, "what is that you are bringing +home? Is it a great fish?"</p> + +<p>"It is a young woman," said the boy, "but she is as wet as a fish."</p> + +<p>"Woman!" cried good Dame Charter. "What mean you, Dickory, is she dead?"</p> + +<p>"Not dead, Mother Charter," said Kate, who now stood, unassisted, in the +light of the lantern, "but in woeful case, and more like to startle you +than if I were the biggest fish. I am Mistress Kate Bonnet, just out of +the river between here and the town. No, I will not enter <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span>your house, I +am not fit; I will stand here and tell my tale."</p> + +<p>"Dickory!" shouted Dame Charter, "take the lantern and run to the +kitchen cabin, where ye'll make a fire quickly."</p> + +<p>Away ran Dickory, and standing in the darkness, Kate Bonnet told her +tale. It was not a very satisfactory tale, for there was a great part of +it which Kate herself did not understand, but it sufficed at present for +the good dame, who had known the girl when she was small, and who was +soon busily engaged in warming her by her fire, refreshing her with +food, and in fortifying her against the effects of her cold bath by a +generous glass of rum, made, the good woman earnestly asserted, from +sugar-cane grown on Master Bonnet's plantation.</p> + +<p>Early the next morning came Dickory from the kitchen, where he had made +a fire (before that he had been catching some fish), and on a rude bench +by the house door he saw Kate Bonnet. When he perceived her he laughed; +but as she also laughed, it was plain she was not offended.</p> + +<p>This pretty girl was dressed in a large blue gown, belonging to the +stout Dame Charter, and which was quite as much of a gown as she had any +possible need for. Her head was bare, for she had lost her hat, and she +wore neither shoes nor stockings, those articles of apparel having <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span>been +so shrunken by immersion as to make it impossible for her to get them +on.</p> + +<p>"Thy mother is a good woman," said Kate, "and I am so glad you did not +take me to the town. I don't wonder you gaze at me; I must look like a +fright."</p> + +<p>Dickory made no answer, but by the way in which he regarded her, she +knew that he saw nothing frightful in her face.</p> + +<p>"You have been very good to me," said she, rising and making a step +towards him, but suddenly stopping on account of her bare feet, "and I +wish I could tell you how thankful I am to you. You are truly a brave +boy, Dickory; the bravest I have ever known."</p> + +<p>His brows contracted. "Why do you call me a boy?" he interrupted. "I am +nineteen years old, and you are not much more than that."</p> + +<p>She laughed, and her white teeth made him ready to fall down and worship +her.</p> + +<p>"You have done as much," said she, "as any man could do, and more."</p> + +<p>Then she held out her hand, and he came and took it.</p> + +<p>"Truly you are a man," she said, and looking steadfastly into his face, +she added, "how very, very much I owe you!"</p> + +<p>He didn't say anything at all, this Dickory; just stood and looked at +her. As many a one has been before, he was more grateful for the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span>danger +out of which he had plucked the fair young woman than she was thankful +for the deliverance.</p> + +<p>Just then Dame Charter called them to breakfast. When they were at the +table, they talked of what was to be done next; and as, above everything +else, Miss Kate desired to know where her father was and why he hadn't +come aboard the Sarah Williams, Dickory offered to go to the town for +news.</p> + +<p>"I hate to ask too much, after all you have done," said the girl, "but +after you have seen my father and told him everything, for he must be in +sore trouble, would you mind rowing to our house and bringing me some +clothes? Madam Bonnet will understand what I need; and she too will want +to know what has become of me."</p> + +<p>"Of course I will do that," cried Dickory, grateful for the chance to do +her service.</p> + +<p>"And if you happen to see Mr. Newcombe in the town, will you tell him +where I am?"</p> + +<p>Now Dickory gave no signs of gratitude for a chance to do her service, +but his mother spoke quickly enough.</p> + +<p>"Of course he will tell Master Newcombe," said she, "and anybody else +you wish should know."</p> + +<p>In ten minutes Dickory was in his canoe, paddling to the town. When he +was out of the little inlet, on the shore of which lay his mother's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span>cottage, he looked far up and down the broad river, but he could see +nothing of the good ship Sarah Williams.</p> + +<p>"I am glad they have gone," said Dickory to himself, "and may they never +come back again. It is a pity that Major Bonnet should lose his ship, +but as things have turned out, it is better for him to lose it than to +have it."</p> + +<p>When he had fastened his canoe to a little pier in the town with a rope +which he borrowed, having now none of his own, Dickory soon heard +strange news. The man who owned the rope told him that Major Bonnet had +gone off in his vessel, which had sailed out of the harbour in the +night, showing no light. And, although many people had talked of this +strange proceeding, nobody knew whether he had gone of his own free will +or against it.</p> + +<p>"Of course it was against his will," cried Dickory. "The ship was +stolen, and they have stolen him with it. The wretches! The beasts!" And +then he went up into the town.</p> + +<p>Some men were talking at the door of a baker's shop, and the baker +himself, a stout young man, came out.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said he, "we know now what it means. The good Major Bonnet +has gone off pirating; he thinks he can make more money that way than by +attending to his plantation. The townspeople suspected him last night, +and now they know what he is."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span>At this moment Master Dickory jumped upon the baker, and both went +down. When Dickory got up, the baker remained where he was, and it was +plain enough to everybody that the nerves and muscles of even a vigorous +young man were greatly weakened by the confined occupation of a baker.</p> + +<p>Dickory now went further to ask more, and he soon heard enough. The +respectable Major Bonnet had gone away in his own ship with a savage +crew, far beyond the needs of the vessel, and if he had not gone +pirating, what had he gone for? And to this question Dickory replied +every time: "He went because he was taken away." He would not give up +his faith in Kate Bonnet's father.</p> + +<p>"And Greenway," the people said. "Why should they take him? He is of no +good on a ship."</p> + +<p>On this, Dickory's heart fell further. He had been troubled about the +Scotchman, but had tried not to think of him.</p> + +<p>"The scoundrels have stolen them both, with the vessel," he said; and as +he spoke his soul rose upward at the thought of what he had done for +Kate; and as that had been done, what mattered it after all what had +happened to other people?</p> + +<p>Five minutes afterward a man came running through the town with the news +that old Bonnet's daughter, Miss Kate, had also gone away <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span>in the ship. +She was not at home; she was not in the town.</p> + +<p>"That settles it!" said some people. "The black-hearted rascal! He has +gone of his own accord, and he has taken Greenway and his fair young +daughter with him."</p> + +<p>"And what do you think of that!" said some to the doubter Dickory.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe a word of it!" said he; and not wishing on his own +responsibility to tell what he knew of Mistress Kate Bonnet, he rowed up +the river towards the Bonnet plantation to carry her message. On his +way, whom should he see, hurrying along the road by the river bank +coming towards the town and looking hot and worried, but Mr. Martin +Newcombe. At the sight of the boat he stopped.</p> + +<p>"Ho! young man," he cried, "you are from the town; has anything fresh +been heard about Major Bonnet and his daughter?"</p> + +<p>Now here was the best and easiest opportunity of doing the third thing +which Kate had asked him to do; but his heart did not bound to do it. He +sat and looked at the man on the river bank.</p> + +<p>"Don't you hear me?" cried Newcombe. "Has anybody heard further from the +Bonnets?"</p> + +<p>Dickory still sat motionless, gazing at Newcombe. He didn't want to tell +this man anything. He didn't want to have anything to do <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>with him. He +hesitated, but he could not forget the third thing he had been asked to +do, and who had asked him to do it. Whatever happened, he must be loyal +to her and her wishes, and so he said, with but little animation in his +voice, "Major Bonnet's daughter did not go with him."</p> + +<p>Instantly came a great cry from the shore. "Where is she? Where is she? +Come closer to land and tell me everything!"</p> + +<p>This was too much! Dickory did not like the tone of the man on shore, +who had no right to command him in that fashion.</p> + +<p>"I have no time to stop now," said he; "I am carrying a message to Madam +Bonnet."</p> + +<p>And so he paddled away, somewhat nearer the middle of the river.</p> + +<p>Martin Newcombe was wild; he ran and he bounded on his way to the Bonnet +house; he called and he shouted to Dickory, but apparently that young +person was too far away to hear him. When the canoe touched the shore, +almost at the spot where the fair Kate had been fishing with a hook +lying in the sun, Newcombe was already there.</p> + +<p>"Tell me," he cried, "tell me about Miss Kate Bonnet! What has befallen +her? If she did not go with her father, where is she now?"</p> + +<p>"I have come," said Dickory sturdily, as he fastened his boat with the +borrowed rope, "with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span>a message for Madam Bonnet, and I cannot talk with +anybody until I have delivered it."</p> + +<p>Madam Bonnet saw the two persons hurrying towards her house, and she +came out in a fine fury to meet them.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard from my runaway husband," she cried, "and from his +daughter? I am ashamed to hear news of them, but I suppose I am in duty +bound to listen."</p> + +<p>Dickory did not hesitate now to tell what he knew, or at least part of +it.</p> + +<p>"Your daughter—" said he.</p> + +<p>"She is not my daughter," cried the lady; "thank Heaven I am spared that +disgrace. And from what hiding-place does she and her sire send me a +message?"</p> + +<p>Dickory's face flushed.</p> + +<p>"I bring no message from a hiding-place," he said, "nor any from your +husband. He went to sea in his ship, but Mistress Kate Bonnet left the +vessel before it sailed, and her clothes having been injured by water, +she sent me for what a young lady in her station might need, supposing +rightly that you would know what that might be."</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do!" cried Madam Bonnet. "What she needs are the clouts of a +fish-girl, and a stick to her back besides."</p> + +<p>"Madam!" cried Newcombe, but she heeded him not; she was growing more +angry.</p> + +<p>"A fine creature she is," exclaimed the lady, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>"to run away from my +house in this fashion, and treat me with such contumely, and then to +order me to send her her fine clothes to deck herself for the eyes of +strangers!"</p> + +<p>"But, young man," cried Newcombe, "where is she? Tell that without +further delay. Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"I don't care where she is!" interrupted Madam Bonnet. "It matters not +to me whether she is in the town, or sitting waiting for her finery on +the bridge. If she didn't go with her father (cowardly sneak that he +is), that gives her less reason to stay away all night from her home, +and send her orders to me in the morning. No, I will have none of that! +If my husband's daughter wants anything of me, let her come here and ask +for it, first giving me the reason of her shameful conduct."</p> + +<p>"Madam!" cried Newcombe, "I cannot listen to such speech, such—"</p> + +<p>"Then stop your ears with your thumbs," she exclaimed, "and you will not +hear it."</p> + +<p>Then turning to Dickory: "Now, go you, and tell the young woman who sent +you here she must come in sackcloth and ashes, if she can get them, and +she must tell me her tale and her father's tale, without a lie mixed up +in them; and when she has done this, and has humbly asked my pardon for +the foul affront she has put upon me, then it will be time enough to +talk of fine clothes and fripperies."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span>Newcombe now expostulated with much temper, but Dickory gave him little +chance to speak.</p> + +<p>"I carry no such message as that," he said. "Do you truly mean that you +deny the young lady the apparel she needs, and that I am to tell her +that?"</p> + +<p>"Get away from here!" cried Madam Bonnet, with her face in a blaze. "I +send her no message at all; and if she comes here on her knees, I shall +spurn her, if it suit me."</p> + +<p>If Dickory had waited a little he might have heard more, but he did not +wait; he quickly turned, and away he went in his boat. And away went +Martin Newcombe after him. But as the younger man was barefooted, the +other one could not keep up with him, and the canoe was pushed off +before he reached the water's edge.</p> + +<p>"Stop, you young rascal!" cried Newcombe. "Where is Kate Bonnet? Stop! +and tell me where she is!"</p> + +<p>Troubled as he was at the tale he was going to tell, Dickory laughed +aloud, and he paddled down the river as few in that region had ever +paddled before.</p> + +<p>Madam Bonnet went into her house, and if she had met a maid-servant, it +might have been bad for that poor woman. She was not troubled about +Kate. She knew the young man to be Dickory Charter, and she was quite +sure that her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span>step-daughter was in his mother's cottage. Why she +happened to be there, and what had become of the recreant Bonnet, the +equally recreant young woman could come and tell her whenever she saw +fit.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> + + +<h3>A PAIR OF SHOES AND STOCKINGS<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_06.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The tide was running down, and Dickory made a swift passage to the town. +Seeing on the pier the man from whom he had borrowed the rope, he +stopped to return him his property, and thinking that the good people of +the town should know that, no matter what had befallen Major Bonnet, his +daughter had not gone with him and was safe among friends, he mentioned +these facts to the man, but with very few details, being in a hurry to +return with his message.</p> + +<p>Before he turned into the inlet, Dickory was called from the shore, and +to his surprise he saw his mother standing on the bank in front of a +mass of bushes, which concealed her from her house.</p> + +<p>"Come here, Dickory," she said, "and tell me what you have heard?"</p> + +<p>Her son told his doleful tale.</p> + +<p>"I fear me, mother," he said, "that Major <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span>Bonnet's ship has gone on +some secret and bad business, and that he is mixed up in it. Else why +did he desert his daughter? And if he intended to take her with him, +that was worse."</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Dickory," said good Dame Charter reflectively; "we must +not be too quick to believe harm of our fellow-beings. It does look bad, +as the townspeople thought, that Major Bonnet should own such a ship +with such a strange crew, but he is a man who knows his own business, +and may have had good reason for what he has done. He might have been +sailing out to some foreign part to bring back a rich cargo, and needed +stout men to defend it from the pirates that he might meet with on the +seas."</p> + +<p>"But his daughter, mother," said Dickory; "how could he have left her as +he did? That was shameful, and even you must admit it."</p> + +<p>"Not so fast, Dickory," said she; "there are other ways of looking at +things than the way in which we look at them. He had intended to take +Mistress Kate on a little trip; she told me that herself. And most +likely, having changed his mind on account of the suspicions in the +town, he sent word to her to return to her home, which message she did +not get."</p> + +<p>Dickory considered.</p> + +<p>"Yes, mother," he said, "it might have been that way, but I don't +believe that he went of his own accord, and I don't believe that he +would take Ben Greenway with him. I think, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span>mother, that they were both +stolen with the ship."</p> + +<p>"That might be," said his mother, "but we have no right to take such a +view of it, and to impart it to his daughter. If he went away of his own +accord, everything will doubtless be made right, and we shall know his +reasons for what he has done. It is not for us to make up our minds that +Major Bonnet and good Ben Greenway have been carried off by wicked men, +for this would be sad indeed for that fair girl to believe. So remember, +Dickory, that it is our duty always to think the best of everything. And +now I will go through the underbrush to the house, and when you get +there yourself you must tell your story as if you had not told it to +me."</p> + +<p>Before Dickory had reached his mother's cottage Mistress Kate Bonnet +came running to meet him, and she did not seem to be the same girl he +had left that morning. Her clothes had been dried and smoothed; even her +hat, which had been found in the boat, had been made shapely and +wearable, and its ribbons floated in the breeze. Dickory glanced at her +feet, and as he did so, a thrill of strange delight ran through him. He +saw his own Sunday shoes, with silver buckles, and he caught a glimpse +of a pair of brown stockings, which he knew went always with those +shoes.</p> + +<p>"I am quite myself again," she said, noticing his wide eyes, "and your +mother has been <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>good enough to lend me a pair of your shoes and +stockings. Mine are so utterly ruined, and I could not walk barefooted."</p> + +<p>Dickory was so filled with pride that this fair being could wear his +shoes, and that she was wearing them, that he could only mumble some +stupid words about being so glad to serve her. And she, wise girl, said +nothing about the quantities of soft cotton-wool which Dame Charter had +been obliged to stuff into the toes before they would stay upon the +small feet they covered.</p> + +<p>"But my father," cried Kate, "what of him? Where is he?"</p> + +<p>Now Dame Charter was with them, her eyes hard fixed upon her son.</p> + +<p>Dickory, mindful of those eyes, told her what he had to tell, saying as +little as possible about Major Bonnet—because, of course, all that he +knew about him was mere hearsay—but dilating with much vigour upon the +shameful conduct of Madam Bonnet; for the young lady ought surely to +know what sort of a woman her father's wife really was, and what she +might expect if she should return to her house. He could have said even +more about the interview with the angry woman, but his mother's eyes +were upon him.</p> + +<p>Kate heard everything without a word, and then she burst into tears.</p> + +<p>"My father," she sobbed, "carried away, or gone away, and one is as bad +as the other!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>"Dickory," said Dame Charter, "go cut some wood; there is none ready +for the kitchen."</p> + +<p>Dickory went away, not sorry, for he did not know how to deport himself +with a young lady whose heart was so sorely tried. He might have +discovered a way, if he had been allowed to do so; but that would not +have been possible with his mother present. But, in spite of her sorrow, +his heart sang to him that she was wearing his shoes and stockings! Then +he cheerfully brought down his axe upon the wood for the dinner's +cooking.</p> + +<p>Dame Charter led the weeping girl to the bench, and they talked long +together. There was no optimist in all the British colonies, nor for +that matter in those belonging to France or Spain, or even to the Dutch, +who was a more conscientious follower of her creed than Dame Charter. +She sat by Kate and she talked to her until the girl stopped sobbing and +began to see for herself that her father knew his own business, and that +he had most certainly sent her a message to go on shore, which had not +been delivered.</p> + +<p>As to poor Ben Greenway, the good woman was greatly relieved that her +son had not mentioned him, and she took care not to do it herself. She +did not wish to strain her optimism. Kate, having so much else upon her +mind, never thought of this good man.</p> + +<p>When Dickory came back, he first looked to see if Kate still wore his +shoes and stockings, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span>and then he began to ask what there was that he +might now do. He would go again to the town if he might be of use. But +Kate had no errand for him there. Dickory had told her how he had been +with Mr. Newcombe at her home, and therefore there was no need of her +sending him another message.</p> + +<p>"I don't know where to go or where to send," she said simply; "I am +lost, and that is all of it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," cried Dame Charter, "not that! You are with good friends, and +here you can stay just as long as you like."</p> + +<p>"Indeed she can!" said Dickory, as if he were making a response in +church.</p> + +<p>His mother looked at him and said nothing. And then she took Kate out +into a little grove behind the house to see if she could find some ripe +oranges.</p> + +<p>It was a fair property, although not large, which belonged to the Widow +Charter. Her husband had been a thriving man, although a little inclined +to speculations in trade which were entirely out of his line, and when +he met his death in the sea he left her nothing but her home and some +inconsiderable land about it. Dickory had been going to a grammar-school +in the town, and was considered a fair scholar, but with his father's +death all that stopped, and the boy was obliged to go to work to do what +he could for his mother. And ever since he had been doing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span>what he +could, without regard to appearances, thinking only of the money.</p> + +<p>But on Sunday, when he rowed his mother to church, he wore good clothes, +being especially proud of his buckled shoes and his long brown hose, +which were always of good quality.</p> + +<p>They were eating dinner when oars were heard on the river, and in a +moment a boat swung around into the inlet. In the stern sat Master +Martin Newcombe, and two men were rowing.</p> + +<p>Now Dickory Charter swore in his heart, although he was not accustomed +to any sort of blasphemy; and as Miss Kate gazed eagerly through the +open window, our young friend narrowly scrutinized her face to see if +she were glad or not. She was glad, that was plain enough, and he went +out sullenly to receive the arriving interloper.</p> + +<p>When they were all standing on the shore, Kate did not think it worth +while to ask Master Newcombe how he happened to know where she was. But +the young man waited for no questions; he went on to tell his story. +When he related that it was a man fishing on a pier who had told him +that young Mistress Kate Bonnet was stopping with Dame Charter, Kate +wondered greatly, for as Dickory had met Master Newcombe, what need had +there been for the latter to ask questions about her of a stranger? But +she said nothing. And Dickory growled in his soul that he had ever +spoken to the man on the pier, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span>except to thank him for the rope he had +borrowed.</p> + +<p>Martin Newcombe's story went on, and he told that, having been extremely +angered by the conduct and words of Madam Bonnet, he had gone into the +town and made inquiries, hoping to hear something of the whereabouts of +Mistress Kate. And, having done so, by means of the very obliging person +on the pier, he had determined that the daughter of Major Bonnet should +have her rights; and he had gone to his own lawyer, who assured him that +being a person of recognised respectability, possessing property, he was +fully authorized, knowing the wishes of Mistress Kate Bonnet, to go to +her step-mother and demand that those wishes be complied with; and if +this very reasonable request should be denied, then the lawyer would +take up the matter himself, and would see to it that reasonable raiment +and the necessities of a young lady should not be withheld from her.</p> + +<p>With these instructions, Newcombe had gone to Madam Bonnet and had found +that much disturbed lady in a state of partial collapse, which had +followed her passion of the morning, and who had declared that nothing +in the world would please her better than to get rid of her husband's +daughter and never see her again. And if the creature needed clothes or +anything else which belonged to her, a maid should pack them up, and +anybody who pleased might take them to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span>any place, provided she heard no +more about them or their owner.</p> + +<p>In all this she spoke most truthfully, for she hated her step-daughter, +both because she was a fine young woman and much regarded by her father, +and because she had certain rights to the estate of said father, which +his present wife did not wish to recognise, or even to think about. So +Martin Newcombe was perfectly welcome to take away such things as would +render it unnecessary for the girl to now return to the home in which +she had been born. Martin had brought the box, and here he was.</p> + +<p>It was not long before Newcombe and the lady of his love were walking +away through the little plantation, in order that they might speak by +themselves. Dickory looked after them and frowned, but he bravely +comforted himself by thinking that he had been the one into whose arms +she had dropped, through the blackness of the night and the blackness of +the water, knowing in her heart that he would be there ready for her, +and also by the thought that it was his shoes and stockings that she +wore. Dame Charter saw this frown on her son's face, but she did not +guess the thoughts which were in his mind.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> + + +<h3>KATE PLANS<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_07.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was nearly an hour before Kate and Mr. Newcombe returned, and when +they came back they did not look happy. Dickory observed their sad +visages, but the sight did not make him sad. Kate took Dame Charter by +the hand and led her to the bench.</p> + +<p>"You have been so kind to me," she said, "that I have almost come to +look upon you as a mother, even though I have known you such a little +while, and I want to tell you what I have been talking about, and what I +think I am going to do."</p> + +<p>Mr. Newcombe now stood by, and Dickory also. His mother was not quite +sure that this was the right place for him, but as he had already done +so much for the young lady, there was, perhaps, no reason why he should +be debarred from hearing what she had to say.</p> + +<p>"This gentleman," said Kate, indicating <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span>Martin Newcombe, "sympathizes +with me very greatly in my present unfortunate position: having no home +to which I can go, and having no relative belonging to this island but +my father, who is sailing upon the seas, I know not where; and +therefore, in his great kindness, has offered to marry me and to take me +to his home, which thereafter would be my home, and in which I should +have all comforts and rights."</p> + +<p>Now Dickory's face was like the sky before a shower. His mother saw it +out of the corner of her eye, but the others did not look at him.</p> + +<p>"This was very kind and very good," continued Kate.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, not at all," interrupted Master Newcombe, "except that it +was kind and good to myself; for there is nothing in this world which +you need and want as much as I need and want you."</p> + +<p>At this Dickory's brow grew darker.</p> + +<p>"I believe all you say," said Kate, "for I am sure you are an honest and +a true man, but, as I told you, I cannot marry you; for, even had I made +up my mind on the subject, which I have not, I could not marry any one +at such a time as this, not knowing my father's will upon the subject or +where he is."</p> + +<p>The sun broke out on Dickory's countenance without a shower; his mother +noticed the change.</p> + +<p>"But as I must do something," Kate went on, "a plan came to me while Mr. +Newcombe <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span>was talking to me, and I have been thinking of it ever since, +and now, as I speak, I am becoming fully determined in regard to it; +that is, if I can carry it out. It often happens," she said, with a +faint smile, "that when people ask advice they become more and more +strengthened in their own opinion. My opinion, and I may say my plan, is +this: When my father told me he was going away in his ship, he agreed to +take me with him on a little voyage, leaving me with my mother's brother +at the island of Jamaica, not far from Spanish Town. In purposing this +he thought, no doubt, that it would be far better for me to be with my +own blood, if his voyage should be long, rather than to live with one +who is no relative of mine, and does not wish to act like one. This, +then, being my father's intention, which he was prevented, by reasons +which I know not of, from carrying out, I shall carry it out myself with +all possible dispatch, and go to my uncle in Jamaica by the earliest +vessel which sails from this port. Not only as this is my natural refuge +in my trouble, but as my father intended to go there when he thought of +having me with him, it may be a part of his plan to go there any way, +even though I be not with him; and so I may see him, and all may be +well."</p> + +<p>Clouds now settled heavily on the faces of each of the young men, and +even the ordinarily bright sky of Dame Charter became somewhat overcast; +although, in her heart, she did not be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span>lieve that anybody in this world +could have devised a better plan, under the circumstances, than this +forsaken Mistress Kate Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"Now there is my plan," said Kate, with something of cheerfulness in her +voice, "if it so be I can carry it out. Do either of you know," glancing +at the young men impartially, but apparently not noticing the bad +weather, "if in a reasonable time a vessel will leave here for Jamaica?"</p> + +<p>Dickory knew well, but he would not answer; Kate had no right to put +such a thing upon him. Newcombe, however, did not hesitate. "It is very +hard for me to say," he made reply, "but there is a merchantman, the +King and Queen, which sails from here in three days for Jamaica. I know +this, for I send some goods; and I wish, Mistress Bonnet, that I could +say something against your sailing in her, but I cannot; for, since you +will not let me take care of you, your uncle is surely the best one in +the world to do it; and as to the vessel, I know she is a safe one."</p> + +<p>"But you could not go sailing away in any vessel by yourself," cried +Dame Charter, "no matter how safe she may be."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" cried Kate; "and the more we talk about our plan the more +fully it reveals itself to me in all its various parts. I am going to +ask you to go with me, my dear Dame Charter," and as she spoke she +seized both of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span>hands of the other. "I have funds of my own which +are invested in the town, and I can afford the expense. Surely, my good +friend, you will not let me go forth alone, and all unused to travel? +Leaving me safely with my uncle, you could return when the ship came +back to Bridgetown."</p> + +<p>Dame Charter turned upon the girl a look of kind compassion, but at the +same time she knit her brows.</p> + +<p>"Right glad would I be to do that for you," she said, "but I cannot go +away and leave my son, who has only me."</p> + +<p>"Take him with you," cried Kate. "Two women travelling to unknown shores +might readily need a protector, and if not, there are so many things +which he might do. Think of it, my dear Dame Charter; to my uncle's home +in Jamaica is the only place to which I can go, and if you do not go +with me, how can I go there?"</p> + +<p>Dame Charter now shed tears, but they were the tears of one good woman +feeling for the misfortunes of another.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you, my dear young lady," she said, "and I will not +leave you until you are in your uncle's care. And, as to my boy here—"</p> + +<p>Now Dickory spoke from out of the blazing noontide of his countenance.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I will go!" he cried. "I do so greatly want to see Jamaica."</p> + +<p>Without being noticed, his mother took him <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span>by the hand; she did not +know what he might be tempted to say next.</p> + +<p>Mr. Newcombe stood very doleful. And well he might; for if his lady-love +went away in this fashion, there was good reason to suppose that he +might never see her again. But Kate said no word to comfort him—for how +could she in this company?—and began to talk rapidly about her +preparations.</p> + +<p>"I suppose until the ship shall sail I may stay with you?" addressing +Dame Charter.</p> + +<p>"Stay here?" exclaimed the good dame. "Of course you can stay here. We +are like one family now, and we will all go on board ship together."</p> + +<p>Kate walked to the boat with Mr. Newcombe, he having offered to +undertake her business in town and at her father's house, and to see the +owners of the King and Queen in regard to passage.</p> + +<p>Dickory stood radiant, speaking to no one. Master Martin Newcombe was +the lover of Mistress Kate Bonnet, but he, Dickory, was going with her +to Jamaica!</p> + +<p>The following days fled rapidly. Long-visaged Martin Newcombe, whose +labours in behalf of his lady were truly labours of love, as their +object was to help her to go where his eyes could no longer feast upon +her, and from which place her voice would no longer reach him, went, +with a bitter taste in his mouth, to visit Madam Bon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span>net, to endeavour +to persuade her to deliver to her step-daughter such further belongings +as that young lady was in need of.</p> + +<p>That forsaken person was found to be only too glad to comply with this +request, hoping earnestly that neither the property nor its owner should +ever again be seen by her. She was in high spirits, believing that she +was a much better manager of the plantation than her eccentric husband +had ever been, and she had already engaged a man to take the place of +Ben Greenway, who had been a sore trouble to her these many years. She +was buoyed up and cheered by the belief that the changes she was making +would be permanent, and that she would live and die the owner of the +plantation. She alone, in all Bridgetown and vicinity, had no doubts +whatever in regard to her husband's sailing from Barbadoes in his own +ship, and with a redundancy of rascality below its decks. The +respectability and good reputation of Major Bonnet did not blind her +eyes. She had heard him talk about the humdrum life on shore and the +reckless glories of the brave buccaneers, but she had never replied to +these remarks, fearing that she might feel obliged to object to them, +and she did not tell him how, in late years, she had heard him talk in +his sleep about standing, with brandished sword, on the deck of a pirate +ship. It was her dream, that his dreams might all come true.</p> + +<p>So Kate's baggage was put on board the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span>King and Queen, a very humble +vessel considering her sounding name, and Dame Charter's few belongings +were conveyed to the vessel in Dickory's canoe, the cottage being left +in charge of a poor and well-pleased neighbour.</p> + +<p>When the day came for sailing, our friends, with not a few of the +townspeople, were gathered upon the deck, where Kate at first looked +about for Dickory, not recognising at the moment the well-dressed young +fellow who had taken his place. His Sunday costume became him well, and +he was so bravely decked out in the matter of shoes and stockings that +Kate did not recognise him.</p> + +<p>To every one Mistress Kate Bonnet made clear that she was going to her +uncle's house in Jamaica, where she expected to meet her father; and +many were the good wishes bestowed upon her. When the time drew near +when the anchor should be heaved, Kate withdrew to one side with Mr. +Newcombe. "You must believe," said she kindly, "that everything between +us is just as it was when we used to sit on the shady bank and look out +over the ripples of the river. There will be waves instead of ripples +for us to look over now, but there will be no change either the one way +or the other."</p> + +<p>Then they shook hands fervently; more than that would have been +unwarrantable.</p> + +<p>The King and Queen dropped down the stream, and Master Newcombe stood +sadly on <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span>the pier, while Kate Bonnet waved her handkerchief to him and +to her friends. Dame Charter sat and smiled at the town she was leaving +and at the long stretches of the river before her. She knew not to what +future she was going, but her heart was uplifted at the thought that a +new life was opening before her son. In her little cottage and in her +little fields there was no future for him, and now to what future might +he not be sailing!</p> + +<p>As for Dickory, he knew no more of his future than the sea-birds knew +what was going to happen to them; he cared no more for his future than +the clouds cared whether they were moving east or west. His life was +like the sparkling air in which he moved and breathed. He stood upon the +deck of the vessel, with the wind filling the sails above, while at a +little distance stood Kate Bonnet, her ribbons floating in the breeze. +He would have been glad to sing aloud, but he knew that that would not +be proper in the presence of the ladies and the captain. And so he let +his heart do his singing, which was not heard, except by himself.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>BEN GREENWAY IS CONVINCED THAT BONNET IS A PIRATE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_08.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>"But how in the name o' common sense did ye ever think o' becomin' a +pirate, Master Bonnet?" said Ben Greenway as they stood together. "Ye're +so little fitted for a wicked life."</p> + +<p>"Out upon you, Ben Greenway!" exclaimed the captain, beginning to stride +up and down the little quarter-deck. "I will let you know, that when the +time comes for it, I can be as wicked as anybody."</p> + +<p>"I doubt that," said Ben sturdily. "Would ye cut down an' murder the +innocent? Would ye drive them upon an unsteady plank an' make them walk +into the sea? Could ye raise thy great sword upon the widow an' the +orphan?"</p> + +<p>"No more of this disloyal speech," shouted Bonnet, "or I will put you +upon a wavering plank and make you walk into the sea."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span>Now Greenway laughed.</p> + +<p>"An' if ye did," he said, "ye would next jump upon the plank yoursel' +an' slide swiftly into the waves, that ye might save your old friend an' +servant, knowin' he canna swim."</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," said Bonnet, folding his arms and knitting his brows, "I +will not suffer such speech from you. I would sooner have on board a +Presbyterian parson."</p> + +<p>"An' a happier fate couldna befall ye," said Ben, "for ye need a parson +mair than ony mon I know."</p> + +<p>Bonnet looked at him for a moment.</p> + +<p>"You think so?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do," said Ben, with unction.</p> + +<p>"There now," cried Bonnet, "I told you, Ben, that I could be wicked upon +occasion, and now you have acknowledged it. Upon my word, I can be +wickeder than common, as you shall see when good fortune helps us to +overhaul a prize."</p> + +<p>The Revenge had been at sea for about a week and all had gone well, +except she had taken no prizes. The crew had been obedient and fairly +orderly, and if they made fun of their farmer-captain behind his back, +they showed no disrespect when his eyes were upon them. The fact was +that the most of them had a very great respect for him as the capitalist +of the ship's company.</p> + +<p>Big Sam had early begun to sound the tem<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span>per of the men, but they had +not cared to listen to him. Good fare they had and generous treatment, +and the less they thought of Bonnet as a navigator and commander, the +more they thought of his promises of rich spoils to be fairly divided +with them when they should capture a Spanish galleon or any well-laden +merchantman bound for the marts of Europe. In fact, when such good luck +should befall them, they would greatly prefer to find themselves serving +under Bonnet than under Big Sam. The latter was known as a greedy +scoundrel, who would take much and give little, being inclined, +moreover, to cheat his shipmates out of even that little if the chance +came to him. Even Black Paul, who was an old comrade of Big Sam—the two +having done much wickedness together—paid no heed to his present +treasons.</p> + +<p>"Let the old fool alone," he said; "we fare well, and our lives are +easy, having three men to do the work of one. So say I, let us sail on +and make merry with his good rum; his money-chest is heavy yet."</p> + +<p>"That's what I'm thinking of," said the sailing-master. "Why should I be +coursing about here looking for prizes with that chest within reach of +my very arm whenever I choose it?"</p> + +<p>Black Paul grinned and said to himself: "It is your arm, old Sam, that I +am afraid of." Then aloud: "No, let him go. Let us profit by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span>our good +treatment as long as it lasts, and then we will talk about the +money-box."</p> + +<p>Thus Big Sam found that his time had not arrived, and he swore in his +soul that his old shipmate would some day rue that he had not earlier +stood by him in his treacherous schemes.</p> + +<p>So all went on without open discontent, and Bonnet, having sailed +northward for some days, set his course to the southeast, with some +hundred and fifty eyes wide open for the sight of a heavy-sailing +merchantman.</p> + +<p>One morning they sighted a brig sailing southward, but as she was of no +great size and not going in the right direction to make it probable that +she carried a cargo worth their while, they turned westward and ran +towards Cuba. Had Captain Bonnet known that his daughter was on the brig +which he thus disdained, his mind would have been far different; but as +it was, not knowing anything more than he could see, and not +understanding much of that, he kept his westerly course, and on the next +day the lookout sighted a good-sized merchantman bearing eastward.</p> + +<p>Now bounded every heart upon the swiftly coursing vessel of the +planter-pirate. There were men there who had shared in the taking of +many a prize; who had shared in the blood and the cruelty and the booty; +and their brawny forms trembled with the old excitement, of the +sea-chase; but no man's blood ran more swiftly, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span>no man's eyes glared +more fiercely, than those of Captain Bonnet as he strapped on his +pistols and felt of his sword-hilt.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ye needna glare so!" said Ben Greenway, close at his side. "Ye are +no pirate, an' ye canna make yoursel' believe ye are ane, an' that ye +shall see when the guns begin to roar an' the sword-blades flash. Better +get below an' let ane o' these hairy scoundrels descend into hell in +your place."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet turned with rage upon Ben Greenway, but the latter, +having spoken his mind and given his advice, had retired.</p> + +<p>Now came Big Sam. "'Tis an English brig," he said, "most likely from +Jamaica, homeward bound; she should be a good prize."</p> + +<p>Bonnet winced a little at this. He would have preferred to begin his +career of piracy by capturing some foreign vessel, leaving English +prizes for the future, when he should have become better used to his new +employment. But sensitiveness does not do for pirates, and in a moment +he had recovered himself and was as bold and bloody-minded as he had +been when he first saw the now rapidly approaching vessel. All nations +were alike to him now, and he belonged to none.</p> + +<p>"Fire some guns at her," he shouted to Big Sam, "and run up the Jolly +Roger; let the rascals see what we are."</p> + +<p>The rascals saw. Down came their flag, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span>presently their vessel was +steered into the wind and lay to.</p> + +<p>"Shall we board her?" cried Big Sam.</p> + +<p>"Ay, board her!" shouted back the infuriated Bonnet. "Run the Revenge +alongside, get out your grappling-irons, and let every man with sword +and pistols bound upon her deck."</p> + +<p>The merchantman now lay without headway, gently rolling on the sea. Down +came the sails of the Revenge, while her motion grew slower and slower +as she approached her victim. Had Captain Bonnet been truly sailing the +Revenge, he would have run by with sails all set, for not a thought had +he for the management of his own vessel, so intent he was upon the +capture of the other. But fortunately Big Sam knew what was necessary to +be done in a nautical manœuvre of this kind, and his men did not all +stand ready with their swords in their hands to bound upon the deck of +the merchantman. But there were enough of Pirate Bonnet's crew crowded +alongside the rail of the vessel to inspire terror in any peaceable +merchantman. And this one, although it had several carronades and other +guns upon her deck, showed no disposition to use them, the odds against +her being far too great.</p> + +<p>At the very head of the long line of ruffians upon the deck of the +Revenge stood Ben Greenway; and, although he held no sword and wore <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span>no +pistol, his eyes flashed as brightly as any glimmering blade in the +whole ship's company.</p> + +<p>The two vessels were now drawing very near to each other. Men with +grappling-irons stood ready to throw them, and the bow of the +well-steered pirate had almost touched the side of the merchantman, +when, with a bound, of which no one would have considered him capable, +the good Ben Greenway jumped upon the rail and sprang down upon the deck +of the other vessel. This was a hazardous feat, and if the Scotchman had +known more about nautical matters he would not have essayed it before +the two vessels had been fastened together. Ignorance made him fearless, +and he alighted in safety on the deck of the merchantman at the very +instant when the two vessels, having touched, separated themselves from +each other for the space of a yard or two.</p> + +<p>There was a general shout from the deck of the pirate at this +performance of Ben Greenway. Nobody could understand it. Captain Bonnet +stood and yelled.</p> + +<p>"What are you about, Ben Greenway? Have you gone mad? Without sword or +pistol, you'll be—"</p> + +<p>The astonished Bonnet did not finish his sentence, for his power of +speech left him when he saw Ben Greenway hurry up to the captain of the +merchantman, who was standing unarmed, with his crew about him, and +warmly shake that dumfounded skipper by the hand. In their sur<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span>prise at +what they beheld the pirates had not thrown their grapnels at the proper +moment, and now the two vessels had drifted still farther apart.</p> + +<p>Presently Ben Greenway came hurrying to the side of the merchantman, +dragging its captain by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he cried; "this is your old friend, +Abner Marchand, o' our town; an' this is his good ship the Amanda. I +knew her when I first caught sight o' her figure-head, havin' seen it so +often at her pier at Bridgetown. An' so, now that ye know wha it is that +ye hae inadvertently captured, ye may ca' off your men an' bid them +sheathe their frightful cutlasses."</p> + +<p>At this, a roar arose from the pirates, who, having thrown some of their +grappling-irons over the gunwale of the merchantman, were now pulling +hard upon them to bring the two vessels together, and Captain Bonnet +shouted back at Ben: "What are you talking about, you drivelling idiot; +haven't you told Mr. Marchand that I am a pirate?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I hae no'," cried Ben, "for I don't believe ye are are; at +least, no' to your friends an' neebours."</p> + +<p>To this Bonnet made a violent reply, but it was not heard. The two +vessels had now touched and the crowd of yelling pirates had leaped upon +the deck of the Amanda. Bonnet was not far <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span>behind his men, and, sword +in hand, he rushed towards the spot where stood the merchant captain +with his crew hustling together behind him. As there was no resistance, +there was so far no fighting, and the pirates were tumbling over each +other in their haste to get below and find out what sort of a cargo was +carried by this easy prize.</p> + +<p>Captain Marchand held out his hand. "Good-day to you, friend Bonnet," he +said. "I had hoped that you would be one of the first friends I should +meet when I reached port at Bridgetown, but I little thought to meet you +before I got there."</p> + +<p>Bonnet was a little embarrassed by the peculiarity of the situation, but +his heart was true to his new career.</p> + +<p>"Friend Marchand," he said, "I see that you do not understand the state +of affairs, and Ben Greenway there should have told you the moment he +met you. I am no longer a planter of Barbadoes; I am a pirate of the +sea, and the Jolly Roger floats above my ship. I belong to no nation; my +hand is against all the world. You and your ship have been captured by +me and my men, and your cargo is my prize. Now, what have you got on +board, where do you hail from, and whither are you bound?"</p> + +<p>Captain Marchand looked at him fixedly.</p> + +<p>"I sailed from London with a cargo of domestic goods for Kingston; +thence, having dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span>posed of most of my cargo, I am on my way to +Bridgetown, where I hope to sell the remainder."</p> + +<p>"Your goods will never reach Bridgetown," cried Bonnet; "they belong now +to my men and me."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Ben Greenway, "ye speak wi'out sense or reason. Hae ye +forgotten that this is Mr. Abner Marchand, your fellow-vestryman an' +your senior warden? An' to him do ye talk o' takin' awa' his goods an' +legal chattels?"</p> + +<p>Bonnet looked at Greenway with indignation and contempt.</p> + +<p>"Now listen to me," he yelled. "To the devil with the vestry and da—" +the Scotchman's eyes and mouth were so rounded with horror that Bonnet +stopped and changed his form of expression—"confound the senior warden. +I am the pirate Bonnet, and regard not the Church of England."</p> + +<p>"Nor your friends?" interpolated Ben.</p> + +<p>"Nor friends nor any man," shouted Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"Abner Marchand, I am sorry that your vessel should be the first one to +fall into my power, but that has happened, and there is no help for it. +My men are below ransacking your hold for the goods and treasure it may +contain. When your cargo, or what we want of it, is safe upon my ship, I +shall burn your vessel, and you and your men must walk the plank."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span>At this dreadful statement, Ben Greenway staggered backward in +speechless dismay.</p> + +<p>"Yes," cried Bonnet, "that shall I do, for there is naught else I can +do. And then you shall see, you doubting Greenway, whether I am a pirate +or no."</p> + +<p>To all this Captain Marchand said not a word. But at this moment a +woman's scream was heard from below, and then there was another scream +from another woman. Captain Marchand started.</p> + +<p>"Your men have wandered into my cabin," he exclaimed, "and they have +frightened my passengers. Shall I go and bring them up, Major Bonnet? +They will be better here."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay!" cried the pirate captain, surprised that there should be +female passengers on board, and Marchand, followed by Ben Greenway, +disappeared below.</p> + +<p>"Confound women passengers," said Bonnet to himself; "that is truly a +bit of bad luck."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes Marchand was back, bringing with him a middle-aged and +somewhat pudgy woman, very pale; a younger woman of exceeding plainness, +and sobbing steadfastly; and also an elderly man, evidently an invalid, +and wearing a long dressing-gown.</p> + +<p>"These," said Captain Marchand, "are Master and Madam Ballinger and +daughter, of York in England, who have been sojourning in Jamaica for +the health of the gentleman, but are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span>now sailing with me to Barbadoes, +hoping the air of our good island may be more salubrious for the lungs."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet had never been in the habit of speaking loudly before +ladies, but he now felt that he must stand by his character.</p> + +<p>"You cannot have heard," he almost shouted, "that I am the pirate +Bonnet, and that your vessel is now my prize."</p> + +<p>At this the two ladies began to scream vigorously, and the form of the +gentleman trembled to such a degree that his cane beat a tattoo upon the +deck.</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued Bonnet, "when my men have stripped this ship of its +valuables I shall burn her to the water's edge, and, having removed you +to my vessel, I shall shortly make you walk the plank."</p> + +<p>Here the younger lady began to stiffen herself out as if she were about +to faint in the arms of Captain Marchand, who had suddenly seized her; +but her great curiosity to hear more kept her still conscious. Mrs. +Ballinger grew very red in the face.</p> + +<p>"That cannot be," she cried; "you may do what you please with our +belongings and with Captain Marchand's ship, but my husband is too sick +a man to walk a plank. You have not noticed, perchance, that his legs +are so feeble that he could scarce mount from the cabin to the deck. It +would be impossible for him to walk a plank; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span>and as for my daughter and +myself, we know nothing about such a thing, and could not, out of sheer +ignorance."</p> + +<p>For a moment a shadow of perplexity fell upon Captain Bonnet's face. He +could readily perceive that the infirm Mr. Ballinger could not walk a +plank, or even mount one, unless some one went with him to assist him, +and as to his wife, she was evidently a termagant; and, having sailed +his ship and floated his Jolly Roger in order to get rid of one +termagant, he was greatly annoyed at being brought thus, face to face, +with another. He stood for a moment silent. The old gentleman looked as +if he would like to go down to his cabin and cover up his head with his +blanket until all this commotion should be over; the daughter sobbed as +she gazed about her, taking in every point of this most novel situation; +and the mother, with dilated nostrils, still glared.</p> + +<p>In the midst of all this varying disturbance Captain Marchand stood +quiet and unmoved, apparently paying no attention to any one except his +old neighbour and fellow-vestryman, Stede Bonnet, upon whose face his +eyes were steadily fixed.</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway now approached the pirate captain and led him aside.</p> + +<p>"Let your men make awa' wi' the cargo as they please—I doubt if it be +more than odds an' ends, for such are the goods they bring to +Bridgetown—an' let them cast off an' go their <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span>way, an' ye an' I will +return to Bridgetown in the Amanda an' a' may yet be weel, this bit o' +folly bein' forgotten."</p> + +<p>It might have been supposed that Bonnet would have retaliated upon the +Scotchman for thus advising him, in the very moment of triumph, to give +up his piratical career and to go home quietly to his plantation, but, +instead of that, he paused for a moment's reflection.</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," said he, "there is good sense in what you say. In truth, +I cannot bring myself to put to death my old friend and neighbour and +his helpless passengers. As for the ship, it will do me no more good +burned than unburned. And there is another thing, Ben Greenway, which I +would fain do, and it just came into my mind. I will write a letter to +my wife and one to my daughter Kate. There is much which I wish them to +know and which I have not yet been able to communicate. I will allow the +Amanda to go on her way and I will send these two letters by her +captain. They shall be ready presently, and you, Ben, stand by these +people and see that no harm comes to them."</p> + +<p>At this moment there were loud shouts and laughter from below, and +Captain Marchand came forward.</p> + +<p>"Friend Bonnet," he said, "your men have discovered my store of spirits; +in a short time they will be drunk, and it will then be unsafe for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span>these, my passengers. Bid them, I pray you, to convey the liquors +aboard your ship."</p> + +<p>"Well said!" cried Bonnet. "I would not lose those spirits." And, +stepping forward, he spoke to Big Sam, who had just appeared on deck, +and ordered the casks to be conveyed on board the Revenge.</p> + +<p>The latter laughed, but said: "Ay, ay, sir!"</p> + +<p>Returning to Captain Marchand, Bonnet said: "I will now step on board my +ship and write some letters, which I shall ask you to take to Bridgetown +with you. I shall be ready by the time the rest of your cargo is +removed."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't do that!" cried Ben; "there is surely pen an' paper here, +close to your hand. Go down to Captain Marchand's cabin an' write your +letters."</p> + +<p>"No, no," cried Bonnet, "I have my own conveniences." And with that he +leaped on board the Revenge.</p> + +<p>"That's a chance gone," said Ben Greenway to Captain Marchand, "a good +chance gone. If we could hae kept him on board here an' down in your +cabin, I might hae passed the word to that big miscreant, the +sailing-master, to cast off an' get awa' wi' that wretched crowd. The +scoundrels will be glad to steal the ship, an' it will be the salvation +o' Master Bonnet if they do it."</p> + +<p>"If that's the case," said Captain Marchand, "why should we resort to +trickery? If his men <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span>want his ship and don't want him, why can't we +seize him when he comes on board with his letters, and then let his men +know that they are free to go to the devil in any way they please? Then +we can convey Major Bonnet to his home, to repentance, perhaps, and a +better life."</p> + +<p>"That's good," said Ben, "but no' to punishment. Ye an' I could testify +that his head is turned, but that, when kindness to a neebour is +concerned, his heart is all right."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," said the captain, "I could swear to that. And now we must act +together. When I put my hand on him, you do the same, and give him no +chance to use his sword or pistols."</p> + +<p>The captain of the pirates sat down in his well-furnished little room to +write his letters, and the noise and confusion on deck, the swearing and +the singing and the shouting to be heard everywhere, did not seem to +disturb him in the least. He was a man whose mind could thoroughly +engage itself with but one thing at a time, and the fact that his men +were at work sacking the merchantman did not in the least divert his +thoughts from his pen and paper.</p> + +<p>So he quietly wrote to his wife that he had embraced a pirate's life, +that he never expected to become a planter again, and that he left to +her the enjoyment and management of his estate in Barbadoes. He hoped +that, his absence having now relieved her of her principal reason for +discontent with her lot, she would become happy <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span>and satisfied, and +would allow those about her to be the same. He expected to send Ben +Greenway back to her to help take care of her affairs, but if she should +need further advice he advised her to speak to Master Newcombe.</p> + +<p>The letter to his daughter was different; it was very affectionate. He +assured her of his sorrow at not being able to take her with him and to +leave her at Jamaica, and he urged her at the earliest possible moment +to go to her uncle and to remain there until she heard from him or saw +him—the latter being probable, as he intended to visit Jamaica as soon +as he could, even in disguise if this method were necessary. He alluded +to the glorious career upon which he was entering, and in which he +expected some day to make a great name for himself, of which he hoped +she would be proud.</p> + +<p>When these letters were finished Bonnet hurried to the side of the +vessel and looked upon the deck of the Amanda.</p> + +<p>Captain Marchand and Greenway had been waiting in anxious expectation +for the return of Bonnet, and wondering how in the world a man could +bring his mind to write letters at such a time as this.</p> + +<p>"Take these letters, Ben," he said, leaning over the rail, "and give +them to Captain Marchand."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway at first declined to take the letters which Bonnet held out +to him, but the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span>latter now threw them at his feet on the deck, and, +running forward, he soon found himself in a violent and disorderly +crowd, who did not seem to regard him at all; booty and drink were all +they cared for. Presently came Big Sam, giving orders and thrusting the +men before him. He had not been drinking, and was in full possession of +his crafty senses.</p> + +<p>"Throw off the grapnels," exclaimed Big Sam, "and get up the foresel!" +And then he perceived Bonnet. With a scowl upon his face Big Sam +muttered: "I thought you were on the merchantman, but no matter. Shove +her off, I say, or I'll break your heads."</p> + +<p>The grapnels were loosened; the few men who were on duty shoved +desperately; the foresail went up, and the two vessels began to +separate. But they were not a foot apart when, with a great rush and +scramble, Ben Greenway left the merchantman and tumbled himself on board +the Revenge.</p> + +<p>Bonnet rushed up to him. "You scoundrel! You rascal, Ben Greenway, what +do you mean? I intended you to go back to Bridgetown on that brig. Can I +never get rid of you?"</p> + +<p>"No' till ye give up piratin'," said Ben with a grin. "Ye may split open +my head, an' throw overboard my corpse, but my live body stays here as +long as ye do."</p> + +<p>With a savage growl Bonnet turned away from his faithful adherent. +Things were getting <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span>very serious now and he could waste no time on +personal quarrels. Great holes and splits had been discovered in the +heads of the barrels of spirits, and the precious liquor was running +over the decks. This was the work of the sagacious Big Sam, who had the +strongest desire to get away from the Amanda before the pirate crew +became so drunk that they could not manage the vessel. He was a deep +man, that Big Sam, and at this moment, although he said nothing about +it, he considered himself the captain of the pirate ship which he +sailed.</p> + +<p>For a time Bonnet hurried about, not knowing what to do. Some of the men +were quarrelling about the booty; others trying to catch the rum as it +flowed from the barrels; others howling out of pure devilishness, and no +one paying him any respect whatever. Big Sam was giving orders; a few +sober men were obeying him, and Captain Stede Bonnet, with his faithful +servant, Ben Greenway, seemed to be entirely out of place amid this +horrible tumult.</p> + +<p>"I told ye," said Ben, "ye had better stayed on board that merchantman +an' gone back like a Christian to your ain hame an' family. It will be +no safe place for ye, or for me neither, when that black-hearted +scoundrel o' a Big Sam gets time to attend to ye."</p> + +<p>"Black-hearted?" inquired Bonnet, but without any surprise in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Ben, "if there's onything black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span>er than his heart, only Satan +himsel' ever looked at it. It was to be sailin' this ship on his own +account that he's had in his villainous soul ever since he came on +board; an' I can tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it won't be long now +before he's doin' it. I had me eye on him when he was on board the +Amanda, an' I saw that the scoundrel was goin' to separate the ships."</p> + +<p>"That was my will," said Bonnet, "although I did not order it."</p> + +<p>Ben gave a little grunt. "Ay," said he, "hopin' to leave me behind just +as he was hopin' to leave ye behind. But neither o' ye got your wills, +an' it'll be the de'il that'll have a hand in the next leavin' behind +that's likely to be done."</p> + +<p>Bonnet made no reply to these remarks, having suddenly spied Black Paul.</p> + +<p>"Look here," said he, stepping up to that sombre-hued personage, "can +you sail a ship?"</p> + +<p>The other looked at Bonnet in astonishment. "I should say so," said he. +"I have commanded vessels before now."</p> + +<p>"Here then," said Bonnet, "I want a sailing-master. I am not satisfied +with this Big Sam. I am no navigator myself, but I want a better man +than that fellow to sail my ship for me."</p> + +<p>Black Paul looked hard at him but made no answer.</p> + +<p>"He thinks he is sailing the ship for him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span>self," said Bonnet, "and it +would be a bad day for you men if he did."</p> + +<p>"That indeed would it," said Black Paul; "a close-fisted scoundrel, as I +know him to be."</p> + +<p>"Quick then," said Bonnet; "now you're my sailing-master; and after +this, when we divide the prizes, you take the same share that I do. As +to these goods from the Amanda, I will have no part at all; I give them +all to you and the rest, divided according to rule.</p> + +<p>"Go you now among the men, and speak first to such as have taken the +least liquor; let them know that it was Big Sam that broke in the +hogsheads, which, but for that, would have been sold and divided. Go +quickly and get about you a half-dozen good fellows."</p> + +<p>"Ye're gettin' wickeder and wickeder," said Ben when Black Paul had +hurried away; "the de'il himsel' couldna hae taught ye a craftier trick +than that. Weel ye kenned that that black fellow would fain serve under +a free-handed fool than a stingy knave. Ay, sir, your education's +progressin'!"</p> + +<p>At this moment Big Sam came hurrying by. Not wishing to excite +suspicion, Bonnet addressed him a question, but instead of answering the +burly pirate swore at him. "I'll attend to your business," said he, "as +soon as I have my sails set; then I'll give you two leather-headed +landsmen all the hoisting and lowering you'll ever <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span>ask for." Then with +another explosion of oaths he passed on.</p> + +<p>Bonnet and Ben stood waiting with much impatience and anxiety, but +presently came Black Paul with a party of brawny pirates following him.</p> + +<p>"Come now," said Bonnet, walking boldly aft towards Big Sam, who was +still cursing and swearing right and left. Bonnet stepped up to him and +touched him on the arm. "Look ye," said he, "you're no longer +sailing-master on this ship; I don't like your ways or your fashions. +Step forward, then, and go to the fo'castle where you belong; this good +mariner," pointing to Black Paul, "will take your place and sail the +Revenge."</p> + +<p>Big Sam turned and stood astounded, staring at Bonnet. He spoke no word, +but his face grew dark and his great eyebrows were drawn together. His +mouth was half open, as if he were about to yell or swear. Then suddenly +his right hand fell upon the hilt of his cutlass, and the great blade +flashed in the air. He gave one bound towards Bonnet, and in the same +second the cutlass came down like a stroke of lightning. But Bonnet had +been a soldier and had learned how to use his sword; the cutlass was +caught on his quick blade and turned aside. At this moment Black Paul +sprung at Big Sam and seized him by the sword arm, while another fellow, +taking his cue, grabbed him by the shoulder.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span>"Now some of you fellows," shouted Bonnet, "seize him by the legs and +heave him overboard!"</p> + +<p>This order was obeyed almost as soon as it was given; four burly pirates +rushed Big Sam to the bulwarks, and with a great heave sent him +headforemost over the rail. In the next instant he had +disappeared—gone, passed out of human sight or knowledge.</p> + +<p>"Now then, Mr. Paul—not knowing your other name—"</p> + +<p>"Which it is Bittern," said the other.</p> + +<p>"You are now sailing-master of this ship; and when things are +straightened out a bit you can come below and sign articles with me."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay, sir," said Black Paul, and calling to the men he gave orders +that they go on with the setting of the main-topsail.</p> + +<p>"Now, truly," said Ben, "I believe that ye're a pirate."</p> + +<p>Bonnet looked at him much pleased. "I told you so, my good Ben. I knew +that the time would come when you would acknowledge that I am a true +pirate; after this, you cannot doubt it any more."</p> + +<p>"Never again, Master Bonnet," said Ben Greenway, gravely shaking his +head, "never again!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The brig Amanda, with full sails and an empty hold, bent her course +eastward to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span>island of Barbadoes, and the next morning, when the +drunken sailors on board the Revenge were able to look about them and +consider things, they found their vessel speeding towards the coast of +Cuba, and sailed by Black Paul Bittern.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> + + +<h3>DICKORY SETS FORTH<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_09.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Mr. Felix Delaplaine, merchant and planter of Spanish Town, the capital +of Jamaica, occupied a commodious house in the suburbs of the town, +twelve miles up the river from Kingston, the seaport, which +establishment was somewhat remarkable from the fact that there were no +women in the family. Madam Delaplaine had been dead for several years, +and as her husband's fortune had steadily thriven, he now found himself +possessor of a home in which he could be as independent and as +comfortable as if he had been the president and sole member of a club.</p> + +<p>Being of a genial disposition and disposed to look most favourably upon +his possessions and surrounding conditions, Mr. Delaplaine had come to +be of the opinion that his lot in life was one in which improvement was +not to be expected and scarcely to be desired. He had been perfectly +happy with his wife, and had no desire <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span>to marry another, who could not +possibly equal her; and, having no children, he continually thanked his +happy stars that he was free from the troubles and anxieties which were +so often brought upon fathers by their sons and their daughters.</p> + +<p>Into this quiet and self-satisfied life came, one morning, a great +surprise in the shape of a beautiful young woman, who entered his office +in Spanish Town, and who stated to him that she was the daughter of his +only sister, and that she had come to live with him. There was an +elderly dame and a young man in company with the beautiful visitor, but +Mr. Delaplaine took no note of them. With his niece's hands in his own, +gazing into the face so like that young face in whose company he had +grown from childhood to manhood, Mr. Delaplaine saw in a flash, that +since the death of his wife until that moment he had never had the least +reason to be content with the world or to be satisfied with his lot. +This was his sister's child come to live with him!</p> + +<p>When Mr. Delaplaine sufficiently recovered his ordinary good sense to +understand that there were other things in this world besides the lovely +niece who had so suddenly appeared before him, he remembered that she +had a father, and many questions were asked and answered; and he was +told who Dame Charter was, and why her son came with her. Then the uncle +and the niece walked into the garden, and there talked of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span>Major Bonnet. +Little did Kate know upon this subject, and nothing could her uncle tell +her; but in many and tender words she was assured that this was her home +as long as she chose to live in it, and that it was the most fortunate +thing in the world that Dame Charter had come with her and could stay +with her. Had this not been so, where could he have found such a +guardian angel, such a chaperon, for this tender niece? As for the young +man, it was such rare good luck that he had been able to accompany the +two ladies and give them his protection. He was just the person, Mr. +Delaplaine believed, who would be invaluable to him either on the +plantation or in his counting-house. In any case, here was their home; +and here, too, was the home of his brother-in-law, Bonnet, whenever he +chose to give up his strange fancy for the sea. It was not now to be +thought of that Kate or her father, or either one of them, should go +back to Barbadoes to live with the impossible Madam Bonnet.</p> + +<p>If her father's vessel were in the harbour and he were here with them, +or even if she had had good tidings from him, Kate Bonnet would have +been a very happy girl, for her present abode was vastly different from +any home she had ever known. Her uncle's house on the highlands beyond +the town lay in a region of cooler breezes and more bracing air than +that of Barbadoes. Books and music and the general air of refine<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span>ment +recalled her early life with her mother, and with the exception of the +anxiety about her father, there were no clouds in the bright blue skies +of Kate Bonnet. But this anxiety was a cloud, and it was spreading.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When the Amanda moved away from the side of the pirate vessel Revenge +she hoisted all sail, and got away over the sea as fast as the +prevailing wind could take her. When she passed the bar below Bridgetown +and came to anchor, Captain Marchand immediately lowered a boat and was +rowed up the river to the recent residence of Major Stede Bonnet, and +there he delivered two letters—one to the wife of that gentleman, and +the other for his daughter. Then the captain rowed back and went into +the town, where he annoyed and nearly distracted the citizens by giving +them the most cautious and expurgated account of the considerate and +friendly manner in which the Amanda had been relieved of her cargo by +his old friend and fellow-vestryman, Major Bonnet.</p> + +<p>Captain Marchand had been greatly impressed by the many things which Ben +Greenway had said about his master's present most astounding freak, and +hoping in his heart that repentance and a suitable reparation might soon +give this hitherto estimable man an opportunity to return to his former +place in society, he said as little as he could against the name and +fame <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span>of this once respected fellow-citizen. When he communicated with +the English owners of his now departed cargo, he would know what to say +to them, but here, safe in harbour with his vessel and his passengers, +he preferred to wait for a time before entirely blackening the character +of the man who had allowed him to come here. Like the faithful Ben +Greenway, he did not yet believe in Stede Bonnet's piracy.</p> + +<p>Madam Bonnet read her letter and did not like it. In fact, she thought +it shameful. Then she opened and read the letter to her step-daughter. +This she did not like either, and she put it away in a drawer; she would +have nothing to do with the transmission of such an epistle as this. +Most abominable when contrasted with the scurrilous screed he had +written to her.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Day after day passed on, and Kate Bonnet arose each morning feeling less +happy than on the day before. But at last a letter came, brought by a +French vessel which had touched at Barbadoes. This letter was to Kate +from Martin Newcombe. It was a love-letter, a very earnest, ardent +love-letter, but it did not make the young girl happy, for it told her +very little about her father. The heart of the lover was so tender that +he would say nothing to his lady which might give her needless pain. He +had heard what Captain Marchand had told and he had not understood it, +and could only half believe it. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span>Kate must know far more about all this +painful business than he did, for her father's letter would tell her all +he wished her to know. Therefore, why should he discuss that most +distressing and perplexing subject, which he knew so little about and +which she knew all about. So he merely touched upon Major Bonnet and his +vessel, and hoped that she might soon write to him and tell him what she +cared for him to know, what she cared for him to tell to the people of +Bridgetown, and what she wished to repose confidentially to his honour. +But whatever she chose to say to him or not to say to him, he would have +her remember that his heart belonged to her, and ever would belong, no +matter what might happen or what might be said for good or for bad, on +the sea or the land, by friends or enemies.</p> + +<p>This was a rarely good love-letter, but it plunged Kate into the deepest +woe, and Dickory saw this first of all. He had brought the letter, and +for the second time he saw tears in her eyes. The absence of news of +Major Bonnet was soon known to the rest of the family, and then there +were other tears. It was perfectly plain, even to Dame Charter, that +things had been said in Bridgetown which Mr. Newcombe had not cared to +write.</p> + +<p>"No, Dame Charter," said Kate, "I cannot talk to you about it. My uncle +has already spoken words of comfort, but neither you nor he know <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span>more +than I do, and I must now think a little for myself, if I can."</p> + +<p>So saying, she walked out into the grounds to a spot at a little +distance where Dickory stood, reflectively gazing out over the +landscape.</p> + +<p>"Dickory," said the girl, "my mind is filled with horrible doubts. I +have heard of the talk in Bridgetown before we left, and now here is +this letter from Mr. Newcombe from which I cannot fail to see that there +must have been other talk that he considerately refrains from telling +me."</p> + +<p>"He should not have written such a letter," exclaimed Dickory hotly; "he +might have known it would have set you to suspecting things."</p> + +<p>"You don't know what you are talking about, you foolish boy," said she; +"it is a very proper letter about things you don't understand."</p> + +<p>She stepped a little closer to him as if she feared some one might hear +her. "Dickory," said she, "he did not put that thing into my mind; it +was there already. That was a dreadful ship, Dickory, and it was filled +with dreadful men. If he had not intended to go with them he would not +have put himself into their power, and if he had not intended to be long +away he would not have planned to leave me here with my uncle."</p> + +<p>"You ought not to think such a thing as that for one minute," cried +Dickory. "I would not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span>think so about my mother, no matter what +happened!"</p> + +<p>She smiled slightly as she answered. "I would my father were a mother, +and then I need not think such things. But, Dickory, if he had but +written to me! And in all this time he might have written, knowing how I +must feel."</p> + +<p>Dickory stood silent, his bosom heaving. Suddenly he turned sharply +towards her. "Of course he has written," said he, "but how could his +letter come to you? We know not where he has sailed, and besides, who +could have told him you had already gone to your uncle? But the people +at Bridgetown must know things. I believe that he has written there."</p> + +<p>"Why do you believe that?" she asked eagerly, with one hand on his arm.</p> + +<p>"I think it," said Dickory, his cheeks a little ruddier in their +brownness, "because there is more known there than Master Newcombe chose +to put into his letter. If he has not written, how should they know +more?"</p> + +<p>She now looked straight into his eyes, and as he returned the gaze he +could see in her pupils his head and his straw hat, with the clear sky +beyond.</p> + +<p>"Dickory," she said, "if he wrote to anybody he also wrote to me, and +that letter is still there."</p> + +<p>"That is what I believe," said he, "and I have been believing it."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span>"Then why didn't you say so to me, you wretched boy?" cried Kate. "You +ought to have known how that would have comforted me. If I could only +think he has surely written, my heart would bound, no matter what his +letter told; but to be utterly dropped, that I cannot bear."</p> + +<p>"You have not been dropped," he exclaimed, "and you shall know it. Kate, +I am going—"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," she exclaimed, "you must not call me that!"</p> + +<p>"But you call me Dickory," he said.</p> + +<p>"True, but you are so much younger."</p> + +<p>"Younger!" he exclaimed in a tone of contempt, not for the speaker but +for the word she had spoken. "Eleven months!"</p> + +<p>She laughed a little laugh; her nature was so full of it that even now +she could not keep it back.</p> + +<p>"You must have been making careful computation," she said, "but it does +not matter; you must not call me Kate, and I shall keep on calling you +Dickory; I could not help it. Now, where is it you were about to say you +were going?"</p> + +<p>"If you think me old enough," said he, "I am going to Barbadoes in the +King and Queen. She sails to-morrow. I shall find out about everything, +and I shall get your letter, then I shall come back and bring it to +you."</p> + +<p>"Dickory!" she exclaimed, and her eyes glowed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span>There was silence for some moments, and then he spoke, for it was +necessary for him to say something, although he would have been +perfectly content to stand there speechless, so long as her eyes still +glowed.</p> + +<p>"If I don't go," said he, "it may be long before you hear from him; +having written, he will wait for an answer."</p> + +<p>She thought of no difficulties, no delays, no dangers. "How happy you +have made me, Dickory!" she said. "It is this dreadful ignorance, these +fearful doubts of which I ought to be ashamed. But if I get his letter, +if I know he has not deserted me!"</p> + +<p>"You shall get it," he cried, "and you shall know."</p> + +<p>"Dickory," said she, "you said that exactly as you spoke when you told +me that if I let myself drop into the darkness, you would be there."</p> + +<p>"And you shall find me there now," said he; "always, if you need me, you +shall find me there!"</p> + +<p>Dame Charter had been standing and watching this interview, her foolish +motherly heart filled with the brightest, most unreasonable dreams. And +why should she not dream, even if she knew her dreams would never come +true? In a few short weeks that Dickory boy had grown to be a man, and +what should not be dreamed about a man!</p> + +<p>As Kate ran by the open door towards her <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span>uncle's apartments, Dame +Charter rose up, surprised.</p> + +<p>"What have you been saying to her, Dickory?" she exclaimed. "Do you know +something we have not heard? Have you been giving her news of her +father?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the son, who had so lately been a boy, "I have no news to +give her, but I am going to get news for her."</p> + +<p>She looked at him in amazement; then she exclaimed: "You!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "there is no one else. And besides I would not want any +one else to do it. I am going to Bridgetown in the brig which brought us +here; it is a little sail, and when I get there I will find out +everything. No matter what has happened, it will break her heart to +think that her father deserted her without a word. I don't believe he +did it, and I shall go and find out."</p> + +<p>"But, Dickory," she said, with anxious, upraised face, "how can you get +back? Do you know of any vessel that will be sailing this way?"</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"Get back? If I go alone, dear mother, you may be sure I shall soon get +back. Craft of all kinds sail one way or another, and there are many +ways in which I can get back not thought of in ordinary passage. When +any kind of a vessel sails from Jamaica, I can get on board of her, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span>whether she takes passengers or not. I can sleep on a bale of goods or +on the bare deck; I can work with the crew, if need be. Oh! you need not +doubt that I shall speedily come back."</p> + +<p>They talked long together, this mother and this son, and it was her +golden dreams for him that made her invoke Heaven's blessings upon him +and tell him to go. She knew, too, that it was wise for her to tell him +to go and to bless him, for it would have been impossible to withstand +him, so set was he in his purpose.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Dame Charter," said Mr. Delaplaine an hour later, "this son +of yours should be a great credit and pride to you, and he will be, I +stake my word upon it."</p> + +<p>"He is now," said the good woman quietly.</p> + +<p>"I have been pondering in my brain," said he, "what I should do to +relieve my niece of this burden of anxiety which is weighing upon her. I +could see no way, for letters would be of no use, not knowing where to +send them, and it would be dreary, indeed, to sit and wait and sigh and +dream bad dreams until chance throws some light upon this grievous +business, and here steps up this young fellow and settles the whole +matter. When he comes back, Dame Charter, I shall do well for him; I +shall put him in my counting-house, for, although doubtless he would +fain live his young life in the fields and under the open sky, he will +find the counting-house lies on the road to fortune, and good fortune he +deserves."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span>If that loving mother could have composed this speech for Master +Delaplaine to make she could not have suited it better to her desires.</p> + +<p>When the King and Queen was nearly ready to sail, Dickory Charter, +having been detained by Mr. Delaplaine, who wished the young man to +travel as one of importance and plentiful resources, hurried to the +house to take his final instructions from Mistress Kate Bonnet, in whose +service he was now setting forth. It might have been supposed by some +that no further instructions were necessary, but how could Dickory know +that? He was right. Kate met him before he reached the house.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad to see you again before you sail," she said. "One thing +was forgotten: You may see my father; his cruise may be over and he may +be, even now, preparing for me to come back to Bridgetown. If this be +so, urge him rather to come here. I had not thought of your seeing him, +Dickory, and I did not write to him, but you will know what to say. You +have heard that woman talk of me, and you well know I cannot go back to +my old home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I will say all that!" he exclaimed. "It will be the same thing as +if you had written him a long letter. And now I must run back, for the +boat is ready to take me down the river to the port."</p> + +<p>"Dickory," said she, and she put out her hand—he had never held that +hand before—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span>"you are so true, Dickory, you are so noble; you are +going—" it was in her mind to say "you are going as my knight-errant," +but she deemed that unsuitable, and she changed it to—"you are going to +do so much for me."</p> + +<p>She stopped for a moment, and then she said: "You know I told you you +should not call me Kate, being so much younger; but, as you are so much +younger, you may kiss me if you like."</p> + +<p>"Like!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></h2> + + +<h3>CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_10.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was truly surprising to see the change which came over the spirits of +our young Kate Bonnet when she heard that the King and Queen had sailed +from Kingston port. She was gay, she was talkative, she sang songs, she +skipped in the paths of the garden. One might have supposed she was so +happy to get rid of the young man on the brig which had sailed away. And +yet, the news she might hear when that young man came back was likely to +be far worse than any misgivings which had entered her mind. Kate's high +spirits delighted her uncle. This child of his sister had grown more +lovely than even her mother had ever been.</p> + +<p>Now came days of delight which Kate had never dreamed of. She had not +known that there were such shops in Spanish Town, which, although a +youngish town, had already drawn to itself the fashion and the needs of +fashion of that prosperous colony. With Dame Charter, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span>often also +with her uncle in company, this bright young girl hovered over fair +fabrics which were spread before her; circled about jewels, gems, and +feathers, and revelled in tender colours as would a butterfly among the +blossoms, dipping and tasting as she flew.</p> + +<p>There were some fine folk in Spanish Town, and with this pleasant +society of the capital Mr. Delaplaine renewed his previous intercourse +and Kate soon learned the pleasures of a colonial social circle, whose +attractions, brought from afar, had been warmed into a more cheerful +glow in this bright West Indian atmosphere.</p> + +<p>To add to the brilliancy of the new life into which Kate now entered, +there came into the port an English corvette—the Badger—for refitting. +From this welcome man-of-war there flitted up the river to Spanish Town +gallant officers, young and older; and in their flitting they flitted +into the drawing-room of the rich merchant Delaplaine, and there were +some of them who soon found that there were no drawing-rooms in all the +town where they could talk with, walk with, and perchance dance with +such a fine girl as Mistress Kate Bonnet.</p> + +<p>Kate greatly fancied gallant partners, whether for walking or talking or +dancing, and among such, those which came from the corvette in the +harbour pleased her most.</p> + +<p>Those were not bright days for Dame Charter. Do what she would, her +optimism was grow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span>ing dim, and what helped to dim it was Kate's gaiety. +It did not comfort her at all when Kate told her that she was so +light-hearted because she knew that Dickory would bring her good news.</p> + +<p>"Truly, too many fine young men here," thought Dame Charter, "while +Dickory is away, and all of them together are not worth a curl on his +head."</p> + +<p>But, although her dreams were dimmed, she did not cease dreaming. A +stout-hearted woman was Dickory's mother.</p> + +<p>But it was not long before there were other people thereabout who began +to feel that their prospects for present enjoyment were beginning to +look a little dim, for Captain Christopher Vince, having met Mistress +Kate Bonnet at an entertainment at the Governor's house, was greatly +struck by this young lady. Each officer of the Badger who saw their +captain in company with the fair one to whom their gallant attentions +had been so freely offered, now felt that in love as well as in +accordance with the regulations of the service, he must give place to +his captain. Moreover, when that captain took upon himself, the very +next day, to call at the residence of Mr. Delaplaine, and repeated the +visit upon the next day and the following, the crestfallen young fellows +were compelled to acknowledge that there were other houses in the town +where it might be better worth their while to spend their leisure hours.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span>Captain Vince was not a man to be lightly interfered with, whether he +happened to be engaged in the affairs of Mars or Cupid. He was of a +resolute mind, and of a person more than usually agreeable to the female +eye. He was about forty years of age, of an excellent English family, +and with good expectations. He considered himself an admirable judge of +women, but he had never met one who so thoroughly satisfied his +aesthetic taste as this fair niece of the merchant Delaplaine. She had +beauty, she had wit, she had culture, and the fair fabrics of Spanish +Town shops gave to her attractions a setting which would have amazed and +entranced Master Newcombe or our good Dickory. The soul of Captain Vince +was fired, and each time he met Kate and talked with her the fire grew +brighter.</p> + +<p>He had never considered himself a marrying man, but that was because he +had never met any one he had cared to marry. Now things were changed. +Here was a girl he had known but for a few days, and already, in his +imagination, he had placed her in the drawing-rooms of the English home +he hoped soon to inherit, more beautiful and even more like a princess +than any noble dame who was likely to frequent those rooms. In fancy he +had seen her by his side, walking through the shaded alleys of his grand +old gardens; he had looked proudly upon her as she stood by him in the +assemblages of the great; in fact, he had fallen suddenly and absolutely +in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span>love with her. When he was away from her he could not quite +understand this condition of things, but when he was with her again he +understood it all. He loved her because it was absolutely impossible for +him to do anything else.</p> + +<p>Naturally, Captain Vince was very agreeable to Mistress Kate, for she +had never seen such a handsome man, taking into consideration his +uniform and his bearing, and had never talked with one who knew so well +what to say and how to say it. Comparing him with the young officers who +had been so fond of making their way to her uncle's house, she was glad +that they had ceased to be such frequent visitors.</p> + +<p>The soul of Mr. Delaplaine was agitated by the admiration of his niece +which Captain Vince took no trouble to conceal. The worthy merchant +would gladly have kept Kate with him for years and years if she would +have been content to stay, but this could not be expected; and if she +married, from what other quarter could come such a brilliant match as +this? What his brother-in-law might think about it he did not care; if +Kate should choose to wed the captain, such an eccentric and +untrustworthy person should not be permitted to interfere with the +destiny that now appeared to open before his daughter. These thoughts +were not so idle as might have been supposed, for the captain had +already said things to the merchant, in which the circumstances of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span>the +former were made plain and his hopes foreshadowed. If the captain were +not prepared to leave the service, this rich merchant thought, why +should not he make it possible for him to do so, for the sake of his +dear niece?</p> + +<p>With these high ambitions in his mind, the happily agitated Mr. +Delaplaine did not hesitate to say some playful words to Kate concerning +the captain of the Badger; and these having been received quietly, he +was emboldened to go on and say some other words more serious.</p> + +<p>Then Kate looked at him very steadfastly and remarked: "But, uncle, you +have forgotten Master Newcombe."</p> + +<p>The good Delaplaine made no answer, for his emotions made it impossible +for him to do so, but, rising, he went out, and at a little distance +from the house he damned Master Newcombe.</p> + +<p>Days passed on and the captain's attentions did not wane. Mr. +Delaplaine, who was a man of honour expecting it in others, made up his +mind that something decisive must soon be said; while Kate began greatly +to fear that something decisive might soon be said. She was in a +difficult position. She was not engaged to Martin Newcombe, but had +believed she might be. The whole affair involved a question which she +did not want to consider. And still the captain came every day, +generally in the afternoon or evening.</p> + +<p>But one morning he made his appearance, coming to the house quite +abruptly.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span>"I am glad to find you by yourself," said he, "for I have some awkward +news."</p> + +<p>Kate looked at him surprised.</p> + +<p>"I have just been ordered on duty," he continued, "and the order is most +unwelcome. A brig came in last night and brought letters, and the +Governor sent for me this morning. I have just left him. The cruise I am +about to take may not be a long one, but I cannot leave port without +coming here to you and speaking to you of something which is nearer to +my heart than any thought of service, or in fact of anything else."</p> + +<p>"Speaking to my uncle, you mean," said Kate, now much disturbed, for she +saw in the captain's eyes what he wished to talk of.</p> + +<p>"Away with uncles!" he exclaimed; "we can speak with them by-and-bye; +now my words are for you. You may think me hasty, but we gentlemen +serving the king cannot afford to wait; and so, without other pause, I +say, sweet Mistress Kate, I love you, better than I have ever loved +woman; better than I can ever love another. Nay, do not answer; I must +tell you everything before you reply." And to the pale girl he spoke of +his family, his prospects, and his hopes. In the warmest colours he laid +before her the life and love he would give her. Then he went quickly on: +"This is but a little matter which is given to my charge, and it may not +engage me long; I am going out in search of a pirate, and I shall <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span>make +short work of him. The shorter, having such good reason to get quickly +back.</p> + +<p>"In fact, he is not a real pirate anyway, being but a country gentleman +tiring of his rural life and liking better to rob, burn, and murder on +the high seas. He has already done so much damage, that if his evil +career be not soon put an end to good people will be afraid to voyage in +these waters. So I am to sail in haste after this fellow Bonnet; but +before—"</p> + +<p>Kate's face had grown so white that it seemed to recede from her great +eyes. "He is my father," said she, "but I had not heard until now that +he is a pirate!"</p> + +<p>The captain started from his chair. "What!" he cried, "your father? Yes, +I see. It did not strike me until this instant that the names are the +same."</p> + +<p>Kate rose, and as she spoke her voice was not full and clear as it was +wont to be. "He is my father," she said, "but he sailed away without +telling me his errand; but now that I know everything, I must—" If she +had intended to say she must go, she changed her mind, and even came +closer to the still astounded captain. "You say that you will make short +work of his vessel; do you mean that you will destroy it, and will you +kill him?"<br /><br /></p> + +<p><a name="gs_03" id="gs_03"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_03.png" width="50%" alt="'He is my father!' said Kate." /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />"He is my father!" said Kate.<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>Captain Vince looked down upon her, his face filled with the liveliest +emotions. "My dear young lady," he said, and then he stopped as if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a> +</span>not knowing what words to use. But as he looked into her eyes fixed +upon his own and waiting for his answer, his love for her took +possession of him and banished all else. "Kill him," he exclaimed, +"never! He shall be as safe in my hands as if he were walking in his own +fields. Kill your father, dearest? Loving you as I do, that would be +impossible. I may take the rascals who are with him, I may string them +up to the yard-arm, or I may sink their pirate ship with all of them in +it, but your father shall be safe. Trust me for that; he shall come to +no harm from me."</p> + +<p>She stepped a little way from him, and some of her colour came back. For +some moments she looked at him without speaking, as if she did not +exactly comprehend what he had said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear," he continued, "I must crush out that piratical crew, for +such is my duty as well as my wish, but your father I shall take under +my protection; so have no fear about him, I beg you. With his ship and +his gang of scoundrels taken away from him, he can no longer be a +pirate, and you and I will determine what we shall do with him."</p> + +<p>"You mean," said Kate, speaking slowly, "that for my sake you will +shield my father from the punishment which will be dealt out to his +companions?"</p> + +<p>He smiled, and his face beamed upon her. "What blessed words," he +exclaimed. "Yes, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span>for your sake, for your sweet, dear sake I will do +anything; and as for this matter, I assure you there are so many ways—"</p> + +<p>"You mean," she interrupted, "that for my sake you will break your oath +of office, that you will be a traitor to your service and your king? +That for my sake you will favour the fortunes of a pirate whom you are +sent out to destroy? Mean it if you please, but you will not do it. I +love my father, and would fain do anything to save him and myself from +this great calamity, but I tell you, sir, that for my sake no man shall +do himself dishonour!"</p> + +<p>Without power to say another word, nor to keep back for another second +the anguish which raged within her, she fled like a bird and was gone.</p> + +<p>The captain stretched out his arms as if he would seize her; he rushed +to the door through which she had passed, but she was gone. He followed +her, shouting to the startled servants who came; he swore, and demanded +to see their mistress; he rushed through rooms and corridors, and even +made as if he would mount the stairs. Presently a woman came to him, and +told him that under no circumstances could Mistress Bonnet now be seen.</p> + +<p>But he would not leave the house. He called for writing materials, but +in an instant threw down the pen. Again he called a servant and sent a +message, which was of no avail. Dame <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span>Charter would have gone down to +him, but Kate was in her arms. For several minutes the furious officer +stood by the chair in which Kate had been sitting; he could not +comprehend the fact that this girl had discarded and had scorned him. +And yet her scorn had not in the least dampened the violence of his +love. As she stood and spoke her last bitter words, the grandeur of her +beauty had made him speechless to defend himself.</p> + +<p>He seized his hat and rushed from the house; hot, and with blazing eyes, +he appeared in the counting-room of Mr. Delaplaine, and there, to that +astounded merchant, he told, with brutal cruelty, of his orders to +destroy the pirate Bonnet, his niece's father; and then he related the +details of his interview with that niece herself.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine's countenance, at first shocked and pained, grew +gradually sterner and colder. Presently he spoke. "I will hear no more +such words, Captain Vince," he said, "regarding the members of my +family. You say my niece knows not what fortune she trifles with; I +think she does. And when she told you she would not accept the offer of +your dishonour, I commend her every word."</p> + +<p>Captain Vince frowned black as night, and clapped his hand to his +sword-hilt; but the pale merchant made no movement of defence, and the +captain, striking his clinched fist against the table, dashed from the +room. Before he reached his ship he had sworn a solemn oath: he vowed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span>that he would follow that pirate ship; he would kill, burn, destroy, +annihilate, but out of the storm and the fire he would pick unharmed the +father of the girl who had entranced him and had spurned him. He laughed +savagely as he thought of it. With that dolt of a father in his hands, a +man wearing always around his neck the hangman's noose, he would hold +the card which would give him the game. What Mistress Kate Bonnet might +say or do; what she might like or might not like; what her ideas about +honour might be or might not be, it would be a very different thing when +he, her imperious lover, should hold the end of that noose in his hand. +She might weep, she might rave, but come what would, she was the man's +daughter, and she would be Lady Vince.</p> + +<p>So he went on board the Badger, and he cursed and he commanded and he +raged; and his officers and his men, when the hurried violence of his +commands gave them a chance to speak to each other, muttered that they +pitied that pirate and his crew when the Badger came up with them.</p> + +<p>Clouds settled down upon the home of Mr. Delaplaine. There were no +visitors, there was no music, there seemed to be no sunshine. The +beautiful fabrics, the jewels, and the feathers were seen no more. It +was Kate of the broken heart who wandered under the trees and among the +blossoms, and knew not that there existed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>such things as cooling shade +and sweet fragrance. She could not be comforted, for, although her uncle +told her that he had had information that her father's ship had sailed +northward, and that it was, therefore, likely that the corvette would +not overtake him, she could not forget that, whatever of good or evil +befell that father, he was a pirate, and he had deserted her.</p> + +<p>So they said but little, the uncle and the niece, who sorrowed quietly.</p> + +<p>Dame Charter was in a strange state of mind. During the frequent visits +of Captain Vince she had been apprehensive and troubled, and her only +comfort was that the Badger had merely touched at this port to refit, +and that she must soon sail away and take with her her captain. The good +woman had begun to expect and to hope for the return of Dickory, but +later she had blessed her stars that he was not there. He was a fiery +boy, her brave son, but it would have been a terrible thing for him to +become involved with an officer in the navy, a man with a long, keen +sword.</p> + +<p>Now that the captain had raged himself away from the Delaplaine house +her spirits rose, and her great fear was that the corvette might not +leave port before the brig came in. If Dickory should hear of the things +that captain had said—but she banished such thoughts from her mind, she +could not bear them.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span>After some days the corvette sailed, and the Governor spoke well of the +diligence and ardour which had urged Captain Vince to so quickly set out +upon his path of duty.</p> + +<p>"When Dickory comes back," said Dame Charter to Kate, "he may bring some +news to cheer your poor heart, things get so twisted in the telling."</p> + +<p>Kate shook her head. "Dickory cannot tell me anything now," she said, +"that I care to know, knowing so much. My father is a pirate, and a +king's ship has gone out to destroy him, and what could Dickory tell me +that would cheer me?"</p> + +<p>But Dame Charter's optimism was beginning to take heart again and to +spread its wings.</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear, you don't know what good things do in this life +continually crop up. A letter from your father, possibly withheld by +that wicked Madam Bonnet—which is what Dickory and I both think—or +some good words from the town that your father has sold his ship, and is +on his way home. Nobody knows what good news that Dickory may bring with +him."</p> + +<p>The poor girl actually smiled. She was young, and in the heart of youth +there is always room for some good news, or for the hope of them.</p> + +<p>But the smile vanished altogether when she went to her room and wrote a +letter to Martin Newcombe. In this letter, which was a long one, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span>she +told her lover how troubled she had been. That she had nothing now to +ask him about the bad news he had, in his kindness, forborne to tell +her, and that when he saw Dickory Charter he might say to him from her +that there was no need to make any further inquiries about her father; +she knew enough, and far too much—more, most likely, than any one in +Bridgetown knew. Then she told him of Captain Vince and the dreadful +errand of the corvette Badger.</p> + +<p>Having done this, Kate became as brave as any captain of a British +man-of-war, and she told her lover that he must think no more of her; it +was not for him to pay court to the daughter of a pirate. And so, she +blessed him and bade him farewell.</p> + +<p>When she had signed and sealed this letter she felt as if she had torn +out a chapter of her young life and thrown it upon the fire.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> + + +<h3>BAD WEATHER<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_11.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>When Dickory Charter sailed away from the island of Jamaica, his reason, +had it been called upon, would have told him that he had a good stout +brig under him on which there were people and ropes and sails and +something to eat and drink. But in those moments of paradise he did not +trouble his reason very much, and lived in an atmosphere of joy which he +did not attempt to analyze, but was content to breathe as if it had been +the common air about him. He was going away from every one he loved, and +yet never before had he been so happy in going to any one he loved. He +cared to talk to no one on board, but in company with his joy he stood +and gazed westward out over the sea.</p> + +<p>He was but little younger than she was, and yet that difference, so +slight, had lifted him from things of earth and had placed him in that +paradise where he now dwelt.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span>So passed on the hours, so rolled the waves, and so moved the King and +Queen before the favouring breeze.</p> + +<p>It was on the second day out that the breeze began to be less favouring, +and there were signs of a storm; and, in spite of his preoccupied +condition, Dickory was obliged to notice the hurried talk of the +officers about him, he occupying a point of vantage on the quarter-deck. +Presently he turned and asked of some one if there was likelihood of bad +weather. The mate, to whom he had spoken, said somewhat unpleasantly, +"Bad weather enough, I take it, as we may all soon know; but it is not +wind or rain. There is bad weather for you! Do you see that?"</p> + +<p>Dickory looked, and saw far away, but still distinct, a vessel under +full sail with a little black spot floating high above it.</p> + +<p>He turned to the man for explanation. "And what is that?" he said.</p> + +<p>"It is a pirate ship," said the other, his face hardening as he spoke, +"and it will soon be firing at us to heave to."</p> + +<p>At that moment there was a flash at the bow of the approaching vessel, a +little smoke, and then the report of a cannon came over the water.</p> + +<p>Without further delay, the captain and crew of the King and Queen went +to work and hove to their brig.</p> + +<p>Young Dickory Charter also hove to. He did not know exactly why, but his +dream stopped <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span>sailing over a sea of delight. They stood motionless, +their sails flapping in the wind.</p> + +<p>"Pirates!" he thought to himself, cold shivers running through him, "is +this brig to be taken? Am I to be taken? Am I not to go to Barbadoes, to +Bridgetown, her home? Am I not to take her back the good news which will +make her happy? Are these things possible?"</p> + +<p>He stared over the water, he saw the swiftly approaching vessel, he +could distinguish the skull and bones upon the black flag which flew +above her.</p> + +<p>These things were possible, and his heart fell; but it was not with +fear. Dickory Charter was as bold a fellow as ever stood on the deck in +a sea fight, but his heart fell at the thought that he might not be +going to her old home, and that he might not sail back with good news to +her.</p> + +<p>As the swift-sailing pirate ship sped on, Ben Greenway came aft to +Captain Bonnet, and a grievous grin was on the Scotchman's face.</p> + +<p>"Good greetin's to ye, Master Bonnet," said he, "ye're truly good to +your old friends an' neebours an' pass them not by, even when your +pockets are burstin' wi' Spanish gold."</p> + +<p>A minute before this Captain Stede Bonnet had been in a very pleasant +state of mind. It was only two days ago that he had captured a Spanish +ship, from which he got great gain, including considerable stores of +gold. Everything <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span>of value had been secured, the tall galleon had been +burned, and its crew had been marooned on a barren spot on the coast of +San Domingo. The spoils had been divided, at least every man knew what +his share was to be, and the officers and the crew of the Revenge were +in a well-contented state of mind. In fact, Captain Bonnet would not +have sailed after a little brig, certainly unsuited to carry costly +cargo, had it not been that his piratical principle made it appear to +him a point of conscience to prey upon all mercantile craft, little or +big, which might come in his way. Thus it was, that he was sailing +merrily after the King and Queen, when Ben Greenway came to him with his +disturbing words.</p> + +<p>"What mean you?" cried Bonnet. "Know you that vessel?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, weel," said Ben, "it is the King and Queen, bound, doubtless, for +Bridgetown. I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it was a great deal o' +trouble an' expense ye put yersel' to when ye went into your present +line o' business on this ship. Ye could have stayed at hame, where she +is owned, an' wi' these fine fellows that ye have gathered thegither, ye +might have robbed your neebours right an' left wi'out the trouble o' +goin' to sea."</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," roared the captain, "I will have no more of this. Is it +not enough for me to be annoyed and worried by these everlasting ships +of Bridgetown, which keep sailing <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span>across my bows, no matter in what +direction I go, without hearing your jeers and sneers regarding the +matter? I tell you, Ben Greenway, I will not have it. I will not suffer +these paltry vessels, filled, perhaps, with the grocers and cloth +dealers from my own town, to interfere thus with the bold career that I +have chosen. I tell you, Ben Greenway, I'll make an example of this one. +I am a pirate, and I will let them know it—these fellows in their +floating shops. It will be a fair and easy thing to sink this tub +without more ado. I'd rather meet three Spanish ships, even had they +naught aboard, than one of these righteous craft commanded by my most +respectable friends and neighbours."</p> + +<p>Black Paul, the sailing-master, had approached and had heard the greater +part of these remarks.</p> + +<p>"Better board her and see what she carries," said he, "before we sink +her. The men have been talking about her and, many of them, favour not +the trouble of marooning those on board of her. So, say most of us, +let's get what we can from her, and then quickly rid ourselves of her +one way or another."</p> + +<p>"'Tis well!" cried Bonnet, "we can riddle her hull and sink her."</p> + +<p>"Wi' the neebours on board?" asked Greenway.</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet scowled blackly.</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," he shouted, "it would <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span>serve you right if I tied you +hand and foot and bundled you on board that brig, after we have stripped +her, if haply she have anything on board we care for."</p> + +<p>"An' then sink her?" asked the Scotchman.</p> + +<p>"Ay, sink her!" replied Bonnet. "Thus would I rid myself of a man who +vexes me every moment that I lay my eyes on him, and, moreover, it would +please you; for you would die in the midst of those friends and +neighbours you have such a high regard for. That would put an end to +your cackle, and there would be no gossip in the town about it."</p> + +<p>The sailing-master now came aft. The vessel had been put about and was +slowly approaching the brig. "Shall we make fast?" asked Black Paul. "If +we do we shall have to be quick about it; the sea is rising, and that +clumsy hulk may do us damage."</p> + +<p>For a moment Captain Bonnet hesitated, he was beginning to learn +something of the risks and dangers of a nautical life, and here was real +danger if the two vessels ran nearer each other. Suddenly he turned and +glared at Greenway. "Make fast!" he cried savagely, "make fast! if it be +only for a minute."</p> + +<p>"Do ye think in your heart," asked the Scotchman grimly, "that ye're +pirate enough for that?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII</a></h2> + + +<h3>FACE TO FACE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_12.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>With her head to the wind the pirate vessel Revenge bore down slowly +upon the King and Queen, now lying to and awaiting her. The stiff breeze +was growing stiffer and the sea was rising. The experienced eye of Paul +Bittern, the sailing-master of the pirate, now told him that it would be +dangerous to approach the brig near enough to make fast to her, even for +the minute which Captain Bonnet craved—the minute which would have been +long enough for a couple of sturdy fellows to toss on board the prize +that exasperating human indictment, Ben Greenway.</p> + +<p>"We cannot do it," shouted Black Paul to Bonnet, "we shall run too near +her as it is. Shall we let fly at short range and riddle her hull?"</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet did not immediately answer; the situation puzzled him. He +wanted very much <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span>to put the Scotchman on board the brig, and after that +he did not care what happened. But before he could speak, there appeared +on the rail of the King and Queen, holding fast to a shroud, the figure +of a young man, who put his hand to his mouth and hailed:</p> + +<p>"Throw me a line! Throw me a line!"</p> + +<p>Such an extraordinary request at such a time naturally amazed the +pirates, and they stood staring, as they crowded along the side of their +vessel.</p> + +<p>"If you are not going to board her," shouted Dickory again, "throw me a +line!"</p> + +<p>Filled with curiosity to know what this strange proceeding meant, Black +Paul ordered that a line be thrown, and, in a moment, a tall fellow +seized a coil of light rope and hurled it through the air in the +direction of the brig; but the rope fell short, and the outer end of it +disappeared beneath the water. Now the spirit of Black Paul was up. If +the fellow on the brig wanted a line he wanted to come aboard, and if he +wanted to come aboard, he should do so. So he seized a heavier coil and, +swinging it around his head, sent it, with tremendous force, towards +Dickory, who made a wild grab at it and caught it.</p> + +<p>Although a comparatively light line, it was a long one, and the slack of +it was now in the water, so that Dickory had to pull hard upon it before +he could grasp enough of it to pass around his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span>body. He had scarcely +done this, and had made a knot in it, before a lurch of the brig brought +a strain on the rope, and he was incontinently jerked overboard.</p> + +<p>The crew of the merchantman, who had not had time to comprehend what the +young fellow was about to do, would have grasped him had he remained on +the rail a moment longer, but now he was gone into the sea, and, working +vigorously with his legs and arms, was endeavouring to keep his head +above water while the pirates at the other end of the rope pulled him +swiftly towards their vessel.</p> + +<p>Great was the excitement on board the Revenge. Why should a man from a +merchantman endeavour, alone, to board a vessel which flew the Jolly +Roger? Did he wish to join the crew? Had they been ill-treating him on +board the brig? Was he a criminal endeavouring to escape from the +officers of the law? It was impossible to answer any of these questions, +and so the swarthy rascals pulled so hard and so steadily upon the line +that the knot in it, which Dickory had not tied properly, became a +slipknot, and the poor fellow's breath was nearly squeezed out of him as +he was hauled over the rough water. When he reached the vessel's side +there was something said about lowering a ladder, but the men who were +hauling on the line were in a hurry to satisfy their curiosity, so up +came Dickory straight from the water to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span>rail, and that proceeding +so increased the squeezing that the poor fellow fell upon the deck +scarcely able to gasp. When the rope was loosened the half-drowned and +almost breathless Dickory raised himself and gave two or three deep +breaths, but he could not speak, despite the fact that a dozen rough +voices were asking him who he was and what he wanted.</p> + +<p>With the water pouring from him in streams, and his breath coming from +him in puffs, he looked about him with great earnestness.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a man rushed through the crowd of pirates and stooped to look +at the person who had so strangely come aboard. Then he gave a shout. +"It is Dickory Charter," he cried, "Dickory Charter, the son o' old Dame +Charter! Ye Dickory! an' how in the name o' all that's blessed did ye +come here? Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he shouted to the captain, who +now stood by, "it is young Dickory Charter, of Bridgetown. He was on +board this vessel before we sailed, wi' Mistress Kate an' me. The last +time I saw her he was wi' her."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Bonnet, "with my daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay!" said Greenway, "it must have been a little before she went on +shore."</p> + +<p>"Young man!" cried Bonnet, stooping towards Dickory, "when did you last +see my daughter? Do you know anything of her?"</p> + +<p>The young man opened his mouth, but he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span>could not yet do much in the way +of speaking, but he managed to gasp, "I come from her, I am bringing you +a message."</p> + +<p>"A message from Kate!" shouted Bonnet, now in a state of wild +excitement. "Here you, Greenway, lift up the other arm, and we will take +him to my cabin. Quick, man! Quick, man! he must have some spirits and +dry clothes. Make haste now! A message from my daughter!"</p> + +<p>"If that's so," said Greenway, as he and Bonnet hurried the young man +aft, "ye'd better no' be in too great haste to get his message out o' +him or ye'll kill him wi' pure recklessness."</p> + +<p>Bonnet took the advice, and before many minutes Dickory was in dry +clothes and feeling the inspiriting influence of a glass of good old +rum. Now came Black Paul, wanting to know if he should sink the brig and +be done with her, for they couldn't lie by in such weather.</p> + +<p>"Don't you fire on that ship!" yelled Bonnet, "don't you dare it! For +all I know, my daughter may be on board of her."</p> + +<p>At this Dickory shook his head. "No," said he, "she is not on board."</p> + +<p>"Then let her go," cried Bonnet, "I have no time to fool with the +beggarly hulk. Let her go! I have other business here. And now, sir," +addressing Dickory, "what of my daughter? You have got your breath now, +tell me quickly! What is your message from her? When did you sail from +Bridgetown? Did she expect me <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>to overhaul that brig? How in the name of +all the devils could she expect that?"</p> + +<p>"Come, come now, Master Bonnet!" exclaimed the Scotchman, "ye are +talkin' o' your daughter, the good an' beautiful Mistress Kate, an' no +matter whether ye are a pirate or no, ye must keep a guard on your +tongue. An' if ye think she knew where to find ye, ye must consider her +an angel an' no' to be spoken o' in the same breath as de'ils."</p> + +<p>"I didn't sail from Bridgetown," said Dickory, "and your daughter is not +there. I come from Jamaica, where she now is, and was bound to +Bridgetown to seek news of you, hoping that you had returned there."</p> + +<p>"Which, if he had," said Ben, who found it very difficult to keep quiet, +"ye would hae been under the necessity o' givin' your message to his +bones hangin' in chains."</p> + +<p>Bonnet looked savagely at Ben, but he had no time even to curse.</p> + +<p>"Jamaica!" he cried, "how did she get there? Tell me quickly, sir—tell +me quickly! Do you hear?"</p> + +<p>Dickory was now quite recovered and he told his story, not too quickly, +and with much attention to details. Even the account of the unusual +manner in which he and Kate had disembarked from the pirate vessel was +given without curtailment, nor with any attention to the approving +grunts of Ben Greenway. When he came to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span>speak of the letter which Mr. +Newcombe had written her, and which had thrown her into such despair on +account of its shortcomings, Captain Bonnet burst into a fury of +execration.</p> + +<p>"And she never got my letter?" he cried, "and knew not what had happened +to me. It is that wife of mine, that cruel wild-cat! I sent the letter +to my house, thinking, of course, it would find my daughter there. For +where else should she be?"</p> + +<p>"An' a maist extraordinary wise mon ye were to do that," said Ben +Greenway, "for ye might hae known, if ye had ever thought o' it at all, +that the place where your wife was, was the place where your daughter +couldna be, an' ye no' wi' her. If ye had spoke to me about it, it would +hae gone to Mr. Newcombe, an' then ye'd hae known that she'd be sure to +get it."</p> + +<p>At this a slight cloud passed over Dickory's face, and, in spite of the +misfortunes which had followed upon the non-delivery of her father's +letter, he could not help congratulating himself that it had not been +sent to the care of that man Newcombe. He had not had time to formulate +the reasons why this proceeding would have been so distasteful to him, +but he wanted Martin Newcombe to have nothing to do with the good or bad +fortune of Mistress Kate, whose champion he had become and whose father +he had found, and to whom he was now talking, face to face.</p> + +<p>The three talked for a long time, during <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span>which Black Paul had put the +vessel about upon her former course, and was sailing swiftly to the +north. As Dickory went on, Bonnet ceased to curse, but, over and over, +blessed his brother-in-law, as a good man and one of the few worthy to +take into his charge the good and beautiful. Stede Bonnet had always +been very fond of his daughter, and, now, as it became known to him into +what desperate and direful condition his reckless conduct had thrown +her, he loved her more and more, and grieved greatly for the troubles he +had brought upon her.</p> + +<p>"But it'll be all right now," he cried, "she's with her good uncle, who +will show her the most gracious kindness, both for her mother's sake and +for her own; and I will see to it that she be not too heavy a charge +upon him."</p> + +<p>"As for ye, Dickory," exclaimed Greenway, "ye're a brave boy an' will +yet come to be an' honour to yer mither's declining years an' to the +memory o' your father. But how did ye ever come to think o' boardin' +this nest o' sea-de'ils, an' at such risk to your life?"</p> + +<p>"I did it," said Dickory simply, "because Mistress Kate's father was +here, and I was bound to come to him wherever I should find him, for +that was my main errand. They told me on the brig that it was Captain +Bonnet's ship that was overhauling us, and I vowed that as soon as she +boarded us I would seek him out and give him her message; and when I +heard that the sea was <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span>getting too heavy for you to board us, I +determined to come on board if I could get hold of a line."</p> + +<p>"Young man," cried Bonnet, rising to his full height and swelling his +chest, "I bestow upon you a father's blessing. More than that"—and as +he spoke he pulled open a drawer of a small locker—"here's a bag of +gold pieces, and when you take my answer you shall have another like +it."</p> + +<p>But Dickory did not reach out his hand for the money, nor did he say a +word.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid," cried Bonnet. "If you have any religious scruples, I +will tell you that this gold I did not get by piracy. It is part of my +private fortune, and came as honestly to me as I now give it to you."</p> + +<p>But Dickory did not reach out his hand.</p> + +<p>Now up spoke Ben Greenway: "Look ye, boy," said he, "as long as there's +a chance left o' gettin' honest gold on board this vessel, I pray ye, +seize it, an' if ye're afraid o' this gold, thinkin' it may be smeared +wi' the blood o' fathers an' the tears o' mithers, I'll tell ye ane +thing, an' that is, that Master Bonnet hasna got to be so much o' a +pirate that he willna tell the truth. So I'll tak' the money for ye, +Dickory, an' I'll keep it till ye're ready to tak' it to your mither; +an' I hope that will be soon."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_13.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The pirate vessel Revenge was now bound to the coast of the Carolinas +and Virginia, and perhaps even farther north, if her wicked fortune +should favour her. The growing commerce of the colonies offered great +prizes in those days to the piratical cruisers which swarmed up and down +the Atlantic coast. To lie over for a time off the coast of Charles Town +was Captain Bonnet's immediate object, and to get there as soon as +possible was almost a necessity.</p> + +<p>The crew of desperate scoundrels whom he had gathered together had +discovered that their captain knew nothing of navigation or the +management of a ship, and there were many of them who believed that if +Black Paul had chosen to turn the vessel's bows to the coast of South +America, Bonnet would not have known that they were not sailing +northward. Thus they had lost all respect for him, and their conduct was +kept within bounds only by the cruel punish<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span>ments which he inflicted for +disobedience or general bad conduct, and which were rendered possible by +the dissensions and bad feelings among the men themselves; one clique or +faction being always ready to help punish another. Consequently, the +landsman pirate would speedily have been tossed overboard and the +command given to another, had it not been that the men were not at all +united in their opinions as to who that other should be.</p> + +<p>There was also another very good reason for Bonnet's continuance in +authority; he was a good divider, and, so far, had been a good provider. +If he should continue to take prizes, and to give each man under him his +fair share of the plunder, the men were likely to stand by him until +some good reason came for their changing their minds. So with floggings +and irons, on deck and below, and with fair winds filling the sails +above, the Revenge kept on her way; and, in spite of the curses and +quarrels and threats which polluted the air through which the stout ship +sailed, there was always good-natured companionship wherever the +captain, Dickory, and Ben Greenway found themselves together. There +seemed to be no end to the questions which Bonnet asked about his +daughter, and when he had asked them all he began over again, and +Dickory made answer, as he had done before.</p> + +<p>The young fellow was growing very anxious at this northern voyage, and +when he asked ques<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span>tions they always related to the probability of his +getting back to Jamaica with news from the father of Mistress Kate +Bonnet. The captain encouraged the hopes of an early return, and vowed +to Dickory that he would send him to Spanish Town with a letter to his +daughter just as soon as an opportunity should show itself.</p> + +<p>When the Revenge reached the mouth of Charles Town harbour she stationed +herself there, and in four days captured three well-laden merchantmen; +two bound outward, and one going in from England.</p> + +<p>Thus all went well, and with willing hands to man her yards and a +proudly strutting captain on her quarter-deck, the pirate ship renewed +her northward course, and spread terror and made prizes even as far as +the New England coast; and if Dickory had had any doubts that the late +reputable planter of Bridgetown had now become a veritable pirate he had +many opportunities of setting himself right. Bonnet seemed to be growing +proud of his newly acquired taste for rapacity and cruelty. Merchantmen +were recklessly robbed and burned, their crews and passengers, even +babes and women, being set on shore in some desolate spot, to perish or +survive, the pirate cared not which, and if resistance were offered, +bloody massacres or heartless drownings were almost sure to follow, and, +as his men coveted spoils and delighted in cruelty, he satisfied them to +their heart's content.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span>"I tell you, Dickory Charter," said he, one day, "when you see my +daughter I want you to make her understand that I am a real pirate, and +not playing at the business. She's a brave girl, my daughter Kate, and +what I do, she would have me do well and not half-heartedly, to make her +ashamed of me. And then, there is my brother-in-law, Delaplaine. I don't +believe that he had a very high opinion of me when I was a plain farmer +and planter, and I want him to think better of me now. A bold, fearless +pirate cannot be looked upon with disrespect."</p> + +<p>Dickory groaned in his heart that this man was the father of Kate.</p> + +<p>Turning southward, rounding the cape of Delaware, the Revenge ran up the +bay, seeking some spot where she might take in water, casting anchor +before a little town on the coast of New Jersey. Here, while some of the +men were taking in water, others of the crew were allowed to go on +shore, their captain swearing to them that if they were guilty of any +disorder they should suffer for it. "On my vessel," he swore, "I am a +pirate, but when I go on shore I am a gentleman, and every one in my +service shall behave himself as a gentleman. I beg of you to remember +that."</p> + +<p>Agreeable to this principle, Captain Bonnet arrayed himself in a fine +suit of clothes, and without arms, excepting a genteel sword, and +carrying a cane, he landed with Ben Greenway <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span>and Dickory, and proceeded +to indulge himself in a promenade up the main street of the town.</p> + +<p>The citizens of the place, terrified and amazed at this bold conduct of +a vessel fearlessly flying a black flag with the skull and bones, could +do nothing but await their fate. The women and children, and many of the +men, hid themselves in garrets and cellars, and those of the people who +were obliged to remain visible trembled and prayed, but Captain Stede +Bonnet walked boldly up the right-hand side of the main street waving +his cane in the air as he spoke to the people, assuring them that he and +his men came on an errand of business, seeking nothing but some fresh +water and an opportunity to stretch their legs on solid ground.</p> + +<p>"If you have meat and drink," he cried, "bestow it freely upon my men, +tired of the unsavoury food on shipboard, and if they transgress the +laws of hospitality then I, their captain, shall be your avenger; we +want none of your goods or money, having enough in our well-laden vessel +to satisfy all your necessities, if ye have them, and to feel it not."</p> + +<p>The men strolled along the street, swarmed into the two little taverns, +soon making away with their small stores of ale and spirits, and +accepting everything eatable offered them by the shivering citizens; but +as to violence there was none, for every man of the rascally crew bore +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span>enmity against most of the others, and held himself ready for a chance +to report a shipmate or to break his head.</p> + +<p>Black Paul was a powerful aid in the preservation of order among the +disorderly. Conflicts between factions of the crew were greatly feared +by him, for the schemes which happy chance had caused to now revolve +themselves in his master mind would have been sadly interfered with by +want of concord among the men of the Revenge.</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet, followed at a short distance by Dickory and Ben, was +interested in everything he saw. A man of intelligence and considerable +reading, it pleased him to note the peculiarities of the people of a +country which he had never visited. The houses, the shops, and even the +attire of the citizens, were novel and well worthy of his observation. +He looked over garden walls, he gazed out upon the fields which were +visible from the upper end of the street, and when he saw a man who was +able to command his speech he asked him questions.</p> + +<p>There was a little church, standing back from the thoroughfare, its door +wide open, and this was an instant attraction to the pirate captain, who +opened the gate of the yard and walked up to it.</p> + +<p>"That I should ever again see Master Stede Bonnet goin' into a church +was something I didna dream o', Dickory," said Ben Greenway, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span>"it will +be a meeracle, an' I doubt if he dares to pass the door wi' his sins an' +his plunders on his head."</p> + +<p>But Captain Bonnet did pass the door, reverentially removing his hat, if +not his crimes, as he entered. In but few ways it resembled the houses +of worship to which he had been accustomed in his earlier days, and he +gazed eagerly from side to side as he slowly walked up the central +aisle. Dickory was about to follow him, but he was suddenly jerked back +by the Scotchman, who forcibly drew him away from the door.</p> + +<p>"Look ye," whispered Ben, speaking quickly, under great excitement, +"look ye, Dickory, Heaven has sent us our chance. He's in there safe an' +sound, an' the good angels will keep his mind occupied. I'll quietly +close the door an' turn the key, then I'll slip around to the back, an' +if there be anither door there, I'll stop it some way, if it be not +already locked. Now, Dickory boy, make your heels fly! I noticed, before +we got here, that some o' the men were makin' their way to the boats; +dash ye amang them, Dickory, an' tell them that the day they've been +longin' for, ever since they set foot on the vessel, has now come. Their +captain is a prisoner, an' they are free to hurry on board their vessel +an' carry awa wi' them a' their vile plunder."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Dickory, speaking so earnestly that the Scotchman +pulled him farther away from the church, "do you mean that you <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span>would +leave Captain Bonnet here by himself, in a foreign town?"</p> + +<p>"No' a bit o' it," said Ben, "I'll stay wi' him an' so will you. Now +run, Dickory!"</p> + +<p>"Ben!" exclaimed the other, "you don't know what you are talking about! +Captain Bonnet would be seized and tried as a pirate. His blood would be +on your head, Ben!"</p> + +<p>"I canna talk about that now," said Ben impatiently, "ye think too much +o' the man's body, Dickory, an' I am considerin' his soul."</p> + +<p>"And I am considering his daughter," said Dickory fearlessly; "do you +suppose I am going to help to have her father hanged?" and with these +words he made a movement towards the door.</p> + +<p>The eager Scotchman seized him. "Dickory, bethink yoursel'," said he. "I +don't want to hang him, I want to save him, body an' soul. We will get +him awa' from here after the ship has gone, he will be helpless then, he +canna be a pirate a minute longer, an' he will give up an' do what I +tell him. We can leave before there is ony talk o' trial or hangin'. +Run, Dickory, run! Ye're sinfully losin' time. Think o' his soul, +Dickory; it's his only chance!"</p> + +<p>With a great jerk Dickory freed himself from the grasp of the Scotchman.</p> + +<p>"It is Kate Bonnet I am thinking of!" he exclaimed, and with that he +bolted into the church.</p> + +<p>The captain was examining the little pulpit. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +"Haste ye! haste ye!" +cried Dickory, "your men are all hurrying to the boats, they will leave +you behind if they can; that's what they are after."<br /><br /></p> + +<p><a name="gs_04" id="gs_04"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_04.png" width="50%" alt="'Haste ye! haste ye,' cried Dickory, 'they will leave you +behind.'" /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />"Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you +behind."<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>Bonnet turned quickly. He took in the situation in a second. With a few +bounds he was out of the church, nearly overturning Ben Greenway as he +passed him. Without a word he ran down the street, his cane thrown away, +and his drawn sword in his hand.</p> + +<p>Dickory's warning had not come a minute too soon; one boat full of men +was pulling towards the ship, and others were hurrying in the direction +of an empty boat which awaited them at the pier. Bonnet, with Dickory +close at his heels, ran with a most amazing rapidity, while Greenway +followed at a little distance, scarcely able to maintain the speed.</p> + +<p>"What means this?" cried Bonnet, now no longer a gentleman, but a savage +pirate, and as he spoke he thrust aside two of the men who were about to +get into the boat, and jumped in himself. "What means this?" he +thundered.</p> + +<p>Black Paul answered quietly: "I was getting the men on board," he said, +"so as to save time, and I was coming back for you."</p> + +<p>Bonnet glared at his sailing-master, but he did not swear at him, he was +too useful a man, but in his heart he vowed that he would never trust +Paul Bittern again, and that as soon as he could he would get rid of +him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span>But when he reached the ship, three men out of each boat's crew, +selected at random to represent the rest, were tied up and flogged, the +blows being well laid on by scoundrels very eager to be brutal, even to +their own shipmates.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Dickory, Dickory," cried Ben Greenway, as they were sailing down +the bay, "ye have loaded your soul wi' sin this day; I fear ye'll never +rise from under it. Whatever vile deeds that Major Bonnet may henceforth +be guilty o' ye'll be responsible for them a', Dickory, for every ane o' +them."</p> + +<p>"He's bad enough, Ben," said the other, "and it's many a wicked deed he +may do yet, but I am going to carry news of him to his daughter if I +can; and what's more, I am not going to stay behind and be hanged, even +if it is in such good company as Major Bonnet and you, Ben Greenway."</p> + +<p>Whatever should happen on the rest of that voyage; whether the +well-intentioned treachery of Ben Greenway, or the secret villainies of +the crew, should prevail; whether disaster or success should come to the +planter pirate, Dickory Charter resolved in his soul that a message from +her father should go to Kate Bonnet, and that he should carry it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The spirits of Dickory rose very much as the bow of the Revenge was +pointed southward. Every mile that the pirate vessel sailed brought <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span>him +nearer to the delivery of his message—a message which, while it told of +her father's wicked career, still told her of his safety and of his +steadfast affection for her. Indirectly, the bringing of such a message, +and the story of how the bearer brought it, might have another effect, +which, although he had no right to expect, was never absent from +Dickory's soul. This ardent young lover did not believe in Master Martin +Newcombe. He had no good reason for not believing in him, but his want +of faith did not depend upon reason. If lovers reasoned too much, it +would be a sad world for many of them.</p> + +<p>When the Revenge stopped in her progress towards the heavenly Island of +Jamaica, or at least that island which was the abode of an angel, and +anchored off Charles Town harbour, South Carolina, Dickory fumed and +talked impatiently to his friend Ben Greenway. Why a man, even though he +were a pirate, and therefore of an avaricious nature, should want more +booty, when his vessel was already crowded with valuable goods, he could +not imagine.</p> + +<p>But Ben Greenway could very easily imagine. "When the spirit o' sin is +upon ye," said the Scotchman, "the more an' more wicked ye're likely to +be; an' ye must no' forget, Dickory, that every new crime he commits, +an' a' the property he steals, an' a' the unfortunate people he maroons, +will hae to be answered for <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span>by ye, Dickory, when the time comes for ye +to stand up an' say what ye hae got to say about your ain sins. If ye +had stood by me an' helped to cut him short in his nefarious career, he +might now be beginnin' a new life in some small coastin' vessel bound +for Barbadoes."</p> + +<p>Dickory gave an impatient kick at the mast near which he was standing. +"It would have been more likely," said he, "that before this he would +have begun a new life on the gallows with you and me alongside of him, +and how do you suppose you would have got rid of the sin on your soul +when you thought of his orphan daughter in Jamaica?"</p> + +<p>"Your thoughts are too much on that daughter," snapped Greenway, "an' +no' enough on her father's soul."</p> + +<p>"I am tired of her father's soul," said Dickory. "I wonder what new +piece of mischief they are going to do here; there are no ships to be +robbed?"</p> + +<p>Dickory did not know very much, or care very much about the sea and its +commerce, and some ships to be robbed soon made their appearance. One +was a large merchantman, with a full cargo, and the other was a bark, +northward bound, in ballast. The acquisition of the latter vessel put a +new idea into Captain Bonnet's head. The Revenge was already overloaded, +and he determined to take the bark as a tender to relieve him of a +portion of his cargo <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span>and to make herself useful in the business of +marooning and such troublesome duties.</p> + +<p>Being now commander of two vessels, which might in time increase to a +little fleet, Captain Bonnet's ideas of his own importance as a terror +of the sea increased rapidly. On the Revenge he was more despotic and +severe than ever before, while the villain who had been chosen to +command the tender, because he had a fair knowledge of navigation, was +informed that if he kept the bark more than a mile from the flag-ship, +he would be sunk with the vessel and all on board. The loss of the bark +and some men would be nothing compared to the maintenance of discipline, +quoth the planter pirate.</p> + +<p>Bonnet's ambition rose still higher and higher. He was not content with +being a relentless pirate, bloody if need be, but he longed for +recognition, for a position among his fellow-terrors of the sea, which +should be worthy of a truly wicked reputation. A pirate bold, he would +consort with pirates bold. So he set sail for the Gulf of Honduras, then +a great rendezvous for piratical craft of many nations. If the father of +Kate Bonnet had captured and burned a dozen ships, and had forced every +sailor and passenger thereupon to walk a plank, he would not have sinned +more deeply in the eyes, of Dickory Charter than he did by thus +ruthlessly, inhumanly, hard-heartedly, and altogether shamefully +ignoring and pitilessly passing by that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span>island on which dwelt an angel, +his own daughter.</p> + +<p>But Bonnet declared to the young man that it would now be dangerous for +him and his ship to approach the harbour of Kingston, generally the +resort of British men-of-war, but in the waters of Honduras he could not +fail to find some quiet merchant ship by which he could send a message +to his daughter. Ay! and in which—and the pirate's eye glistened with +parental joy as this thought came into his mind—he might, disguised as +a plain gentleman, make a visit to Mistress Kate and to his good +brother-in-law, Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>So Dickory was now to be satisfied, and even to admit that there might +be some good common sense in these remarks of that most uncommon pirate, +Captain Bonnet.</p> + +<p>So the Revenge, with her tender, sailed southward, through the fair +West-Indian waters and by the fair West-Indian isles, to join herself to +the piratical fleet generally to be found in the waters of Honduras.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></h2> + + +<h3>A GIRL TO THE FRONT<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_14.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The days were getting very long at Spanish Town, although there were no +more hours of sunlight than was usual at the season; and even the +optimism of Dame Charter was scarcely able to brighten her own soul, +much less that of Kate Bonnet, who had almost forgotten what it was to +be optimistic. Poor Mr. Delaplaine, whose life had begun to cheer up +wonderfully since the arrival of his niece and her triumphant entry into +the society of the town, became more gloomy than he had been since the +months which followed the death of his wife. Over and over did he wish +that his brother-in-law Bonnet had long since been shut up in some place +where his eccentricities could do no harm to his fellow-creatures, +especially to his most lovely daughter.</p> + +<p>Mistress Kate Bonnet was not a girl to sit quietly under the tremendous +strain which bore upon her after the departure of the Badger. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span>How could +she be contented or even quiet at any moment, when at that moment that +heartless Captain Vince might have his sword raised above the head of +her unfortunate father?</p> + +<p>"Uncle," she said, "I cannot bear it any longer, I must do something."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," he asked, looking down upon her with infinite affection, +"what can you do? We are here upon an immovable island, and your father +and Captain Vince are sailing upon the sea, nobody knows where."</p> + +<p>"I thought about it all last night," said Kate, "and this is what I will +do. I will go to the Governor; I will tell him all about my father. I do +not think it will be wrong even to tell him why I think his mind has +become unsettled, for if that woman in Bridgetown has behaved wickedly, +her wickedness should be known. Then I will ask him to give me written +authority to take my father wherever I may find him, and to bring him +here, where it shall be decided what shall be done with him; and I am +sure the decision will be that he must be treated as a man whose mind is +not right, and who should be put somewhere where he can have nothing to +do with ships."</p> + +<p>This was all quite childish to Mr. Delaplaine, but for Kate's dear sake +he treated her scheme seriously.</p> + +<p>"But tell me, my dear," said he, "how are you going to find your father, +and in <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span>what way can you bring him back here with you?"</p> + +<p>"The first thing to do," said Kate, "is to hire a ship; I know that my +little property will yield me money enough for that. As for bringing him +back, that's for me to do. With my arms around his neck he cannot be a +pirate captain. And think of it, uncle! If my arms are not soon around +his neck, it may be the hangman's rope which will be there. That is, if +he is not killed by that revengeful Captain Vince."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine was troubled far more than he had yet been. His sorrowing +niece believed that there was something which might be done for her +father, but he, her practical uncle, did not believe that anything could +be done. And, even if this were possible, he did not wish to do it. If, +by some unheard-of miracle, his niece should be enabled to carry out her +scheme, she could not go alone, and thoughts of sailing upon the sea, +and the dangers from pirates, storms, and wrecks, were very terrible to +the quiet merchant. He could not encourage this night-born scheme of his +niece.</p> + +<p>"But there is one thing I can do," cried Kate, "and I must do it this +very day. I must go to the Governor's house, and I pray you, uncle, that +you will go with me. I must tell him about my father. I must make him do +something which shall keep that Captain Vince from sail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span>ing after him +and killing him. How I wish I had thought of all this before. But it did +not come to me."</p> + +<p>It was not half an hour after that when Kate and her uncle entered the +grounds of the Governor's mansion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_15.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The Governor of Jamaica was much interested in the visit of Kate Bonnet, +whom he saw alone in a room adjoining the public apartments. He had met +her two or three times before, and had been forced to admit that the +young girls of Barbadoes must be pretty and piquant in an extraordinary +degree, and he had not wondered that his friend, Captain Vince, should +have spoken of her in such an enthusiastic manner.</p> + +<p>But now she was different. Her sorrow had given her dignity and had +added to her beauty. She quickly told her tale, and he started upright +in his chair as he heard it.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean," he exclaimed, "that that pirate, after whom I sent the +Badger, is your father? It amazes me! The similarity of names did not +strike me; I never imagined any connection between you and the captain +of that pirate ship."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span>"That's what Captain Vince said when I last saw him," remarked Kate.</p> + +<p>"It must have astounded him to know it," exclaimed the Governor, "and I +wonder, knowing it, that he consented to obey my orders; and had I been +in his place I would have preferred to be dismissed from the service +rather than to sail after your father and to destroy him. If I had known +what I know now, my orders to Captain Vince would have been very +different from what they were. I would have told him to capture your +father, and to bring him here to me. It cannot be that he is in his +right mind!"</p> + +<p>Now Kate was weeping; the terrible words "destroy him," and the +assurance that if she had thought sooner of appealing to the Governor, +much misery, or at least the thought of misery, might have been spared +her, so affected her that she could not control herself.</p> + +<p>The Governor did not attempt to console her. Her sorrow was natural, and +it was her right.</p> + +<p>When she looked up again she spoke about what she had come to ask him +for; the authority to bring back her father wherever she might find him, +and to defend him from the attacks of all persons, whoever they might +be, until she reached Jamaica. And then she told him how she would seek +for her father on every sea.</p> + +<p>The Governor sat and pondered. The father of such a girl should be saved +from the terrible <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span>fate awaiting him, if the thing could possibly be +done. And yet, what a difficult, almost hopeless thing it was to do. To +find a pirate, a fierce and bloody pirate, and bring him back unharmed +to his daughter's arms and to reasonable restraint.</p> + +<p>He spoke earnestly. "What you propose," he said, "you cannot do. It +would be impossible for you to find your father; and if you did, no +matter who might be with you, and no matter how successful you might be +with him, his crew would not let him go. But there is one thing which +might be done. The Badger will report at different stations, and her +course and present cruising ground might be discovered. Thus I might +send a despatch to Captain Vince, ordering him not to harm your father, +but to take him prisoner, and to bring him here to be dealt with."</p> + +<p>Kate sprang to her feet.</p> + +<p>"An order to Captain Vince!" she exclaimed, "an order to withhold his +hand from my father? Ah, sir, your goodness is great, this is far more +than I had dared to expect! When I last saw Captain Vince he left me in +a great rage, but, knowing that he would respect your order, I would +dare his rage. If his revengeful hand should be withheld from my father +I would fear nothing."</p> + +<p>"I beg you to be seated," said the Governor, "and let me assure you, +that in offering to send this order to Captain Vince I do not in the +least expect you to take it. But there is one thing I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span>do not +understand. Why should the captain have left you in a great rage? +Perhaps I have not a right to ask this, but it seems to me to have some +bearing upon his alacrity in setting forth in pursuit of the Revenge."</p> + +<p>"I fear," said Kate, "that this may be true; I do not deem it improper +for me to say to you, sir, that Captain Vince made me an offer of +marriage, and that in order to induce me to accept it he offered, should +he come up with the Revenge, to spare my father and to let him go free, +visiting the punishment he was sent to inflict upon the rest of the +people in the ship."</p> + +<p>"I am surprised," said the Governor, "to hear you say that; such an +action would have been direct disobedience to his orders. It would have +been disloyalty, which not even the possession of your fair hand could +justify. And you refused his offer?"</p> + +<p>"That did I," said Kate, her face flushing at the recollection of the +unpleasant interview with the captain; "I cared not for him, and even +had I, I would not have consented to wed a man who offered me his +dishonour as a bribe for doing so. Not even for my father's life would I +become the bride of such a one!"</p> + +<p>"Well spoken, Mistress Bonnet," exclaimed the Governor, "your heart, +though a tender, is a stout one. But this you tell me of Captain Vince +is very bad; he is a vindictive man and will have what he wants, even +without regard to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span>means by which he may get it. I am glad to know +what you have told me, Mistress Bonnet, and if I had known it betimes I +would not have sent, in pursuit of your father, a man whose anger had +been excited against his daughter. But now I shall despatch orders to +Captain Vince which shall be very exact and peremptory. After he has +received them he will not dare to harm your father, and would cause him +to be brought here as I command."</p> + +<p>"From my heart I thank you, sir," cried Kate, "give me the orders and I +will take them, or I will—"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," said the Governor, "such offices are not for you, but I will +give the matter my present attention. On any day a vessel may enter the +port with news of the Badger, and on any day a vessel may clear from +Kingston, possibly for Bridgetown, where I imagine the Badger will first +touch. Rely upon me, my dear young lady, my order shall go to Captain +Vince by the very earliest opportunity."</p> + +<p>Kate rose and thanked him warmly. "This is much to do, your Excellency, +for one poor girl," she said.</p> + +<p>"It is but little to do," said the Governor, "and that girl be +yourself."</p> + +<p>With that he rose, offered Kate his arm, and conducted her to her uncle.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Delaplaine was made acquainted with the result of the +interview, both his grati<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>tude and surprise were great. He comprehended +far better than Kate could the extent of the favour which the Governor +had offered to bestow. It was, indeed, extraordinary to commute what was +really a sentence of death against a notorious and dangerous pirate for +the sake of a beautiful and pleading woman. An ambitious idea shot +through the merchant's brain. The Governor was a widower; he had met +Kate before. Was there any other lady on the island better fitted to +preside over the gubernatorial household? But, although a man of high +position could not wed the daughter of a pirate, a pirate, evidently of +an unsound mind, could be adjudged demented, as he truly was, and thus +the shadow of his crime be lifted from him. This was a great deal to +think in a very short time, but the good merchant did it, and the +fervour of his thankfulness was greatly increased by his rapid +reflections.</p> + +<p>As they were on their way home Kate's eyes were bright, and her step +lighter than it had been of late. "Now, uncle," said she, "you know we +shall not wait for any chance ship which may take the Governor's +despatch. We shall engage a swift vessel ourselves, by which the orders +may be carried. And, uncle, when that ship sails I must go in her."</p> + +<p>"You!" cried Mr. Delaplaine, "you go in search of the Badger and Captain +Vince? That can never—"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span>"But remember, uncle," cried Kate, "it is just as likely that I shall +meet my father's ship as any other, and then we can snap our fingers at +all orders and all captains. My father shall be brought here and the +good Governor will make him safe, and free him, as he best knows how, +from the terrible straits into which his disturbed reason has led him."</p> + +<p>Her uncle would not darken Kate's bright hopes, ill-founded though he +thought them. To look into those sparkling eyes again was a joy of which +he would not deprive himself, if he could help it.</p> + +<p>"Suppose he should capture our vessel," she exclaimed; "what a grand +thing it would be for him, all unknowing, to spring upon our deck and +instantly be captured by me. After that, there would be no more pirate's +life for him!"</p> + +<p>When Dame Charter heard what had happened at the Governor's house and +had listened to the recital of Kate's glowing schemes, her eyes did not +immediately glisten with joy.</p> + +<p>"If you go, Mistress Kate," said she, "in search of your father or that +wicked Captain Vince, I go with you, but I cannot go without my Dickory. +It is full time to expect his return, although, as he was to depend upon +so many chances before he could come back, his absence may, with good +reason, continue longer, and I could not have him come back and find +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span>his mother gone, no man knows where. For in such a quest, what man +could know?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dickory will be here soon!" cried Kate; "any ship which comes +sailing towards the harbour may bring him."</p> + +<p>The Governor of Jamaica was a man of great experience, and with a fairly +clear insight into the ways of the wicked. When Kate and her uncle had +left him and he paced the floor, with the memory of the beautiful eyes +of the pirate's daughter as they had been uplifted to his own, he felt +assured that he could see rightly into the designs of the unscrupulous +Captain Vince. Of what avail would it be for him to kill the father of +the girl who had rejected him? It would be an atrocious but temporary +triumph scarcely to be considered. But to capture that father; to +disregard the laws of the service and the orders of his superiors, which +he had already proposed to do; to communicate with Kate and to hold up +before her terror-stricken eyes the life of her father, to be ended in +horror or enjoyed in peace as she might decide—that would be Vince, as +the Governor knew him.</p> + +<p>The Governor knew well his man, and those were the designs and +intentions of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's corvette the +Badger.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></h2> + + +<h3>A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_16.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Proudly sailed the Revenge and her attendant bark into the waters of +Honduras Gulf, and proudly stood Captain Stede Bonnet upon his +quarter-deck, dressed in a handsome uniform which might have been that +of a captain or admiral in the royal navy; one hand caressed his ornate +sword-hilt, while the other was thrust into the bosom of his +gilt-embroidered coat. A newly fashioned Jolly Roger, in which the +background was very black and the skull and cross-bones ghastly white, +flew from his masthead.</p> + +<p>As night came on there could be seen, twinkling far away upon the +horizon, a beacon light, which in those days was kept burning for the +benefit of the piratical craft which made a rendezvous of the waters off +Belize, then the commercial centre for the vessels of the "free +companions." Having supposed, in his unnautical mind, that his entrance +into the Gulf of Hondu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span>ras meant the end of his present voyage, and not +wishing to lower his own feeling of importance by asking too many +questions of his inferiors, Captain Bonnet had bedecked himself a day +too soon, and there were some jeers and sneers among his crew when he +descended to his cabin to take off his fine clothes. But his +self-complacency was well armoured, and he did not hear the jokes of +which he was the subject, especially by the little clique of which Black +Paul was the centre. But the sailing-master knew his business, and the +Revenge was safely, though slowly, sailed among the coral-reefs and +islands until she dropped anchor off Belize. Early in the morning the +now dignified and pompous Captain Bonnet, of that terror of the seas, +the pirate craft Revenge, again arrayed himself in a manner befitting +his position, and stationed himself on the quarter-deck, where he might +be seen by the eyes of all the crews of the other pirate vessels +anchored about them and by the glasses of their officers.</p> + +<p>Apart from a general desire to show himself in the ranks of his +fellow-pirates and to receive from them the respect which was due to a +man of his capabilities and general merits, Stede Bonnet had a +particular reason for his visit to this port and for surrounding himself +with all the pomp and circumstance of high piratical rank. He had been +informed that a great man, a hero and chief among his fellows—in fact, +the dean <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span>of the piratical faculty, and known as "Blackbeard," the most +desperate and reckless of all the pirates of the day—was now here.</p> + +<p>To meet this most important sea-robber and to receive from him the hand +of fellowship had been Bonnet's desire and ambition since he had heard +that it was possible.</p> + +<p>The morning was advanced and the Revenge was rolling easily at her +anchorage, but Bonnet was somewhat uncertain as to the next step he +ought to take. He wanted to see Blackbeard as soon as possible, but it +would certainly be a breach of etiquette entirely inconsistent with his +present position for him to go to see him. He was the latest comer, and +thought it was the part of Blackbeard to make the first visit.</p> + +<p>Paul Bittern now came aft. "The men are getting very restless," he said; +"they want to go on shore. They'd all go if I'd let 'em."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet gave his sailing-master a lofty glare.</p> + +<p>"If I should let them, you mean, sir. I am sorry I cannot break you of +the habit of forgetting that I command this ship. Well, sir, you may +tell them that they cannot go. I am expecting a visit from the renowned +Blackbeard, now in this port, and I wish to welcome him with all respect +and a full crew."</p> + +<p>Black Paul smiled disagreeably. "I will tell you, sir, that you cannot +keep these men on board much longer with the town of Belize within a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span>row of half a mile. They've been at sea too long for that. There'll be +a mutiny, sir, if I go forward with that message of yours. It will be +prudent to let some of them go ashore now and others later in the day. I +will go in the first boat and see to it that the men come back with me. +And, by the way, it would not be a bad thing if I touch at Blackbeard's +vessel and inform him that you are here; I don't suppose he knows the +Revenge, nor her captain neither."</p> + +<p>"I doubt that, Bittern," said Bonnet, "I doubt it very much. I assure +you that I am known from one end of this coast to the other, and Captain +Blackbeard is not an ignorant man. So you can go ashore and take some of +the men, stopping at Blackbeard's ship. And, by the way, I want you to +go by that bark of ours and give her the old black Roger I used to fly. +I forgot to send it to her, and a man might as well not own and command +two vessels if he get not the credit of it."</p> + +<p>When Black Paul had gone to execute his orders, Ben Greenway heaved a +heavy sigh. "Now I begin to fear, Master Bonnet, that the day o' your +salvation has really gone by. When ye not only murder an' rob upon the +high seas, but keep consort with other murderers an' robbers, then I +fear ye are indeed lost. But I shall stand by ye, Master Bonnet, I shall +stand by ye; an' if, ever I find there is the least bit o' ye to be +snatched from the flames, I'll snatch it!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span>"I don't like that sort of talk, Ben Greenway," cried Bonnet, +"especially at this time when my soul swells with content at the success +which has crowned my undertakings. This Blackbeard is a valiant man and +a great one, but it is my belief that when we have sat down to compare +our notes, it will be found that I have captured as many cargoes, burned +as many ships, and marooned as many people in my last cruise as he has."</p> + +<p>"So I suppose," said Ben, "that ye think ye hae achieved the right to +sink deeper into hell than he can ever hope to do?"</p> + +<p>Bonnet made no answer, but turned away. The Scotchman was becoming more +and more odious to him every day, but he would not quarrel on this most +auspicious morning. He must keep his mind unruffled and his head high. +He had his own plans about Greenway: he was not far from Barbadoes, and +when he left the harbour of Belize it would be of advantage to his peace +of mind as well as to the comfort of a faithful old servant if he should +anchor for a little while in the river below the town and put Ben +Greenway on shore.</p> + +<p>Ben gave no further reason for quarrelling. He was greatly dejected, but +he had sworn to himself to stand by his old master, no matter what might +happen, and when he took an oath he meant what he swore.</p> + +<p>Dickory Charter was in much worse case than <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span>Ben Greenway. He was not +much of a geographical scholar, but he knew that the Gulf of Honduras +was not really very far from the Island of Jamaica, where dwelt, waited, +and watched Mistress Kate Bonnet and his mother. If he had known that +during the voyage down from the Atlantic coast the Revenge had sailed +through the Windward Passage, running in some of her long tacks within +less than a day's sail of Jamaica, he would have chafed, fumed, and +fretted even more than he did now.</p> + +<p>"Captain Bonnet," he cried, "if you could but let me go on shore, I +might surely find some vessel bound to Kingston, or to any place upon +the Island of Jamaica, from which spot I could make my way on foot, even +if it were on the opposite end. Thus I could take messages and letters +from you to your daughter and Mr. Delaplaine, and ease the minds both of +them and my mother, all of whom must now be in most doleful plight, not +knowing anything about you or hearing anything from me, and this for so +long a time; then you could remain here with no feelings of haste until +you had disposed of your cargoes and had finished your business."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet stood loftily with a smile of benignity upon his face. +"It is a clever plan," said he, "and you are a good fellow, Dickory, but +your scheme, though well intentioned, is unsound. I have too much regard +for you to trust you in any vessel sailing from Belize to Kings<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>ton, +where there are often naval vessels. Going from this port, you would be +as likely to be strung up to the yard-arm as to be allowed to go ashore. +Be patient then, my good fellow; when my affairs are settled here, the +Revenge may run up to the coast of Jamaica, where you may be put off at +some quiet spot, and all may happen as you have planned, my good +Dickory. Even now I am writing a letter, hoping for some such +opportunity of sending it to my daughter."</p> + +<p>Dickory sighed in despair. It might take a month or more before Kate's +father could settle his affairs, and how long, how long it had been +since his soul had been reaching itself out towards Kate and his mother!</p> + +<p>When the sailing-master set out in the long-boat, crowded with men, he +stopped at the bark but did not go too near for fear that some of the +crew might jump into his already overloaded boat.</p> + +<p>"You are to run up this rag," cried Black Paul to Clip, the fellow in +command; and so saying, he handed up the old Jolly Roger on the blade of +an oar. "Our noble admiral fears that if you do not that you may be +captured by some of these good vessels lying hereabout."</p> + +<p>Clip roared out with a laugh: "I will attend to the capture as soon as I +get out of reach of his guns, which he will not dare to use here, I take +it. But I want you to know and him to know that we're not goin' to stay +on board and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span>in sight of the town. If you go ashore, so go we."</p> + +<p>"Stay where ye are till orders come to ye," shouted Black Paul, "if ye +want to keep the cat off your backs!" And as he rowed away the men on +the bark gave him a cheer and proceeded to lower two boats.</p> + +<p>From nearly every pirate ship in the anchorage the proceedings of the +newly arrived vessels had been watched. No one wanted to board them or +in any way to interfere with them until it was found out what they +intended to do. The Revenge was a stranger in that harbour, although her +fame was known on not a few pirate decks; but if she came to Belize to +fraternize with the other pirate vessels there gathered together, why +didn't she do it? No idea of importance and dignity, which his position +imposed upon Captain Stede Bonnet, entered their piratical minds. When +the long-boat put forth from the Revenge, a good deal of interest was +excited in the anchored vessels. The great Blackbeard himself stood high +upon his deck and surveyed the strangers through a glass.</p> + +<p>The men in the sailing-master's boat rowed steadily towards Blackbeard's +vessel. Bittern knew it well, for he had seen it before, and had even +had the honour, so to speak, of having served for a short time under the +master pirate of that day.</p> + +<p>As soon as the boat was near enough Black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span>beard hailed it in a +tremendous voice and ordered the stranger to pull up and make fast. This +being done, a rope ladder was lowered and Bittern mounted to the deck, +being assisted in his passage over the side by a tremendous pull given +by Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>The great pirate seemed to be in high good spirits, and very glad to see +his visitor. Blackbeard was a large man, wide and heavy, and the first +impression conveyed by his personality was that of hair and swarthiness. +An untrimmed black beard lay upon his chest, and his long hair hung in +masses from under his slouched hat; his eyes were dark and sparkling, +and gleamed like beacon lights from out a midnight sky; the sleeves of +his shirt were rolled up, and his arms seemed almost as hairy as his +head; two pairs of pistols were stuck into his belt, and a great cutlass +was conveniently tucked up by his side.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho!" he cried, "Black Paul! And where do you come from, and what +are you doing here? And what is the name of that vessel with the +brand-new Roger? Has she just gone into the business, that she decks +herself out so fine? Come now, sit here and have some brandy and tell me +what is the meaning of these two vessels coming into the harbour, and +what you have to do with them."</p> + +<p>Bittern was delighted to know that his old commander remembered him, and +was ready <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span>enough to talk with him, for that was the errand he had come +upon.</p> + +<p>"But, captain," said he, "I am afraid to wander away from the gunwale, +for if I have not my eye upon them, my men will be rowing to the town +before I know it. They are mad to be on shore."</p> + +<p>Blackbeard made no answer; he stepped to the side of the vessel and +looked over. "Let go!" he shouted to the man who held the boat's rope, +"and you rascals row out a dozen strokes from my vessel and keep your +boat there; and if you move an oar towards the town I will sink you!" +With that he ordered two small guns to be trained upon the boat.</p> + +<p>The boat's crew did not hesitate one second in obeying these orders. +They knew by whom they were given, and there was no man in the great +body of free companions who would disobey an order given by Blackbeard. +They rowed to the position assigned them and sat quietly looking into +the mouths of the two cannon which were pointed towards them.</p> + +<p>"Now then," said Blackbeard, turning to Bittern, "I think they'll stay +there till they get some other order."</p> + +<p>Between frequent sips at the cup of brandy Bittern told the story of the +Revenge, and Blackbeard listened with many an oath and many a pound upon +his massive knee by his mighty fist.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have heard of him," he cried, "I <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span>have heard of him! He has +played the devil along the Atlantic coast. He must he a great fellow +this—what did you say his name was?"</p> + +<p>"Bonnet," said the other.</p> + +<p>Blackbeard laughed. "That suits him well; he must have clapped his name +over the eyes of many a merchant captain! Where did he sail before he +hoisted the Jolly Roger?"</p> + +<p>At this Bittern laughed. "He never sailed anywhere, he is no seaman; and +if he were not rich enough to pay others to do his navigatin' for him he +would have run his vessel upon the first sand-bar on his way from +Bridgetown to the sea. But he pays some good mariner to sail his +Revenge, and he now pays me. I am, in fact, the captain of his vessel."</p> + +<p>"You mean," cried Blackbeard, "that he knows nothing of navigation?"</p> + +<p>"Not a whit," replied the other; "he doesn't know the backstays from the +taffrail. It was only yesterday that he thought he was already in the +port of Belize, and dressed himself up like a fighting-cock to meet +you."</p> + +<p>"To meet me?" roared Blackbeard; "what does he want to meet me for, and +why don't he come and do it instead of sending you?"</p> + +<p>"Not he," said Bittern. "He is a great man, if not a sailor; he knows +what is politeness on shipboard, and as he is the last comer you must be +the first caller. He is all dressed up now, hoping that you will row +over to the Re<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span>venge as soon as you know that he is its commander."</p> + +<p>The hairy pirate leaned back and laughed in loud explosions.</p> + +<p>"He is a rare man, truly," he exclaimed, "this Captain Nightcap of +yours—"</p> + +<p>"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern.</p> + +<p>"Well, one is as good as the other," cried Blackbeard, "and he be well +clothed if it be of the right colour. And you started out with him to +sail his ship, you rascal? That's a piece of impudence almost as great +as his own."</p> + +<p>Bittern did not much like this speech, and wanted to explain that since +he had served under Blackbeard he had commanded vessels himself, but he +restrained himself and told how Sam Loftus had been tumbled overboard +for running afoul his captain, and how he had been appointed to his +place.</p> + +<p>Now Blackbeard laughed again, with a great pound upon his knee. "He is a +man after my own heart," he shouted, "be he sailor or no sailor, this +nightcap commander of yours. I know I shall love him!" And springing to +his feet and uttering a resounding oath, he swore that he would visit +his new brother that afternoon.</p> + +<p>"Now, away with you!" cried Blackbeard, "and tell Sir Nightcap—"</p> + +<p>"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern.</p> + +<p>"Well, Bonnet, or Cap, it matters not to me. <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span>Row straight back to your +ship, and let him know that I shall be there and shall expect to be +received with admiral's honours."</p> + +<p>Bittern looked somewhat embarrassed. "But, captain," he said, "my men +are on their way to the town, and I fear me they will rebel if I tell +them they cannot now go there."</p> + +<p>In saying this the sailing-master spoke not only for his men, but for +himself. He was very anxious to go ashore; he had business there; he +wanted to see who were in the place, and what was going on before Bonnet +should go to the town.</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Blackbeard, putting his head down like a charging bull. "I +order you to row back to your vessel and take my message; and if you do +it not I will sink you all in a bunch! Into your boat, sir, and waste +not another minute. If you are not able to command your men, I will keep +you here and give them a coxswain who can."</p> + +<p>Without another word, Bittern scuffled over the side, and, his boat +being brought up, he dropped into it.</p> + +<p>"Now, men," he said, "I have a message from Captain Blackbeard to the +Revenge; bend to it as I steer that way."</p> + +<p>"Give my pious regards to your Sir Nightcap," shouted Blackbeard. And +then, in a still higher tone, he yelled to them that if they disobeyed +their coxswain and turned their bow <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span>shoreward he would sink them all to +the unsounded depths of Hades. Without a protest the men pulled +vigorously towards the Revenge, while Black Paul, considering it a new +affront to be called "coxswain" when he was in reality captain, +earnestly sent Blackbeard to the same regions to which he had just +referred.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII</a></h2> + + +<h3>AN ORNAMENTED BEARD<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_17.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was about the middle of the afternoon when a large boat, well filled, +was seen approaching the Revenge from Blackbeard's vessel. As soon as it +had become known that this chief of all pirates of that day, this Edward +Thatch of England, was really coming on board the Revenge, not one word +was uttered among the crew on the subject of going ashore, although they +had been long at sea. The shore could wait when Blackbeard was coming. +Even to look upon this doughty desperado would be an honour and a joy to +the brawny scoundrels who made up the crew of the Revenge.</p> + +<p>It might have been supposed that everything upon Captain Bonnet's vessel +had been made ready for the expected advent of Blackbeard, but nothing +seemed good enough, nothing seemed as effectively placed and arranged as +it might have been; and with execrations and commands, Bonnet hurried +here and there, making every<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span>thing, if possible, more ship-shape than it +had been before.</p> + +<p>"Stay you two in the background," he said to Ben Greenway and Dickory; +"you are both landsmen, and you don't count in a ceremony such as this +is going to be. Station your men as I told you, Bittern, and man the +yards when it is time."</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet, in his brave uniform and wearing a cocked hat with a +feather, his hand upon his sword-hilt, stood up tall and stately. When +the boat was made fast and the great pirate's head appeared above the +rail, six cannon roared a welcome and Bonnet stepped forward, hand +extended and hat uplifted.</p> + +<p>The instant Blackbeard's feet touched the deck he drew from their +holsters a pair of pistols and fired them in the air.</p> + +<p>"Now then," he shouted, "we are even, salute for salute, for my pistols +are more than equal to the cannon of any other man. How goes it with +you, Sir Nightcap—Bonnet, I mean?" And with that he clasped the hand +reached out to him in a bone-crushing grasp.</p> + +<p>His fingers aching and his brain astonished, Bonnet could not comprehend +what sort of a man it was who stood before him. With hair purposely +dishevelled; with his hat more slouched than usual; with his beard +divided into tails, each tied with a different-coloured ribbon; with +half a dozen pistols strung across his breast; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span>with other pistols and a +knife or two stuck into his belt; with his great sword by his side, and +his eyes gleaming brighter than ever and a general expression, both in +face and figure, of an aggressive impudence, Blackbeard stood on his +stout legs, clothed in rough red stockings, and gazed about him. But the +captain of the Revenge did not forget his manners. He welcomed +Blackbeard with all courtesy and besought him to enter his poor cabin.</p> + +<p>Blackbeard laughed. "Poor cabin, say you? But I'll tell you this one +thing, my valiant Captain Cap; you have not a poor vessel, not a poor +vessel, I swear that to you, my brave captain, I swear that!"</p> + +<p>Then, with no attention to Bonnet's invitation, Captain Blackbeard +strolled about the deck, examining everything, cursing this and praising +that, and followed by Captain Bonnet, Black Paul, and a crowd of +admiring pirates.</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway bowed his head and groaned. "I doubt if Master Bonnet will +ever go to the de'il as I feared he would, for now has the de'il come to +him. Oh, Dickory, Dickory! this master o' mine was a worthy mon an' a +good ane when I first came to him, an' a' that I hae I owe to him, for I +was in sad case, Dickory, very sad case; but now that he has Apollyon +for his teacher, he'll cease to know righteousness altogither."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span>Dickory was angry and out of spirits. "He is a vile poltroon, this +master of yours," said he, "consorting with these bloody pirates and +leaving his daughter to pine away her days and nights within a little +sail of him, while he struts about at the heel of a dirty freebooter +dressed like a monkey! He doesn't deserve the daughter he possesses. Oh, +that I could find a ship that would take me back to Jamaica! And I would +take you too, Ben Greenway, for it is a foul shame that a good man +should spend his days in such vile company."</p> + +<p>Ben shook his head. "I'll stand by Master Bonnet," he said, "until the +day comes when I shall bid him fareweel at the door o' hell. I can go no +farther than that, Dickory, no farther than that!"</p> + +<p>From forecastle to quarter-deck, from bowsprit to taffrail, Blackbeard +scrutinized the Revenge.</p> + +<p>"What mean you, dog?" he said to Bittern, Bonnet being at a little +distance; "you tell me he is no mariner. This is a brave ship and well +appointed."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," said the sailing-master, "it has the neatness of his kitchen +or his storehouses; but if his cables were coiled on his yard-arms or +his anchor hung up to dry upon the main shrouds, he would not know that +anything was wrong. It was Big Sam Loftus who fitted out the Revenge, +and I myself have kept everything <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span>in good order and ship-shape ever +since I took command."</p> + +<p>"Command!" growled Blackbeard. "For a charge of powder I would knock in +the side of your head for speaking with such disrespect of the brave Sir +Nightcap."</p> + +<p>The supper in the cabin of the Revenge was a better meal than the +voracious Blackbeard had partaken of for many a year, if indeed he had +ever sat down to such a sumptuous repast. Before him was food and drink +fit for a stout and hungry sea-faring man, and there were wines and +dainties which would have had fit place upon the table of a gentleman.</p> + +<p>Blackbeard was in high spirits and tossed off cup after cup and glass +after glass of the choicest wine and the most fiery spirits. He clapped +his well-mannered host upon the back as he shouted some fragment of a +wild sea-song.</p> + +<p>"And who is this?" he cried, as they rose from the table and he first +caught sight of Ben Greenway. "Is this your chaplain? He looks as +sanctimonious as an empty rum cask. And that baby boy there, what do you +keep him for? Are they for sale? I would like to buy the boy and let him +keep my accounts. I warrant he has enough arithmetic in his head to +divide the prize-moneys among the men."</p> + +<p>"He is no slave," said Bonnet; "he came to this vessel to bring me a +message from my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span>daughter, but he is an ill-bred stripling, and can +neither read nor write."</p> + +<p>"Then let's kill him!" cried Blackbeard, and drawing his pistol he sent +a bullet about two inches above Dickory's head.</p> + +<p>At this the men who had gathered themselves at every available point set +up a cheer. Never before had they beheld such a magnificent and reckless +miscreant.</p> + +<p>Dickory did not start or move, but he turned very pale, and then he +reddened and his eyes flashed. Blackbeard swore at him a great +approbative oath. "A brave boy!" he cried, "and fit to carry messages if +for nothing else. And what is this nonsense about a daughter?" said he +to Bonnet. "We abide no such creatures in the ranks of the free +companions; we drown them like kittens before we hoist the Jolly Roger."</p> + +<p>When Blackbeard's boat left the ship's side the departing chieftain +fired his pistols in the air as long as their charges lasted, while the +motley desperadoes of the Revenge gave him many a parting yell. Then all +the boats of the Revenge were lowered, and every man who could crowd +into them left their ship for the shore. Black Paul tried to restrain +them, for he feared to leave the Revenge too weakly manned, she having +such a valuable cargo; but his orders and shouts were of no avail, and +despairing of stopping them the sailing-master went with them; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span>and as +they pulled wildly towards the town the men of one boat shouted to +another, and that one to another, "Hurrah for our captain, the brave Sir +Nightcap! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"</p> + +<p>"The dirty Satan!" exclaimed Dickory, as he gazed after Blackbeard's +boat. "I would kill him if I could."</p> + +<p>"Say not so, Dickory," said Captain Bonnet, speaking gravely. "That +great pirate is not a man of breeding, and he speaks with disesteem +alike of friend and enemy, but he is the famous Blackbeard, and we must +treat him with honour although he pays us none."</p> + +<p>"I had deemed," said Greenway calmly, "that ye were goin' to be the +maist unholy sinner that ever blackened this fair earth; but not only +did ye tell a pious lie for the sake o' good Dickory, but, compared wi' +that monstrosity, ye are a saint graved in marble, Master Bonnet, a +white and shapely saint."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Blackbeard's boat was not rowed to his vessel, but his men pulled +steadily shoreward.</p> + +<p>With the wild crew of the Revenge, fresh from sea and their appetites +whetted for jovial riot, and with Blackbeard, his war-paint on, to lead +them into every turbulent excess, there were wild times in the town of +Belize that night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_18.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>As has been made plain, Captain Bonnet of the Revenge was a punctilious +man when the rules of society were concerned, be that society official, +high-toned, or piratical. Thus it was a positive duty, in his mind, to +return Blackbeard's visit on the next day, but until afternoon he was +not able to do so on account of the difficulty of getting a sober and +decently behaved boat's crew who should row him over.</p> + +<p>Black Paul, the sailing-master, had returned to his vessel early in the +morning, feeling the necessity of keeping watch over the cargo, but most +of the men came over much later, while some of them did not come at all.</p> + +<p>Bonnet was greatly inclined to punish with an unwonted severity this +breach of rules, but Black Paul assured him that it was always the +custom for the crew of a newly arrived vessel to go ashore and have a +good time, and that if they were denied this privilege they would be +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span>sure to mutiny, and he might be left without any crew at all. Bonnet +grumbled and swore, but, as he was aware there were several things +concerning a nautical life with which he was not familiar, he determined +to let pass this trespass.</p> + +<p>Dressed in his finest clothes, and even better than the day before, he +was followed into the boat by Ben Greenway, who vowed his captain should +never travel without his chaplain, who, if his words were considered, +would be the most valuable officer on the vessel.</p> + +<p>"Come, then, Greenway," said Bonnet; "you have troubled me so much on my +own vessel that now, perchance, you may be able to do me some service on +that of another. Anyway, I should like to have at least one decent +person in my train, who, an you come not, will be wholly missing. And +Dickory may come too, if he like it."</p> + +<p>But Dickory did not like it. He hated the big black pirate, and cared +not if he should never see him again, so he stayed behind.</p> + +<p>When Bonnet mounted to the deck of Blackbeard's vessel he found there a +very different pirate captain from the one who had called upon him the +day before. There were no tails to the great black beard, there were few +pistols visible, and Captain Bonnet's host received him with a certain +salt-soaked, sun-browned, hairy, and brawny hospitality which did not +sit badly upon him. There was meat, there was drink, and then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span>the two +captains and Greenway walked gravely over the vessel, followed by a +hundred eyes, and before long by many a coarse and jeering laugh which +Bonnet supposed were directed at sturdy Ben Greenway, deeming it quite +natural, though improper, that the derision of these rough fellows +should be excited by the appearance among them of a prim and sedate +Scotch Presbyterian.</p> + +<p>But that crew of miscreants had all heard of the derisive title which +had been given to Bonnet, and now they saw without the slightest +difficulty how little he knew of the various nautical points to which +Blackbeard continually called his attention.</p> + +<p>The vessel was dirty, it was ill-appointed; there was an air of reckless +disorder which showed itself everywhere; but, apart from his evident +distaste for dirt and griminess, the captain of the Revenge seemed to be +very well satisfied with everything he saw. When he passed a small gun +pointed across the deck, and with a nightcap hung upon a capstan bar +thrust into its muzzle, there was such a great laugh that Bonnet looked +around to see what the imprudent Greenway might be doing.</p> + +<p>Many were the nautical points to which Blackbeard called his guest's +attention and many the questions the grim pirate asked, but in almost +all cases of the kind the tall gentleman with the cocked hat replied +that he generally <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span>left those things to his sailing-master, being so +much occupied with matters of more import.</p> + +<p>Although he found no fault and made no criticisms, Bonnet was very much +disgusted. Such a disorderly vessel, such an apparently lawless crew, +excited his most severe mental strictures; and, although the great +Blackbeard was to-day a very well-behaved person, Bonnet could not +understand how a famous and successful captain should permit his vessel +and his crew to get into such an unseamanlike and disgraceful condition. +On board the Revenge, as his sailing-master had remarked, there was the +neatness of his kitchen and his store-houses; and, although he did not +always know what to do with the nautical appliances which surrounded +him, he knew how to make them look in good order. But he made few +remarks, favourable or otherwise, and held himself loftier than before, +with an air as if he might have been an admiral entire instead of +resembling one only in clothes, and with ceremonious and even +condescending politeness followed his host wherever he was led, above +decks or below.</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway had gone with his master about the ship with much of the +air of one who accompanies a good friend to the place of execution. +Regardless of gibes or insults, whether they were directed at Bonnet or +himself, he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left, and +apparently regarded nothing that he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span>heard. But while endeavouring to +listen as little as possible to what was going on around him, he heard a +great deal; but, strange to say, the railing and scurrility of the +pirates did not appear to have a depressing influence upon his mind. In +fact, he seemed in somewhat better spirits than when he came on board.</p> + +<p>"Whatever he may do, whatever he may say, an' whatever he may swear," +said the Scotchman to himself, "he is no' like ane of these. Try as he +may, he canna descend so low into the blackness o' evil as these sons o' +perdition. Although he has done evil beyond a poor mortal's computation, +he walks like a king amang them. Even that Blackbeard, striving to be +decent for an hour or two, knows a superior when he meets him."</p> + +<p>When they had finished the tour of the vessel, Blackbeard conducted his +guest to his own cabin and invited him to be seated by a little table. +Bonnet sat down, placing his high-plumed cocked hat upon the bench +beside him. He did not want anything more to eat or to drink, and he +was, in fact, quite ready to take his leave. The vessel had not pleased +him and had given him an idea of the true pirate's life which he had +never had before. On the Revenge he mingled little with the crew, +scarcely ever below decks, and his own quarters were as neat and +commodious as if they were on a fine vessel carrying distinguished +passengers. Dirt and dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span>order, if they existed, were at least not +visible to him.</p> + +<p>But, although he had no desire ever to make another visit to the ship of +the great Blackbeard, he would remember his position and be polite and +considerate now that he was here. Moreover, the savage desperado of the +day before, dressed like a monkey and howling like an Indian, seemed now +to be endeavouring to soften himself a little and to lay aside some of +his savage eccentricities in honour of the captain of that fine ship, +the Revenge. So, clothed in a calm dignity, Bonnet waited to hear what +his host had further to say.</p> + +<p>Blackbeard seated himself on the other side of the table, on which he +rested his massive arms. Behind him Ben Greenway stood in the doorway. +For a few moments Blackbeard sat and gazed at Bonnet, and then he said: +"Look ye, Stede Bonnet, do you know you are now as much out of place as +a red herring would be at the top of the mainmast?"</p> + +<p>Bonnet flushed. "I fear, Captain Blackbeard," he said, "I very much fear +me that you are right; this is no place for me. I have paid my respects +to you, and now, if you please, I will take my leave. I have not been +gratified by the conduct of your crew, but I did not expect that their +captain would address me in such discourteous words." And with this he +reached out his hand for his hat.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span>Blackbeard brought down his hand heavily upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Sit where you are!" he exclaimed. "I have that to say to you which you +shall hear whether you like my vessel, my crew, or me. You are no +sailor, Stede Bonnet of Bridgetown, and you don't belong to the free +companions, who are all good men and true and can sail the ships they +command. You are a defrauder and a cheat; you are nothing but a +landsman, a plough-tail sugar-planter!"</p> + +<p>At this insult Bonnet rose to his feet and his hand went to his sword.</p> + +<p>"Sit down!" roared Blackbeard; "an you do not listen to me, I'll cut off +this parley and your head together. Sit down, sir."</p> + +<p>Bonnet sat down, pale now and trembling with rage. He was not a coward, +but on board this ship he must give heed to the words of the desperado +who commanded it.</p> + +<p>"You have no right," continued Blackbeard, "to strut about on the +quarter-deck of that fine vessel, the Revenge; you have no right to +hoist above you the Jolly Roger, and you have no right to lie right and +left and tell people you are a pirate. A pirate, forsooth! you are no +pirate. A pirate is a sailor, and you are no sailor! You are no better +than a blind man led by a dog: if the dog breaks away from him he is +lost, and if the sailing-masters you pick up one after another break +away from you, you are <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span>lost. It is a cursed shame, Stede Bonnet, and it +shall be no longer. At this moment, by my own right and for the sake of +every man who sails under the Jolly Roger, I take away from you the +command of the Revenge."</p> + +<p>Now Bonnet could not refrain from springing to his feet. "Take from me +the Revenge!" he cried, "my own vessel, bought with my own money! And +how say you I am not a pirate? From Massachusetts down the coast into +these very waters I have preyed upon commerce, I have taken prizes, I +have burned ships, I have made my name a terror."</p> + +<p>Now his voice grew stronger and his tones more angry.</p> + +<p>"Not a pirate!" he cried. "Go ask the galleons and the merchantmen I +have stripped and burned; go ask their crews, now wandering in misery +upon desert shores, if they be not already dead. And by what right, I +ask, do you come to such an one as I am and declare that, having put me +in the position of a prisoner on your ship, you will take away my own?"</p> + +<p>Blackbeard gazed at him with half-closed eyes, a malicious smile upon +his face.</p> + +<p>"I have no right," he said; "I need no right; <i>I</i> am a pirate!"</p> + +<p>At these words Bonnet's legs weakened under him, and he sank down upon +the bench. As he did so he glanced at Ben Greenway as if he were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span>the +only person on earth to whom he could look for help, but to his +amazement he saw before him a face almost jubilant, and beheld the +Scotchman, his eyes uplifted and his hands clasped as if in thankful +prayer.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_19.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>When the boat of the Revenge was pulled back to that vessel Bonnet did +not go in it; it was Blackbeard who sat in the stern and held the +tiller, while one of his own men sat by him.</p> + +<p>When Blackbeard stepped on deck he announced, much to the delight of the +crew and the consternation of Paul Bittern, that the Revenge now +belonged to him, and that all the crew who were fit to be kept on board +such a fine vessel would be retained, and that he himself, for the +present at least, would take command of the ship, would haul down that +brand-new bit of woman's work at the masthead and fly in its place his +own black, ragged Jolly Roger, dreaded wherever seen upon the sea. At +this a shout went up from the crew; the heart of every scoundrel among +them swelled with joy at the idea of sailing, fighting, and pillaging +under the bloody Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>But the sailing-master stood aghast. He had <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span>known very well what was +going to happen; he had talked it all over in the town with Blackbeard; +he had drunk in fiery brandy to the success of the scheme, and he had +believed without a doubt that he was to command the Revenge when Bonnet +should be deposed. And now where was he? Where did he stand?</p> + +<p>Trembling a little, he approached Blackbeard. "And as for me," he asked; +"am I to command your old vessel?"</p> + +<p>"You!" roared Blackbeard, making as if he would jump upon him; "you! You +may fall to and bend your back with the others in the forecastle, or you +can jump overboard if you like. My quarter-master, Richards, now +commands my old vessel. Presently I shall go over and settle things on +that bark, but first I shall step down into the cabin and see what rare +good things Sir Nightcap, the sugar-planter, has prepared for me."</p> + +<p>With this he went below, followed by the man he had brought with him.</p> + +<p>It was Dickory, half dazed by what he had heard, who now stepped up to +Paul Bittern. The latter, his countenance blacker than it had ever been +before, first scowled at him, but in a moment the ferocity left his +glance.</p> + +<p>"Oho!" he said, "here's a pretty pickle for me and you, as well as for +Bonnet and the Scotchman!"</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose," exclaimed Dickory, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span>"that what he says is true? That +he has stolen this ship from Captain Bonnet, and that he has taken it +for his own?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose!" sneered the other, "I know it. He has stolen from me as well +as from Bonnet. I should have commanded this ship, and I had made all my +plans to do it when I got here."</p> + +<p>"Then you are as great a rascal," said Dickory, "as that vile pirate +down below."</p> + +<p>"Just as great," said Bittern, "the only difference being that he has +won everything while I have lost everything."</p> + +<p>"What are we to do!" asked Dickory. "I cannot stay here, and I am sure +you will not want to. Now, while he is below, can we not slip overboard +and swim ashore? I am sure I could do it."</p> + +<p>Black Paul grinned grimly. "But where should we swim to?" he said. "On +the coast of Honduras there is no safety for a man who flees from +Blackbeard. But keep your tongue close; he is coming."</p> + +<p>The moment Blackbeard put his foot upon the deck he began to roar out +his general orders.</p> + +<p>"I go over to the bark," he said, "and shall put my mate here in charge +of her. After that I go to my own vessel, and when I have settled +matters there I will return to this fine ship, where I shall strut about +the quarter-deck and live like a prince at sea. Now look ye, youngster, +what is your name?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span>"Charter," replied Dickory grimly.</p> + +<p>"Well then, Charter," the pirate continued, "I shall leave you in charge +of this vessel until I come back, which will be before dark."</p> + +<p>"Me!" exclaimed Dickory in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you," said the pirate. "I am sure you don't know anything about a +ship any more than your master did, but he got on very well, and so may +you. And now, remember, your head shall pay for it if everything is not +the same when I come back as it is now."</p> + +<p>Thereupon this man of piratical business was rowed to the bark, quite +satisfied that he left behind him no one who would have the power to +tamper with his interests. He knew the crew, having bound most of them +to him on the preceding night, and he trusted every one of them to obey +the man he had set over them and no other. As Dickory would have no +orders to give, there would be no need of obedience, and Black Paul +would have no chance to interfere with anything.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>When Bonnet had been left by Blackbeard—who, having said all he had to +say, hurried up the companion-way to attend to the rest of his +plans—the stately naval officer who had so recently occupied the bench +by the table shrunk into a frightened farmer, gazing blankly at Ben +Greenway.</p> + +<p>"Think you, Ben," he said in half a voice, "that this is one of that +man's jokes! I have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span>heard that he has a fearful taste for horrid +jokes."</p> + +<p>The Scotchman shook his head. "Joke! Master Bonnet," he exclaimed, "it +is no joke. He has ta'en your ship from ye; he has ta'en from ye your +sword, your pistols, an' your wicked black flag, an' he has made evil +impossible to ye. He has ta'en from ye the shame an' the wretched +wickedness o' bein' a pirate. Think o' that, Master Bonnet, ye are no +longer a pirate. That most devilish o' all demons has presarved the rest +o' your life from the dishonour an' the infamy which ye were labourin' +to heap upon it. Ye are a poor mon now, Master Bonnet; that Beelzebub +will strip from ye everything ye had, all your riches shall be his. Ye +can no longer afford to be a pirate; ye will be compelled to be an +honest mon. An' I tell ye that my soul lifteth itsel' in thanksgivin' +an' my heart is happier than it has been since that fearsome day when ye +went on board your vessel at Bridgetown."</p> + +<p>"Ben," said Bonnet, "it is hard and it is cruel, that in this, the time +of my great trouble, you turn upon me. I have been robbed; I have been +ruined; my life is of no more use to me, and you, Ben Greenway, revile +me while that I am prostrate."</p> + +<p>"Revile!" said the Scotchman. "I glory, I rejoice! Ye hae been +converted, ye hae been changed, ye hae been snatched from the jaws o' +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span>hell. Moreover, Master Bonnet, my soul was rejoiced even before that +master de'il came to set ye free from your toils. To look upon ye an' +see that, although ye called yoursel' a pirate, ye were no like ane o' +these black-hearted cut-throats. Ye were never as wicked, Master Bonnet, +as ye said ye were!"</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken," groaned Bonnet; "I tell you, Ben Greenway, you are +mistaken; I am just as wicked as I ever was. And I was very wicked, as +you should admit, knowing what I have done. Oh, Ben, Ben! Is it true +that I shall never go on board my good ship again?"</p> + +<p>And with this he spread his arms upon the table and laid his head upon +them. He felt as if his career was ended and his heart broken. Ben +Greenway said no more to comfort him, but at that moment he himself was +the happiest man on the Caribbean Sea. He seated himself in the little +dirty cabin, and his soul saw visions. He saw his master, deprived of +all his belongings, and with them of every taint of piracy, and put on +shore, accompanied, of course, by his faithful servant. He saw a ship +sail, perhaps soon, perhaps later, for Jamaica; he saw the blithe +Mistress Kate, her soul no longer sorrowing for an erring father, come +on board that vessel and sail with him for good old Bridgetown. He saw +everything explained, everything forgotten. He saw before the dear old +family a life of happiness—perhaps he saw the funeral of Madam +Bonnet—and, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span>better than all, he saw the pirate dead, the good man +revived again.</p> + +<p>To be sure, he did not see Dickory Charter returning to his old home +with his mother, for he could not know what Blackbeard was going to do +with that young fellow; but as Dickory had thought of him when he had +escaped with Kate from the Revenge, so thought he now of Dickory. There +were so many other important things which bore upon the situation that +he was not able even to consider the young fellow.</p> + +<p>It did not take very long for a man of practical devilishness, such as +Blackbeard was, to finish the business which had called him away, and he +soon reappeared in the cabin.</p> + +<p>"Ho there! good Sir Nightcap—an I may freely call you that since now I +own you, uniform, cocked hat, title, and everything else—don't cry +yourself to sleep like a baby when its toys are taken away from it, but +wake up. I have a bit of liking for you, and I believe that that is +because you are clean. Not having that virtue myself, I admire it the +more in others, and I thank you from my inmost soul—wherever that may +be—for having provided such comely quarters and such fair +accommodations for me while I shall please to sail the Revenge. But I +shall not condemn you to idleness and cankering thoughts, my bold +blusterer, my terror of the sea, my harrier of the coast, my flaunter of +the Jolly Roger washed clean in the tub with soap; <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span>I shall give you +work to do which shall better suit you than the troublesome trade you've +been trying to learn. You write well and read, I know that, my good Sir +Nightcap; and, moreover, you are a fair hand at figures. I have great +work before me in landing and selling the fine cargoes you have brought +me, and in counting and dividing the treasure you have locked in your +iron-bound chests. And you shall attend to all that, my reformed +cutthroat, my regenerated sea-robber. You shall have a room of your own, +where you can take off that brave uniform and where you can do your work +and keep your accounts and so shall be happier than you ever were +before, feeling that you are in your right place."</p> + +<p>To all this Stede Bonnet did not answer a word; he did not even raise +his head.</p> + +<p>"And now for you, my chaplain," said Blackbeard, suddenly turning toward +Ben Greenway, "what would you like? Would it suit you better to go +overboard or to conduct prayers for my pious crew?"</p> + +<p>"I would stay wi' my master," said the Scotchman quietly.</p> + +<p>The pirate looked steadily at Greenway. "Oho!" said he, "you are a +sturdy fellow, and have a mind to speak from. Being so stiff yourself, +you may be able to stiffen a little this rag of a master of yours and +help him to understand the work he has to do, which he will bravely do, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span>I ween, when he finds that to be my clerk is his career. Ha! ha! Sir +Nightcap, the pirate of the pen and ink!"</p> + +<p>Deeply sunk these words into Stede Bonnet's heart, but he made no sign.</p> + +<p>When Blackbeard went back to the Revenge he took with him all of his own +effects which he cared for, and he also took the ex-pirate's uniform, +cocked hat, and sword. "I may have use for them," he said, "and my clerk +can wear common clothes like common people."</p> + +<p>When her new commander reached the Revenge, Dickory immediately +approached him and earnestly besought him that he might be sent to join +Captain Bonnet and Ben Greenway. "They are my friends," said Dickory, +"and I have none here, and I have brought a message to Captain Bonnet +from his daughter, and it is urgently necessary that I return with one +from him to her. I must instantly endeavour to find a ship which is +bound for Jamaica and sail upon her. I have nothing to do with this +ship, having come on board of her simply to carry my message, and it +behooves me that I return quickly to those who sent me, else injury may +come of it."</p> + +<p>"I like your speech, my boy, I like your speech!" cried Blackbeard, and +he roared out a big laugh. "'Urgently necessary' you must do this, you +must do that. It is so long since I have heard such words that they come +to me like wine from a cool vault."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span>At this Dickory flushed hot, but he shut his mouth.</p> + +<p>"You are a brave fellow," cried Blackbeard, "and above the common, you +are above the common. There is that in your eye that could never be seen +in the eye of a sugar-planter. You will make a good pirate."</p> + +<p>"Pirate!" cried Dickory, losing all sense of prudence. "I would sooner +be a wild beast in the forest than to be a pirate!"</p> + +<p>Blackbeard laughed loudly. "A good fellow, a brave fellow!" he cried. +"No man who has not the soul of a pirate within him could stand on his +legs and speak those words to me. Sail to Jamaica to carry messages to +girls? Never! You shall stay with me, you shall be a pirate. You shall +be the head of all the pirates when I give up the business and take to +sugar-planting. Ha! ha! When I take to sugar-planting and merrily make +my own good rum!"</p> + +<p>Dickory was dismayed. "But, Captain Blackbeard," he said, with more +deference than before, "I cannot."</p> + +<p>"Cannot!" shouted the pirate, "you lie, you can. Say not cannot to me; +you can do anything I tell you, and do it you shall. And now I am going +to put you in your place, and see that you hold it and fill it. An if +you please me not, you carry no more messages in this world, nor receive +them. Charter, I now make you the first officer of the Revenge under me. +You cannot <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span>be mate because you know nothing of sailing a ship, and +besides no mate nor any quarter-master is worthy to array himself as I +shall array you. I make you first lieutenant, and you shall wear the +uniform and the cocked hat which Sir Nightcap hath no further use for."</p> + +<p>With that he went forward to speak to some of the men, leaving Dickory +standing speechless, with the expression of an infuriated idiot. Black +Paul stepped up to him.</p> + +<p>"How now, youngster," said the ex-sailing-master, "first officer, eh? If +you look sharp, you may find yourself in fine feather."</p> + +<p>"No, I will not," answered Dickory. "I will have nothing to do with this +black pirate; I will not serve under him, I will not take charge of +anything for him. I am ashamed to talk with him, to be on the same ship +with him. I serve good people, the best and noblest in the world, and I +will not enter any service under him."</p> + +<p>"Hold ye, hold ye!" said Black Paul, "you will not serve the good people +you speak of by going overboard with a bullet in your head; think of +that, youngster. It is a poor way of helping your friends by quitting +the world and leaving them in the lurch."</p> + +<p>At this moment Blackbeard returned, and when he saw Bittern he roared at +him: "Out of that, you sea-cat, and if I see you again speaking to my +lieutenant, I'll slash your ears for you. In the next boat which leaves +this ship I shall <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span>send you to one of the others; I will have no +sneaking schemer on board the Revenge. Get ye for'ad, get ye for'ad, or +I shall help ye with my cutlass!"</p> + +<p>And the man who had safely brought two good ships, richly laden, into +the harbour of Belize, and who had given Blackbeard the information +which made him understand the character of Captain Bonnet and how easy +it would be to take possession of his person and his vessels, and who +had done everything in his power to enable the black-hearted pirate to +secure to himself Bonnet's property and crews, and who had only asked in +return an actual command where before he had commanded in fact though +not in name, fled away from the false confederate to whom he had just +given wealth and increased prestige.</p> + +<p>The last words of the unfortunate Bittern sunk quickly and deeply into +the heart of Dickory. If he should really go overboard with a bullet in +his brain, farewell to Kate Bonnet, farewell to his mother! He was yet a +very young man, and it had been but a little while since he had been +wandering barefooted over the ships at Bridgetown, selling the fruit of +his mother's little farm. Since that he had loved and lived so long that +he could not calculate the period, and now he was a man and stood +trembling at the point where he was to decide to begin life as a pirate +or end everything. Before Black<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span>beard had turned his lowering visage +from his retreating benefactor, Dickory had decided that, whatever might +happen, he would not of his own free-will leave life and fair Kate +Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"And so you are to be my first lieutenant," said Blackbeard, his face +relaxing. "I am glad of that. There was nothing needed on this ship but +a decent man. I have put one on my old vessel, and if there were another +to be found in the Gulf of Honduras, I'd clap him on that goodly bark. +Now, sir, down to your berth, and don your naval finery. You're always +to wear it; you're not fit to wear the clothes of a real sailor, and I +have no landsman's toggery on this ship."</p> + +<p>Dickory bowed—he could not speak—and went below. When next he appeared +on deck he wore the ex-Captain Bonnet's uniform and the tall plumed hat.</p> + +<p>"It is for Kate's sweet sake," he said to himself as he mounted the +companion-way; "for her sake I'd wear anything, I'd do anything, if only +I may see her again."</p> + +<p>When the new first lieutenant showed himself upon the quarter-deck there +was a general howl from the crew, and peal after peal of derisive +laughter rent the air.</p> + +<p>Then Blackbeard stepped quietly forward and ordered eight of the jeerers +to be strung up and flogged.</p> + +<p>"I would like you all to remember," said the master pirate, "that when I +appoint an offi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span>cer on this ship, there is to be no sneering at him nor +any want of respect, and it strikes me that I shall not have to say +anything more on the subject—to this precious crew, at any rate."</p> + +<p>The next day lively times began on board the two rich prizes which the +pirate Blackbeard had lately taken. There had been scarcely more hard +work and excitement, cursing and swearing when the rich freight had been +taken from the merchantmen which had originally carried it. Poor +Bonnet's pen worked hard at lists and calculations, for Blackbeard was a +practical man, and not disposed to loose and liberal dealings with +either his men or the tradefolk ashore.</p> + +<p>At times the troubled and harassed mind of the former captain of the +Revenge would have given way under the strain had not Ben Greenway +stayed bravely by him; who, although a slow accountant, was sure, and a +great help to one who, in these times of hurry and flurry, was extremely +rapid and equally uncertain. Blackbeard was everywhere, anxious to +complete the unloading and disposal of his goods before the weather +changed; but, wherever he went, he remembered that upon the quarter-deck +of his fine new ship, the Revenge, there was one who, knowing nothing of +nautical matters, was above all suspicion of nautical interferences, and +who, although having no authority, represented the most powerful +nautical commander in all those seas.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX</a></h2> + + +<h3>ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_20.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>If our dear Kate Bonnet had really imagined, in her inexperienced mind, +that it would be a matter of days, and perhaps weeks, to procure a +vessel in which she, with her uncle and good Dame Charter, could sail +forth to save her father, she was wonderfully mistaken. Not a +free-footed vessel of any class came into the harbour of Kingston. +Sloops and barks and ships in general arrived and departed, but they +were all bound by one contract or another, and were not free to sail +away, here and there, for a short time or a long time, at the word of a +maiden's will.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine was a rich man, but he was a prudent one, and he had not +the money to waste in wild rewards, even if there had been an +opportunity for him to offer them. Kate was disconcerted, disappointed, +and greatly cast down.</p> + +<p>The vengeful Badger was scouring the seas <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span>in search of her father, +commissioned to destroy him, and eager in his hot passion to do it; and +here was she, with a respite for that father, if only she were able to +carry it.</p> + +<p>Day after day Kate waited for notice of a craft, not only one which +might bring Dickory back but one which might carry her away.</p> + +<p>The optimism of Dame Charter would not now bear her up, the load which +had been put upon it was too big. Everything about her was melancholy +and depressed, and Dickory had not come back. So many things had +happened since he went away, and so many days had passed, and she had +entirely exhausted her plentiful stock of very good reasons why her son +had not been able to return to her.</p> + +<p>The Governor was very kind; frequently he came to the Delaplaine +mansion, and always he brought assurances that, although he had not +heard anything from Captain Vince, there was every reason to suppose +that before long he would find some way to send him his commands that +Captain Bonnet should not be injured, but should be brought back safely +to Jamaica.</p> + +<p>And then Kate would say, with tears in her eyes: "But, your Excellency, +we cannot wait for that; we must go, we must deliver ourselves your +message to the captain of the Badger. Who else will do it? And we cannot +trust to chance; while we are trusting and hoping, my father may die."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span>At such moments Mr. Delaplaine would sometimes say in his heart, not +daring to breathe such thoughts aloud, "And what could be better than +that he should die and be done with it? He is a thorn in the side of the +young, the good, and the beautiful, and as long as he lives that thorn +will rankle."</p> + +<p>Moreover, not only did the good merchant harbour such a wicked thought, +but Dame Charter thought something of the very same kind, though +differently expressed. If he had never been born, she would say to +herself, how much better it would have been; but then the thought would +come crowding in, how bad that would have been for Dickory and for the +plans she was making for him.</p> + +<p>In the midst of all this uncertainty, this anxiety, this foreboding, +almost this despair, there came a sunburst which lighted up the souls of +these three good people, which made their eyes sparkle and their hearts +swell with thankfulness. This happiness came in the shape of a letter +from Martin Newcombe.</p> + +<p>The letter was a long one and told many things. The first part of it +Kate read to herself and kept to herself, for in burning words it +assured her that he loved her and would always love her, and that no +misfortune of her own nor wrongdoings of others could prevent him from +offering her his most ardent and unchangeable affection. Moreover, he +begged and implored <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span>her to accept that affection, to accept it now that +it might belong to her forever. Happiness, he said, seemed opening +before her; he implored her to allow him to share that happiness with +her. The rest of the letter was read most jubilantly aloud. It told of +news which had come to Newcombe from Honduras Gulf: great news, +wonderful news, which would make the heart sing. Major Bonnet was at +Belize. He had given up all connection with piracy and was now engaged +in mercantile pursuits. This was positively true, for the person who had +sent the news to Bridgetown had seen Major Bonnet and had talked to him, +and had been informed by him that he had given up his ship and was now +an accountant and commission agent doing business at that place.</p> + +<p>The sender of this great news also stated that Ben Greenway was with +Major Bonnet, working as his assistant—and here Dame Charter sat +open-mouthed and her heart nearly stopped beating—young Dickory Charter +had also been in the port and had gone away, but was expected ere long +to return.</p> + +<p>Kate stood on her tip-toes and waved the letter over her head.</p> + +<p>"To Belize, my dear uncle, to Belize! If we cannot get there any other +way we must go in a boat with oars. We must fly, we must not wait. +Perhaps he is seeking in disguise to escape the vengeance of the wicked +Vince; but that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span>matters not; we know where he is; we must fly, uncle, +we must fly!"</p> + +<p>The opportunities for figurative flying were not wanting. There were no +vessels in the port which might be engaged for an indeterminate voyage +in pursuit of a British man-of-war, but there was a goodly sloop about +to sail in ballast for Belize. Before sunset three passages were engaged +upon this sloop.</p> + +<p>Kate sat long into the night, her letter in her hand. Here was a lover +who loved her; a lover who had just sent to her not only love, but life; +a lover who had no intention of leaving her because of her overshadowing +sorrow, but who had lifted that sorrow and had come to her again. Ay +more, she knew that if the sorrow had not been lifted he would have come +to her again.</p> + +<p>The Governor of Jamaica was a man of hearty sympathies, and these worked +so strongly in him that when Kate and her uncle came to bring him the +good news, he kissed her and vowed that he had not heard anything so +cheering for many a year.</p> + +<p>"I have been greatly afraid of that Vince," he said. "Although I did not +mention it, I have been greatly afraid of him; he is a terrible fellow +when he is crossed, and so hot-headed that it is easy to cross him. +There were so many chances of his catching your father and so few +chances of my orders catching him. But it is all right now; you will be +able to reach your father before <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>Vince can possibly get to him, even +should he be able to do him injury in his present position. Your father, +my dear, must have been as mad as a March hare to embark upon a career +of a pirate when all the time his heart was really turned to ways of +peace, to planting, to mercantile pursuits, to domestic joys."</p> + +<p>Here, now, was to be a voyage of conquest. No matter what his plans +were; no matter what he said; no matter what he might lose, or how he +might suffer by being taken into captivity and being carried away, Major +Stede Bonnet, late of Bridgetown and still later connected with some +erratic voyages upon the high seas, was to be taken prisoner by his +daughter and carried away to Spanish Town, where the actions of his +disordered mind were to be condoned and where he would be safe from all +vengeful Vinces and from all temptations of the flaunting skull and +bones.</p> + +<p>It was a bright morning when, with a fair wind upon her starboard bow, +the sloop Belinda, bearing the jubilant three, sailed southward on her +course to the coast of Honduras; and it was upon that same morning that +the good ship Revenge, bearing the pirate Blackbeard and his handsomely +uniformed lieutenant, sailed northward, the same fair wind upon her port +bow.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI</a></h2> + + +<h3>A PROJECTED MARRIAGE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_21.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Strange as it may appear, Dickory Charter was not a very unhappy young +fellow as he stood in his fine uniform on the quarter-deck of the +Revenge, the fresh breeze ruffling his brown curls when he lifted his +heavy cocked hat.</p> + +<p>True, he was leaving behind him his friends, Captain Bonnet and Ben +Greenway, with whom the wayward Blackbeard would allow no word of +leave-taking; true, he was going, he knew not where, and in the power of +a man noted the new world over for his savage eccentricities; and true, +he might soon be sailing, hour by hour, farther and farther away from +the island on which dwelt the angel Kate—that angel Kate and his +mother. But none of these considerations could keep down the glad +feeling that he was going, that he was moving. Moreover, in answer to +one of his impassioned appeals to be set ashore at Jamaica, Blackbeard +had said to him that if he should get tired of him he did not see, at +that <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span>moment, any reason why he should not put him on board some +convenient vessel and have him landed at Kingston.</p> + +<p>Dickory did not believe very much in the black-bearded pirate, with his +wild tricks and inhuman high spirits, but Jamaica lay to the east, and +he was going eastward.</p> + +<p>Incited, perhaps, by the possession of a fine ship, manned by a crew +picked from his old vessel and from the men who had formed the crew of +the Revenge, Blackbeard was in better spirits than was his wont, and so +far as his nature would allow he treated Dickory with fair good-humour. +But no matter what happened, his unrestrained imagination never failed +him. Having taken the fancy to see Dickory always in full uniform, he +allowed him to assume no other clothes; he was always in naval +full-dress and cocked hat, and his duties were those of a private +secretary.</p> + +<p>"The only shrewd thing I ever knew your Sir Nightcap to do," he said, +"was to tell me you could not read nor write. He spoke so glibly that I +believed him. Had it not been so I should have sent you to the town to +help with the shore end of my affairs, and then you would have been +there still and I should have had no admiral to write my log and +straighten my accounts."</p> + +<p>Sometimes, in his quieter moods, when there was no provocation to send +pistol-balls between two sailors quietly conversing, or to perform some +other demoniac trick, Blackbeard would <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span>talk to Dickory and ask all +manner of questions, some of which the young man answered, while some he +tried not to answer. Thus it was that the pirate found out a great deal +more about Dickory's life, hope, and sorrows than the young fellow +imagined that he made known. He discovered that Dickory was greatly +interested in Bonnet's daughter, and wished above all other things in +this world to get to her and to be with her.</p> + +<p>This was a little out of the common run of things among the brotherhood; +it was their fashion to forget, so far as they were able, the family +ties which already belonged to them, and to make no plans for any future +ties of that sort which they might be able to make. Such a thing amused +the generally rampant Blackbeard, but if this Dickory boy whom they had +on board really did wish to marry some one, the idea came into the +crafty mind of Blackbeard that he would like to attend to that marrying +himself. It pleased him to have a finger in every pie, and now here was +a pie in the fingering of which he might take a novel interest.</p> + +<p>This renowned desperado, this bloody cutthroat, this merciless pirate +possessed a home—a quiet little English home on the Cornwall coast, +where the cheerful woods and fields stretched down almost in reach of +the sullen sea. Here dwelt his wife, quiet Mistress Thatch, and here his +brawny daughter. Seldom a word came to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span>this rural home from the father, +burning and robbing, sinking and slaying out upon the western seas. But +from the stores of pelf which so often slipped so easily into his great +arms, and which so often slipped just as easily out of them, came now +and then something to help the brawn grow upon his daughter's bones and +to ease the labours of his wife.</p> + +<p>Eliza Thatch bore no resemblance to a houri; her hair was red, her face +was freckled; she had enough teeth left to do good eating with when she +had a chance, and her step shook the timbers of her little home.</p> + +<p>Her father had heard from her a little while ago by a letter she had had +conveyed to Belize. His parental feelings, notwithstanding he had told +Bonnet he knew no such sentiments, were stirred. When he had finished +her letter he would have been well pleased to burn a vessel and make a +dozen passengers walk the plank as a memorial to his girl. But this not +being convenient, it had come to him that he would marry the wench to +the gaily bedecked young fellow he had captured, and it filled his +reckless heart with a wild delight. He drew his cutlass, and with a +great oath he drove the heavy blade into the top of the table, and he +swore by this mark that his grand plan should be carried out.</p> + +<p>He would sail over to England; this would be a happy chance, for his +vessel was unladen and ready for any adventure. He would drop <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span>anchor in +the quiet cove he knew of; he would go ashore by night; he would be at +home again. To be at home again made him shout with profane laughter, +the little home he remembered would be so ridiculous to him now. He +would see again his poor little trembling wife—she must be gray by +now—and he was sure that she would tremble more than ever she did when +she heard the great sea oaths which he was accustomed to pour forth now. +And his daughter, she must be a strapping wench by this time; he was +sure she could stand a slap on the back which would kill her mother.</p> + +<p>Yes, there should be a wedding, a fine wedding, and good old rum should +water the earth. And he would detail a boat's crew of jolly good fellows +from the Revenge to help make things uproarious. This Charter boy and +Eliza should have a house of their own, with plenty of money—he had +more funds in hand than ever in his life before—and his respectable +son-in-law should go to London and deposit his fortune in a bank. It +would be royal fun to think of him and Eliza highly respectable and with +money in the bank. A quart of the best rum could scarcely have made +Blackbeard more hilarious than did this glorious notion. He danced among +his crew; he singed beards; he whacked with capstan bars; he pushed men +down hatchways; he was in lordly spirits, and his crew expected some +great adventure, some startling piece of deviltry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span>Of course he did not keep his great design from Dickory—it was too +glorious, too transcendent. He took his young admiral into his cabin and +laid before him his dazzling future.</p> + +<p>Dickory sat speechless, almost breathless. As he listened he could feel +himself turn cold. Had any one else been talking to him in this strain +he would have shouted with laughter, but people did not laugh at +Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>When the pirate had said all and was gazing triumphantly at poor +Dickory, the young man gasped a word in answer; he could not accept this +awful fate without as much as a wave of the hand in protest.</p> + +<p>"But, sir," said he, "if—"</p> + +<p>Blackbeard's face grew black; he bent his head and lowered upon the pale +Dickory, then, with a tremendous blow, he brought down his fist upon the +table.</p> + +<p>"If Eliza will not have you," he roared; "if that girl will not take you +when I offer you to her; if she or her mother as much as winks an +eyelash in disobedience of my commands, I will take them by the hair of +their heads and I will throw them into the sea. If she will not have +you," he repeated, roaring as if he were shouting through a speaking +trumpet in a storm, "if I thought that, youngster, I would burn the +house with both of them in it, and the rum I had bought to make a jolly +wedding should be poured on the timbers to make them blaze. Let <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span>no +notions like that enter your mind, my boy. If she disobeys me, I will +cook her and you shall eat her. Disobey me!" And he swore at such a rate +that he panted for fresh air and mounted to the deck.</p> + +<p>It was not a time for Dickory to make remarks indicating his disapproval +of the proposed arrangement.</p> + +<p>As the Revenge sailed on over sunny seas or under lowering clouds, +Dickory was no stranger to the binnacle, and the compass always told him +that they were sailing eastward. He had once asked Blackbeard where they +now were by the chart, but that gracious gentleman of the midnight beard +had given him oaths for answers, and had told him that if the captain +knew where the ship was on any particular hour or minute nobody else on +that ship need trouble his head about it. But at last the course of the +Revenge was changed a little, and she sailed northward. Then Dickory +spoke with one of the mildest of the mates upon the subject of their +progress, and the man made known to him that they were now about +half-way through the Windward passage. Dickory started back. He knew +something of the geography of those seas.</p> + +<p>"Why, then," he cried, "we have passed Jamaica!"</p> + +<p>"Of course we have," said the man, and if it had not been for Dickory's +uniform he would have sworn at him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII</a></h2> + + +<h3>BLADE TO BLADE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_22.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>When the corvette Badger sailed from Jamaica she moved among the islands +of the Caribbean Sea as if she had been a modern vessel propelled by a +steam-engine. That which represented a steam-engine in this case was the +fiery brain of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's navy. More +than winds, more than currents, this brain made its power felt upon the +course and progress of the vessel.</p> + +<p>Calling at every port where information might possibly be gained, +hailing every sloop or ship or fishing-smack which might have sighted +the pirate ship Revenge, with a constant lookout for a black flag, +Captain Vince kept his engine steadily at work.</p> + +<p>But it was not in pursuit of a ship that the swift keel of the Badger +cut through the sea, this way and that, now on a long course, now +doubling back again, like a hound fancying he has got the scent of a +hare, then raging wildly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span>when he finds the scent is false; it was in +pursuit of a woman that every sail was spread, that the lookout swept +the sea, and that the hot brain of the captain worked steadily and hard. +This English man-of-war was on a cruise to make Kate Bonnet the bride of +its captain. The heart of this naval lover was very steady; it was fixed +in its purpose, nothing could turn it aside. Vince's plans were +well-digested; he knew what he wanted to do, he knew how he was going to +do it.</p> + +<p>In the first place he would capture the man Bonnet; all the details of +the action were arranged to that end; then, with Kate's father as his +prisoner, he would be master of the situation.</p> + +<p>There was nothing noble about this craftily elaborated design; but, +then, there was nothing noble about Captain Vince. He was a strong hater +and a strong lover, and whether he hated or loved, nothing, good or bad, +must stand in his way. With the life or death, the misery or the +happiness of the father in his hands, he knew that he need but beckon to +the daughter. She might come slowly, but she would come. She was a grand +woman, but she was a woman; she might resist the warm plea of love, but +she could not resist the cold commands of that cruel figure of death who +stood behind the lover.</p> + +<p>Captain Bonnet was returning from his visit to the New England coast, +picking up bits of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span>profit here and there as fortune befell him, when +Captain Vince first heard that the Revenge had gone northward. The news +was circumstantial and straightforward, and was not to be doubted. Vince +raged upon his quarter-deck when he found out how he had been wasting +time. Northward now was pointed the bow of the Badger, and the vengeful +Vince felt as if his prey was already in his hands. If Bonnet had sailed +up the Atlantic coast he was bound to sail down again. It might be a +long cruise, there might be impatient waitings at the mouths of coves +and rivers where the pirates were accustomed to take refuge or refit, +but the light of the eyes of Kate Bonnet were worth the longest pursuit +or the most impatient waiting.</p> + +<p>So, steadily sailed the corvette Badger up the long Atlantic coast, and +she passed the capes of the Delaware while Captain Bonnet was examining +the queer pulpit in the little bay-side town where his ship had stopped +to take in water.</p> + +<p>At the various ports of the northern coast where the Revenge had sailed +back and forth outside, the Badger boldly entered, and the tales she +heard soon turned her back again to sail southward down the long +Atlantic coast. But the heart of Christopher Vince never failed. The +vision of Kate Bonnet as he had seen her, standing with glorious eyes +denouncing him; as he should see her when, with bowed head and proffered +hand, she came to him; as all should see <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>her when, in her clear-cut +beauty, she stood beside him in his ancestral home, never left him.</p> + +<p>Off the port of Charles Town, South Carolina, the Badger lay and waited, +and soon, from an outgoing bark, the news came to Captain Vince that +several weeks before the pirate Bonnet of the Revenge had taken an +English ship as she was entering port, and had then sailed southward. +Southward now sailed the Badger, and, as there was but little wind, +Captain Vince swore with an unremitting diligence.</p> + +<p>It was a quiet morning and the Badger was nearing the straits of Florida +when a sail was reported almost due south.</p> + +<p>Up came Captain Vince with his glass, and after a long, long look, and +another, and another, during which the two vessels came slowly nearer +and nearer each other, the captain turned to his first officer and said +quietly: "She flies the skull and bones. She's the first of those +hellish pirates that we have yet met on this most unlucky cruise."</p> + +<p>"If we could send her, with her crew on board, ten times to the bottom," +said the other, "she would not pay us what her vile fraternity has cost +us. But these pirate craft know well the difference between a Spanish +galleon and a British man-of-war, and they will always give us a wide +berth."</p> + +<p>"But this one will not," said the captain.</p> + +<p>Then again he looked long and earnestly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span>through his glass. "Send aft +the three men who know the Revenge," said he.</p> + +<p>Presently the men came aft, and one by one they went aloft, and soon +came the report, vouched for by each of them:</p> + +<p>"The sail ahead is the pirate Revenge."</p> + +<p>Now all redness left the face of Captain Vince. He was as pale as if he +had been afraid that the pirate ship would capture him, but every man on +his vessel knew that there was no fear in the soul or the body of the +captain of the Badger. Quickly came his orders, clear and sharp; +everything had been gone over before, but everything was gone over +again. The corvette was to bear down upon the pirate, her cannon—great +guns for those days, and which could soon have disabled, if they had not +sunk, the smaller vessel—were muzzled and told to hold their peace. The +man-of-war was to bear down upon the pirate and to capture her by +boarding. There was to be no broadside, no timber-splitting cannon +balls.</p> + +<p>The wind was light and in favour of the corvette, and slowly the two +vessels diminished the few miles between them; but there was enough wind +to show the royal colours on the Badger.</p> + +<p>"He is a bold fellow, that pirate," said some of the naval men, "and he +will wait and fight us."</p> + +<p>"He will wait and fight us," said some of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>others, "because he +cannot get away; in this wind he is at our mercy."</p> + +<p>Captain Vince stood and gazed over the water, sometimes with his glass +and sometimes without it. Here now was the end of his fuming, his +raging, his long and untiring search. All the anxious weariness of long +voyaging, all the impatience of watching, all the irritation of waiting +had gone. The notorious vessel in which the father of Kate Bonnet had +made himself a terror and a scourge was now almost within his reach. The +beneficent vessel by which the father of Kate Bonnet should give to him +his life's desire was so near to him that he could have sent a musket +ball into her had he chosen to fire. It was so near to him that he could +now, with his glass, read the word "Revenge" on her bow. His brows were +knit, his jaws were set tight, his muscles hardened themselves with +energy.</p> + +<p>Again the orders were passed, that when the men of the corvette boarded +the pirate they were to cut down the rascals without mercy, and not one +of them was to draw sword or pistol against the pirate captain. He would +be attended to by their commander.</p> + +<p>Vince knew the story of Stede Bonnet; he knew that early in life he had +been in the army, and that it was likely that he understood the handling +of a sword. But he knew also that he himself was one of the best +swordsmen in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>royal navy. He yearned to cross blades with the man +whose blood should not be shed, whose life should be preserved +throughout the combat as if he were a friend and not a foe, who should +surrender to him his sword and give to him his daughter.</p> + +<p>"They're a brave lot, those bloody rascals," said one of the men of the +Badger.</p> + +<p>"They've a fool of a captain," said another; "he knows not the +difference between a British man-of-war and a Spanish galleon, but we +shall teach him that."</p> + +<p>Slowly they came together, the Revenge and the Badger, the bow of one +pointed east and the bow of the other to the west; from neither vessel +there came a word; the low waves could be heard flapping against their +sides. Suddenly there rang out from the man-of-war the order to make +fast. The grapnels flew over the bulwarks of the pirate, and in a moment +the two vessels were as one. Then, with a great shout, the men of the +Badger leaped and hurled themselves upon the deck of the Revenge, and +upon that deck and from behind bulwarks there rose, yelling and howling +and roaring, the picked men of two pirate crews, quick, furious, and +strong as tigers, the hate of man in their eyes and the love of blood in +their hearts. Like a wave of massacre they threw themselves against the +drilled masses of the Badger's crew, and with yells and oaths and curses +and cries the battle raged.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span>With a sudden dash the captain of the man-of-war plunged through the +ranks of the combatants and stood upon the middle of the deck; his quick +eyes shot here and there; wherever he might be, he sought the captain of +the pirate ship. In an instant a huge man bounded aft and made one long +step towards him. Vast in chest and shoulder, and with mighty limbs, +fiery-eyed, hairy, horribly fantastic, Blackbeard stood, with great head +lowered for the charge.</p> + +<p>"A sugar-planter?" was the swift thought of Vince.</p> + +<p>"Are you the captain of this ship?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>"I am!" cried the other, and with a curse like bursting thunder the +pirate came on and his blade crossed that of Captain Vince.</p> + +<p>Forward and amidships surged the general fight: men plunged, swords +fell, blood flowed, feet slipped upon the deck, and roars of blasphemy +and pain rose above the noise of battle. But farther aft the two +captains, in a space by themselves, cut, thrust, and trampled, whirling +around each other, dashing from this side and that, ever with keen eyes +firmly fixed, ever with strong arms whirling down and upward; now one +man felt the keen cut of steel and now the other. The blood ran upon +rich uniform or stained rough cloth and leather. It was a fight as if +between a lioness and a tigress, their dead cubs near-by.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span>As most men in the navy knew, Captain Vince was a most dangerous +swordsman. In duel or in warfare, no man yet had been able to stand +before him. With skilled arm and eye and with every muscle of his body +trained, his sword sought a vital spot in his opponent. There was no +thought now in the mind of Vince about disarming the pirate and taking +him prisoner; this terrible wild beast, this hairy monster must be +killed or he himself must die. Through the whirl and clash and hot +breath of battle he had been amazed that Kate Bonnet's father should be +a man like this.</p> + +<p>The pirate, his eyes now shrunken into his head, where they glowed like +coals, his breath steaming like a volcano, and his tremendous muscles +supple and quick as those of a cat, met his antagonist at every point, +and with every lunge and thrust and cut forced him to guard.</p> + +<p>Now Vince shut himself in his armour of trained defence; this bounding +lion must be killed, but the death-stroke must be cunningly delivered, +and until, in his hot rage, the pirate should forget his guard Vince +must shield himself.</p> + +<p>Never had the great Blackbeard met so keen a swordsman; he howled with +rage to see the English captain still vigorous, agile, warding every +stroke. Blackbeard was now a wild beast of the sea: he fought to kill, +for naught else, not even his own life. With a yell he threw himself +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span>upon Captain Vince, whose sword passed quick as lightning through the +brawny masses of his left shoulder. With one quick step, the pirate +pressed closer to Vince, thus holding the imprisoned blade, which stuck +out behind his body, and with a tremendous blow of his right fist, in +which he held the heavy brazen hilt of his sword, he dashed his enemy +backward to the ground. The fall drew the blade from the shoulder of +Blackbeard, whose great right arm went up, whose sword hissed in the air +and then came down upon the prostrate Vince. Another stroke and the +English captain lay insensible and still.</p> + +<p>With the scream of a maddened Indian, Blackbeard sprung into the air, +and when his feet touched the deck he danced. He would have hewn his +victim into pieces, he would have scattered him over the decks, but +there was no time for such recreations. Forward the battle raged with +tremendous fury, and into the midst of it dashed Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>From the companion-way leading to the captain's cabin there now appeared +a pale young face. It was that of Dickory Charter, who had been ordered +by Blackbeard, before the two vessels came together, to shut himself in +the cabin and to keep out of the broil, swearing that if he made himself +unfit to present to Eliza he would toss his disfigured body into the +sea. Entirely unarmed and having no place in the fight, Dickory had +obeyed, but the spirit of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span>young man which burned within him led him +to behold the greater part of the conflict between Blackbeard and the +English captain. Being a young man, he had shut his eyes at the end of +it, but when the pirate had left he came forth quietly. The fight raged +forward, and here he was alone with the fallen figure on the deck.</p> + +<p>As Dickory stood gazing downward in awe—in all his life he had never +seen a corpse—the man he had supposed dead opened his eyes for a moment +and gazed with dull intelligence, and then he gasped for rum. Dickory +was quickly beside him with a tumbler of spirits and water, which, +raising the fallen man's head, he gave him. In a few moments the eyes of +Captain Vince opened wider, and he stared at the young man in naval +uniform who stood above him. "Who are you?" he said in a low voice, but +distinct, "an English officer?"</p> + +<p>"No," said Dickory, "I am no officer and no pirate; I am forced to wear +these clothes."</p> + +<p>And then, his natural and selfish instincts pushing themselves before +anything else, Dickory went on: "Oh, sir, if your men conquer these +pirates will you take me—" but as he spoke he saw that the wounded man +was not listening to him; his half-closed eyes turned towards him and he +whispered:</p> + +<p>"More spirits!"<br /><br /></p> + +<p><a name="gs_05" id="gs_05"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_05.png" width="65%" alt="'Take that,' he feebly said, 'and swear that it shall be +delivered.'" /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be +delivered."<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>Dickory dashed into the cabin, half-filled a tumbler with rum and gave +it to Vince. Pres<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +ently his eyes recovered something of their natural +glow, and with contracted brow he fixed them upon the stream of blood +which was running from him over the deck.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he spoke sharply: "Young fellow," he said, "some paper and a +pen, a pencil, anything. Quick!"</p> + +<p>Dickory looked at him in amazement for a moment and then he ran into the +cabin, soon returning with a sheet of paper and an English pencil.</p> + +<p>The eyes of Captain Vince were now very bright, and a nervous strength +came into his body. He raised himself upon his elbow, he clutched at the +paper, and clapping it upon the deck began to write. Quickly his pencil +moved; already he was feeling that his rum-given strength was leaving +him, but several pages he wrote, and then he signed his name. Folding +the sheet he stopped for a moment, feeling that he could do no more; +but, gathering together his strength in one convulsive motion, he +addressed the letter.</p> + +<p>"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear ... that it shall be ... +delivered."</p> + +<p>"I swear," said Dickory, as on his knees he took the blood-smeared +letter. He hastily slipped it into the breast of his coat, and then he +was barely able to move quick enough to keep the Englishman's head from +striking the deck.</p> + +<p>"How now!" sounded a harsh growl at his <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span>ear. "Get you into your cabin +or you will be hurt. It is not time yet for the fleecing of corpses! I +am choking for a glass of brandy. Get in and stay there!"</p> + +<p>In another minute Blackbeard, refreshed, was running aft, the cut +through his shoulder bleeding, but entirely forgotten.</p> + +<p>There was no fighting now upon the deck of the Revenge; the conflict +raged, but it had been transferred to the Badger. The sailors of the +man-of-war had fought valiantly and stoutly, even impetuously, but their +enemies—picked men from two pirate crews—had fought like wire-muscled +devils. Ablaze with fury they had cut down the Badger's men, piling them +upon their own fallen comrades; they had followed the brave fellows with +oaths, cutlasses, and pistols as, little at a time and fighting all the +while, they slowly clambered back into their own ship. The pirates had +thrown their grapnels over the bulwarks of the man-of-war; they had +followed, cut by cut, shot by shot, until they now stood upon the +Badger, fighting with the same fury that they had just fought upon the +blood-soaked Revenge. Blackbeard was not yet with them—whatever +happened, Blackbeard must be refreshed—but now he sprang into the +enemy's ship—that fine British man-of-war, the corvette Badger, which +had so bravely sailed down upon his ship to capture her—and led the +carnage.</p> + +<p>They were tough men, those British seamen, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span>tough in heart, tough in +arms and body; they fought above decks and they fought below, and they +laid many a pirate scoundrel dead; but they had met a foe which was too +strong for them—a pack of brawny, hairy desperadoes, picked from two +pirate crews. The first officer now commanding, panting, bleeding, and +torn, groaned as he saw that his men could fight no longer, and he +surrendered the Badger to the pirates.</p> + +<p>The great Blackbeard yelled with delight. When had any other captain +sailing under the Jolly Roger captured a British man-of-war, a +first-class corvette of the royal navy? His frenzied joy was so intense +that he was on the point of cutting down the officer who was offering +him his sword, but he withheld his hand.</p> + +<p>"Go, somebody, and fetch me a glass of his Majesty's rum," he cried, +"and I will drink to his perdition!"</p> + +<p>The door of a locker was smashed, the spirits were brought, and the +great Blackbeard was again refreshed.</p> + +<p>Standing on the quarter-deck where but an hour or two before Captain +Christopher Vince had stood commanding his fine corvette as she sailed +down upon her pirate enemy, Blackbeard had brought before him all the +survivors of the Badger's crew.</p> + +<p>"Well, you're a lot of damnable knaves," said he, "and you have cost me +many a good <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span>man this day. But my crew will now be short-handed, and if +any or all of you will turn pirate and ship with me, I will let bygones +pass; but, if any of you choose not that, overboard you go. I will have +no unwilling rascals in my crew."</p> + +<p>All but one of the men of the Badger, downcast, wounded, panting with +thirst and loving life, agreed to become pirates and to ship on board +the Revenge.</p> + +<p>The first mate would not break his oath of allegiance to the king, and +he went overboard.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE ADDRESS OF THE LETTER<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_23.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>There was hard and ghastly work that day when the Revenge was cleared +after action, and there was lively and interesting work on board the +Badger when Blackbeard and his officers went over the captured vessel to +discover what new possessions they had won.</p> + +<p>At first Blackbeard had thought to establish himself upon the corvette +and abandon the Revenge. It would have been such a grand thing to +scourge the seas in a British man-of-war with the Jolly Roger floating +over her. But this would have been too dangerous; the combined naval +force of England in American waters would have been united to put down +such presumption. So the wary pirate curbed his ambition.</p> + +<p>Everything portable and valuable was stripped from the Badger—her guns +would have been taken had it been practicable to ship them to the +Revenge in a rising sea—and then <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span>she was scuttled, fired, and cast +off, and with her dead on board she passed out of commission in the +royal navy.</p> + +<p>During the turmoil, the horror and the bringing aboard of pillage, +Dickory Charter had kept close below deck, his face in his hands and his +heart almost broken. It is so easy for young hearts to almost break.</p> + +<p>When he had seen the British ship come sailing down upon them, hope had +sprung up brightly in his heart; now there was a chance of his escaping +from this hell of the waves. When the Revenge should be taken he would +rush to the British captain, or any one in authority, and tell his tale. +It would be believed, he doubted not; even his uniform would help to +prove he was no pirate; he would be taken away, he would reach Jamaica; +he would see Kate; he would carry to her the great news of her father. +After that his life could take care of itself.</p> + +<p>But now the blackness of darkness was over everything. Those who were to +have been his friends had vanished, the ship which was to have given him +a new life had disappeared forever. He was on board the pirate ship, +bound for the shores of England—horrible shores to him—bound to the +shores of England and to Blackbeard's Eliza!</p> + +<p>He was not a fool, this Dickory; he had no unwarrantable and romantic +fears that in these enlightened days one man could say to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span>another, "Go +you, and marry the woman I have chosen for you." There was nothing silly +or cowardly about him, but he knew Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>Not one ray of hope thrust itself through his hands into his brain. Hope +had gone, gone to the bottom, and he was on his storm-tossed way to the +waters of another continent.</p> + +<p>But in the midst of his despair Dickory never thought of freeing +himself, by a sudden bound, of the world and his woes. So long as Kate +should live he must live, even if it were to prove to himself, and to +himself only, how faithful to her he could be.</p> + +<p>It was dark when men came tumbling below, throwing themselves into +hammocks and bunks, and Dickory prepared to turn in. If sleep should +come and without dreams, it would be greater gain than bags of gold. As +he took off his coat, the letter of the English captain dropped from his +breast. Until then he had forgotten it, but now he remembered it as a +sacred trust. The dull light of the lantern barely enabled him to +discern objects about him, but he stuck the letter into a crack in the +woodwork where in the morning he would see it and take proper care of +it.</p> + +<p>Soon sleep came, but not without dreams. He dreamed that he was rowing +Kate on the river at Bridgetown, and that she told him in a low sweet +voice, with a smile on her lips and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span>her eyes tenderly upturned, that +she would like to row thus with him forever.</p> + +<p>Early in the morning, through an open port-hole, the light of the +eastern sun stole into this abode of darkness and sin and threw itself +upon the red-stained letter sticking in the crack of the woodwork. +Presently Dickory opened his eyes, and the first thing they fell upon +was that letter. On the side of the folded sheet he could see the +superscription, boldly but irregularly written: "Miss Kate Bonnet, +Kingston, Ja."</p> + +<p>Dickory sat upright, his eyes hard-fixed and burning. How long he sat he +knew not. How long his brain burned inwardly, as his eyes burned +outwardly, he knew not. The noise of the watch going on deck roused him, +and in a moment he had the letter in his hands.</p> + +<p>All that day Dickory Charter was worth nothing to anybody. Blackbeard +swore at him and pushed him aside. The young fellow could not even count +the doubloons in a bag.</p> + +<p>"Go to!" cried the pirate, blacker and more fantastically horrible than +ever, for his bare left shoulder was bound with a scarf of silk and his +great arm was streaked and bedabbled with his blood, "you are the most +cursed coward I have met with in all my days at sea. So frightened out +of your wits by a lively brush as that of yesterday! Too scared to count +gold! Never saw I that before. One might be too scared to pray, but to +count gold! Ha! ha!" and the bold <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span>pirate laughed a merry roar. He was +in good spirits; he had captured and sunk an English man-of-war; sunk +her with her English ensign floating above her. How it would have +overjoyed him if all the ships, little and big, that plied the Spanish +Main could have seen him sink that man-of-war. He was a merry man that +morning, the great Blackbeard, triumphant in victory, glowing with the +king's brandy, and with so little pain from that cut in his shoulder +that he could waste no thought upon it.</p> + +<p>"But Eliza will like it well," continued the merry pirate; "she will +lead you with a string, be you bold or craven, and the less you pull at +it the easier it will be for my brave girl. Ah! she will dance with joy +when I tell her what a frightened rabbit of a husband it is that I give +her. Now get away somewhere, and let your face rid itself of its +paleness; and should you find a dead man lying where he has been +overlooked, come and tell me and I will have him put aside. You must not +be frightened any more or Eliza may find that you have not left even the +spirit of a rabbit."</p> + +<p>All day Dickory sat silent, his misery pinned into the breast of his +coat. "Miss Kate Bonnet, Kingston, Ja."—and this on a letter written in +the dying moments of an English captain, a high and mighty captain who +must have loved as few men love, to write that letter, his life's blood +running over the paper as he wrote. And could a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span>man love thus if he +were not loved? That was the terrible question.</p> + +<p>Sometimes his mind became quiet enough for him to think coherently, then +it was easy enough for him to understand everything. Kate had been a +long time in Jamaica; she had met many people; she had met this man, +this noble, handsome man. Dickory had watched him with glowing +admiration as he stood up before Blackbeard, fighting like the champion +of all good against the hairy monster who struck his blows for all that +was base and wicked.</p> + +<p>How Dickory's young heart had gone out in sympathy and fellowship +towards the brave English captain! How he had hoped that the next of his +quick, sharp lunges might slit the black heart of the pirate! How he had +almost wept when the noble Englishman went down! And now it made him +shudder to think his heart had stood side by side with the heart of +Kate's lover! He had sworn to deliver the letter of that lover, and he +would do it. More cruel than the bloodiest pirate was the fate that +forced him thus to bear the death-warrant of his own young life.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV</a></h2> + + +<h3>BELIZE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_24.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>There were not many captains of merchantmen in the early part of the +eighteenth century who cared to sail into the Gulf of Honduras, that +body of water being such a favourite resort of pirates.</p> + +<p>But no such fears troubled the mind of the skipper of the brig Belinda, +which was now making the best of her way towards the port of Belize. She +was a sturdy vessel and carried no prejudices. Sometimes she was laden +with goods bought from the pirates and destined to be sold to honest +people; and, again, she carried commodities purchased from those who +were their legal owners and intended for the use of the bold rascals who +sailed under the Jolly Roger. Then, as now, it was impossible for +thieves to steal all the commodities they desired; some things must be +bought. Thus, serving the pirates as well as honest traders, the sloop +Belinda feared not to sail the Gulf of Honduras or to cast anchor by the +town of Belize.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span>As the good ship approached her port Kate Bonnet kept steadfastly on +deck during most of the daylight, her eyes searching the surface of the +water for something which looked like her father's ship, the Revenge. +True, Mr. Newcombe had written her that Major Bonnet had given up piracy +and was now engaged in commercial business in the town, but still, if +she should see the Revenge, the sight would be of absorbing interest to +her. She was a girl of quick observation and good memory, but the town +came in view and she had seen no vessel which reminded her of the +Revenge.</p> + +<p>As soon as the anchor was dropped, Kate wished to go on shore, but her +uncle would not hear of that. He must know something definite before he +trusted Kate or himself in such a lawless town as Belize. The captain, +who was going ashore, could make inquiries, and Kate must wait.</p> + +<p>In a little room at the back of a large, low storehouse, not far from +the pier, sat Stede Bonnet and his faithful friend and servitor, Ben +Greenway. The storehouse was crowded with goods of almost every +imaginable description, and even the room back of it contained an +overflow of bales, boxes, and barrels. At a small table near a window +sat the Scotchman and Bonnet, the latter reading from some roughly +written lists descriptions and quantities of goods, the value of each +item being estimated by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span>canny Scotchman, who set down the figures +upon another list. Presently Bonnet put down his papers and heaved a +heavy sigh, which sigh seemed to harmonize very well with his general +appearance. He carried no longer upon him the countenance of the bold +officer who, in uniform and flowing feather, trod the quarter-deck of +the Revenge, but bore the expression of a man who knew adversity, yet +was not able to humble himself under it. He was bent and borne down, +although not yet broken. Had he been broken he could better have +accommodated himself to his present case. His clothes were those of the +common class of civilian, and there was that about him which indicated +that he cared no more for neatness or good looks.</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," he said, "this is too much! Now have I reached the depth +in my sorrow at which all my strength leaves me. I cannot read these +lists."</p> + +<p>The Scotchman looked up. "Is there no' light enow!" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Light!" said Bonnet; "there is no light anywhere; all is murkiness and +gloom. The goods which you have been lately estimating are all my own, +taken from my own ship by that arch traitor and chief devil, Blackbeard. +I have read the names of them to you and I have remembered many of them +and I have not weakened, but now comes a task which is too great for me. +These things which follow were all in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>tended for my daughter Kate. Silks +and satins and cloth of gold, ribbons and fine linen, laces and +ornaments, all these I selected for my dear daughter, and by day and by +night I have thought of her apparelled in fine raiment, more richly +dressed than any lady in Barbadoes. My daughter, my beautiful, my proud +Kate! And now what has it all come to? All these are gone, basely stolen +from me by that Blackbeard."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway looked up. "Wha stole from ye," he said, "what ye had +already stolen from its rightful owners. An' think ye," he continued, +"that your honest daughter Kate would deign to array hersel' in stolen +goods, no matter how rich they might happen to be! An' think ye she +could hold up her head if the good people o' Bridgetown could point at +her an' say, 'Look at the thief's daughter; how fine she is!' An' think +ye that Mr. Martin Newcombe would tak' into his house an' hame a wife +wha hadna come honestly by her clothes! I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that +ye should exalt your soul in thankfulness that ye are no longer a +dishonest mon, an' that whatever raiment your daughter may now wear, no' +a sleeve or button o' it was purloined an' stolen by her father."</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Bonnet, striking his hand upon the table, "you +will drive me so mad that I cannot read writing! These things are bad +enough, and you need not make them worse."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span>"Bless Heaven," said the Scotchman, "your conscience is wakin', an' the +time may come, if it is kept workin', when ye will forget your plunder +an' your blude, your wicked vanity, your cruelty an' your dishonesty, +an' mak' yoursel' worthy o' a good daughter an' a quiet hame. An' more +than that, I will tak' leave to add, o' the faithful services o' a +steadfast friend."</p> + +<p>"I cannot forget them, Ben," said Bonnet, speaking without anger. "The +more you talk about my sins the more I long to do them all over again; +the more you say about my vanity and pride, the more I yearn to wear my +uniform and wave my naked sword. Ay, to bring it down with blood upon +its blade. I am very wicked, Greenway; you never would admit it and you +do not admit it now, but I am wicked, and I could prove it to you if +fortune would give me opportunity." And Captain Bonnet sat up very +straight in his chair and his eyes flashed as they very often had +flashed as he trod the deck of the Revenge.</p> + +<p>At this moment there was a knock at the door and the captain of the +Belinda came in.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, sir!" said that burly seaman. "And this is Captain Bonnet, I +am sure, for I have seen him before, though garbed in another fashion, +and I come to bring you news. I have just arrived at this port in my +sloop, and I bring with me from Kingston your daughter, Mistress <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span>Kate +Bonnet, her uncle, Mr. Delaplaine, and a good dame named Charter."</p> + +<p>Stede Bonnet turned pale as he had never turned pale before.</p> + +<p>"My daughter!" he gasped. "My daughter Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the captain; "she is on my ship, yearning and moaning to see +you."</p> + +<p>"From Kingston?" murmured Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the other, "and on fire to see you since she heard you were +here."</p> + +<p>"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Ben Greenway, rising, "we must hasten to that +vessel; perhaps this good captain will now tak' us there in his boat."</p> + +<p>Bonnet fixed his eyes upon the floor. "Ben Greenway," he said, "I +cannot. How I have longed to see my daughter, and how, time and again +and time and again, I have pictured our meeting! I have seen her throw +herself into the arms of that noble officer, her father; I have heard +her, bathed in filial tears, forgive me everything because of the proud +joy with which she looked on me and knew I was her father. Greenway, I +cannot go; I have dropped too low, and I am ashamed to meet her."</p> + +<p>"Ashamed that ye are honest?" cried the Scotchman. "Ashamed that sin nae +longer besets ye, an' that ye are lifted above the thief an' the +cutpurse! Master Bonnet, Master Bonnet, in good truth I am ashamed o' +ye."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span>"Very well," said the captain of the Belinda, "I have no time to waste; +if you will not go to her, she e'en must come to you. I will send my +boat for her and the others, and you shall wait for them here."</p> + +<p>"I will not wait!" exclaimed Bonnet. "I don't dare to look into her +eyes. Behold these clothes, consider my mean employment. Shall I abash +myself before my daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Greenway, hastily stepping to the doorway +through which the captain had departed, "ye shallna tie yoursel' to the +skirts o' the de'il; ye shallna run awa' an' hide yoursel' from your +daughter wha seeks, in tears an' groans, for her unworthy father. Sit +down, Master Bonnet, an' wait here until your good daughter comes."</p> + +<p>The Belinda's captain had intended to send his boat back to his vessel, +but now he determined to take her himself. This was such a strange +situation that it might need explanation.</p> + +<p>Kate screamed when he made known his errand. "What!" she cried, "my +father in the town, and did he not come back with you? Is he sick? Is he +wounded? Is he in chains?"</p> + +<p>"And my Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "was he not there? Has he not yet +returned to the town? It must now be a long time since he went away."</p> + +<p>"I know not anything more than I have told you," said the captain. "And +if Mr. Delaplaine <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span>and the two ladies will get into my boat, I will +quickly take you to the town and show you where you may find Captain +Bonnet and learn all you wish to know."</p> + +<p>"And Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "my son Dickory! Did they give you no +news of him?"</p> + +<p>"Come along, come along," said the captain, "my men are waiting in the +boat. I asked no questions, but in ten minutes you can ask a hundred if +you like."</p> + +<p>When the little party reached the town it attracted a great deal of +attention from the rough roisterers who were strolling about or gambling +in shady places. When the captain of the Belinda mentioned, here and +there, that these newcomers were the family of Blackbeard's factor, who +now had charge of that pirate's interests in the town, no one dared to +treat the elderly gentleman, the pretty young lady, or the rotund dame +with the slightest disrespect. The name of the great pirate was a safe +protection even when he who bore it was leagues and leagues away.</p> + +<p>At the door of the storehouse Ben Greenway stood waiting. He would have +hurried down to the pier had it not been that he was afraid to leave +Bonnet; afraid that this shamefaced ex-pirate would have hurried away to +hide himself from his daughter and his friends. Kate, running forward, +grasped the Scotchman by both hands.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span>"And where is he?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"He is in there," said Ben, pointing through the storeroom to the open +door at the back. In an instant she was gone.</p> + +<p>"And Dickory?" cried Dame Charter. "Oh, Ben Greenway, tell me of my +boy."</p> + +<p>They went inside and Greenway told everything he knew, which was very +much, although it was not enough to comfort the poor mother's heart, who +could not readily believe that because Dickory had sailed away with a +great and powerful pirate, that eminent man would be sure to bring him +back in safety; but as Greenway really believed this, his words made +some impression on the good dame's heart. She could see some reason to +believe that Blackbeard, having now so much property in the town, might +make a short cruise this time, and that any day the Revenge, with her +dear son on board, might come sailing into port.</p> + +<p>With his face buried in his folded arms, which rested on the table, +Stede Bonnet received his daughter. At first she did not recognise him, +never having seen him in such mean apparel; but when he raised his head, +she knew her father. Closing the door behind her, she folded him in her +arms. After a little, leaving the window, they sat together upon a bale +of goods, which happened to be a rug from the Orient, of wondrous +richness, which Bonnet had reserved for the floor of his daughter's +room.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span>"Never, my dear," he said, "did I dream you would see me in such +plight. I blush that you should look at me."</p> + +<p>"Blush!" she exclaimed, her own cheeks reddening, "and you an honest man +and no longer a freebooter and rover of the sea? My heart swells with +pride to think that your life is so changed."</p> + +<p>Bonnet sadly shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said, "you don't know, you cannot understand what I feel. +Kate," he exclaimed with sudden energy, "I was a man among men; a chief +over many. I was powerful, I was obeyed on every side. I looked the bold +captain that I was; my brave uniform and my sword betokened the rank I +held. And, Kate, you can never know the pride and exultation with which +I stood upon my quarter-deck and scanned the sea, master of all that +might come within my vision. How my heart would swell and my blood run +wild when I beheld in the distance a proud ship, her sails all spread, +her colours flying, heavily laden, hastening onward to her port. How I +would stretch out my arm to that proud ship and say: 'Let down those +sails, drop all those flaunting flags, for you are mine; I am greater +than your captain or your king! If I give the command, down you go to +the bottom with all your people, all your goods, all your banners and +emblazonments, down to the bottom, never to be seen again!'"<br /><br /></p> + + +<p><a name="gs_06" id="gs_06"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_06.png" width="65%" alt="Kate and her father in the warehouse." /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />Kate and her father in the warehouse.<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +Kate shuddered and began to cry. "Oh, father!" she exclaimed, "don't +say that. Surely you never did such things as that?"</p> + +<p>"No," said he, speaking more quietly, "not just like that, but I could +have done it all had it pleased me, and it was this sense of power that +made my heart beat so proudly. I took no life, Kate, if it could be +helped, and when I had stripped a ship of her goods, I put her people +upon shore before I burned her."</p> + +<p>Kate bowed her head in her hands. "And of all this you are proud, my +father, you are proud of it!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed am I, daughter," said he; "and had you seen me in my glory you +would have been proud of me. Perhaps yet—"</p> + +<p>In an instant she had clapped her hand over his mouth. "You shall not +say it!" she exclaimed. "I have seized upon you and I shall hold you. No +more freebooter's life for you; no more blood, no more fire. I shall +take you away with me. Not to Bridgetown, for there is no happiness for +either of us there, but to Spanish Town. There, with my uncle, we shall +all be happy together. You will forget the sea and its ships; you will +again wander over your fields, and I shall be with you. You shall watch +the waving crops; you shall ride with me, as you used to ride, to view +your vast herds of cattle—those splendid creatures, their great heads +uplifted, their nostrils to the breeze."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span>"Truly, my Kate," said Bonnet, "that was a great sight; there were no +cattle finer on the island than were mine."</p> + +<p>"And so shall they be again, my father," said Kate, her arms around his +neck.</p> + +<p>It was then that Ben Greenway knocked upon the door.</p> + +<p>Stede Bonnet's mind had been so much excited by what he had been talking +about that he saluted his brother-in-law and Dame Charter without once +thinking of his clothes. They looked upon him as if he were some unknown +foreigner, a person entirely removed from their customary sphere.</p> + +<p>"Was this the once respectable Stede Bonnet?" asked Dame Charter to +herself. "Did such a man marry my sister!" thought Mr. Delaplaine. They +might have been surprised had they met him as a pirate, but his +appearance as a pirate's clerk amazed them.</p> + +<p>Towards the end of the day Mr. Delaplaine and his party returned to the +Belinda, for there was no fit place for them to lodge in the town. +Although urged by all, Stede Bonnet would not accompany them. When +persuasion had been exhausted, Ben Greenway promised Kate that he would +be responsible for her father's appearance the next day, feeling safe in +so doing; for, even should Bonnet's shame return, there was no likely +way in which he could avoid his friends.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV</a></h2> + + +<h3>WISE MR. DELAPLAINE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_25.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Early in the next forenoon Kate and her companions prepared to make +another visit to the town. Naturally she wanted to be with her father as +much as possible and to exert upon him such influences as might make him +forget, in a degree, the so-called glories of his pirate life and return +with her and her uncle to Spanish Town, where, she believed, this +misguided man might yet surrender himself to the rural joys of other +days. Nay, more, he and she might hope for still further happiness in a +Jamaica home, for Madam Bonnet would not be there.</p> + +<p>As she came up from below, impatient to depart, Kate noticed, getting +over the side, a gentleman who had just arrived in a small boat. He was +tall and good-looking, and very handsomely attired in a rich suit such +as was worn at that day by French and Spanish noblemen. A sword with an +elaborate hilt was by his side, and on his head a high cocked hat. There +was fine lace <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span>at his wrists and bosom, and he wore silk stockings, and +silver buckles on his shoes.</p> + +<p>Kate started at meeting here a stranger, and in such an elaborate +attire. She had read of the rich dress of men of rank in Europe, but her +eyes had never fallen upon such a costume. The gentleman advanced +quickly towards her, holding out his hand. She shrank back. "What did it +mean?"</p> + +<p>Then in a second she saw her father's face. This fine gentleman, this +dignified and graceful man, was indeed Stede Bonnet.</p> + +<p>He had been so thoroughly ashamed of his mean attire on the preceding +day that he had determined not again to meet his daughter and Mr. +Delaplaine in such vulgar guise. So, from the resources of the +storehouses he had drawn forth a superb suit of clothes sent westward +for the governor of one of the French colonies. He excused himself for +taking it from Blackbeard's treasure-house, not only on account of the +demands of the emergency, but because he himself had taken it before +from a merchantman.</p> + +<p>"Father!" cried Kate, "what has happened to you? I never saw such a fine +gentleman."</p> + +<p>Bonnet smiled with complacency, and removed his cocked hat.</p> + +<p>"I always endeavour, my dear," said he, "to dress myself according to my +station. Yesterday, not expecting to see you, I was in a sad <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span>plight. I +would have preferred you to meet me in my naval uniform, but as that is +now, to say the least, inconvenient, and as I reside on shore in the +capacity of a merchant or business man, I attire myself to suit my +present condition. Ah! my good brother-in-law, I am glad to see you. I +may remark," he added, graciously shaking hands with Dame Charter, "that +I left my faithful Scotchman in our storehouse in the town, it being +necessary for some one to attend to our possessions there. Otherwise I +should have brought him with me, my good Dame Charter, for I am sure you +would have found his company acceptable. He is a faithful man and an +honest one, although I am bound to say that if he were less of a +Presbyterian and more of a man of the world his conversation might +sometimes be more agreeable."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine regarded with much earnestness and no little pleasure his +transformed brother-in-law. Hope for the future now filled his heart. If +this crack-brained sugar-planter had really recovered from his mania for +piracy and had a fancy for legitimate business, his new station might be +better for him than any he had yet known. Sugar-planting was all well +enough and suitable to any gentleman, provided Madam Bonnet were not +taken with it. She would drive any man from the paths of reason unless +he possessed an uncommonly strong brain, and he did not believe that +such a brain was possessed <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span>by his brother-in-law Bonnet. The good Mr. +Delaplaine rubbed his hands together in his satisfaction. Such a +gentleman as this would be welcome in his counting-house, even if he did +but little; his very appearance would reflect credit upon the +establishment. Dame Charter kept in the background; she had never been +accustomed to associate with the aristocracy, but she did not forget +that a cat may look at a king, and her eyes were very good.</p> + +<p>"There were always little cracks in his skull," she said to herself. "My +husband used to tell me that. Major Bonnet is quick at changing from one +thing to another, and it needs sharp wits to follow him."</p> + +<p>After a time Major Bonnet proposed a row upon the harbour—he had +brought a large boat, with four oarsmen, for this purpose. Mr. +Delaplaine objected a little to this, fearing the presence of so many +pirate vessels, but Bonnet loftily set aside such puerile objections.</p> + +<p>"I am the business representative of the great Blackbeard," he said, +"the most powerful pirate in the world. You are safer here than in any +other port on the American coast."</p> + +<p>When they were out upon the water, moving against the gentle breeze, +Bonnet disclosed the object of his excursion. "I am going to take you," +said he, "to visit some of the noted pirate ships which are anchored in +this harbour. There are vessels here which are quite famous, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span>commanded by renowned Brethren of the Coast. I think you will all be +greatly interested in these, and under my convoy you need fear no +danger."</p> + +<p>Dame Charter and Kate screamed in their fright, and Mr. Delaplaine +turned pale. "Visit pirate ships!" he cried. "Rather I would have +supposed that you would keep away from them as far as you could. For +myself, I would have them a hundred miles distant if it were possible."</p> + +<p>Bonnet laughed loftily. "It will be visits of ceremony that we shall +pay, and with all due ceremony shall we be received. Pull out to that +vessel!" he said to the oarsmen. Then, turning to the others, he +remarked: "That sloop is the Dripping Blade, commanded by Captain Sorby, +whose name strikes terror throughout the Spanish Main. Ay! and in other +parts of the ocean, I can assure you, for he has sailed northward nearly +as far as I have, but he has not yet rivalled me. I know him, having +done business with him on shore. He is a most portentous person, as you +will soon see."</p> + +<p>"Oh, father!" cried Kate, "don't take us there; it will kill us just to +look upon such dreadful pirates. I pray you turn the boat!"</p> + +<p>"Oh! if Dickory were here," gasped Dame Charter, "he would turn the boat +himself; he would never allow me to be taken among those awful +wretches."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span>Mr. Delaplaine said nothing. It was too late to expostulate, but he +trembled as he sat.</p> + +<p>"I cannot turn back, my dear," said Bonnet, "even if I would, for the +great Sorby is now on deck, and looking at us as we approach."</p> + +<p>As the boat drew up by the side of the Dripping Blade the renowned Sorby +looked down over the side. He was a red-headed man; his long hair and +beard dyed yellow in some places by the sun. He was grievous to look +upon, and like to create in the mind of an imaginative person the image +of a sun-burned devil on a holiday.</p> + +<p>"Good-day to you! Good-day, Sir Bonnet," cried the pirate captain; "come +on board, come on board, all of you, wife, daughter, father, if such +they be! We'll let down ladders and I shall feast you finely."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, good Captain Sorby," replied Bonnet, with courteous dignity, +"my family and I have just stopped to pay you our respects. They have +all heard of your great prowess, for I have told them. They may never +have a chance again to look upon another of your fame."</p> + +<p>"Heaven grant it!" said Dame Charter in her heart. "If I get out of +this, I stay upon dry land forever."</p> + +<p>"I grieve that my poor ship be not honoured by your ladies," said Sorby, +"but I admit that her decks are scarcely fit for the reception of such +company. It is but to-day that we have found time to cleanse her deck +from the stain and dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span>order of our last fight, having lately come into +harbour. That was a great fight, Sir Bonnet; we lay low and let the +fellows board us, but not one of them went back again. Ha! ha! Not one +of them went back again, good ladies."</p> + +<p>Every pirate face on board that ill-conditioned sloop now glared over +her rail, their eyes fixed upon the goodly company in the little boat, +their horrid hair and beards stained and matted—it would have been hard +to tell by what.</p> + +<p>"Oh, father, father!" panted Kate, "please row away. What if they should +now jump down upon us?"</p> + +<p>"Good-day, good-day, my brave Captain Sorby," said Bonnet, "we must e'en +row away; we have other craft to visit, but would first do honour to you +and your bold crew."</p> + +<p>Captain Sorby lifted high his great bespattered hat, and every grinning +demon of the crew waved hat or rag or pail or cutlass and set up a +discordant yell in honour of their departing visitors.</p> + +<p>"Oh! go not to another, father," pleaded Kate, her pale face in tears; +"visit no more of them, I pray you!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, truly, keep away from them," said Mr. Delaplaine. "I am no coward, +but I vow to you that I shall die of fright if I come close to another +of those floating hells."</p> + +<p>"And these," said Kate to herself, her eyes fixed out over the sea, +"these are his friends, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span>his companions, the wretches of whom he is so +proud."</p> + +<p>"There are no more vessels like that in port," said Bonnet; "that's the +most celebrated sloop. Those we shall now call upon are commanded by men +of milder mien; some of them you could not tell from plain merchantmen +were you not informed of their illustrious careers."</p> + +<p>"If you go near another pirate ship," cried Dame Charter, "I shall jump +overboard; I cannot help it."</p> + +<p>"Row back to the Belinda, brother-in-law," said Mr. Delaplaine in a +strong, hard voice; "your tour of pleasure is not fit for tender-hearted +women, nor, I grant it, for gentlemen of my station."</p> + +<p>"There are other ships whose captains I know," said Bonnet, "and where +you would have been well received; but if your nerves are not strong +enough for the courtesies I have to offer, we will return to the +Belinda."</p> + +<p>When safe again on board their vessel, after the sudden termination of +their projected tour of calls on pirates, Kate took her father aside and +entered into earnest conversation with him, while Mr. Delaplaine, much +ruffled in his temper, although in general of a most mild disposition, +said aside to Dame Charter: "He is as mad as a March hare. What other +parent on this earth would convey his fair young daughter into the +society of these vile wild beasts, which in his eyes <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span>are valiant +heroes? We must get him back with us, Dame Charter, we must get him +back. And if he cannot be constrained by love and goodwill to a decent +and a Christian life, we must shut him up. And if his daughter weeps and +raves, we must e'en stiffen our determination and shut him up. It shall +be my purpose now to hasten the return of the brig. There's room enough +for all, and he and the Scotchman must go back with us. The Governor +shall deal with him; and, whether it be on my estate or behind strong +bars, he shall spend the rest of his days upon the island of Jamaica, +and so know the sea no more."</p> + +<p>He was very much roused, this good merchant, and when he was roused he +was not slow to act.</p> + +<p>The captain of the Belinda was very willing to make a profitable voyage +back to Jamaica, but his vessel must be well laden before he could do +this. Goods enough there were at Belize for that purpose, for +Blackbeard's supplies were all for sale, and his chief clerk, Bonnet, +had the selling of them. So, all parties being like-minded, the Belinda +soon began to take on goods for Kingston.</p> + +<p>Stede Bonnet superintended everything. He was a good man of business, +and knew how to direct people who might be under him. There was a great +stir at the storehouse, and, almost blithely, Ben Greenway worked day +and night <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span>to make out invoices and to prepare goods for shipment.</p> + +<p>Bonnet wore no more the clothes in which his daughter had first seen him +after so long and drear a parting. On deck or on shore, in storehouse or +on the streets of Belize, he was the fine gentleman with the silk +stockings and the tall cocked hat.</p> + +<p>One day, a fellow, fresh from his bottle, forgetting the respect which +was due to fine clothes and to Blackbeard's factor, called out to +Bonnet: "What now, Sir Nightcap, how call you that thing you have on +your head?"</p> + +<p>In an instant a sword was whipped from its scabbard and a practised hand +sent its blade through the arm of the jester, who presently fell +backward. Bonnet wiped his sword upon the fellow's sleeve and, advising +him to get up and try to learn some manners, coolly walked away.</p> + +<p>After that fine clothes were not much laughed at in Belize, for even the +most disrespectful ruffians desired not the thrust of a quick blade nor +the ill-will of that most irascible pirate, Blackbeard.</p> + +<p>A few days before it was expected that the Belinda would be ready to +sail Bonnet came on board, his mind full of an important matter. Calling +Mr. Delaplaine and Kate aside, he said: "I have been thinking a great +deal lately about my Scotchman, Ben Greenway. In the first place, he is +greatly needed here, for many of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span>Blackbeard's goods will remain in the +storehouse, and there should be some competent person to take care of +them and to sell them should opportunity offer. Besides that, he is a +great annoyance to me, and I have long been trying to get rid of him. +When I left Bridgetown I had not intended to take him with me, and his +presence on board my ship was a mere accident. Since then he has made +himself very disagreeable."</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Kate, "would you be willing that we should all sail away +and leave poor Ben Greenway in this place by himself among these cruel +pirates?"</p> + +<p>"He'll represent Blackbeard," said Bonnet, "and no one will harm him. +And, moreover, this enforced stay may be of the greatest benefit to him. +He has a good head for business, and he may establish himself here in a +very profitable fashion and go back to Barbadoes, if he so desires, in +comfortable circumstances. All we have to do is to slip our anchor and +sail away at some moment when he is busy in the town. I will leave ample +instructions for him and he shall have money."</p> + +<p>"Father, it would be shameful!" said Kate.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine said nothing; he was too angry to speak, but he made up +his mind that Ben Greenway should be apprised of Bonnet's intentions of +running away from him and that such a wicked design should be thwarted. +This <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span>brother-in-law of his was a worse man than he had thought him; he +was capable of being false even to his best friend. He might be mad as a +March hare, but, truly, he was also as sly and crafty as a fox in any +month in the year.</p> + +<p>Wise Mr. Delaplaine!</p> + +<p>The very next morning there came a letter from Stede Bonnet to his +daughter Kate, in which he told her that it was absolutely impossible +for him to return to the humdrum and stupid life of sugar-planting and +cattle-raising. Having tasted the glories of a pirate's career, he could +never again be contented with plain country pursuits. So he was off and +away, the bounding sea beneath him and the brave Jolly Roger floating +over his head. He would not tell his dear daughter where he was gone or +what he intended to do, for she would be happier if she did not know. He +sent her his warmest love, and desired to be most kindly remembered to +her uncle and to Dame Charter. He would make it his business that a +correspondence should be maintained between him and his dear Kate, and +he hoped from time to time to send her presents which would help her to +know how constantly he loved her. He concluded by admitting that what he +had said about Ben Greenway was merely a blind to turn their suspicions +from his intended departure. If his good brother-in-law, out of kindness +to the Scotchman, had brought him to the Belinda and had insisted on +keeping <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span>him there, it would have made his, Bonnet's, secret departure a +great deal easier.</p> + +<p>Kate had never fainted in her life, but when she had finished this +letter she went down flat on her back.</p> + +<p>Leaving his niece to the good offices of Dame Charter, Mr. Delaplaine, +breathing hotly, went ashore, accompanied by the captain. When they +reached the storehouse they found it locked, with the key in the custody +of a shop-keeper near-by. They soon heard what had happened to +Blackbeard's business agent. He had gone off in a piratical vessel, +which had sailed for somewhere, in the middle of the night; and, +moreover, it was believed that the Scotchman who worked for him had gone +with him, for he had been seen running towards the water, and afterward +taking his place among the oarsmen in a boat which went out to the +departing vessel.</p> + +<p>"May that unholy vessel be sunk as soon as it reaches the open sea!" was +the deadly desire which came from the heart of Mr. Delaplaine. But the +wish had not formed itself into words before the good merchant recanted. +"I totally forgot that faithful Scotchman," he sighed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI</a></h2> + + +<h3>DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_26.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>There were jolly times on board the swift ship Revenge as she sped +through the straits of Florida on her way up the Atlantic coast. The +skies were bright, the wind was fair, and the warm waters of the Gulf +Stream helped to carry her bravely on her way. But young Dickory +Charter, with the blood-stained letter of Captain Vince tucked away in +the lining of his coat, ate so little, tossed about so much in his +berth, turned so pale and spoke so seldom, that the bold Captain +Blackbeard declared that he should have some medicine.</p> + +<p>"I shall not let my fine lieutenant suffer for want of drugs," he cried, +"and when I reach Charles Town I shall send ashore a boat and procure +some; and if the citizens disturb or interfere with my brave fellows, +I'll bombard the town. There will be medicine to take on one side or the +other, I swear." And loud and ready were the oaths he swore.</p> + +<p>A pirate who carries with him an intended <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span>son-in-law is not likely, if +he be of Blackbeard's turn of mind, to suffer all his family plans to be +ruined for the want of a few drugs.</p> + +<p>When Dickory heard what the captain had to say on this subject his heart +shrank within him. He had never taken medicine and he had never seen +Blackbeard's daughter, but the one seemed to him almost as bad as the +other, and the thought of the cool waves beneath him became more +attractive than ever before. But that thought was quickly banished, for +he had a duty before him, and not until that was performed could he take +leave of this world, once so bright to him.</p> + +<p>An island with palm-trees slowly rose on the horizon, and off this +island it was that, after a good deal of tacking and close-hauling, the +Revenge lay to to take in water. Far better water than that which had +been brought from Belize.</p> + +<p>"Do you want to go ashore in the boat, boy?" said Blackbeard, really +mindful of the health of this projected member of his family. "It may +help your appetite to use your legs."</p> + +<p>Dickory did not care to go anywhere, but he had hardly said so when a +revulsion of feeling came upon him, and turning away so that his face +might not be noticed, he said he thought the land air might do him good. +While the men were at work carrying their pails from the well-known +spring to the water-barrels in the boat, Dickory strolled about to view +the scenery, for <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span>it could never have been expected that a first +lieutenant in uniform should help to carry water. At first the scenery +did not appear to be very interesting, and Dickory wandered slowly from +here to there, then sat down under a tree. Presently he rose and went to +another tree, a little farther away from the boat and the men at the +spring. Here he quietly took off his shoes and his stockings, and, +having nothing else to do, made a little bundle of them, listlessly +tying them to his belt; then he rose and walked away somewhat brisker, +but not in the direction of the boat. He did not hurry, but even stopped +sometimes to look at things, but he still walked a little briskly, and +always away from the boat. He had been so used, this child of outdoor +life, to going about the world barefooted, that it was no wonder that he +walked briskly, being relieved of his encumbering shoes and stockings.</p> + +<p>After a time he heard a shout behind him, and turning saw three men of +the boat's crew upon a little eminence, calling to him. Then he moved +more quickly, always away from the boat, and with his head turned he saw +the men running towards him, and their shouts became louder and wilder. +Then he set off on a good run, and presently heard a pistol shot. This +he knew was to frighten him and make him stop, but he ran the faster and +soon turned the corner of a bit of woods. Then he was away at the top of +his speed, making for a jungle of foliage not a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span>quarter of a mile +before him. Shouts he heard, and more shots, but he caught sight of no +pursuers. Urged on even as they were by the fear of returning to the +ship without Dickory, they could not expect to match, in their heavy +boots, the stag-like speed of this barefooted bounder.</p> + +<p>After a time Dickory stopped running, for his path, always straight +away, so far as he could judge, from the landing-place, became very +difficult. In the forest there were streams, sometimes narrow and +sometimes wide, and how deep he knew not, so that now he jumped, now he +walked on fallen trees. Sometimes he crossed water and marsh by swinging +himself from the limbs of one tree to those of another. This was hard +work for a young gentleman in a naval uniform and cocked hat, but it had +to be done; and when the hat was knocked off it was picked up again, +with its feathers dripping.</p> + +<p>Dickory was going somewhere, although he knew not whither, and he had +solemn business to perform which he had sworn to do, and therefore he +must have fit clothes to wear, not only in which to travel but in which +to present himself suitably when he should accomplish his mission. All +these things Dickory thought of, and he picked up his cocked hat +whenever it dropped. He would have been very hungry had he not bethought +himself to fill his pockets with biscuits before he left the vessel. And +as to fresh water, there was no lack of that.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII</a></h2> + + +<h3>A GIRL WHO LAUGHED<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_27.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was towards nightfall of the day on which Dickory had escaped from +the pirates at the spring that he found himself on a piece of high +ground in an open place in the forest, and here he determined to spend +the night. With his dirk he cut a quantity of palmetto leaves and made +himself a very comfortable bed, on which he was soon asleep, fearing no +pirates.</p> + +<p>In the morning he rose early from his green couch, ate the few biscuits +which were left in his pockets, and, putting on his shoes and stockings, +started forth upon, what might have been supposed to be, an aimless +tramp.</p> + +<p>But it was not aimless. Dickory had a most wholesome dread of that +indomitable apostle of cruelty and wickedness, the pirate Blackbeard. He +believed that it would be quite possible for that savage being to tie up +his beard in tails, to blacken his face with powder, to hang more +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span>pistols from his belt and around his neck, and swear that the Revenge +should never leave her anchorage until her first lieutenant had been +captured and brought back to her. So he had an aim, and that was to get +away as far as possible from the spot where he had landed on the island.</p> + +<p>He did not believe that his pursuers, if there were any upon his track, +could have travelled in the night, for it had been pitchy black; and, as +he now had a good start of them, he thought he might go so far that they +would give up the search. Then he hoped to be able to keep himself alive +until he was reasonably sure that the Revenge had hoisted anchor and +sailed away, when it was his purpose to make his way back to the spring +and wait for some other vessel which would take him away.</p> + +<p>With his shoes on he travelled more easily, although not so swiftly, and +after an hour of very rough walking he heard a sound which made him stop +instantly and listen. At first he thought it might be the wind in the +trees, but soon his practised ear told him that it was the sound of the +surf upon the beach. Without the slightest hesitation, he made his way +as quickly as possible towards the sound of the sea.</p> + +<p>In less than half an hour he found himself upon a stretch of sand which +extended from the forest to the sea, and upon which the waves were +throwing themselves in long, crested lines. With a cry of joy he ran out +upon the beach, and with <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span>outstretched arms he welcomed the sea as if it +had been an old and well-tried friend.</p> + +<p>But Dickory's gratitude and joy had nothing to found itself upon. The +sea might far better have been his enemy than his friend, for if he had +thought about it, the sandy beach would have been the road by which a +portion of the pirate's men would have marched to cut off his flight, or +they would have accomplished the same end in boats.</p> + +<p>But Dickory thought of no enemy and his heart was cheered. He pressed on +along the beach. The walking was so much better now that he made good +progress, and the sun had not reached its zenith when he found himself +on the shore of a small stream which came down from some higher land in +the interior and here poured itself into the sea. He walked some +distance by this stream, in order to get some water which might be free +from brackishness, and then, with very little trouble, he crossed it. +Before him was a knoll of moderate height, and covered with low foliage. +Mounting this, he found that he had an extended view over the interior +of the island. In the background there stretched a wide savanna, and at +the distance of about half a mile he saw, very near a little cluster of +trees, a thin column of smoke. His eyes rounded and he stared and +stared. He now perceived, from behind the leaves, the end of a thatched +roof.</p> + +<p>"People!" Dickory exclaimed, and his heart <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span>beat fast with joy. Why his +heart should be joyful he could not have told himself except that there +was no earthly reason to believe that the persons who were making that +fire near that thatched-roof house were pirates. To go to this house, +whatever it might be, to take his chances there instead of remaining +alone in the wide forest, was our young man's instant determination. But +before he started there was something else he thought of. He took off +his coat, and with a bunch of leaves he brushed it. Then he arranged the +plumes of his hat and brushed some mud from them, gave himself a general +shake, and was ready to make a start. All this by a fugitive pursued by +savage pirates on a desert island! But Dickory was a young man, and he +wore the uniform of a naval officer.</p> + +<p>After a brisk walk, which was somewhat longer than he had supposed it +would be, Dickory reached the house behind the trees. At a short +distance burned the fire whose smoke he had seen. Over the fire hung an +iron pot. Oh, blessed pot! A gentle breeze blew from the fire towards +Dickory, and from the heavenly odour which was borne upon it he knew +that something good to eat was cooking in that pot.</p> + +<p>A man came quickly from behind the house. He was tall, with a beard a +little gray, and his scanty attire was of the most nondescript fashion. +With amazement upon his face, he spoke to Dickory in English.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span>"What, sir," he cried, "has a man-of-war touched at this island?"</p> + +<p>Dickory could not help smiling, for the man's countenance told him how +he had been utterly astounded, and even stupefied, by the sight of a +gentleman in naval uniform in the interior of that island, an almost +desert region.</p> + +<p>"No man-of-war has touched here," said Dickory, "and I don't belong to +one. I wear these clothes because I am compelled to do so, having no +others. Yesterday afternoon I escaped from some pirates who stopped for +water, and since leaving them I have made my way to this spot."</p> + +<p>The man stepped forth quickly and stretched out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Bless you! Bless you!" he cried. "You are the first human being, other +than my family, that I have seen for two years."</p> + +<p>A little girl now came from behind the house, and when her eyes fell +upon Dickory and his cocked hat she screamed with terror and ran +indoors. A woman appeared at the door, evidently the man's wife. She had +a pleasant face, but her clothes riveted Dickory's attention. It would +be impossible to describe them even if one were gazing upon them. It +will be enough to say that they covered her. Her amazement more than +equalled that of her husband; she stood and stared, but could not speak.</p> + +<p>"From the spring at the end of the island," <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span>cried the man, "to this +house since yesterday afternoon! I have always supposed that no one +could get here from the spring by land. I call that way impassable. You +are safe here, sir, I am sure. Pirates would not follow very far through +those forests and morasses; they would be afraid they would never get +back to their ship. But I will find out for certain if you have reason, +sir, to fear pursuit by boat or otherwise."</p> + +<p>And then, stepping around to the other end of the house, he called, +"Lucilla!"</p> + +<p>"You are hungry, sir," said the woman; "presently you shall share our +meal, which is almost cooked."</p> + +<p>Now the man returned.</p> + +<p>"This is not a time for questions, sir," he said, "either from you or +from us. You must eat and you must rest, then we can talk. We shall not +any of us apologize for our appearance, and you will not expect it when +you have heard our story. But I can assure you, sir, that we do not look +nearly so strange to you as you appear to us. Never before, sir, did I +see in this climate, and on shore, a man attired in such fashion."</p> + +<p>Dickory smiled. "I will tell you the tale of it," he said, "when we have +eaten; I admit that I am famished."</p> + +<p>The man was now called away, and when he returned he said to Dickory: +"Fear nothing, sir; your ship is no longer at the anchorage by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span>the +spring. She has sailed away, wisely concluding, I suppose, that pursuit +of you would be folly, and even madness."</p> + +<p>The dinner was an exceedingly plain one, spread upon a rude table under +a tree. The little girl, who had overcome her fear of "the soldier" as +she considered him, made one of the party.</p> + +<p>During the meal Dickory briefly told his story, confining it to a mere +statement of his escape from the pirates.</p> + +<p>"Blackbeard!" exclaimed the man. "Truly you did well to get away from +him, no matter into what forests you plunged or upon what desert island +you lost yourself. At any moment he might have turned upon you and cut +you to pieces to amuse himself. I have heard the most horrible stories +of Blackbeard."</p> + +<p>"He treated me very well," said Dickory, "but I know from his own words +that he reserved me for a most horrible fate."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed the man, "and he told you? He is indeed a demon!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dickory, "he said over and over again that he was going to +take me to England to marry me to his daughter."</p> + +<p>At this the wife could not refrain from a smile. "Matrimony is not +generally considered a horrible fate," said she; "perhaps his daughter +may be a most comely and estimable young person. Girls do not always +resemble their fathers."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span>"Do not mention it," exclaimed Dickory, with a shudder; "that was one +reason that I ran away; I preferred any danger from man or beast to that +he was taking me to."</p> + +<p>"He is engaged to be married," thought the woman; "it is easy enough to +see that."</p> + +<p>"Now tell me your story, I pray you," said Dickory. "But first, I would +like very much to know how you found out that Blackbeard's ship was not +at her anchorage?"</p> + +<p>"That's a simple thing," said the man. "Of course you did not observe, +for you could not, that from its eastern point where lies the spring, +this island stretches in a long curve to the south, reaching northward +again about this spot. Consequently, there is a little bay to the east +of us, across which we can see the anchoring ground of such ships as may +stop here for water. Your way around the land curve of the island was a +long one, but the distance straight across the bay is but a few miles. +Upon a hill not far from here there is a very tall tree, which overtops +all the other trees, and to the upper branches of this tree my daughter, +who is a great climber, frequently ascends with a small glass, and is +thus able to report if there is a vessel at the anchorage."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Dickory, "that little girl?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" said the man; "it is my other daughter, who is a grown young +woman."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span>"She is not here now," said the mother. And this piece of unnecessary +information was given in tones which might indicate that the young lady +had stepped around to visit a neighbour.</p> + +<p>"It is important," said the man, "that I should know if vessels have +anchored here, for if they be merchantmen I sometimes do business with +them."</p> + +<p>"Business!" said Dickory. "That sounds extremely odd. Pray tell me how +you came to be here."</p> + +<p>"My name is Mander," said the other, "and about two years ago I was on +my way from England to Barbadoes, where, with my wife and two girls, I +expected to settle. We were captured by a pirate ship and marooned upon +this island. I will say, to the pirate captain's credit, that he was a +good sort of man considering his profession. He sailed across the bay on +purpose to find a suitable place to land us, and he left with us some +necessary articles, such as axes and tools, kitchen utensils, and a gun +with some ammunition. Then he sailed away, leaving us here, and here we +have since lived. Under the circumstances, we have no right to complain, +for had we been taken by an ordinary pirate it is likely that our bones +would now be lying at the bottom of the ocean.</p> + +<p>"Here I have worked hard and have made myself a home, such as it is. +There are wild <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span>cattle upon the distant savannas, and I trap game and +birds, cultivate the soil to a certain extent, and if we had clothes I +might say we would be in better circumstances than many a respectable +family in England. Sometimes when a merchantman anchors here and I have +hides or anything else which we can barter for things we need, I row +over the bay in a canoe which I have made, and have thus very much +bettered our condition. But in no case have I been able to provide my +family with suitable clothes."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not get some of these merchant ships to carry you away?" +asked Dickory.</p> + +<p>The man shook his head. "There is no place," he said sadly, "to which I +can in reason ask a ship to carry me and my family. We have no money, no +property whatever. In any other place I would be far poorer than I am +here. My children are not uneducated; my wife and I have done our best +for them in that respect, and we have some books with us. So, as you +see, it would be rash in me to leave a home which, rude as it is, +shelters and supports my family, to go as paupers and strangers to some +other land."</p> + +<p>The wife heaved a sigh. "But poor Lucilla!" she said. "It is dreadful +that she should be forced to grow up here."</p> + +<p>"Lucilla?" asked Dickory.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," she said, "my eldest daughter. But she is not here now."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span>Dickory thought that it was somewhat odd that he should be again +informed of a fact which he knew very well, but he made no remarks upon +the subject.</p> + +<p>Still wearing his cocked hat—for he had nothing else with which to +shield his head from the sun—and with his uniform coat on, for he had +not yet an opportunity of ripping from it the letter he carried, and +this he would not part from—Dickory roamed about the little settlement. +Mander was an industrious and thrifty man. His garden, his buildings, +and his surroundings showed that.</p> + +<p>Walking past a clump of low bushes, Dickory was startled by a laugh—a +hearty laugh—the laugh of a girl. Looking quickly around, he saw, +peering above the tops of the bushes, the face of the girl who had +laughed.</p> + +<p>"It is too funny!" she said, as his eyes fell upon her. "I never saw +anything so funny in all my life. A man in regimentals in this weather +and upon a desert island. You look as if you had marched faster than +your army, and that you had lost it in the forest."</p> + +<p>Dickory smiled. "You ought not to laugh at me," he said, "for these +clothes are really a great misfortune. If I could change them for +something cool I should be more than delighted."</p> + +<p>"You might take off your heavy coat," said she; "you need not be on +parade here. And instead of that awful hat, I can make you one <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span>of long +grass. Do you see the one I have on? Isn't that a good hat? I have one +nearly finished which I am making for my father; you may have that."</p> + +<p>Dickory would most gladly have taken off his coat if, without +observation, he could have transferred his sacred letter to some other +part of his clothes, but he must wait for that. He accepted instantly, +however, the offer of the hat.</p> + +<p>"You seem to know all about me," he said; "did you hear me tell my +story?"</p> + +<p>"Every word of it," said she, "and it is the queerest story I ever +heard. Think of a pirate carrying a man away to marry him to his +daughter!"</p> + +<p>"But why don't you come from behind that bush and talk to me?"</p> + +<p>"I can't do it," said she, "I am dressed funnier than you are. Now I am +going to make your hat." And in an instant she had departed.</p> + +<p>Dickory now strolled on, and when he returned he seated himself in the +shade near the house. The letter of Captain Vince was taken from his +coat-lining and secured in one of his breeches pockets; his heavy coat +and waistcoat lay upon the ground beside him, with the cocked hat placed +upon them. As he leaned back against the tree and inhaled the fragrant +breeze which came to him from the forest, Dickory was a more cheerful +young man than he had been for many, many days. He thought of this +himself, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span>wondered how a man, carrying with him his sentence of +lifelong misery, could lean against a tree and take pleasure in +anything, be it a hospitable welcome, a sense of freedom from danger, a +fragrant breeze, or the face of a pretty girl behind a bush. But these +things did please him; he could not help it. And when presently came +Mrs. Mander, bringing him a light grass hat fresh from the +manufacturer's hands, he took it and put it on with more evident +pleasure than the occasion seemed to demand.</p> + +<p>"Your daughter is truly an artist," said Dickory.</p> + +<p>"She does many things well," said the mother, "because necessity compels +her and all of us to learn to work in various ways."</p> + +<p>"Can I not thank her?" said Dickory.</p> + +<p>"No," the mother answered, "she is not here now."</p> + +<p>Dickory had begun to hate that self-evident statement.</p> + +<p>"She's looking out for ships; her pride is a little touched that she +missed Blackbeard's vessel yesterday."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said Dickory, with a movement as if he would like to make a +step in the direction of some tall tree upon a hill.</p> + +<p>"No," said Mrs. Mander, "I cannot ask you to join my daughter. I am +compelled to state that her dress is not a suitable one in which to +appear before a stranger."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span>"Excuse me," said Dickory; "and I beg, madam, that you will convey to +her my thanks for making me such an excellent hat."</p> + +<p>A little later Mander joined Dickory. "I am sorry, sir," said he, "that +I am not able to present you to my daughter Lucilla. It is a great grief +to us that her attire compels her to deny herself other company than +that of her family. I really believe, sir, that it is Lucilla's +deprivations on this island which form at present my principal +discontent with my situation. But we all enjoy good health, we have +enough to eat, and shelter over us, and should not complain."</p> + +<p>As soon as he was at liberty to do so, Dickory walked by the hedge of +low bushes, and there, above it, was the bright face, with the pretty +grass hat.</p> + +<p>"I was waiting for you," said she. "I wanted to see how that hat fitted, +and I think it does nicely. And I wanted to tell you that I have been +looking out for ships, but have not seen one. I don't mean by that that +I want you to go away almost as soon as you have come, but of course, if +a merchant ship should anchor here, it would be dreadful for you not to +know."</p> + +<p>"I am not sure," said Dickory gallantly, "that I am in a hurry for a +ship. It is truly very pleasant here."</p> + +<p>"What makes it pleasant?" said the girl.</p> + +<p>Dickory hesitated for a moment. "The breeze from the forest," said he.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span>She laughed. "It is charming," she said, "but there are so many places +where there is just as good a breeze, or perhaps better. How I would +like to go to some one of them! To me this island is lonely and doleful. +Every time I look over the sea for a ship I hope that one will come that +can carry us away."</p> + +<p>"Then," said Dickory, "I wish a ship would come to-morrow and take us +all away together."</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "As my father told you," said she, "we have no place +to go to."</p> + +<p>Dickory thought a good deal about the sad condition of the family of +this worthy marooner. He thought of it even after he had stretched +himself for the night upon the bed of palmetto leaves beneath the tree +against which he had leaned when he wondered how he could be so cheerful +under the shadow of the sad fate which was before him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>LUCILLA'S SHIP<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_28.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>As soon as Dickory had left off his cocked hat and his gold-embroidered +coat, the little girl Lena had ceased to be afraid of him, and the next +morning she came to him, seated lonely—for this was a busy +household—and asked him if he would like to take a walk. So, hand in +hand, they wandered away. Presently they entered a path which led +through the woods.</p> + +<p>"This is the way my sister goes to her lookout tree," said the little +girl. "Would you like to see that tree?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes!" said Dickory, and he spoke the truth.</p> + +<p>"She goes up to the very top," said Lena, "to look for ships. I would +never do that; I'd rather never see a ship than to climb to the top of +such a tree. I'll show it to you in a minute; we're almost there."</p> + +<p>At a little distance from the rest of the forest <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span>and upon a bluff which +overlooked a stretch of lowland, and beyond that the bay, stood a tall +tree with spreading branches and heavy foliage.</p> + +<p>"Up in the top of that is where she sits," said the child, "and spies +out for ships. That's what she's doing now. Don't you see her up there?"</p> + +<p>"Your sister in the tree!" exclaimed Dickory. And his first impulse was +to retire, for it had been made quite plain to him that he was not +expected to present himself to the young lady of the house, should she +be on the ground or in the air. But he did not retire. A voice came to +him from the tree-top, and as he looked upward he saw the same bright +face which had greeted him over the top of the bushes. Below it was a +great bunch of heavy leaves.</p> + +<p>"So you have come to call on me, have you?" said the lady in the tree. +"I am glad to see you, but I'm sorry that I cannot ask you to come +upstairs. I am not receiving."</p> + +<p>"He could not come up if he wanted to," said Lena; "he couldn't climb a +tree like that."</p> + +<p>"And he doesn't want to," cried the nymph of the bay-tree. "I have been +up here all the morning," said she, "looking for ships, but not one have +I seen."</p> + +<p>"Isn't that a tiresome occupation?" asked Dickory.</p> + +<p>"Not altogether," she said. "The branches up here make a very nice seat, +and I nearly al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span>ways bring a book with me. You will wonder how we get +books, but we had a few with us when we were marooned, and since that my +father has always asked for books when he has an opportunity of trading +off his hides. But I have read them all over and over again, and if it +were not for the ships which I expect to come here and anchor, I am +afraid I should grow melancholy."</p> + +<p>"What sort of ships do you look for?" asked Dickory, who was gazing +upward with so much interest that he felt a little pain in the back of +his neck, and who could not help thinking of a framed engraving which +hung in his mother's little parlour, and which represented some angels +composed of nothing but heads and wings. He saw no wings under the head +of the charming young creature in the tree, but there was no reason +which he could perceive why she should not be an angel marooned upon a +West Indian island.</p> + +<p>"There are a great many of them," said she, "and they're all alike in +one way—they never come. But there's one of them in particular which I +look for and look for and look for, and which I believe that some day I +shall really see. I have thought about that ship so often and I have +dreamed about it so often that I almost know it must come."</p> + +<p>"Is it an English ship?" asked Dickory, speaking with some effort, for +he found that the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span>girl's voice came down much more readily than his +went up.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," said she, "but I suppose it must be, for otherwise I +should not understand what the people on board should say to me. It is a +large ship, strong and able to defend itself against any pirates. It is +laden with all sorts of useful and valuable things, and among these are +a great many trunks and boxes filled with different kinds of clothes. +Also, there's a great deal of money kept in a box by itself, and is in +charge of an agent who is bringing it out to my father, supposing him to +be now settled in Barbadoes. This money is generally a legacy for my +father from a distant relative who has recently died. On this ship there +are so many delightful things that I cannot even begin to mention them."</p> + +<p>"And where is it going to?" asked Dickory.</p> + +<p>"That I don't know exactly. Sometimes I think that it is going to the +island of Barbadoes, where we originally intended to settle; but then I +imagine that there is some pleasanter place than Barbadoes, and if +that's the case the ship is going there."</p> + +<p>"There can be no pleasanter place than Barbadoes," cried Dickory. "I +come from that island, where I was born; there is no land more lovely in +all the West Indies."</p> + +<p>"You come from Barbadoes?" cried the girl, "and it really is a pleasant +island?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span>"Most truly it is," said he, "and the great dream of my life is to get +back there." Then he stopped. Was it really the dream of his life to get +back there? That would depend upon several things.</p> + +<p>"If, then, you tell me the truth, my ship is bound for Barbadoes. And if +she should go, would you like to go there with us?"</p> + +<p>Dickory hesitated. "Not directly," said he. "I would first touch at +Jamaica."</p> + +<p>For some moments there was no answer from the tree-top, and then came +the question: "Is it a girl who lives there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dickory unguardedly, "but also I have a mother in Jamaica."</p> + +<p>"Indeed," said she, "a mother! Well, we might stop there and take the +mother with us to Barbadoes. Would the girl want to go too?"</p> + +<p>Dickory bent his head. "Alas!" said he, "I do not know."</p> + +<p>Then spoke the little Lena. "I would not bother about any particular +place to go to," said she. "I'd be so glad to go anywhere that isn't +here. But it is not a real ship, you know."</p> + +<p>"I don't think I will take you," called down Lucilla. "I don't want too +many passengers, especially women I don't know. But I often think there +will be a gentleman passenger—one who really wants to go to Barbadoes +and nowhere else. Sometimes he is one kind of a gentleman and sometimes +another, but he is never a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>soldier or a sailor, but rather one who +loves to stay at home. And now, sir, I think I must take my glass and +try to pick out a ship from among the spots on the far distant waves."</p> + +<p>"Come on," said Lena, "do you like to fish! Because if you do, I can +take you to a good place."</p> + +<p>The rest of the day Dickory spent with Mr. Mander and his wife, who were +intelligent and pleasant people. They talked of their travels, their +misfortunes and their blessings, and Dickory yearned to pour out his +soul to them, but he could not do so. His woes did not belong to himself +alone; they were not for the ears of strangers. He made up his mind what +he would do. Until the morrow he would stay as a visitor with these most +hospitable people, then he would ask for work. He would collect +firewood, he would hunt, he would fish, he would do anything. And here +he would support himself until there came some merchant ship bound +southward which would carry him away. If the Mander family were anyway +embarrassed or annoyed by his presence here, he would make a camp at a +little distance and live there by himself. Perhaps the lady of the tree +would kindly send him word if the ship he was looking for should come.</p> + +<p>It was about the middle of the afternoon, and Lena had dropped asleep +beneath the tree where Dickory and her parents were conversing, when +suddenly there rushed upon the little group a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span>most surprising figure. +At the first flash of thought Dickory supposed that a boy from the skies +had dropped among them, but in an instant he recognised the face he had +seen above the bushes. It was Lucilla, the daughter of the house! Upon +her head was a little straw hat, and she wore a loose tunic and a pair +of sailor's trousers, which had been cut off and were short enough to +show that her feet and ankles were bare. Around her waist she had a belt +of skins, from which dangled a string of crimson sea-beans. Her eyes +were wide open, her face was pale, and she was trembling with +excitement.</p> + +<p>"What do you think!" she cried, not caring who was there or who might +look at her. "There's a ship at the spring, and there's a boat rowing +across the bay. A boat with four men in it!"</p> + +<p>All started to their feet.</p> + +<p>"A boat," cried Mander, "with four men in it? Run, my dear, to the cave; +press into its depths as far as you can. There is nothing there to be +afraid of, and no matter how frightened you are, press into its most +distant depths. You, sir, will remain with me, or would you rather +escape? If it is a pirate ship, it may be Blackbeard who has returned."</p> + +<p>"Not so," cried Lucilla, "it is a merchant vessel, and they are making +straight for the mouth of our stream."</p> + +<p>"I will stay here with you," said Dickory, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span>"and stand by you, unless I +may help your family seek the cave you speak of."</p> + +<p>"No, no," said Mander, "they don't need you, and if you will do so we +will go down to the beach and meet these men; that will be better than +to have them search for us. They will know that people live here, for my +canoe is drawn up on the beach."</p> + +<p>"Is this safe?" cried Dickory; "would it not be better for you to go +with your family and hide with them? I will meet the men in the boat."</p> + +<p>"No, no," said Mander; "if their vessel is no pirate, I do not fear +them. But I will not have them here."</p> + +<p>Now, after Mander had embraced his family, they hurried away in tears, +the girl Lucilla casting not one glance at Dickory. Impressed by the +impulse that it was the proper thing to do, Dickory put on his coat and +waistcoat and clapped upon his head his high cocked hat. Then he rapidly +followed Mander to the beach, which they reached before the boat touched +the sand.</p> + +<p>When the man in the stern of the boat, which was now almost within +hailing distance, saw the two figures run down upon the beach, he spoke +to the oarsmen and they all stopped and looked around. The stop was +occasioned by the sight of Dickory in his uniform; and this, under the +circumstances, was enough to stop any boat's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span>crew. Then they fell to +again and pulled ashore. When the boat was beached one of its occupants, +a roughly dressed man, sprang ashore and walked cautiously towards +Mander; then he gave a great shout.</p> + +<p>"Heigho, heigho!" he cried, "and Mander, this is you!"</p> + +<p>Then there was great hand-shaking and many words.</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, sir," said the man, raising his hat to Dickory, "it is now +more than two years since I have seen my friend here, when he was +marooned by pirates. We were all on the same merchantman, but the pirate +took me along, being short of hands. I got away at last, sir" (all the +time addressing Dickory instead of Mander, this being respect to his +rank), "and shipping on board that brig, sir, I begged it of the captain +that he would drop anchor here and take in water, although I cannot say +it was needed, and give me a chance to land and see if my old friend be +yet alive. I knew the spot, having well noted it when Mander and his +family were marooned."</p> + +<p>"And this is Lucilla's ship," said Dickory to himself. But to the sailor +he said: "This is a great day for your friend and his family. But you +must not lift your hat to me, for I am no officer."</p> + +<p>For a long time, at least it seemed so to Dickory, who wanted to run to +the cave and tell the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span>good news, they all stood together on the sands +and talked and shook hands and laughed and were truly thankful, the men +who had come in the boat as much so as those who were found on the +island. It was agreed, and there was no discussion on this point, that +the Mander family should be carried away in the brig, which was an +English vessel bound for Jamaica, but the happy Mander would not ask any +of the boat's crew to visit him at his home. Instead, he besought them +to return to their vessel and bring back some clothes for women, if any +such should be included in her cargo.</p> + +<p>"My family," said he, "are not in fit condition to venture themselves +among well-clad people. They are, indeed, more like savages than am I +myself."</p> + +<p>"I doubt," said Mander's friend, "if the ship carries goods of that +description, but perhaps the captain might let you have a bale of cotton +cloth, although I suppose—" and here he looked a little embarrassed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we can buy it," cried Dickory, taking some pieces of gold from his +pocket, being coin with which Blackbeard had furnished him, swearing +that his first lieutenant could not feel like a true officer without +money in his pocket; "take this and fetch the cloth if nothing better +can be had."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," cried Mander; "my wife and daughters can soon fashion it +into shape."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span>"And," added Dickory, reflecting a little and remembering the general +hues of Lucilla's face, "if there be choice in colours, let the cloth be +pink."</p> + +<p>When Mander and Dickory reached the house they did not stop, but hurried +on towards the cave, both of them together, for each thought only of the +great joy they were taking with them.</p> + +<p>"Come out! Come out!" shouted Mander, as he ran, and before they reached +the cave its shuddering inmates had hurried into the light. When the +cries and the tears and the embraces were over, Lucilla first looked at +Dickory. She started, her face flushed, and she was about to draw back; +then she stopped, and advancing held out her hand.</p> + +<p>"It cannot be helped," she said; "anyway, you have seen me before, and I +suppose it doesn't matter. I'm a sailor boy, and have to own up to it. I +did hope you would think of me as a young lady, but we are all so happy +now that that doesn't matter. Oh, father!" she cried, "it can't be; we +are not fit to be saved; we must perish here in our wretched rags."</p> + +<p>"Not so," cried Dickory, with a bow; "I've already bought you a gown, +and I hope it is pink."</p> + +<p>As they all hurried away, the tale of the hoped-for clothes was told; +and although Mrs. Mander wondered how gowns were to be made <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>while a +merchantman waited, she said nothing of her doubts, and they all ran +gleefully. Lucilla and Dickory being the fleetest led the others, and +Dickory said: "Now that I have seen you thus, I shall be almost sorry if +that ship can furnish you with common clothes, what you wear becomes you +so."</p> + +<p>"Oho!" cried Lucilla, "that's fine flattery, sir; but I am glad you said +it, for that speech has made me feel more like a woman than I have felt +since I first put on this sailor's toggery."</p> + +<p>In the afternoon the boat returned, Mander and Dickory watching on the +beach. When it grounded, Davids, Mander's friend, jumped on shore, +bearing in his arms a pile of great coarse sacks. These he threw upon +the sand and, handing to Dickory the gold pieces he had given him, said: +"The captain sends word that he has no time to look over any goods to +give or to sell, but he sends these sacks, out of which the women can +fashion themselves gowns, and so come aboard. Then the ship shall be +searched for stuffs which will suit their purposes and which they can +make at their leisure."</p> + +<p>It was towards the close of the afternoon that all of the Mander family +and Dickory came down to the boat which was waiting for them.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Dickory, as he and Lucilla stood together on the +sand, "that in that gown of gray, with the white sleeves, and the red +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>cord around your waist, you please me better than even you did when you +wore your sailor garb?"</p> + +<p>"And what matters it, sir, whether I please you or not?"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX</a></h2> + + +<h3>CAPTAIN ICHABOD<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_29.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Kate Bonnet was indeed in a sad case. She had sailed from Kingston with +high hopes and a gay heart, and before she left she had written to +Master Martin Newcombe to express her joy that her father had given up +his unlawful calling and to say how she was going to sail after him, +fold him in her forgiving arms, and bring him back to Jamaica, where she +and her uncle would see to it that his past sins were forgiven on +account of his irresponsible mind, and where, for the rest of his life, +he would tread the paths of peace and probity. In this letter she had +not yielded to the earnest entreaty which was really the object and soul +of Master Newcombe's epistle. Many kind things she said to so kind a +friend, but to his offer to make her the queen of his life she made no +answer. She knew she was his very queen, but she would not yet consent +to be invested with the royal robes and with the crown.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span>And when she had reached Belize, how proudly happy she had been! She +had seen her father, no longer an outlaw, honest though in mean +condition, earning his bread by honourable labour. Then, with a still +greater pride, she had seen him clad as a noble gentleman and bearing +himself with dignity and high complacence. What a figure he would have +made among the fine folks who were her uncle's friends in Kingston and +in Spanish Town!</p> + +<p>But all this was over now. With his own hand he had told her that once +again she was a pirate's daughter. She went below to her cabin, where, +with wet cheeks, Dame Charter attended her.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine was angry, intensely angry. Such a shameful, wicked trick +had never before been played upon a loving daughter. There were no words +in which to express his most justifiable wrath. Again he went to the +town to learn more, but there was nothing more to learn except that some +people said they had reason to believe that Bonnet had gone to follow +Blackbeard. From things they had heard they supposed that the vessel +which had sailed away in the night had gone to offer herself as consort +to the Revenge; to rob and burn in the company of that notorious ship.</p> + +<p>There was no satisfaction in this news for the heart of the good +merchant, and when he returned to the brig and sought his niece's <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span>cabin +he had no words with which to cheer her. All he could do was to tell her +the little he had learned and to listen to her supplications.</p> + +<p>"Oh, uncle," she exclaimed, "we must follow him, we must take him, we +must hold him! I care not where he is, even if it be in the company of +the dreadful Blackbeard! We must take him, we must hold him, and this +time we must carry him away, no matter whether he will or not. I believe +there must be some spark of feeling, even in the heart of a bloody +pirate, which will make him understand a daughter's love for her father, +and he will let me have mine. Oh, uncle! we were very wrong. When he was +here with us we should have taken him then; we should have shut him up; +we should have sailed with him to Kingston."</p> + +<p>All this was very depressing to the soul of Kate's loving uncle, for how +was he to sail after her father and take him and hold him and carry him +away? He went away to talk to the captain of the Belinda, but that tall +seaman shook his head. His vessel was not ready yet to sail, being much +delayed by the flight of Bonnet. And, moreover, he vowed that, although +he was as bold a seaman as any, he would never consent to set out upon +such an errand as the following of Blackbeard. It was terrifying enough +to be in the same bay with him, even though he were engaged in business +with the pirate, for no one <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span>knew what strange freak might at any time +suggest itself to the soul of that most bloody roisterer; but as to +following him, it was like walking into an alligator's jaws. He would +take his passengers back to Kingston, but he could not sail upon any +wild cruises, nor could he leave Belize immediately.</p> + +<p>But Kate took no notice of all this when her uncle had told it to her. +She did not wish to go back to Jamaica; she did not wish to wait at +Belize. It was the clamorous longing of her heart to go after her father +and to find him wherever he might be, and she did not care to consider +anything else.</p> + +<p>Dame Charter added also her supplications. Her boy was with Blackbeard, +and she wished to follow the pirate's ship. Even if she should never see +Major Bonnet—whom she loathed and despised, though never saying so—she +would find her Dickory. She, too, believed that there must be some spark +of feeling even in a bloody pirate's heart which would make him +understand the love of a mother for her son, and he would let her have +her boy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine sat brooding on the deck. The righteous anger kindled by +the conduct of his brother-in-law, and his grief for the poor stricken +women, sobbing in the cabin, combined together to throw him into the +most dolorous state of mind, which was aggravated by the knowledge that +he could do nothing except to wait until <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span>the Belinda sailed back to +Jamaica and to go to Jamaica in her.</p> + +<p>As the unhappy merchant sat thus, his face buried in his hands, a small +boat came alongside and a passenger mounted to the deck. This person, +after asking a few questions, approached Mr. Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>"I have come, sir, to see you," he said. "I am Captain Ichabod of the +sloop Restless."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine looked up in surprise. "That is a pirate ship," said he.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the other, "I'm a pirate."</p> + +<p>The newcomer was a tall young man, with long dark hair and with +well-made features and a certain diffidence in his manner which did not +befit his calling.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine rose. This was his first private interview with a +professional sea-robber, and he did not know exactly how to demean +himself; but as his visitor's manner was quiet, and as he came on board +alone, it was not to be supposed that his intentions were offensive.</p> + +<p>"And you wish to see me, sir?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Captain Ichabod, "I thought I'd come over and talk to you. I +don't know you, bedad, but I know all about you, and I saw you and your +family when you came to town to visit that old fox, bedad, that +sugar-planter that Captain Blackbeard used to call Sir Nightcap. Not a +bad joke, either, bedad. I have heard of a good many dirty, mean things +that people in my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span>line of business have done, but, bedad, I never did +hear of any captain who was dirty and mean to his own family. Fine +people, too, who came out to do the right thing by him, after he had +been cleaned out, bedad, by one of his 'Brothers of the Coast.' A rare +sort of brother, bedad, don't you say so?"</p> + +<p>"You are right, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "in what you say of the wild +conduct of my brother-in-law Bonnet. It pleases me, sir, to know that +you condemn it."</p> + +<p>"Condemn! I should say so, bedad," answered Captain Ichabod; "and I came +over here to say to you—that is, just to mention, not knowing, of +course, what you'd think about it, bedad—that I'm goin' to start on a +cruise to-morrow. That is, as soon as I can get in my water and some +stores, bedad—water anyway. And if you and your ladies might happen to +fancy it, bedad, I'd be glad to take you along. I've heard that you're +in a bad case here, the captain of this brig being unable or quite +unwilling to take you where you want to go."</p> + +<p>"But where are you going, sir?" in great surprise.</p> + +<p>"Anywhere," said Captain Ichabod, "anywhere you'd like to go. I'm +starting out on a cruise, and a cruise with me means anywhere. And my +opinion is, sir, that if you want to come up with that crack-brained +sugar-planter, you'd better follow Blackbeard; and the best place to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span>find him will be on the Carolina coast; that's his favourite +hunting-ground, bedad, and I expect the sugar-planter is with him by +this time."</p> + +<p>"But will not that be dangerous, sir?" asked Mr. Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said the other. "I know Blackbeard, and we have played many a +game together. You and your family need not have anything to do with it. +I'll board the Revenge, and you may wager, bedad, that I'll bring Sir +Nightcap back to you by the ear."</p> + +<p>"But there's another," said Delaplaine; "there's a young man belonging +to my party—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I know," said the other, "the young fellow Blackbeard took +away with him. Clapped a cocked hat on him, bedad! That was a good joke! +I will bring him too. One old man, one young man—I'll fetch 'em both. +Then I'll take you all where you want to go to. That is, as near as I +can get to it, bedad. Now, you tell your ladies about this, and I'll +have my sloop cleaned up a bit, and as soon as I can get my water on +board I'm ready to hoist anchor."</p> + +<p>"But look you, sir," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, "this is a very important +matter, and cannot be decided so quickly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't mention it, don't mention it," said Captain Ichabod; "just +you tell your ladies all about it, and I'll be ready to sail almost any +time to-morrow."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span>"But, sir—" cried the merchant.</p> + +<p>"Very good," said the pirate captain, "you talk it over. I'm going to +the town now and I'll row out to you this afternoon and get your +instructions."</p> + +<p>And with this he got over the side.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine said nothing of this visit, but waited on deck until the +captain came on board, and then many were the questions he asked about +the pirate Ichabod.</p> + +<p>"Well, well!" the captain exclaimed, "that's just like him; he's a rare +one. Ichabod is not his name, of course, and I'm told he belongs to a +good English family—a younger son, and having taken his inheritance, he +invested it in a sloop and turned pirate. He has had some pretty good +fortune, I hear, in that line, but it hasn't profited him much, for he +is a terrible gambler, and all that he makes by his prizes he loses at +cards, so he is nearly always poor. Blackbeard sometimes helps him, so I +have heard—which he ought to do, for the old pirate has won bags of +money from him—but he is known as a good fellow, and to be trusted. I +have heard of his sailing a long way back to Belize to pay a gambling +debt he owed, he having captured a merchantman in the meantime."</p> + +<p>"Very honourable, indeed," remarked Mr. Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>"As pirates go, a white crow," said the other. "Now, sir, if you and +your ladies want <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span>to go to Blackbeard, and a rare desire is that, I +swear, you cannot do better than let Captain Ichabod take you. You will +be safe, I am sure of that, and there is every reason to think he will +find his man."</p> + +<p>When Mr. Delaplaine went below with his extraordinary news, Dame Charter +turned pale and screamed.</p> + +<p>"Sail in a pirate ship?" she cried. "I've seen the men belonging to one +of them, and as to going on board and sailing with them, I'd rather die +just where I am."</p> + +<p>To the good Dame's astonishment and that of Mr. Delaplaine, Kate spoke +up very promptly. "But you cannot die here, Dame Charter; and if you +ever want to see your son again you have got to go to him. Which is also +the case with me and my father. And, as there is no other way for us to +go, I say, let us accept this man's offer if he be what my uncle thinks +he is. After all, it might be as safe for us on board his ship as to be +on a merchantman and be captured by pirates, which would be likely +enough in those regions where we are obliged to go; and so I say let us +see the man, and if he don't frighten us too much let us sail with him +and get my father and Dickory."</p> + +<p>"It would be a terrible danger, a terrible danger," said Mr. Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>"But, uncle," urged Kate, "everything is a terrible danger in the search +we're upon; let us <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span>then choose a danger that we know something about, +and which may serve our needs, rather than one of which we're ignorant +and which cannot possibly be of any good to us."</p> + +<p>It was actually the fact that the little party in the cabin had not +finished talking over this most momentous subject before they were +informed that Captain Ichabod was on deck. Up they went, Dame Charter +ready to faint. But she did not do so. When she saw the visitor she +thought it could not be the pirate captain, but some one whom he had +sent in his place. He was more soberly dressed than when he first came +on board, and his manners were even milder. The mind of Kate Bonnet was +so worked up by the trouble that had come upon her that she felt very +much as she did when she hung over the side of her father's vessel at +Bridgetown, ready to drop into the darkness and the water when the +signal should sound. She had an object now, as she had had then, and +again she must risk everything. On her second look at Captain Ichabod, +which embarrassed him very much, she was ready to trust him.</p> + +<p>"Dame Charter," she whispered, "we must do it or never see them again."</p> + +<p>So, when they had talked about it for a quarter of an hour, it was +agreed that they would sail with Captain Ichabod.</p> + +<p>When the sloop Restless made ready to sail <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span>the next day there was a +fine flurry in the harbour. Nothing of the kind had ever before happened +there. Two ladies and a most respectable old gentleman sailing away +under the skull and cross-bones! That was altogether new in the +Caribbean Sea. To those who talked to him about his quixotic expedition, +Captain Ichabod swore—and at times, as many men knew, he was a great +hand at being in earnest—that if he carried not his passengers through +their troubles and to a place of safety, the Restless, and all on board +of her, should mount to the skies in a thousand bits. Although this +alternative would not have been very comforting to said passengers if +they had known of it, it came from Captain Ichabod's heart, and showed +what sort of a man he was.</p> + +<p>Old Captain Sorby came to the Restless in a boat, and having previously +washed one hand, came on board and bade them all good-bye with great +earnestness.</p> + +<p>"You will catch him," said he to Kate, "and my advice to you is, when +you get him, hang him. That's the only way to keep him out of mischief. +But as you are his daughter, you may not like to string him up, so I say +put irons on him. If you don't he'll be playin' you some other wild +trick. He is not fit for a pirate, anyway, and he ought to be taken back +to his calves and his chickens."</p> + +<p>Kate did not resent this language; she even <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span>smiled, a little sadly. She +had a great work before her, and she could not mind trifles.</p> + +<p>None of the other pirates came on board, for they were afraid of Sorby, +and when that great man had made the round of the decks and had given +Captain Ichabod some bits of advice, he got down into his boat. The +anchor was weighed, the sails hoisted, and, amid shouts and cheers from +a dozen small boats containing some of the most terrible and bloody +sea-robbers who had ever infested the face of the waters, the Restless +sailed away: the only pirate ship which had, perhaps, ever left port +followed by blessings and goodwill; goodwill, although the words which +expressed it were curses and the men who waved their hats were +blasphemers and cut-throats.</p> + +<p>Away sailed our gentle and most respectable party, with the Jolly Roger +floating boldly high above them. Kate, looking skyward, noticed this and +took courage to bewail the fact to Captain Ichabod.</p> + +<p>He smiled. "While we're in sight of my Brethren of the Coast," he said, +"our skull and bones must wave, but when we're well out at sea we will +run up an English flag, if it please you."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX</a></h2> + + +<h3>DAME CHARTER MAKES A FRIEND<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_30.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Captain Ichabod was in high feather. He whistled, he sang, and he kept +his men cleaning things. All that he could do for the comfort of his +passengers he did, even going so far as to drop as many of his "bedads" +as possible. Whenever he had an opportunity, and these came frequently, +he talked to Mr. Delaplaine, addressing a word or two to Kate if he +thought she looked gracious. For the first day or two Dame Charter kept +below. She was afraid of the men, and did not even want to look at them +if she could help it.</p> + +<p>"But the good woman's all wrong," said Captain Ichabod to Mr. +Delaplaine; "my men would not hurt her. They're not the most tremendous +kind of pirates, anyway, for I could not afford that sort. I have often +thought that I could make more profitable voyages if I had a savager lot +of men. I'll tell you, sir, we once tried to board a big Spanish +galleon, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span>beastly foreigners beat us off, bedad, and we had a +hard time of it gettin' away. There are three or four good fellows in +the crew, tough old rascals who came with the sloop when I bought her, +but most of my men are but poor knaves, and not to be afraid of."</p> + +<p>This comfort Mr. Delaplaine kept to himself, and on the second day out, +the food which was served to them being most wretchedly cooked, Dame +Charter ventured into the galley to see if she could do anything in the +way of improvement.</p> + +<p>"I think you may eat this," she said, when she returned to Kate, "but I +don't think that anything on board is fit for you. When I went to the +kitchen, I came near dropping dead right in the doorway; that cook, +Mistress Kate, is the most terrible creature of all the pirates that +ever were born. His eyes are blistering green and his beard is all +twisted into points, with the ends stuck fast with blood, which has +never been washed off. He roars like a lion, with shining teeth, but he +speaks very fair, Mistress Kate; you would be amazed to hear how fair he +speaks. He told me, and every word he said set my teeth on edge with its +grating, that he wanted to know how I liked the meals cooked; that he +would do it right if there were things on board to do it with. Which +there are not, Mistress Kate. And when he was beatin' up that batter for +me and I asked him if he was not tired workin' so hard, he pulled <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span>up +his sleeve and showed me his arm, which was like a horse's leg, all +covered with hair, and asked me if I thought it was likely he could tear +himself with a spoon. I'm sure he would give us better food if he could, +for he leaned over and whispered to me, like a gust of wind coming in +through the door, that the captain was in a very hard case, having +lately lost everything he had at the gaming-table, and therefore had not +the money to store the ship as he would have done."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't talk about that, Dame Charter," said Kate; "if we can get +enough to eat, no matter what it is, we must be satisfied and think only +of our great joy in sailing to my father and to your Dickory."</p> + +<p>That afternoon Captain Ichabod found Kate by herself on deck, and he +made bold to sit down by her; and before he knew what he was about, he +was telling her his whole story. She listened carefully to what he said. +He touched but lightly upon his wickednesses, although they were plain +enough to any listener of sense, and bemoaned his fearful passion for +gaming, which was sure to bring him to misery one day or another.</p> + +<p>"When I have staked my vessel and have lost it," said he, "then there +will be an end of me."</p> + +<p>"But why don't you sell your vessel before you lose it," said Kate, "and +become a farmer?"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span>His eyes brightened. "I never thought of that," said he. "Bedad—excuse +me, Miss—some day when I've got a little together and can pay my men +I'll sell this sloop and buy a farm, bedad—I beg your pardon, +Miss—I'll buy a farm."</p> + +<p>Kate smiled, but it was easy to see that Captain Ichabod was in earnest.</p> + +<p>The next day Captain Ichabod came to Mr. Delaplaine and took him to one +side. "I want to speak to you," he said, "about a bit of business."</p> + +<p>"You may have noticed, sir, that we are somewhat short of provisions, +and the way of it is this. The night before we sailed, hoping to make a +bold stroke at the card-table and thereby fit out my vessel in a manner +suitable to the entertainment of a gentleman and ladies, I lost every +penny I had. I did hope that our provisions would last us a few days +longer, but I am disappointed, sir. That cook of mine, who is a +soft-hearted fellow, his neck always ready for the heel of a woman, has +thrown overboard even the few stores we had left for you, the good Dame +Charter having told him they were not fit to eat. And more, sir, even my +men are grumbling. So I thought I would speak to you and explain that it +would be necessary for us to overhaul a merchantman and replenish our +food supply. It can be done very quietly, sir, and I don't think that +even the ladies need be disturbed."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span>Mr. Delaplaine stared in amazement. "Do you mean to say," he exclaimed, +"that you want me to consent to your committing piracy for our benefit?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the captain, "that's what I suppose you would call +it; but that's my business."</p> + +<p>"Now, sir, I wish you to know that I am a Christian and a gentleman," +said Mr. Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>"That's all very true, bedad," said Captain Ichabod, "but you're also +another thing; you're a human being, and you must eat."</p> + +<p>"This is terrible," exclaimed the merchant, "that at my time of life I +should consent to a felony at sea, and to profit by it. I cannot bear to +think of the wickedness and the disgrace of it."</p> + +<p>"Most respected sir," said Ichabod, "if the fellows behave themselves +properly and don't offer to fight us, then there'll be no wickedness, +bedad. I can make a good enough show of men to frighten any ordinary +merchant crew so that not a blow need be struck. And that is what I +expect to do, sir. I would not have any disturbance before ladies, you +may be sure of that, bedad. We bear down upon a vessel; we order her to +surrender; we take what we want, and we let her go. Truly, there's no +wickedness in that! And as for the disgrace, we can all better bear that +than starve."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine looked at the pirate without a <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span>word. He could not +comprehend how a man with such a frank and honest face could thus avow +his dishonest principles. But as he gazed and wondered the thought of a +scheme flashed across the mind of the merchant, a thoroughly +business-like scheme. This bold young pirate captain might seize upon +such supplies as they were in need of, but he, Felix Delaplaine, of +Spanish Town, Jamaica, would pay for them. Thus might their necessities +be relieved and their consciences kept clean. But he said nothing of +this to Ichabod; the pirate might deem such a proceeding unprofessional +and interpose some objection. Payment would be the merchant's part of +the business, and he would attend to it himself. A look of resignation +now came over Mr. Delaplaine's face.</p> + +<p>"Captain," said he, "I must yield to your reason; it is absolutely +necessary that we shall not starve."</p> + +<p>Ichabod's face shone and he held out his hand. "Bedad, sir," he cried, +"I honour you as a bold gentleman and a kind one. I will instantly lay +my course somewhat to the eastward, and I promise you, sir, it will not +be long before we run across some of these merchant fellows. I beg you, +sir, speak to your ladies and tell them that there will be no unpleasant +commotion; we may draw our swords and make a fierce show, but, bedad, I +don't believe there'll be any fighting. We shall want so little—for I +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>would not attempt to take a regular prize with ladies on board—that +the fellows will surely deliver what we demand, the quicker to make an +end of it."</p> + +<p>"If you are perfectly sure," said Mr. Delaplaine, "that you can restrain +your men from violence, I would like to be a member of your boarding +party; it would be a rare experience for me."</p> + +<p>Now Captain Ichabod fairly shouted with delight.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Bravo!" he exclaimed; "I didn't dream, sir, that you were a man +of such a noble spirit. You shall go with us, sir. Your presence will +aid greatly in making our hoped-for capture a most orderly affair; no +one can look upon you, bedad, without knowing that you are a high-minded +and honourable man, and would not take a box or case from any one if you +did not need it. Now, sir, we shall put about, and by good fortune we +may soon sight a merchantman. Even if it be but a coastwise trader, it +may serve our purpose."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine, with something of a smile upon his sedate face, hurried +to Kate, who was upon the quarter-deck.</p> + +<p>"My dear, we are about to introduce a little variety into our dull +lives. As soon as we can overhaul a merchantman we shall commit a +piracy. But don't turn pale; I have arranged it all."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>"You!" exclaimed the wide-eyed Kate.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said her uncle, and he told his tale.</p> + +<p>"And remember this, my dear," he added; "if we cannot pay, we do not +eat. I shall be as relentless as the bloody Blackbeard; if they take not +my money, I shall swear to Ichabod that we touch not their goods."</p> + +<p>"And are you sure," she said, "that there will be no bloodshed?"</p> + +<p>"I vouch for that," said he, "for I shall lead the boarding party."</p> + +<p>She took him by both hands. "Why," she said, "it need be no more than +laying in goods from a store-house; and I cannot but be glad, dear +uncle, for I am so very, very hungry."</p> + +<p>Now Dame Charter came running and puffing. "Do you know," she cried, +"that there is to be a piracy? The word has just been passed and the +cook told me. There is to be no bloodshed, and the other ship will not +be burned and the people will not be made to walk a plank. The captain +has given those orders, and he is very firm, swearing, I am told, much +more than is his wont. It is dreadful, it is awful just to think about, +but the provisions are gone, and it is absolutely necessary to do +something, and it will really be very exciting. The cook tells me he +will put me in a good place where I cannot be hurt and where I shall see +everything. And, Mistress Kate and Master Delaplaine, I dare say he can +take care of you too."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span>Kate looked at her uncle as if to ask if she might tell the good woman +what sort of a piracy this was to be, but he shook his head. It would +not do to interfere any more than was necessary with the regular +progress of events. The captain came up, excited. "Even now, bedad," he +cried, "there are two sails in sight—one far north, and the other to +the eastward, beating up this way. This one we shall make for. We have +the wind with us, which is a good thing, for the Restless is a bad +sailer and has lost many a prize through that fault. And now, Miss," he +said, addressing Kate, "I shall have to ask your leave to take down that +English flag and run up our Jolly Roger. It will be necessary, for if +the fellows fear not our long guns, they may change their course and get +away from us."</p> + +<p>"That will be right," said Kate; "if we're going to be pirates, we might +as well be pirates out and out."</p> + +<p>Captain Ichabod glowed with delight. "What a girl this was, and what an +uncle!"</p> + +<p>It was not long, for the Restless had a fair wind, before the sail to +the eastward came fully into sight. She was, in good truth, a +merchantman, and not a large one. Dame Charter, very much excited, +wondered what she would have on board.</p> + +<p>"The cook tells me," said she to Kate, "that sometimes ships from the +other side of the ocean carry the most astonishing and beautiful +things."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span>"But we shall not see these things," said Kate, "even if that ship +carries them. We shall take but food, and shall not unnecessarily +despoil them of that. We may be pirates, but we shall not be wicked."</p> + +<p>"It is hard to see the difference," said Dame Charter, with a sigh, "but +we must eat. The cook tells me that they have made peaceful prizes +before now. This they do when they want some particular thing, such as +food or money, and care not for the trouble of stripping the ship, +putting all on board to death, and then setting her on fire. The cook +never does any boarding himself, so he says, but he stands on the deck +here, armed with his great axe, which likes him better than a cutlass, +and no matter what happens, he defends his kitchen."</p> + +<p>"From his looks," said Kate, "I should imagine him to be the fiercest +fighter among them all."</p> + +<p>"But that is not so," said Dame Charter; "he tells me that he is of a +very peaceable mind and would never engage in any broils or fights if he +could help it. Look! look!" she cried, "they're running out their long +brass guns; and do you see that other ship, how her sails are fluttering +in the wind? And there, that little spot at the top of her mast; that's +her flag, and it is coming down! Down, down it comes, and I must run to +the cook and ask him what will happen next."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI</a></h2> + + +<h3>MR. DELAPLAINE LEADS A BOARDING PARTY<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_31.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>Steadily southward sailed the brig Black Swan which bore upon its decks +the happy Mander family and our poor friend Dickory, carrying with him +his lifelong destiny in the shape of the blood-stained letter from +Captain Vince.</p> + +<p>The sackcloth draperies of Lucilla, with the red cord lightly tied about +them, had given place to a very ordinary gown fashioned by her mother +and herself, which added so few charms to her young face and sparkling +eyes that Dickory often thought that he wished there were some bushes on +deck so that she might stand behind them and let him see only her face, +as he had seen it when first he met her. But he saw the pretty face a +great deal, for Lucilla was very anxious to know things, and asked many +questions about Barbadoes, and also asked if there was any probability +that the brig would go straight on to that lovely island without +bothering to stop at Jamaica. It was during such talks as this that +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span>Dickory forgot, when he did forget, the blood-stained letter that he +carried with him always.</p> + +<p>Our young friend still wore the naval uniform, although in coming on the +brig he had changed it for some rough sailor's clothes. But Lucilla had +besought him to be again a brave lieutenant.</p> + +<p>They sailed and they sailed, and there was but little wind, and that +from the south and against them. But Lucilla did not complain at their +slow progress. The slowest vessel in the world was preferable just now +to a desert island which never moved.</p> + +<p>Davids was at the wheel and Mander stood near him. These old friends had +not yet finished talking about what had happened in the days since they +had seen each other. Mrs. Mander sat, not far away, still making +clothes, and the little Lena was helping her in her childlike way. +Lucilla and Dickory were still talking about Barbadoes. There never was +a girl who wanted to know so much about an island as that girl wanted to +know about Barbadoes.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a shout from above.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" asked Mander.</p> + +<p>"A sail," said Davids, peering out over the sea but able to see nothing. +Lucilla and Dickory did not cease talking. At that moment Lucilla did +not care greatly about sails, there was so much to be said about +Barbadoes.</p> + +<p>There was a good deal of talking forward, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span>and after a while the captain +walked to the quarter-deck. He was a gruff man and his face was +troubled.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say," he growled, "that the ship we have sighted is a +pirate; she flies the black flag."</p> + +<p>Now there was no more talk about Barbadoes, or what had happened to old +friends, and the sewing dropped on the deck. Those poor Manders were +chilled to the soul. Were they again to be taken by pirates?</p> + +<p>"Captain," cried Mander, "what can we do, can we run away from them?"</p> + +<p>"We could not run away from their guns," growled the captain, "and there +is nothing to do. They intend to take this brig, and that's the reason +they have run up their skull and bones. They are bearing directly down +upon us with a fair wind; they will be firing a gun presently, and then +I shall lay to and wait for them."</p> + +<p>Mander stepped towards Dickory and Lucilla; his voice was husky as he +said: "We cannot expect, my dear, that we shall again be captured by +forbearing pirates. I shall kill my wife and little daughter rather than +they shall fall into the bloody hands of ordinary pirates, and to you, +sir, I will commit the care of my Lucilla. If this vessel is delivered +over to a horde of savages, I pray you, plunge your dirk into her +heart."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lucilla, clinging to the arm of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span>Dickory, "if those fierce +pirates shall attack us, we will die together."</p> + +<p>Dickory shook his head. In an awful moment such as this he could hold +out no illusions. "No," said he, "I cannot die with you; I have a duty +before me, and until it is accomplished I cannot willingly give up my +life. I must rather be even a pirate's slave than that. But I will +accept your father's charge; should there be need, I will kill you."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much," said Lucilla coolly.</p> + +<p>To the surprise of the people on the Black Swan there came no shot from +the approaching pirate; but as she still bore down upon them, running +before the wind, the captain of the brig lay to and lowered his flag. +Submission now was all there was before them. No man on the brig took up +arms, nor did the crew form themselves into any show of resistance; that +would have but made matters worse.</p> + +<p>As the pirate vessel came on, nearer and nearer, a great number of men +could be seen stretched along her deck, and some brass cannon were +visible trained upon the unfortunate brig.</p> + +<p>But, to the surprise of the captain of the Black Swan, and of nearly +everybody on board of her, the pirate did not run down upon her to make +fast and board. Instead of that, she put about into the wind and lay to +less than a quarter of a mile away. Then two boats were low<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span>ered and +filled with men, who rowed towards the brig.</p> + +<p>"They have special reasons for our capture," said the captain to those +who were crowding about him; "he may be well laden now with plunder, and +comes to us for our gold and silver. Or it may be that he merely wants +the brig. If that be so, he can quickly rid himself of us."</p> + +<p>That was a cruel speech when women had to hear it, but the captain was a +rough fellow.</p> + +<p>The boats came on as quietly as if they were about to land at a +neighbouring pier. Dickory and Lucilla cautiously peeped over the rail, +Dickory without his hat, and Lucilla, hiding herself, all but a part of +her face, behind him; the Manders crouched together on the deck, the +father with glaring eyes and a knife in his hand. The crew stood, with +their hats removed and their chins lowered, waiting for what might +happen next.</p> + +<p>Up to this time Dickory had shown no signs of fear, although his mind +was terribly tossed and disturbed; for, whatever might happen to him, it +possibly would be the end of that mission which was now the only object +of his life. But he grated his teeth together and awaited his fate.</p> + +<p>But now, as the boats came nearer, he began to tremble, and gradually +his knees shook under him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span>"I would not have believed that he was such a coward as that," thought +Lucilla.</p> + +<p>The boats neared the ship and were soon made fast; every help was +offered by the crew of the brig, and not a sign of resistance was shown. +The leader of the pirates mounted to the deck, followed by the greater +part of his men.</p> + +<p>For a moment Captain Ichabod glanced about him, and then, addressing the +captain of the brig, he said: "This is all very well. I am glad to see +that you have sense enough to take things as you find them, and not to +stir up a fracas and make trouble. I overhauled you that I might lay in +a stock of provisions, and some wine and spirits besides, having no +desire, if you treat us rightly, to despoil you further. So, we shall +have no more words about it, bedad, and if you will set your men to work +to get on deck such stores as my quarter-master here may demand of you, +we shall get through this business quickly. In the meantime, lower two +or three boats, so that your men can row the goods over to my vessel."</p> + +<p>The captain of the Black Swan simply bowed his head and turned away to +obey orders, while Captain Ichabod stepped a little aft and began to +survey the captured vessel. As soon as his back was turned, the captain +of the brig was approached by a very respectable elderly gentleman, +apparently not engaged either in the mercantile marine or in piratical +pursuits, who <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +stopped him and said: "Sir, my name is Felix Delaplaine, +merchant, of Spanish Town, Jamaica. I am, against my will, engaged in +this piratical attack upon your vessel, but I wish to assure you +privately that I will not consent to have you robbed of your property, +and that, although some of your provisions may be taken by these +pirates, I here promise, as an honourable gentleman, to pay you the full +value of all that they seize upon."</p> + +<p>The captain of the Black Swan had no opportunity to make an answer to +this most extraordinary statement, for at that moment a naval officer, +shouting at the top of his voice, came rushing towards the respectable +gentleman who had just been making such honourable proposals. Almost at +the same moment there was a great shout from Captain Ichabod, who, +drawing his cutlass from its sheath, raised the glittering blade and +dashed in pursuit of the naval gentleman.</p> + +<p>"Hold there! Hold there!" cried the pirate. "Don't you touch him; don't +you lay your hand upon him!"</p> + +<p>But Ichabod was not quick enough. Dickory, swift as a stag, stretched +out both his arms and threw them around the neck of the amazed Mr. +Delaplaine.</p> + +<p>Now the pirate Ichabod reached the two; his great sword went high in +air, and was about to descend upon the naval person, whoever he was, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +who had made such an unprovoked attack upon his honoured passenger, +when his arm was caught by some one from behind. Turning, with a great +curse, his eyes fell upon the face of a young girl.<br /><br /></p> + + +<p><a name="gs_07" id="gs_07"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_07.png" width="65%" alt="Lucilla rescues Dickory." /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />Lucilla rescues Dickory.<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>"Oh, don't kill him! Don't kill him!" she cried, "he will hurt nobody; +he is only hugging the old gentleman."</p> + +<p>Captain Ichabod looked from the girl to the two men, who were actually +embracing each other. Dickory's back was towards him, but the face of +Mr. Delaplaine fairly glowed with delight.</p> + +<p>"Oho!" said Ichabod, turning to Lucilla, "and what does this mean, +bedad?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know," she answered, "but the gentleman in the uniform is a +good man. Perhaps the other one is his father."</p> + +<p>"To my eyes," said Captain Ichabod, "this is a most fearsome mix."</p> + +<p>The Mander family, and nearly everybody else on board, crowded about the +little group, gazing with all their eyes but asking no questions.</p> + +<p>"Captain Ichabod," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, holding Dickory by the +hand, "this is one of the two persons you were taking us to find. This +is Dickory Charter, the son of good Dame Charter, now on your vessel. He +went away with Blackbeard, and we were in search of him."</p> + +<p>"Oho!" cried Captain Ichabod, "by my <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span>life I believe it. That's the +young fellow that Blackbeard dressed up in a cocked hat and took away +with him."</p> + +<p>"I am the same person, sir," said Dickory.</p> + +<p>"So far so good," said Captain Ichabod. "I am very glad that I did not +bring down my cutlass on you, which I should have done, bedad, had it +not been for this young woman."</p> + +<p>Now up spoke Mr. Delaplaine. "We have found you, Dickory," he cried, +"but what can you tell us of Major Bonnet?"</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay," added Captain Ichabod, "there's another one we're after; +where's the runaway Sir Nightcap?"</p> + +<p>"Alas!" said Dickory, "I do not know. I escaped from Blackbeard, and +since that day have heard nothing. I had supposed that Captain Bonnet +was in your company, Mr. Delaplaine."</p> + +<p>Now the captain of the Black Swan pushed himself forward. "Is it Captain +Bonnet, lately of the pirate ship Revenge, that you're talking about?" +he asked. "If so, I may tell you something of him. I am lately from +Charles Town, and the talk there was that Blackbeard was lying outside +the harbour in Stede Bonnet's old vessel, and that Bonnet had lately +joined him. I did not venture out of port until I had had certain news +that these pirates had sailed northward. They had two or three ships, +and the talk was that they were bound to the Virginias, and per<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span>haps +still farther north. They were fitted out for a long cruise."</p> + +<p>"Gone again!" exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine in a hoarse voice. "Gone again!"</p> + +<p>Captain Ichabod's face grew clouded.</p> + +<p>"Gone north of Charles Town," he exclaimed, "that's bad, bedad, that's +very bad. You are sure he did not sail southward?" he asked of the +captain of the brig.</p> + +<p>That gruff mariner was in a strange state of mind. He had just been +captured by a pirate, and in the next moment had made, what might be a +very profitable sale, to a respectable merchant, of the goods the pirate +was about to take from him. Moreover, the said pirate seemed to be in +the employ of said merchant, and altogether, things seemed to him to be +in as fearsome a mix as they had seemed to Captain Ichabod, but he +brought his mind down to the question he had been asked.</p> + +<p>"No doubt about that," said he; "there were some of his men in the +town—for they are afraid of nobody—and they were not backward in +talking."</p> + +<p>"That upsets things badly," said Captain Ichabod, without unclouding his +brow. "With my slow vessel and my empty purse, bedad, I don't see how I +am ever goin' to catch Blackbeard if he has gone north. Finding +Blackbeard would have been a handful of trumps to me, but the game seems +to be up, bedad."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span>The captain of the brig and Ichabod's quarter-master went away to +attend to the transfer of the needed goods to the Restless. Mander, with +his wife and little daughter, were standing together gazing with +amazement at the strange pirates who had come aboard, while Lucilla +stepped up to Dickory, who stood silent, with his eyes on the deck.</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me what this means?" said she.</p> + +<p>For a moment he did not answer, and then he said: "I don't know +everything myself, but I must presently go on board that vessel."</p> + +<p>"What!" exclaimed Lucilla, stepping back. "Is she there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dickory.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_32.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The sea was smooth and the wind light, and the transfer of provisions +from the Black Swan to the pirate sloop, which two ships now lay as near +each other as safety would permit, was accomplished quietly.</p> + +<p>During the progress of the transfer Captain Ichabod's boat was rowed +back to his ship, and its arrival was watched with great interest by +everybody on board that pirate sloop. Kate and Dame Charter, as well as +all the men who stood looking over the rail, were amazed to see a naval +officer accompanying the captain and Mr. Delaplaine on their return. But +that amazement was greatly increased when that officer, as soon as he +set foot upon the deck, removed his hat and made directly for Dame +Charter, who, with a scream loud enough to frighten the fishes, enfolded +him in her arms and straightway fainted. It was like a son coming up out +of the sea, sure enough, as she afterward stated. Kate, recog<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span>nising +Dickory, hurried to him with a scream of her own and both hands +outstretched, but the young fellow, who seemed greatly distressed at the +unconscious condition of his mother, did not greet Mistress Bonnet with +the enthusiastic delight which might have been expected under the +circumstances. He seemed troubled and embarrassed, which, perhaps, was +not surprising, for never before had he seen his mother faint.</p> + +<p>Kate was about to offer some assistance, but as the good Dame now showed +signs of returning consciousness, she thought it would be better to +leave the two together, and in a state of amazement she was hurrying to +her uncle when Dickory rose from the side of his mother and stopped her.</p> + +<p>"I have a letter for you," he said, in a husky voice.</p> + +<p>"A letter?" she cried, "from my father?"</p> + +<p>"No," said he, "from Captain Vince." And he handed her the blood-stained +missive.</p> + +<p>Kate turned pale and stared at him; here was horrible mystery. The +thought flashed through the young girl's mind that the wicked captain +had killed her father and had written to tell her so.</p> + +<p>"Is my father dead?" she gasped.</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of," said Dickory.</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" she cried.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," was the answer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span>She stood, holding the letter, while Dickory returned to his mother. +Mr. Delaplaine saw her standing thus, pale and shocked, but he did not +hasten to her. He had sad things to say to her, for his practical mind +told him that it would not be possible to continue the search for her +father, he having put himself out of the reach of Captain Ichabod and +his inefficient sloop. If Dickory had said anything about her father +which had so cast her down, how much harder would it be for him when he +had to tell her the whole truth.</p> + + +<p>But Kate did not wait for further speech from anybody. She gave a great +start, and then rushed down the companion-way to her cabin. There, with +her door shut, she opened the letter. This was the letter, written in +lead pencil, in an irregular but bold hand, with some letters partly +dimmed where the paper had been damp:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"At the very end of my life I write to you that you have escaped + the fiercest love that ever a man had for a woman. I shall carry + this love with me to hell, if it may be, but you have escaped it. + This escape is a blessing, and now that I cannot help it I give it + to you. Had I lived, I should have shed the blood of every one whom + you loved to gain you and you would have cursed me. So love me now + for dying.</p> + +<p>"Yours, anywhere and always,<br /> + <span class="smcap">Christopher Vince."</span><br /> +</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span>Kate put down the letter and some colour came into her face; she bowed +her head in thankful prayer.</p> + +<p>"He is dead," she said, "and now he cannot harm my father." That was the +only thought she had regarding this hot-brained and infatuated lover. He +was dead, her father was safe from him. How he died, how Dickory came to +bring the letter, how anything had happened that had happened except the +death of Captain Vince, did not at this moment concern her. Not until +now had she known how the fear of the vengeful captain of the Badger had +constantly been with her.</p> + +<p>Over and over again Dickory told his tale to his mother. She interrupted +him so much with her embraces that he could not explain things clearly +to her, but she did not care, she had him with her. He was with her, and +she had fast hold of him, and she would never let him go again. What +mattered it what sort of clothes he wore, or where he had escaped +from—a family on a desert island or from a pirate crew? She had him, +and her happiness knew no bounds. Dickory was perfectly willing to stay +with her and to talk to her. He did not care to be with anybody else, +not even with Mistress Kate, who had taken so much interest in him all +the time he had been away; though, of course, not so much interest as +his own dear mother.</p> + +<p>Then the good Dame Charter, being greatly <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span>recovered and so happy, began +to talk of herself. Slipping in a disjointed way over her various +experiences, she told her dear boy, in strictest confidence, that she +was very much disappointed in the way pirates took ships. She thought it +was going to be something very exciting that she would remember to the +end of her days, and wake up in the middle of the night and scream when +she thought of it, but it was nothing of the kind; not a shot was fired, +not a drop of blood shed; there was not even a shout or a yell or a +scream for mercy. It was all like going into the pantry to get the flour +and the sugar. She was all the time waiting for something to happen, and +nothing ever did. Dickory smiled, but it was like watered milk.</p> + +<p>"I do not understand such piracy," he said, "but supposed, dear mother, +that these pirates had taken that ship in the usual way, I being on +board."</p> + +<p>At this he was clasped so tightly to his mother's breast that he could +say no more.</p> + +<p>The boats plied steadily between the two vessels, and on one of the +trips Mr. Delaplaine went over to the brig on business, and also glad to +escape for a little the dreaded interview which must soon come between +himself and his niece.</p> + +<p>"Now, sir," said the merchant to the captain of the brig, "you will make +a bill against me for the provisions which are being taken to that +pirate, but I hope you have reserved a sufficient <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span>store of food for +your own maintenance until you reach a port, and that of myself and two +women who wish to sail with you, craving most earnestly that you will +land us in Jamaica or in some place convenient of access to that +island."</p> + +<p>"Which I can do," said the captain, "for I am bound to Kingston; and as +to subsistence, shall have plenty."</p> + +<p>On the brig Mr. Delaplaine found Captain Ichabod, who had come over to +superintend operations, and who was now talking to the pretty girl who +had seized him by the arm when he was about to slay the naval officer.</p> + +<p>"I would talk with you, captain," said the merchant, "on a matter of +immediate import." And he led the pirate away from the pretty girl.</p> + +<p>The matter to be discussed was, indeed, of deep import.</p> + +<p>"I am loath to say it, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "when I think of the +hospitality and most exceptional kindness with which you have treated me +and my niece, and for which we shall feel grateful all our lives, but I +think you will agree with me that it would be useless for us to pursue +the search after that most reprehensible person, my brother-in-law, +Bonnet. There can be no doubt, I believe, that he and Blackbeard have +left the vicinity of Charles Town, and have gone, we know not where."</p> + +<p>"No doubt of that, bedad," said Ichabod, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span>knitting his brows as he +spoke; "if Blackbeard had been outside the harbour, this brig would not +have been here."</p> + +<p>"And, therefore, sir," continued Mr. Delaplaine, "I have judged it to be +wise, and indeed necessary, for us to part company with you, sir, and to +take passage on this brig, which, by a most fortunate chance, is bound +for Kingston. My niece, I know, will be greatly disappointed by this +course of events, but we have no choice but to fall in with them."</p> + +<p>"I don't like to agree with you," said the captain, "but, bedad, I am +bound to do it. I am disappointed myself, sir, but I have been +disappointed so often that I suppose I ought to be used to it. If I had +caught up with Blackbeard I should have been all right, and after I had +settled your affairs—and I know I could have done that—I think I would +have joined him. But all I can do now is to hammer along at the +business, take prizes in the usual way, and wait for Blackbeard to come +south again, and then I'll either sell out or join him."</p> + +<p>"It is a great pity, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "a great pity—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," interrupted Ichabod, "it's a very great pity, sir, a very +great pity. If I had known more about ships when I bought the Restless I +would have had a faster craft, and by this time I might have been a man +of comfortable means. But that sloop over there, bedad, is so <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span>slow, +that many a time, sir, I have seen a fat merchantman sail away from her +and leave us, in spite of our guns, cursing and swearing, miles behind. +I am sorry to have you leave me, sir, and with your ladies; but, as you +say, here's your chance to get home, and I don't know when I could give +you another."</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine replied courteously and gratefully, and by the next boat +he went back to the Restless. Captain Ichabod, his brow still clouded by +the approaching separation, walked over to Lucilla and continued his +conversation with her about the island of Barbadoes, a subject of which +he knew very little and she nothing.</p> + +<p>When Kate returned to the deck she found Dickory alone, Dame Charter +having gone to talk to the cook about the wonderful things which had +happened, of which she knew very little and he nothing at all.</p> + +<p>"Dickory," said Kate, "I want to talk to you, and that quickly. I have +heard nothing of what has happened to you. How did you get possession of +the letter you brought me, and what do you know of Captain Vince?"</p> + +<p>"I can tell you nothing," he said, without looking at her, "until you +tell me what I ought to know about Captain Vince." And as he said this +he could not help wondering in his heart that there were no signs of +grief about her.</p> + +<p>"Ought to know?" she repeated, regarding him earnestly. "Well, you and I +have been al<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span>ways good friends, and I will tell you." And then she told +him the story of the captain of the Badger; of his love-making and of +his commission to sail upon the sea and destroy the pirate ship Revenge, +and all on board of her.</p> + +<p>"And now," she said, as she concluded, "I think it would be well for you +to read this letter." And she handed him the missive he had carried so +long and with such pain. He read the bold, uneven lines, and then he +turned and looked upon her, his face shining like the morning sky.</p> + +<p>"Then you have never loved him?" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"Why should I?" said Kate.</p> + +<p>In spite of the fact that there were a great many people on board that +pirate sloop who might see him; in spite of the fact that there were +people in boats plying upon the water who might notice his actions, +Dickory fell upon his knees before Kate, and, seizing her hand, he +pressed it to his lips.</p> + +<p>"Why should I?" said Kate, quietly drawing her hand from him, "for I +have a devoted lover already—Master Martin Newcombe, of Barbadoes."</p> + +<p>Dickory, repulsed, rose to his feet, but his face did not lose its glow. +He had heard so much about Martin Newcombe that he had ceased to mind +him.</p> + +<p>"To think of it!" he cried, "to think how <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span>I stood and watched him +fight; how I admired and marvelled at his wonderful strength and skill, +his fine figure, and his flashing eye! How my soul went out to him, how +I longed that he might kill that scoundrel Blackbeard! And all the time +he was your enemy, he was my enemy, he was a viler wretch than even the +bloody pirate who killed him. Oh, Kate, Kate! if I had but known."</p> + +<p>"Miss Kate, if you please," said the girl. "And it is well, Dickory, you +did not know, for then you might have jumped upon him and stuck him in +the back, and that would have been dishonourable."</p> + +<p>"He thought," said Dickory, not in the least abashed by his reproof, +"that the Revenge was commanded by your father, for he sprang upon the +deck, shouting for the captain, and when he saw Blackbeard I heard him +exclaim in surprise, 'A sugar-planter!'"</p> + +<p>"And he would have killed my father?" said Kate, turning pale at the +thought.</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied Dickory, "he would have killed any man except the great +Blackbeard. And to think of it! I stood there watching them, and wishing +that vile Englishman the victory. Oh, Kate! you should have seen that +wonderful pirate fight. No man could have stood before him." Then, with +sparkling eyes and waving arms, he told her of the combat. When he had +finished, the souls of these two young people were <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span>united in an +overpowering admiration, almost reverence, for the prowess and strength +of the wicked and bloody pirate who had slain the captain of the Badger.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Delaplaine came on board, Kate, who had been waiting, took him +aside.</p> + +<p>"Uncle," she exclaimed, "I have great news. Captain Vince is dead. At +last he came up with the Revenge, but instead of finding my father in +command he found Blackbeard, who killed him. Now my father is safe!"</p> + +<p>The good man scarcely knew what to say to this bright-faced girl, whose +father's safety was all the world to her. If he had heard that his +worthless and wicked brother-in-law had been killed, it would have been +trouble and sorrow for the present, but it would have been peace for the +future. But he was a Christian gentleman and a loving uncle, and he +banished this thought from his heart. He listened to Kate as she rapidly +went on talking, but he did not hear her; his mind was busy with the +news he had to tell her—the news that she must give up her loving +search and go back with him to Spanish Town.</p> + +<p>"And now, uncle," said Kate, "there's another thing I want to say to +you. Since this great grief has been lifted from my soul, since I know +that no wrathful and vindictive captain of a man-of-war is scouring the +seas, armed with authority to kill my father and savage for his life, I +feel that it is not right for me to put other <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span>people who are so good to +me to sad discomfort and great expense to try to follow my father into +regions far away, and to us almost unknown.</p> + +<p>"Some day he will come back into this part of the world, and I hope he +may return disheartened and weary of his present mode of life, and then +I may have a better chance of winning him back to the domestic life he +used to love so much. But he is safe, uncle, and that is everything now, +and so I came to say to you that I think it would be well for us to +relieve this kind Captain Ichabod from the charges and labours he has +taken upon himself for our sakes and, if it be possible, engage that +ship yonder to take us back to Jamaica; she was sailing in that +direction, and her captain might be induced to touch at Kingston. This +is what I have been thinking about, dear uncle, and do you not agree +with me?"</p> + +<p>High rose the spirits of the good Mr. Delaplaine; banished was all the +overhanging blackness of his dreaded interview with Kate. The sky was +bright, her soul was singing songs of joy and thankfulness, and his soul +might join her. He never appreciated better than now the blessings which +might be shed upon humanity by the death of a bad man. His mind even +gambolled a little in his relief.</p> + +<p>"But, Kate," he said, "if we leave that kind Captain Ichabod, and he be +not restrained <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span>by our presence, then, my dear, he will return to his +former evil ways, and his next captures will not be like this one, but +like ordinary piracies, sinful in every way."</p> + +<p>"Uncle," said Kate, looking up into his face, "it is too much to ask of +one young girl to undertake the responsibilities of two pirates; I hope +some day to be of benefit to my poor father, but when it comes to +Captain Ichabod, kind as he has been, I am afraid I will have to let him +go and manage the affairs of his soul for himself."</p> + +<p>Her uncle smiled upon her. Now that he was to go back to his home and +take this dear girl with him, he was ready to smile at almost anything. +That he thought one pirate much better worth saving than the other, and +that his choice did not agree with that of his niece, was not for him +even to think about at such a happy moment. It was not long after this +conversation that the largest boat belonging to the Restless was rowed +over to the brig, and in it sat, not only Kate, Dame Charter, and +Dickory, but Captain Ichabod, who would accompany his guests to take +proper leave of them. The crew of the pirate sloop crowded themselves +along her sides, and even mounted into her shrouds, waving their hats +and shouting as the boat moved away. The cook was the loudest shouter, +and his ragged hat waved highest. And, as Dame Charter shook her +handkerchief above her head and gazed back <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span>at her savage friend, there +was a moisture in her eyes. Up to this moment she never would have +believed that she would have grieved to depart from a pirate vessel and +to leave behind a pirate cook.</p> + +<p>Lucilla watched carefully the newcomers as they ascended to the deck of +the Black Swan. "That is the girl," she said to herself, "and I am not +surprised."</p> + +<p>A little later she remarked to Captain Ichabod, who sat by her: "Are +they mother and daughter, those two?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said he. "Mistress Bonnet is too fine a lady and too beautiful +to be daughter to that old woman, who is her attendant and the mother of +the young fellow in the cocked hat."</p> + +<p>"Too fine and beautiful!" repeated Lucilla.</p> + +<p>"I greatly grieve to leave you all," continued the young pirate captain, +"although some of you I have known so short a time. It will be very +lonely when I sail away with none to speak to save the bloody dogs I +command, who may yet throttle me. And it is to Barbadoes you go to +settle with your family?"</p> + +<p>"That is our destination," said Lucilla, "but I know not if we shall +find the money to settle there; we were taken by pirates and lost +everything."</p> + +<p>Now the captain of the brig came up to Ichabod and informed him that the +goods he demanded had been delivered on board his vessel, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span>and that the +brig was ready to sail. It was the time for leave-taking, but Ichabod +was tardy. Presently he approached Kate, and drew her to one side.</p> + +<p>"Dear lady," he said, and his voice was hesitating, while a slight flush +of embarrassment appeared on his face, "you may have thought, dear +lady," he repeated, "you may have thought that so fair a being as +yourself should have attracted during the days we have sailed +together—may have attracted, bedad, I mean—the declared admiration +even of a fellow like myself, we being so much together; but I had heard +your story, fair lady, and of the courtship paid you by Captain Vince of +the corvette Badger—whose family I knew in England—and, acknowledging +his superior claims, I constantly refrained, though not without great +effort (I must say that much for myself, fair lady), from—from—"</p> + +<p>"Addressing me, I suppose you mean," said Kate. "What you say, kind +captain, redounds to your honour, and I thank you for your noble +consideration, but I feel bound to tell you that there was never +anything between me and Captain Vince, and he is now dead."</p> + +<p>The young pirate stepped back suddenly and opened wide his eyes. "What!" +he exclaimed, "and all the time you were—"</p> + +<p>"Not free," she interrupted with a smile, "for I have a lover on the +island of Barbadoes."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span>"Barbadoes," repeated Captain Ichabod, and he bade Kate a most +courteous farewell.</p> + +<p>All the good-byes had been said and good wishes had been wished, when, +just as he was about to descend to his boat, Captain Ichabod turned to +Lucilla. "And it is truly to Barbadoes you go?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "I think we shall certainly do that."</p> + +<p>Now his face flushed. "And do you care for that fellow in the cocked +hat?"</p> + +<p>Here was a cruel situation for poor Lucilla. She must lie or lose two +men. She might lose them anyway, but she would not do it of her own free +will, and so she lied.</p> + +<p>"Not a whit!" said Lucilla.</p> + +<p>The eyes of Ichabod brightened as he went down the side of the brig.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>BLACKBEARD GIVES GREENWAY SOME DIFFICULT WORK<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_33.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>The great pirate Blackbeard, inactive and taking his ease, was seated on +the quarter-deck of his fine vessel, on which he had lately done some +sharp work off the harbour of Charles Town. He was now commanding a +small fleet. Besides the ship on which he sailed, he had two other +vessels, well manned and well laden with supplies from his recent +captures. Satisfied with conquest, he was sailing northward to one of +his favourite resorts on the North Carolina coast.</p> + +<p>To this conquering hero now came Ben Greenway, the Scotchman, touching +his hat.</p> + +<p>"And what do you want?" cried the burly pirate. "Haven't they given you +your prize-money yet, or isn't it enough?"</p> + +<p>"Prize-money!" exclaimed Greenway. "I hae none o' it, nor will I hae +any. What money I hae—an' it is but little—came to me fairly."</p> + +<p>"Oho!" cried Blackbeard, "and you have <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span>money then, have you? Is it +enough to make it worth my while to take it?"</p> + +<p>"Ye can count it an' see, whenever ye like," said Ben. "But it isna +money that I came to talk to ye about. I came to ask ye, at the first +convenient season, to put me on board that ship out there, that I may be +in my rightful place by the side o' Master Bonnet."</p> + +<p>"And what good are you to him, or he to you," asked the pirate, with a +fine long oath, "that I should put myself to that much trouble?"</p> + +<p>"I have the responsibeelity o' his soul on my hands," said Ben, "an' +since we left Charles Town I hae not seen him, he bein' on ane ship an' +I on anither."</p> + +<p>"And very well that is too," said Blackbeard, "for I like each of you +better separate. And now look ye, me kirk bird, you have not done very +well with your 'responsibeelities' so far, and you might as well make up +your mind to stop trying to convert that sneak of a Nightcap and take up +the business of converting me. I'm in great need of it, I can tell you."</p> + +<p>"You!" cried Ben.</p> + +<p>"I tell you, yes," shouted Blackbeard, "it is I, myself, that I am +talking about. I want to be converted from the evil of my ways, and I +have made up my mind that you shall do it. You are a good and a pious +man, and it is not often that I get hold of one of that kind; or, if <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span>I +do, I slice off his head before I discover his quality."</p> + +<p>"I fear me," said the truthful Scotchman, "that the job is beyond my +abeelity."</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it, not a bit of it," shouted the pirate. "I am fifty +times easier to work upon than that Nightcap man of yours, and a hundred +times better worth the trouble. I put no trust in that downfaced farmer. +When he shouts loudest for the black flag he is most likely to go into +priestly orders, and the better is he reformed the quicker is he to rob +and murder. He is of the kind the devil wants, but it is of no use for +any one to show him the way there, he is well able to find it for +himself. But it is different with me, you canny Scotchman, it is +different with me. I am an open-handed and an open-mouthed scoundrel, +and I never pretended to be anything else. When you begin reforming me +you will find your work half done."</p> + +<p>The Scotchman shook his head. "I fear me—" he said.</p> + +<p>"No, you don't fear yourself," cried Blackbeard, "and I won't have it; I +don't want any of that lazy piety on board my vessel. If you don't +reform me, and do it rightly, I'll slice off both your ears."</p> + +<p>At this moment a man came aft, carrying a great tankard of mixed drink. +Blackbeard took it and held it in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Now then, you balking chaplain," he cried, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span>"here's a chance for you to +begin. What would you have me do? Drain off this great mug and go +slashing among my crew, or hurl it, mug and all—"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay," cried Greenway, "but rather give half o' it to me; then will +it no' disturb your brain, an' mine will be comforted."</p> + +<p>"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard. "Truly you are a better chaplain than I +thought you. Drain half this mug and then, by all the powers of heaven +and hell, you shall convert me. Now, look ye," said the pirate, when the +mug was empty, "and hear what a brave repentance I have already begun. I +am tired, my gay gardener, of all these piracies; I have had enough of +them. Even now, my spoils and prizes are greater than I can manage, and +why should I strive to make them more? I told you of my young +lieutenant, who ran away and who gave his carcass to the birds of prey +rather than sail with me and marry my strapping daughter. I liked that +fellow, Greenway, and if he had known what was well for him there might +be some reason for me to keep on piling up goods and money, but there's +cursed little reason for it now. I have merchandise of value at Belize +and much more of it in these ships, besides money from Charles Town +which ought to last an honest gentleman for the rest of his days."</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Ben, "but an honest gentleman is sparing of his +expenditures."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span>"And you think I am not that kind of a man, do you?" shouted the +pirate. "But let me tell you this. I am sailing now for Topsail Inlet, +on the North Carolina coast, and I am going to run in there, disperse +this fleet, sell my goods, and—"</p> + +<p>"Be hanged?" interpolated Greenway in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it, you croaking crow!" roared the pirate. "Not a bit of +it. Don't you know, you dull-head, that our good King George has issued +a proclamation to the Brethren of the Coast to come in and behave +themselves like honest citizens and receive their pardon? I have done +that once, and so I know all about it; but I backslid, showing that my +conversion was badly done."</p> + +<p>"It must hae been a poor hand that did the job for ye," said Greenway, +"for truly the conversion washed off in the first rain."</p> + +<p>The pirate laughed a great laugh. "The fact is," he said, "I did the +work myself, and knowing nothing about it made a bad botch of it, but +this time it will be different. I am going to give the matter into your +hands, and I shall expect you to do it well. If I become not an honest +gentleman this time you shall pay for it, first with your ears and then +with your head."</p> + +<p>"An' ye're goin' to keep me by ye?" said Greenway, with an expression +not of the best.</p> + +<p>"Truly so," said Blackbeard. "I shall <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span>make you my clerk as long as I am +a pirate, for I have much writing and figuring work to be done, and +after that you shall be my chaplain. And whether or not your work will +be easier than it is now, it is not for me to say."</p> + +<p>The Scotchman was about to make an exclamation which might not have been +complimentary, but he restrained himself.</p> + +<p>"An' Master Bonnet?" he asked. "If ye go out o' piracy he may go too, +and take the oath."</p> + +<p>"Of course he may," cried the pirate, "and of course he shall; I will +see to that myself. Then I will give him back his ship, for I don't want +it, and let him become an honest merchant."</p> + +<p>"Give him back his ship!" exclaimed Greenway, his countenance downcast. +"That will be puttin' into his hands the means o' beginnin' again a life +o' sin. I pray ye, don't do that."</p> + +<p>Blackbeard leaned back and laughed. "I swear that I thought it would be +one of the very first steps in conversion for me to give back to the +fellow the ship which is his own and which I have taken from him. But +fear not, my noble pirate's clerk; he is not the man that I am; he is a +vile coward, and when he has taken the oath he will be afraid to break +it. Moreover—"</p> + +<p>"And if, with that ship," said Greenway, his eyes beginning to sparkle, +"he become an honest merchant—"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span>"I don't trust him," said Blackbeard; "he is a knave and a sharper, and +there is no truth in him. But when you have settled up my business, my +clerk, and have gotten me well converted, I will send you away with him, +and you shall take up again the responsibility of his soul."</p> + +<p>The Scotchman clapped his horny hands together. "And once I get him back +to Bridgetown, I will burn his cursed ship!"</p> + +<p>"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard, "and that will be your way of converting +him? You know your business, my royal chaplain, you know it well." And +with that he gave Greenway a tremendous slap on the back which would +have dashed to the deck an ordinary man, but Ben Greenway was a +Scotchman, tough as a yew-tree.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV</a></h2> + + +<h3>CAPTAIN THOMAS OF THE ROYAL JAMES<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_34.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>When Blackbeard's little fleet anchored in Topsail Inlet, Stede Bonnet, +who had not been informed of the intentions of the pirate, was a good +deal puzzled. Since joining Blackbeard's fleet in the vessel which came +up from Belize, Bonnet had considered himself very shabbily treated, and +his reasons for that opinion were not bad. During the engagements off +Charles Town his services had not been required and his opinion had not +been consulted, Blackbeard having no use for the one and no respect for +the other. The pirate captain had taken a fancy to Ben Greenway, while +his contempt for the Scotchman's master increased day by day; and it was +for this reason that Greenway had been taken on board the flag-ship, +while Bonnet remained on one of the smaller vessels.</p> + +<p>Bonnet was in a discontented and somewhat sulky mood, but when +Blackbeard's full plans were made known to him and he found that he +might again resume command of his own vessel, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span>the Revenge, if he chose +to do so, his eyes began to sparkle once more.</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway soon resumed his former position with Bonnet, for it did +not take Blackbeard very long to settle up his affairs, and in a very +short time he became tired of the work of conversion; or, to speak more +correctly, of the bore of talking about it. Bonnet was glad to have the +Scotchman back again, although he never ceased to declare his desire to +get rid of this faithful friend and helper; for, when the Revenge again +came into his hands, there were many things to be done, and few people +to help him do it.</p> + +<p>"It will be merchandise an' fair trade this time," said Ben, "an' ye'll +find it no' so easy as your piracies, though safer. An' when ye're off +to see the Governor an' hae got your pardon, it'll be a happy day, +Master Bonnet, for ye an' for your daughter, an' for your brother-in-law +an' everybody in Bridgetown wha either knew ye or respected ye."</p> + +<p>"No more of that," cried Bonnet. "I did not say I was going to +Bridgetown, or that I wanted anybody there to respect me. It is my +purpose to fit out the Revenge as a privateer and get a commission to +sail in her in the war between Spain and the Allies. This will be much +more to my taste, Ben Greenway, than trading in sugar and hides."</p> + +<p>Greenway was very grave.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span>"There is so little difference," said he, "between a privateer an' a +pirate that it is a great strain on a common mind to keep them separate; +but a commission from the king is better than a commission from the +de'il, an' we'll hope there won't be much o' a war after all is said an' +done."</p> + +<p>There was not much intercourse between Blackbeard and Bonnet at Topsail +Inlet. The pirate was on very good terms with the authorities at that +place, who for their own sakes cared not much to interfere with him, and +Bonnet had his own work in hand and industriously engaged in it. He went +to Bath and got his pardon; he procured a clearance for St. Thomas, +where he freely announced his intention to take out a commission as +privateer, and he fitted out his vessel as best he could. Of men he had +not many, but when he left the inlet he sailed down to an island on the +coast, where Blackbeard, having had too many men on his return from +Charles Town, had marooned a large number of the sailors belonging to +his different crews, finding this the easiest way of getting rid of +them. Bonnet took these men on board with the avowed intention of taking +them to St. Thomas, and then he set sail upon the high seas as free and +untrammelled as a fish-hawk sweeping over the surface of a harbour with +clearance papers tied to his leg.</p> + +<p>Stede Bonnet had changed very much since <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span>he last trod the quarter-deck +of the Revenge as her captain. He was not so important to look at, and +he put on fewer airs of authority, but he issued a great many more +commands. In fact, he had learned much about a sailor's life, of +navigation and the management of a vessel, and was far better able to +command a ship than he had ever been before. He had had a long rest from +the position of a pirate captain, and he had not failed to take +advantage of the lessons which had been involuntarily given him by the +veteran scoundrels who had held him in contempt. He was now, to a great +extent, sailing-master as well as captain of the Revenge; but Ben +Greenway, who was much given to that sort of thing, undertook to offer +Bonnet some advice in regard to his course.</p> + +<p>"I am no sailor," said he, "but I ken a chart when I see it, an' it is +my opeenion that there is no need o' your sailin' so far to the east +before ye turn about southward. There is naething much stickin' out from +the coast between here an' St. Thomas."</p> + +<p>Bonnet looked at the Scotchman with lofty contempt.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you can tell me," said he, "what there is stickin' out from the +coast between here and Ocracoke Inlet, where you yourself told me that +Blackbeard had gone with the one sloop he kept for himself?"</p> + +<p>"Blackbeard!" shouted the Scotchman, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span>"an' what in the de'il have ye got +to do wi' Blackbeard?"</p> + +<p>"Do with that infernal dog?" cried Bonnet, "I have everything to do with +him before I do aught with anybody or anything besides. He stole from me +my possessions, he degraded me from my position, he made me a +laughing-stock to my men, and he even made me blush and bow my head with +shame before my daughter and my brother-in-law, two people in whose +sight I would have stood up grander and bolder than before any others in +the world. He took away from me my sword and he gave me instead a +wretched pen; he made me nothing where I had been everything. He even +ceased to consider me any more than if I had been the dirty deck under +his feet. And then, when he had done with my property and could get no +more good out of it, he cast it to me in charity as a man would toss a +penny to a beggar. Before I sail anywhere else, Ben Greenway," continued +Bonnet, "I sail for Ocracoke Inlet, and when I sight Blackbeard's +miserable little sloop I shall pour broadside after broadside into her +until I sink his wretched craft with his bedizened carcass on board of +it."</p> + +<p>"But wi' your men stand by ye?" cried Greenway. "Ye're neither a pirate +nor a vessel o' war to enter into a business like that."</p> + +<p>Bonnet swore one of his greatest oaths. "There is no business nor war +for me, Ben <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span>Greenway," he cried, "until I have taught that insolent +Blackbeard what manner of man I am."</p> + +<p>Ben Greenway was very much disheartened. "If Blackbeard should sink the +Revenge instead of Master Bonnet sinking him," he said to himself, "and +would be kind enough to maroon my old master an' me, it might be the +best for everybody after all. Master Bonnet is vera humble-minded an' +complacent when bad fortune comes upon him, an' it is my opeenion that +on a desert island I could weel manage him for the good o' his soul."</p> + +<p>But there were no vessels sunk on that cruise. Blackbeard had gone, +nobody knew where, and after a time Bonnet gave up the search for his +old enemy and turned his bow southward. Now Ben Greenway's countenance +gleamed once more.</p> + +<p>"It'll be a glad day at Spanish Town when Mistress Kate shall get my +letter."</p> + +<p>"And what have you been writing to her?" cried Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"I told her," said Ben Greenway, "how at last ye hae come to your right +mind, an' how ye are a true servant o' the king, wi' your pardon in your +pocket an' your commission waitin' for ye at St. Thomas, an' that, +whatever else ye may do at sea, there'll be no more black flag floatin' +over your head, nor a see-saw plank wobblin' under the feet o' onybody +else. The days <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span>o' your piracies are over, an' ye're an honest mon once +more."</p> + +<p>"You wrote her that?" said Bonnet, with a frown.</p> + +<p>"Ay," said Greenway, "an' I left it in the care o' a good mon, whose +ship is weel on its way to Kingston by this day."</p> + +<p>That afternoon Captain Bonnet called all his men together and addressed +them.</p> + +<p>He made a very good speech, a better one than that delivered when he +first took real command of the Revenge after sailing out of the river at +Bridgetown, and it was listened to with respectful and earnest interest. +In brief manner he explained to all on board that he had thrown to the +winds all idea of merchandising or privateering; that his pardon and his +ship's clearance were of no value to him except he should happen to get +into some uncomfortable predicament with the law; that he had no idea of +sailing towards St. Thomas, but intended to proceed up the coast to burn +and steal and rob and slay wherever he might find it convenient to do +so; that he had brought the greater part of his crew from the desert +island where Blackbeard had left them because he knew that they were +stout and reckless fellows, just the sort of men he wanted for the +piratical cruise he was about to begin; and that, in order to mislead +any government authorities who by land or sea might seek to interfere +with him, he had changed the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span>name of the good old Revenge to the Royal +James, while its captain, once Stede Bonnet, was now to be known on +board and everywhere else as Captain Thomas, with nothing against him. +He concluded by saying that all that had been done on that ship from the +time she first hoisted the black flag until the present moment was +nothing at all compared to the fire and the blood and the booty which +should follow in the wake of that gallant vessel, the Royal James, +commanded by Captain Thomas.</p> + +<p>The men looked at each other, but did not say much. They were all +pirates, although few of them had regularly started out on a piratical +career, and there was nothing new to them in this sort of piratical +dishonour. In the little cruise after Blackbeard their new captain had +shown himself to be a good man, ready with his oaths and very certain +about what he wanted done. So, whenever Stede Bonnet chose to run up the +Jolly Roger, he might do it for all they cared.</p> + +<p>Poor Ben Greenway sat apart, his head bowed upon his hands.</p> + +<p>"You seem to be in a bad case, old Ben," said Bonnet, gazing down upon +him, "but you throw yourself into needless trouble. As soon as I lay +hold of some craft which I am willing shall go away with a sound hull, I +will put you on board of her and let you go back to the farm. I will +keep you no longer among these wicked <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span>people, Ben Greenway, and in this +wicked place."</p> + +<p>Ben shook his head. "I started wi' ye an' I stay wi' ye," said he, "an' +I'll follow ye to the vera gates o' hell, but farther than that, Master +Bonnet, I willna go; at the gates o' hell I leave ye!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV</a></h2> + + +<h3>A CHAPTER OF HAPPENINGS<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_35.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>For happiness with a flaw in it, it was a very fair happiness which now +hung over the Delaplaine home near Spanish Town. Kate Bonnet's father +was still a pirate, but there was no Captain Vince in hot pursuit of +him, seeking his blood. Kate could sing with the birds and laugh with +Dickory whenever she thought of the death of the wicked enemy. This was +not, it may be thought, a proper joy for a young maiden's heart, but it +came to Kate whether she would or not; the change was so great from the +fear which had possessed her before.</p> + +<p>The old home life began again, although it was a very quiet life. +Dickory went into Mr. Delaplaine's counting-house, but it was hard for +the young man to doff the naval uniform which had been bestowed upon him +by Blackbeard, for he knew he looked very well in it, and everybody else +thought so and told him so; but it could not be helped, and with all +convenient speed he dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span>carded his cocked hat and all the rest of it, +and clothed himself in the simple garb of a merchant's clerk, although +it might be said, that in all the West Indies, at that day, there was no +clerk so good-looking as was Dickory. Dame Charter was so thankful that +her boy had come safely through all his troubles, so proud of him, and +so eminently well satisfied with his present position, that she asked +nothing of her particular guardian angel but that Stede Bonnet might +stay away. If, after tiring of piracy, that man came back, as his +relatives wished him to do, the good dame was sure he would make +mischief of some sort, and as like as not in the direction of her +Dickory. If this evil family genius should be lost at sea or should +disappear from the world in some equally painless and undisgraceful +fashion, Dame Charter was sure that she could in a reasonable time quiet +the grief of poor Kate; for what right-minded damsel could fail to +mingle thankfulness with her sorrow that a kind death should relieve a +parent from the sins and disgraces which in life always seemed to open +up in front of him.</p> + +<p>About this time there came a letter from Barbadoes, which was of great +interest to everybody in the household. It was from Master Martin +Newcombe, and of course was written to Kate, but she read many portions +of it to the others. The first part of the epistle was not read aloud, +but it was very pleasant for Kate to read it to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span>herself. This man was a +close lover and an ardent one. Whatever had happened to her fortunes, +nothing had interfered with his affection; whatever he had said he still +bravely stood by, and to whatever she had objected in the way of +obstacles he had paid no attention whatever.</p> + +<p>In the parts of the letter read to her uncle and the others, Master +Newcombe told how, not having heard from them for so long, he had been +beginning to be greatly troubled, but the arrival of the Black Swan, +which, after touching at Kingston, had continued her course to +Barbadoes, had given him new life and hope; and it was his intention, as +soon as he could arrange his affairs, to come to Jamaica, and there say +by word of mouth and do, in his own person, so much for which a letter +was totally inadequate. The thought of seeing Kate again made him +tremble as he walked through his fields. This was read inadvertently, +and Dickory frowned. Dame Charter frowned too. She had never supposed +that Master Newcombe would come to Spanish Town; she had always looked +upon him as a very worthy young farmer; so worthy that he would not +neglect his interest by travelling about to other islands than his own. +She did not know exactly how her son felt about all this, nor did she +like to ask him, but Dickory saved her the trouble.</p> + +<p>"If that Newcombe comes here," he said, "I am going to fight him."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span>"What!" cried his mother. "You would not do that. That would be +terrible; it would ruin everything."</p> + +<p>"Ruin what?" he asked.</p> + +<p>His mother answered diplomatically. "It would ruin all your fine +opportunities in this family."</p> + +<p>Dickory smiled with a certain sarcastic hardness. "I don't mean," said +he, "that I am going to hack at him with a sword, because neither he nor +I properly know how to use swords, and after the wonderful practice that +I have seen, I would not want to prove myself a bungler even if the +other man were a worse one. No, mother, I mean to fight with him by all +fair means to gain the hand of my dear Kate. I love her, and I am far +more worthy of her than he is. He is not a well-disposed man, being +rough and inconsiderate in his speech." Dickory had never forgiven the +interview by the river bank when he had gone to see Madam Bonnet. "And +as to his being a stout lover, he is none of it. Had he been that, he +would long ago have crossed the little sea between Barbadoes and here."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean, you foolish boy," exclaimed Dame Charter, "to say that you +presume to love our Mistress Kate?" And her eyes glowed upon him with +all the warmth of a mother's pride, for this was the wish of her heart, +and never absent from it.</p> + +<p>"Ay, mother," said Dickory, "I shall fight <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span>for her; I shall show her +that I am worthier than he is and that I love her better. I shall even +strive for her if that mad pirate comes back and tries to overset +everything."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do it before that!" cried Dame Charter, anxiety in every wrinkle. +"Do it before that!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine was a little troubled by the promised visit from +Barbadoes. He had heard of Master Newcombe as being a most estimable +young man, but the fault about him, in his opinion, was that he resided +not in Jamaica. For a long time the good merchant had lived his own +life, with no one to love him, and he now had with him his sister's +child, whom he had come to look upon as a daughter, and he did not wish +to give her up. It was true that it might be possible, under favourable +pressure, to induce young Newcombe to come to Jamaica and settle there, +but this was all very vague. Had he had his own way, he would have +driven from Kate every thought of love or marriage until the time when +his new clerk, Dickory Charter, had become a young merchant of good +standing, worthy of such a wife. Then he might have been willing to give +Kate to Dickory, and Dickory would have given her to him, and they might +have all been happy. That is, if that hare-brained Bonnet did not come +home.</p> + +<p>The Delaplaine family did not go much into society at that time, for +people had known about <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span>the pirate and his ship, the Revenge, and the +pursuit upon which Captain Vince of the royal corvette Badger had been +sent. They had all heard, too, of the death of Captain Vince, and some +of them were not quite certain whether he had been killed by the pirate +Bonnet or another desperado equally dangerous. Knowing all this, +although if they had not known it they would scarcely have found it out +from the speech of their neighbours, the Delaplaines kept much to +themselves. And they were happy, and the keynote of their happiness was +struck by Kate, whose thankful heart could never forget the death of +Captain Vince.</p> + +<p>Mr. Delaplaine made his proper visit to Spanish Town, to carry his +thanks and to tell the Governor how things had happened to him; and the +Governor still showed his interest in Mistress Kate Bonnet, and +expressed his regret that she had not come with her uncle, which was a +very natural wish indeed for a governor of good taste.</p> + +<p>This is a chapter of happenings, and the next happening was a letter +from that good man, Ben Greenway, and it told the most wonderful, +splendid, and glorious news that had ever been told under the bright sun +of the beautiful West Indies. It told that Captain Stede Bonnet was no +longer a pirate, and that Kate was no longer a pirate's daughter. These +happy people did not join hands and dance and sing over the great <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span>news, +but Kate's joy was so great that she might have done all these things +without knowing it, so thankful was she that once again she had a +father. This rapture so far outshone her relief at the news of the death +of Captain Vince that she almost forgot that that wicked man was safe +and dead. Kate was in such a state of wild delight that she insisted +that her uncle should make another visit to the Governor's house and +take her with him, that she herself might carry the Governor the good +news; and the Governor said such heart-warming things when he heard it +that Kate kissed him in very joy. But as Dickory was not of the party, +this incident was not entered as part of the proceedings.</p> + +<p>Now society, both in Spanish Town and Kingston, opened its arms and +insisted that the fair star of Barbadoes should enter them, and there +were parties and dances and dinners, and it might have been supposed +that everybody had been a father or a mother to a prodigal son, so +genial and joyful were the festivities—Kate high above all others.</p> + +<p>At some of these social functions Dickory Charter was present, but it is +doubtful whether he was happier when he saw Kate surrounded by gay +admirers or when he was at home imagining what was going on about her.</p> + +<p>There was but one cloud in the midst of all this sunshine, and that was +that Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, and her son Dickory could not <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span>forget +that it was now in the line of events that Stede Bonnet would soon be +with them, and beyond that all was chaos.</p> + +<p>And over the seas sailed the good ship the Royal James, Captain Thomas +in command.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE TIDE DECIDES<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_36.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was now September, and the weather was beautiful on the North +Carolina coast. Captain Thomas (late Bonnet) of the Royal James (late +Revenge) had always enjoyed cool nights and invigorating morning air, +and therefore it was that he said to his faithful servitor, Ben +Greenway, when first he stepped out upon the deck as his vessel lay +comfortably anchored in a little cove in the Cape Fear River, that he +did not remember ever having been in a more pleasant harbour. This +well-tried pirate captain—Stede Bonnet, as we shall call him, +notwithstanding his assumption of another name—was in a genial mood as +he drank in the morning air.</p> + +<p>From his point of view he had a right to be genial; he had a right to be +pleased with the scenery and the air; he had a right to swear at the +Scotchman, and to ask him why he did not put on a merrier visage on such +a sparkling morning, for since he had first started out as <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span>Captain +Thomas of the Royal James he had been a most successful pirate. He had +sailed up the Virginia coast; he had burned, he had sunk, he had robbed, +he had slain; he had gone up the Delaware Bay, and the people in ships +and the people on the coasts trembled even when they heard that his +black flag had been sighted.</p> + +<p>No man could now say that the former captain of the Revenge was not an +accomplished and seasoned desperado. Even the great Blackbeard would not +have cared to give him nicknames, nor dared to play his blithesome +tricks upon him; he was now no more Captain Nightcap to any man. His +crew of hairy ruffians had learned to understand that he knew what he +wanted, and, more than that, he knew how to order it done. They listened +to his great oaths and they respected him. This powerful pirate now +commanded a small fleet, for in the cove where lay his flag-ship also +lay two good-sized sloops, manned by their own crews, which he had +captured in Delaware Bay and had brought down with him to this quiet +spot, a few miles up the Cape Fear River, where now he was repairing his +own ship, which had had a hard time of it since she had again come into +his hands.</p> + +<p>For many a long day the sound of the hammer and the saw had mingled with +the song of the birds, and Captain Bonnet felt that in a day or two he +might again sail out upon the sea, conveying his two prizes to some +convenient mart, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span>while he, with his good ship, freshened and restored, +would go in search of more victories, more booty, and more blood.</p> + +<p>"Greenway, I tell you," said Bonnet, continuing his remarks, "you are +too glum; you've got the only long face in all this, my fleet. Even +those poor fellows who man my prizes are not so solemn, although they +know not, when I have done with them, whether I shall maroon them to +quietly starve or shall sink them in their own vessels."</p> + +<p>"But I hae no such reason to be cheerful," said Ben. "I hae bound mysel' +to stand by ye till ye hae gone to the de'il, an' I hae no chance o' +freein' mysel' from my responsibeelities by perishin' on land or in the +sea."</p> + +<p>"If anything could make me glum, Ben Greenway, it would be you," said +the other; "but I am getting used to you, and some of these days when I +have captured a ship laden with Scotch liquors and Scotch plaids I +believe that you will turn pirate yourself for the sake of your share of +the prizes."</p> + +<p>"Which is likely to be on the same mornin' that ye turn to be an honest +mon," said Ben; "but I am no' in the way o' expectin' miracles."</p> + +<p>On went the pounding and the sawing and the hammering and the swearing +and the singing of birds, although the latter were a little farther away +than they had been, and in the course of the day the pirate captain, +erect, scrutinizing, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span>and blasphemous, went over his ship, +superintending the repairs. In a day or two everything would be +finished, and then he and his two prizes could up sail and away. It was +a beautiful harbour in which he lay, but he was getting tired of it.</p> + +<p>There were great prospects before our pirate captain. Perhaps he might +have the grand good fortune to fall in with that low-born devil, +Blackbeard, who, when last he had been heard from, commanded but a small +vessel, fearing no attack upon this coast. What a proud and glorious +moment it would be when a broadside and another and another should be +poured in upon his little craft from the long guns of the Royal James.</p> + +<p>Bonnet was still standing, reflecting, with bright eyes, upon this +dazzling future, and wondering what would be the best way of letting the +dastardly Blackbeard know whose guns they were which had sunk his ship, +when a boat was seen coming around the headland. This was one of his own +boats, which had been posted as a sentinel, and which now brought the +news that two vessels were coming in at the mouth of the river, but that +as the distance was great and the night was coming on they could not +decide what manner of craft they were.</p> + +<p>This information made everybody jump, on board the Royal James, and the +noise of the sawing and the hammering ceased as completely as had the +songs of the birds. In a few min<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span>utes that quick and able mariner, +Bonnet, had sent three armed boats down the river to reconnoitre. If the +vessels entering the river were merchantmen, they should not be allowed +to get away; but if they were enemies, although it was difficult to +understand how enemies could make their appearance in these quiet +waters, they must be attended to, either by fight or flight.</p> + +<p>When the three boats came back, and it was late before they appeared, +every man upon the Royal James was crowded along her side to hear the +news, and even the people on the prizes knew that something had +happened, and stood upon every point of vantage, hoping that in some way +they could find out what it was.</p> + +<p>The news brought by the boats was to the effect that two vessels, not +sailing as merchantmen and well armed and manned, were now ashore on +sand-bars, not very far above the mouth of the river. Now Bonnet swore +bravely. If the work upon his vessels had been finished he would up +anchor and away and sail past these two grounded ships, whatever they +were and whatever they came for. He would sail past them and take with +him his two prizes; he would glide out to sea with the tide, and he +would laugh at them as he left them behind. But the Royal James was not +ready to sail.</p> + +<p>The tide was now low; five hours afterward, when it should be high, +those two ships, whatever they were, would float again, and the Royal +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span>James, whatever her course of action should be, would be cut off from +the mouth of the river. This was a greater risk than even a pirate as +bold as Bonnet would wish to run, and so there was no sleep that night +on the Royal James. The blows of the hammers and the sounds of the saws +made a greater noise than they had ever done before, so that the night +birds were frightened and flew shrieking away. Every man worked with all +the energy that was in him, for each hairy rascal had reason to believe +that if the vessel they were on did not get out of the river before the +two armed strangers should be afloat there might be hard times ahead for +them. Even Ben Greenway was aroused. "The de'il shall not get him any +sooner than can be helped," he said to himself, and he hammered and +sawed with the rest of them.</p> + +<p>On his stout and well-armed sloop the Henry, Mr. William Rhett, of +Charles Town, South Carolina, paced anxiously all night. Frequently from +the sand-bar on which his vessel was grounded he called over to his +other sloop, also fast grounded, giving orders and asking questions. On +both vessels everybody was at work, getting ready for action when the +tide should rise.</p> + +<p>Some weeks before the wails and complaints of a tortured sea-coast had +come down from the Jersey shores to South Carolina, asking for help at +the only place along that coast whence help <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span>could come. A pirate named +Thomas was working his way southward, spreading terror before him and +leaving misery behind. These appeals touched the hearts of the people of +Charles Town, already sore from the injuries and insults inflicted upon +them by Blackbeard in those days when Bonnet sat silently on the pirate +ship, doing nothing and learning much.</p> + +<p>There was no hesitancy; for their own sake and for the sake of their +commerce, this new pirate must not come to Charles Town harbour, and an +expedition of two vessels, heavily armed and well manned and commanded +by Mr. William Rhett, was sent northward up the coast to look for the +pirate named Thomas and to destroy him and his ship. Mr. Rhett was not a +military man, nor did he belong to the navy. He was a citizen capable of +commanding soldiers, and as such he went forth to destroy the pirate +Thomas.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rhett met people enough along the coast who told him where he might +find the pirate, but he found no one to tell him how to navigate the +dangerous waters of the Cape Fear River, and so it was that soon after +entering that fine stream he and his consort found themselves aground.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rhett was quite sure that he had discovered the lair of the big game +he was looking for. Just before dark, three boats, well filled with men, +had appeared from up the river, and they <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span>had looked so formidable that +everything had been made ready to resist an attack from them. They +retired, but every now and then during the night, when there was quiet +for a few minutes, there would come down the river on the wind the sound +of distant hammering and the noise of saws.</p> + +<p>It was after midnight before the Henry and the Sea Nymph floated free, +but they anchored where they were and waited for the morning. Whether +they would sail up the river after the pirate or whether he would come +down to them, daylight would show.</p> + +<p>Mr. Rhett's vessels had been at anchor for five hours, and every man on +board of them were watching and waiting, when daylight appeared and +showed them a tall ship, under full sail, rounding the distant headland +up the river. Now up came their anchors and their sails were set. The +pirate was coming!</p> + +<p>Whatever the Royal James intended to do, Mr. Rhett had but one plan, and +that was to meet the enemy as soon as possible and fight him. So up +sailed the Henry and up sailed the Sea Nymph, and they pressed ahead so +steadily to meet the Royal James that the latter vessel, in carrying out +what was now her obvious intention of getting out to sea, was forced +shoreward, where she speedily ran upon a bar. Then, from the vessels of +Charles Town there came great shouts of triumph, which ceased when first +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span>Henry and then the Sea Nymph ran upon other bars and remained +stationary.</p> + +<p>Here was an unusual condition—three ships of war all aground and about +to begin a battle, a battle which would probably last for five hours if +one or more of the stationary vessels were not destroyed before that +time. It was soon found, however, that there would only be two parties +to the fight, for the Sea Nymph was too far away to use her guns. The +Royal James had an advantage over her opponents, since, when she +slightly careened, her decks were slanted away from the enemy, while the +latter's were presented to her fire.</p> + +<p>At it they went, hot and heavy. Bonnet and his men now knew that they +were engaged with commissioned war vessels, and they fought for their +lives. Mr. Rhett knew that he was fighting Thomas, the dreaded pirate of +the coast, and he felt that he must destroy him before his vessel should +float again. The cannon roared, muskets blazed away, and the combatants +were near enough even to use pistols upon each other. Men died, blood +flowed, and the fight grew fiercer and fiercer.</p> + +<p>Bonnet roared like an incarnate devil; he swore at his men, he swore at +the enemy, he swore at his bad fortune, for had he not missed the +channel the game would have been in his own hands.</p> + +<p>So on they fought, and the tide kept steadily <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span>rising. The five hours +must pass at last, and the vessel which first floated would win the day.</p> + +<p>The five hours did pass, and the Henry floated, and Bonnet swore louder +and more fiercely than before. He roared to his men to fire and to +fight, no matter whether they were still aground or not, and with many +oaths he vowed that if any one of them showed but a sign of weakening he +would cut him down upon the spot. But the hairy scoundrels who made up +the crew of the Royal James had no idea of lying there with their ship +on its side, while two other ships—for the Sea Nymph was now +afloat—should sail around them, rake their decks, and shatter them to +pieces. So the crew consulted together, despite their captain's roars +and oaths, and many of them counselled surrender. Their vessel was much +farther inshore than the two others, and no matter what happened +afterward they preferred to live longer than fifteen or twenty minutes.</p> + +<p>But Bonnet quailed not before fate, before the enemy, or before his +crew; if he heard another word of surrender he would fire the magazine +and blow the ship to the sky with every man in it. Raising his cutlass +in air, he was about to bring it down upon one of the cowards he +berated, when suddenly he was seized by two powerful hands, which pinned +his arms behind him. With a scream of rage, he turned his head <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span>and +found that he was in the grasp of Ben Greenway.</p> + +<p>"Let go your sword, Master Bonnet," said Ben; "it is o' no use to ye +now, for ye canna get awa' from me. I'm nae older than ye are, though I +look it, an' I've got the harder muscles. Ye may be makin' your way +steadily an' surely to the gates o' hell an' it mayna be possible that I +can prevent ye, but I'm not goin' to let ye tumble in by accident so +long as I've got two arms left to me."</p> + +<p>Pale, haggard, and writhing, Stede Bonnet was disarmed, and the Jolly +Roger came down.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVII">CHAPTER XXXVII</a></h2> + + +<h3>BONNET AND GREENWAY PART COMPANY<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_37.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was three days after this memorable combat—for the vessels engaged +in it needed considerable repairs—when Mr. Rhett of Charles Town sailed +down the Cape Fear River with his five vessels—the two with which he +had entered it, the pirate Royal James, and the two prizes of the +latter, which had waited quietly up the river to see how matters were +going to turn out.</p> + +<p>On the Henry sailed the pirate Thomas, now discovered to be the +notorious Stede Bonnet, and a very quiet and respectful man he was. As +has been seen before, Bonnet was a man able to adapt himself to +circumstances. There never was a more demure counting-house clerk than +was Bonnet at Belize; there never was an humbler dependent than the +almost unnoticed Bonnet after he had joined Blackbeard's fleet before +Charles Town, and there never was a more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span>deferential and respectful +prisoner than Stede Bonnet on board the Henry. It was really touching to +see how this cursing and raging pirate deported himself as a meek and +uncomplaining gentleman.</p> + +<p>There was no prison-house in Charles Town, but Stede Bonnet's wicked +crew, including Ben Greenway—for his captors were not making any +distinctions in regard to common men taken on a pirate ship—were +clapped into the watch-house—and a crowded and uncomfortable place it +was—and put under a heavy and military guard. The authorities were, +however, making distinctions where gentlemen of family and owners of +landed estates were concerned, no matter if they did happen to be taken +on a pirate ship, and Major Bonnet of Barbadoes was lodged in the +provost marshal's house, in comfortable quarters, with only two +sentinels outside to make him understand he was a prisoner.</p> + +<p>The capture of this celebrated pirate created a sensation in Charles +Town, and many of the citizens were not slow to pay the unfortunate +prisoner the attentions due to his former position in society. He was +very well satisfied with his treatment in Charles Town, which city he +had never before had the pleasure of visiting.</p> + +<p>The attentions paid to Ben Greenway were not pleasing; sometimes he was +shoved into one corner and sometimes into another. He frequently had +enough to eat and drink, but very <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span>often this was not the case. Bonnet +never inquired after him. If he thought of him at all, he hoped that he +had been killed in the fight, for if that were the case he would be rid +of his eternal preachments.</p> + +<p>Greenway made known the state of his own case whenever he had a chance +to do so, but his complaints received no attention, and he might have +remained with the crew of the Royal James as long as they were shut up +in the watch-house had not some of the hairy cut-throats themselves +taken pity upon him and assured the guards that this man was not one of +them, and that they knew from what they had heard him say and seen him +do that there was no more determined enemy of piracy in all the Western +continent. So it happened, that after some weeks of confinement Greenway +was let out of the watch-house and allowed to find quarters for himself.</p> + +<p>The first day the Scotchman was free he went to the provost-marshal's +house and petitioned an interview with his old master, Bonnet.</p> + +<p>"Heigho!" cried the latter, who was comfortably seated in a chair +reading a letter. "And where do you come from, Ben Greenway? I had +thought you were dead and buried in the Cape Fear River."</p> + +<p>"Ye did not think I was dead," replied Ben, "when I seized ye an' held +ye an' kept ye from buryin' yoursel' in that same river."</p> + +<p>Bonnet waved his hand. "No more of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span>that," said he; "I was unfortunate, +but that is over now and things have turned out better than any man +could have expected."</p> + +<p>"Better!" exclaimed Ben. "I vow I know not what that means."</p> + +<p>Bonnet laughed. He was looking very well; he was shaved, and wore a neat +suit of clothes.</p> + +<p>"Ben Greenway," said he, "you are now looking upon a man of high +distinction. At this moment I am the greatest pirate on the face of the +earth. Yes, Greenway, the greatest pirate on the face of the earth. I +have a letter here, which was received by the provost-marshal and which +he gave me to read, which tells that Blackbeard, the first pirate of his +age, is dead. Therefore, Ben Greenway, I take his place, and there is no +living pirate greater than I am."</p> + +<p>"An' ye pride yoursel' on that, an' at this moment?" asked Ben, truly +amazed.</p> + +<p>"That do I," said Bonnet. "And think of it, Ben Greenway, that +presumptuous, overbearing Blackbeard was killed, and his head brought +away sticking up on the bow of a vessel. What a rare sight that must +have been, Ben! Think of his long beard, all tied up with ribbons, stuck +up on the bow of a ship!"</p> + +<p>"An' ye are now the head de'il on earth?" said Ben.</p> + +<p>"You can put it that way, if you like," said Bonnet, "but I am not so +looked upon in this <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span>town. I am an honoured person. I doubt very much if +any prisoner in this country was ever treated with the distinction that +is shown me, but I don't wonder at it; I have the reputation of two +great pirates joined in one—the pirate Bonnet, of the dreaded ship +Revenge, and the terrible Thomas of the Royal James. My man, there are +people in this town who have been to me and who have said that a man so +famous should not even be imprisoned. I have good reason to believe that +it will not be long before pardon papers are made out for me, and that I +may go my way."</p> + +<p>"An' your men?" asked Greenway. "Will they go free or will they be hung +like common pirates?"</p> + +<p>Bonnet frowned impatiently. "I don't want to hear anything about the +men," he said; "of course they will be hung. What could be done with +them if they were not hung? But it is entirely different with me. I am a +most respectable person, and, now that I am willing to resign my +piratical career, having won in it all the glory that can come to one +man, that respectability must be considered."</p> + +<p>"Weel, weel," said the Scotchman; "an' when it comes that +respectabeelity is better for a man's soul an' body than righteousness, +then I am no fit counsellor for ye, Master Bonnet," and he took his +leave.</p> + +<p>The next morning, when Ben Greenway left <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span>his lodging he found the town +in an uproar. The pirate Bonnet had bribed his sentinels and, with some +others, had escaped. Ben stood still and stamped his foot. Such infamy, +such perfidy to the authorities who had treated him so well, the +Scotchman could not at first imagine, but when the truth became plain to +him, his face glowed, his eye burned; this vile conduct of his old +master was a triumph to Ben's principles. Wickedness was wickedness, and +could not be washed away by respectability.</p> + +<p>The days passed on; Bonnet was recaptured, more securely imprisoned, put +upon trial, found guilty, and, in spite of the efforts of the advocates +of respectability, was condemned to be hung on the same spot where +nearly all the members of his pirate crew had been executed.</p> + +<p>During all this time Ben Greenway kept away from his old master; he had +borne ill-treatment of every kind, but the deception practised upon him +when, at his latest interview, Bonnet talked to him of his +respectability, having already planned an escape and return to his evil +ways, was too much for the honest Scotchman. He had done with this man, +faithless to friend and foe, to his own blood, and even to his own bad +reputation.</p> + +<p>But not quite done. It was but half an hour before the time fixed for +the pirate's execution that Ben Greenway gained access to him.</p> + +<p>"What!" cried Bonnet, raising his head <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span>from his hands. "You here? I +thought I had done with you!"</p> + +<p>"Ay, I am here," said Ben Greenway. "I hae stood by ye in good fortune +an' in bad fortune, an' I hae never left ye, no matter what happened; +an' I told ye I would follow ye to the gates o' hell, but I could go no +farther. I hae kept my word an' here I stop. Fareweel!"</p> + +<p>"The only comfortable thing about this business," said Bonnet, "is to +know that at last I am rid of that fellow!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXVIII">CHAPTER XXXVIII</a></h2> + + +<h3>AGAIN DICKORY WAS THERE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_38.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>There were indeed gay times in Spanish Town, and with the two loads +lifted from her heart, Kate helped very much to promote the gaiety. If +this young lady had wished to make a good colonial match, she had +opportunities enough for so doing, but she was not in that frame of +mind, and encouraged no suitor.</p> + +<p>But, bright as she was, she was not so bright as on that great and +glorious day when she received Ben Greenway's letter, telling her that +her father was no longer a pirate. There were several reasons for this +gradually growing twilight of her happiness, and one was that no letter +came from her father. To be sure, there were many reasons why no letter +should come. There were no regular mails in these colonies which could +be depended upon, and, besides, the new career of her father, sailing as +a privateer under the king's flag, would probably make it very +diffi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span>cult for him to send a letter to Jamaica by any regular or +irregular method. Moreover, her father was a miserable correspondent, +and always had been. Thus she comforted herself and was content, though +not very well content, to wait.</p> + +<p>Then there was another thing which troubled her, when she thought of it. +That good man and steady lover, Martin Newcombe, had written that he was +coming to Spanish Town, and she knew very well what he was coming for +and what he would say, but she did not know what she would say to him; +and the thought of this troubled her. In a letter she might put off the +answer for which he had been so long and patiently waiting, but when she +met him face to face there could be no more delay; she must tell him yes +or no, and she was not ready to do this.</p> + +<p>There was so much to think of, so many plans to be considered in regard +to going back to Barbadoes or staying in Jamaica, that really she could +not make up her mind, at least not until she had seen her father. She +would be so sorry if Mr. Newcombe came to Spanish Town before her father +should arrive, or at least before she should hear from him.</p> + +<p>Then there was another thing which added to the twilight of these +cheerful days, and this Kate could scarcely understand, because she +could see no reason why it should affect her. The Governor, whom they +frequently met in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span>course of the pleasant social functions of the +town, looked troubled, and was not the genial gentleman he used to be. +Of course he had a right to his own private perplexities and annoyances, +but it grieved Kate to see the change in him. He had always been so +cordial and so cheerful; he was now just as kind as ever, perhaps a +little more so, in his manner, but he was not cheerful.</p> + +<p>Kate mentioned to her uncle the changed demeanour of the Governor, but +he could give no explanation; he had heard of no political troubles, but +supposed that family matters might easily have saddened the good man.</p> + +<p>He himself was not very cheerful, for day after day brought nearer the +time when that uncertain Stede Bonnet might arrive in Jamaica, and what +would happen after that no man could tell. One thing he greatly feared, +and that was, that his dear niece, Kate, might be taken away from him. +Dame Charter was not so very cheerful either. Only in one way did she +believe in Stede Bonnet, and that was, that after some fashion or +another he would come between her and her bright dreams for her dear +Dickory.</p> + +<p>And so there were some people in Spanish Town who were not as happy as +they had been.</p> + +<p>Still there were dinners and little parties, and society made itself +very pleasant; and in the midst of them all a ship came in from +Barbadoes, bringing a letter from Martin Newcombe.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span>A strange thing about this letter was that it was addressed to Mr. +Delaplaine and not to Miss Kate Bonnet. This, of course, proved the +letter must be on business; and, although he was with his little family +when he opened his letter, he thought it well to glance at it before +reading it aloud. The first few lines showed him that it was indeed a +business letter, for it told of the death of Madam Bonnet, and how the +writer, Martin Newcombe, as a neighbour and friend of the family, had +been called in to take temporary charge of her effects, and, having done +so, he hastened to inform Mr. Delaplaine of his proceedings and to ask +advice. This letter he now read aloud, and Kate and the others were +greatly interested therein, although they cautiously forbore the +expression of any opinion which might rise in their minds regarding this +turn of affairs.</p> + +<p>Having finished these business details, Mr. Delaplaine went on and read +aloud, and in the succeeding portion of the letter Mr. Newcombe begged +Mr. Delaplaine to believe that it was the hardest duty of his whole life +to write what he was now obliged to write, but that he knew he must do +it, and therefore would not hesitate. At this the reader looked at his +niece and stopped.</p> + +<p>"Go on," cried Kate, her face a little flushed, "go on!"</p> + +<p>The face of Mr. Delaplaine was pale, and for a moment he hesitated, +then, with a sudden jerk, he nerved himself to the effort and read on; +he <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> +had seen enough to make him understand that the duty before him +was to read on.<br /><br /></p> + + +<p><a name="gs_08" id="gs_08"><br /></a></p> +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/gs_08.png" width="65%" alt="In an instant Dickory was there." /> +<span class="caption"><br /><br />In an instant Dickory was there.<br /><br /><br /></span> +</div> + +<p>Briefly and tersely, but with tears in the very ink, so sad were the +words, the writer assured Mr. Delaplaine that his love for his niece had +been, and was, the overpowering impulse of his life; that to win this +love he had dared everything, he had hoped for everything, he had been +willing to pass by and overlook everything, but that now, and it tore +his heart to write it, his evil fortune had been too much for him; he +could do anything for the sake of his love that a man with respect for +himself could do, but there was one thing at which he must stop, at +which he must bow his head and submit to his fate—he could not marry +the daughter of an executed felon.</p> + +<p>Thus came to that little family group the news of the pirate Bonnet's +death. There was more of the letter, but Mr. Delaplaine did not read it.</p> + +<p>Kate did not scream, nor moan, nor faint, but she sat up straight in her +chair and gazed, with a wild intentness, at her uncle. No one spoke. At +such a moment condolence or sympathy would have been a cruel mockery. +They were all as pale as chalk. In his heart, Mr. Delaplaine said: "I +see it all; the Governor must have known, and he loved her so he could +not break her heart."</p> + +<p>In the midst of the silence, in the midst of <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span>the chalky whiteness of +their faces, in the midst of the blackness which was settling down upon +them, Kate Bonnet still sat upright, a coldness creeping through every +part of her. Suddenly she turned her head, and in a voice of wild +entreaty she called out: "Oh, Dickory, why don't you come to me!"</p> + +<p>In an instant Dickory was there, and, cold and lifeless, Kate Bonnet was +in his arms.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXXIX">CHAPTER XXXIX</a></h2> + + +<h3>THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME FROM THE DEATH OF THE WICKED<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_39.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>It was three weeks after Martin Newcombe's letter came before Ben +Greenway arrived in Spanish Town. He had had a hard time to get there, +having but little money and no friends to help him; but he had a strong +heart and an earnest, and so he was bound to get there at last; and, +although Kate saw no visitors, she saw him. She was not dressed in +mourning; she could not wear black for herself.</p> + +<p>She greeted the Scotchman with earnestness; he was a friend out of the +old past, but she gave him no chance to speak first.</p> + +<p>"Ben," she exclaimed, "have you a message for me?"</p> + +<p>"No message," he replied, "but I hae somethin' on my heart I wish to say +to ye. I hae toiled an' laboured an' hae striven wi' mony obstacles to +get to ye an' to say it."</p> + +<p>She looked at him, with her brows knit, won<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span>dering if she should allow +him to speak; then, with the words scarcely audible between her tightly +closed lips, she said: "Ben, what is it?"</p> + +<p>"It is this, an' no more nor less," replied the Scotchman; "he was never +fit to be your father, an' it is not fit now for ye to remember him as +your father. I was faithful to him to the vera last, but there was no +truth in him. It is an abomination an' a wickedness for ye to remember +him as your father!"</p> + +<p>Kate spoke no word, nor did she shed a tear.</p> + +<p>"It was my heart's desire ye should know it," said the Scotchman, "an' I +came mony a weary league to tell ye so."</p> + +<p>"Ben," said she, "I think I have known it for a long time, but I would +not suffer myself to believe it; but now, having heard your words, I am +sure of it."</p> + +<p>"Uncle," said she an hour afterward, "I have no father, and I never had +one."</p> + +<p>With tears in his eyes he folded her to his breast, and peace began to +rise in his soul. No greater blessing can come to really good people +than the absolute disappearance of the wicked.</p> + +<p>And the wickedness which had so long shadowed and stained the life of +Kate Bonnet was now removed from it. It was hard to get away from the +shadow and to wipe off the stain, but she was a brave girl and she did +it.</p> + +<p>In this work of her life—a work which if not accomplished would make +that life not worth the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>living—Kate was much helped by Dickory; and he +helped her by not saying a word about it or ever allowing himself, when +in her presence, to remember that there had been a shadow or a stain. +And if he thought of it at all when by himself, his only feeling was one +of thankfulness that what had happened had given her to him.</p> + +<p>Even the Governor brightened. He had striven hard to keep from Kate the +news which had come to him from Charles Town, suppressing it in the +hopes that it might reach her more gradually and with less terrible +effect than if he told it, but now that he knew that she knew it the +blessings which are shed abroad by the disappearance of the wicked +affected him also, and he brightened. There were no functions for Kate, +but she brightened, striving with all her soul to have this so, for her +own sake as well as that of others. As for Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, +and Dickory, they brightened without any trouble at all, the +disappearance of the wicked having such a direct and forcible effect +upon them.</p> + +<p>Dickory Charter, who matured in a fashion which made everybody forget +that Kate Bonnet was eleven months his senior, entered into business +with Mr. Delaplaine, and Jamaica became the home of this happy family, +whose welfare was founded, as on a rock, upon the disappearance of the +wicked.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span>Here, then, was a brave girl who had loved her father with a love which +was more than that of a daughter, which was the love of a mother, of a +wife; who had loved him in prosperity and in times of sorrow and of +shame; who had rejoiced like an angel whenever he turned his footsteps +into the right way, and who had mourned like an angel whenever he went +wrong. She had longed to throw her arms around her father's neck, to +hold him to her, and thus keep off the hangman's noose. Her courage and +affection never waned until those arms were rudely thrust aside and +their devoted owner dastardly repulsed.</p> + +<p>True to herself and to him, she loved her father so long as there was +anything parental in him which she might love; and, true to herself, +when he had left her nothing she might love, she bowed her head and +suffered him, as he passed out of his life, to pass out of her own.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XL" id="CHAPTER_XL">CHAPTER XL</a></h2> + + +<h3>CAPTAIN ICHABOD PUTS THE CASE<br /></h3> +<div><img src="images/chapter_40.png" alt="decorative drop-cap illustration" /></div> + +<p>In the river at Bridgetown lay the good brig King and Queen, just +arrived from Jamaica. On her deck was an impatient young gentleman, +leaning over the rail and watching the approach of a boat, with two men +rowing and a passenger in the stern.</p> + +<p>This impatient young man was Dickory Charter, that morning arrived at +Bridgetown and not yet having been on shore. He came for the purpose of +settling some business affairs, partly on account of Miss Kate Bonnet +and partly for his mother.</p> + +<p>As the boat came nearer, Dickory recognised one of the men who were +rowing and hailed him.</p> + +<p>"Heigho! Tom Hilyer," he cried, "I am right glad to see you on this +river again. I want a boat to go to my mother's house; know you of one +at liberty?"</p> + +<p>The man ceased rowing for a moment and then addressed the passenger in +the stern, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span>who, having heard what he had to say, nodded briefly.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, Dick Charter!" cried out the man, "and have you come back +as governor of the colony? You look fine enough, anyway. But if you want +a boat to go to your mother's old home, you can have a seat in this one; +we're going there, and our passenger does not object."</p> + +<p>"Pull up here," cried Dickory, and in a moment he had dropped into the +bow of the boat, which then proceeded on its way.</p> + +<p>The man in the stern was fairly young, handsome, sunburned, and well +dressed in a suit of black. When Dickory thanked him for allowing him to +share his boat the passenger in the stern nodded his head with a jerk +and an air which indicated that he took the incident as a matter of +course, not to be further mentioned or considered.</p> + +<p>The men who rowed the boat were good oarsmen, but they were not +thoroughly acquainted with the cove, especially at low tide, and +presently they ran upon a sand-bar. Then uprose the passenger in the +stern and began to swear with an ease and facility which betokened long +practice. Dickory did not swear, but he knit his brows and berated +himself for not having taken the direction of the course into his own +hands, he who knew the river and the cove so well. The tide was rising +but Dickory was too im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span>patient to sit still and wait until it should be +high enough to float the boat. That was his old home, that little house +at the head of the cove, and he wanted to get there, he wanted to see +it. Part of the business which brought him to Barbadoes concerned that +little house. With a sudden movement he made a dive at his shoes and +stockings and speedily had them lying at the bottom of the boat. Then he +stepped overboard and waded towards the shore. In some of the deeper +places he wetted the bottom of his breeches, but he did not mind that. +The passenger in the stern sat down, but he continued to swear.</p> + +<p>Presently Dickory was on the dry sand, and running up to that cottage +door. A little back from the front of the house and in the shade there +was a bench, and on this bench there sat a girl, reading. She lifted her +head in surprise as Dickory approached, for his bare feet had made no +noise, then she stood up quickly, blushing.</p> + +<p>"You!" she exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," cried Dickory; "and you look just the same as when you first put +your head above the bushes and talked to me."</p> + +<p>"Except that I am more suitably clothed," she said.</p> + +<p>And she was entirely right, for her present dress was feminine, and +extremely becoming.</p> + +<p>Dickory did not wish to say anything more <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span>on this subject, and so he +remarked: "I have just arrived at the town, and I came directly here."</p> + +<p>Lucilla blushed again.</p> + +<p>"This is my old home," added Dickory.</p> + +<p>"But you knew we were here?" she asked, with a hesitating look of +inquiry.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said he, "I knew that the house had been let to your father."</p> + +<p>Now she changed colour twice—first red, then white. "Are you," she +said, "I mean ... the other, is she—"</p> + +<p>"I left her in Jamaica," said Dickory, "but I am going to marry her."</p> + +<p>For a moment the rim of her hat got between the sun and her face, and +one could not decide very well whether her countenance was red or white.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to find you here," said Dickory, "and may I see your +father and mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said she, "but they are both in the field with my young sister. +But who is this man walking up the shore? And is that the boat you came +in?"</p> + +<p>"It is," said Dickory. "We stuck fast, but I was in such a hurry that I +waded ashore. I don't know the man; he had hired the boat, and kindly +took me in, I was in such haste to get here."</p> + +<p>For a moment Lucilla bent her eyes on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span>ground. "In such haste to get +here!" she said to herself; then she raised her head and exclaimed: "Oh, +I know that man; he is the pirate captain who captured the Belinda, +which afterward brought us here." And with both hands outstretched, she +ran to meet him.</p> + +<p>The face of Captain Ichabod glowed with irrepressible delight; one might +have thought he was about to embrace the young woman, notwithstanding +the presence of Dickory and the two boatmen, but he did everything he +could do before witnesses to express his joy.</p> + +<p>Dickory now stepped up to Captain Ichabod. "Oh, now I know you," cried +he, and he held out his hand. "You were very kind indeed to my friends, +and they have spoken much about you. This is my old home; this is the +house where I was born."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "a very good house, bedad, a +very good house." But hesitating a little and addressing Lucilla: "You +don't live here alone, do you?"</p> + +<p>The girl laughed.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," she cried. "My father and mother will be here presently; in +fact, I see them coming."</p> + +<p>"That's very well," said Ichabod, "very well indeed. It's quite right +that they should live with you. I remember them now; they were on the +ship with you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," said Lucilla, still laughing.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span>"Quite right, quite right," said Ichabod; "that was very right."</p> + +<p>"I will go meet your father and mother and the dear little Lena; I +remember them so well," said Dickory. He started to run off in spite of +his bare feet, but he had gone but a little way when Lucilla stopped +him. She looked up at him, and this time her face was white.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure," said she, "that everything is settled between you and +that other girl?"</p> + +<p>"Very sure," said Dickory, looking kindly upon her and remembering how +pretty she had looked when he first saw her face over the bushes.</p> + +<p>She did not say anything, but turned and walked back to Captain Ichabod. +She found that tall gentleman somewhat agitated; he seemed to have a +great deal on his mind which he wished to say, feeling, at the same +time, that he ought to say everything first.</p> + +<p>"That's your father and mother," said he, "stopping to talk to the young +man who was born here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she answered, "and they will be with us presently."</p> + +<p>"Very good, very good, that's quite right," said Captain Ichabod +hurriedly; "but before they come, I want to say—that is, I would like +you to know—that I have sold my ship. I am not a pirate any longer, I +am a sugar-planter, bedad. Beg your pardon! That is, I intend to <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span>be +one. You remember that you once talked to me about sugar-planting in +Barbadoes, and so I am here. I want to find a good sugar plantation, to +buy it, and live on it; I heard that you were stopping on this side of +the river, and so I came here."</p> + +<p>"But there is no sugar plantation here," said Lucilla, very demurely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said Ichabod, "oh, no, of course not; but you are here, and I +wanted to find you; a sugar plantation would be of no use without you."</p> + +<p>She looked at him, still very demurely. "I don't quite understand you," +she said. She turned her head a little and saw that her family and +Dickory were slowly moving towards the house. She knew that with +diffident persons no time should be lost, for, if interrupted, it often +happened that they did not begin again.</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose," she said, her face turned up towards him, but her eyes +cast down, "that you are going to say that you would like to marry me?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course," exclaimed Ichabod; "I thought you knew that that +is what I came here for, bedad."</p> + +<p>"Very well, then," said Lucilla, turning her eyes to the face of the man +she had dreamed of in many happy nights. "No, no," she added quickly, +"you must not kiss me; they are all coming, and there are the two +boatmen."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span>He did not kiss her, but later he made up for the omission.</p> + +<p>The moment Mrs. Mander saw Captain Ichabod and her daughter standing +together she knew exactly what had happened; she had noticed things on +board the Belinda. She hurried up to Lucilla and drew her aside.</p> + +<p>"My dear," she whispered, with a frightened face, "you cannot marry a +pirate; you never, never can!"</p> + +<p>"Dear mother," said Lucilla, "he is not a pirate; he has sold his ship +and is going to be a sugar-planter."</p> + +<p>Now they all came up and heard these words of Lucilla.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "you may not suppose it, but your +daughter and I are about to marry, and will plant sugar together. Now, I +want to buy a plantation. Where is that young man who was born here, +bedad?"</p> + +<p>Dickory advanced, laughing. Here was a fine opportunity, a miraculous +opportunity, of disposing of the Bonnet estate, which was part of the +business which had brought him here. So he told the beaming captain that +he knew of a fine plantation up the river, which he thought would suit +him.</p> + +<p>"Very good," said Captain Ichabod. "I have a boat here; let us go and +look at the place, and if it suits us I will buy it, bedad."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span>So with Mrs. Mander and her husband beside her, and with Lucilla and +the captain by her, the boat was rowed up the river, with Dickory and +young Lena in the bow.</p> + +<p>When the boat reached the Bonnet estate it was run up on the shore near +the shady spot where Kate Bonnet had once caught a fish. Then they all +stepped out upon the little beach, even the oarsmen made the boat fast +and joined the party, who started to walk up to the house. Suddenly +Captain Ichabod stopped and said to Mr. Mander: "I don't think I care to +walk up that hill, you know; and if you and your good wife will look +over that house and cast your eyes about the place, I will buy it, if +you say so: you know a good deal more about such things than I do, +bedad. I suppose, of course, that will suit you?" he said to Lucilla.</p> + +<p>It suited Lucilla exactly. They sat in the shade in the very place where +Kate had sat when she saw Master Newcombe crossing the bridge.</p> + +<p>A small boat came down the river, rowed by a young man. As he passed the +old Bonnet property he carelessly cast his eyes shoreward, but his heart +took no interest in what he saw there. What did it matter to him if two +lovers sat there in the shade, close to the river's brink? His sad soul +now took no interest in lovers. He had just been up the river to arrange +for the sale of his plantation to one of his neighbours. He <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span>had decided +to leave the island of Barbadoes and to return to England.</p> + +<p>The house suited Captain Ichabod exactly, when Mrs. Mander told him +about it, and Lucilla agreed with him because she was always accustomed +to trust her mother in such things.</p> + +<p>So they all got into the boat and rowed back to Dickory's old home, and +on the way Captain Ichabod told Dickory that when they returned together +to the town he would pay him for the plantation, having brought specie +sufficient for the purpose.</p> + +<p>It was a gay party in the boat as they rowed down the river; it was a +gay party at the house when they reached it, and they would have all +taken supper together had the Manders been prepared for such +hospitality; but they were poor, having taken the place upon a short +lease and having had but few returns so far. But they were all going to +live at the old Bonnet place, and happiness shone over everything. It +was twilight, and the two young men were about to walk down to the boat, +one of them promising to come again early in the morning, when Lucilla +approached Dickory.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to live with that girl?" she asked in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"In Jamaica," said he.</p> + +<p>"I am glad of it," she replied, quite frankly.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>They were well content, those Jamaica peo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span>ple, when Ben Greenway came to +live with them. It had been proposed at one time that he should go to +his old Bridgetown home and take charge of the place as he used to, but +the good Scotchman demurred to this.</p> + +<p>"I hae served ane master before he became a pirate," he said, "an' I +don't want to try anither after he has finished bein' ane. If I serve +ony mon, let him be one wha has been righteous, wha is righteous now, +an' wha will continue in righteousness."</p> + +<p>"Then serve Mr. Delaplaine," said Dickory.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The Manders soon removed to the little house where Dickory was born. The +mansion of their daughter and her husband was a hospitable place and a +lively, but the life there was so wayward, erratic, and eccentric that +it did not suit their sober lives and the education of their young +daughter. So they dwelt contentedly in the cottage at the head of the +cove, and there was much rowing up and down the river.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>It was upon a fine morning that the ex-pirate Ichabod thus addressed a +citizen of the town:</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, I know well who once lived in the house I own. I knew the man +myself; I knew him at Belize. He was a dastardly knave, and would have +played false to the sun, the moon, and the stars had they shown him an +opportunity, bedad. But I also knew his daughter; she <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span>sailed on my ship +for many days, and her presence blessed the very boards she trod on. She +is a most noble lady; and if you will not admit, sir, that her sweet +spirit and pure soul have not banished from this earth every taint of +wickedness left here by her father, then, sir, bedad, stand where you +are and draw!"<br /><br /></p> + + +<p>THE END</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="RECENT_FICTION" id="RECENT_FICTION"></a>RECENT FICTION.</h2> + + +<p><br /><b>Some Women I have Known.</b></p> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>, author of "God's Fool," etc. With +Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Maarten Maartens stands head and shoulders above the average + novelist of the day in intellectual subtlety and imaginative + power."—<i>Boston Beacon.</i></p></div> + + +<p><br /><b>The Wage of Character.</b></p> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">Julien Gordon</span>, author of "Mrs. Clyde," etc. With Portrait. +12mo. Cloth, $1.25.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Julien Gordon's new novel is a story of the world of fashion and + intrigue, written with an insight, an epigrammatic force, and a + realization of the dramatic and the pathetic as well as more + superficial phases of life, that stamp the book as one immediate + and personal in its interest and convincing in its appeal to the + minds and to the sympathies of readers.</p></div> + + +<p><br /><b>The Quiberon Touch.</b></p> + +<p>A Romance of the Sea. By <span class="smcap">Cyrus Townsend Brady</span> +, author of "For +the Freedom of the Sea," "The Grip of Honor," etc. With Frontispiece. +12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"This story has a real beauty; it breathes of the sea. Fenimore + Cooper would not be ashamed to own a disciple in the school of + which he was master in these descriptions of the tug of war as it + was in the eighteenth century between battle-ships under + sail."—<i>New York Mail and Express.</i></p></div> + + +<p><br /><b>Shipmates.</b></p> + +<p>A Volume of Salt-Water Fiction. By <span class="smcap">Morgan Robertson</span>, author of +"Masters of Men," etc. With Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>When Mr. Robertson writes of the sea, the tang of the brine and the + snap of the sea-breeze are felt behind his words. The adventures + and mysteries of sea life, the humors and strange complications + possible in yachting, the inner tragedies of the foks'l, the + delightful adventures of Finnegan in war, and the original + developments in the course of true love at sea, are among the vivid + pictures that make up a volume so vital in its interests and + dramatic in its situations, so delightful in its quaint humor and + so vigorous and stirring throughout, that it will be read by sea + lovers for its full flavor of the sea, and by others as a + refreshing tonic.</p></div> + + +<p><br /><b>A Nest of Linnets.</b></p> + +<p>By <span class="smcap">F. Frankfort Moore</span>, author of "The Jessamy Bride," "A Gray +Eye or So," etc. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"That 'A Nest of Linnets' is bright, clever, and well written + follows as a matter of course, considering that it was written by + F. 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APPLETON AND COMPANY, NEW YORK.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATE BONNET***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 17053-h.txt or 17053-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/5/17053</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Stockton, +Illustrated by A. J. Keller and H. S. Potter + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Kate Bonnet + The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter + + +Author: Frank R. Stockton + + + +Release Date: November 12, 2005 [eBook #17053] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KATE BONNET*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Gene Smethers, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net/) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 17053-h.htm or 17053-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053/17053-h/17053-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/7/0/5/17053/17053-h.zip) + + + + + +KATE BONNET + +The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter + +by + +FRANK R. STOCKTON + +Illustrated by A. J. Keller and H. S. Potter + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that +wonderful pirate fight." (See page 350.)] + + + +[Illustration] + + + + +New York +D. Appleton and Company +1902 +Copyright, 1901, 1903 +By D. Appleton and Company +All rights reserved +February, 1902 + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I. TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, A SHIP, AND A FISH + + II. A FRUIT-BASKET AND A FRIEND + + III. THE TWO CLOCKS + + IV. ON THE QUARTER-DECK + + V. AN UNSUCCESSFUL ERRAND + + VI. A PAIR OF SHOES AND STOCKINGS + + VII. KATE PLANS + + VIII. BEN GREENWAY IS CONVINCED THAT BONNET IS A PIRATE + + IX. DICKORY SETS FORTH + + X. CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE + + XI. BAD WEATHER + + XII. FACE TO FACE + + XIII. CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH + + XIV. A GIRL TO THE FRONT + + XV. THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA + + XVI. A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE + + XVII. AN ORNAMENTED BEARD + + XVIII. I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE + + XIX. THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT + + XX. ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH + + XXI. A PROJECTED MARRIAGE + + XXII. BLADE TO BLADE + + XXIII. THE ADDRESS OF THE LETTER + + XXIV. BELIZE + + XXV. WISE MR. DELAPLAINE + + XXVI. DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS + + XXVII. A GIRL WHO LAUGHED + + XXVIII. LUCILLA'S SHIP + + XXIX. CAPTAIN ICHABOD + + XXX. DAME CHARTER MAKES A FRIEND + + XXXI. MR. DELAPLAINE LEADS A BOARDING PARTY + + XXXII. THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER + + XXXIII. BLACKBEARD GIVES GREENWAY SOME DIFFICULT WORK + + XXXIV. CAPTAIN THOMAS OF THE ROYAL JAMES + + XXXV. A CHAPTER OF HAPPENINGS + + XXXVI. THE TIDE DECIDES + + XXXVII. BONNET AND GREENWAY PART COMPANY + +XXXVIII. AGAIN DICKORY WAS THERE + + XXXIX. THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME FROM THE DEATH OF THE WICKED + + XL. CAPTAIN ICHABOD PUTS THE CASE + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + +FACING PAGE + +"Oh, Kate!" said Dickory, "you should have seen that wonderful pirate +fight" _Frontispiece_ + +"If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand!" 46 + +"He is my father!" said Kate 124 + +"Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you behind" 155 + +"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be delivered" 241 + +Kate and her father in the warehouse 260 + +Lucilla rescues Dickory 337 + +In an instant Dickory was there 403 + + + + +KATE BONNET + + + + +CHAPTER I + +TWO YOUNG PEOPLE, A SHIP, AND A FISH + + +The month was September and the place was in the neighbourhood of +Bridgetown, in the island of Barbadoes. The seventeenth century was not +seventeen years old, but the girl who walked slowly down to the river +bank was three years its senior. She carried a fishing-rod and line, and +her name was Kate Bonnet. She was a bright-faced, quick-moving young +person, and apparently did not expect to catch many fish, for she had no +basket in which to carry away her finny prizes. Nor, apparently, did she +have any bait, except that which was upon her hook and which had been +affixed there by one of the servants at her home, not far away. In fact, +Mistress Kate was too nicely dressed and her gloves were too clean to +have much to do with fish or bait, but she seated herself on a little +rock in a shady spot not far from the water and threw forth her line. +Then she gazed about her; a little up the river and a good deal down the +river. + +It was truly a pleasant scene which lay before her eyes. Not half a mile +away was the bridge which gave this English settlement its name, and +beyond the river were woods and cultivated fields, with here and there a +little bit of smoke, for it was growing late in the afternoon, when +smoke meant supper. Beyond all this the land rose from the lower ground +near the river and the sea, in terrace after terrace, until the upper +stretches of its woodlands showed clear against the evening sky. + +But Mistress Kate Bonnet now gazed steadily down the stream, beyond the +town and the bridge, and paid no more attention to the scenery than the +scenery did to her, although one was quite as beautiful as the other. + +There was a bunch of white flowers in the hat of the young girl; not a +very large one, and not a very small one, but of such a size as might be +easily seen from the bridge, had any one happened to be crossing about +that time. And, in fact, as the wearer of the hat and the white flowers +still continued to gaze at the bridge, she saw some one come out upon it +with a quick, buoyant step, and then she saw him stop and gaze steadily +up the river. At this she turned her head, and her eyes went out over +the beautiful landscape and the wide terraces rising above each other +towards the sky. + +It is astonishing how soon after this a young man, dressed in a brown +suit, and very pleasant to look upon, came rapidly walking along the +river bank. This was Master Martin Newcombe, a young Englishman, not two +years from his native land, and now a prosperous farmer on the other +side of the river. + +It often happened that Master Newcombe, at the close of his agricultural +labours, would put on a good suit of clothes and ride over the bridge to +the town, to attend to business or to social duties, as the case might +be. But, sometimes, not willing to encumber himself with a horse, he +walked over the bridge and strolled or hurried along the river bank. +This was one of the times in which he hurried. He had been caught by the +vision of the bunch of white flowers in the hat of the girl who was +seated on the rock in the shade. + +As Master Newcombe stepped near, his spirits rose, as they had not +always risen, as he approached Mistress Kate, for he perceived that, +although she held the handle of her rod in her hand, the other end of it +was lying on the ground, not very far away from the bait and the hook +which, it was very plain, had not been in the water at all. She must +have been thinking of something else besides fishing, he thought. But he +did not dare to go on with that sort of thinking in the way he would +have liked to do it. He had not too great a belief in himself, though he +was very much in love with Kate Bonnet. + +"Is this the best time of day for fishing, Master Newcombe?" she said, +without rising or offering him her hand. "For my part, I don't believe +it is." + +He smiled as he threw his hat upon the ground. "Let me put your line a +little farther out." And so saying, he took the rod from her hand and +stepped between her and the bait, which must have been now quite hot +from lying so long in a bit of sunshine. He rearranged the bait and +threw the line far out into the river. Then he gave her the rod again. +He seated himself on the ground near-by. + +"This is the second time I have been over the bridge to-day," he said, +"and this morning, very early, I saw, for the first time, your father's +ship, which was lying below the town. It is a fine vessel, so far as I +can judge, being a landsman." + +"Yes," said she, "and I have been on board of her and have gone all over +her, and have seen many things which are queer and strange to me. But +the strangest thing about her, to my mind, being a landswoman, is, that +she should belong to my father. There are many things which he has not, +which it would be easy to believe he would like to have, but that a +ship, with sails and anchors and hatchways, should be one of these +things, it is hard to imagine." + +Young Newcombe thought it was impossible to imagine, but he expressed +himself discreetly. + +"It must be that he is going to engage in trade," he said; "has he not +told you of his intentions?" + +"Not much," said she. "He says he is going to cruise about among the +islands, and when I asked him if he would take me, he laughed, and +answered that he might do so, but that I must never say a word of it to +Madam Bonnet, for if she heard of it she might change his plans." + +The wicked young man found himself almost wishing that the somewhat +bad-tempered Madam Bonnet might hear of and change any plan which might +take her husband's daughter from this town, especially in a vessel; for +vessels were always terribly tardy when any one was waiting for their +return. And, besides, it often happened that vessels never came back at +all. + +"I shall take a little trip with him even if we don't go far; it would +be ridiculous for my father to own a ship, and for me never to sail in +her." + +"That would not be so bad," said Master Martin, feeling that a short +absence might be endured. Moreover, if a little pleasure trip were to be +made, it was reasonable enough to suppose that other people, not +belonging to the Bonnet family, might be asked to sail as guests. + +"What my father expects to trade in," said she contemplatively gazing +before her, "I am sure I do not know. It cannot be horses or cattle, for +he has not enough of them to make such a venture profitable. And as to +sugar-cane, or anything from his farm, I am sure he has a good enough +market here for all he has to sell. Certainly he does not produce enough +to make it necessary for him to buy a ship in order to carry them away." + +"It is opined," said Martin, "by the people of the town, that Major +Bonnet intends to become a commercial man, and to carry away to the +other islands, and perhaps to the old country itself, the goods of other +people." + +"Now that would be fine!" said Mistress Kate, her eyes sparkling, "for I +should then surely go with him, and would see the world, and perhaps +London." And her face flushed with the prospect. + +Martin's face did not flush. "But if your father's ship sailed on a long +voyage," he said, with a suspicion of apprehension, "he would not sail +with her; he would send her under the charge of others." + +The girl shook her head. "When she sails," said she, "he sails in her. +If you had heard him talking as I have heard him, you would not doubt +that. And if he sails, I sail." + +Martin's soul grew quite sad. There were very good reasons to believe +that this dear girl might sail away from Bridgetown, and from him. She +might come back to the town, but she might not come back to him. + +"Mistress Kate," said he, looking very earnestly at her, "do you know +that such speech as this makes my heart sink? You know I love you, I +have told you so before. If you were to sail away, I care not to what +port, this world would be a black place for me." + +"That is like a lover," she exclaimed a little pertly; "it is like them +all, every man of them. They must have what they want, and they must +have it, no matter who else may suffer." + +He rose and stood by her. + +"But I don't want you to suffer," he said. "Do you think it would be +suffering to live with one who loved you, who would spend his whole life +in making you happy, who would look upon you as the chief thing in the +world, and have no other ambition than to make himself worthy of you?" + +She looked up at him with a little smile. + +"That would, doubtless, be all very pleasant for you," she said, "and in +order that you might be pleased, you would have her give up so much. +That is the way with men! Now, here am I, born in the very end of the +last century, and having had, consequently, no good out of that, and +with but seventeen years in this century, and most of it passed in +girlhood and in school; and now, when the world might open before me for +a little, here you come along and tell me all that you would like to +have, and that you would like me to give up." + +"But you should not think," said he, and that was all he said, for at +that moment Kate Bonnet felt a little jerk at the end of her line, and +then a good strong pull. + +"I have a fish!" she cried, and sprang to her feet. Then, with a swoop, +she threw into the midst of the weeds and wild flowers a struggling fish +which Martin hastened to take from the hook. + +"A fine fellow!" he cried, "and he has arrived just in time to make a +dainty dish for your supper." + +"Ah, no!" she said, winding the line about her rod; "if I were to take +that fish to the house, it would sorely disturb Madam Bonnet. She would +object to my catching it; she would object to having it prepared for the +table; she would object to having it eaten, when she had arranged that +we should eat something else. No, I will give it to you, Master +Newcombe; I suppose in your house you can cook and eat what you please." + +"Yes," said he; "but how delightful it would be if we could eat it +together." + +"Meaning," said she, "that I should never eat other fish than those from +this river. No, sir; that may not be. I have a notion that the first +foreign fish I shall eat will be found in the island of Jamaica, for my +father said, that possibly he might first take a trip there, where lives +my mother's brother, whom we have not seen for a long time. But, as I +told you before, nobody must know this. And now I must go to my supper, +and you must take yours home with you." + +"And I am sure it will be the sweetest fish," he said, "that was ever +caught in all these waters. But I beg, before you go, you will promise +me one thing." + +"Promise you!" said she, quite loftily. + +"Yes," he answered; "tell me that, no matter where you go, you will not +leave Bridgetown without letting me know of it?" + +"I will not, indeed," said she; "and if it is to Jamaica we go, perhaps +my father--but no, I don't believe he will do that. He will be too much +wrapped up in his ship to want for company to whom he must attend and +talk." + +"Ah! there would be no need of that!" said Newcombe, with a lover's +smile. + +She smiled back at him. + +"Good-night!" she said, "and see to it that you eat your fish to-night +while it is so fresh." Then she ran up the winding path to her home. + +He stood and looked after her until she had disappeared among the +shrubbery, after which he walked away. + +"I should have said more than I did," he reflected; "seldom have I had +so good a chance to speak and urge my case. It was that confounded ship. +Her mind is all for that and not for me." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A FRUIT-BASKET AND A FRIEND + + +Major Stede Bonnet, the father of Kate, whose mother had died when the +child was but a year old, was a middle-aged Englishman of a fair estate, +in the island of Barbadoes. He had been an officer in the army, was well +educated and intelligent, and now, in vigorous middle life, had become a +confirmed country gentleman. His herds and his crops were, to him, the +principal things on earth, with the exception of his daughter; for, +although he had married for the second time, there were a good many +things which he valued more than his wife. And it had therefore +occasioned a good deal of surprise, and more or less small talk among +his neighbours, that Major Bonnet should want to buy a ship. But he had +been a soldier in his youth, and soldiers are very apt to change their +manner of living, and so, if Major Bonnet had grown tired of his farm +and had determined to go into commercial enterprises, it was not, +perhaps, a very amazing thing that a military man who had turned planter +should now turn to be something else. + +Madam Bonnet had heard of the ship, although she had not been told +anything about her step-daughter taking a trip in her, and if she had +heard she might not have objected. She had regarded, in an apparently +careless manner, her husband's desire to navigate the sea; for, no +matter to what point he might happen to sail, his ship would take him +away from Barbadoes, and that would very well suit her. She was getting +tired of Major Bonnet. She did not believe he had ever been a very good +soldier; she was positively sure that he was not a good farmer; and she +had the strongest kind of doubt as to his ability as a commercial man. +But as this new business would free her from him, at least for a time, +she was well content; and, although she should feel herself somewhat +handicapped by the presence of Kate, she did not intend to allow that +young lady to interfere with her plans and purposes during the absence +of the head of the house. So she went her way, saying nothing derisive +about the nautical life, except what she considered it necessary for her +to do, in order to maintain her superior position in the household. + +Major Bonnet was now very much engaged and a good deal disturbed, for he +found that projected sailing, even in one's own craft, is not always +smooth sailing. He was putting his vessel in excellent order, and was +fitting her out generously in the way of stores and all manner of +nautical needfuls, not forgetting the guns necessary for defence in +these somewhat disordered times, and his latest endeavours were towards +the shipping of a suitable crew. Seafaring men were not scarce in the +port of Bridgetown, but Major Bonnet, now entitled to be called +"Captain," was very particular about his crew, and it took him a long +time to collect suitable men. + +As he was most truly a landsman, knowing nothing about the sea or the +various intricate methods of navigating a vessel thereupon, he was +compelled to secure a real captain--one who would be able to take charge +of the vessel and crew, and who would do, and have done, in a thoroughly +seamanlike manner, what his nominal skipper should desire and ordain. + +This absolutely necessary personage had been secured almost as soon as +the vessel had been purchased, before any of the rest of the crew had +signed ship's articles; and it was under his general supervision that +the storing and equipment had been carried on. His name was Sam Loftus. +He was a big man with a great readiness of speech. There were, perhaps, +some things he could not do, but there seemed to be nothing that he was +not able to talk about. As has been said, the rest of the crew came in +slowly, but they did come, and Major Bonnet told his daughter that when +he had secured four more men, it was his intention to leave port. + +"And sail for Jamaica?" she exclaimed. + +"Oh, yes," he said, with an affectionate smile, "and I will leave you +with your Uncle Delaplaine, where you can stay while I make some little +cruises here and there." + +"And so I am really to go?" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. + +"Really to go," said he. + +"And what may I pack up?" she asked, thinking of her step-mother. + +"Not much," he said, "not much. We will be able to find at Spanish Town +something braver in the way of apparel than anything you now possess. It +will be some days before we sail, and I shall have quietly conveyed on +board such belongings as you need." + +She was very happy, and she laughed. + +"Yours will be an easily laden ship," said she, "for you take in with +you no great store of goods for traffic. But I suppose you design to +pick up your cargo among the islands where you cruise, and at a less +cost, perchance, than it could be procured here?" + +"Yes, yes," he said; "you have hit it fairly, my little girl, you have +hit it fairly." + +New annoyances now began to beset Major Bonnet. What his daughter had +remarked in pleasantry, the people of the town began to talk about +unpleasantly. Here was a good-sized craft about to set sail, with little +or no cargo, but with a crew apparently much larger than her +requirements, but not yet large enough for the desires of her owner. To +be sure, as Major Bonnet did not know anything about ships, he was bound +to do something odd when he bought one and set forth to sail upon her, +but there were some odd things which ought to be looked into; and there +were people who advised that the attention of the colonial authorities +should be drawn to this ship of their farmer townsman. Major Bonnet had +such a high reputation as a good citizen, that there were few people who +thought it worth while to trouble themselves about his new business +venture, but a good many disagreeable things came to the ears of Sam +Loftus, who reported them to his employer, and it was agreed between +them that it would be wise for them to sail as soon as they could, even +if they did not wait for the few men they had considered to be needed. + +Early upon a cloudy afternoon, Major Bonnet and his daughter went out in +a small boat to look at his vessel, the Sarah Williams, which was then +lying a short distance below the town. + +"Now, Kate," said the good Major Bonnet, when they were on board, "I +have fitted up a little room for you below, which I think you will find +comfortable enough during the voyage to Jamaica. I will take you with +me when I return to the house, and then you can make up a little package +of clothes which it will be easy to convey to the river bank when the +time shall come for you to depart. I cannot now say just when that time +will arrive; it may be in the daytime or it may be at night, but it will +be soon, and I will give you good notice, and I will come up the river +for you in a boat. But now I am very busy, and I will leave you to +become acquainted with the Sarah Williams, which, for a few days, will +be your home. I shall be obliged to row over to the town for, perhaps, +half an hour, but Ben Greenway will be here to attend to anything you +need until I return." + +Ben Greenway was a Scotchman, who had for a long time been Major +Bonnet's most trusted servant. He was a good farmer, was apt at +carpenter work, and knew a good deal about masonry. A few months ago, +any one living in that region would have been likely to say, if the +subject had been brought up, that without Ben Greenway Major Bonnet +could not get along at all, not even for a day, for he depended upon him +in so many ways. And yet, now the master of the estate was about to +depart, for nobody knew how long, and leave his faithful servant behind. +The reason he gave was, that Ben could not be spared from the farm; but +people in general, and Ben in particular, thought this very poor +reasoning. Any sort of business which made it necessary for Major +Bonnet to separate himself from Ben Greenway was a very poor business, +and should not be entered upon. + +The deck of the Sarah Williams presented a lively scene as Kate stood +upon the little quarter-deck and gazed forward. The sailors were walking +about and sitting about, smoking, talking, or coiling things away. There +were people from the shore with baskets containing fruit and other wares +for sale, and all stirring and new and very interesting to Miss Kate as +she stood, with her ribbons flying in the river breeze. + +"Who is that young fellow?" she said to Ben Greenway, who was standing +by her, "the one with the big basket? It seems to me I have seen him +before." + +"Oh, ay!" said Ben, "he has been on the farm. That is Dickory Charter, +whose father was drowned out fishing a few years ago. He is a good lad, +an' boards all ships comin' in or goin' out to sell his wares, for his +mither leans on him now, having no ither." + +The youth, who seemed to feel that he was being talked about, now walked +aft, and held up his basket. He was a handsome youngster, lightly clad +and barefooted; and, although not yet full grown, of a strong and active +build. Kate beckoned to him, and bought an orange. + +"An' how is your mither, Dickory?" said Ben. + +"Right well, I thank you," said he, and gazed at Kate, who was biting a +hole in her orange. + +Then, as he turned and went away, having no reason to expect to sell +anything more, Kate remarked to Ben: "That is truly a fine-looking young +fellow. He walks with such strength and ease, like a deer or a cat." + +"That comes from no' wearin' shoes," said Ben; "but as for me, I would +like better to wear shoes an' walk mair stiffly." + +Now there came aft a sailor, who touched his cap and told Ben Greenway +that he was wanted below to superintend the stowing some cases of the +captain's liquors. So Kate, left to herself, began to think about what +she should pack into her little bundle. She would make it very small, +for the fewer things she took with her the more she would buy at Spanish +Town. But the contents of her package did not require much thought, and +she soon became a little tired staying there by herself, and therefore +she was glad to see young Dickory, with his orange-basket, walking aft. + +"I don't want any more oranges," she said, when he was near enough, "but +perhaps you may have other fruit?" + +He came up to her and put down his basket. "I have bananas, but perhaps +you don't like them?" + +"Oh, yes, I do!" she answered. + +But, without offering to show her the fruit, Dickory continued: +"There's one thing I don't like, and that's the men on board your ship." + +"What do you mean?" she asked, amazed. + +"Speak lower," he said; and, as he spoke, he bethought himself that it +might be well to hold out towards her a couple of bananas. + +"They're a bad, hard lot of men," he said. "I heard that from more than +one person. You ought not to stay on this ship." + +"And what do you know about it, Mr. Impudence?" she asked, with brows +uplifted. "I suppose my father knows what is good for me." + +"But he is not here," said Dickory. + +Kate looked steadfastly at him. He did not seem as ruddy as he had been. +And then she looked out upon the forward deck, and the thought came to +her that when she had first noticed these men it had seemed to her that +they were, indeed, a rough, hard lot. Kate Bonnet was a brave girl, but +without knowing why she felt a little frightened. + +"Your name is Dickory, isn't it?" she said. + +He looked up quickly, for it pleased him to hear her use his name. +"Indeed it is," he answered. + +"Well, Dickory," said she, "I wish you would go and find Ben Greenway. I +should like to have him with me until my father comes back." + +He turned, and then stopped for an instant. He said in a clear voice: "I +will go and get the shilling changed." And then he hurried away. + +He was gone a long time, and Kate could not understand it. Surely the +Sarah Williams was not so big a ship that it would take all this time to +look for Ben Greenway. But he did come back, and his face seemed even +less ruddy than when she had last seen it. He came up close to her, and +began handling his fruit. + +"I don't want to frighten you," he said, "but I must tell you about +things. I could not find Ben Greenway, and I asked one of the men about +him, feigning that he owed me for some fruit, and the man looked at +another man and laughed, and said that he had been sent for in a hurry, +and had gone ashore in a boat." + +"I cannot believe that," said Kate; "he would not go away and leave me." + +Dickory could not believe it either, and could offer no explanation. + +Kate now looked anxiously over the water towards the town, but no father +was to be seen. + +"Now let me tell you what I found out," said Dickory, "you must know it. +These men are wicked robbers. I slipped quietly among them to find out +something, with my shilling in my hand, ready to ask somebody to change, +if I was noticed." + +"Well, what next?" laying her hand on his arm. + +"Oh, don't do that!" he said quickly; "better take hold of a banana. I +spied that Big Sam, who is sailing-master, and a black-headed fellow +taking their ease behind some boxes, smoking, and I listened with all +sharpness. And Sam, he said to the other one--not in these words, but in +language not fit for you to hear--what he would like to do would be to +get off on the next tide. And when the other fellow asked him why he +didn't go then and leave the fool--meaning your father--to go back to +his farm, Big Sam answered, with a good many curses, that if he could do +it he would drop down the river that very minute and wait at the bar +until the water was high enough to cross, but that it was impossible +because they must not sail until your father had brought his cash-box on +board. It would be stupid to sail without that cash-box." + +"Dickory," said she, "I am frightened; I want to go on shore, and I want +to see my father and tell him all these things." + +"But there is no boat," said Dickory; "every boat has left the ship." + +"But you have one," said she, looking over the side. + +"It is a poor little canoe," he answered, "and I am afraid they would +not let me take you away, I having no orders to do so." + +Kate was about to open her mouth to make an indignant reply, when he +exclaimed, "But here comes a boat from the town; perhaps it is your +father!" + +She sprang to the rail. "No, it is not," she exclaimed; "it holds but +one man, who rows." + +She stood, without a word, watching the approaching boat, Dickory doing +the same, but keeping himself out of the general view. The boat came +alongside and the oarsman handed up a note, which was presently brought +to Kate by Big Sam, young Dickory Charter having in the meantime slipped +below with his basket. + +"A note from your father, Mistress Bonnet," said the sailing-master. And +as she read it he stood and looked upon her. + +"My father tells me," said Kate, speaking decidedly but quietly, "that +he will come on board very soon, but I do not wish to wait for him. I +will go back to the town. I have affairs which make it necessary for me +to return immediately. Tell the man who brought the note that I will go +back with him." + +Big Sam raised his eyebrows and his face assumed a look of trouble. + +"It grieves me greatly, Mistress Bonnet," he said, "but the man has +gone. He was ordered not to wait here." + +"Shout after him!" cried Kate; "call him back!" + +Sam stepped to the rail and looked over the water. "He is too far away," +he said, "but I will try." And then he shouted, but the man paid no +attention, and kept on rowing to shore. + +"I thought it was too far," he said, "but your father will be back +soon; he sent that message to me. And now, fair mistress, what can we do +for you? Shall it be that we send you some supper? Or, as your cabin is +ready, would you prefer to step down to it and wait there for your +father?" + +"No," said she, "I will wait here for my father. I want nothing." + +So, with a bow he strode away, and presently Dickory came back. She drew +near to him and whispered. "Dickory," she said, "what shall I do? Shall +I scream and wave my handkerchief? Perhaps they may see and hear me from +the town." + +"No," said Dickory, "I would not do that. The night is coming on, and +the sky is cloudy. And besides, if you make a noise, those fellows might +do something." + +"Oh, Dickory, what shall I do?" + +"You must wait for your father," he said; "he must be here soon, and the +moment you see him, call to him and make him take you to shore. You +should both of you get away from this vessel as soon as you can." + +For a moment the girl reflected. "Dickory," said she, "I wish you would +take a message for me to Master Martin Newcombe. He may be able to get +here to me even before my father arrives." + +Dickory Charter knew Mr. Newcombe, and he had heard what many people had +talked about, that he was courting Major Bonnet's daughter. The day +before Dickory would not have cared who the young planter was courting, +but this evening, even to his own surprise, he cared very much. He was +intensely interested in Kate, and he did not desire to help Martin +Newcombe to take an interest in her. Besides, he spoke honestly as he +said: "And who would there be to take care of you? No, indeed, I will +not leave you." + +"Then row to the town," said she, "and have a boat sent for me." + +He shook his head. "No," he said, "I will not leave you." + +Her eyes flashed. "You should do what you are commanded to do!" and in +her excitement she almost forgot to whisper. + +He shook his head and left her. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE TWO CLOCKS + + +It was already beginning to grow dark. She sat, and she sat; she waited, +and she waited; and at last she wept, but very quietly. Her father did +not come; Ben Greenway was not there; and even that Charter boy had +gone. A man came aft to her; a mild-faced, elderly man, with further +offers of refreshment and an invitation to go below out of the night +air. But she would have nothing; and as she sadly waited and gently +wept, it began to grow truly dark. Presently, as she sat, one arm +leaning on the rail, she heard a voice close to her ear, and she gave a +great start. + +"It is only Dickory," whispered the voice. + +Then she put her head near him and was glad enough to have put her arms +around his neck. + +"I have heard a great deal more," whispered Dickory; "these men are +dreadful. They do not know what keeps your father, although they have +suspicions which I could not make out; but if he does not come on board +by ten o'clock they will sail without him, and without his cash-box." + +"And what of me?" she almost cried, "what of me?" + +"They will take you with them," said he; "that's the only thing for them +to do. But don't be frightened, don't tremble. You must leave this +vessel." + +"But how?" she said. + +"Oh! I will attend to that," he answered, "if you will listen to me and +do everything I tell you. We can't go until it is dark, but while it is +light enough for you to see things I will show you what you must do. +Now, look down over the side of the vessel." + +She leaned over and looked down. He was apparently clinging to the side +with his head barely reaching the top of the rail. + +"Do you see this bit of ledge I am standing on?" he asked. "Could you +get out and stand on this, holding to this piece of rope as I do?" + +"Yes," said she, "I could do that." + +"Then, still holding to the rope, could you lower yourself down from the +ledge and hang to it with your hands?" + +"And drop into your boat?" said she. "Yes, I could do that." + +"No," said he, "not drop into my boat. It would kill you if you fell +into the boat. You must drop into the water." + +She shuddered, and felt like screaming. + +"But it will be easy to drop into the water; you can't hurt yourself, +and I shall be there. My boat will be anchored close by, and we can +easily reach it." + +"Drop into the water!" said poor Kate. + +"But I will be there, you know," said Dickory. + +She looked down upon the ledge, and then she looked below it to the +water, which was idly flapping against the side of the vessel. + +"Is it the only way?" said she. + +"It is the only way," he answered, speaking very earnestly. "You must +not wait for your father; from what I hear, I fear he has been detained +against his will. By nine o'clock it will be dark enough." + +"And what must I do?" she said, feeling cold as she spoke. + +"Listen to every word," he answered. "This is what you must do. You know +the sound of the bell in the tower of the new church?" + +"Oh, yes," said she, "I hear it often." + +"And you will not confound it with the bell in the old church?" + +"Oh, no!" said she; "it is very different, and generally they strike far +apart." + +"Yes," said he, "the old one strikes first; and when you hear it, it +will be quite dark, and you can slip over the rail and stand on this +ledge, as I am doing; then keep fast hold of this rope and you can slip +farther down and sit on the ledge and wait until the clock of the new +church begins to strike nine. Then you must get off the ledge and hang +by your two hands. When you hear the last stroke of nine, you must let +go and drop. I shall be there." + +"But if you shouldn't be there, Dickory? Couldn't you whistle, couldn't +you call gently?" + +"No," said Dickory; "if I did that, their sharp ears would hear and +lanterns would be flashed on us, and perhaps things would be cast down +upon us. That would be the quickest way of getting rid of you." + +"But, Dickory," she said, after a moment's silence, "it is terrible +about my father and Ben Greenway. Why don't they come back? What's the +matter with them?" + +He hesitated a little before answering. + +"From what I heard, I think there is some trouble on shore, and that's +the reason why your father has not come for you as soon as he expected. +But he thinks you safe with Ben Greenway. Now what we have to do is to +get away from this vessel; and then if she sails and leaves your father +and Ben Greenway, it will be a good thing. These fellows are rascals, +and no honest person should have to do with them. But now I must get +out of sight, or somebody will come and spoil everything." + +Big Sam did come aft and told Kate he thought she would come to injury +sitting out in the night air. But she would not listen to him, and only +asked him what time of night it was. He told her that it was not far +from nine, and that she would see her father very soon, and then he left +her. + +"It would have been a terrible thing if he had come at nine," she said +to herself. Then she sat very still waiting for the sound of the old +clock. + +Dickory Charter had not told Miss Kate Bonnet all that he had heard when +he was stealthily wandering about the ship. He had slipped down into the +chains near a port-hole, on the other side of which Big Sam and the +black-haired man were taking supper, and he heard a great deal of talk. +Among other things he heard a bit of conversation which, when expurgated +of its oaths and unpleasant expressions, was like this: + +"You are sure you can trust the men?" said Black-hair. + +"Oh, yes!" replied the other, "they're all right." + +"Then why don't you go now? At any time officers may be rowing out here +to search the vessel." + +"And well they might. For what needs an old farmer with an empty +vessel, a crew of seventy men, and ten guns? He is in trouble, you may +wager your life on that, or he would be coming to see about his girl." + +"And what will you do about her?" + +"Oh, she'll not be in the way," answered Big Sam with a laugh. "If he +doesn't take her off before I sail, that's his business. If I am obliged +to leave port without his cash-box, I will marry his daughter and become +his son-in-law--I don't doubt we can find a parson among all the rascals +on board--then, perhaps, he will think it his duty to send me drafts to +the different ports I touch at." + +At this good joke, both of them laughed. + +"But I don't want to go without his cash-box," continued Big Sam, "and I +will wait until high-tide, which will be about ten o'clock. It would be +unsafe to miss that, for I must not be here to-morrow morning. But the +long-boat will be here soon. I told Roger to wait until half-past nine, +and then to come aboard with old Bonnet or without him, if he didn't +show himself by that time." + +"But, after all," said the black-haired man, "the main thing is, will +the men stand by you?" + +"You needn't fear them," said the other with an aggravated oath, "I know +every rascal of them." + +"Now, then," said Dickory Charter to himself as he slipped out of the +chains, "she goes overboard, if I have to pitch her over." + +Nothing had he heard about Ben Greenway. He did not believe that the +Scotchman had deserted his young mistress; even had he been sent for to +go on shore in haste, would he leave without speaking to her. More than +that, he would most likely have taken her with him. + +But Dickory could not afford to give much thought to Ben Greenway. +Although a good friend to both himself and his mother, he was not to be +considered when the safety of Mistress Kate Bonnet was in question. + +The minutes moved slowly, very slowly indeed, as Kate sat, listening for +the sound of the old clock, and at the same time listening for the sound +of approaching footsteps. + +It was now so dark that she could not have seen anybody without a light, +but she could hear as if she had possessed the ears of a cat. + +She had ceased to expect her father. She was sure he had been detained +on shore; how, she knew not. But she did know he was not coming. + +Presently the old clock struck, one, two--In a moment she was climbing +over the rail. In the darkness she missed the heavy bit of rope which +Dickory had showed her, but feeling about she clutched it and let +herself down to the ledge below. Her nerves were quite firm now. It was +necessary to be so very particular to follow Dickory's directions to +the letter, that her nerves were obliged to be firm. She slipped still +farther down and sat sideways upon the narrow ledge. So narrow that if +the vessel had rolled she could not have remained upon it. + +There she waited. + +Then there came, sharper and clearer out of the darkness in the +direction of the town, the first stroke of nine o'clock from the tower +of the new church. Before the second stroke had sounded she was hanging +by her two hands from the ledge. She hung at her full length; she put +her feet together; she hoped that she would go down smoothly and make no +splash. Three--four--five--six--seven--eight--nine--and she let her +fingers slip from the ledge. Down she went, into the darkness and into +the water, not knowing where one ended and the other began. Her eyes +were closed, but they might as well have been open; there was nothing +for her to see in all that blackness. Down she went, as if it were to +the very bottom of black air and black water. And then, suddenly she +felt an arm around her. + +Dickory was there! + +She felt herself rising, and Dickory was rising, still with his arm +around her. In a moment her head was in the air, and she could breathe. +Now she felt that he was swimming, with one arm and both legs. +Instinctively she tried to help him, for she had learned to swim. They +went on a dozen strokes or more, with much labour, until they touched +something hard. + +"My boat," said Dickory, in the lowest of whispers; "take hold of it." + +Kate did so, and he moved from her. She knew that he was clambering into +the boat, although she could not see or hear him. Soon he took hold of +her under her arms, and he lifted with the strength of a young lion, yet +so slowly, so warily, that not a drop of water could be heard dripping +from her garments. And when she was drawn up high enough to help +herself, he pulled her in, still warily and slowly. Then he slipped to +the bow and cast off the rope with which the canoe had been anchored. It +was his only rope, but he could not risk the danger of pulling up the +bit of rock to which the other end of it was fastened. Then, with a +paddle, worked as silently as if it had been handled by an Indian, the +canoe moved away, farther and farther, into the darkness. + +"Is all well with you?" said Dickory, thinking he might now safely +murmur a few words. + +"All well," she murmured back, "except that this is the most +uncomfortable boat I ever sat in!" + +"I expect you are on my orange basket," he said; "perhaps you can move +it a little." + +Now he paddled more strongly, and then he stopped. + +"Where shall I take you, Mistress Bonnet?" he asked, a little louder +than he had dared to speak before. + +Kate heaved a sigh before she answered; she had been saying her prayers. + +"I don't know, you brave Dickory," she answered, "but it seems to me +that you can't see to take me anywhere. Everything is just as black as +pitch, one way or another." + +"But I know the river," he said, "with light or without it. I have gone +home on nights as black as this. Will you go to the town?" + +"I would not know where to go to there," she answered, "and in such a +plight." + +"Then to your home," said he. "But that will be a long row, and you must +be very cold." + +She shuddered, but not with cold. If her father had been at home it +would have been all right, but her step-mother would be there, and that +would not be all right. She would not know what to say to her. + +"Oh, Dickory," she said, "I don't know where to go." + +"I know where you can go," he said, beginning to paddle vigorously, "I +will take you to my mother. She will take care of you to-night and give +you dry clothes, and to-morrow you may go where you will." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ON THE QUARTER-DECK + + +As the time approached when Big Sam intended to take the Sarah Williams +out of port, it seemed really necessary that Mistress Kate Bonnet should +descend from the exposed quarterdeck and seek shelter from the night air +in the captain's cabin or in her own room; and, as she had treated him +so curtly at his last interview with her, he sent the elderly man with +the mild countenance to tell her that she really must go below, for that +he, Big Sam, felt answerable to her father for her health and comfort. +But when the elderly man and his lantern reached the quarter-deck, there +was no Mistress Kate there, and, during the rapid search which ensued, +there was no Mistress Kate to be found on the vessel. + +Big Sam was very much disturbed; she must have jumped overboard. But +what a wild young woman to do that upon such little provocation, for +how should she know that he was about to run away with her father's +vessel! + +"This is a bad business," he said to the black-haired man, "and who +would have thought it?" + +"I see not that," said Black Paul, "nor why you should trouble yourself +about her. She is gone, and you are well rid of her. Had she stayed +aboard with us, every ship in the colony might have been cruising after +us before to-morrow's sun had gone down." + +But this did not quiet the cowardly soul of Big Sam. + +"Now I shall tell you," said he, "exactly what happened. A little before +dark she went ashore in a boat which was then leaving the ship. I +allowed her to do this because she was very much in earnest about it, +and talked sharply, and also because I thought the town was the best +place for her, since it was growing late and her father did not seem to +be coming. Now, if the old man comes on board, that's what happened; but +if he does not come on board, the devil and the fishes know what +happened, and they may talk about it if they like. But if any man says +anything to old Bonnet except as I have ordered, then the fishes shall +have another feast." + +"And now, what I have to say to you," said Black Paul, "is, that you +should get away from here without waiting for the tide. If one of these +rascals drops overboard and swims ashore, he may get a good reward for +news of the murder committed on this vessel, and there isn't any reason +to think, so far as I know, that the Sarah Williams can sail any faster +than two or three other vessels now in the harbour." + +"There's sense in all that," said Big Sam as he walked forward. But he +suddenly stopped, hearing, not very far away, the sound of oars. + +Now began the body and soul of Big Sam to tremble. If the officers of +the law, having disposed of Captain Bonnet, had now come to the ship, he +had no sufficient tale to tell them about the disappearance of Mistress +Kate Bonnet; nor could he resist. For why should the crew obey his +orders? They had not yet agreed to receive him as their captain, and, so +far, they had done nothing to set themselves against the authorities. It +was a bad case for Big Sam. + +But now the ship was hailed, and the voice which hailed it was that of +Captain Bonnet. And the soul of Big Sam upheaved itself. + +In a few minutes Bonnet was on board, with a big box and the crew of the +long-boat. Speaking rapidly, he explained to Big Sam the situation of +affairs. The authorities of the port had indeed sadly interfered with +him. They had heard reports about the unladen vessel and the big crew; +and, although they felt loath to detain and to examine a +fellow-townsman, hitherto of good report, they did detain him and they +did examine him, and they would have gone immediately to the ship had +it not been so dark. + +But under the circumstances they contented themselves with the assurance +of the respectable Mr. Bonnet that he would appear before them the next +morning and give them every opportunity of examining his most +respectable ship. Having done this, they retired to their beds, and the +respectable Bonnet immediately boarded his vessel. + +"Now," cried Captain Bonnet, "where is my daughter? I hope that Ben +Greenway has caused her to retire to shelter?" + +"Your daughter!" exclaimed Big Sam, before any one else could speak, +"she is not here. It was still early twilight when she told me she would +wait no longer, and desired to be sent ashore in a boat. This request, +of course, I immediately granted, feeling bound thereto, as she was your +daughter, and that I was, in a measure, under her orders." + +Captain Bonnet stood, knitting his brows. + +"Well, well!" he presently cried, with an air of relief, "it is better +so. Her home is the best place for her, as matters have turned out. And +now," said he, turning to Big Sam, "call the men together and set them +to quick work. Pull up your anchors and do whatever else is necessary to +free the ship; then let us away. We must be far out of sight of this +island before to-morrow's sunrise." + +As Big Sam passed Black Paul he winked and whispered: "The old fool is +doing exactly what I would have done if he hadn't come aboard. This +suits my plan as if he were trying his best to please me." + +In a very short time the cable was slipped, for Big Sam had no notion of +betraying the departure of the vessel by the creaking of a capstan; and, +with the hoisting of a few sails and no light aboard except the shaded +lamp at the binnacle, the Sarah Williams moved down the river and out +upon the sea. + +"And when are you going to take the command in your hands?" asked Black +Paul of Big Sam. + +"To-morrow, some time," was the answer, "but I must first go around +among the men and let them know what's coming." + +"And how about Ben Greenway? Has the old man asked for him yet?" + +"No," said the other; "he thinks, of course, that the Scotchman has gone +ashore with the young woman. What else could he do, being a faithful +servant? To-morrow I shall set Greenway free and let him tell his own +tale to his master. But I shall tell my tale first, and then he can +speak or not speak, as he chooses; it will make no difference one way or +another." + +Soon after dawn the next morning Captain Bonnet was out of his hammock +and upon deck. He looked about him and saw nothing but sea, sea, sea. + +Big Sam approached him. "I forgot to tell you," said he, "that yesterday +I shut up that Scotchman of yours, for, from his conduct, I thought that +he had some particular reason for wanting to go on shore; and, fearing +that if he did so he would talk about this vessel, and so make worse the +trouble I was sure you were in, I shut him up as a matter of precaution +and forgot to mention him to you last night." + +"You stupid blockhead!" roared Mr. Bonnet, "how like an ass you have +acted! Not for a bag of gold would I have taken Ben Greenway on this +cruise; and not for a dozen bags would I have deprived my family of his +care and service. You ought to be thrown into the sea! Ben Greenway +here! Of all men in the world, Ben Greenway here!" + +"I only thought to do you a service," said Big Sam. + +"Service!" shouted the angry Bonnet. But as it was of no use to say +anything more upon this subject, he ordered the sailing-master to send +to him, first, Ben Greenway, and then to summon to him, no matter where +they might be or what they might be doing, the whole crew. + +The other, surprised at this order, objected that all of the men could +not leave their posts, but Bonnet overruled him. + +"Send me the whole of them, every man jack. The fellow at the wheel +will remain here and steer. As for the rest, the ship will take care of +itself for a space." + +"What can that old fool of a farmer intend to do?" said Big Sam, as he +went away; "he is like a child with a toy, and wants to see his crew in +a bunch." + +Presently came Ben Greenway in a smothered rage. + +"An' I suppose, sir," said he without salutation, "that ye have gi'en +orders about the care o' the cows and the lot o' poultry that I engaged +to send to the town to-day?" + +"Don't mention cows or poultry to me!" cried Bonnet. "I am a more angry +man than you are, Ben Greenway, and as soon as I have time to attend to +it, I shall look into this matter of your shutting up, and shall come +down upon the wrongdoers like sheeted lightning." + +"What a fearful rage ye're in, Master Bonnet," said Ben. "I never saw +the like o' it. If ye're really angrier than I am, I willna revile; +leavin' it to ye to do the revilin' wha are so much better qualified. +An' so it wasna accident that I was shut up in the ship's pantry, +leavin' Mistress Kate to gang hame by hersel', an' to come out this +mornin' findin' the ship at sea an' ye in command?" + +"Say no more, Ben," cried Bonnet. "I am more sorry to see you here than +if you were any other man I know in this world. But I cannot put you +off now, nor can I talk further about it, being very much pressed with +other matters. Now here comes my crew." + +Ben Greenway retired a little, leaning against the rail. + +"An' this is his crew?" he muttered; "a lot o' unkempt wild beasts, it +strikes me. Mayhap he has gathered them togither to convert their souls, +an' he is about to preach his first sermon to them." + +Now all the mariners of the Sarah Williams were assembled aft and +Captain Bonnet was standing on his quarter-deck, looking out upon them. +He was dressed in a naval uniform, to which was added a broad red sash. +In his belt were two pairs of big pistols, and a stout sword hung by his +side. He folded his arms; he knitted his brows, and he gazed fiercely +about to see if any one were absent, although if any one had been absent +he would not have known it. His eyes flashed, his cheeks were flushed, +and it was plain enough to all that he had something important to say. + +"My men," he cried, in a stalwart voice which no one there had ever +heard him use before, "my men, look upon me and you will not see what +you expect to see! Here is no planter, no dealer in horses and fat +cattle, no grower of sugar-cane! Instead of that," he yelled, drawing +his sword and flourishing it above his head, "instead of that I am +pirate Bonnet, the new terror of the sea! You, my men, my brave men, +you are not the crew of the good merchantman, the Sarah Williams, you +are pirates all. You are the pirate crew of the pirate ship Revenge. +That is now the name of this vessel on which you sail, and you are all +pirates, who henceforth shall sail her. + +"Now look aloft, every man of you, and you will see a skull and bones, +under which you sail, under which you fight, under which you gain great +riches in coins, in golden bars, and in fine goods fit for kings and +queens!" + +As he spoke, every rascal raised his eyes aloft, and there, sure enough, +floated the black flag with the skull and bones--the terrible "Jolly +Roger" of the Spanish Main, and which Bonnet himself had hoisted before +he called together his crew. + +For the most part the men were astounded, and looked blankly the one +upon the other. They knew they had been shipped to sail upon some +illegal cruise, and that they were to be paid high wages by the wealthy +Bonnet; but that this worthy farmer should be their pirate captain had +never entered their minds, they naturally supposing that their future +commander would not care to show himself at Barbadoes, and that he would +be taken on board at some other port. + +As for Big Sam, he was more than astounded--he was stupefied. He had +well known the character of the ship from the time that Bonnet had +taken him into his service, and he it was who had mainly managed the +fitting-up of the vessel and the shipping of her crew. He did not know +whom Bonnet intended to command the ship, but from the very beginning he +had intended to command her himself. But he had been too late. He had +not gone among the men as he had expected to do soon after setting sail, +and here this country bumpkin had taken the wind out of his sails and +had boldly announced that he himself was the captain of the pirate ship +Revenge. + +The men now began to talk among themselves; and as Bonnet still stood, +his sword clutched in his hand and his chest heaving with the excitement +of his own speech, there arose from the crew a cheer. Some of them had +known a little about Stede Bonnet and some of them scarcely anything at +all, except that he was able to pay them good wages. Now he had told +them that he was a pirate captain, and each of them knew that he himself +was a pirate, or was waiting for the chance to become one. + +And so they cheered, and their captain's chest heaved higher, and the +soul of the luckless Big Sam collapsed, for he knew that after that +cheer there was no chance for him; at least, not now. + +"Now go, my boys," shouted Bonnet, "back to your places, every one of +you, and fall to your duty; and in honour of that black flag which +floats above you, each one of you shall drink a glass of grog." + +With another shout the crew hurried forward, and Stede Bonnet stood upon +the quarter-deck, the pirate captain of the pirate ship Revenge. + +And now stepped up to his master that good Presbyterian, Ben Greenway. + +"An' ye call yoursel' a pirate, sir?" said he, "an' ye go forth upon the +sea to murder an' to rob an' to prepare your soul for hell?" + +Mr. Bonnet winked a little. + +"You speak strongly, Ben," said he, "but that might have been expected +from a man of your fashion of thinking. But let me tell you again, my +good Ben Greenway, that I was no party to your being on this vessel. +Even now, when my soul swells within me with the pride of knowing that I +am a sovereign of the seas and that I owe no allegiance to any man or +any government and that my will is my law and is the law of every man +upon this vessel--even now, Ben Greenway, it grieves me to know that you +are here with me. But the first chance I get I shall set you ashore and +have you sent home. Thou art not cut out for a pirate, and as no other +canst thou sail with me." + +Ben Greenway looked at him steadfastly. + +"Master Stede Bonnet," said he, "ye are no more fit to be a bloody +pirate than I am. Ye oversee your plantation weel, although I hae often +been persuaded that ye knew no' as much as ye think ye do. Ye provide +weel for your family, although ye tak' no' the pleasure therein ye might +hae ta'en had ye been content wi' ane wife, as the Holy Scriptures tell +us is enough for ony mon, an' ye hae sufficient judgment to tak' the +advice o' a judgmatical mon about your lands an' your herds; but when it +comes to your ca'in' yoursel' a pirate captain, it is enough to make a +deceased person chuckle by the absurdity o' it." + +"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Major Bonnet, "I don't like your manner of +speech." + +"O' course ye don't," cried Ben; "an' I didna expect ye to like it; but +it is the solemn truth for a' that." + +"I don't want any of your solemn truths," said Bonnet, "and as soon as I +get a chance I am going to send you home to your barnyard and your +cows." + +"No' so fast, Master Bonnet, no' so fast," answered Ben. "I hae ta'en +care o' ye for mony years; I hae kept ye out o' mony a bad scrape both +in buyin' an' sellin', an' I am sure ye never wanted takin' care o' mair +than ye do now; an' I'm just here to tell ye that I am no' goin' back to +Barbadoes till ye do, an' that I am goin' to stand by ye through your +bad luck and through your good luck, in your sin an' in your +repentance." + +[Illustration: "If you talk to me like that I will cut you down where +you stand!"] + +"Ben Greenway," cried Captain Bonnet, as he waved his sword in the +air, "if you talk to me like that I will cut you down where you stand! +You forget that you are not talking to a country gentleman, but to a +pirate, a pirate of the seas!" + +Ben grinned, but seeing the temper his master was in, thought it wise to +retire. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN UNSUCCESSFUL ERRAND + + +For what seemed a very long time to Kate Bonnet, Dickory Charter paddled +bravely through the darkness. She was relieved of the terror and the +uncertainty which had fallen upon her during the past few hours, and she +was grateful to the brave young fellow who had delivered her from the +danger of sailing out upon the sea with a crew of wicked scoundrels who +were about to steal her father's ship, and her heart should have beaten +high with gratitude and joy, but it did not. She was very cold, and she +knew not whither young Dickory was taking her. She did not believe that +in all that darkness he could possibly know where he was going; at any +moment that dreadful ship might loom up before them, and lights might be +flashed down upon them. But all of a sudden the canoe scraped, grounded, +and stopped. + +"What is that?" she cried. + +"It is our beach," said Dickory, and almost at that moment there came a +call from the darkness beyond. + +"Dickory!" cried a woman's voice, "is that you?" + +"It is my mother," said the boy; "she has heard the scraping of my +keel." + +Then he shouted back, "It is Dickory; please show me a light, mother!" + +Jumping out, Dickory pulled the canoe high up the shelving shore, and +then he helped Kate to get out. It was not an easy job, for she could +see nothing and floundered terribly; but he seemed to like it, and half +led, half carried her over a considerable space of uneven ground, until +he came to the door of a small house, where stood an elderly woman with +a lantern. + +"Dickory! Dickory!" shouted the woman, "what is that you are bringing +home? Is it a great fish?" + +"It is a young woman," said the boy, "but she is as wet as a fish." + +"Woman!" cried good Dame Charter. "What mean you, Dickory, is she dead?" + +"Not dead, Mother Charter," said Kate, who now stood, unassisted, in the +light of the lantern, "but in woeful case, and more like to startle you +than if I were the biggest fish. I am Mistress Kate Bonnet, just out of +the river between here and the town. No, I will not enter your house, I +am not fit; I will stand here and tell my tale." + +"Dickory!" shouted Dame Charter, "take the lantern and run to the +kitchen cabin, where ye'll make a fire quickly." + +Away ran Dickory, and standing in the darkness, Kate Bonnet told her +tale. It was not a very satisfactory tale, for there was a great part of +it which Kate herself did not understand, but it sufficed at present for +the good dame, who had known the girl when she was small, and who was +soon busily engaged in warming her by her fire, refreshing her with +food, and in fortifying her against the effects of her cold bath by a +generous glass of rum, made, the good woman earnestly asserted, from +sugar-cane grown on Master Bonnet's plantation. + +Early the next morning came Dickory from the kitchen, where he had made +a fire (before that he had been catching some fish), and on a rude bench +by the house door he saw Kate Bonnet. When he perceived her he laughed; +but as she also laughed, it was plain she was not offended. + +This pretty girl was dressed in a large blue gown, belonging to the +stout Dame Charter, and which was quite as much of a gown as she had any +possible need for. Her head was bare, for she had lost her hat, and she +wore neither shoes nor stockings, those articles of apparel having been +so shrunken by immersion as to make it impossible for her to get them +on. + +"Thy mother is a good woman," said Kate, "and I am so glad you did not +take me to the town. I don't wonder you gaze at me; I must look like a +fright." + +Dickory made no answer, but by the way in which he regarded her, she +knew that he saw nothing frightful in her face. + +"You have been very good to me," said she, rising and making a step +towards him, but suddenly stopping on account of her bare feet, "and I +wish I could tell you how thankful I am to you. You are truly a brave +boy, Dickory; the bravest I have ever known." + +His brows contracted. "Why do you call me a boy?" he interrupted. "I am +nineteen years old, and you are not much more than that." + +She laughed, and her white teeth made him ready to fall down and worship +her. + +"You have done as much," said she, "as any man could do, and more." + +Then she held out her hand, and he came and took it. + +"Truly you are a man," she said, and looking steadfastly into his face, +she added, "how very, very much I owe you!" + +He didn't say anything at all, this Dickory; just stood and looked at +her. As many a one has been before, he was more grateful for the danger +out of which he had plucked the fair young woman than she was thankful +for the deliverance. + +Just then Dame Charter called them to breakfast. When they were at the +table, they talked of what was to be done next; and as, above everything +else, Miss Kate desired to know where her father was and why he hadn't +come aboard the Sarah Williams, Dickory offered to go to the town for +news. + +"I hate to ask too much, after all you have done," said the girl, "but +after you have seen my father and told him everything, for he must be in +sore trouble, would you mind rowing to our house and bringing me some +clothes? Madam Bonnet will understand what I need; and she too will want +to know what has become of me." + +"Of course I will do that," cried Dickory, grateful for the chance to do +her service. + +"And if you happen to see Mr. Newcombe in the town, will you tell him +where I am?" + +Now Dickory gave no signs of gratitude for a chance to do her service, +but his mother spoke quickly enough. + +"Of course he will tell Master Newcombe," said she, "and anybody else +you wish should know." + +In ten minutes Dickory was in his canoe, paddling to the town. When he +was out of the little inlet, on the shore of which lay his mother's +cottage, he looked far up and down the broad river, but he could see +nothing of the good ship Sarah Williams. + +"I am glad they have gone," said Dickory to himself, "and may they never +come back again. It is a pity that Major Bonnet should lose his ship, +but as things have turned out, it is better for him to lose it than to +have it." + +When he had fastened his canoe to a little pier in the town with a rope +which he borrowed, having now none of his own, Dickory soon heard +strange news. The man who owned the rope told him that Major Bonnet had +gone off in his vessel, which had sailed out of the harbour in the +night, showing no light. And, although many people had talked of this +strange proceeding, nobody knew whether he had gone of his own free will +or against it. + +"Of course it was against his will," cried Dickory. "The ship was +stolen, and they have stolen him with it. The wretches! The beasts!" And +then he went up into the town. + +Some men were talking at the door of a baker's shop, and the baker +himself, a stout young man, came out. + +"Oh, yes," said he, "we know now what it means. The good Major Bonnet +has gone off pirating; he thinks he can make more money that way than by +attending to his plantation. The townspeople suspected him last night, +and now they know what he is." + +At this moment Master Dickory jumped upon the baker, and both went +down. When Dickory got up, the baker remained where he was, and it was +plain enough to everybody that the nerves and muscles of even a vigorous +young man were greatly weakened by the confined occupation of a baker. + +Dickory now went further to ask more, and he soon heard enough. The +respectable Major Bonnet had gone away in his own ship with a savage +crew, far beyond the needs of the vessel, and if he had not gone +pirating, what had he gone for? And to this question Dickory replied +every time: "He went because he was taken away." He would not give up +his faith in Kate Bonnet's father. + +"And Greenway," the people said. "Why should they take him? He is of no +good on a ship." + +On this, Dickory's heart fell further. He had been troubled about the +Scotchman, but had tried not to think of him. + +"The scoundrels have stolen them both, with the vessel," he said; and as +he spoke his soul rose upward at the thought of what he had done for +Kate; and as that had been done, what mattered it after all what had +happened to other people? + +Five minutes afterward a man came running through the town with the news +that old Bonnet's daughter, Miss Kate, had also gone away in the ship. +She was not at home; she was not in the town. + +"That settles it!" said some people. "The black-hearted rascal! He has +gone of his own accord, and he has taken Greenway and his fair young +daughter with him." + +"And what do you think of that!" said some to the doubter Dickory. + +"I don't believe a word of it!" said he; and not wishing on his own +responsibility to tell what he knew of Mistress Kate Bonnet, he rowed up +the river towards the Bonnet plantation to carry her message. On his +way, whom should he see, hurrying along the road by the river bank +coming towards the town and looking hot and worried, but Mr. Martin +Newcombe. At the sight of the boat he stopped. + +"Ho! young man," he cried, "you are from the town; has anything fresh +been heard about Major Bonnet and his daughter?" + +Now here was the best and easiest opportunity of doing the third thing +which Kate had asked him to do; but his heart did not bound to do it. He +sat and looked at the man on the river bank. + +"Don't you hear me?" cried Newcombe. "Has anybody heard further from the +Bonnets?" + +Dickory still sat motionless, gazing at Newcombe. He didn't want to tell +this man anything. He didn't want to have anything to do with him. He +hesitated, but he could not forget the third thing he had been asked to +do, and who had asked him to do it. Whatever happened, he must be loyal +to her and her wishes, and so he said, with but little animation in his +voice, "Major Bonnet's daughter did not go with him." + +Instantly came a great cry from the shore. "Where is she? Where is she? +Come closer to land and tell me everything!" + +This was too much! Dickory did not like the tone of the man on shore, +who had no right to command him in that fashion. + +"I have no time to stop now," said he; "I am carrying a message to Madam +Bonnet." + +And so he paddled away, somewhat nearer the middle of the river. + +Martin Newcombe was wild; he ran and he bounded on his way to the Bonnet +house; he called and he shouted to Dickory, but apparently that young +person was too far away to hear him. When the canoe touched the shore, +almost at the spot where the fair Kate had been fishing with a hook +lying in the sun, Newcombe was already there. + +"Tell me," he cried, "tell me about Miss Kate Bonnet! What has befallen +her? If she did not go with her father, where is she now?" + +"I have come," said Dickory sturdily, as he fastened his boat with the +borrowed rope, "with a message for Madam Bonnet, and I cannot talk with +anybody until I have delivered it." + +Madam Bonnet saw the two persons hurrying towards her house, and she +came out in a fine fury to meet them. + +"Have you heard from my runaway husband," she cried, "and from his +daughter? I am ashamed to hear news of them, but I suppose I am in duty +bound to listen." + +Dickory did not hesitate now to tell what he knew, or at least part of +it. + +"Your daughter--" said he. + +"She is not my daughter," cried the lady; "thank Heaven I am spared that +disgrace. And from what hiding-place does she and her sire send me a +message?" + +Dickory's face flushed. + +"I bring no message from a hiding-place," he said, "nor any from your +husband. He went to sea in his ship, but Mistress Kate Bonnet left the +vessel before it sailed, and her clothes having been injured by water, +she sent me for what a young lady in her station might need, supposing +rightly that you would know what that might be." + +"Indeed I do!" cried Madam Bonnet. "What she needs are the clouts of a +fish-girl, and a stick to her back besides." + +"Madam!" cried Newcombe, but she heeded him not; she was growing more +angry. + +"A fine creature she is," exclaimed the lady, "to run away from my +house in this fashion, and treat me with such contumely, and then to +order me to send her her fine clothes to deck herself for the eyes of +strangers!" + +"But, young man," cried Newcombe, "where is she? Tell that without +further delay. Where is she?" + +"I don't care where she is!" interrupted Madam Bonnet. "It matters not +to me whether she is in the town, or sitting waiting for her finery on +the bridge. If she didn't go with her father (cowardly sneak that he +is), that gives her less reason to stay away all night from her home, +and send her orders to me in the morning. No, I will have none of that! +If my husband's daughter wants anything of me, let her come here and ask +for it, first giving me the reason of her shameful conduct." + +"Madam!" cried Newcombe, "I cannot listen to such speech, such--" + +"Then stop your ears with your thumbs," she exclaimed, "and you will not +hear it." + +Then turning to Dickory: "Now, go you, and tell the young woman who sent +you here she must come in sackcloth and ashes, if she can get them, and +she must tell me her tale and her father's tale, without a lie mixed up +in them; and when she has done this, and has humbly asked my pardon for +the foul affront she has put upon me, then it will be time enough to +talk of fine clothes and fripperies." + +Newcombe now expostulated with much temper, but Dickory gave him little +chance to speak. + +"I carry no such message as that," he said. "Do you truly mean that you +deny the young lady the apparel she needs, and that I am to tell her +that?" + +"Get away from here!" cried Madam Bonnet, with her face in a blaze. "I +send her no message at all; and if she comes here on her knees, I shall +spurn her, if it suit me." + +If Dickory had waited a little he might have heard more, but he did not +wait; he quickly turned, and away he went in his boat. And away went +Martin Newcombe after him. But as the younger man was barefooted, the +other one could not keep up with him, and the canoe was pushed off +before he reached the water's edge. + +"Stop, you young rascal!" cried Newcombe. "Where is Kate Bonnet? Stop! +and tell me where she is!" + +Troubled as he was at the tale he was going to tell, Dickory laughed +aloud, and he paddled down the river as few in that region had ever +paddled before. + +Madam Bonnet went into her house, and if she had met a maid-servant, it +might have been bad for that poor woman. She was not troubled about +Kate. She knew the young man to be Dickory Charter, and she was quite +sure that her step-daughter was in his mother's cottage. Why she +happened to be there, and what had become of the recreant Bonnet, the +equally recreant young woman could come and tell her whenever she saw +fit. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A PAIR OF SHOES AND STOCKINGS + + +The tide was running down, and Dickory made a swift passage to the town. +Seeing on the pier the man from whom he had borrowed the rope, he +stopped to return him his property, and thinking that the good people of +the town should know that, no matter what had befallen Major Bonnet, his +daughter had not gone with him and was safe among friends, he mentioned +these facts to the man, but with very few details, being in a hurry to +return with his message. + +Before he turned into the inlet, Dickory was called from the shore, and +to his surprise he saw his mother standing on the bank in front of a +mass of bushes, which concealed her from her house. + +"Come here, Dickory," she said, "and tell me what you have heard?" + +Her son told his doleful tale. + +"I fear me, mother," he said, "that Major Bonnet's ship has gone on +some secret and bad business, and that he is mixed up in it. Else why +did he desert his daughter? And if he intended to take her with him, +that was worse." + +"I don't know, Dickory," said good Dame Charter reflectively; "we must +not be too quick to believe harm of our fellow-beings. It does look bad, +as the townspeople thought, that Major Bonnet should own such a ship +with such a strange crew, but he is a man who knows his own business, +and may have had good reason for what he has done. He might have been +sailing out to some foreign part to bring back a rich cargo, and needed +stout men to defend it from the pirates that he might meet with on the +seas." + +"But his daughter, mother," said Dickory; "how could he have left her as +he did? That was shameful, and even you must admit it." + +"Not so fast, Dickory," said she; "there are other ways of looking at +things than the way in which we look at them. He had intended to take +Mistress Kate on a little trip; she told me that herself. And most +likely, having changed his mind on account of the suspicions in the +town, he sent word to her to return to her home, which message she did +not get." + +Dickory considered. + +"Yes, mother," he said, "it might have been that way, but I don't +believe that he went of his own accord, and I don't believe that he +would take Ben Greenway with him. I think, mother, that they were both +stolen with the ship." + +"That might be," said his mother, "but we have no right to take such a +view of it, and to impart it to his daughter. If he went away of his own +accord, everything will doubtless be made right, and we shall know his +reasons for what he has done. It is not for us to make up our minds that +Major Bonnet and good Ben Greenway have been carried off by wicked men, +for this would be sad indeed for that fair girl to believe. So remember, +Dickory, that it is our duty always to think the best of everything. And +now I will go through the underbrush to the house, and when you get +there yourself you must tell your story as if you had not told it to +me." + +Before Dickory had reached his mother's cottage Mistress Kate Bonnet +came running to meet him, and she did not seem to be the same girl he +had left that morning. Her clothes had been dried and smoothed; even her +hat, which had been found in the boat, had been made shapely and +wearable, and its ribbons floated in the breeze. Dickory glanced at her +feet, and as he did so, a thrill of strange delight ran through him. He +saw his own Sunday shoes, with silver buckles, and he caught a glimpse +of a pair of brown stockings, which he knew went always with those +shoes. + +"I am quite myself again," she said, noticing his wide eyes, "and your +mother has been good enough to lend me a pair of your shoes and +stockings. Mine are so utterly ruined, and I could not walk barefooted." + +Dickory was so filled with pride that this fair being could wear his +shoes, and that she was wearing them, that he could only mumble some +stupid words about being so glad to serve her. And she, wise girl, said +nothing about the quantities of soft cotton-wool which Dame Charter had +been obliged to stuff into the toes before they would stay upon the +small feet they covered. + +"But my father," cried Kate, "what of him? Where is he?" + +Now Dame Charter was with them, her eyes hard fixed upon her son. + +Dickory, mindful of those eyes, told her what he had to tell, saying as +little as possible about Major Bonnet--because, of course, all that he +knew about him was mere hearsay--but dilating with much vigour upon the +shameful conduct of Madam Bonnet; for the young lady ought surely to +know what sort of a woman her father's wife really was, and what she +might expect if she should return to her house. He could have said even +more about the interview with the angry woman, but his mother's eyes +were upon him. + +Kate heard everything without a word, and then she burst into tears. + +"My father," she sobbed, "carried away, or gone away, and one is as bad +as the other!" + +"Dickory," said Dame Charter, "go cut some wood; there is none ready +for the kitchen." + +Dickory went away, not sorry, for he did not know how to deport himself +with a young lady whose heart was so sorely tried. He might have +discovered a way, if he had been allowed to do so; but that would not +have been possible with his mother present. But, in spite of her sorrow, +his heart sang to him that she was wearing his shoes and stockings! Then +he cheerfully brought down his axe upon the wood for the dinner's +cooking. + +Dame Charter led the weeping girl to the bench, and they talked long +together. There was no optimist in all the British colonies, nor for +that matter in those belonging to France or Spain, or even to the Dutch, +who was a more conscientious follower of her creed than Dame Charter. +She sat by Kate and she talked to her until the girl stopped sobbing and +began to see for herself that her father knew his own business, and that +he had most certainly sent her a message to go on shore, which had not +been delivered. + +As to poor Ben Greenway, the good woman was greatly relieved that her +son had not mentioned him, and she took care not to do it herself. She +did not wish to strain her optimism. Kate, having so much else upon her +mind, never thought of this good man. + +When Dickory came back, he first looked to see if Kate still wore his +shoes and stockings, and then he began to ask what there was that he +might now do. He would go again to the town if he might be of use. But +Kate had no errand for him there. Dickory had told her how he had been +with Mr. Newcombe at her home, and therefore there was no need of her +sending him another message. + +"I don't know where to go or where to send," she said simply; "I am +lost, and that is all of it." + +"Oh, no," cried Dame Charter, "not that! You are with good friends, and +here you can stay just as long as you like." + +"Indeed she can!" said Dickory, as if he were making a response in +church. + +His mother looked at him and said nothing. And then she took Kate out +into a little grove behind the house to see if she could find some ripe +oranges. + +It was a fair property, although not large, which belonged to the Widow +Charter. Her husband had been a thriving man, although a little inclined +to speculations in trade which were entirely out of his line, and when +he met his death in the sea he left her nothing but her home and some +inconsiderable land about it. Dickory had been going to a grammar-school +in the town, and was considered a fair scholar, but with his father's +death all that stopped, and the boy was obliged to go to work to do what +he could for his mother. And ever since he had been doing what he +could, without regard to appearances, thinking only of the money. + +But on Sunday, when he rowed his mother to church, he wore good clothes, +being especially proud of his buckled shoes and his long brown hose, +which were always of good quality. + +They were eating dinner when oars were heard on the river, and in a +moment a boat swung around into the inlet. In the stern sat Master +Martin Newcombe, and two men were rowing. + +Now Dickory Charter swore in his heart, although he was not accustomed +to any sort of blasphemy; and as Miss Kate gazed eagerly through the +open window, our young friend narrowly scrutinized her face to see if +she were glad or not. She was glad, that was plain enough, and he went +out sullenly to receive the arriving interloper. + +When they were all standing on the shore, Kate did not think it worth +while to ask Master Newcombe how he happened to know where she was. But +the young man waited for no questions; he went on to tell his story. +When he related that it was a man fishing on a pier who had told him +that young Mistress Kate Bonnet was stopping with Dame Charter, Kate +wondered greatly, for as Dickory had met Master Newcombe, what need had +there been for the latter to ask questions about her of a stranger? But +she said nothing. And Dickory growled in his soul that he had ever +spoken to the man on the pier, except to thank him for the rope he had +borrowed. + +Martin Newcombe's story went on, and he told that, having been extremely +angered by the conduct and words of Madam Bonnet, he had gone into the +town and made inquiries, hoping to hear something of the whereabouts of +Mistress Kate. And, having done so, by means of the very obliging person +on the pier, he had determined that the daughter of Major Bonnet should +have her rights; and he had gone to his own lawyer, who assured him that +being a person of recognised respectability, possessing property, he was +fully authorized, knowing the wishes of Mistress Kate Bonnet, to go to +her step-mother and demand that those wishes be complied with; and if +this very reasonable request should be denied, then the lawyer would +take up the matter himself, and would see to it that reasonable raiment +and the necessities of a young lady should not be withheld from her. + +With these instructions, Newcombe had gone to Madam Bonnet and had found +that much disturbed lady in a state of partial collapse, which had +followed her passion of the morning, and who had declared that nothing +in the world would please her better than to get rid of her husband's +daughter and never see her again. And if the creature needed clothes or +anything else which belonged to her, a maid should pack them up, and +anybody who pleased might take them to any place, provided she heard no +more about them or their owner. + +In all this she spoke most truthfully, for she hated her step-daughter, +both because she was a fine young woman and much regarded by her father, +and because she had certain rights to the estate of said father, which +his present wife did not wish to recognise, or even to think about. So +Martin Newcombe was perfectly welcome to take away such things as would +render it unnecessary for the girl to now return to the home in which +she had been born. Martin had brought the box, and here he was. + +It was not long before Newcombe and the lady of his love were walking +away through the little plantation, in order that they might speak by +themselves. Dickory looked after them and frowned, but he bravely +comforted himself by thinking that he had been the one into whose arms +she had dropped, through the blackness of the night and the blackness of +the water, knowing in her heart that he would be there ready for her, +and also by the thought that it was his shoes and stockings that she +wore. Dame Charter saw this frown on her son's face, but she did not +guess the thoughts which were in his mind. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +KATE PLANS + + +It was nearly an hour before Kate and Mr. Newcombe returned, and when +they came back they did not look happy. Dickory observed their sad +visages, but the sight did not make him sad. Kate took Dame Charter by +the hand and led her to the bench. + +"You have been so kind to me," she said, "that I have almost come to +look upon you as a mother, even though I have known you such a little +while, and I want to tell you what I have been talking about, and what I +think I am going to do." + +Mr. Newcombe now stood by, and Dickory also. His mother was not quite +sure that this was the right place for him, but as he had already done +so much for the young lady, there was, perhaps, no reason why he should +be debarred from hearing what she had to say. + +"This gentleman," said Kate, indicating Martin Newcombe, "sympathizes +with me very greatly in my present unfortunate position: having no home +to which I can go, and having no relative belonging to this island but +my father, who is sailing upon the seas, I know not where; and +therefore, in his great kindness, has offered to marry me and to take me +to his home, which thereafter would be my home, and in which I should +have all comforts and rights." + +Now Dickory's face was like the sky before a shower. His mother saw it +out of the corner of her eye, but the others did not look at him. + +"This was very kind and very good," continued Kate. + +"Not at all, not at all," interrupted Master Newcombe, "except that it +was kind and good to myself; for there is nothing in this world which +you need and want as much as I need and want you." + +At this Dickory's brow grew darker. + +"I believe all you say," said Kate, "for I am sure you are an honest and +a true man, but, as I told you, I cannot marry you; for, even had I made +up my mind on the subject, which I have not, I could not marry any one +at such a time as this, not knowing my father's will upon the subject or +where he is." + +The sun broke out on Dickory's countenance without a shower; his mother +noticed the change. + +"But as I must do something," Kate went on, "a plan came to me while Mr. +Newcombe was talking to me, and I have been thinking of it ever since, +and now, as I speak, I am becoming fully determined in regard to it; +that is, if I can carry it out. It often happens," she said, with a +faint smile, "that when people ask advice they become more and more +strengthened in their own opinion. My opinion, and I may say my plan, is +this: When my father told me he was going away in his ship, he agreed to +take me with him on a little voyage, leaving me with my mother's brother +at the island of Jamaica, not far from Spanish Town. In purposing this +he thought, no doubt, that it would be far better for me to be with my +own blood, if his voyage should be long, rather than to live with one +who is no relative of mine, and does not wish to act like one. This, +then, being my father's intention, which he was prevented, by reasons +which I know not of, from carrying out, I shall carry it out myself with +all possible dispatch, and go to my uncle in Jamaica by the earliest +vessel which sails from this port. Not only as this is my natural refuge +in my trouble, but as my father intended to go there when he thought of +having me with him, it may be a part of his plan to go there any way, +even though I be not with him; and so I may see him, and all may be +well." + +Clouds now settled heavily on the faces of each of the young men, and +even the ordinarily bright sky of Dame Charter became somewhat overcast; +although, in her heart, she did not believe that anybody in this world +could have devised a better plan, under the circumstances, than this +forsaken Mistress Kate Bonnet. + +"Now there is my plan," said Kate, with something of cheerfulness in her +voice, "if it so be I can carry it out. Do either of you know," glancing +at the young men impartially, but apparently not noticing the bad +weather, "if in a reasonable time a vessel will leave here for Jamaica?" + +Dickory knew well, but he would not answer; Kate had no right to put +such a thing upon him. Newcombe, however, did not hesitate. "It is very +hard for me to say," he made reply, "but there is a merchantman, the +King and Queen, which sails from here in three days for Jamaica. I know +this, for I send some goods; and I wish, Mistress Bonnet, that I could +say something against your sailing in her, but I cannot; for, since you +will not let me take care of you, your uncle is surely the best one in +the world to do it; and as to the vessel, I know she is a safe one." + +"But you could not go sailing away in any vessel by yourself," cried +Dame Charter, "no matter how safe she may be." + +"Oh, no!" cried Kate; "and the more we talk about our plan the more +fully it reveals itself to me in all its various parts. I am going to +ask you to go with me, my dear Dame Charter," and as she spoke she +seized both of the hands of the other. "I have funds of my own which +are invested in the town, and I can afford the expense. Surely, my good +friend, you will not let me go forth alone, and all unused to travel? +Leaving me safely with my uncle, you could return when the ship came +back to Bridgetown." + +Dame Charter turned upon the girl a look of kind compassion, but at the +same time she knit her brows. + +"Right glad would I be to do that for you," she said, "but I cannot go +away and leave my son, who has only me." + +"Take him with you," cried Kate. "Two women travelling to unknown shores +might readily need a protector, and if not, there are so many things +which he might do. Think of it, my dear Dame Charter; to my uncle's home +in Jamaica is the only place to which I can go, and if you do not go +with me, how can I go there?" + +Dame Charter now shed tears, but they were the tears of one good woman +feeling for the misfortunes of another. + +"I will go with you, my dear young lady," she said, "and I will not +leave you until you are in your uncle's care. And, as to my boy here--" + +Now Dickory spoke from out of the blazing noontide of his countenance. + +"Oh, I will go!" he cried. "I do so greatly want to see Jamaica." + +Without being noticed, his mother took him by the hand; she did not +know what he might be tempted to say next. + +Mr. Newcombe stood very doleful. And well he might; for if his lady-love +went away in this fashion, there was good reason to suppose that he +might never see her again. But Kate said no word to comfort him--for how +could she in this company?--and began to talk rapidly about her +preparations. + +"I suppose until the ship shall sail I may stay with you?" addressing +Dame Charter. + +"Stay here?" exclaimed the good dame. "Of course you can stay here. We +are like one family now, and we will all go on board ship together." + +Kate walked to the boat with Mr. Newcombe, he having offered to +undertake her business in town and at her father's house, and to see the +owners of the King and Queen in regard to passage. + +Dickory stood radiant, speaking to no one. Master Martin Newcombe was +the lover of Mistress Kate Bonnet, but he, Dickory, was going with her +to Jamaica! + +The following days fled rapidly. Long-visaged Martin Newcombe, whose +labours in behalf of his lady were truly labours of love, as their +object was to help her to go where his eyes could no longer feast upon +her, and from which place her voice would no longer reach him, went, +with a bitter taste in his mouth, to visit Madam Bonnet, to endeavour +to persuade her to deliver to her step-daughter such further belongings +as that young lady was in need of. + +That forsaken person was found to be only too glad to comply with this +request, hoping earnestly that neither the property nor its owner should +ever again be seen by her. She was in high spirits, believing that she +was a much better manager of the plantation than her eccentric husband +had ever been, and she had already engaged a man to take the place of +Ben Greenway, who had been a sore trouble to her these many years. She +was buoyed up and cheered by the belief that the changes she was making +would be permanent, and that she would live and die the owner of the +plantation. She alone, in all Bridgetown and vicinity, had no doubts +whatever in regard to her husband's sailing from Barbadoes in his own +ship, and with a redundancy of rascality below its decks. The +respectability and good reputation of Major Bonnet did not blind her +eyes. She had heard him talk about the humdrum life on shore and the +reckless glories of the brave buccaneers, but she had never replied to +these remarks, fearing that she might feel obliged to object to them, +and she did not tell him how, in late years, she had heard him talk in +his sleep about standing, with brandished sword, on the deck of a pirate +ship. It was her dream, that his dreams might all come true. + +So Kate's baggage was put on board the King and Queen, a very humble +vessel considering her sounding name, and Dame Charter's few belongings +were conveyed to the vessel in Dickory's canoe, the cottage being left +in charge of a poor and well-pleased neighbour. + +When the day came for sailing, our friends, with not a few of the +townspeople, were gathered upon the deck, where Kate at first looked +about for Dickory, not recognising at the moment the well-dressed young +fellow who had taken his place. His Sunday costume became him well, and +he was so bravely decked out in the matter of shoes and stockings that +Kate did not recognise him. + +To every one Mistress Kate Bonnet made clear that she was going to her +uncle's house in Jamaica, where she expected to meet her father; and +many were the good wishes bestowed upon her. When the time drew near +when the anchor should be heaved, Kate withdrew to one side with Mr. +Newcombe. "You must believe," said she kindly, "that everything between +us is just as it was when we used to sit on the shady bank and look out +over the ripples of the river. There will be waves instead of ripples +for us to look over now, but there will be no change either the one way +or the other." + +Then they shook hands fervently; more than that would have been +unwarrantable. + +The King and Queen dropped down the stream, and Master Newcombe stood +sadly on the pier, while Kate Bonnet waved her handkerchief to him and +to her friends. Dame Charter sat and smiled at the town she was leaving +and at the long stretches of the river before her. She knew not to what +future she was going, but her heart was uplifted at the thought that a +new life was opening before her son. In her little cottage and in her +little fields there was no future for him, and now to what future might +he not be sailing! + +As for Dickory, he knew no more of his future than the sea-birds knew +what was going to happen to them; he cared no more for his future than +the clouds cared whether they were moving east or west. His life was +like the sparkling air in which he moved and breathed. He stood upon the +deck of the vessel, with the wind filling the sails above, while at a +little distance stood Kate Bonnet, her ribbons floating in the breeze. +He would have been glad to sing aloud, but he knew that that would not +be proper in the presence of the ladies and the captain. And so he let +his heart do his singing, which was not heard, except by himself. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BEN GREENWAY IS CONVINCED THAT BONNET IS A PIRATE + + +"But how in the name o' common sense did ye ever think o' becomin' a +pirate, Master Bonnet?" said Ben Greenway as they stood together. "Ye're +so little fitted for a wicked life." + +"Out upon you, Ben Greenway!" exclaimed the captain, beginning to stride +up and down the little quarter-deck. "I will let you know, that when the +time comes for it, I can be as wicked as anybody." + +"I doubt that," said Ben sturdily. "Would ye cut down an' murder the +innocent? Would ye drive them upon an unsteady plank an' make them walk +into the sea? Could ye raise thy great sword upon the widow an' the +orphan?" + +"No more of this disloyal speech," shouted Bonnet, "or I will put you +upon a wavering plank and make you walk into the sea." + +Now Greenway laughed. + +"An' if ye did," he said, "ye would next jump upon the plank yoursel' +an' slide swiftly into the waves, that ye might save your old friend an' +servant, knowin' he canna swim." + +"Ben Greenway," said Bonnet, folding his arms and knitting his brows, "I +will not suffer such speech from you. I would sooner have on board a +Presbyterian parson." + +"An' a happier fate couldna befall ye," said Ben, "for ye need a parson +mair than ony mon I know." + +Bonnet looked at him for a moment. + +"You think so?" said he. + +"Indeed I do," said Ben, with unction. + +"There now," cried Bonnet, "I told you, Ben, that I could be wicked upon +occasion, and now you have acknowledged it. Upon my word, I can be +wickeder than common, as you shall see when good fortune helps us to +overhaul a prize." + +The Revenge had been at sea for about a week and all had gone well, +except she had taken no prizes. The crew had been obedient and fairly +orderly, and if they made fun of their farmer-captain behind his back, +they showed no disrespect when his eyes were upon them. The fact was +that the most of them had a very great respect for him as the capitalist +of the ship's company. + +Big Sam had early begun to sound the temper of the men, but they had +not cared to listen to him. Good fare they had and generous treatment, +and the less they thought of Bonnet as a navigator and commander, the +more they thought of his promises of rich spoils to be fairly divided +with them when they should capture a Spanish galleon or any well-laden +merchantman bound for the marts of Europe. In fact, when such good luck +should befall them, they would greatly prefer to find themselves serving +under Bonnet than under Big Sam. The latter was known as a greedy +scoundrel, who would take much and give little, being inclined, +moreover, to cheat his shipmates out of even that little if the chance +came to him. Even Black Paul, who was an old comrade of Big Sam--the two +having done much wickedness together--paid no heed to his present +treasons. + +"Let the old fool alone," he said; "we fare well, and our lives are +easy, having three men to do the work of one. So say I, let us sail on +and make merry with his good rum; his money-chest is heavy yet." + +"That's what I'm thinking of," said the sailing-master. "Why should I be +coursing about here looking for prizes with that chest within reach of +my very arm whenever I choose it?" + +Black Paul grinned and said to himself: "It is your arm, old Sam, that I +am afraid of." Then aloud: "No, let him go. Let us profit by our good +treatment as long as it lasts, and then we will talk about the +money-box." + +Thus Big Sam found that his time had not arrived, and he swore in his +soul that his old shipmate would some day rue that he had not earlier +stood by him in his treacherous schemes. + +So all went on without open discontent, and Bonnet, having sailed +northward for some days, set his course to the southeast, with some +hundred and fifty eyes wide open for the sight of a heavy-sailing +merchantman. + +One morning they sighted a brig sailing southward, but as she was of no +great size and not going in the right direction to make it probable that +she carried a cargo worth their while, they turned westward and ran +towards Cuba. Had Captain Bonnet known that his daughter was on the brig +which he thus disdained, his mind would have been far different; but as +it was, not knowing anything more than he could see, and not +understanding much of that, he kept his westerly course, and on the next +day the lookout sighted a good-sized merchantman bearing eastward. + +Now bounded every heart upon the swiftly coursing vessel of the +planter-pirate. There were men there who had shared in the taking of +many a prize; who had shared in the blood and the cruelty and the booty; +and their brawny forms trembled with the old excitement, of the +sea-chase; but no man's blood ran more swiftly, no man's eyes glared +more fiercely, than those of Captain Bonnet as he strapped on his +pistols and felt of his sword-hilt. + +"Ah, ye needna glare so!" said Ben Greenway, close at his side. "Ye are +no pirate, an' ye canna make yoursel' believe ye are ane, an' that ye +shall see when the guns begin to roar an' the sword-blades flash. Better +get below an' let ane o' these hairy scoundrels descend into hell in +your place." + +Captain Bonnet turned with rage upon Ben Greenway, but the latter, +having spoken his mind and given his advice, had retired. + +Now came Big Sam. "'Tis an English brig," he said, "most likely from +Jamaica, homeward bound; she should be a good prize." + +Bonnet winced a little at this. He would have preferred to begin his +career of piracy by capturing some foreign vessel, leaving English +prizes for the future, when he should have become better used to his new +employment. But sensitiveness does not do for pirates, and in a moment +he had recovered himself and was as bold and bloody-minded as he had +been when he first saw the now rapidly approaching vessel. All nations +were alike to him now, and he belonged to none. + +"Fire some guns at her," he shouted to Big Sam, "and run up the Jolly +Roger; let the rascals see what we are." + +The rascals saw. Down came their flag, and presently their vessel was +steered into the wind and lay to. + +"Shall we board her?" cried Big Sam. + +"Ay, board her!" shouted back the infuriated Bonnet. "Run the Revenge +alongside, get out your grappling-irons, and let every man with sword +and pistols bound upon her deck." + +The merchantman now lay without headway, gently rolling on the sea. Down +came the sails of the Revenge, while her motion grew slower and slower +as she approached her victim. Had Captain Bonnet been truly sailing the +Revenge, he would have run by with sails all set, for not a thought had +he for the management of his own vessel, so intent he was upon the +capture of the other. But fortunately Big Sam knew what was necessary to +be done in a nautical manoeuvre of this kind, and his men did not all +stand ready with their swords in their hands to bound upon the deck of +the merchantman. But there were enough of Pirate Bonnet's crew crowded +alongside the rail of the vessel to inspire terror in any peaceable +merchantman. And this one, although it had several carronades and other +guns upon her deck, showed no disposition to use them, the odds against +her being far too great. + +At the very head of the long line of ruffians upon the deck of the +Revenge stood Ben Greenway; and, although he held no sword and wore no +pistol, his eyes flashed as brightly as any glimmering blade in the +whole ship's company. + +The two vessels were now drawing very near to each other. Men with +grappling-irons stood ready to throw them, and the bow of the +well-steered pirate had almost touched the side of the merchantman, +when, with a bound, of which no one would have considered him capable, +the good Ben Greenway jumped upon the rail and sprang down upon the deck +of the other vessel. This was a hazardous feat, and if the Scotchman had +known more about nautical matters he would not have essayed it before +the two vessels had been fastened together. Ignorance made him fearless, +and he alighted in safety on the deck of the merchantman at the very +instant when the two vessels, having touched, separated themselves from +each other for the space of a yard or two. + +There was a general shout from the deck of the pirate at this +performance of Ben Greenway. Nobody could understand it. Captain Bonnet +stood and yelled. + +"What are you about, Ben Greenway? Have you gone mad? Without sword or +pistol, you'll be--" + +The astonished Bonnet did not finish his sentence, for his power of +speech left him when he saw Ben Greenway hurry up to the captain of the +merchantman, who was standing unarmed, with his crew about him, and +warmly shake that dumfounded skipper by the hand. In their surprise at +what they beheld the pirates had not thrown their grapnels at the proper +moment, and now the two vessels had drifted still farther apart. + +Presently Ben Greenway came hurrying to the side of the merchantman, +dragging its captain by the hand. + +"Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he cried; "this is your old friend, +Abner Marchand, o' our town; an' this is his good ship the Amanda. I +knew her when I first caught sight o' her figure-head, havin' seen it so +often at her pier at Bridgetown. An' so, now that ye know wha it is that +ye hae inadvertently captured, ye may ca' off your men an' bid them +sheathe their frightful cutlasses." + +At this, a roar arose from the pirates, who, having thrown some of their +grappling-irons over the gunwale of the merchantman, were now pulling +hard upon them to bring the two vessels together, and Captain Bonnet +shouted back at Ben: "What are you talking about, you drivelling idiot; +haven't you told Mr. Marchand that I am a pirate?" + +"Indeed I hae no'," cried Ben, "for I don't believe ye are are; at +least, no' to your friends an' neebours." + +To this Bonnet made a violent reply, but it was not heard. The two +vessels had now touched and the crowd of yelling pirates had leaped upon +the deck of the Amanda. Bonnet was not far behind his men, and, sword +in hand, he rushed towards the spot where stood the merchant captain +with his crew hustling together behind him. As there was no resistance, +there was so far no fighting, and the pirates were tumbling over each +other in their haste to get below and find out what sort of a cargo was +carried by this easy prize. + +Captain Marchand held out his hand. "Good-day to you, friend Bonnet," he +said. "I had hoped that you would be one of the first friends I should +meet when I reached port at Bridgetown, but I little thought to meet you +before I got there." + +Bonnet was a little embarrassed by the peculiarity of the situation, but +his heart was true to his new career. + +"Friend Marchand," he said, "I see that you do not understand the state +of affairs, and Ben Greenway there should have told you the moment he +met you. I am no longer a planter of Barbadoes; I am a pirate of the +sea, and the Jolly Roger floats above my ship. I belong to no nation; my +hand is against all the world. You and your ship have been captured by +me and my men, and your cargo is my prize. Now, what have you got on +board, where do you hail from, and whither are you bound?" + +Captain Marchand looked at him fixedly. + +"I sailed from London with a cargo of domestic goods for Kingston; +thence, having disposed of most of my cargo, I am on my way to +Bridgetown, where I hope to sell the remainder." + +"Your goods will never reach Bridgetown," cried Bonnet; "they belong now +to my men and me." + +"What!" cried Ben Greenway, "ye speak wi'out sense or reason. Hae ye +forgotten that this is Mr. Abner Marchand, your fellow-vestryman an' +your senior warden? An' to him do ye talk o' takin' awa' his goods an' +legal chattels?" + +Bonnet looked at Greenway with indignation and contempt. + +"Now listen to me," he yelled. "To the devil with the vestry and da--" +the Scotchman's eyes and mouth were so rounded with horror that Bonnet +stopped and changed his form of expression--"confound the senior warden. +I am the pirate Bonnet, and regard not the Church of England." + +"Nor your friends?" interpolated Ben. + +"Nor friends nor any man," shouted Bonnet. + +"Abner Marchand, I am sorry that your vessel should be the first one to +fall into my power, but that has happened, and there is no help for it. +My men are below ransacking your hold for the goods and treasure it may +contain. When your cargo, or what we want of it, is safe upon my ship, I +shall burn your vessel, and you and your men must walk the plank." + +At this dreadful statement, Ben Greenway staggered backward in +speechless dismay. + +"Yes," cried Bonnet, "that shall I do, for there is naught else I can +do. And then you shall see, you doubting Greenway, whether I am a pirate +or no." + +To all this Captain Marchand said not a word. But at this moment a +woman's scream was heard from below, and then there was another scream +from another woman. Captain Marchand started. + +"Your men have wandered into my cabin," he exclaimed, "and they have +frightened my passengers. Shall I go and bring them up, Major Bonnet? +They will be better here." + +"Ay, ay!" cried the pirate captain, surprised that there should be +female passengers on board, and Marchand, followed by Ben Greenway, +disappeared below. + +"Confound women passengers," said Bonnet to himself; "that is truly a +bit of bad luck." + +In a few minutes Marchand was back, bringing with him a middle-aged and +somewhat pudgy woman, very pale; a younger woman of exceeding plainness, +and sobbing steadfastly; and also an elderly man, evidently an invalid, +and wearing a long dressing-gown. + +"These," said Captain Marchand, "are Master and Madam Ballinger and +daughter, of York in England, who have been sojourning in Jamaica for +the health of the gentleman, but are now sailing with me to Barbadoes, +hoping the air of our good island may be more salubrious for the lungs." + +Captain Bonnet had never been in the habit of speaking loudly before +ladies, but he now felt that he must stand by his character. + +"You cannot have heard," he almost shouted, "that I am the pirate +Bonnet, and that your vessel is now my prize." + +At this the two ladies began to scream vigorously, and the form of the +gentleman trembled to such a degree that his cane beat a tattoo upon the +deck. + +"Yes," continued Bonnet, "when my men have stripped this ship of its +valuables I shall burn her to the water's edge, and, having removed you +to my vessel, I shall shortly make you walk the plank." + +Here the younger lady began to stiffen herself out as if she were about +to faint in the arms of Captain Marchand, who had suddenly seized her; +but her great curiosity to hear more kept her still conscious. Mrs. +Ballinger grew very red in the face. + +"That cannot be," she cried; "you may do what you please with our +belongings and with Captain Marchand's ship, but my husband is too sick +a man to walk a plank. You have not noticed, perchance, that his legs +are so feeble that he could scarce mount from the cabin to the deck. It +would be impossible for him to walk a plank; and as for my daughter and +myself, we know nothing about such a thing, and could not, out of sheer +ignorance." + +For a moment a shadow of perplexity fell upon Captain Bonnet's face. He +could readily perceive that the infirm Mr. Ballinger could not walk a +plank, or even mount one, unless some one went with him to assist him, +and as to his wife, she was evidently a termagant; and, having sailed +his ship and floated his Jolly Roger in order to get rid of one +termagant, he was greatly annoyed at being brought thus, face to face, +with another. He stood for a moment silent. The old gentleman looked as +if he would like to go down to his cabin and cover up his head with his +blanket until all this commotion should be over; the daughter sobbed as +she gazed about her, taking in every point of this most novel situation; +and the mother, with dilated nostrils, still glared. + +In the midst of all this varying disturbance Captain Marchand stood +quiet and unmoved, apparently paying no attention to any one except his +old neighbour and fellow-vestryman, Stede Bonnet, upon whose face his +eyes were steadily fixed. + +Ben Greenway now approached the pirate captain and led him aside. + +"Let your men make awa' wi' the cargo as they please--I doubt if it be +more than odds an' ends, for such are the goods they bring to +Bridgetown--an' let them cast off an' go their way, an' ye an' I will +return to Bridgetown in the Amanda an' a' may yet be weel, this bit o' +folly bein' forgotten." + +It might have been supposed that Bonnet would have retaliated upon the +Scotchman for thus advising him, in the very moment of triumph, to give +up his piratical career and to go home quietly to his plantation, but, +instead of that, he paused for a moment's reflection. + +"Ben Greenway," said he, "there is good sense in what you say. In truth, +I cannot bring myself to put to death my old friend and neighbour and +his helpless passengers. As for the ship, it will do me no more good +burned than unburned. And there is another thing, Ben Greenway, which I +would fain do, and it just came into my mind. I will write a letter to +my wife and one to my daughter Kate. There is much which I wish them to +know and which I have not yet been able to communicate. I will allow the +Amanda to go on her way and I will send these two letters by her +captain. They shall be ready presently, and you, Ben, stand by these +people and see that no harm comes to them." + +At this moment there were loud shouts and laughter from below, and +Captain Marchand came forward. + +"Friend Bonnet," he said, "your men have discovered my store of spirits; +in a short time they will be drunk, and it will then be unsafe for +these, my passengers. Bid them, I pray you, to convey the liquors +aboard your ship." + +"Well said!" cried Bonnet. "I would not lose those spirits." And, +stepping forward, he spoke to Big Sam, who had just appeared on deck, +and ordered the casks to be conveyed on board the Revenge. + +The latter laughed, but said: "Ay, ay, sir!" + +Returning to Captain Marchand, Bonnet said: "I will now step on board my +ship and write some letters, which I shall ask you to take to Bridgetown +with you. I shall be ready by the time the rest of your cargo is +removed." + +"Oh, don't do that!" cried Ben; "there is surely pen an' paper here, +close to your hand. Go down to Captain Marchand's cabin an' write your +letters." + +"No, no," cried Bonnet, "I have my own conveniences." And with that he +leaped on board the Revenge. + +"That's a chance gone," said Ben Greenway to Captain Marchand, "a good +chance gone. If we could hae kept him on board here an' down in your +cabin, I might hae passed the word to that big miscreant, the +sailing-master, to cast off an' get awa' wi' that wretched crowd. The +scoundrels will be glad to steal the ship, an' it will be the salvation +o' Master Bonnet if they do it." + +"If that's the case," said Captain Marchand, "why should we resort to +trickery? If his men want his ship and don't want him, why can't we +seize him when he comes on board with his letters, and then let his men +know that they are free to go to the devil in any way they please? Then +we can convey Major Bonnet to his home, to repentance, perhaps, and a +better life." + +"That's good," said Ben, "but no' to punishment. Ye an' I could testify +that his head is turned, but that, when kindness to a neebour is +concerned, his heart is all right." + +"Ay, ay," said the captain, "I could swear to that. And now we must act +together. When I put my hand on him, you do the same, and give him no +chance to use his sword or pistols." + +The captain of the pirates sat down in his well-furnished little room to +write his letters, and the noise and confusion on deck, the swearing and +the singing and the shouting to be heard everywhere, did not seem to +disturb him in the least. He was a man whose mind could thoroughly +engage itself with but one thing at a time, and the fact that his men +were at work sacking the merchantman did not in the least divert his +thoughts from his pen and paper. + +So he quietly wrote to his wife that he had embraced a pirate's life, +that he never expected to become a planter again, and that he left to +her the enjoyment and management of his estate in Barbadoes. He hoped +that, his absence having now relieved her of her principal reason for +discontent with her lot, she would become happy and satisfied, and +would allow those about her to be the same. He expected to send Ben +Greenway back to her to help take care of her affairs, but if she should +need further advice he advised her to speak to Master Newcombe. + +The letter to his daughter was different; it was very affectionate. He +assured her of his sorrow at not being able to take her with him and to +leave her at Jamaica, and he urged her at the earliest possible moment +to go to her uncle and to remain there until she heard from him or saw +him--the latter being probable, as he intended to visit Jamaica as soon +as he could, even in disguise if this method were necessary. He alluded +to the glorious career upon which he was entering, and in which he +expected some day to make a great name for himself, of which he hoped +she would be proud. + +When these letters were finished Bonnet hurried to the side of the +vessel and looked upon the deck of the Amanda. + +Captain Marchand and Greenway had been waiting in anxious expectation +for the return of Bonnet, and wondering how in the world a man could +bring his mind to write letters at such a time as this. + +"Take these letters, Ben," he said, leaning over the rail, "and give +them to Captain Marchand." + +Ben Greenway at first declined to take the letters which Bonnet held out +to him, but the latter now threw them at his feet on the deck, and, +running forward, he soon found himself in a violent and disorderly +crowd, who did not seem to regard him at all; booty and drink were all +they cared for. Presently came Big Sam, giving orders and thrusting the +men before him. He had not been drinking, and was in full possession of +his crafty senses. + +"Throw off the grapnels," exclaimed Big Sam, "and get up the foresel!" +And then he perceived Bonnet. With a scowl upon his face Big Sam +muttered: "I thought you were on the merchantman, but no matter. Shove +her off, I say, or I'll break your heads." + +The grapnels were loosened; the few men who were on duty shoved +desperately; the foresail went up, and the two vessels began to +separate. But they were not a foot apart when, with a great rush and +scramble, Ben Greenway left the merchantman and tumbled himself on board +the Revenge. + +Bonnet rushed up to him. "You scoundrel! You rascal, Ben Greenway, what +do you mean? I intended you to go back to Bridgetown on that brig. Can I +never get rid of you?" + +"No' till ye give up piratin'," said Ben with a grin. "Ye may split open +my head, an' throw overboard my corpse, but my live body stays here as +long as ye do." + +With a savage growl Bonnet turned away from his faithful adherent. +Things were getting very serious now and he could waste no time on +personal quarrels. Great holes and splits had been discovered in the +heads of the barrels of spirits, and the precious liquor was running +over the decks. This was the work of the sagacious Big Sam, who had the +strongest desire to get away from the Amanda before the pirate crew +became so drunk that they could not manage the vessel. He was a deep +man, that Big Sam, and at this moment, although he said nothing about +it, he considered himself the captain of the pirate ship which he +sailed. + +For a time Bonnet hurried about, not knowing what to do. Some of the men +were quarrelling about the booty; others trying to catch the rum as it +flowed from the barrels; others howling out of pure devilishness, and no +one paying him any respect whatever. Big Sam was giving orders; a few +sober men were obeying him, and Captain Stede Bonnet, with his faithful +servant, Ben Greenway, seemed to be entirely out of place amid this +horrible tumult. + +"I told ye," said Ben, "ye had better stayed on board that merchantman +an' gone back like a Christian to your ain hame an' family. It will be +no safe place for ye, or for me neither, when that black-hearted +scoundrel o' a Big Sam gets time to attend to ye." + +"Black-hearted?" inquired Bonnet, but without any surprise in his voice. + +"Ay," said Ben, "if there's onything blacker than his heart, only Satan +himsel' ever looked at it. It was to be sailin' this ship on his own +account that he's had in his villainous soul ever since he came on +board; an' I can tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it won't be long now +before he's doin' it. I had me eye on him when he was on board the +Amanda, an' I saw that the scoundrel was goin' to separate the ships." + +"That was my will," said Bonnet, "although I did not order it." + +Ben gave a little grunt. "Ay," said he, "hopin' to leave me behind just +as he was hopin' to leave ye behind. But neither o' ye got your wills, +an' it'll be the de'il that'll have a hand in the next leavin' behind +that's likely to be done." + +Bonnet made no reply to these remarks, having suddenly spied Black Paul. + +"Look here," said he, stepping up to that sombre-hued personage, "can +you sail a ship?" + +The other looked at Bonnet in astonishment. "I should say so," said he. +"I have commanded vessels before now." + +"Here then," said Bonnet, "I want a sailing-master. I am not satisfied +with this Big Sam. I am no navigator myself, but I want a better man +than that fellow to sail my ship for me." + +Black Paul looked hard at him but made no answer. + +"He thinks he is sailing the ship for himself," said Bonnet, "and it +would be a bad day for you men if he did." + +"That indeed would it," said Black Paul; "a close-fisted scoundrel, as I +know him to be." + +"Quick then," said Bonnet; "now you're my sailing-master; and after +this, when we divide the prizes, you take the same share that I do. As +to these goods from the Amanda, I will have no part at all; I give them +all to you and the rest, divided according to rule. + +"Go you now among the men, and speak first to such as have taken the +least liquor; let them know that it was Big Sam that broke in the +hogsheads, which, but for that, would have been sold and divided. Go +quickly and get about you a half-dozen good fellows." + +"Ye're gettin' wickeder and wickeder," said Ben when Black Paul had +hurried away; "the de'il himsel' couldna hae taught ye a craftier trick +than that. Weel ye kenned that that black fellow would fain serve under +a free-handed fool than a stingy knave. Ay, sir, your education's +progressin'!" + +At this moment Big Sam came hurrying by. Not wishing to excite +suspicion, Bonnet addressed him a question, but instead of answering the +burly pirate swore at him. "I'll attend to your business," said he, "as +soon as I have my sails set; then I'll give you two leather-headed +landsmen all the hoisting and lowering you'll ever ask for." Then with +another explosion of oaths he passed on. + +Bonnet and Ben stood waiting with much impatience and anxiety, but +presently came Black Paul with a party of brawny pirates following him. + +"Come now," said Bonnet, walking boldly aft towards Big Sam, who was +still cursing and swearing right and left. Bonnet stepped up to him and +touched him on the arm. "Look ye," said he, "you're no longer +sailing-master on this ship; I don't like your ways or your fashions. +Step forward, then, and go to the fo'castle where you belong; this good +mariner," pointing to Black Paul, "will take your place and sail the +Revenge." + +Big Sam turned and stood astounded, staring at Bonnet. He spoke no word, +but his face grew dark and his great eyebrows were drawn together. His +mouth was half open, as if he were about to yell or swear. Then suddenly +his right hand fell upon the hilt of his cutlass, and the great blade +flashed in the air. He gave one bound towards Bonnet, and in the same +second the cutlass came down like a stroke of lightning. But Bonnet had +been a soldier and had learned how to use his sword; the cutlass was +caught on his quick blade and turned aside. At this moment Black Paul +sprung at Big Sam and seized him by the sword arm, while another fellow, +taking his cue, grabbed him by the shoulder. + +"Now some of you fellows," shouted Bonnet, "seize him by the legs and +heave him overboard!" + +This order was obeyed almost as soon as it was given; four burly +pirates rushed Big Sam to the bulwarks, and with a great heave +sent him headforemost over the rail. In the next instant he had +disappeared--gone, passed out of human sight or knowledge. + +"Now then, Mr. Paul--not knowing your other name--" + +"Which it is Bittern," said the other. + +"You are now sailing-master of this ship; and when things are +straightened out a bit you can come below and sign articles with me." + +"Ay, ay, sir," said Black Paul, and calling to the men he gave orders +that they go on with the setting of the main-topsail. + +"Now, truly," said Ben, "I believe that ye're a pirate." + +Bonnet looked at him much pleased. "I told you so, my good Ben. I knew +that the time would come when you would acknowledge that I am a true +pirate; after this, you cannot doubt it any more." + +"Never again, Master Bonnet," said Ben Greenway, gravely shaking his +head, "never again!" + + * * * * * + +The brig Amanda, with full sails and an empty hold, bent her course +eastward to the island of Barbadoes, and the next morning, when the +drunken sailors on board the Revenge were able to look about them and +consider things, they found their vessel speeding towards the coast of +Cuba, and sailed by Black Paul Bittern. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +DICKORY SETS FORTH + + +Mr. Felix Delaplaine, merchant and planter of Spanish Town, the capital +of Jamaica, occupied a commodious house in the suburbs of the town, +twelve miles up the river from Kingston, the seaport, which +establishment was somewhat remarkable from the fact that there were no +women in the family. Madam Delaplaine had been dead for several years, +and as her husband's fortune had steadily thriven, he now found himself +possessor of a home in which he could be as independent and as +comfortable as if he had been the president and sole member of a club. + +Being of a genial disposition and disposed to look most favourably upon +his possessions and surrounding conditions, Mr. Delaplaine had come to +be of the opinion that his lot in life was one in which improvement was +not to be expected and scarcely to be desired. He had been perfectly +happy with his wife, and had no desire to marry another, who could not +possibly equal her; and, having no children, he continually thanked his +happy stars that he was free from the troubles and anxieties which were +so often brought upon fathers by their sons and their daughters. + +Into this quiet and self-satisfied life came, one morning, a great +surprise in the shape of a beautiful young woman, who entered his office +in Spanish Town, and who stated to him that she was the daughter of his +only sister, and that she had come to live with him. There was an +elderly dame and a young man in company with the beautiful visitor, but +Mr. Delaplaine took no note of them. With his niece's hands in his own, +gazing into the face so like that young face in whose company he had +grown from childhood to manhood, Mr. Delaplaine saw in a flash, that +since the death of his wife until that moment he had never had the least +reason to be content with the world or to be satisfied with his lot. +This was his sister's child come to live with him! + +When Mr. Delaplaine sufficiently recovered his ordinary good sense to +understand that there were other things in this world besides the lovely +niece who had so suddenly appeared before him, he remembered that she +had a father, and many questions were asked and answered; and he was +told who Dame Charter was, and why her son came with her. Then the uncle +and the niece walked into the garden, and there talked of Major Bonnet. +Little did Kate know upon this subject, and nothing could her uncle tell +her; but in many and tender words she was assured that this was her home +as long as she chose to live in it, and that it was the most fortunate +thing in the world that Dame Charter had come with her and could stay +with her. Had this not been so, where could he have found such a +guardian angel, such a chaperon, for this tender niece? As for the young +man, it was such rare good luck that he had been able to accompany the +two ladies and give them his protection. He was just the person, Mr. +Delaplaine believed, who would be invaluable to him either on the +plantation or in his counting-house. In any case, here was their home; +and here, too, was the home of his brother-in-law, Bonnet, whenever he +chose to give up his strange fancy for the sea. It was not now to be +thought of that Kate or her father, or either one of them, should go +back to Barbadoes to live with the impossible Madam Bonnet. + +If her father's vessel were in the harbour and he were here with them, +or even if she had had good tidings from him, Kate Bonnet would have +been a very happy girl, for her present abode was vastly different from +any home she had ever known. Her uncle's house on the highlands beyond +the town lay in a region of cooler breezes and more bracing air than +that of Barbadoes. Books and music and the general air of refinement +recalled her early life with her mother, and with the exception of the +anxiety about her father, there were no clouds in the bright blue skies +of Kate Bonnet. But this anxiety was a cloud, and it was spreading. + + * * * * * + +When the Amanda moved away from the side of the pirate vessel Revenge +she hoisted all sail, and got away over the sea as fast as the +prevailing wind could take her. When she passed the bar below Bridgetown +and came to anchor, Captain Marchand immediately lowered a boat and was +rowed up the river to the recent residence of Major Stede Bonnet, and +there he delivered two letters--one to the wife of that gentleman, and +the other for his daughter. Then the captain rowed back and went into +the town, where he annoyed and nearly distracted the citizens by giving +them the most cautious and expurgated account of the considerate and +friendly manner in which the Amanda had been relieved of her cargo by +his old friend and fellow-vestryman, Major Bonnet. + +Captain Marchand had been greatly impressed by the many things which Ben +Greenway had said about his master's present most astounding freak, and +hoping in his heart that repentance and a suitable reparation might soon +give this hitherto estimable man an opportunity to return to his former +place in society, he said as little as he could against the name and +fame of this once respected fellow-citizen. When he communicated with +the English owners of his now departed cargo, he would know what to say +to them, but here, safe in harbour with his vessel and his passengers, +he preferred to wait for a time before entirely blackening the character +of the man who had allowed him to come here. Like the faithful Ben +Greenway, he did not yet believe in Stede Bonnet's piracy. + +Madam Bonnet read her letter and did not like it. In fact, she thought +it shameful. Then she opened and read the letter to her step-daughter. +This she did not like either, and she put it away in a drawer; she would +have nothing to do with the transmission of such an epistle as this. +Most abominable when contrasted with the scurrilous screed he had +written to her. + + * * * * * + +Day after day passed on, and Kate Bonnet arose each morning feeling less +happy than on the day before. But at last a letter came, brought by a +French vessel which had touched at Barbadoes. This letter was to Kate +from Martin Newcombe. It was a love-letter, a very earnest, ardent +love-letter, but it did not make the young girl happy, for it told her +very little about her father. The heart of the lover was so tender that +he would say nothing to his lady which might give her needless pain. He +had heard what Captain Marchand had told and he had not understood it, +and could only half believe it. Kate must know far more about all this +painful business than he did, for her father's letter would tell her all +he wished her to know. Therefore, why should he discuss that most +distressing and perplexing subject, which he knew so little about and +which she knew all about. So he merely touched upon Major Bonnet and his +vessel, and hoped that she might soon write to him and tell him what she +cared for him to know, what she cared for him to tell to the people of +Bridgetown, and what she wished to repose confidentially to his honour. +But whatever she chose to say to him or not to say to him, he would have +her remember that his heart belonged to her, and ever would belong, no +matter what might happen or what might be said for good or for bad, on +the sea or the land, by friends or enemies. + +This was a rarely good love-letter, but it plunged Kate into the deepest +woe, and Dickory saw this first of all. He had brought the letter, and +for the second time he saw tears in her eyes. The absence of news of +Major Bonnet was soon known to the rest of the family, and then there +were other tears. It was perfectly plain, even to Dame Charter, that +things had been said in Bridgetown which Mr. Newcombe had not cared to +write. + +"No, Dame Charter," said Kate, "I cannot talk to you about it. My uncle +has already spoken words of comfort, but neither you nor he know more +than I do, and I must now think a little for myself, if I can." + +So saying, she walked out into the grounds to a spot at a little +distance where Dickory stood, reflectively gazing out over the +landscape. + +"Dickory," said the girl, "my mind is filled with horrible doubts. I +have heard of the talk in Bridgetown before we left, and now here is +this letter from Mr. Newcombe from which I cannot fail to see that there +must have been other talk that he considerately refrains from telling +me." + +"He should not have written such a letter," exclaimed Dickory hotly; "he +might have known it would have set you to suspecting things." + +"You don't know what you are talking about, you foolish boy," said she; +"it is a very proper letter about things you don't understand." + +She stepped a little closer to him as if she feared some one might hear +her. "Dickory," said she, "he did not put that thing into my mind; it +was there already. That was a dreadful ship, Dickory, and it was filled +with dreadful men. If he had not intended to go with them he would not +have put himself into their power, and if he had not intended to be long +away he would not have planned to leave me here with my uncle." + +"You ought not to think such a thing as that for one minute," cried +Dickory. "I would not think so about my mother, no matter what +happened!" + +She smiled slightly as she answered. "I would my father were a mother, +and then I need not think such things. But, Dickory, if he had but +written to me! And in all this time he might have written, knowing how I +must feel." + +Dickory stood silent, his bosom heaving. Suddenly he turned sharply +towards her. "Of course he has written," said he, "but how could his +letter come to you? We know not where he has sailed, and besides, who +could have told him you had already gone to your uncle? But the people +at Bridgetown must know things. I believe that he has written there." + +"Why do you believe that?" she asked eagerly, with one hand on his arm. + +"I think it," said Dickory, his cheeks a little ruddier in their +brownness, "because there is more known there than Master Newcombe chose +to put into his letter. If he has not written, how should they know +more?" + +She now looked straight into his eyes, and as he returned the gaze he +could see in her pupils his head and his straw hat, with the clear sky +beyond. + +"Dickory," she said, "if he wrote to anybody he also wrote to me, and +that letter is still there." + +"That is what I believe," said he, "and I have been believing it." + +"Then why didn't you say so to me, you wretched boy?" cried Kate. "You +ought to have known how that would have comforted me. If I could only +think he has surely written, my heart would bound, no matter what his +letter told; but to be utterly dropped, that I cannot bear." + +"You have not been dropped," he exclaimed, "and you shall know it. Kate, +I am going--" + +"Nay, nay," she exclaimed, "you must not call me that!" + +"But you call me Dickory," he said. + +"True, but you are so much younger." + +"Younger!" he exclaimed in a tone of contempt, not for the speaker but +for the word she had spoken. "Eleven months!" + +She laughed a little laugh; her nature was so full of it that even now +she could not keep it back. + +"You must have been making careful computation," she said, "but it does +not matter; you must not call me Kate, and I shall keep on calling you +Dickory; I could not help it. Now, where is it you were about to say you +were going?" + +"If you think me old enough," said he, "I am going to Barbadoes in the +King and Queen. She sails to-morrow. I shall find out about everything, +and I shall get your letter, then I shall come back and bring it to +you." + +"Dickory!" she exclaimed, and her eyes glowed. + +There was silence for some moments, and then he spoke, for it was +necessary for him to say something, although he would have been +perfectly content to stand there speechless, so long as her eyes still +glowed. + +"If I don't go," said he, "it may be long before you hear from him; +having written, he will wait for an answer." + +She thought of no difficulties, no delays, no dangers. "How happy you +have made me, Dickory!" she said. "It is this dreadful ignorance, these +fearful doubts of which I ought to be ashamed. But if I get his letter, +if I know he has not deserted me!" + +"You shall get it," he cried, "and you shall know." + +"Dickory," said she, "you said that exactly as you spoke when you told +me that if I let myself drop into the darkness, you would be there." + +"And you shall find me there now," said he; "always, if you need me, you +shall find me there!" + +Dame Charter had been standing and watching this interview, her foolish +motherly heart filled with the brightest, most unreasonable dreams. And +why should she not dream, even if she knew her dreams would never come +true? In a few short weeks that Dickory boy had grown to be a man, and +what should not be dreamed about a man! + +As Kate ran by the open door towards her uncle's apartments, Dame +Charter rose up, surprised. + +"What have you been saying to her, Dickory?" she exclaimed. "Do you know +something we have not heard? Have you been giving her news of her +father?" + +"No," said the son, who had so lately been a boy, "I have no news to +give her, but I am going to get news for her." + +She looked at him in amazement; then she exclaimed: "You!" + +"Yes," he said, "there is no one else. And besides I would not want any +one else to do it. I am going to Bridgetown in the brig which brought us +here; it is a little sail, and when I get there I will find out +everything. No matter what has happened, it will break her heart to +think that her father deserted her without a word. I don't believe he +did it, and I shall go and find out." + +"But, Dickory," she said, with anxious, upraised face, "how can you get +back? Do you know of any vessel that will be sailing this way?" + +He laughed. + +"Get back? If I go alone, dear mother, you may be sure I shall soon get +back. Craft of all kinds sail one way or another, and there are many +ways in which I can get back not thought of in ordinary passage. When +any kind of a vessel sails from Jamaica, I can get on board of her, +whether she takes passengers or not. I can sleep on a bale of goods or +on the bare deck; I can work with the crew, if need be. Oh! you need not +doubt that I shall speedily come back." + +They talked long together, this mother and this son, and it was her +golden dreams for him that made her invoke Heaven's blessings upon him +and tell him to go. She knew, too, that it was wise for her to tell him +to go and to bless him, for it would have been impossible to withstand +him, so set was he in his purpose. + +"I tell you, Dame Charter," said Mr. Delaplaine an hour later, "this son +of yours should be a great credit and pride to you, and he will be, I +stake my word upon it." + +"He is now," said the good woman quietly. + +"I have been pondering in my brain," said he, "what I should do to +relieve my niece of this burden of anxiety which is weighing upon her. I +could see no way, for letters would be of no use, not knowing where to +send them, and it would be dreary, indeed, to sit and wait and sigh and +dream bad dreams until chance throws some light upon this grievous +business, and here steps up this young fellow and settles the whole +matter. When he comes back, Dame Charter, I shall do well for him; I +shall put him in my counting-house, for, although doubtless he would +fain live his young life in the fields and under the open sky, he will +find the counting-house lies on the road to fortune, and good fortune he +deserves." + +If that loving mother could have composed this speech for Master +Delaplaine to make she could not have suited it better to her desires. + +When the King and Queen was nearly ready to sail, Dickory Charter, +having been detained by Mr. Delaplaine, who wished the young man to +travel as one of importance and plentiful resources, hurried to the +house to take his final instructions from Mistress Kate Bonnet, in whose +service he was now setting forth. It might have been supposed by some +that no further instructions were necessary, but how could Dickory know +that? He was right. Kate met him before he reached the house. + +"I am so glad to see you again before you sail," she said. "One thing +was forgotten: You may see my father; his cruise may be over and he may +be, even now, preparing for me to come back to Bridgetown. If this be +so, urge him rather to come here. I had not thought of your seeing him, +Dickory, and I did not write to him, but you will know what to say. You +have heard that woman talk of me, and you well know I cannot go back to +my old home." + +"Oh, I will say all that!" he exclaimed. "It will be the same thing as +if you had written him a long letter. And now I must run back, for the +boat is ready to take me down the river to the port." + +"Dickory," said she, and she put out her hand--he had never held that +hand before--"you are so true, Dickory, you are so noble; you are +going--" it was in her mind to say "you are going as my knight-errant," +but she deemed that unsuitable, and she changed it to--"you are going to +do so much for me." + +She stopped for a moment, and then she said: "You know I told you you +should not call me Kate, being so much younger; but, as you are so much +younger, you may kiss me if you like." + +"Like!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE + + +It was truly surprising to see the change which came over the spirits of +our young Kate Bonnet when she heard that the King and Queen had sailed +from Kingston port. She was gay, she was talkative, she sang songs, she +skipped in the paths of the garden. One might have supposed she was so +happy to get rid of the young man on the brig which had sailed away. And +yet, the news she might hear when that young man came back was likely to +be far worse than any misgivings which had entered her mind. Kate's high +spirits delighted her uncle. This child of his sister had grown more +lovely than even her mother had ever been. + +Now came days of delight which Kate had never dreamed of. She had not +known that there were such shops in Spanish Town, which, although a +youngish town, had already drawn to itself the fashion and the needs of +fashion of that prosperous colony. With Dame Charter, and often also +with her uncle in company, this bright young girl hovered over fair +fabrics which were spread before her; circled about jewels, gems, and +feathers, and revelled in tender colours as would a butterfly among the +blossoms, dipping and tasting as she flew. + +There were some fine folk in Spanish Town, and with this pleasant +society of the capital Mr. Delaplaine renewed his previous intercourse +and Kate soon learned the pleasures of a colonial social circle, whose +attractions, brought from afar, had been warmed into a more cheerful +glow in this bright West Indian atmosphere. + +To add to the brilliancy of the new life into which Kate now entered, +there came into the port an English corvette--the Badger--for refitting. +From this welcome man-of-war there flitted up the river to Spanish Town +gallant officers, young and older; and in their flitting they flitted +into the drawing-room of the rich merchant Delaplaine, and there were +some of them who soon found that there were no drawing-rooms in all the +town where they could talk with, walk with, and perchance dance with +such a fine girl as Mistress Kate Bonnet. + +Kate greatly fancied gallant partners, whether for walking or talking or +dancing, and among such, those which came from the corvette in the +harbour pleased her most. + +Those were not bright days for Dame Charter. Do what she would, her +optimism was growing dim, and what helped to dim it was Kate's gaiety. +It did not comfort her at all when Kate told her that she was so +light-hearted because she knew that Dickory would bring her good news. + +"Truly, too many fine young men here," thought Dame Charter, "while +Dickory is away, and all of them together are not worth a curl on his +head." + +But, although her dreams were dimmed, she did not cease dreaming. A +stout-hearted woman was Dickory's mother. + +But it was not long before there were other people thereabout who began +to feel that their prospects for present enjoyment were beginning to +look a little dim, for Captain Christopher Vince, having met Mistress +Kate Bonnet at an entertainment at the Governor's house, was greatly +struck by this young lady. Each officer of the Badger who saw their +captain in company with the fair one to whom their gallant attentions +had been so freely offered, now felt that in love as well as in +accordance with the regulations of the service, he must give place to +his captain. Moreover, when that captain took upon himself, the very +next day, to call at the residence of Mr. Delaplaine, and repeated the +visit upon the next day and the following, the crestfallen young fellows +were compelled to acknowledge that there were other houses in the town +where it might be better worth their while to spend their leisure hours. + +Captain Vince was not a man to be lightly interfered with, whether he +happened to be engaged in the affairs of Mars or Cupid. He was of a +resolute mind, and of a person more than usually agreeable to the female +eye. He was about forty years of age, of an excellent English family, +and with good expectations. He considered himself an admirable judge of +women, but he had never met one who so thoroughly satisfied his +aesthetic taste as this fair niece of the merchant Delaplaine. She had +beauty, she had wit, she had culture, and the fair fabrics of Spanish +Town shops gave to her attractions a setting which would have amazed and +entranced Master Newcombe or our good Dickory. The soul of Captain Vince +was fired, and each time he met Kate and talked with her the fire grew +brighter. + +He had never considered himself a marrying man, but that was because he +had never met any one he had cared to marry. Now things were changed. +Here was a girl he had known but for a few days, and already, in his +imagination, he had placed her in the drawing-rooms of the English home +he hoped soon to inherit, more beautiful and even more like a princess +than any noble dame who was likely to frequent those rooms. In fancy he +had seen her by his side, walking through the shaded alleys of his grand +old gardens; he had looked proudly upon her as she stood by him in the +assemblages of the great; in fact, he had fallen suddenly and absolutely +in love with her. When he was away from her he could not quite +understand this condition of things, but when he was with her again he +understood it all. He loved her because it was absolutely impossible for +him to do anything else. + +Naturally, Captain Vince was very agreeable to Mistress Kate, for she +had never seen such a handsome man, taking into consideration his +uniform and his bearing, and had never talked with one who knew so well +what to say and how to say it. Comparing him with the young officers who +had been so fond of making their way to her uncle's house, she was glad +that they had ceased to be such frequent visitors. + +The soul of Mr. Delaplaine was agitated by the admiration of his niece +which Captain Vince took no trouble to conceal. The worthy merchant +would gladly have kept Kate with him for years and years if she would +have been content to stay, but this could not be expected; and if she +married, from what other quarter could come such a brilliant match as +this? What his brother-in-law might think about it he did not care; if +Kate should choose to wed the captain, such an eccentric and +untrustworthy person should not be permitted to interfere with the +destiny that now appeared to open before his daughter. These thoughts +were not so idle as might have been supposed, for the captain had +already said things to the merchant, in which the circumstances of the +former were made plain and his hopes foreshadowed. If the captain were +not prepared to leave the service, this rich merchant thought, why +should not he make it possible for him to do so, for the sake of his +dear niece? + +With these high ambitions in his mind, the happily agitated Mr. +Delaplaine did not hesitate to say some playful words to Kate concerning +the captain of the Badger; and these having been received quietly, he +was emboldened to go on and say some other words more serious. + +Then Kate looked at him very steadfastly and remarked: "But, uncle, you +have forgotten Master Newcombe." + +The good Delaplaine made no answer, for his emotions made it impossible +for him to do so, but, rising, he went out, and at a little distance +from the house he damned Master Newcombe. + +Days passed on and the captain's attentions did not wane. Mr. +Delaplaine, who was a man of honour expecting it in others, made up his +mind that something decisive must soon be said; while Kate began greatly +to fear that something decisive might soon be said. She was in a +difficult position. She was not engaged to Martin Newcombe, but had +believed she might be. The whole affair involved a question which she +did not want to consider. And still the captain came every day, +generally in the afternoon or evening. + +But one morning he made his appearance, coming to the house quite +abruptly. + +"I am glad to find you by yourself," said he, "for I have some awkward +news." + +Kate looked at him surprised. + +"I have just been ordered on duty," he continued, "and the order is most +unwelcome. A brig came in last night and brought letters, and the +Governor sent for me this morning. I have just left him. The cruise I am +about to take may not be a long one, but I cannot leave port without +coming here to you and speaking to you of something which is nearer to +my heart than any thought of service, or in fact of anything else." + +"Speaking to my uncle, you mean," said Kate, now much disturbed, for she +saw in the captain's eyes what he wished to talk of. + +"Away with uncles!" he exclaimed; "we can speak with them by-and-bye; +now my words are for you. You may think me hasty, but we gentlemen +serving the king cannot afford to wait; and so, without other pause, I +say, sweet Mistress Kate, I love you, better than I have ever loved +woman; better than I can ever love another. Nay, do not answer; I must +tell you everything before you reply." And to the pale girl he spoke of +his family, his prospects, and his hopes. In the warmest colours he laid +before her the life and love he would give her. Then he went quickly on: +"This is but a little matter which is given to my charge, and it may not +engage me long; I am going out in search of a pirate, and I shall make +short work of him. The shorter, having such good reason to get quickly +back. + +"In fact, he is not a real pirate anyway, being but a country gentleman +tiring of his rural life and liking better to rob, burn, and murder on +the high seas. He has already done so much damage, that if his evil +career be not soon put an end to good people will be afraid to voyage in +these waters. So I am to sail in haste after this fellow Bonnet; but +before--" + +Kate's face had grown so white that it seemed to recede from her great +eyes. "He is my father," said she, "but I had not heard until now that +he is a pirate!" + +The captain started from his chair. "What!" he cried, "your father? Yes, +I see. It did not strike me until this instant that the names are the +same." + +Kate rose, and as she spoke her voice was not full and clear as it was +wont to be. "He is my father," she said, "but he sailed away without +telling me his errand; but now that I know everything, I must--" If she +had intended to say she must go, she changed her mind, and even came +closer to the still astounded captain. "You say that you will make short +work of his vessel; do you mean that you will destroy it, and will you +kill him?" + + +[Illustration: "He is my father!" said Kate.] + +Captain Vince looked down upon her, his face filled with the liveliest +emotions. "My dear young lady," he said, and then he stopped as if +not knowing what words to use. But as he looked into her eyes fixed +upon his own and waiting for his answer, his love for her took +possession of him and banished all else. "Kill him," he exclaimed, +"never! He shall be as safe in my hands as if he were walking in his own +fields. Kill your father, dearest? Loving you as I do, that would be +impossible. I may take the rascals who are with him, I may string them +up to the yard-arm, or I may sink their pirate ship with all of them in +it, but your father shall be safe. Trust me for that; he shall come to +no harm from me." + +She stepped a little way from him, and some of her colour came back. For +some moments she looked at him without speaking, as if she did not +exactly comprehend what he had said. + +"Yes, my dear," he continued, "I must crush out that piratical crew, for +such is my duty as well as my wish, but your father I shall take under +my protection; so have no fear about him, I beg you. With his ship and +his gang of scoundrels taken away from him, he can no longer be a +pirate, and you and I will determine what we shall do with him." + +"You mean," said Kate, speaking slowly, "that for my sake you will +shield my father from the punishment which will be dealt out to his +companions?" + +He smiled, and his face beamed upon her. "What blessed words," he +exclaimed. "Yes, for your sake, for your sweet, dear sake I will do +anything; and as for this matter, I assure you there are so many ways--" + +"You mean," she interrupted, "that for my sake you will break your oath +of office, that you will be a traitor to your service and your king? +That for my sake you will favour the fortunes of a pirate whom you are +sent out to destroy? Mean it if you please, but you will not do it. I +love my father, and would fain do anything to save him and myself from +this great calamity, but I tell you, sir, that for my sake no man shall +do himself dishonour!" + +Without power to say another word, nor to keep back for another second +the anguish which raged within her, she fled like a bird and was gone. + +The captain stretched out his arms as if he would seize her; he rushed +to the door through which she had passed, but she was gone. He followed +her, shouting to the startled servants who came; he swore, and demanded +to see their mistress; he rushed through rooms and corridors, and even +made as if he would mount the stairs. Presently a woman came to him, and +told him that under no circumstances could Mistress Bonnet now be seen. + +But he would not leave the house. He called for writing materials, but +in an instant threw down the pen. Again he called a servant and sent a +message, which was of no avail. Dame Charter would have gone down to +him, but Kate was in her arms. For several minutes the furious officer +stood by the chair in which Kate had been sitting; he could not +comprehend the fact that this girl had discarded and had scorned him. +And yet her scorn had not in the least dampened the violence of his +love. As she stood and spoke her last bitter words, the grandeur of her +beauty had made him speechless to defend himself. + +He seized his hat and rushed from the house; hot, and with blazing eyes, +he appeared in the counting-room of Mr. Delaplaine, and there, to that +astounded merchant, he told, with brutal cruelty, of his orders to +destroy the pirate Bonnet, his niece's father; and then he related the +details of his interview with that niece herself. + +Mr. Delaplaine's countenance, at first shocked and pained, grew +gradually sterner and colder. Presently he spoke. "I will hear no more +such words, Captain Vince," he said, "regarding the members of my +family. You say my niece knows not what fortune she trifles with; I +think she does. And when she told you she would not accept the offer of +your dishonour, I commend her every word." + +Captain Vince frowned black as night, and clapped his hand to his +sword-hilt; but the pale merchant made no movement of defence, and the +captain, striking his clinched fist against the table, dashed from the +room. Before he reached his ship he had sworn a solemn oath: he vowed +that he would follow that pirate ship; he would kill, burn, destroy, +annihilate, but out of the storm and the fire he would pick unharmed the +father of the girl who had entranced him and had spurned him. He laughed +savagely as he thought of it. With that dolt of a father in his hands, a +man wearing always around his neck the hangman's noose, he would hold +the card which would give him the game. What Mistress Kate Bonnet might +say or do; what she might like or might not like; what her ideas about +honour might be or might not be, it would be a very different thing when +he, her imperious lover, should hold the end of that noose in his hand. +She might weep, she might rave, but come what would, she was the man's +daughter, and she would be Lady Vince. + +So he went on board the Badger, and he cursed and he commanded and he +raged; and his officers and his men, when the hurried violence of his +commands gave them a chance to speak to each other, muttered that they +pitied that pirate and his crew when the Badger came up with them. + +Clouds settled down upon the home of Mr. Delaplaine. There were no +visitors, there was no music, there seemed to be no sunshine. The +beautiful fabrics, the jewels, and the feathers were seen no more. It +was Kate of the broken heart who wandered under the trees and among the +blossoms, and knew not that there existed such things as cooling shade +and sweet fragrance. She could not be comforted, for, although her uncle +told her that he had had information that her father's ship had sailed +northward, and that it was, therefore, likely that the corvette would +not overtake him, she could not forget that, whatever of good or evil +befell that father, he was a pirate, and he had deserted her. + +So they said but little, the uncle and the niece, who sorrowed quietly. + +Dame Charter was in a strange state of mind. During the frequent visits +of Captain Vince she had been apprehensive and troubled, and her only +comfort was that the Badger had merely touched at this port to refit, +and that she must soon sail away and take with her her captain. The good +woman had begun to expect and to hope for the return of Dickory, but +later she had blessed her stars that he was not there. He was a fiery +boy, her brave son, but it would have been a terrible thing for him to +become involved with an officer in the navy, a man with a long, keen +sword. + +Now that the captain had raged himself away from the Delaplaine house +her spirits rose, and her great fear was that the corvette might not +leave port before the brig came in. If Dickory should hear of the things +that captain had said--but she banished such thoughts from her mind, she +could not bear them. + +After some days the corvette sailed, and the Governor spoke well of the +diligence and ardour which had urged Captain Vince to so quickly set out +upon his path of duty. + +"When Dickory comes back," said Dame Charter to Kate, "he may bring some +news to cheer your poor heart, things get so twisted in the telling." + +Kate shook her head. "Dickory cannot tell me anything now," she said, +"that I care to know, knowing so much. My father is a pirate, and a +king's ship has gone out to destroy him, and what could Dickory tell me +that would cheer me?" + +But Dame Charter's optimism was beginning to take heart again and to +spread its wings. + +"Ah, my dear, you don't know what good things do in this life +continually crop up. A letter from your father, possibly withheld by +that wicked Madam Bonnet--which is what Dickory and I both think--or +some good words from the town that your father has sold his ship, and is +on his way home. Nobody knows what good news that Dickory may bring with +him." + +The poor girl actually smiled. She was young, and in the heart of youth +there is always room for some good news, or for the hope of them. + +But the smile vanished altogether when she went to her room and wrote a +letter to Martin Newcombe. In this letter, which was a long one, she +told her lover how troubled she had been. That she had nothing now to +ask him about the bad news he had, in his kindness, forborne to tell +her, and that when he saw Dickory Charter he might say to him from her +that there was no need to make any further inquiries about her father; +she knew enough, and far too much--more, most likely, than any one in +Bridgetown knew. Then she told him of Captain Vince and the dreadful +errand of the corvette Badger. + +Having done this, Kate became as brave as any captain of a British +man-of-war, and she told her lover that he must think no more of her; it +was not for him to pay court to the daughter of a pirate. And so, she +blessed him and bade him farewell. + +When she had signed and sealed this letter she felt as if she had torn +out a chapter of her young life and thrown it upon the fire. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +BAD WEATHER + + +When Dickory Charter sailed away from the island of Jamaica, his reason, +had it been called upon, would have told him that he had a good stout +brig under him on which there were people and ropes and sails and +something to eat and drink. But in those moments of paradise he did not +trouble his reason very much, and lived in an atmosphere of joy which he +did not attempt to analyze, but was content to breathe as if it had been +the common air about him. He was going away from every one he loved, and +yet never before had he been so happy in going to any one he loved. He +cared to talk to no one on board, but in company with his joy he stood +and gazed westward out over the sea. + +He was but little younger than she was, and yet that difference, so +slight, had lifted him from things of earth and had placed him in that +paradise where he now dwelt. + +So passed on the hours, so rolled the waves, and so moved the King and +Queen before the favouring breeze. + +It was on the second day out that the breeze began to be less favouring, +and there were signs of a storm; and, in spite of his preoccupied +condition, Dickory was obliged to notice the hurried talk of the +officers about him, he occupying a point of vantage on the quarter-deck. +Presently he turned and asked of some one if there was likelihood of bad +weather. The mate, to whom he had spoken, said somewhat unpleasantly, +"Bad weather enough, I take it, as we may all soon know; but it is not +wind or rain. There is bad weather for you! Do you see that?" + +Dickory looked, and saw far away, but still distinct, a vessel under +full sail with a little black spot floating high above it. + +He turned to the man for explanation. "And what is that?" he said. + +"It is a pirate ship," said the other, his face hardening as he spoke, +"and it will soon be firing at us to heave to." + +At that moment there was a flash at the bow of the approaching vessel, a +little smoke, and then the report of a cannon came over the water. + +Without further delay, the captain and crew of the King and Queen went +to work and hove to their brig. + +Young Dickory Charter also hove to. He did not know exactly why, but his +dream stopped sailing over a sea of delight. They stood motionless, +their sails flapping in the wind. + +"Pirates!" he thought to himself, cold shivers running through him, "is +this brig to be taken? Am I to be taken? Am I not to go to Barbadoes, to +Bridgetown, her home? Am I not to take her back the good news which will +make her happy? Are these things possible?" + +He stared over the water, he saw the swiftly approaching vessel, he +could distinguish the skull and bones upon the black flag which flew +above her. + +These things were possible, and his heart fell; but it was not with +fear. Dickory Charter was as bold a fellow as ever stood on the deck in +a sea fight, but his heart fell at the thought that he might not be +going to her old home, and that he might not sail back with good news to +her. + +As the swift-sailing pirate ship sped on, Ben Greenway came aft to +Captain Bonnet, and a grievous grin was on the Scotchman's face. + +"Good greetin's to ye, Master Bonnet," said he, "ye're truly good to +your old friends an' neebours an' pass them not by, even when your +pockets are burstin' wi' Spanish gold." + +A minute before this Captain Stede Bonnet had been in a very pleasant +state of mind. It was only two days ago that he had captured a Spanish +ship, from which he got great gain, including considerable stores of +gold. Everything of value had been secured, the tall galleon had been +burned, and its crew had been marooned on a barren spot on the coast of +San Domingo. The spoils had been divided, at least every man knew what +his share was to be, and the officers and the crew of the Revenge were +in a well-contented state of mind. In fact, Captain Bonnet would not +have sailed after a little brig, certainly unsuited to carry costly +cargo, had it not been that his piratical principle made it appear to +him a point of conscience to prey upon all mercantile craft, little or +big, which might come in his way. Thus it was, that he was sailing +merrily after the King and Queen, when Ben Greenway came to him with his +disturbing words. + +"What mean you?" cried Bonnet. "Know you that vessel?" + +"Ay, weel," said Ben, "it is the King and Queen, bound, doubtless, for +Bridgetown. I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that it was a great deal o' +trouble an' expense ye put yersel' to when ye went into your present +line o' business on this ship. Ye could have stayed at hame, where she +is owned, an' wi' these fine fellows that ye have gathered thegither, ye +might have robbed your neebours right an' left wi'out the trouble o' +goin' to sea." + +"Ben Greenway," roared the captain, "I will have no more of this. Is it +not enough for me to be annoyed and worried by these everlasting ships +of Bridgetown, which keep sailing across my bows, no matter in what +direction I go, without hearing your jeers and sneers regarding the +matter? I tell you, Ben Greenway, I will not have it. I will not suffer +these paltry vessels, filled, perhaps, with the grocers and cloth +dealers from my own town, to interfere thus with the bold career that I +have chosen. I tell you, Ben Greenway, I'll make an example of this one. +I am a pirate, and I will let them know it--these fellows in their +floating shops. It will be a fair and easy thing to sink this tub +without more ado. I'd rather meet three Spanish ships, even had they +naught aboard, than one of these righteous craft commanded by my most +respectable friends and neighbours." + +Black Paul, the sailing-master, had approached and had heard the greater +part of these remarks. + +"Better board her and see what she carries," said he, "before we sink +her. The men have been talking about her and, many of them, favour not +the trouble of marooning those on board of her. So, say most of us, +let's get what we can from her, and then quickly rid ourselves of her +one way or another." + +"'Tis well!" cried Bonnet, "we can riddle her hull and sink her." + +"Wi' the neebours on board?" asked Greenway. + +Captain Bonnet scowled blackly. + +"Ben Greenway," he shouted, "it would serve you right if I tied you +hand and foot and bundled you on board that brig, after we have stripped +her, if haply she have anything on board we care for." + +"An' then sink her?" asked the Scotchman. + +"Ay, sink her!" replied Bonnet. "Thus would I rid myself of a man who +vexes me every moment that I lay my eyes on him, and, moreover, it would +please you; for you would die in the midst of those friends and +neighbours you have such a high regard for. That would put an end to +your cackle, and there would be no gossip in the town about it." + +The sailing-master now came aft. The vessel had been put about and was +slowly approaching the brig. "Shall we make fast?" asked Black Paul. "If +we do we shall have to be quick about it; the sea is rising, and that +clumsy hulk may do us damage." + +For a moment Captain Bonnet hesitated, he was beginning to learn +something of the risks and dangers of a nautical life, and here was real +danger if the two vessels ran nearer each other. Suddenly he turned and +glared at Greenway. "Make fast!" he cried savagely, "make fast! if it be +only for a minute." + +"Do ye think in your heart," asked the Scotchman grimly, "that ye're +pirate enough for that?" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +FACE TO FACE + + +With her head to the wind the pirate vessel Revenge bore down slowly +upon the King and Queen, now lying to and awaiting her. The stiff breeze +was growing stiffer and the sea was rising. The experienced eye of Paul +Bittern, the sailing-master of the pirate, now told him that it would be +dangerous to approach the brig near enough to make fast to her, even for +the minute which Captain Bonnet craved--the minute which would have been +long enough for a couple of sturdy fellows to toss on board the prize +that exasperating human indictment, Ben Greenway. + +"We cannot do it," shouted Black Paul to Bonnet, "we shall run too near +her as it is. Shall we let fly at short range and riddle her hull?" + +Captain Bonnet did not immediately answer; the situation puzzled him. He +wanted very much to put the Scotchman on board the brig, and after that +he did not care what happened. But before he could speak, there appeared +on the rail of the King and Queen, holding fast to a shroud, the figure +of a young man, who put his hand to his mouth and hailed: + +"Throw me a line! Throw me a line!" + +Such an extraordinary request at such a time naturally amazed the +pirates, and they stood staring, as they crowded along the side of their +vessel. + +"If you are not going to board her," shouted Dickory again, "throw me a +line!" + +Filled with curiosity to know what this strange proceeding meant, Black +Paul ordered that a line be thrown, and, in a moment, a tall fellow +seized a coil of light rope and hurled it through the air in the +direction of the brig; but the rope fell short, and the outer end of it +disappeared beneath the water. Now the spirit of Black Paul was up. If +the fellow on the brig wanted a line he wanted to come aboard, and if he +wanted to come aboard, he should do so. So he seized a heavier coil and, +swinging it around his head, sent it, with tremendous force, towards +Dickory, who made a wild grab at it and caught it. + +Although a comparatively light line, it was a long one, and the slack of +it was now in the water, so that Dickory had to pull hard upon it before +he could grasp enough of it to pass around his body. He had scarcely +done this, and had made a knot in it, before a lurch of the brig brought +a strain on the rope, and he was incontinently jerked overboard. + +The crew of the merchantman, who had not had time to comprehend what the +young fellow was about to do, would have grasped him had he remained on +the rail a moment longer, but now he was gone into the sea, and, working +vigorously with his legs and arms, was endeavouring to keep his head +above water while the pirates at the other end of the rope pulled him +swiftly towards their vessel. + +Great was the excitement on board the Revenge. Why should a man from a +merchantman endeavour, alone, to board a vessel which flew the Jolly +Roger? Did he wish to join the crew? Had they been ill-treating him on +board the brig? Was he a criminal endeavouring to escape from the +officers of the law? It was impossible to answer any of these questions, +and so the swarthy rascals pulled so hard and so steadily upon the line +that the knot in it, which Dickory had not tied properly, became a +slipknot, and the poor fellow's breath was nearly squeezed out of him as +he was hauled over the rough water. When he reached the vessel's side +there was something said about lowering a ladder, but the men who were +hauling on the line were in a hurry to satisfy their curiosity, so up +came Dickory straight from the water to the rail, and that proceeding +so increased the squeezing that the poor fellow fell upon the deck +scarcely able to gasp. When the rope was loosened the half-drowned and +almost breathless Dickory raised himself and gave two or three deep +breaths, but he could not speak, despite the fact that a dozen rough +voices were asking him who he was and what he wanted. + +With the water pouring from him in streams, and his breath coming from +him in puffs, he looked about him with great earnestness. + +Suddenly a man rushed through the crowd of pirates and stooped to look +at the person who had so strangely come aboard. Then he gave a shout. +"It is Dickory Charter," he cried, "Dickory Charter, the son o' old Dame +Charter! Ye Dickory! an' how in the name o' all that's blessed did ye +come here? Master Bonnet! Master Bonnet!" he shouted to the captain, who +now stood by, "it is young Dickory Charter, of Bridgetown. He was on +board this vessel before we sailed, wi' Mistress Kate an' me. The last +time I saw her he was wi' her." + +"What!" exclaimed Bonnet, "with my daughter?" + +"Ay, ay!" said Greenway, "it must have been a little before she went on +shore." + +"Young man!" cried Bonnet, stooping towards Dickory, "when did you last +see my daughter? Do you know anything of her?" + +The young man opened his mouth, but he could not yet do much in the way +of speaking, but he managed to gasp, "I come from her, I am bringing you +a message." + +"A message from Kate!" shouted Bonnet, now in a state of wild +excitement. "Here you, Greenway, lift up the other arm, and we will take +him to my cabin. Quick, man! Quick, man! he must have some spirits and +dry clothes. Make haste now! A message from my daughter!" + +"If that's so," said Greenway, as he and Bonnet hurried the young man +aft, "ye'd better no' be in too great haste to get his message out o' +him or ye'll kill him wi' pure recklessness." + +Bonnet took the advice, and before many minutes Dickory was in dry +clothes and feeling the inspiriting influence of a glass of good old +rum. Now came Black Paul, wanting to know if he should sink the brig and +be done with her, for they couldn't lie by in such weather. + +"Don't you fire on that ship!" yelled Bonnet, "don't you dare it! For +all I know, my daughter may be on board of her." + +At this Dickory shook his head. "No," said he, "she is not on board." + +"Then let her go," cried Bonnet, "I have no time to fool with the +beggarly hulk. Let her go! I have other business here. And now, sir," +addressing Dickory, "what of my daughter? You have got your breath now, +tell me quickly! What is your message from her? When did you sail from +Bridgetown? Did she expect me to overhaul that brig? How in the name of +all the devils could she expect that?" + +"Come, come now, Master Bonnet!" exclaimed the Scotchman, "ye are +talkin' o' your daughter, the good an' beautiful Mistress Kate, an' no +matter whether ye are a pirate or no, ye must keep a guard on your +tongue. An' if ye think she knew where to find ye, ye must consider her +an angel an' no' to be spoken o' in the same breath as de'ils." + +"I didn't sail from Bridgetown," said Dickory, "and your daughter is not +there. I come from Jamaica, where she now is, and was bound to +Bridgetown to seek news of you, hoping that you had returned there." + +"Which, if he had," said Ben, who found it very difficult to keep quiet, +"ye would hae been under the necessity o' givin' your message to his +bones hangin' in chains." + +Bonnet looked savagely at Ben, but he had no time even to curse. + +"Jamaica!" he cried, "how did she get there? Tell me quickly, sir--tell +me quickly! Do you hear?" + +Dickory was now quite recovered and he told his story, not too quickly, +and with much attention to details. Even the account of the unusual +manner in which he and Kate had disembarked from the pirate vessel was +given without curtailment, nor with any attention to the approving +grunts of Ben Greenway. When he came to speak of the letter which Mr. +Newcombe had written her, and which had thrown her into such despair on +account of its shortcomings, Captain Bonnet burst into a fury of +execration. + +"And she never got my letter?" he cried, "and knew not what had happened +to me. It is that wife of mine, that cruel wild-cat! I sent the letter +to my house, thinking, of course, it would find my daughter there. For +where else should she be?" + +"An' a maist extraordinary wise mon ye were to do that," said Ben +Greenway, "for ye might hae known, if ye had ever thought o' it at all, +that the place where your wife was, was the place where your daughter +couldna be, an' ye no' wi' her. If ye had spoke to me about it, it would +hae gone to Mr. Newcombe, an' then ye'd hae known that she'd be sure to +get it." + +At this a slight cloud passed over Dickory's face, and, in spite of the +misfortunes which had followed upon the non-delivery of her father's +letter, he could not help congratulating himself that it had not been +sent to the care of that man Newcombe. He had not had time to formulate +the reasons why this proceeding would have been so distasteful to him, +but he wanted Martin Newcombe to have nothing to do with the good or bad +fortune of Mistress Kate, whose champion he had become and whose father +he had found, and to whom he was now talking, face to face. + +The three talked for a long time, during which Black Paul had put the +vessel about upon her former course, and was sailing swiftly to the +north. As Dickory went on, Bonnet ceased to curse, but, over and over, +blessed his brother-in-law, as a good man and one of the few worthy to +take into his charge the good and beautiful. Stede Bonnet had always +been very fond of his daughter, and, now, as it became known to him into +what desperate and direful condition his reckless conduct had thrown +her, he loved her more and more, and grieved greatly for the troubles he +had brought upon her. + +"But it'll be all right now," he cried, "she's with her good uncle, who +will show her the most gracious kindness, both for her mother's sake and +for her own; and I will see to it that she be not too heavy a charge +upon him." + +"As for ye, Dickory," exclaimed Greenway, "ye're a brave boy an' will +yet come to be an' honour to yer mither's declining years an' to the +memory o' your father. But how did ye ever come to think o' boardin' +this nest o' sea-de'ils, an' at such risk to your life?" + +"I did it," said Dickory simply, "because Mistress Kate's father was +here, and I was bound to come to him wherever I should find him, for +that was my main errand. They told me on the brig that it was Captain +Bonnet's ship that was overhauling us, and I vowed that as soon as she +boarded us I would seek him out and give him her message; and when I +heard that the sea was getting too heavy for you to board us, I +determined to come on board if I could get hold of a line." + +"Young man," cried Bonnet, rising to his full height and swelling his +chest, "I bestow upon you a father's blessing. More than that"--and as +he spoke he pulled open a drawer of a small locker--"here's a bag of +gold pieces, and when you take my answer you shall have another like +it." + +But Dickory did not reach out his hand for the money, nor did he say a +word. + +"Don't be afraid," cried Bonnet. "If you have any religious scruples, I +will tell you that this gold I did not get by piracy. It is part of my +private fortune, and came as honestly to me as I now give it to you." + +But Dickory did not reach out his hand. + +Now up spoke Ben Greenway: "Look ye, boy," said he, "as long as there's +a chance left o' gettin' honest gold on board this vessel, I pray ye, +seize it, an' if ye're afraid o' this gold, thinkin' it may be smeared +wi' the blood o' fathers an' the tears o' mithers, I'll tell ye ane +thing, an' that is, that Master Bonnet hasna got to be so much o' a +pirate that he willna tell the truth. So I'll tak' the money for ye, +Dickory, an' I'll keep it till ye're ready to tak' it to your mither; +an' I hope that will be soon." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAPTAIN BONNET GOES TO CHURCH + + +The pirate vessel Revenge was now bound to the coast of the Carolinas +and Virginia, and perhaps even farther north, if her wicked fortune +should favour her. The growing commerce of the colonies offered great +prizes in those days to the piratical cruisers which swarmed up and down +the Atlantic coast. To lie over for a time off the coast of Charles Town +was Captain Bonnet's immediate object, and to get there as soon as +possible was almost a necessity. + +The crew of desperate scoundrels whom he had gathered together had +discovered that their captain knew nothing of navigation or the +management of a ship, and there were many of them who believed that if +Black Paul had chosen to turn the vessel's bows to the coast of South +America, Bonnet would not have known that they were not sailing +northward. Thus they had lost all respect for him, and their conduct was +kept within bounds only by the cruel punishments which he inflicted for +disobedience or general bad conduct, and which were rendered possible by +the dissensions and bad feelings among the men themselves; one clique or +faction being always ready to help punish another. Consequently, the +landsman pirate would speedily have been tossed overboard and the +command given to another, had it not been that the men were not at all +united in their opinions as to who that other should be. + +There was also another very good reason for Bonnet's continuance in +authority; he was a good divider, and, so far, had been a good provider. +If he should continue to take prizes, and to give each man under him his +fair share of the plunder, the men were likely to stand by him until +some good reason came for their changing their minds. So with floggings +and irons, on deck and below, and with fair winds filling the sails +above, the Revenge kept on her way; and, in spite of the curses and +quarrels and threats which polluted the air through which the stout ship +sailed, there was always good-natured companionship wherever the +captain, Dickory, and Ben Greenway found themselves together. There +seemed to be no end to the questions which Bonnet asked about his +daughter, and when he had asked them all he began over again, and +Dickory made answer, as he had done before. + +The young fellow was growing very anxious at this northern voyage, and +when he asked questions they always related to the probability of his +getting back to Jamaica with news from the father of Mistress Kate +Bonnet. The captain encouraged the hopes of an early return, and vowed +to Dickory that he would send him to Spanish Town with a letter to his +daughter just as soon as an opportunity should show itself. + +When the Revenge reached the mouth of Charles Town harbour she stationed +herself there, and in four days captured three well-laden merchantmen; +two bound outward, and one going in from England. + +Thus all went well, and with willing hands to man her yards and a +proudly strutting captain on her quarter-deck, the pirate ship renewed +her northward course, and spread terror and made prizes even as far as +the New England coast; and if Dickory had had any doubts that the late +reputable planter of Bridgetown had now become a veritable pirate he had +many opportunities of setting himself right. Bonnet seemed to be growing +proud of his newly acquired taste for rapacity and cruelty. Merchantmen +were recklessly robbed and burned, their crews and passengers, even +babes and women, being set on shore in some desolate spot, to perish or +survive, the pirate cared not which, and if resistance were offered, +bloody massacres or heartless drownings were almost sure to follow, and, +as his men coveted spoils and delighted in cruelty, he satisfied them to +their heart's content. + +"I tell you, Dickory Charter," said he, one day, "when you see my +daughter I want you to make her understand that I am a real pirate, and +not playing at the business. She's a brave girl, my daughter Kate, and +what I do, she would have me do well and not half-heartedly, to make her +ashamed of me. And then, there is my brother-in-law, Delaplaine. I don't +believe that he had a very high opinion of me when I was a plain farmer +and planter, and I want him to think better of me now. A bold, fearless +pirate cannot be looked upon with disrespect." + +Dickory groaned in his heart that this man was the father of Kate. + +Turning southward, rounding the cape of Delaware, the Revenge ran up the +bay, seeking some spot where she might take in water, casting anchor +before a little town on the coast of New Jersey. Here, while some of the +men were taking in water, others of the crew were allowed to go on +shore, their captain swearing to them that if they were guilty of any +disorder they should suffer for it. "On my vessel," he swore, "I am a +pirate, but when I go on shore I am a gentleman, and every one in my +service shall behave himself as a gentleman. I beg of you to remember +that." + +Agreeable to this principle, Captain Bonnet arrayed himself in a fine +suit of clothes, and without arms, excepting a genteel sword, and +carrying a cane, he landed with Ben Greenway and Dickory, and proceeded +to indulge himself in a promenade up the main street of the town. + +The citizens of the place, terrified and amazed at this bold conduct of +a vessel fearlessly flying a black flag with the skull and bones, could +do nothing but await their fate. The women and children, and many of the +men, hid themselves in garrets and cellars, and those of the people who +were obliged to remain visible trembled and prayed, but Captain Stede +Bonnet walked boldly up the right-hand side of the main street waving +his cane in the air as he spoke to the people, assuring them that he and +his men came on an errand of business, seeking nothing but some fresh +water and an opportunity to stretch their legs on solid ground. + +"If you have meat and drink," he cried, "bestow it freely upon my men, +tired of the unsavoury food on shipboard, and if they transgress the +laws of hospitality then I, their captain, shall be your avenger; we +want none of your goods or money, having enough in our well-laden vessel +to satisfy all your necessities, if ye have them, and to feel it not." + +The men strolled along the street, swarmed into the two little taverns, +soon making away with their small stores of ale and spirits, and +accepting everything eatable offered them by the shivering citizens; but +as to violence there was none, for every man of the rascally crew bore +enmity against most of the others, and held himself ready for a chance +to report a shipmate or to break his head. + +Black Paul was a powerful aid in the preservation of order among the +disorderly. Conflicts between factions of the crew were greatly feared +by him, for the schemes which happy chance had caused to now revolve +themselves in his master mind would have been sadly interfered with by +want of concord among the men of the Revenge. + +Captain Bonnet, followed at a short distance by Dickory and Ben, was +interested in everything he saw. A man of intelligence and considerable +reading, it pleased him to note the peculiarities of the people of a +country which he had never visited. The houses, the shops, and even the +attire of the citizens, were novel and well worthy of his observation. +He looked over garden walls, he gazed out upon the fields which were +visible from the upper end of the street, and when he saw a man who was +able to command his speech he asked him questions. + +There was a little church, standing back from the thoroughfare, its door +wide open, and this was an instant attraction to the pirate captain, who +opened the gate of the yard and walked up to it. + +"That I should ever again see Master Stede Bonnet goin' into a church +was something I didna dream o', Dickory," said Ben Greenway, "it will +be a meeracle, an' I doubt if he dares to pass the door wi' his sins an' +his plunders on his head." + +But Captain Bonnet did pass the door, reverentially removing his hat, if +not his crimes, as he entered. In but few ways it resembled the houses +of worship to which he had been accustomed in his earlier days, and he +gazed eagerly from side to side as he slowly walked up the central +aisle. Dickory was about to follow him, but he was suddenly jerked back +by the Scotchman, who forcibly drew him away from the door. + +"Look ye," whispered Ben, speaking quickly, under great excitement, +"look ye, Dickory, Heaven has sent us our chance. He's in there safe an' +sound, an' the good angels will keep his mind occupied. I'll quietly +close the door an' turn the key, then I'll slip around to the back, an' +if there be anither door there, I'll stop it some way, if it be not +already locked. Now, Dickory boy, make your heels fly! I noticed, before +we got here, that some o' the men were makin' their way to the boats; +dash ye amang them, Dickory, an' tell them that the day they've been +longin' for, ever since they set foot on the vessel, has now come. Their +captain is a prisoner, an' they are free to hurry on board their vessel +an' carry awa wi' them a' their vile plunder." + +"What!" exclaimed Dickory, speaking so earnestly that the Scotchman +pulled him farther away from the church, "do you mean that you would +leave Captain Bonnet here by himself, in a foreign town?" + +"No' a bit o' it," said Ben, "I'll stay wi' him an' so will you. Now +run, Dickory!" + +"Ben!" exclaimed the other, "you don't know what you are talking about! +Captain Bonnet would be seized and tried as a pirate. His blood would be +on your head, Ben!" + +"I canna talk about that now," said Ben impatiently, "ye think too much +o' the man's body, Dickory, an' I am considerin' his soul." + +"And I am considering his daughter," said Dickory fearlessly; "do you +suppose I am going to help to have her father hanged?" and with these +words he made a movement towards the door. + +The eager Scotchman seized him. "Dickory, bethink yoursel'," said he. "I +don't want to hang him, I want to save him, body an' soul. We will get +him awa' from here after the ship has gone, he will be helpless then, he +canna be a pirate a minute longer, an' he will give up an' do what I +tell him. We can leave before there is ony talk o' trial or hangin'. +Run, Dickory, run! Ye're sinfully losin' time. Think o' his soul, +Dickory; it's his only chance!" + +With a great jerk Dickory freed himself from the grasp of the Scotchman. + +"It is Kate Bonnet I am thinking of!" he exclaimed, and with that he +bolted into the church. + +The captain was examining the little pulpit. "Haste ye! haste ye!" +cried Dickory, "your men are all hurrying to the boats, they will leave +you behind if they can; that's what they are after." + +[Illustration: "Haste ye! haste ye," cried Dickory, "they will leave you +behind."] + +Bonnet turned quickly. He took in the situation in a second. With a few +bounds he was out of the church, nearly overturning Ben Greenway as he +passed him. Without a word he ran down the street, his cane thrown away, +and his drawn sword in his hand. + +Dickory's warning had not come a minute too soon; one boat full of men +was pulling towards the ship, and others were hurrying in the direction +of an empty boat which awaited them at the pier. Bonnet, with Dickory +close at his heels, ran with a most amazing rapidity, while Greenway +followed at a little distance, scarcely able to maintain the speed. + +"What means this?" cried Bonnet, now no longer a gentleman, but a savage +pirate, and as he spoke he thrust aside two of the men who were about to +get into the boat, and jumped in himself. "What means this?" he +thundered. + +Black Paul answered quietly: "I was getting the men on board," he said, +"so as to save time, and I was coming back for you." + +Bonnet glared at his sailing-master, but he did not swear at him, he was +too useful a man, but in his heart he vowed that he would never trust +Paul Bittern again, and that as soon as he could he would get rid of +him. + +But when he reached the ship, three men out of each boat's crew, +selected at random to represent the rest, were tied up and flogged, the +blows being well laid on by scoundrels very eager to be brutal, even to +their own shipmates. + +"Ah! Dickory, Dickory," cried Ben Greenway, as they were sailing down +the bay, "ye have loaded your soul wi' sin this day; I fear ye'll never +rise from under it. Whatever vile deeds that Major Bonnet may henceforth +be guilty o' ye'll be responsible for them a', Dickory, for every ane o' +them." + +"He's bad enough, Ben," said the other, "and it's many a wicked deed he +may do yet, but I am going to carry news of him to his daughter if I +can; and what's more, I am not going to stay behind and be hanged, even +if it is in such good company as Major Bonnet and you, Ben Greenway." + +Whatever should happen on the rest of that voyage; whether the +well-intentioned treachery of Ben Greenway, or the secret villainies of +the crew, should prevail; whether disaster or success should come to the +planter pirate, Dickory Charter resolved in his soul that a message from +her father should go to Kate Bonnet, and that he should carry it. + + * * * * * + +The spirits of Dickory rose very much as the bow of the Revenge was +pointed southward. Every mile that the pirate vessel sailed brought him +nearer to the delivery of his message--a message which, while it told of +her father's wicked career, still told her of his safety and of his +steadfast affection for her. Indirectly, the bringing of such a message, +and the story of how the bearer brought it, might have another effect, +which, although he had no right to expect, was never absent from +Dickory's soul. This ardent young lover did not believe in Master Martin +Newcombe. He had no good reason for not believing in him, but his want +of faith did not depend upon reason. If lovers reasoned too much, it +would be a sad world for many of them. + +When the Revenge stopped in her progress towards the heavenly Island of +Jamaica, or at least that island which was the abode of an angel, and +anchored off Charles Town harbour, South Carolina, Dickory fumed and +talked impatiently to his friend Ben Greenway. Why a man, even though he +were a pirate, and therefore of an avaricious nature, should want more +booty, when his vessel was already crowded with valuable goods, he could +not imagine. + +But Ben Greenway could very easily imagine. "When the spirit o' sin is +upon ye," said the Scotchman, "the more an' more wicked ye're likely to +be; an' ye must no' forget, Dickory, that every new crime he commits, +an' a' the property he steals, an' a' the unfortunate people he maroons, +will hae to be answered for by ye, Dickory, when the time comes for ye +to stand up an' say what ye hae got to say about your ain sins. If ye +had stood by me an' helped to cut him short in his nefarious career, he +might now be beginnin' a new life in some small coastin' vessel bound +for Barbadoes." + +Dickory gave an impatient kick at the mast near which he was standing. +"It would have been more likely," said he, "that before this he would +have begun a new life on the gallows with you and me alongside of him, +and how do you suppose you would have got rid of the sin on your soul +when you thought of his orphan daughter in Jamaica?" + +"Your thoughts are too much on that daughter," snapped Greenway, "an' +no' enough on her father's soul." + +"I am tired of her father's soul," said Dickory. "I wonder what new +piece of mischief they are going to do here; there are no ships to be +robbed?" + +Dickory did not know very much, or care very much about the sea and its +commerce, and some ships to be robbed soon made their appearance. One +was a large merchantman, with a full cargo, and the other was a bark, +northward bound, in ballast. The acquisition of the latter vessel put a +new idea into Captain Bonnet's head. The Revenge was already overloaded, +and he determined to take the bark as a tender to relieve him of a +portion of his cargo and to make herself useful in the business of +marooning and such troublesome duties. + +Being now commander of two vessels, which might in time increase to a +little fleet, Captain Bonnet's ideas of his own importance as a terror +of the sea increased rapidly. On the Revenge he was more despotic and +severe than ever before, while the villain who had been chosen to +command the tender, because he had a fair knowledge of navigation, was +informed that if he kept the bark more than a mile from the flag-ship, +he would be sunk with the vessel and all on board. The loss of the bark +and some men would be nothing compared to the maintenance of discipline, +quoth the planter pirate. + +Bonnet's ambition rose still higher and higher. He was not content with +being a relentless pirate, bloody if need be, but he longed for +recognition, for a position among his fellow-terrors of the sea, which +should be worthy of a truly wicked reputation. A pirate bold, he would +consort with pirates bold. So he set sail for the Gulf of Honduras, then +a great rendezvous for piratical craft of many nations. If the father of +Kate Bonnet had captured and burned a dozen ships, and had forced every +sailor and passenger thereupon to walk a plank, he would not have sinned +more deeply in the eyes, of Dickory Charter than he did by thus +ruthlessly, inhumanly, hard-heartedly, and altogether shamefully +ignoring and pitilessly passing by that island on which dwelt an angel, +his own daughter. + +But Bonnet declared to the young man that it would now be dangerous for +him and his ship to approach the harbour of Kingston, generally the +resort of British men-of-war, but in the waters of Honduras he could not +fail to find some quiet merchant ship by which he could send a message +to his daughter. Ay! and in which--and the pirate's eye glistened with +parental joy as this thought came into his mind--he might, disguised as +a plain gentleman, make a visit to Mistress Kate and to his good +brother-in-law, Delaplaine. + +So Dickory was now to be satisfied, and even to admit that there might +be some good common sense in these remarks of that most uncommon pirate, +Captain Bonnet. + +So the Revenge, with her tender, sailed southward, through the fair +West-Indian waters and by the fair West-Indian isles, to join herself to +the piratical fleet generally to be found in the waters of Honduras. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +A GIRL TO THE FRONT + + +The days were getting very long at Spanish Town, although there were no +more hours of sunlight than was usual at the season; and even the +optimism of Dame Charter was scarcely able to brighten her own soul, +much less that of Kate Bonnet, who had almost forgotten what it was to +be optimistic. Poor Mr. Delaplaine, whose life had begun to cheer up +wonderfully since the arrival of his niece and her triumphant entry into +the society of the town, became more gloomy than he had been since the +months which followed the death of his wife. Over and over did he wish +that his brother-in-law Bonnet had long since been shut up in some place +where his eccentricities could do no harm to his fellow-creatures, +especially to his most lovely daughter. + +Mistress Kate Bonnet was not a girl to sit quietly under the tremendous +strain which bore upon her after the departure of the Badger. How could +she be contented or even quiet at any moment, when at that moment that +heartless Captain Vince might have his sword raised above the head of +her unfortunate father? + +"Uncle," she said, "I cannot bear it any longer, I must do something." + +"But, my dear," he asked, looking down upon her with infinite affection, +"what can you do? We are here upon an immovable island, and your father +and Captain Vince are sailing upon the sea, nobody knows where." + +"I thought about it all last night," said Kate, "and this is what I will +do. I will go to the Governor; I will tell him all about my father. I do +not think it will be wrong even to tell him why I think his mind has +become unsettled, for if that woman in Bridgetown has behaved wickedly, +her wickedness should be known. Then I will ask him to give me written +authority to take my father wherever I may find him, and to bring him +here, where it shall be decided what shall be done with him; and I am +sure the decision will be that he must be treated as a man whose mind is +not right, and who should be put somewhere where he can have nothing to +do with ships." + +This was all quite childish to Mr. Delaplaine, but for Kate's dear sake +he treated her scheme seriously. + +"But tell me, my dear," said he, "how are you going to find your father, +and in what way can you bring him back here with you?" + +"The first thing to do," said Kate, "is to hire a ship; I know that my +little property will yield me money enough for that. As for bringing him +back, that's for me to do. With my arms around his neck he cannot be a +pirate captain. And think of it, uncle! If my arms are not soon around +his neck, it may be the hangman's rope which will be there. That is, if +he is not killed by that revengeful Captain Vince." + +Mr. Delaplaine was troubled far more than he had yet been. His sorrowing +niece believed that there was something which might be done for her +father, but he, her practical uncle, did not believe that anything could +be done. And, even if this were possible, he did not wish to do it. If, +by some unheard-of miracle, his niece should be enabled to carry out her +scheme, she could not go alone, and thoughts of sailing upon the sea, +and the dangers from pirates, storms, and wrecks, were very terrible to +the quiet merchant. He could not encourage this night-born scheme of his +niece. + +"But there is one thing I can do," cried Kate, "and I must do it this +very day. I must go to the Governor's house, and I pray you, uncle, that +you will go with me. I must tell him about my father. I must make him do +something which shall keep that Captain Vince from sailing after him +and killing him. How I wish I had thought of all this before. But it did +not come to me." + +It was not half an hour after that when Kate and her uncle entered the +grounds of the Governor's mansion. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA + + +The Governor of Jamaica was much interested in the visit of Kate Bonnet, +whom he saw alone in a room adjoining the public apartments. He had met +her two or three times before, and had been forced to admit that the +young girls of Barbadoes must be pretty and piquant in an extraordinary +degree, and he had not wondered that his friend, Captain Vince, should +have spoken of her in such an enthusiastic manner. + +But now she was different. Her sorrow had given her dignity and had +added to her beauty. She quickly told her tale, and he started upright +in his chair as he heard it. + +"Do you mean," he exclaimed, "that that pirate, after whom I sent the +Badger, is your father? It amazes me! The similarity of names did not +strike me; I never imagined any connection between you and the captain +of that pirate ship." + +"That's what Captain Vince said when I last saw him," remarked Kate. + +"It must have astounded him to know it," exclaimed the Governor, "and I +wonder, knowing it, that he consented to obey my orders; and had I been +in his place I would have preferred to be dismissed from the service +rather than to sail after your father and to destroy him. If I had known +what I know now, my orders to Captain Vince would have been very +different from what they were. I would have told him to capture your +father, and to bring him here to me. It cannot be that he is in his +right mind!" + +Now Kate was weeping; the terrible words "destroy him," and the +assurance that if she had thought sooner of appealing to the Governor, +much misery, or at least the thought of misery, might have been spared +her, so affected her that she could not control herself. + +The Governor did not attempt to console her. Her sorrow was natural, and +it was her right. + +When she looked up again she spoke about what she had come to ask him +for; the authority to bring back her father wherever she might find him, +and to defend him from the attacks of all persons, whoever they might +be, until she reached Jamaica. And then she told him how she would seek +for her father on every sea. + +The Governor sat and pondered. The father of such a girl should be saved +from the terrible fate awaiting him, if the thing could possibly be +done. And yet, what a difficult, almost hopeless thing it was to do. To +find a pirate, a fierce and bloody pirate, and bring him back unharmed +to his daughter's arms and to reasonable restraint. + +He spoke earnestly. "What you propose," he said, "you cannot do. It +would be impossible for you to find your father; and if you did, no +matter who might be with you, and no matter how successful you might be +with him, his crew would not let him go. But there is one thing which +might be done. The Badger will report at different stations, and her +course and present cruising ground might be discovered. Thus I might +send a despatch to Captain Vince, ordering him not to harm your father, +but to take him prisoner, and to bring him here to be dealt with." + +Kate sprang to her feet. + +"An order to Captain Vince!" she exclaimed, "an order to withhold his +hand from my father? Ah, sir, your goodness is great, this is far more +than I had dared to expect! When I last saw Captain Vince he left me in +a great rage, but, knowing that he would respect your order, I would +dare his rage. If his revengeful hand should be withheld from my father +I would fear nothing." + +"I beg you to be seated," said the Governor, "and let me assure you, +that in offering to send this order to Captain Vince I do not in the +least expect you to take it. But there is one thing I do not +understand. Why should the captain have left you in a great rage? +Perhaps I have not a right to ask this, but it seems to me to have some +bearing upon his alacrity in setting forth in pursuit of the Revenge." + +"I fear," said Kate, "that this may be true; I do not deem it improper +for me to say to you, sir, that Captain Vince made me an offer of +marriage, and that in order to induce me to accept it he offered, should +he come up with the Revenge, to spare my father and to let him go free, +visiting the punishment he was sent to inflict upon the rest of the +people in the ship." + +"I am surprised," said the Governor, "to hear you say that; such an +action would have been direct disobedience to his orders. It would have +been disloyalty, which not even the possession of your fair hand could +justify. And you refused his offer?" + +"That did I," said Kate, her face flushing at the recollection of the +unpleasant interview with the captain; "I cared not for him, and even +had I, I would not have consented to wed a man who offered me his +dishonour as a bribe for doing so. Not even for my father's life would I +become the bride of such a one!" + +"Well spoken, Mistress Bonnet," exclaimed the Governor, "your heart, +though a tender, is a stout one. But this you tell me of Captain Vince +is very bad; he is a vindictive man and will have what he wants, even +without regard to the means by which he may get it. I am glad to know +what you have told me, Mistress Bonnet, and if I had known it betimes I +would not have sent, in pursuit of your father, a man whose anger had +been excited against his daughter. But now I shall despatch orders to +Captain Vince which shall be very exact and peremptory. After he has +received them he will not dare to harm your father, and would cause him +to be brought here as I command." + +"From my heart I thank you, sir," cried Kate, "give me the orders and I +will take them, or I will--" + +"Nay, nay," said the Governor, "such offices are not for you, but I will +give the matter my present attention. On any day a vessel may enter the +port with news of the Badger, and on any day a vessel may clear from +Kingston, possibly for Bridgetown, where I imagine the Badger will first +touch. Rely upon me, my dear young lady, my order shall go to Captain +Vince by the very earliest opportunity." + +Kate rose and thanked him warmly. "This is much to do, your Excellency, +for one poor girl," she said. + +"It is but little to do," said the Governor, "and that girl be +yourself." + +With that he rose, offered Kate his arm, and conducted her to her uncle. + +When Mr. Delaplaine was made acquainted with the result of the +interview, both his gratitude and surprise were great. He comprehended +far better than Kate could the extent of the favour which the Governor +had offered to bestow. It was, indeed, extraordinary to commute what was +really a sentence of death against a notorious and dangerous pirate for +the sake of a beautiful and pleading woman. An ambitious idea shot +through the merchant's brain. The Governor was a widower; he had met +Kate before. Was there any other lady on the island better fitted to +preside over the gubernatorial household? But, although a man of high +position could not wed the daughter of a pirate, a pirate, evidently of +an unsound mind, could be adjudged demented, as he truly was, and thus +the shadow of his crime be lifted from him. This was a great deal to +think in a very short time, but the good merchant did it, and the +fervour of his thankfulness was greatly increased by his rapid +reflections. + +As they were on their way home Kate's eyes were bright, and her step +lighter than it had been of late. "Now, uncle," said she, "you know we +shall not wait for any chance ship which may take the Governor's +despatch. We shall engage a swift vessel ourselves, by which the orders +may be carried. And, uncle, when that ship sails I must go in her." + +"You!" cried Mr. Delaplaine, "you go in search of the Badger and Captain +Vince? That can never--" + +"But remember, uncle," cried Kate, "it is just as likely that I shall +meet my father's ship as any other, and then we can snap our fingers at +all orders and all captains. My father shall be brought here and the +good Governor will make him safe, and free him, as he best knows how, +from the terrible straits into which his disturbed reason has led him." + +Her uncle would not darken Kate's bright hopes, ill-founded though he +thought them. To look into those sparkling eyes again was a joy of which +he would not deprive himself, if he could help it. + +"Suppose he should capture our vessel," she exclaimed; "what a grand +thing it would be for him, all unknowing, to spring upon our deck and +instantly be captured by me. After that, there would be no more pirate's +life for him!" + +When Dame Charter heard what had happened at the Governor's house and +had listened to the recital of Kate's glowing schemes, her eyes did not +immediately glisten with joy. + +"If you go, Mistress Kate," said she, "in search of your father or that +wicked Captain Vince, I go with you, but I cannot go without my Dickory. +It is full time to expect his return, although, as he was to depend upon +so many chances before he could come back, his absence may, with good +reason, continue longer, and I could not have him come back and find +his mother gone, no man knows where. For in such a quest, what man +could know?" + +"Oh, Dickory will be here soon!" cried Kate; "any ship which comes +sailing towards the harbour may bring him." + +The Governor of Jamaica was a man of great experience, and with a fairly +clear insight into the ways of the wicked. When Kate and her uncle had +left him and he paced the floor, with the memory of the beautiful eyes +of the pirate's daughter as they had been uplifted to his own, he felt +assured that he could see rightly into the designs of the unscrupulous +Captain Vince. Of what avail would it be for him to kill the father of +the girl who had rejected him? It would be an atrocious but temporary +triumph scarcely to be considered. But to capture that father; to +disregard the laws of the service and the orders of his superiors, which +he had already proposed to do; to communicate with Kate and to hold up +before her terror-stricken eyes the life of her father, to be ended in +horror or enjoyed in peace as she might decide--that would be Vince, as +the Governor knew him. + +The Governor knew well his man, and those were the designs and +intentions of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's corvette the +Badger. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE + + +Proudly sailed the Revenge and her attendant bark into the waters of +Honduras Gulf, and proudly stood Captain Stede Bonnet upon his +quarter-deck, dressed in a handsome uniform which might have been that +of a captain or admiral in the royal navy; one hand caressed his ornate +sword-hilt, while the other was thrust into the bosom of his +gilt-embroidered coat. A newly fashioned Jolly Roger, in which the +background was very black and the skull and cross-bones ghastly white, +flew from his masthead. + +As night came on there could be seen, twinkling far away upon the +horizon, a beacon light, which in those days was kept burning for the +benefit of the piratical craft which made a rendezvous of the waters off +Belize, then the commercial centre for the vessels of the "free +companions." Having supposed, in his unnautical mind, that his entrance +into the Gulf of Honduras meant the end of his present voyage, and not +wishing to lower his own feeling of importance by asking too many +questions of his inferiors, Captain Bonnet had bedecked himself a day +too soon, and there were some jeers and sneers among his crew when he +descended to his cabin to take off his fine clothes. But his +self-complacency was well armoured, and he did not hear the jokes of +which he was the subject, especially by the little clique of which Black +Paul was the centre. But the sailing-master knew his business, and the +Revenge was safely, though slowly, sailed among the coral-reefs and +islands until she dropped anchor off Belize. Early in the morning the +now dignified and pompous Captain Bonnet, of that terror of the seas, +the pirate craft Revenge, again arrayed himself in a manner befitting +his position, and stationed himself on the quarter-deck, where he might +be seen by the eyes of all the crews of the other pirate vessels +anchored about them and by the glasses of their officers. + +Apart from a general desire to show himself in the ranks of his +fellow-pirates and to receive from them the respect which was due to a +man of his capabilities and general merits, Stede Bonnet had a +particular reason for his visit to this port and for surrounding himself +with all the pomp and circumstance of high piratical rank. He had been +informed that a great man, a hero and chief among his fellows--in fact, +the dean of the piratical faculty, and known as "Blackbeard," the most +desperate and reckless of all the pirates of the day--was now here. + +To meet this most important sea-robber and to receive from him the hand +of fellowship had been Bonnet's desire and ambition since he had heard +that it was possible. + +The morning was advanced and the Revenge was rolling easily at her +anchorage, but Bonnet was somewhat uncertain as to the next step he +ought to take. He wanted to see Blackbeard as soon as possible, but it +would certainly be a breach of etiquette entirely inconsistent with his +present position for him to go to see him. He was the latest comer, and +thought it was the part of Blackbeard to make the first visit. + +Paul Bittern now came aft. "The men are getting very restless," he said; +"they want to go on shore. They'd all go if I'd let 'em." + +Captain Bonnet gave his sailing-master a lofty glare. + +"If I should let them, you mean, sir. I am sorry I cannot break you of +the habit of forgetting that I command this ship. Well, sir, you may +tell them that they cannot go. I am expecting a visit from the renowned +Blackbeard, now in this port, and I wish to welcome him with all respect +and a full crew." + +Black Paul smiled disagreeably. "I will tell you, sir, that you cannot +keep these men on board much longer with the town of Belize within a +row of half a mile. They've been at sea too long for that. There'll be +a mutiny, sir, if I go forward with that message of yours. It will be +prudent to let some of them go ashore now and others later in the day. I +will go in the first boat and see to it that the men come back with me. +And, by the way, it would not be a bad thing if I touch at Blackbeard's +vessel and inform him that you are here; I don't suppose he knows the +Revenge, nor her captain neither." + +"I doubt that, Bittern," said Bonnet, "I doubt it very much. I assure +you that I am known from one end of this coast to the other, and Captain +Blackbeard is not an ignorant man. So you can go ashore and take some of +the men, stopping at Blackbeard's ship. And, by the way, I want you to +go by that bark of ours and give her the old black Roger I used to fly. +I forgot to send it to her, and a man might as well not own and command +two vessels if he get not the credit of it." + +When Black Paul had gone to execute his orders, Ben Greenway heaved a +heavy sigh. "Now I begin to fear, Master Bonnet, that the day o' your +salvation has really gone by. When ye not only murder an' rob upon the +high seas, but keep consort with other murderers an' robbers, then I +fear ye are indeed lost. But I shall stand by ye, Master Bonnet, I shall +stand by ye; an' if, ever I find there is the least bit o' ye to be +snatched from the flames, I'll snatch it!" + +"I don't like that sort of talk, Ben Greenway," cried Bonnet, +"especially at this time when my soul swells with content at the success +which has crowned my undertakings. This Blackbeard is a valiant man and +a great one, but it is my belief that when we have sat down to compare +our notes, it will be found that I have captured as many cargoes, burned +as many ships, and marooned as many people in my last cruise as he has." + +"So I suppose," said Ben, "that ye think ye hae achieved the right to +sink deeper into hell than he can ever hope to do?" + +Bonnet made no answer, but turned away. The Scotchman was becoming more +and more odious to him every day, but he would not quarrel on this most +auspicious morning. He must keep his mind unruffled and his head high. +He had his own plans about Greenway: he was not far from Barbadoes, and +when he left the harbour of Belize it would be of advantage to his peace +of mind as well as to the comfort of a faithful old servant if he should +anchor for a little while in the river below the town and put Ben +Greenway on shore. + +Ben gave no further reason for quarrelling. He was greatly dejected, but +he had sworn to himself to stand by his old master, no matter what might +happen, and when he took an oath he meant what he swore. + +Dickory Charter was in much worse case than Ben Greenway. He was not +much of a geographical scholar, but he knew that the Gulf of Honduras +was not really very far from the Island of Jamaica, where dwelt, waited, +and watched Mistress Kate Bonnet and his mother. If he had known that +during the voyage down from the Atlantic coast the Revenge had sailed +through the Windward Passage, running in some of her long tacks within +less than a day's sail of Jamaica, he would have chafed, fumed, and +fretted even more than he did now. + +"Captain Bonnet," he cried, "if you could but let me go on shore, I +might surely find some vessel bound to Kingston, or to any place upon +the Island of Jamaica, from which spot I could make my way on foot, even +if it were on the opposite end. Thus I could take messages and letters +from you to your daughter and Mr. Delaplaine, and ease the minds both of +them and my mother, all of whom must now be in most doleful plight, not +knowing anything about you or hearing anything from me, and this for so +long a time; then you could remain here with no feelings of haste until +you had disposed of your cargoes and had finished your business." + +Captain Bonnet stood loftily with a smile of benignity upon his face. +"It is a clever plan," said he, "and you are a good fellow, Dickory, but +your scheme, though well intentioned, is unsound. I have too much regard +for you to trust you in any vessel sailing from Belize to Kingston, +where there are often naval vessels. Going from this port, you would be +as likely to be strung up to the yard-arm as to be allowed to go ashore. +Be patient then, my good fellow; when my affairs are settled here, the +Revenge may run up to the coast of Jamaica, where you may be put off at +some quiet spot, and all may happen as you have planned, my good +Dickory. Even now I am writing a letter, hoping for some such +opportunity of sending it to my daughter." + +Dickory sighed in despair. It might take a month or more before Kate's +father could settle his affairs, and how long, how long it had been +since his soul had been reaching itself out towards Kate and his mother! + +When the sailing-master set out in the long-boat, crowded with men, he +stopped at the bark but did not go too near for fear that some of the +crew might jump into his already overloaded boat. + +"You are to run up this rag," cried Black Paul to Clip, the fellow in +command; and so saying, he handed up the old Jolly Roger on the blade of +an oar. "Our noble admiral fears that if you do not that you may be +captured by some of these good vessels lying hereabout." + +Clip roared out with a laugh: "I will attend to the capture as soon as I +get out of reach of his guns, which he will not dare to use here, I take +it. But I want you to know and him to know that we're not goin' to stay +on board and in sight of the town. If you go ashore, so go we." + +"Stay where ye are till orders come to ye," shouted Black Paul, "if ye +want to keep the cat off your backs!" And as he rowed away the men on +the bark gave him a cheer and proceeded to lower two boats. + +From nearly every pirate ship in the anchorage the proceedings of the +newly arrived vessels had been watched. No one wanted to board them or +in any way to interfere with them until it was found out what they +intended to do. The Revenge was a stranger in that harbour, although her +fame was known on not a few pirate decks; but if she came to Belize to +fraternize with the other pirate vessels there gathered together, why +didn't she do it? No idea of importance and dignity, which his position +imposed upon Captain Stede Bonnet, entered their piratical minds. When +the long-boat put forth from the Revenge, a good deal of interest was +excited in the anchored vessels. The great Blackbeard himself stood high +upon his deck and surveyed the strangers through a glass. + +The men in the sailing-master's boat rowed steadily towards Blackbeard's +vessel. Bittern knew it well, for he had seen it before, and had even +had the honour, so to speak, of having served for a short time under the +master pirate of that day. + +As soon as the boat was near enough Blackbeard hailed it in a +tremendous voice and ordered the stranger to pull up and make fast. This +being done, a rope ladder was lowered and Bittern mounted to the deck, +being assisted in his passage over the side by a tremendous pull given +by Blackbeard. + +The great pirate seemed to be in high good spirits, and very glad to see +his visitor. Blackbeard was a large man, wide and heavy, and the first +impression conveyed by his personality was that of hair and swarthiness. +An untrimmed black beard lay upon his chest, and his long hair hung in +masses from under his slouched hat; his eyes were dark and sparkling, +and gleamed like beacon lights from out a midnight sky; the sleeves of +his shirt were rolled up, and his arms seemed almost as hairy as his +head; two pairs of pistols were stuck into his belt, and a great cutlass +was conveniently tucked up by his side. + +"Ho, ho!" he cried, "Black Paul! And where do you come from, and what +are you doing here? And what is the name of that vessel with the +brand-new Roger? Has she just gone into the business, that she decks +herself out so fine? Come now, sit here and have some brandy and tell me +what is the meaning of these two vessels coming into the harbour, and +what you have to do with them." + +Bittern was delighted to know that his old commander remembered him, and +was ready enough to talk with him, for that was the errand he had come +upon. + +"But, captain," said he, "I am afraid to wander away from the gunwale, +for if I have not my eye upon them, my men will be rowing to the town +before I know it. They are mad to be on shore." + +Blackbeard made no answer; he stepped to the side of the vessel and +looked over. "Let go!" he shouted to the man who held the boat's rope, +"and you rascals row out a dozen strokes from my vessel and keep your +boat there; and if you move an oar towards the town I will sink you!" +With that he ordered two small guns to be trained upon the boat. + +The boat's crew did not hesitate one second in obeying these orders. +They knew by whom they were given, and there was no man in the great +body of free companions who would disobey an order given by Blackbeard. +They rowed to the position assigned them and sat quietly looking into +the mouths of the two cannon which were pointed towards them. + +"Now then," said Blackbeard, turning to Bittern, "I think they'll stay +there till they get some other order." + +Between frequent sips at the cup of brandy Bittern told the story of the +Revenge, and Blackbeard listened with many an oath and many a pound upon +his massive knee by his mighty fist. + +"Oh, I have heard of him," he cried, "I have heard of him! He has +played the devil along the Atlantic coast. He must he a great fellow +this--what did you say his name was?" + +"Bonnet," said the other. + +Blackbeard laughed. "That suits him well; he must have clapped his name +over the eyes of many a merchant captain! Where did he sail before he +hoisted the Jolly Roger?" + +At this Bittern laughed. "He never sailed anywhere, he is no seaman; and +if he were not rich enough to pay others to do his navigatin' for him he +would have run his vessel upon the first sand-bar on his way from +Bridgetown to the sea. But he pays some good mariner to sail his +Revenge, and he now pays me. I am, in fact, the captain of his vessel." + +"You mean," cried Blackbeard, "that he knows nothing of navigation?" + +"Not a whit," replied the other; "he doesn't know the backstays from the +taffrail. It was only yesterday that he thought he was already in the +port of Belize, and dressed himself up like a fighting-cock to meet +you." + +"To meet me?" roared Blackbeard; "what does he want to meet me for, and +why don't he come and do it instead of sending you?" + +"Not he," said Bittern. "He is a great man, if not a sailor; he knows +what is politeness on shipboard, and as he is the last comer you must be +the first caller. He is all dressed up now, hoping that you will row +over to the Revenge as soon as you know that he is its commander." + +The hairy pirate leaned back and laughed in loud explosions. + +"He is a rare man, truly," he exclaimed, "this Captain Nightcap of +yours--" + +"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern. + +"Well, one is as good as the other," cried Blackbeard, "and he be well +clothed if it be of the right colour. And you started out with him to +sail his ship, you rascal? That's a piece of impudence almost as great +as his own." + +Bittern did not much like this speech, and wanted to explain that since +he had served under Blackbeard he had commanded vessels himself, but he +restrained himself and told how Sam Loftus had been tumbled overboard +for running afoul his captain, and how he had been appointed to his +place. + +Now Blackbeard laughed again, with a great pound upon his knee. "He is a +man after my own heart," he shouted, "be he sailor or no sailor, this +nightcap commander of yours. I know I shall love him!" And springing to +his feet and uttering a resounding oath, he swore that he would visit +his new brother that afternoon. + +"Now, away with you!" cried Blackbeard, "and tell Sir Nightcap--" + +"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern. + +"Well, Bonnet, or Cap, it matters not to me. Row straight back to your +ship, and let him know that I shall be there and shall expect to be +received with admiral's honours." + +Bittern looked somewhat embarrassed. "But, captain," he said, "my men +are on their way to the town, and I fear me they will rebel if I tell +them they cannot now go there." + +In saying this the sailing-master spoke not only for his men, but for +himself. He was very anxious to go ashore; he had business there; he +wanted to see who were in the place, and what was going on before Bonnet +should go to the town. + +"What!" cried Blackbeard, putting his head down like a charging bull. "I +order you to row back to your vessel and take my message; and if you do +it not I will sink you all in a bunch! Into your boat, sir, and waste +not another minute. If you are not able to command your men, I will keep +you here and give them a coxswain who can." + +Without another word, Bittern scuffled over the side, and, his boat +being brought up, he dropped into it. + +"Now, men," he said, "I have a message from Captain Blackbeard to the +Revenge; bend to it as I steer that way." + +"Give my pious regards to your Sir Nightcap," shouted Blackbeard. And +then, in a still higher tone, he yelled to them that if they disobeyed +their coxswain and turned their bow shoreward he would sink them all to +the unsounded depths of Hades. Without a protest the men pulled +vigorously towards the Revenge, while Black Paul, considering it a new +affront to be called "coxswain" when he was in reality captain, +earnestly sent Blackbeard to the same regions to which he had just +referred. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +AN ORNAMENTED BEARD + + +It was about the middle of the afternoon when a large boat, well filled, +was seen approaching the Revenge from Blackbeard's vessel. As soon as it +had become known that this chief of all pirates of that day, this Edward +Thatch of England, was really coming on board the Revenge, not one word +was uttered among the crew on the subject of going ashore, although they +had been long at sea. The shore could wait when Blackbeard was coming. +Even to look upon this doughty desperado would be an honour and a joy to +the brawny scoundrels who made up the crew of the Revenge. + +It might have been supposed that everything upon Captain Bonnet's vessel +had been made ready for the expected advent of Blackbeard, but nothing +seemed good enough, nothing seemed as effectively placed and arranged as +it might have been; and with execrations and commands, Bonnet hurried +here and there, making everything, if possible, more ship-shape than it +had been before. + +"Stay you two in the background," he said to Ben Greenway and Dickory; +"you are both landsmen, and you don't count in a ceremony such as this +is going to be. Station your men as I told you, Bittern, and man the +yards when it is time." + +Captain Bonnet, in his brave uniform and wearing a cocked hat with a +feather, his hand upon his sword-hilt, stood up tall and stately. When +the boat was made fast and the great pirate's head appeared above the +rail, six cannon roared a welcome and Bonnet stepped forward, hand +extended and hat uplifted. + +The instant Blackbeard's feet touched the deck he drew from their +holsters a pair of pistols and fired them in the air. + +"Now then," he shouted, "we are even, salute for salute, for my pistols +are more than equal to the cannon of any other man. How goes it with +you, Sir Nightcap--Bonnet, I mean?" And with that he clasped the hand +reached out to him in a bone-crushing grasp. + +His fingers aching and his brain astonished, Bonnet could not comprehend +what sort of a man it was who stood before him. With hair purposely +dishevelled; with his hat more slouched than usual; with his beard +divided into tails, each tied with a different-coloured ribbon; with +half a dozen pistols strung across his breast; with other pistols and a +knife or two stuck into his belt; with his great sword by his side, and +his eyes gleaming brighter than ever and a general expression, both in +face and figure, of an aggressive impudence, Blackbeard stood on his +stout legs, clothed in rough red stockings, and gazed about him. But the +captain of the Revenge did not forget his manners. He welcomed +Blackbeard with all courtesy and besought him to enter his poor cabin. + +Blackbeard laughed. "Poor cabin, say you? But I'll tell you this one +thing, my valiant Captain Cap; you have not a poor vessel, not a poor +vessel, I swear that to you, my brave captain, I swear that!" + +Then, with no attention to Bonnet's invitation, Captain Blackbeard +strolled about the deck, examining everything, cursing this and praising +that, and followed by Captain Bonnet, Black Paul, and a crowd of +admiring pirates. + +Ben Greenway bowed his head and groaned. "I doubt if Master Bonnet will +ever go to the de'il as I feared he would, for now has the de'il come to +him. Oh, Dickory, Dickory! this master o' mine was a worthy mon an' a +good ane when I first came to him, an' a' that I hae I owe to him, for I +was in sad case, Dickory, very sad case; but now that he has Apollyon +for his teacher, he'll cease to know righteousness altogither." + +Dickory was angry and out of spirits. "He is a vile poltroon, this +master of yours," said he, "consorting with these bloody pirates and +leaving his daughter to pine away her days and nights within a little +sail of him, while he struts about at the heel of a dirty freebooter +dressed like a monkey! He doesn't deserve the daughter he possesses. Oh, +that I could find a ship that would take me back to Jamaica! And I would +take you too, Ben Greenway, for it is a foul shame that a good man +should spend his days in such vile company." + +Ben shook his head. "I'll stand by Master Bonnet," he said, "until the +day comes when I shall bid him fareweel at the door o' hell. I can go no +farther than that, Dickory, no farther than that!" + +From forecastle to quarter-deck, from bowsprit to taffrail, Blackbeard +scrutinized the Revenge. + +"What mean you, dog?" he said to Bittern, Bonnet being at a little +distance; "you tell me he is no mariner. This is a brave ship and well +appointed." + +"Ay, ay," said the sailing-master, "it has the neatness of his kitchen +or his storehouses; but if his cables were coiled on his yard-arms or +his anchor hung up to dry upon the main shrouds, he would not know that +anything was wrong. It was Big Sam Loftus who fitted out the Revenge, +and I myself have kept everything in good order and ship-shape ever +since I took command." + +"Command!" growled Blackbeard. "For a charge of powder I would knock in +the side of your head for speaking with such disrespect of the brave Sir +Nightcap." + +The supper in the cabin of the Revenge was a better meal than the +voracious Blackbeard had partaken of for many a year, if indeed he had +ever sat down to such a sumptuous repast. Before him was food and drink +fit for a stout and hungry sea-faring man, and there were wines and +dainties which would have had fit place upon the table of a gentleman. + +Blackbeard was in high spirits and tossed off cup after cup and glass +after glass of the choicest wine and the most fiery spirits. He clapped +his well-mannered host upon the back as he shouted some fragment of a +wild sea-song. + +"And who is this?" he cried, as they rose from the table and he first +caught sight of Ben Greenway. "Is this your chaplain? He looks as +sanctimonious as an empty rum cask. And that baby boy there, what do you +keep him for? Are they for sale? I would like to buy the boy and let him +keep my accounts. I warrant he has enough arithmetic in his head to +divide the prize-moneys among the men." + +"He is no slave," said Bonnet; "he came to this vessel to bring me a +message from my daughter, but he is an ill-bred stripling, and can +neither read nor write." + +"Then let's kill him!" cried Blackbeard, and drawing his pistol he sent +a bullet about two inches above Dickory's head. + +At this the men who had gathered themselves at every available point set +up a cheer. Never before had they beheld such a magnificent and reckless +miscreant. + +Dickory did not start or move, but he turned very pale, and then he +reddened and his eyes flashed. Blackbeard swore at him a great +approbative oath. "A brave boy!" he cried, "and fit to carry messages if +for nothing else. And what is this nonsense about a daughter?" said he +to Bonnet. "We abide no such creatures in the ranks of the free +companions; we drown them like kittens before we hoist the Jolly Roger." + +When Blackbeard's boat left the ship's side the departing chieftain +fired his pistols in the air as long as their charges lasted, while the +motley desperadoes of the Revenge gave him many a parting yell. Then all +the boats of the Revenge were lowered, and every man who could crowd +into them left their ship for the shore. Black Paul tried to restrain +them, for he feared to leave the Revenge too weakly manned, she having +such a valuable cargo; but his orders and shouts were of no avail, and +despairing of stopping them the sailing-master went with them; and as +they pulled wildly towards the town the men of one boat shouted to +another, and that one to another, "Hurrah for our captain, the brave Sir +Nightcap! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" + +"The dirty Satan!" exclaimed Dickory, as he gazed after Blackbeard's +boat. "I would kill him if I could." + +"Say not so, Dickory," said Captain Bonnet, speaking gravely. "That +great pirate is not a man of breeding, and he speaks with disesteem +alike of friend and enemy, but he is the famous Blackbeard, and we must +treat him with honour although he pays us none." + +"I had deemed," said Greenway calmly, "that ye were goin' to be the +maist unholy sinner that ever blackened this fair earth; but not only +did ye tell a pious lie for the sake o' good Dickory, but, compared wi' +that monstrosity, ye are a saint graved in marble, Master Bonnet, a +white and shapely saint." + + * * * * * + +Blackbeard's boat was not rowed to his vessel, but his men pulled +steadily shoreward. + +With the wild crew of the Revenge, fresh from sea and their appetites +whetted for jovial riot, and with Blackbeard, his war-paint on, to lead +them into every turbulent excess, there were wild times in the town of +Belize that night. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE + + +As has been made plain, Captain Bonnet of the Revenge was a punctilious +man when the rules of society were concerned, be that society official, +high-toned, or piratical. Thus it was a positive duty, in his mind, to +return Blackbeard's visit on the next day, but until afternoon he was +not able to do so on account of the difficulty of getting a sober and +decently behaved boat's crew who should row him over. + +Black Paul, the sailing-master, had returned to his vessel early in the +morning, feeling the necessity of keeping watch over the cargo, but most +of the men came over much later, while some of them did not come at all. + +Bonnet was greatly inclined to punish with an unwonted severity this +breach of rules, but Black Paul assured him that it was always the +custom for the crew of a newly arrived vessel to go ashore and have a +good time, and that if they were denied this privilege they would be +sure to mutiny, and he might be left without any crew at all. Bonnet +grumbled and swore, but, as he was aware there were several things +concerning a nautical life with which he was not familiar, he determined +to let pass this trespass. + +Dressed in his finest clothes, and even better than the day before, he +was followed into the boat by Ben Greenway, who vowed his captain should +never travel without his chaplain, who, if his words were considered, +would be the most valuable officer on the vessel. + +"Come, then, Greenway," said Bonnet; "you have troubled me so much on my +own vessel that now, perchance, you may be able to do me some service on +that of another. Anyway, I should like to have at least one decent +person in my train, who, an you come not, will be wholly missing. And +Dickory may come too, if he like it." + +But Dickory did not like it. He hated the big black pirate, and cared +not if he should never see him again, so he stayed behind. + +When Bonnet mounted to the deck of Blackbeard's vessel he found there a +very different pirate captain from the one who had called upon him the +day before. There were no tails to the great black beard, there were few +pistols visible, and Captain Bonnet's host received him with a certain +salt-soaked, sun-browned, hairy, and brawny hospitality which did not +sit badly upon him. There was meat, there was drink, and then the two +captains and Greenway walked gravely over the vessel, followed by a +hundred eyes, and before long by many a coarse and jeering laugh which +Bonnet supposed were directed at sturdy Ben Greenway, deeming it quite +natural, though improper, that the derision of these rough fellows +should be excited by the appearance among them of a prim and sedate +Scotch Presbyterian. + +But that crew of miscreants had all heard of the derisive title which +had been given to Bonnet, and now they saw without the slightest +difficulty how little he knew of the various nautical points to which +Blackbeard continually called his attention. + +The vessel was dirty, it was ill-appointed; there was an air of reckless +disorder which showed itself everywhere; but, apart from his evident +distaste for dirt and griminess, the captain of the Revenge seemed to be +very well satisfied with everything he saw. When he passed a small gun +pointed across the deck, and with a nightcap hung upon a capstan bar +thrust into its muzzle, there was such a great laugh that Bonnet looked +around to see what the imprudent Greenway might be doing. + +Many were the nautical points to which Blackbeard called his guest's +attention and many the questions the grim pirate asked, but in almost +all cases of the kind the tall gentleman with the cocked hat replied +that he generally left those things to his sailing-master, being so +much occupied with matters of more import. + +Although he found no fault and made no criticisms, Bonnet was very much +disgusted. Such a disorderly vessel, such an apparently lawless crew, +excited his most severe mental strictures; and, although the great +Blackbeard was to-day a very well-behaved person, Bonnet could not +understand how a famous and successful captain should permit his vessel +and his crew to get into such an unseamanlike and disgraceful condition. +On board the Revenge, as his sailing-master had remarked, there was the +neatness of his kitchen and his store-houses; and, although he did not +always know what to do with the nautical appliances which surrounded +him, he knew how to make them look in good order. But he made few +remarks, favourable or otherwise, and held himself loftier than before, +with an air as if he might have been an admiral entire instead of +resembling one only in clothes, and with ceremonious and even +condescending politeness followed his host wherever he was led, above +decks or below. + +Ben Greenway had gone with his master about the ship with much of the +air of one who accompanies a good friend to the place of execution. +Regardless of gibes or insults, whether they were directed at Bonnet or +himself, he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left, and +apparently regarded nothing that he heard. But while endeavouring to +listen as little as possible to what was going on around him, he heard a +great deal; but, strange to say, the railing and scurrility of the +pirates did not appear to have a depressing influence upon his mind. In +fact, he seemed in somewhat better spirits than when he came on board. + +"Whatever he may do, whatever he may say, an' whatever he may swear," +said the Scotchman to himself, "he is no' like ane of these. Try as he +may, he canna descend so low into the blackness o' evil as these sons o' +perdition. Although he has done evil beyond a poor mortal's computation, +he walks like a king amang them. Even that Blackbeard, striving to be +decent for an hour or two, knows a superior when he meets him." + +When they had finished the tour of the vessel, Blackbeard conducted his +guest to his own cabin and invited him to be seated by a little table. +Bonnet sat down, placing his high-plumed cocked hat upon the bench +beside him. He did not want anything more to eat or to drink, and he +was, in fact, quite ready to take his leave. The vessel had not pleased +him and had given him an idea of the true pirate's life which he had +never had before. On the Revenge he mingled little with the crew, +scarcely ever below decks, and his own quarters were as neat and +commodious as if they were on a fine vessel carrying distinguished +passengers. Dirt and disorder, if they existed, were at least not +visible to him. + +But, although he had no desire ever to make another visit to the ship of +the great Blackbeard, he would remember his position and be polite and +considerate now that he was here. Moreover, the savage desperado of the +day before, dressed like a monkey and howling like an Indian, seemed now +to be endeavouring to soften himself a little and to lay aside some of +his savage eccentricities in honour of the captain of that fine ship, +the Revenge. So, clothed in a calm dignity, Bonnet waited to hear what +his host had further to say. + +Blackbeard seated himself on the other side of the table, on which he +rested his massive arms. Behind him Ben Greenway stood in the doorway. +For a few moments Blackbeard sat and gazed at Bonnet, and then he said: +"Look ye, Stede Bonnet, do you know you are now as much out of place as +a red herring would be at the top of the mainmast?" + +Bonnet flushed. "I fear, Captain Blackbeard," he said, "I very much fear +me that you are right; this is no place for me. I have paid my respects +to you, and now, if you please, I will take my leave. I have not been +gratified by the conduct of your crew, but I did not expect that their +captain would address me in such discourteous words." And with this he +reached out his hand for his hat. + +Blackbeard brought down his hand heavily upon the table. + +"Sit where you are!" he exclaimed. "I have that to say to you which you +shall hear whether you like my vessel, my crew, or me. You are no +sailor, Stede Bonnet of Bridgetown, and you don't belong to the free +companions, who are all good men and true and can sail the ships they +command. You are a defrauder and a cheat; you are nothing but a +landsman, a plough-tail sugar-planter!" + +At this insult Bonnet rose to his feet and his hand went to his sword. + +"Sit down!" roared Blackbeard; "an you do not listen to me, I'll cut off +this parley and your head together. Sit down, sir." + +Bonnet sat down, pale now and trembling with rage. He was not a coward, +but on board this ship he must give heed to the words of the desperado +who commanded it. + +"You have no right," continued Blackbeard, "to strut about on the +quarter-deck of that fine vessel, the Revenge; you have no right to +hoist above you the Jolly Roger, and you have no right to lie right and +left and tell people you are a pirate. A pirate, forsooth! you are no +pirate. A pirate is a sailor, and you are no sailor! You are no better +than a blind man led by a dog: if the dog breaks away from him he is +lost, and if the sailing-masters you pick up one after another break +away from you, you are lost. It is a cursed shame, Stede Bonnet, and it +shall be no longer. At this moment, by my own right and for the sake of +every man who sails under the Jolly Roger, I take away from you the +command of the Revenge." + +Now Bonnet could not refrain from springing to his feet. "Take from me +the Revenge!" he cried, "my own vessel, bought with my own money! And +how say you I am not a pirate? From Massachusetts down the coast into +these very waters I have preyed upon commerce, I have taken prizes, I +have burned ships, I have made my name a terror." + +Now his voice grew stronger and his tones more angry. + +"Not a pirate!" he cried. "Go ask the galleons and the merchantmen I +have stripped and burned; go ask their crews, now wandering in misery +upon desert shores, if they be not already dead. And by what right, I +ask, do you come to such an one as I am and declare that, having put me +in the position of a prisoner on your ship, you will take away my own?" + +Blackbeard gazed at him with half-closed eyes, a malicious smile upon +his face. + +"I have no right," he said; "I need no right; _I_ am a pirate!" + +At these words Bonnet's legs weakened under him, and he sank down upon +the bench. As he did so he glanced at Ben Greenway as if he were the +only person on earth to whom he could look for help, but to his +amazement he saw before him a face almost jubilant, and beheld the +Scotchman, his eyes uplifted and his hands clasped as if in thankful +prayer. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT + + +When the boat of the Revenge was pulled back to that vessel Bonnet did +not go in it; it was Blackbeard who sat in the stern and held the +tiller, while one of his own men sat by him. + +When Blackbeard stepped on deck he announced, much to the delight of the +crew and the consternation of Paul Bittern, that the Revenge now +belonged to him, and that all the crew who were fit to be kept on board +such a fine vessel would be retained, and that he himself, for the +present at least, would take command of the ship, would haul down that +brand-new bit of woman's work at the masthead and fly in its place his +own black, ragged Jolly Roger, dreaded wherever seen upon the sea. At +this a shout went up from the crew; the heart of every scoundrel among +them swelled with joy at the idea of sailing, fighting, and pillaging +under the bloody Blackbeard. + +But the sailing-master stood aghast. He had known very well what was +going to happen; he had talked it all over in the town with Blackbeard; +he had drunk in fiery brandy to the success of the scheme, and he had +believed without a doubt that he was to command the Revenge when Bonnet +should be deposed. And now where was he? Where did he stand? + +Trembling a little, he approached Blackbeard. "And as for me," he asked; +"am I to command your old vessel?" + +"You!" roared Blackbeard, making as if he would jump upon him; "you! You +may fall to and bend your back with the others in the forecastle, or you +can jump overboard if you like. My quarter-master, Richards, now +commands my old vessel. Presently I shall go over and settle things on +that bark, but first I shall step down into the cabin and see what rare +good things Sir Nightcap, the sugar-planter, has prepared for me." + +With this he went below, followed by the man he had brought with him. + +It was Dickory, half dazed by what he had heard, who now stepped up to +Paul Bittern. The latter, his countenance blacker than it had ever been +before, first scowled at him, but in a moment the ferocity left his +glance. + +"Oho!" he said, "here's a pretty pickle for me and you, as well as for +Bonnet and the Scotchman!" + +"Do you suppose," exclaimed Dickory, "that what he says is true? That +he has stolen this ship from Captain Bonnet, and that he has taken it +for his own?" + +"Suppose!" sneered the other, "I know it. He has stolen from me as well +as from Bonnet. I should have commanded this ship, and I had made all my +plans to do it when I got here." + +"Then you are as great a rascal," said Dickory, "as that vile pirate +down below." + +"Just as great," said Bittern, "the only difference being that he has +won everything while I have lost everything." + +"What are we to do!" asked Dickory. "I cannot stay here, and I am sure +you will not want to. Now, while he is below, can we not slip overboard +and swim ashore? I am sure I could do it." + +Black Paul grinned grimly. "But where should we swim to?" he said. "On +the coast of Honduras there is no safety for a man who flees from +Blackbeard. But keep your tongue close; he is coming." + +The moment Blackbeard put his foot upon the deck he began to roar out +his general orders. + +"I go over to the bark," he said, "and shall put my mate here in charge +of her. After that I go to my own vessel, and when I have settled +matters there I will return to this fine ship, where I shall strut about +the quarter-deck and live like a prince at sea. Now look ye, youngster, +what is your name?" + +"Charter," replied Dickory grimly. + +"Well then, Charter," the pirate continued, "I shall leave you in charge +of this vessel until I come back, which will be before dark." + +"Me!" exclaimed Dickory in amazement. + +"Yes, you," said the pirate. "I am sure you don't know anything about a +ship any more than your master did, but he got on very well, and so may +you. And now, remember, your head shall pay for it if everything is not +the same when I come back as it is now." + +Thereupon this man of piratical business was rowed to the bark, quite +satisfied that he left behind him no one who would have the power to +tamper with his interests. He knew the crew, having bound most of them +to him on the preceding night, and he trusted every one of them to obey +the man he had set over them and no other. As Dickory would have no +orders to give, there would be no need of obedience, and Black Paul +would have no chance to interfere with anything. + + * * * * * + +When Bonnet had been left by Blackbeard--who, having said all he had to +say, hurried up the companion-way to attend to the rest of his +plans--the stately naval officer who had so recently occupied the bench +by the table shrunk into a frightened farmer, gazing blankly at Ben +Greenway. + +"Think you, Ben," he said in half a voice, "that this is one of that +man's jokes! I have heard that he has a fearful taste for horrid +jokes." + +The Scotchman shook his head. "Joke! Master Bonnet," he exclaimed, "it +is no joke. He has ta'en your ship from ye; he has ta'en from ye your +sword, your pistols, an' your wicked black flag, an' he has made evil +impossible to ye. He has ta'en from ye the shame an' the wretched +wickedness o' bein' a pirate. Think o' that, Master Bonnet, ye are no +longer a pirate. That most devilish o' all demons has presarved the rest +o' your life from the dishonour an' the infamy which ye were labourin' +to heap upon it. Ye are a poor mon now, Master Bonnet; that Beelzebub +will strip from ye everything ye had, all your riches shall be his. Ye +can no longer afford to be a pirate; ye will be compelled to be an +honest mon. An' I tell ye that my soul lifteth itsel' in thanksgivin' +an' my heart is happier than it has been since that fearsome day when ye +went on board your vessel at Bridgetown." + +"Ben," said Bonnet, "it is hard and it is cruel, that in this, the time +of my great trouble, you turn upon me. I have been robbed; I have been +ruined; my life is of no more use to me, and you, Ben Greenway, revile +me while that I am prostrate." + +"Revile!" said the Scotchman. "I glory, I rejoice! Ye hae been +converted, ye hae been changed, ye hae been snatched from the jaws o' +hell. Moreover, Master Bonnet, my soul was rejoiced even before that +master de'il came to set ye free from your toils. To look upon ye an' +see that, although ye called yoursel' a pirate, ye were no like ane o' +these black-hearted cut-throats. Ye were never as wicked, Master Bonnet, +as ye said ye were!" + +"You are mistaken," groaned Bonnet; "I tell you, Ben Greenway, you are +mistaken; I am just as wicked as I ever was. And I was very wicked, as +you should admit, knowing what I have done. Oh, Ben, Ben! Is it true +that I shall never go on board my good ship again?" + +And with this he spread his arms upon the table and laid his head upon +them. He felt as if his career was ended and his heart broken. Ben +Greenway said no more to comfort him, but at that moment he himself was +the happiest man on the Caribbean Sea. He seated himself in the little +dirty cabin, and his soul saw visions. He saw his master, deprived of +all his belongings, and with them of every taint of piracy, and put on +shore, accompanied, of course, by his faithful servant. He saw a ship +sail, perhaps soon, perhaps later, for Jamaica; he saw the blithe +Mistress Kate, her soul no longer sorrowing for an erring father, come +on board that vessel and sail with him for good old Bridgetown. He saw +everything explained, everything forgotten. He saw before the dear old +family a life of happiness--perhaps he saw the funeral of Madam +Bonnet--and, better than all, he saw the pirate dead, the good man +revived again. + +To be sure, he did not see Dickory Charter returning to his old home +with his mother, for he could not know what Blackbeard was going to do +with that young fellow; but as Dickory had thought of him when he had +escaped with Kate from the Revenge, so thought he now of Dickory. There +were so many other important things which bore upon the situation that +he was not able even to consider the young fellow. + +It did not take very long for a man of practical devilishness, such as +Blackbeard was, to finish the business which had called him away, and he +soon reappeared in the cabin. + +"Ho there! good Sir Nightcap--an I may freely call you that since now I +own you, uniform, cocked hat, title, and everything else--don't cry +yourself to sleep like a baby when its toys are taken away from it, but +wake up. I have a bit of liking for you, and I believe that that is +because you are clean. Not having that virtue myself, I admire it the +more in others, and I thank you from my inmost soul--wherever that may +be--for having provided such comely quarters and such fair +accommodations for me while I shall please to sail the Revenge. But I +shall not condemn you to idleness and cankering thoughts, my bold +blusterer, my terror of the sea, my harrier of the coast, my flaunter of +the Jolly Roger washed clean in the tub with soap; I shall give you +work to do which shall better suit you than the troublesome trade you've +been trying to learn. You write well and read, I know that, my good Sir +Nightcap; and, moreover, you are a fair hand at figures. I have great +work before me in landing and selling the fine cargoes you have brought +me, and in counting and dividing the treasure you have locked in your +iron-bound chests. And you shall attend to all that, my reformed +cutthroat, my regenerated sea-robber. You shall have a room of your own, +where you can take off that brave uniform and where you can do your work +and keep your accounts and so shall be happier than you ever were +before, feeling that you are in your right place." + +To all this Stede Bonnet did not answer a word; he did not even raise +his head. + +"And now for you, my chaplain," said Blackbeard, suddenly turning toward +Ben Greenway, "what would you like? Would it suit you better to go +overboard or to conduct prayers for my pious crew?" + +"I would stay wi' my master," said the Scotchman quietly. + +The pirate looked steadily at Greenway. "Oho!" said he, "you are a +sturdy fellow, and have a mind to speak from. Being so stiff yourself, +you may be able to stiffen a little this rag of a master of yours and +help him to understand the work he has to do, which he will bravely do, +I ween, when he finds that to be my clerk is his career. Ha! ha! Sir +Nightcap, the pirate of the pen and ink!" + +Deeply sunk these words into Stede Bonnet's heart, but he made no sign. + +When Blackbeard went back to the Revenge he took with him all of his own +effects which he cared for, and he also took the ex-pirate's uniform, +cocked hat, and sword. "I may have use for them," he said, "and my clerk +can wear common clothes like common people." + +When her new commander reached the Revenge, Dickory immediately +approached him and earnestly besought him that he might be sent to join +Captain Bonnet and Ben Greenway. "They are my friends," said Dickory, +"and I have none here, and I have brought a message to Captain Bonnet +from his daughter, and it is urgently necessary that I return with one +from him to her. I must instantly endeavour to find a ship which is +bound for Jamaica and sail upon her. I have nothing to do with this +ship, having come on board of her simply to carry my message, and it +behooves me that I return quickly to those who sent me, else injury may +come of it." + +"I like your speech, my boy, I like your speech!" cried Blackbeard, and +he roared out a big laugh. "'Urgently necessary' you must do this, you +must do that. It is so long since I have heard such words that they come +to me like wine from a cool vault." + +At this Dickory flushed hot, but he shut his mouth. + +"You are a brave fellow," cried Blackbeard, "and above the common, you +are above the common. There is that in your eye that could never be seen +in the eye of a sugar-planter. You will make a good pirate." + +"Pirate!" cried Dickory, losing all sense of prudence. "I would sooner +be a wild beast in the forest than to be a pirate!" + +Blackbeard laughed loudly. "A good fellow, a brave fellow!" he cried. +"No man who has not the soul of a pirate within him could stand on his +legs and speak those words to me. Sail to Jamaica to carry messages to +girls? Never! You shall stay with me, you shall be a pirate. You shall +be the head of all the pirates when I give up the business and take to +sugar-planting. Ha! ha! When I take to sugar-planting and merrily make +my own good rum!" + +Dickory was dismayed. "But, Captain Blackbeard," he said, with more +deference than before, "I cannot." + +"Cannot!" shouted the pirate, "you lie, you can. Say not cannot to me; +you can do anything I tell you, and do it you shall. And now I am going +to put you in your place, and see that you hold it and fill it. An if +you please me not, you carry no more messages in this world, nor receive +them. Charter, I now make you the first officer of the Revenge under me. +You cannot be mate because you know nothing of sailing a ship, and +besides no mate nor any quarter-master is worthy to array himself as I +shall array you. I make you first lieutenant, and you shall wear the +uniform and the cocked hat which Sir Nightcap hath no further use for." + +With that he went forward to speak to some of the men, leaving Dickory +standing speechless, with the expression of an infuriated idiot. Black +Paul stepped up to him. + +"How now, youngster," said the ex-sailing-master, "first officer, eh? If +you look sharp, you may find yourself in fine feather." + +"No, I will not," answered Dickory. "I will have nothing to do with this +black pirate; I will not serve under him, I will not take charge of +anything for him. I am ashamed to talk with him, to be on the same ship +with him. I serve good people, the best and noblest in the world, and I +will not enter any service under him." + +"Hold ye, hold ye!" said Black Paul, "you will not serve the good people +you speak of by going overboard with a bullet in your head; think of +that, youngster. It is a poor way of helping your friends by quitting +the world and leaving them in the lurch." + +At this moment Blackbeard returned, and when he saw Bittern he roared at +him: "Out of that, you sea-cat, and if I see you again speaking to my +lieutenant, I'll slash your ears for you. In the next boat which leaves +this ship I shall send you to one of the others; I will have no +sneaking schemer on board the Revenge. Get ye for'ad, get ye for'ad, or +I shall help ye with my cutlass!" + +And the man who had safely brought two good ships, richly laden, into +the harbour of Belize, and who had given Blackbeard the information +which made him understand the character of Captain Bonnet and how easy +it would be to take possession of his person and his vessels, and who +had done everything in his power to enable the black-hearted pirate to +secure to himself Bonnet's property and crews, and who had only asked in +return an actual command where before he had commanded in fact though +not in name, fled away from the false confederate to whom he had just +given wealth and increased prestige. + +The last words of the unfortunate Bittern sunk quickly and deeply into +the heart of Dickory. If he should really go overboard with a bullet in +his brain, farewell to Kate Bonnet, farewell to his mother! He was yet a +very young man, and it had been but a little while since he had been +wandering barefooted over the ships at Bridgetown, selling the fruit of +his mother's little farm. Since that he had loved and lived so long that +he could not calculate the period, and now he was a man and stood +trembling at the point where he was to decide to begin life as a pirate +or end everything. Before Blackbeard had turned his lowering visage +from his retreating benefactor, Dickory had decided that, whatever might +happen, he would not of his own free-will leave life and fair Kate +Bonnet. + +"And so you are to be my first lieutenant," said Blackbeard, his face +relaxing. "I am glad of that. There was nothing needed on this ship but +a decent man. I have put one on my old vessel, and if there were another +to be found in the Gulf of Honduras, I'd clap him on that goodly bark. +Now, sir, down to your berth, and don your naval finery. You're always +to wear it; you're not fit to wear the clothes of a real sailor, and I +have no landsman's toggery on this ship." + +Dickory bowed--he could not speak--and went below. When next he appeared +on deck he wore the ex-Captain Bonnet's uniform and the tall plumed hat. + +"It is for Kate's sweet sake," he said to himself as he mounted the +companion-way; "for her sake I'd wear anything, I'd do anything, if only +I may see her again." + +When the new first lieutenant showed himself upon the quarter-deck there +was a general howl from the crew, and peal after peal of derisive +laughter rent the air. + +Then Blackbeard stepped quietly forward and ordered eight of the jeerers +to be strung up and flogged. + +"I would like you all to remember," said the master pirate, "that when I +appoint an officer on this ship, there is to be no sneering at him nor +any want of respect, and it strikes me that I shall not have to say +anything more on the subject--to this precious crew, at any rate." + +The next day lively times began on board the two rich prizes which the +pirate Blackbeard had lately taken. There had been scarcely more hard +work and excitement, cursing and swearing when the rich freight had been +taken from the merchantmen which had originally carried it. Poor +Bonnet's pen worked hard at lists and calculations, for Blackbeard was a +practical man, and not disposed to loose and liberal dealings with +either his men or the tradefolk ashore. + +At times the troubled and harassed mind of the former captain of the +Revenge would have given way under the strain had not Ben Greenway +stayed bravely by him; who, although a slow accountant, was sure, and a +great help to one who, in these times of hurry and flurry, was extremely +rapid and equally uncertain. Blackbeard was everywhere, anxious to +complete the unloading and disposal of his goods before the weather +changed; but, wherever he went, he remembered that upon the quarter-deck +of his fine new ship, the Revenge, there was one who, knowing nothing of +nautical matters, was above all suspicion of nautical interferences, and +who, although having no authority, represented the most powerful +nautical commander in all those seas. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ONE NORTH, ONE SOUTH + + +If our dear Kate Bonnet had really imagined, in her inexperienced mind, +that it would be a matter of days, and perhaps weeks, to procure a +vessel in which she, with her uncle and good Dame Charter, could sail +forth to save her father, she was wonderfully mistaken. Not a +free-footed vessel of any class came into the harbour of Kingston. +Sloops and barks and ships in general arrived and departed, but they +were all bound by one contract or another, and were not free to sail +away, here and there, for a short time or a long time, at the word of a +maiden's will. + +Mr. Delaplaine was a rich man, but he was a prudent one, and he had not +the money to waste in wild rewards, even if there had been an +opportunity for him to offer them. Kate was disconcerted, disappointed, +and greatly cast down. + +The vengeful Badger was scouring the seas in search of her father, +commissioned to destroy him, and eager in his hot passion to do it; and +here was she, with a respite for that father, if only she were able to +carry it. + +Day after day Kate waited for notice of a craft, not only one which +might bring Dickory back but one which might carry her away. + +The optimism of Dame Charter would not now bear her up, the load which +had been put upon it was too big. Everything about her was melancholy +and depressed, and Dickory had not come back. So many things had +happened since he went away, and so many days had passed, and she had +entirely exhausted her plentiful stock of very good reasons why her son +had not been able to return to her. + +The Governor was very kind; frequently he came to the Delaplaine +mansion, and always he brought assurances that, although he had not +heard anything from Captain Vince, there was every reason to suppose +that before long he would find some way to send him his commands that +Captain Bonnet should not be injured, but should be brought back safely +to Jamaica. + +And then Kate would say, with tears in her eyes: "But, your Excellency, +we cannot wait for that; we must go, we must deliver ourselves your +message to the captain of the Badger. Who else will do it? And we cannot +trust to chance; while we are trusting and hoping, my father may die." + +At such moments Mr. Delaplaine would sometimes say in his heart, not +daring to breathe such thoughts aloud, "And what could be better than +that he should die and be done with it? He is a thorn in the side of the +young, the good, and the beautiful, and as long as he lives that thorn +will rankle." + +Moreover, not only did the good merchant harbour such a wicked thought, +but Dame Charter thought something of the very same kind, though +differently expressed. If he had never been born, she would say to +herself, how much better it would have been; but then the thought would +come crowding in, how bad that would have been for Dickory and for the +plans she was making for him. + +In the midst of all this uncertainty, this anxiety, this foreboding, +almost this despair, there came a sunburst which lighted up the souls of +these three good people, which made their eyes sparkle and their hearts +swell with thankfulness. This happiness came in the shape of a letter +from Martin Newcombe. + +The letter was a long one and told many things. The first part of it +Kate read to herself and kept to herself, for in burning words it +assured her that he loved her and would always love her, and that no +misfortune of her own nor wrongdoings of others could prevent him from +offering her his most ardent and unchangeable affection. Moreover, he +begged and implored her to accept that affection, to accept it now that +it might belong to her forever. Happiness, he said, seemed opening +before her; he implored her to allow him to share that happiness with +her. The rest of the letter was read most jubilantly aloud. It told of +news which had come to Newcombe from Honduras Gulf: great news, +wonderful news, which would make the heart sing. Major Bonnet was at +Belize. He had given up all connection with piracy and was now engaged +in mercantile pursuits. This was positively true, for the person who had +sent the news to Bridgetown had seen Major Bonnet and had talked to him, +and had been informed by him that he had given up his ship and was now +an accountant and commission agent doing business at that place. + +The sender of this great news also stated that Ben Greenway was with +Major Bonnet, working as his assistant--and here Dame Charter sat +open-mouthed and her heart nearly stopped beating--young Dickory Charter +had also been in the port and had gone away, but was expected ere long +to return. + +Kate stood on her tip-toes and waved the letter over her head. + +"To Belize, my dear uncle, to Belize! If we cannot get there any other +way we must go in a boat with oars. We must fly, we must not wait. +Perhaps he is seeking in disguise to escape the vengeance of the wicked +Vince; but that matters not; we know where he is; we must fly, uncle, +we must fly!" + +The opportunities for figurative flying were not wanting. There were no +vessels in the port which might be engaged for an indeterminate voyage +in pursuit of a British man-of-war, but there was a goodly sloop about +to sail in ballast for Belize. Before sunset three passages were engaged +upon this sloop. + +Kate sat long into the night, her letter in her hand. Here was a lover +who loved her; a lover who had just sent to her not only love, but life; +a lover who had no intention of leaving her because of her overshadowing +sorrow, but who had lifted that sorrow and had come to her again. Ay +more, she knew that if the sorrow had not been lifted he would have come +to her again. + +The Governor of Jamaica was a man of hearty sympathies, and these worked +so strongly in him that when Kate and her uncle came to bring him the +good news, he kissed her and vowed that he had not heard anything so +cheering for many a year. + +"I have been greatly afraid of that Vince," he said. "Although I did not +mention it, I have been greatly afraid of him; he is a terrible fellow +when he is crossed, and so hot-headed that it is easy to cross him. +There were so many chances of his catching your father and so few +chances of my orders catching him. But it is all right now; you will be +able to reach your father before Vince can possibly get to him, even +should he be able to do him injury in his present position. Your father, +my dear, must have been as mad as a March hare to embark upon a career +of a pirate when all the time his heart was really turned to ways of +peace, to planting, to mercantile pursuits, to domestic joys." + +Here, now, was to be a voyage of conquest. No matter what his plans +were; no matter what he said; no matter what he might lose, or how he +might suffer by being taken into captivity and being carried away, Major +Stede Bonnet, late of Bridgetown and still later connected with some +erratic voyages upon the high seas, was to be taken prisoner by his +daughter and carried away to Spanish Town, where the actions of his +disordered mind were to be condoned and where he would be safe from all +vengeful Vinces and from all temptations of the flaunting skull and +bones. + +It was a bright morning when, with a fair wind upon her starboard bow, +the sloop Belinda, bearing the jubilant three, sailed southward on her +course to the coast of Honduras; and it was upon that same morning that +the good ship Revenge, bearing the pirate Blackbeard and his handsomely +uniformed lieutenant, sailed northward, the same fair wind upon her port +bow. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +A PROJECTED MARRIAGE + + +Strange as it may appear, Dickory Charter was not a very unhappy young +fellow as he stood in his fine uniform on the quarter-deck of the +Revenge, the fresh breeze ruffling his brown curls when he lifted his +heavy cocked hat. + +True, he was leaving behind him his friends, Captain Bonnet and Ben +Greenway, with whom the wayward Blackbeard would allow no word of +leave-taking; true, he was going, he knew not where, and in the power of +a man noted the new world over for his savage eccentricities; and true, +he might soon be sailing, hour by hour, farther and farther away from +the island on which dwelt the angel Kate--that angel Kate and his +mother. But none of these considerations could keep down the glad +feeling that he was going, that he was moving. Moreover, in answer to +one of his impassioned appeals to be set ashore at Jamaica, Blackbeard +had said to him that if he should get tired of him he did not see, at +that moment, any reason why he should not put him on board some +convenient vessel and have him landed at Kingston. + +Dickory did not believe very much in the black-bearded pirate, with his +wild tricks and inhuman high spirits, but Jamaica lay to the east, and +he was going eastward. + +Incited, perhaps, by the possession of a fine ship, manned by a crew +picked from his old vessel and from the men who had formed the crew of +the Revenge, Blackbeard was in better spirits than was his wont, and so +far as his nature would allow he treated Dickory with fair good-humour. +But no matter what happened, his unrestrained imagination never failed +him. Having taken the fancy to see Dickory always in full uniform, he +allowed him to assume no other clothes; he was always in naval +full-dress and cocked hat, and his duties were those of a private +secretary. + +"The only shrewd thing I ever knew your Sir Nightcap to do," he said, +"was to tell me you could not read nor write. He spoke so glibly that I +believed him. Had it not been so I should have sent you to the town to +help with the shore end of my affairs, and then you would have been +there still and I should have had no admiral to write my log and +straighten my accounts." + +Sometimes, in his quieter moods, when there was no provocation to send +pistol-balls between two sailors quietly conversing, or to perform some +other demoniac trick, Blackbeard would talk to Dickory and ask all +manner of questions, some of which the young man answered, while some he +tried not to answer. Thus it was that the pirate found out a great deal +more about Dickory's life, hope, and sorrows than the young fellow +imagined that he made known. He discovered that Dickory was greatly +interested in Bonnet's daughter, and wished above all other things in +this world to get to her and to be with her. + +This was a little out of the common run of things among the brotherhood; +it was their fashion to forget, so far as they were able, the family +ties which already belonged to them, and to make no plans for any future +ties of that sort which they might be able to make. Such a thing amused +the generally rampant Blackbeard, but if this Dickory boy whom they had +on board really did wish to marry some one, the idea came into the +crafty mind of Blackbeard that he would like to attend to that marrying +himself. It pleased him to have a finger in every pie, and now here was +a pie in the fingering of which he might take a novel interest. + +This renowned desperado, this bloody cutthroat, this merciless pirate +possessed a home--a quiet little English home on the Cornwall coast, +where the cheerful woods and fields stretched down almost in reach of +the sullen sea. Here dwelt his wife, quiet Mistress Thatch, and here his +brawny daughter. Seldom a word came to this rural home from the father, +burning and robbing, sinking and slaying out upon the western seas. But +from the stores of pelf which so often slipped so easily into his great +arms, and which so often slipped just as easily out of them, came now +and then something to help the brawn grow upon his daughter's bones and +to ease the labours of his wife. + +Eliza Thatch bore no resemblance to a houri; her hair was red, her face +was freckled; she had enough teeth left to do good eating with when she +had a chance, and her step shook the timbers of her little home. + +Her father had heard from her a little while ago by a letter she had had +conveyed to Belize. His parental feelings, notwithstanding he had told +Bonnet he knew no such sentiments, were stirred. When he had finished +her letter he would have been well pleased to burn a vessel and make a +dozen passengers walk the plank as a memorial to his girl. But this not +being convenient, it had come to him that he would marry the wench to +the gaily bedecked young fellow he had captured, and it filled his +reckless heart with a wild delight. He drew his cutlass, and with a +great oath he drove the heavy blade into the top of the table, and he +swore by this mark that his grand plan should be carried out. + +He would sail over to England; this would be a happy chance, for his +vessel was unladen and ready for any adventure. He would drop anchor in +the quiet cove he knew of; he would go ashore by night; he would be at +home again. To be at home again made him shout with profane laughter, +the little home he remembered would be so ridiculous to him now. He +would see again his poor little trembling wife--she must be gray by +now--and he was sure that she would tremble more than ever she did when +she heard the great sea oaths which he was accustomed to pour forth now. +And his daughter, she must be a strapping wench by this time; he was +sure she could stand a slap on the back which would kill her mother. + +Yes, there should be a wedding, a fine wedding, and good old rum should +water the earth. And he would detail a boat's crew of jolly good fellows +from the Revenge to help make things uproarious. This Charter boy and +Eliza should have a house of their own, with plenty of money--he had +more funds in hand than ever in his life before--and his respectable +son-in-law should go to London and deposit his fortune in a bank. It +would be royal fun to think of him and Eliza highly respectable and with +money in the bank. A quart of the best rum could scarcely have made +Blackbeard more hilarious than did this glorious notion. He danced among +his crew; he singed beards; he whacked with capstan bars; he pushed men +down hatchways; he was in lordly spirits, and his crew expected some +great adventure, some startling piece of deviltry. + +Of course he did not keep his great design from Dickory--it was too +glorious, too transcendent. He took his young admiral into his cabin and +laid before him his dazzling future. + +Dickory sat speechless, almost breathless. As he listened he could feel +himself turn cold. Had any one else been talking to him in this strain +he would have shouted with laughter, but people did not laugh at +Blackbeard. + +When the pirate had said all and was gazing triumphantly at poor +Dickory, the young man gasped a word in answer; he could not accept this +awful fate without as much as a wave of the hand in protest. + +"But, sir," said he, "if--" + +Blackbeard's face grew black; he bent his head and lowered upon the pale +Dickory, then, with a tremendous blow, he brought down his fist upon the +table. + +"If Eliza will not have you," he roared; "if that girl will not take you +when I offer you to her; if she or her mother as much as winks an +eyelash in disobedience of my commands, I will take them by the hair of +their heads and I will throw them into the sea. If she will not have +you," he repeated, roaring as if he were shouting through a speaking +trumpet in a storm, "if I thought that, youngster, I would burn the +house with both of them in it, and the rum I had bought to make a jolly +wedding should be poured on the timbers to make them blaze. Let no +notions like that enter your mind, my boy. If she disobeys me, I will +cook her and you shall eat her. Disobey me!" And he swore at such a rate +that he panted for fresh air and mounted to the deck. + +It was not a time for Dickory to make remarks indicating his disapproval +of the proposed arrangement. + +As the Revenge sailed on over sunny seas or under lowering clouds, +Dickory was no stranger to the binnacle, and the compass always told him +that they were sailing eastward. He had once asked Blackbeard where they +now were by the chart, but that gracious gentleman of the midnight beard +had given him oaths for answers, and had told him that if the captain +knew where the ship was on any particular hour or minute nobody else on +that ship need trouble his head about it. But at last the course of the +Revenge was changed a little, and she sailed northward. Then Dickory +spoke with one of the mildest of the mates upon the subject of their +progress, and the man made known to him that they were now about +half-way through the Windward passage. Dickory started back. He knew +something of the geography of those seas. + +"Why, then," he cried, "we have passed Jamaica!" + +"Of course we have," said the man, and if it had not been for Dickory's +uniform he would have sworn at him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +BLADE TO BLADE + + +When the corvette Badger sailed from Jamaica she moved among the islands +of the Caribbean Sea as if she had been a modern vessel propelled by a +steam-engine. That which represented a steam-engine in this case was the +fiery brain of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's navy. More +than winds, more than currents, this brain made its power felt upon the +course and progress of the vessel. + +Calling at every port where information might possibly be gained, +hailing every sloop or ship or fishing-smack which might have sighted +the pirate ship Revenge, with a constant lookout for a black flag, +Captain Vince kept his engine steadily at work. + +But it was not in pursuit of a ship that the swift keel of the Badger +cut through the sea, this way and that, now on a long course, now +doubling back again, like a hound fancying he has got the scent of a +hare, then raging wildly when he finds the scent is false; it was in +pursuit of a woman that every sail was spread, that the lookout swept +the sea, and that the hot brain of the captain worked steadily and hard. +This English man-of-war was on a cruise to make Kate Bonnet the bride of +its captain. The heart of this naval lover was very steady; it was fixed +in its purpose, nothing could turn it aside. Vince's plans were +well-digested; he knew what he wanted to do, he knew how he was going to +do it. + +In the first place he would capture the man Bonnet; all the details of +the action were arranged to that end; then, with Kate's father as his +prisoner, he would be master of the situation. + +There was nothing noble about this craftily elaborated design; but, +then, there was nothing noble about Captain Vince. He was a strong hater +and a strong lover, and whether he hated or loved, nothing, good or bad, +must stand in his way. With the life or death, the misery or the +happiness of the father in his hands, he knew that he need but beckon to +the daughter. She might come slowly, but she would come. She was a grand +woman, but she was a woman; she might resist the warm plea of love, but +she could not resist the cold commands of that cruel figure of death who +stood behind the lover. + +Captain Bonnet was returning from his visit to the New England coast, +picking up bits of profit here and there as fortune befell him, when +Captain Vince first heard that the Revenge had gone northward. The news +was circumstantial and straightforward, and was not to be doubted. Vince +raged upon his quarter-deck when he found out how he had been wasting +time. Northward now was pointed the bow of the Badger, and the vengeful +Vince felt as if his prey was already in his hands. If Bonnet had sailed +up the Atlantic coast he was bound to sail down again. It might be a +long cruise, there might be impatient waitings at the mouths of coves +and rivers where the pirates were accustomed to take refuge or refit, +but the light of the eyes of Kate Bonnet were worth the longest pursuit +or the most impatient waiting. + +So, steadily sailed the corvette Badger up the long Atlantic coast, and +she passed the capes of the Delaware while Captain Bonnet was examining +the queer pulpit in the little bay-side town where his ship had stopped +to take in water. + +At the various ports of the northern coast where the Revenge had sailed +back and forth outside, the Badger boldly entered, and the tales she +heard soon turned her back again to sail southward down the long +Atlantic coast. But the heart of Christopher Vince never failed. The +vision of Kate Bonnet as he had seen her, standing with glorious eyes +denouncing him; as he should see her when, with bowed head and proffered +hand, she came to him; as all should see her when, in her clear-cut +beauty, she stood beside him in his ancestral home, never left him. + +Off the port of Charles Town, South Carolina, the Badger lay and waited, +and soon, from an outgoing bark, the news came to Captain Vince that +several weeks before the pirate Bonnet of the Revenge had taken an +English ship as she was entering port, and had then sailed southward. +Southward now sailed the Badger, and, as there was but little wind, +Captain Vince swore with an unremitting diligence. + +It was a quiet morning and the Badger was nearing the straits of Florida +when a sail was reported almost due south. + +Up came Captain Vince with his glass, and after a long, long look, and +another, and another, during which the two vessels came slowly nearer +and nearer each other, the captain turned to his first officer and said +quietly: "She flies the skull and bones. She's the first of those +hellish pirates that we have yet met on this most unlucky cruise." + +"If we could send her, with her crew on board, ten times to the bottom," +said the other, "she would not pay us what her vile fraternity has cost +us. But these pirate craft know well the difference between a Spanish +galleon and a British man-of-war, and they will always give us a wide +berth." + +"But this one will not," said the captain. + +Then again he looked long and earnestly through his glass. "Send aft +the three men who know the Revenge," said he. + +Presently the men came aft, and one by one they went aloft, and soon +came the report, vouched for by each of them: + +"The sail ahead is the pirate Revenge." + +Now all redness left the face of Captain Vince. He was as pale as if he +had been afraid that the pirate ship would capture him, but every man on +his vessel knew that there was no fear in the soul or the body of the +captain of the Badger. Quickly came his orders, clear and sharp; +everything had been gone over before, but everything was gone over +again. The corvette was to bear down upon the pirate, her cannon--great +guns for those days, and which could soon have disabled, if they had not +sunk, the smaller vessel--were muzzled and told to hold their peace. The +man-of-war was to bear down upon the pirate and to capture her by +boarding. There was to be no broadside, no timber-splitting cannon +balls. + +The wind was light and in favour of the corvette, and slowly the two +vessels diminished the few miles between them; but there was enough wind +to show the royal colours on the Badger. + +"He is a bold fellow, that pirate," said some of the naval men, "and he +will wait and fight us." + +"He will wait and fight us," said some of the others, "because he +cannot get away; in this wind he is at our mercy." + +Captain Vince stood and gazed over the water, sometimes with his glass +and sometimes without it. Here now was the end of his fuming, his +raging, his long and untiring search. All the anxious weariness of long +voyaging, all the impatience of watching, all the irritation of waiting +had gone. The notorious vessel in which the father of Kate Bonnet had +made himself a terror and a scourge was now almost within his reach. The +beneficent vessel by which the father of Kate Bonnet should give to him +his life's desire was so near to him that he could have sent a musket +ball into her had he chosen to fire. It was so near to him that he could +now, with his glass, read the word "Revenge" on her bow. His brows were +knit, his jaws were set tight, his muscles hardened themselves with +energy. + +Again the orders were passed, that when the men of the corvette boarded +the pirate they were to cut down the rascals without mercy, and not one +of them was to draw sword or pistol against the pirate captain. He would +be attended to by their commander. + +Vince knew the story of Stede Bonnet; he knew that early in life he had +been in the army, and that it was likely that he understood the handling +of a sword. But he knew also that he himself was one of the best +swordsmen in the royal navy. He yearned to cross blades with the man +whose blood should not be shed, whose life should be preserved +throughout the combat as if he were a friend and not a foe, who should +surrender to him his sword and give to him his daughter. + +"They're a brave lot, those bloody rascals," said one of the men of the +Badger. + +"They've a fool of a captain," said another; "he knows not the +difference between a British man-of-war and a Spanish galleon, but we +shall teach him that." + +Slowly they came together, the Revenge and the Badger, the bow of one +pointed east and the bow of the other to the west; from neither vessel +there came a word; the low waves could be heard flapping against their +sides. Suddenly there rang out from the man-of-war the order to make +fast. The grapnels flew over the bulwarks of the pirate, and in a moment +the two vessels were as one. Then, with a great shout, the men of the +Badger leaped and hurled themselves upon the deck of the Revenge, and +upon that deck and from behind bulwarks there rose, yelling and howling +and roaring, the picked men of two pirate crews, quick, furious, and +strong as tigers, the hate of man in their eyes and the love of blood in +their hearts. Like a wave of massacre they threw themselves against the +drilled masses of the Badger's crew, and with yells and oaths and curses +and cries the battle raged. + +With a sudden dash the captain of the man-of-war plunged through the +ranks of the combatants and stood upon the middle of the deck; his quick +eyes shot here and there; wherever he might be, he sought the captain of +the pirate ship. In an instant a huge man bounded aft and made one long +step towards him. Vast in chest and shoulder, and with mighty limbs, +fiery-eyed, hairy, horribly fantastic, Blackbeard stood, with great head +lowered for the charge. + +"A sugar-planter?" was the swift thought of Vince. + +"Are you the captain of this ship?" he shouted. + +"I am!" cried the other, and with a curse like bursting thunder the +pirate came on and his blade crossed that of Captain Vince. + +Forward and amidships surged the general fight: men plunged, swords +fell, blood flowed, feet slipped upon the deck, and roars of blasphemy +and pain rose above the noise of battle. But farther aft the two +captains, in a space by themselves, cut, thrust, and trampled, whirling +around each other, dashing from this side and that, ever with keen eyes +firmly fixed, ever with strong arms whirling down and upward; now one +man felt the keen cut of steel and now the other. The blood ran upon +rich uniform or stained rough cloth and leather. It was a fight as if +between a lioness and a tigress, their dead cubs near-by. + +As most men in the navy knew, Captain Vince was a most dangerous +swordsman. In duel or in warfare, no man yet had been able to stand +before him. With skilled arm and eye and with every muscle of his body +trained, his sword sought a vital spot in his opponent. There was no +thought now in the mind of Vince about disarming the pirate and taking +him prisoner; this terrible wild beast, this hairy monster must be +killed or he himself must die. Through the whirl and clash and hot +breath of battle he had been amazed that Kate Bonnet's father should be +a man like this. + +The pirate, his eyes now shrunken into his head, where they glowed like +coals, his breath steaming like a volcano, and his tremendous muscles +supple and quick as those of a cat, met his antagonist at every point, +and with every lunge and thrust and cut forced him to guard. + +Now Vince shut himself in his armour of trained defence; this bounding +lion must be killed, but the death-stroke must be cunningly delivered, +and until, in his hot rage, the pirate should forget his guard Vince +must shield himself. + +Never had the great Blackbeard met so keen a swordsman; he howled with +rage to see the English captain still vigorous, agile, warding every +stroke. Blackbeard was now a wild beast of the sea: he fought to kill, +for naught else, not even his own life. With a yell he threw himself +upon Captain Vince, whose sword passed quick as lightning through the +brawny masses of his left shoulder. With one quick step, the pirate +pressed closer to Vince, thus holding the imprisoned blade, which stuck +out behind his body, and with a tremendous blow of his right fist, in +which he held the heavy brazen hilt of his sword, he dashed his enemy +backward to the ground. The fall drew the blade from the shoulder of +Blackbeard, whose great right arm went up, whose sword hissed in the air +and then came down upon the prostrate Vince. Another stroke and the +English captain lay insensible and still. + +With the scream of a maddened Indian, Blackbeard sprung into the air, +and when his feet touched the deck he danced. He would have hewn his +victim into pieces, he would have scattered him over the decks, but +there was no time for such recreations. Forward the battle raged with +tremendous fury, and into the midst of it dashed Blackbeard. + +From the companion-way leading to the captain's cabin there now appeared +a pale young face. It was that of Dickory Charter, who had been ordered +by Blackbeard, before the two vessels came together, to shut himself in +the cabin and to keep out of the broil, swearing that if he made himself +unfit to present to Eliza he would toss his disfigured body into the +sea. Entirely unarmed and having no place in the fight, Dickory had +obeyed, but the spirit of a young man which burned within him led him +to behold the greater part of the conflict between Blackbeard and the +English captain. Being a young man, he had shut his eyes at the end of +it, but when the pirate had left he came forth quietly. The fight raged +forward, and here he was alone with the fallen figure on the deck. + +As Dickory stood gazing downward in awe--in all his life he had never +seen a corpse--the man he had supposed dead opened his eyes for a moment +and gazed with dull intelligence, and then he gasped for rum. Dickory +was quickly beside him with a tumbler of spirits and water, which, +raising the fallen man's head, he gave him. In a few moments the eyes of +Captain Vince opened wider, and he stared at the young man in naval +uniform who stood above him. "Who are you?" he said in a low voice, but +distinct, "an English officer?" + +"No," said Dickory, "I am no officer and no pirate; I am forced to wear +these clothes." + +And then, his natural and selfish instincts pushing themselves before +anything else, Dickory went on: "Oh, sir, if your men conquer these +pirates will you take me--" but as he spoke he saw that the wounded man +was not listening to him; his half-closed eyes turned towards him and he +whispered: + +"More spirits!" + +[Illustration: "Take that," he feebly said, "and swear that it shall be +delivered."] + +Dickory dashed into the cabin, half-filled a tumbler with rum and gave +it to Vince. Presently his eyes recovered something of their natural +glow, and with contracted brow he fixed them upon the stream of blood +which was running from him over the deck. + +Suddenly he spoke sharply: "Young fellow," he said, "some paper and a +pen, a pencil, anything. Quick!" + +Dickory looked at him in amazement for a moment and then he ran into the +cabin, soon returning with a sheet of paper and an English pencil. + +The eyes of Captain Vince were now very bright, and a nervous strength +came into his body. He raised himself upon his elbow, he clutched at the +paper, and clapping it upon the deck began to write. Quickly his pencil +moved; already he was feeling that his rum-given strength was leaving +him, but several pages he wrote, and then he signed his name. Folding +the sheet he stopped for a moment, feeling that he could do no more; +but, gathering together his strength in one convulsive motion, he +addressed the letter. + +"Take that," he feebly said, "and swear ... that it shall be ... +delivered." + +"I swear," said Dickory, as on his knees he took the blood-smeared +letter. He hastily slipped it into the breast of his coat, and then he +was barely able to move quick enough to keep the Englishman's head from +striking the deck. + +"How now!" sounded a harsh growl at his ear. "Get you into your cabin +or you will be hurt. It is not time yet for the fleecing of corpses! I +am choking for a glass of brandy. Get in and stay there!" + +In another minute Blackbeard, refreshed, was running aft, the cut +through his shoulder bleeding, but entirely forgotten. + +There was no fighting now upon the deck of the Revenge; the conflict +raged, but it had been transferred to the Badger. The sailors of the +man-of-war had fought valiantly and stoutly, even impetuously, but their +enemies--picked men from two pirate crews--had fought like wire-muscled +devils. Ablaze with fury they had cut down the Badger's men, piling them +upon their own fallen comrades; they had followed the brave fellows with +oaths, cutlasses, and pistols as, little at a time and fighting all the +while, they slowly clambered back into their own ship. The pirates had +thrown their grapnels over the bulwarks of the man-of-war; they had +followed, cut by cut, shot by shot, until they now stood upon the +Badger, fighting with the same fury that they had just fought upon the +blood-soaked Revenge. Blackbeard was not yet with them--whatever +happened, Blackbeard must be refreshed--but now he sprang into the +enemy's ship--that fine British man-of-war, the corvette Badger, which +had so bravely sailed down upon his ship to capture her--and led the +carnage. + +They were tough men, those British seamen, tough in heart, tough in +arms and body; they fought above decks and they fought below, and they +laid many a pirate scoundrel dead; but they had met a foe which was too +strong for them--a pack of brawny, hairy desperadoes, picked from two +pirate crews. The first officer now commanding, panting, bleeding, and +torn, groaned as he saw that his men could fight no longer, and he +surrendered the Badger to the pirates. + +The great Blackbeard yelled with delight. When had any other captain +sailing under the Jolly Roger captured a British man-of-war, a +first-class corvette of the royal navy? His frenzied joy was so intense +that he was on the point of cutting down the officer who was offering +him his sword, but he withheld his hand. + +"Go, somebody, and fetch me a glass of his Majesty's rum," he cried, +"and I will drink to his perdition!" + +The door of a locker was smashed, the spirits were brought, and the +great Blackbeard was again refreshed. + +Standing on the quarter-deck where but an hour or two before Captain +Christopher Vince had stood commanding his fine corvette as she sailed +down upon her pirate enemy, Blackbeard had brought before him all the +survivors of the Badger's crew. + +"Well, you're a lot of damnable knaves," said he, "and you have cost me +many a good man this day. But my crew will now be short-handed, and if +any or all of you will turn pirate and ship with me, I will let bygones +pass; but, if any of you choose not that, overboard you go. I will have +no unwilling rascals in my crew." + +All but one of the men of the Badger, downcast, wounded, panting with +thirst and loving life, agreed to become pirates and to ship on board +the Revenge. + +The first mate would not break his oath of allegiance to the king, and +he went overboard. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE ADDRESS OF THE LETTER + + +There was hard and ghastly work that day when the Revenge was cleared +after action, and there was lively and interesting work on board the +Badger when Blackbeard and his officers went over the captured vessel to +discover what new possessions they had won. + +At first Blackbeard had thought to establish himself upon the corvette +and abandon the Revenge. It would have been such a grand thing to +scourge the seas in a British man-of-war with the Jolly Roger floating +over her. But this would have been too dangerous; the combined naval +force of England in American waters would have been united to put down +such presumption. So the wary pirate curbed his ambition. + +Everything portable and valuable was stripped from the Badger--her guns +would have been taken had it been practicable to ship them to the +Revenge in a rising sea--and then she was scuttled, fired, and cast +off, and with her dead on board she passed out of commission in the +royal navy. + +During the turmoil, the horror and the bringing aboard of pillage, +Dickory Charter had kept close below deck, his face in his hands and his +heart almost broken. It is so easy for young hearts to almost break. + +When he had seen the British ship come sailing down upon them, hope had +sprung up brightly in his heart; now there was a chance of his escaping +from this hell of the waves. When the Revenge should be taken he would +rush to the British captain, or any one in authority, and tell his tale. +It would be believed, he doubted not; even his uniform would help to +prove he was no pirate; he would be taken away, he would reach Jamaica; +he would see Kate; he would carry to her the great news of her father. +After that his life could take care of itself. + +But now the blackness of darkness was over everything. Those who were to +have been his friends had vanished, the ship which was to have given him +a new life had disappeared forever. He was on board the pirate ship, +bound for the shores of England--horrible shores to him--bound to the +shores of England and to Blackbeard's Eliza! + +He was not a fool, this Dickory; he had no unwarrantable and romantic +fears that in these enlightened days one man could say to another, "Go +you, and marry the woman I have chosen for you." There was nothing silly +or cowardly about him, but he knew Blackbeard. + +Not one ray of hope thrust itself through his hands into his brain. Hope +had gone, gone to the bottom, and he was on his storm-tossed way to the +waters of another continent. + +But in the midst of his despair Dickory never thought of freeing +himself, by a sudden bound, of the world and his woes. So long as Kate +should live he must live, even if it were to prove to himself, and to +himself only, how faithful to her he could be. + +It was dark when men came tumbling below, throwing themselves into +hammocks and bunks, and Dickory prepared to turn in. If sleep should +come and without dreams, it would be greater gain than bags of gold. As +he took off his coat, the letter of the English captain dropped from his +breast. Until then he had forgotten it, but now he remembered it as a +sacred trust. The dull light of the lantern barely enabled him to +discern objects about him, but he stuck the letter into a crack in the +woodwork where in the morning he would see it and take proper care of +it. + +Soon sleep came, but not without dreams. He dreamed that he was rowing +Kate on the river at Bridgetown, and that she told him in a low sweet +voice, with a smile on her lips and her eyes tenderly upturned, that +she would like to row thus with him forever. + +Early in the morning, through an open port-hole, the light of the +eastern sun stole into this abode of darkness and sin and threw itself +upon the red-stained letter sticking in the crack of the woodwork. +Presently Dickory opened his eyes, and the first thing they fell upon +was that letter. On the side of the folded sheet he could see the +superscription, boldly but irregularly written: "Miss Kate Bonnet, +Kingston, Ja." + +Dickory sat upright, his eyes hard-fixed and burning. How long he sat he +knew not. How long his brain burned inwardly, as his eyes burned +outwardly, he knew not. The noise of the watch going on deck roused him, +and in a moment he had the letter in his hands. + +All that day Dickory Charter was worth nothing to anybody. Blackbeard +swore at him and pushed him aside. The young fellow could not even count +the doubloons in a bag. + +"Go to!" cried the pirate, blacker and more fantastically horrible than +ever, for his bare left shoulder was bound with a scarf of silk and his +great arm was streaked and bedabbled with his blood, "you are the most +cursed coward I have met with in all my days at sea. So frightened out +of your wits by a lively brush as that of yesterday! Too scared to count +gold! Never saw I that before. One might be too scared to pray, but to +count gold! Ha! ha!" and the bold pirate laughed a merry roar. He was +in good spirits; he had captured and sunk an English man-of-war; sunk +her with her English ensign floating above her. How it would have +overjoyed him if all the ships, little and big, that plied the Spanish +Main could have seen him sink that man-of-war. He was a merry man that +morning, the great Blackbeard, triumphant in victory, glowing with the +king's brandy, and with so little pain from that cut in his shoulder +that he could waste no thought upon it. + +"But Eliza will like it well," continued the merry pirate; "she will +lead you with a string, be you bold or craven, and the less you pull at +it the easier it will be for my brave girl. Ah! she will dance with joy +when I tell her what a frightened rabbit of a husband it is that I give +her. Now get away somewhere, and let your face rid itself of its +paleness; and should you find a dead man lying where he has been +overlooked, come and tell me and I will have him put aside. You must not +be frightened any more or Eliza may find that you have not left even the +spirit of a rabbit." + +All day Dickory sat silent, his misery pinned into the breast of his +coat. "Miss Kate Bonnet, Kingston, Ja."--and this on a letter written in +the dying moments of an English captain, a high and mighty captain who +must have loved as few men love, to write that letter, his life's blood +running over the paper as he wrote. And could a man love thus if he +were not loved? That was the terrible question. + +Sometimes his mind became quiet enough for him to think coherently, then +it was easy enough for him to understand everything. Kate had been a +long time in Jamaica; she had met many people; she had met this man, +this noble, handsome man. Dickory had watched him with glowing +admiration as he stood up before Blackbeard, fighting like the champion +of all good against the hairy monster who struck his blows for all that +was base and wicked. + +How Dickory's young heart had gone out in sympathy and fellowship +towards the brave English captain! How he had hoped that the next of his +quick, sharp lunges might slit the black heart of the pirate! How he had +almost wept when the noble Englishman went down! And now it made him +shudder to think his heart had stood side by side with the heart of +Kate's lover! He had sworn to deliver the letter of that lover, and he +would do it. More cruel than the bloodiest pirate was the fate that +forced him thus to bear the death-warrant of his own young life. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +BELIZE + + +There were not many captains of merchantmen in the early part of the +eighteenth century who cared to sail into the Gulf of Honduras, that +body of water being such a favourite resort of pirates. + +But no such fears troubled the mind of the skipper of the brig Belinda, +which was now making the best of her way towards the port of Belize. She +was a sturdy vessel and carried no prejudices. Sometimes she was laden +with goods bought from the pirates and destined to be sold to honest +people; and, again, she carried commodities purchased from those who +were their legal owners and intended for the use of the bold rascals who +sailed under the Jolly Roger. Then, as now, it was impossible for +thieves to steal all the commodities they desired; some things must be +bought. Thus, serving the pirates as well as honest traders, the sloop +Belinda feared not to sail the Gulf of Honduras or to cast anchor by the +town of Belize. + +As the good ship approached her port Kate Bonnet kept steadfastly on +deck during most of the daylight, her eyes searching the surface of the +water for something which looked like her father's ship, the Revenge. +True, Mr. Newcombe had written her that Major Bonnet had given up piracy +and was now engaged in commercial business in the town, but still, if +she should see the Revenge, the sight would be of absorbing interest to +her. She was a girl of quick observation and good memory, but the town +came in view and she had seen no vessel which reminded her of the +Revenge. + +As soon as the anchor was dropped, Kate wished to go on shore, but her +uncle would not hear of that. He must know something definite before he +trusted Kate or himself in such a lawless town as Belize. The captain, +who was going ashore, could make inquiries, and Kate must wait. + +In a little room at the back of a large, low storehouse, not far from +the pier, sat Stede Bonnet and his faithful friend and servitor, Ben +Greenway. The storehouse was crowded with goods of almost every +imaginable description, and even the room back of it contained an +overflow of bales, boxes, and barrels. At a small table near a window +sat the Scotchman and Bonnet, the latter reading from some roughly +written lists descriptions and quantities of goods, the value of each +item being estimated by the canny Scotchman, who set down the figures +upon another list. Presently Bonnet put down his papers and heaved a +heavy sigh, which sigh seemed to harmonize very well with his general +appearance. He carried no longer upon him the countenance of the bold +officer who, in uniform and flowing feather, trod the quarter-deck of +the Revenge, but bore the expression of a man who knew adversity, yet +was not able to humble himself under it. He was bent and borne down, +although not yet broken. Had he been broken he could better have +accommodated himself to his present case. His clothes were those of the +common class of civilian, and there was that about him which indicated +that he cared no more for neatness or good looks. + +"Ben Greenway," he said, "this is too much! Now have I reached the depth +in my sorrow at which all my strength leaves me. I cannot read these +lists." + +The Scotchman looked up. "Is there no' light enow!" he asked. + +"Light!" said Bonnet; "there is no light anywhere; all is murkiness and +gloom. The goods which you have been lately estimating are all my own, +taken from my own ship by that arch traitor and chief devil, Blackbeard. +I have read the names of them to you and I have remembered many of them +and I have not weakened, but now comes a task which is too great for me. +These things which follow were all intended for my daughter Kate. Silks +and satins and cloth of gold, ribbons and fine linen, laces and +ornaments, all these I selected for my dear daughter, and by day and by +night I have thought of her apparelled in fine raiment, more richly +dressed than any lady in Barbadoes. My daughter, my beautiful, my proud +Kate! And now what has it all come to? All these are gone, basely stolen +from me by that Blackbeard." + +Ben Greenway looked up. "Wha stole from ye," he said, "what ye had +already stolen from its rightful owners. An' think ye," he continued, +"that your honest daughter Kate would deign to array hersel' in stolen +goods, no matter how rich they might happen to be! An' think ye she +could hold up her head if the good people o' Bridgetown could point at +her an' say, 'Look at the thief's daughter; how fine she is!' An' think +ye that Mr. Martin Newcombe would tak' into his house an' hame a wife +wha hadna come honestly by her clothes! I tell ye, Master Bonnet, that +ye should exalt your soul in thankfulness that ye are no longer a +dishonest mon, an' that whatever raiment your daughter may now wear, no' +a sleeve or button o' it was purloined an' stolen by her father." + +"Ben Greenway," exclaimed Bonnet, striking his hand upon the table, "you +will drive me so mad that I cannot read writing! These things are bad +enough, and you need not make them worse." + +"Bless Heaven," said the Scotchman, "your conscience is wakin', an' the +time may come, if it is kept workin', when ye will forget your plunder +an' your blude, your wicked vanity, your cruelty an' your dishonesty, +an' mak' yoursel' worthy o' a good daughter an' a quiet hame. An' more +than that, I will tak' leave to add, o' the faithful services o' a +steadfast friend." + +"I cannot forget them, Ben," said Bonnet, speaking without anger. "The +more you talk about my sins the more I long to do them all over again; +the more you say about my vanity and pride, the more I yearn to wear my +uniform and wave my naked sword. Ay, to bring it down with blood upon +its blade. I am very wicked, Greenway; you never would admit it and you +do not admit it now, but I am wicked, and I could prove it to you if +fortune would give me opportunity." And Captain Bonnet sat up very +straight in his chair and his eyes flashed as they very often had +flashed as he trod the deck of the Revenge. + +At this moment there was a knock at the door and the captain of the +Belinda came in. + +"Good-day, sir!" said that burly seaman. "And this is Captain Bonnet, I +am sure, for I have seen him before, though garbed in another fashion, +and I come to bring you news. I have just arrived at this port in my +sloop, and I bring with me from Kingston your daughter, Mistress Kate +Bonnet, her uncle, Mr. Delaplaine, and a good dame named Charter." + +Stede Bonnet turned pale as he had never turned pale before. + +"My daughter!" he gasped. "My daughter Kate?" + +"Yes," said the captain; "she is on my ship, yearning and moaning to see +you." + +"From Kingston?" murmured Bonnet. + +"Yes," said the other, "and on fire to see you since she heard you were +here." + +"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Ben Greenway, rising, "we must hasten to that +vessel; perhaps this good captain will now tak' us there in his boat." + +Bonnet fixed his eyes upon the floor. "Ben Greenway," he said, "I +cannot. How I have longed to see my daughter, and how, time and again +and time and again, I have pictured our meeting! I have seen her throw +herself into the arms of that noble officer, her father; I have heard +her, bathed in filial tears, forgive me everything because of the proud +joy with which she looked on me and knew I was her father. Greenway, I +cannot go; I have dropped too low, and I am ashamed to meet her." + +"Ashamed that ye are honest?" cried the Scotchman. "Ashamed that sin nae +longer besets ye, an' that ye are lifted above the thief an' the +cutpurse! Master Bonnet, Master Bonnet, in good truth I am ashamed o' +ye." + +"Very well," said the captain of the Belinda, "I have no time to waste; +if you will not go to her, she e'en must come to you. I will send my +boat for her and the others, and you shall wait for them here." + +"I will not wait!" exclaimed Bonnet. "I don't dare to look into her +eyes. Behold these clothes, consider my mean employment. Shall I abash +myself before my daughter?" + +"Master Bonnet," exclaimed Greenway, hastily stepping to the doorway +through which the captain had departed, "ye shallna tie yoursel' to the +skirts o' the de'il; ye shallna run awa' an' hide yoursel' from your +daughter wha seeks, in tears an' groans, for her unworthy father. Sit +down, Master Bonnet, an' wait here until your good daughter comes." + +The Belinda's captain had intended to send his boat back to his vessel, +but now he determined to take her himself. This was such a strange +situation that it might need explanation. + +Kate screamed when he made known his errand. "What!" she cried, "my +father in the town, and did he not come back with you? Is he sick? Is he +wounded? Is he in chains?" + +"And my Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "was he not there? Has he not yet +returned to the town? It must now be a long time since he went away." + +"I know not anything more than I have told you," said the captain. "And +if Mr. Delaplaine and the two ladies will get into my boat, I will +quickly take you to the town and show you where you may find Captain +Bonnet and learn all you wish to know." + +"And Dickory," cried Dame Charter, "my son Dickory! Did they give you no +news of him?" + +"Come along, come along," said the captain, "my men are waiting in the +boat. I asked no questions, but in ten minutes you can ask a hundred if +you like." + +When the little party reached the town it attracted a great deal of +attention from the rough roisterers who were strolling about or gambling +in shady places. When the captain of the Belinda mentioned, here and +there, that these newcomers were the family of Blackbeard's factor, who +now had charge of that pirate's interests in the town, no one dared to +treat the elderly gentleman, the pretty young lady, or the rotund dame +with the slightest disrespect. The name of the great pirate was a safe +protection even when he who bore it was leagues and leagues away. + +At the door of the storehouse Ben Greenway stood waiting. He would have +hurried down to the pier had it not been that he was afraid to leave +Bonnet; afraid that this shamefaced ex-pirate would have hurried away to +hide himself from his daughter and his friends. Kate, running forward, +grasped the Scotchman by both hands. + +"And where is he?" she cried. + +"He is in there," said Ben, pointing through the storeroom to the open +door at the back. In an instant she was gone. + +"And Dickory?" cried Dame Charter. "Oh, Ben Greenway, tell me of my +boy." + +They went inside and Greenway told everything he knew, which was very +much, although it was not enough to comfort the poor mother's heart, who +could not readily believe that because Dickory had sailed away with a +great and powerful pirate, that eminent man would be sure to bring him +back in safety; but as Greenway really believed this, his words made +some impression on the good dame's heart. She could see some reason to +believe that Blackbeard, having now so much property in the town, might +make a short cruise this time, and that any day the Revenge, with her +dear son on board, might come sailing into port. + +With his face buried in his folded arms, which rested on the table, +Stede Bonnet received his daughter. At first she did not recognise him, +never having seen him in such mean apparel; but when he raised his head, +she knew her father. Closing the door behind her, she folded him in her +arms. After a little, leaving the window, they sat together upon a bale +of goods, which happened to be a rug from the Orient, of wondrous +richness, which Bonnet had reserved for the floor of his daughter's +room. + +"Never, my dear," he said, "did I dream you would see me in such +plight. I blush that you should look at me." + +"Blush!" she exclaimed, her own cheeks reddening, "and you an honest man +and no longer a freebooter and rover of the sea? My heart swells with +pride to think that your life is so changed." + +Bonnet sadly shook his head. + +"Ah!" he said, "you don't know, you cannot understand what I feel. +Kate," he exclaimed with sudden energy, "I was a man among men; a chief +over many. I was powerful, I was obeyed on every side. I looked the bold +captain that I was; my brave uniform and my sword betokened the rank I +held. And, Kate, you can never know the pride and exultation with which +I stood upon my quarter-deck and scanned the sea, master of all that +might come within my vision. How my heart would swell and my blood run +wild when I beheld in the distance a proud ship, her sails all spread, +her colours flying, heavily laden, hastening onward to her port. How I +would stretch out my arm to that proud ship and say: 'Let down those +sails, drop all those flaunting flags, for you are mine; I am greater +than your captain or your king! If I give the command, down you go to +the bottom with all your people, all your goods, all your banners and +emblazonments, down to the bottom, never to be seen again!'" + +[Illustration: Kate and her father in the warehouse.] + +Kate shuddered and began to cry. "Oh, father!" she exclaimed, "don't +say that. Surely you never did such things as that?" + +"No," said he, speaking more quietly, "not just like that, but I could +have done it all had it pleased me, and it was this sense of power that +made my heart beat so proudly. I took no life, Kate, if it could be +helped, and when I had stripped a ship of her goods, I put her people +upon shore before I burned her." + +Kate bowed her head in her hands. "And of all this you are proud, my +father, you are proud of it!" + +"Indeed am I, daughter," said he; "and had you seen me in my glory you +would have been proud of me. Perhaps yet--" + +In an instant she had clapped her hand over his mouth. "You shall not +say it!" she exclaimed. "I have seized upon you and I shall hold you. No +more freebooter's life for you; no more blood, no more fire. I shall +take you away with me. Not to Bridgetown, for there is no happiness for +either of us there, but to Spanish Town. There, with my uncle, we shall +all be happy together. You will forget the sea and its ships; you will +again wander over your fields, and I shall be with you. You shall watch +the waving crops; you shall ride with me, as you used to ride, to view +your vast herds of cattle--those splendid creatures, their great heads +uplifted, their nostrils to the breeze." + +"Truly, my Kate," said Bonnet, "that was a great sight; there were no +cattle finer on the island than were mine." + +"And so shall they be again, my father," said Kate, her arms around his +neck. + +It was then that Ben Greenway knocked upon the door. + +Stede Bonnet's mind had been so much excited by what he had been talking +about that he saluted his brother-in-law and Dame Charter without once +thinking of his clothes. They looked upon him as if he were some unknown +foreigner, a person entirely removed from their customary sphere. + +"Was this the once respectable Stede Bonnet?" asked Dame Charter to +herself. "Did such a man marry my sister!" thought Mr. Delaplaine. They +might have been surprised had they met him as a pirate, but his +appearance as a pirate's clerk amazed them. + +Towards the end of the day Mr. Delaplaine and his party returned to the +Belinda, for there was no fit place for them to lodge in the town. +Although urged by all, Stede Bonnet would not accompany them. When +persuasion had been exhausted, Ben Greenway promised Kate that he would +be responsible for her father's appearance the next day, feeling safe in +so doing; for, even should Bonnet's shame return, there was no likely +way in which he could avoid his friends. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +WISE MR. DELAPLAINE + + +Early in the next forenoon Kate and her companions prepared to make +another visit to the town. Naturally she wanted to be with her father as +much as possible and to exert upon him such influences as might make him +forget, in a degree, the so-called glories of his pirate life and return +with her and her uncle to Spanish Town, where, she believed, this +misguided man might yet surrender himself to the rural joys of other +days. Nay, more, he and she might hope for still further happiness in a +Jamaica home, for Madam Bonnet would not be there. + +As she came up from below, impatient to depart, Kate noticed, getting +over the side, a gentleman who had just arrived in a small boat. He was +tall and good-looking, and very handsomely attired in a rich suit such +as was worn at that day by French and Spanish noblemen. A sword with an +elaborate hilt was by his side, and on his head a high cocked hat. There +was fine lace at his wrists and bosom, and he wore silk stockings, and +silver buckles on his shoes. + +Kate started at meeting here a stranger, and in such an elaborate +attire. She had read of the rich dress of men of rank in Europe, but her +eyes had never fallen upon such a costume. The gentleman advanced +quickly towards her, holding out his hand. She shrank back. "What did it +mean?" + +Then in a second she saw her father's face. This fine gentleman, this +dignified and graceful man, was indeed Stede Bonnet. + +He had been so thoroughly ashamed of his mean attire on the preceding +day that he had determined not again to meet his daughter and Mr. +Delaplaine in such vulgar guise. So, from the resources of the +storehouses he had drawn forth a superb suit of clothes sent westward +for the governor of one of the French colonies. He excused himself for +taking it from Blackbeard's treasure-house, not only on account of the +demands of the emergency, but because he himself had taken it before +from a merchantman. + +"Father!" cried Kate, "what has happened to you? I never saw such a fine +gentleman." + +Bonnet smiled with complacency, and removed his cocked hat. + +"I always endeavour, my dear," said he, "to dress myself according to my +station. Yesterday, not expecting to see you, I was in a sad plight. I +would have preferred you to meet me in my naval uniform, but as that is +now, to say the least, inconvenient, and as I reside on shore in the +capacity of a merchant or business man, I attire myself to suit my +present condition. Ah! my good brother-in-law, I am glad to see you. I +may remark," he added, graciously shaking hands with Dame Charter, "that +I left my faithful Scotchman in our storehouse in the town, it being +necessary for some one to attend to our possessions there. Otherwise I +should have brought him with me, my good Dame Charter, for I am sure you +would have found his company acceptable. He is a faithful man and an +honest one, although I am bound to say that if he were less of a +Presbyterian and more of a man of the world his conversation might +sometimes be more agreeable." + +Mr. Delaplaine regarded with much earnestness and no little pleasure his +transformed brother-in-law. Hope for the future now filled his heart. If +this crack-brained sugar-planter had really recovered from his mania for +piracy and had a fancy for legitimate business, his new station might be +better for him than any he had yet known. Sugar-planting was all well +enough and suitable to any gentleman, provided Madam Bonnet were not +taken with it. She would drive any man from the paths of reason unless +he possessed an uncommonly strong brain, and he did not believe that +such a brain was possessed by his brother-in-law Bonnet. The good Mr. +Delaplaine rubbed his hands together in his satisfaction. Such a +gentleman as this would be welcome in his counting-house, even if he did +but little; his very appearance would reflect credit upon the +establishment. Dame Charter kept in the background; she had never been +accustomed to associate with the aristocracy, but she did not forget +that a cat may look at a king, and her eyes were very good. + +"There were always little cracks in his skull," she said to herself. "My +husband used to tell me that. Major Bonnet is quick at changing from one +thing to another, and it needs sharp wits to follow him." + +After a time Major Bonnet proposed a row upon the harbour--he had +brought a large boat, with four oarsmen, for this purpose. Mr. +Delaplaine objected a little to this, fearing the presence of so many +pirate vessels, but Bonnet loftily set aside such puerile objections. + +"I am the business representative of the great Blackbeard," he said, +"the most powerful pirate in the world. You are safer here than in any +other port on the American coast." + +When they were out upon the water, moving against the gentle breeze, +Bonnet disclosed the object of his excursion. "I am going to take you," +said he, "to visit some of the noted pirate ships which are anchored in +this harbour. There are vessels here which are quite famous, and +commanded by renowned Brethren of the Coast. I think you will all be +greatly interested in these, and under my convoy you need fear no +danger." + +Dame Charter and Kate screamed in their fright, and Mr. Delaplaine +turned pale. "Visit pirate ships!" he cried. "Rather I would have +supposed that you would keep away from them as far as you could. For +myself, I would have them a hundred miles distant if it were possible." + +Bonnet laughed loftily. "It will be visits of ceremony that we shall +pay, and with all due ceremony shall we be received. Pull out to that +vessel!" he said to the oarsmen. Then, turning to the others, he +remarked: "That sloop is the Dripping Blade, commanded by Captain Sorby, +whose name strikes terror throughout the Spanish Main. Ay! and in other +parts of the ocean, I can assure you, for he has sailed northward nearly +as far as I have, but he has not yet rivalled me. I know him, having +done business with him on shore. He is a most portentous person, as you +will soon see." + +"Oh, father!" cried Kate, "don't take us there; it will kill us just to +look upon such dreadful pirates. I pray you turn the boat!" + +"Oh! if Dickory were here," gasped Dame Charter, "he would turn the boat +himself; he would never allow me to be taken among those awful +wretches." + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing. It was too late to expostulate, but he +trembled as he sat. + +"I cannot turn back, my dear," said Bonnet, "even if I would, for the +great Sorby is now on deck, and looking at us as we approach." + +As the boat drew up by the side of the Dripping Blade the renowned Sorby +looked down over the side. He was a red-headed man; his long hair and +beard dyed yellow in some places by the sun. He was grievous to look +upon, and like to create in the mind of an imaginative person the image +of a sun-burned devil on a holiday. + +"Good-day to you! Good-day, Sir Bonnet," cried the pirate captain; "come +on board, come on board, all of you, wife, daughter, father, if such +they be! We'll let down ladders and I shall feast you finely." + +"Nay, nay, good Captain Sorby," replied Bonnet, with courteous dignity, +"my family and I have just stopped to pay you our respects. They have +all heard of your great prowess, for I have told them. They may never +have a chance again to look upon another of your fame." + +"Heaven grant it!" said Dame Charter in her heart. "If I get out of +this, I stay upon dry land forever." + +"I grieve that my poor ship be not honoured by your ladies," said Sorby, +"but I admit that her decks are scarcely fit for the reception of such +company. It is but to-day that we have found time to cleanse her deck +from the stain and disorder of our last fight, having lately come into +harbour. That was a great fight, Sir Bonnet; we lay low and let the +fellows board us, but not one of them went back again. Ha! ha! Not one +of them went back again, good ladies." + +Every pirate face on board that ill-conditioned sloop now glared over +her rail, their eyes fixed upon the goodly company in the little boat, +their horrid hair and beards stained and matted--it would have been hard +to tell by what. + +"Oh, father, father!" panted Kate, "please row away. What if they should +now jump down upon us?" + +"Good-day, good-day, my brave Captain Sorby," said Bonnet, "we must e'en +row away; we have other craft to visit, but would first do honour to you +and your bold crew." + +Captain Sorby lifted high his great bespattered hat, and every grinning +demon of the crew waved hat or rag or pail or cutlass and set up a +discordant yell in honour of their departing visitors. + +"Oh! go not to another, father," pleaded Kate, her pale face in tears; +"visit no more of them, I pray you!" + +"Ay, truly, keep away from them," said Mr. Delaplaine. "I am no coward, +but I vow to you that I shall die of fright if I come close to another +of those floating hells." + +"And these," said Kate to herself, her eyes fixed out over the sea, +"these are his friends, his companions, the wretches of whom he is so +proud." + +"There are no more vessels like that in port," said Bonnet; "that's the +most celebrated sloop. Those we shall now call upon are commanded by men +of milder mien; some of them you could not tell from plain merchantmen +were you not informed of their illustrious careers." + +"If you go near another pirate ship," cried Dame Charter, "I shall jump +overboard; I cannot help it." + +"Row back to the Belinda, brother-in-law," said Mr. Delaplaine in a +strong, hard voice; "your tour of pleasure is not fit for tender-hearted +women, nor, I grant it, for gentlemen of my station." + +"There are other ships whose captains I know," said Bonnet, "and where +you would have been well received; but if your nerves are not strong +enough for the courtesies I have to offer, we will return to the +Belinda." + +When safe again on board their vessel, after the sudden termination of +their projected tour of calls on pirates, Kate took her father aside and +entered into earnest conversation with him, while Mr. Delaplaine, much +ruffled in his temper, although in general of a most mild disposition, +said aside to Dame Charter: "He is as mad as a March hare. What other +parent on this earth would convey his fair young daughter into the +society of these vile wild beasts, which in his eyes are valiant +heroes? We must get him back with us, Dame Charter, we must get him +back. And if he cannot be constrained by love and goodwill to a decent +and a Christian life, we must shut him up. And if his daughter weeps and +raves, we must e'en stiffen our determination and shut him up. It shall +be my purpose now to hasten the return of the brig. There's room enough +for all, and he and the Scotchman must go back with us. The Governor +shall deal with him; and, whether it be on my estate or behind strong +bars, he shall spend the rest of his days upon the island of Jamaica, +and so know the sea no more." + +He was very much roused, this good merchant, and when he was roused he +was not slow to act. + +The captain of the Belinda was very willing to make a profitable voyage +back to Jamaica, but his vessel must be well laden before he could do +this. Goods enough there were at Belize for that purpose, for +Blackbeard's supplies were all for sale, and his chief clerk, Bonnet, +had the selling of them. So, all parties being like-minded, the Belinda +soon began to take on goods for Kingston. + +Stede Bonnet superintended everything. He was a good man of business, +and knew how to direct people who might be under him. There was a great +stir at the storehouse, and, almost blithely, Ben Greenway worked day +and night to make out invoices and to prepare goods for shipment. + +Bonnet wore no more the clothes in which his daughter had first seen him +after so long and drear a parting. On deck or on shore, in storehouse or +on the streets of Belize, he was the fine gentleman with the silk +stockings and the tall cocked hat. + +One day, a fellow, fresh from his bottle, forgetting the respect which +was due to fine clothes and to Blackbeard's factor, called out to +Bonnet: "What now, Sir Nightcap, how call you that thing you have on +your head?" + +In an instant a sword was whipped from its scabbard and a practised hand +sent its blade through the arm of the jester, who presently fell +backward. Bonnet wiped his sword upon the fellow's sleeve and, advising +him to get up and try to learn some manners, coolly walked away. + +After that fine clothes were not much laughed at in Belize, for even the +most disrespectful ruffians desired not the thrust of a quick blade nor +the ill-will of that most irascible pirate, Blackbeard. + +A few days before it was expected that the Belinda would be ready to +sail Bonnet came on board, his mind full of an important matter. Calling +Mr. Delaplaine and Kate aside, he said: "I have been thinking a great +deal lately about my Scotchman, Ben Greenway. In the first place, he is +greatly needed here, for many of Blackbeard's goods will remain in the +storehouse, and there should be some competent person to take care of +them and to sell them should opportunity offer. Besides that, he is a +great annoyance to me, and I have long been trying to get rid of him. +When I left Bridgetown I had not intended to take him with me, and his +presence on board my ship was a mere accident. Since then he has made +himself very disagreeable." + +"What!" cried Kate, "would you be willing that we should all sail away +and leave poor Ben Greenway in this place by himself among these cruel +pirates?" + +"He'll represent Blackbeard," said Bonnet, "and no one will harm him. +And, moreover, this enforced stay may be of the greatest benefit to him. +He has a good head for business, and he may establish himself here in a +very profitable fashion and go back to Barbadoes, if he so desires, in +comfortable circumstances. All we have to do is to slip our anchor and +sail away at some moment when he is busy in the town. I will leave ample +instructions for him and he shall have money." + +"Father, it would be shameful!" said Kate. + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing; he was too angry to speak, but he made up +his mind that Ben Greenway should be apprised of Bonnet's intentions of +running away from him and that such a wicked design should be thwarted. +This brother-in-law of his was a worse man than he had thought him; he +was capable of being false even to his best friend. He might be mad as a +March hare, but, truly, he was also as sly and crafty as a fox in any +month in the year. + +Wise Mr. Delaplaine! + +The very next morning there came a letter from Stede Bonnet to his +daughter Kate, in which he told her that it was absolutely impossible +for him to return to the humdrum and stupid life of sugar-planting and +cattle-raising. Having tasted the glories of a pirate's career, he could +never again be contented with plain country pursuits. So he was off and +away, the bounding sea beneath him and the brave Jolly Roger floating +over his head. He would not tell his dear daughter where he was gone or +what he intended to do, for she would be happier if she did not know. He +sent her his warmest love, and desired to be most kindly remembered to +her uncle and to Dame Charter. He would make it his business that a +correspondence should be maintained between him and his dear Kate, and +he hoped from time to time to send her presents which would help her to +know how constantly he loved her. He concluded by admitting that what he +had said about Ben Greenway was merely a blind to turn their suspicions +from his intended departure. If his good brother-in-law, out of kindness +to the Scotchman, had brought him to the Belinda and had insisted on +keeping him there, it would have made his, Bonnet's, secret departure a +great deal easier. + +Kate had never fainted in her life, but when she had finished this +letter she went down flat on her back. + +Leaving his niece to the good offices of Dame Charter, Mr. Delaplaine, +breathing hotly, went ashore, accompanied by the captain. When they +reached the storehouse they found it locked, with the key in the custody +of a shop-keeper near-by. They soon heard what had happened to +Blackbeard's business agent. He had gone off in a piratical vessel, +which had sailed for somewhere, in the middle of the night; and, +moreover, it was believed that the Scotchman who worked for him had gone +with him, for he had been seen running towards the water, and afterward +taking his place among the oarsmen in a boat which went out to the +departing vessel. + +"May that unholy vessel be sunk as soon as it reaches the open sea!" was +the deadly desire which came from the heart of Mr. Delaplaine. But the +wish had not formed itself into words before the good merchant recanted. +"I totally forgot that faithful Scotchman," he sighed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS + + +There were jolly times on board the swift ship Revenge as she sped +through the straits of Florida on her way up the Atlantic coast. The +skies were bright, the wind was fair, and the warm waters of the Gulf +Stream helped to carry her bravely on her way. But young Dickory +Charter, with the blood-stained letter of Captain Vince tucked away in +the lining of his coat, ate so little, tossed about so much in his +berth, turned so pale and spoke so seldom, that the bold Captain +Blackbeard declared that he should have some medicine. + +"I shall not let my fine lieutenant suffer for want of drugs," he cried, +"and when I reach Charles Town I shall send ashore a boat and procure +some; and if the citizens disturb or interfere with my brave fellows, +I'll bombard the town. There will be medicine to take on one side or the +other, I swear." And loud and ready were the oaths he swore. + +A pirate who carries with him an intended son-in-law is not likely, if +he be of Blackbeard's turn of mind, to suffer all his family plans to be +ruined for the want of a few drugs. + +When Dickory heard what the captain had to say on this subject his heart +shrank within him. He had never taken medicine and he had never seen +Blackbeard's daughter, but the one seemed to him almost as bad as the +other, and the thought of the cool waves beneath him became more +attractive than ever before. But that thought was quickly banished, for +he had a duty before him, and not until that was performed could he take +leave of this world, once so bright to him. + +An island with palm-trees slowly rose on the horizon, and off this +island it was that, after a good deal of tacking and close-hauling, the +Revenge lay to to take in water. Far better water than that which had +been brought from Belize. + +"Do you want to go ashore in the boat, boy?" said Blackbeard, really +mindful of the health of this projected member of his family. "It may +help your appetite to use your legs." + +Dickory did not care to go anywhere, but he had hardly said so when a +revulsion of feeling came upon him, and turning away so that his face +might not be noticed, he said he thought the land air might do him good. +While the men were at work carrying their pails from the well-known +spring to the water-barrels in the boat, Dickory strolled about to view +the scenery, for it could never have been expected that a first +lieutenant in uniform should help to carry water. At first the scenery +did not appear to be very interesting, and Dickory wandered slowly from +here to there, then sat down under a tree. Presently he rose and went to +another tree, a little farther away from the boat and the men at the +spring. Here he quietly took off his shoes and his stockings, and, +having nothing else to do, made a little bundle of them, listlessly +tying them to his belt; then he rose and walked away somewhat brisker, +but not in the direction of the boat. He did not hurry, but even stopped +sometimes to look at things, but he still walked a little briskly, and +always away from the boat. He had been so used, this child of outdoor +life, to going about the world barefooted, that it was no wonder that he +walked briskly, being relieved of his encumbering shoes and stockings. + +After a time he heard a shout behind him, and turning saw three men of +the boat's crew upon a little eminence, calling to him. Then he moved +more quickly, always away from the boat, and with his head turned he saw +the men running towards him, and their shouts became louder and wilder. +Then he set off on a good run, and presently heard a pistol shot. This +he knew was to frighten him and make him stop, but he ran the faster and +soon turned the corner of a bit of woods. Then he was away at the top of +his speed, making for a jungle of foliage not a quarter of a mile +before him. Shouts he heard, and more shots, but he caught sight of no +pursuers. Urged on even as they were by the fear of returning to the +ship without Dickory, they could not expect to match, in their heavy +boots, the stag-like speed of this barefooted bounder. + +After a time Dickory stopped running, for his path, always straight +away, so far as he could judge, from the landing-place, became very +difficult. In the forest there were streams, sometimes narrow and +sometimes wide, and how deep he knew not, so that now he jumped, now he +walked on fallen trees. Sometimes he crossed water and marsh by swinging +himself from the limbs of one tree to those of another. This was hard +work for a young gentleman in a naval uniform and cocked hat, but it had +to be done; and when the hat was knocked off it was picked up again, +with its feathers dripping. + +Dickory was going somewhere, although he knew not whither, and he had +solemn business to perform which he had sworn to do, and therefore he +must have fit clothes to wear, not only in which to travel but in which +to present himself suitably when he should accomplish his mission. All +these things Dickory thought of, and he picked up his cocked hat +whenever it dropped. He would have been very hungry had he not bethought +himself to fill his pockets with biscuits before he left the vessel. And +as to fresh water, there was no lack of that. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A GIRL WHO LAUGHED + + +It was towards nightfall of the day on which Dickory had escaped from +the pirates at the spring that he found himself on a piece of high +ground in an open place in the forest, and here he determined to spend +the night. With his dirk he cut a quantity of palmetto leaves and made +himself a very comfortable bed, on which he was soon asleep, fearing no +pirates. + +In the morning he rose early from his green couch, ate the few biscuits +which were left in his pockets, and, putting on his shoes and stockings, +started forth upon, what might have been supposed to be, an aimless +tramp. + +But it was not aimless. Dickory had a most wholesome dread of that +indomitable apostle of cruelty and wickedness, the pirate Blackbeard. He +believed that it would be quite possible for that savage being to tie up +his beard in tails, to blacken his face with powder, to hang more +pistols from his belt and around his neck, and swear that the Revenge +should never leave her anchorage until her first lieutenant had been +captured and brought back to her. So he had an aim, and that was to get +away as far as possible from the spot where he had landed on the island. + +He did not believe that his pursuers, if there were any upon his track, +could have travelled in the night, for it had been pitchy black; and, as +he now had a good start of them, he thought he might go so far that they +would give up the search. Then he hoped to be able to keep himself alive +until he was reasonably sure that the Revenge had hoisted anchor and +sailed away, when it was his purpose to make his way back to the spring +and wait for some other vessel which would take him away. + +With his shoes on he travelled more easily, although not so swiftly, and +after an hour of very rough walking he heard a sound which made him stop +instantly and listen. At first he thought it might be the wind in the +trees, but soon his practised ear told him that it was the sound of the +surf upon the beach. Without the slightest hesitation, he made his way +as quickly as possible towards the sound of the sea. + +In less than half an hour he found himself upon a stretch of sand which +extended from the forest to the sea, and upon which the waves were +throwing themselves in long, crested lines. With a cry of joy he ran out +upon the beach, and with outstretched arms he welcomed the sea as if it +had been an old and well-tried friend. + +But Dickory's gratitude and joy had nothing to found itself upon. The +sea might far better have been his enemy than his friend, for if he had +thought about it, the sandy beach would have been the road by which a +portion of the pirate's men would have marched to cut off his flight, or +they would have accomplished the same end in boats. + +But Dickory thought of no enemy and his heart was cheered. He pressed on +along the beach. The walking was so much better now that he made good +progress, and the sun had not reached its zenith when he found himself +on the shore of a small stream which came down from some higher land in +the interior and here poured itself into the sea. He walked some +distance by this stream, in order to get some water which might be free +from brackishness, and then, with very little trouble, he crossed it. +Before him was a knoll of moderate height, and covered with low foliage. +Mounting this, he found that he had an extended view over the interior +of the island. In the background there stretched a wide savanna, and at +the distance of about half a mile he saw, very near a little cluster of +trees, a thin column of smoke. His eyes rounded and he stared and +stared. He now perceived, from behind the leaves, the end of a thatched +roof. + +"People!" Dickory exclaimed, and his heart beat fast with joy. Why his +heart should be joyful he could not have told himself except that there +was no earthly reason to believe that the persons who were making that +fire near that thatched-roof house were pirates. To go to this house, +whatever it might be, to take his chances there instead of remaining +alone in the wide forest, was our young man's instant determination. But +before he started there was something else he thought of. He took off +his coat, and with a bunch of leaves he brushed it. Then he arranged the +plumes of his hat and brushed some mud from them, gave himself a general +shake, and was ready to make a start. All this by a fugitive pursued by +savage pirates on a desert island! But Dickory was a young man, and he +wore the uniform of a naval officer. + +After a brisk walk, which was somewhat longer than he had supposed it +would be, Dickory reached the house behind the trees. At a short +distance burned the fire whose smoke he had seen. Over the fire hung an +iron pot. Oh, blessed pot! A gentle breeze blew from the fire towards +Dickory, and from the heavenly odour which was borne upon it he knew +that something good to eat was cooking in that pot. + +A man came quickly from behind the house. He was tall, with a beard a +little gray, and his scanty attire was of the most nondescript fashion. +With amazement upon his face, he spoke to Dickory in English. + +"What, sir," he cried, "has a man-of-war touched at this island?" + +Dickory could not help smiling, for the man's countenance told him how +he had been utterly astounded, and even stupefied, by the sight of a +gentleman in naval uniform in the interior of that island, an almost +desert region. + +"No man-of-war has touched here," said Dickory, "and I don't belong to +one. I wear these clothes because I am compelled to do so, having no +others. Yesterday afternoon I escaped from some pirates who stopped for +water, and since leaving them I have made my way to this spot." + +The man stepped forth quickly and stretched out his hand. + +"Bless you! Bless you!" he cried. "You are the first human being, other +than my family, that I have seen for two years." + +A little girl now came from behind the house, and when her eyes fell +upon Dickory and his cocked hat she screamed with terror and ran +indoors. A woman appeared at the door, evidently the man's wife. She had +a pleasant face, but her clothes riveted Dickory's attention. It would +be impossible to describe them even if one were gazing upon them. It +will be enough to say that they covered her. Her amazement more than +equalled that of her husband; she stood and stared, but could not speak. + +"From the spring at the end of the island," cried the man, "to this +house since yesterday afternoon! I have always supposed that no one +could get here from the spring by land. I call that way impassable. You +are safe here, sir, I am sure. Pirates would not follow very far through +those forests and morasses; they would be afraid they would never get +back to their ship. But I will find out for certain if you have reason, +sir, to fear pursuit by boat or otherwise." + +And then, stepping around to the other end of the house, he called, +"Lucilla!" + +"You are hungry, sir," said the woman; "presently you shall share our +meal, which is almost cooked." + +Now the man returned. + +"This is not a time for questions, sir," he said, "either from you or +from us. You must eat and you must rest, then we can talk. We shall not +any of us apologize for our appearance, and you will not expect it when +you have heard our story. But I can assure you, sir, that we do not look +nearly so strange to you as you appear to us. Never before, sir, did I +see in this climate, and on shore, a man attired in such fashion." + +Dickory smiled. "I will tell you the tale of it," he said, "when we have +eaten; I admit that I am famished." + +The man was now called away, and when he returned he said to Dickory: +"Fear nothing, sir; your ship is no longer at the anchorage by the +spring. She has sailed away, wisely concluding, I suppose, that pursuit +of you would be folly, and even madness." + +The dinner was an exceedingly plain one, spread upon a rude table under +a tree. The little girl, who had overcome her fear of "the soldier" as +she considered him, made one of the party. + +During the meal Dickory briefly told his story, confining it to a mere +statement of his escape from the pirates. + +"Blackbeard!" exclaimed the man. "Truly you did well to get away from +him, no matter into what forests you plunged or upon what desert island +you lost yourself. At any moment he might have turned upon you and cut +you to pieces to amuse himself. I have heard the most horrible stories +of Blackbeard." + +"He treated me very well," said Dickory, "but I know from his own words +that he reserved me for a most horrible fate." + +"What!" exclaimed the man, "and he told you? He is indeed a demon!" + +"Yes," said Dickory, "he said over and over again that he was going to +take me to England to marry me to his daughter." + +At this the wife could not refrain from a smile. "Matrimony is not +generally considered a horrible fate," said she; "perhaps his daughter +may be a most comely and estimable young person. Girls do not always +resemble their fathers." + +"Do not mention it," exclaimed Dickory, with a shudder; "that was one +reason that I ran away; I preferred any danger from man or beast to that +he was taking me to." + +"He is engaged to be married," thought the woman; "it is easy enough to +see that." + +"Now tell me your story, I pray you," said Dickory. "But first, I would +like very much to know how you found out that Blackbeard's ship was not +at her anchorage?" + +"That's a simple thing," said the man. "Of course you did not observe, +for you could not, that from its eastern point where lies the spring, +this island stretches in a long curve to the south, reaching northward +again about this spot. Consequently, there is a little bay to the east +of us, across which we can see the anchoring ground of such ships as may +stop here for water. Your way around the land curve of the island was a +long one, but the distance straight across the bay is but a few miles. +Upon a hill not far from here there is a very tall tree, which overtops +all the other trees, and to the upper branches of this tree my daughter, +who is a great climber, frequently ascends with a small glass, and is +thus able to report if there is a vessel at the anchorage." + +"What!" exclaimed Dickory, "that little girl?" + +"Oh, no!" said the man; "it is my other daughter, who is a grown young +woman." + +"She is not here now," said the mother. And this piece of unnecessary +information was given in tones which might indicate that the young lady +had stepped around to visit a neighbour. + +"It is important," said the man, "that I should know if vessels have +anchored here, for if they be merchantmen I sometimes do business with +them." + +"Business!" said Dickory. "That sounds extremely odd. Pray tell me how +you came to be here." + +"My name is Mander," said the other, "and about two years ago I was on +my way from England to Barbadoes, where, with my wife and two girls, I +expected to settle. We were captured by a pirate ship and marooned upon +this island. I will say, to the pirate captain's credit, that he was a +good sort of man considering his profession. He sailed across the bay on +purpose to find a suitable place to land us, and he left with us some +necessary articles, such as axes and tools, kitchen utensils, and a gun +with some ammunition. Then he sailed away, leaving us here, and here we +have since lived. Under the circumstances, we have no right to complain, +for had we been taken by an ordinary pirate it is likely that our bones +would now be lying at the bottom of the ocean. + +"Here I have worked hard and have made myself a home, such as it is. +There are wild cattle upon the distant savannas, and I trap game and +birds, cultivate the soil to a certain extent, and if we had clothes I +might say we would be in better circumstances than many a respectable +family in England. Sometimes when a merchantman anchors here and I have +hides or anything else which we can barter for things we need, I row +over the bay in a canoe which I have made, and have thus very much +bettered our condition. But in no case have I been able to provide my +family with suitable clothes." + +"Why did you not get some of these merchant ships to carry you away?" +asked Dickory. + +The man shook his head. "There is no place," he said sadly, "to which I +can in reason ask a ship to carry me and my family. We have no money, no +property whatever. In any other place I would be far poorer than I am +here. My children are not uneducated; my wife and I have done our best +for them in that respect, and we have some books with us. So, as you +see, it would be rash in me to leave a home which, rude as it is, +shelters and supports my family, to go as paupers and strangers to some +other land." + +The wife heaved a sigh. "But poor Lucilla!" she said. "It is dreadful +that she should be forced to grow up here." + +"Lucilla?" asked Dickory. + +"Yes, sir," she said, "my eldest daughter. But she is not here now." + +Dickory thought that it was somewhat odd that he should be again +informed of a fact which he knew very well, but he made no remarks upon +the subject. + +Still wearing his cocked hat--for he had nothing else with which to +shield his head from the sun--and with his uniform coat on, for he had +not yet an opportunity of ripping from it the letter he carried, and +this he would not part from--Dickory roamed about the little settlement. +Mander was an industrious and thrifty man. His garden, his buildings, +and his surroundings showed that. + +Walking past a clump of low bushes, Dickory was startled by a laugh--a +hearty laugh--the laugh of a girl. Looking quickly around, he saw, +peering above the tops of the bushes, the face of the girl who had +laughed. + +"It is too funny!" she said, as his eyes fell upon her. "I never saw +anything so funny in all my life. A man in regimentals in this weather +and upon a desert island. You look as if you had marched faster than +your army, and that you had lost it in the forest." + +Dickory smiled. "You ought not to laugh at me," he said, "for these +clothes are really a great misfortune. If I could change them for +something cool I should be more than delighted." + +"You might take off your heavy coat," said she; "you need not be on +parade here. And instead of that awful hat, I can make you one of long +grass. Do you see the one I have on? Isn't that a good hat? I have one +nearly finished which I am making for my father; you may have that." + +Dickory would most gladly have taken off his coat if, without +observation, he could have transferred his sacred letter to some other +part of his clothes, but he must wait for that. He accepted instantly, +however, the offer of the hat. + +"You seem to know all about me," he said; "did you hear me tell my +story?" + +"Every word of it," said she, "and it is the queerest story I ever +heard. Think of a pirate carrying a man away to marry him to his +daughter!" + +"But why don't you come from behind that bush and talk to me?" + +"I can't do it," said she, "I am dressed funnier than you are. Now I am +going to make your hat." And in an instant she had departed. + +Dickory now strolled on, and when he returned he seated himself in the +shade near the house. The letter of Captain Vince was taken from his +coat-lining and secured in one of his breeches pockets; his heavy coat +and waistcoat lay upon the ground beside him, with the cocked hat placed +upon them. As he leaned back against the tree and inhaled the fragrant +breeze which came to him from the forest, Dickory was a more cheerful +young man than he had been for many, many days. He thought of this +himself, and wondered how a man, carrying with him his sentence of +lifelong misery, could lean against a tree and take pleasure in +anything, be it a hospitable welcome, a sense of freedom from danger, a +fragrant breeze, or the face of a pretty girl behind a bush. But these +things did please him; he could not help it. And when presently came +Mrs. Mander, bringing him a light grass hat fresh from the +manufacturer's hands, he took it and put it on with more evident +pleasure than the occasion seemed to demand. + +"Your daughter is truly an artist," said Dickory. + +"She does many things well," said the mother, "because necessity compels +her and all of us to learn to work in various ways." + +"Can I not thank her?" said Dickory. + +"No," the mother answered, "she is not here now." + +Dickory had begun to hate that self-evident statement. + +"She's looking out for ships; her pride is a little touched that she +missed Blackbeard's vessel yesterday." + +"Perhaps," said Dickory, with a movement as if he would like to make a +step in the direction of some tall tree upon a hill. + +"No," said Mrs. Mander, "I cannot ask you to join my daughter. I am +compelled to state that her dress is not a suitable one in which to +appear before a stranger." + +"Excuse me," said Dickory; "and I beg, madam, that you will convey to +her my thanks for making me such an excellent hat." + +A little later Mander joined Dickory. "I am sorry, sir," said he, "that +I am not able to present you to my daughter Lucilla. It is a great grief +to us that her attire compels her to deny herself other company than +that of her family. I really believe, sir, that it is Lucilla's +deprivations on this island which form at present my principal +discontent with my situation. But we all enjoy good health, we have +enough to eat, and shelter over us, and should not complain." + +As soon as he was at liberty to do so, Dickory walked by the hedge of +low bushes, and there, above it, was the bright face, with the pretty +grass hat. + +"I was waiting for you," said she. "I wanted to see how that hat fitted, +and I think it does nicely. And I wanted to tell you that I have been +looking out for ships, but have not seen one. I don't mean by that that +I want you to go away almost as soon as you have come, but of course, if +a merchant ship should anchor here, it would be dreadful for you not to +know." + +"I am not sure," said Dickory gallantly, "that I am in a hurry for a +ship. It is truly very pleasant here." + +"What makes it pleasant?" said the girl. + +Dickory hesitated for a moment. "The breeze from the forest," said he. + +She laughed. "It is charming," she said, "but there are so many places +where there is just as good a breeze, or perhaps better. How I would +like to go to some one of them! To me this island is lonely and doleful. +Every time I look over the sea for a ship I hope that one will come that +can carry us away." + +"Then," said Dickory, "I wish a ship would come to-morrow and take us +all away together." + +She shook her head. "As my father told you," said she, "we have no place +to go to." + +Dickory thought a good deal about the sad condition of the family of +this worthy marooner. He thought of it even after he had stretched +himself for the night upon the bed of palmetto leaves beneath the tree +against which he had leaned when he wondered how he could be so cheerful +under the shadow of the sad fate which was before him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +LUCILLA'S SHIP + + +As soon as Dickory had left off his cocked hat and his gold-embroidered +coat, the little girl Lena had ceased to be afraid of him, and the next +morning she came to him, seated lonely--for this was a busy +household--and asked him if he would like to take a walk. So, hand in +hand, they wandered away. Presently they entered a path which led +through the woods. + +"This is the way my sister goes to her lookout tree," said the little +girl. "Would you like to see that tree?" + +"Oh, yes!" said Dickory, and he spoke the truth. + +"She goes up to the very top," said Lena, "to look for ships. I would +never do that; I'd rather never see a ship than to climb to the top of +such a tree. I'll show it to you in a minute; we're almost there." + +At a little distance from the rest of the forest and upon a bluff which +overlooked a stretch of lowland, and beyond that the bay, stood a tall +tree with spreading branches and heavy foliage. + +"Up in the top of that is where she sits," said the child, "and spies +out for ships. That's what she's doing now. Don't you see her up there?" + +"Your sister in the tree!" exclaimed Dickory. And his first impulse was +to retire, for it had been made quite plain to him that he was not +expected to present himself to the young lady of the house, should she +be on the ground or in the air. But he did not retire. A voice came to +him from the tree-top, and as he looked upward he saw the same bright +face which had greeted him over the top of the bushes. Below it was a +great bunch of heavy leaves. + +"So you have come to call on me, have you?" said the lady in the tree. +"I am glad to see you, but I'm sorry that I cannot ask you to come +upstairs. I am not receiving." + +"He could not come up if he wanted to," said Lena; "he couldn't climb a +tree like that." + +"And he doesn't want to," cried the nymph of the bay-tree. "I have been +up here all the morning," said she, "looking for ships, but not one have +I seen." + +"Isn't that a tiresome occupation?" asked Dickory. + +"Not altogether," she said. "The branches up here make a very nice seat, +and I nearly always bring a book with me. You will wonder how we get +books, but we had a few with us when we were marooned, and since that my +father has always asked for books when he has an opportunity of trading +off his hides. But I have read them all over and over again, and if it +were not for the ships which I expect to come here and anchor, I am +afraid I should grow melancholy." + +"What sort of ships do you look for?" asked Dickory, who was gazing +upward with so much interest that he felt a little pain in the back of +his neck, and who could not help thinking of a framed engraving which +hung in his mother's little parlour, and which represented some angels +composed of nothing but heads and wings. He saw no wings under the head +of the charming young creature in the tree, but there was no reason +which he could perceive why she should not be an angel marooned upon a +West Indian island. + +"There are a great many of them," said she, "and they're all alike in +one way--they never come. But there's one of them in particular which I +look for and look for and look for, and which I believe that some day I +shall really see. I have thought about that ship so often and I have +dreamed about it so often that I almost know it must come." + +"Is it an English ship?" asked Dickory, speaking with some effort, for +he found that the girl's voice came down much more readily than his +went up. + +"I don't know," said she, "but I suppose it must be, for otherwise I +should not understand what the people on board should say to me. It is a +large ship, strong and able to defend itself against any pirates. It is +laden with all sorts of useful and valuable things, and among these are +a great many trunks and boxes filled with different kinds of clothes. +Also, there's a great deal of money kept in a box by itself, and is in +charge of an agent who is bringing it out to my father, supposing him to +be now settled in Barbadoes. This money is generally a legacy for my +father from a distant relative who has recently died. On this ship there +are so many delightful things that I cannot even begin to mention them." + +"And where is it going to?" asked Dickory. + +"That I don't know exactly. Sometimes I think that it is going to the +island of Barbadoes, where we originally intended to settle; but then I +imagine that there is some pleasanter place than Barbadoes, and if +that's the case the ship is going there." + +"There can be no pleasanter place than Barbadoes," cried Dickory. "I +come from that island, where I was born; there is no land more lovely in +all the West Indies." + +"You come from Barbadoes?" cried the girl, "and it really is a pleasant +island?" + +"Most truly it is," said he, "and the great dream of my life is to get +back there." Then he stopped. Was it really the dream of his life to get +back there? That would depend upon several things. + +"If, then, you tell me the truth, my ship is bound for Barbadoes. And if +she should go, would you like to go there with us?" + +Dickory hesitated. "Not directly," said he. "I would first touch at +Jamaica." + +For some moments there was no answer from the tree-top, and then came +the question: "Is it a girl who lives there?" + +"Yes," said Dickory unguardedly, "but also I have a mother in Jamaica." + +"Indeed," said she, "a mother! Well, we might stop there and take the +mother with us to Barbadoes. Would the girl want to go too?" + +Dickory bent his head. "Alas!" said he, "I do not know." + +Then spoke the little Lena. "I would not bother about any particular +place to go to," said she. "I'd be so glad to go anywhere that isn't +here. But it is not a real ship, you know." + +"I don't think I will take you," called down Lucilla. "I don't want too +many passengers, especially women I don't know. But I often think there +will be a gentleman passenger--one who really wants to go to Barbadoes +and nowhere else. Sometimes he is one kind of a gentleman and sometimes +another, but he is never a soldier or a sailor, but rather one who +loves to stay at home. And now, sir, I think I must take my glass and +try to pick out a ship from among the spots on the far distant waves." + +"Come on," said Lena, "do you like to fish! Because if you do, I can +take you to a good place." + +The rest of the day Dickory spent with Mr. Mander and his wife, who were +intelligent and pleasant people. They talked of their travels, their +misfortunes and their blessings, and Dickory yearned to pour out his +soul to them, but he could not do so. His woes did not belong to himself +alone; they were not for the ears of strangers. He made up his mind what +he would do. Until the morrow he would stay as a visitor with these most +hospitable people, then he would ask for work. He would collect +firewood, he would hunt, he would fish, he would do anything. And here +he would support himself until there came some merchant ship bound +southward which would carry him away. If the Mander family were anyway +embarrassed or annoyed by his presence here, he would make a camp at a +little distance and live there by himself. Perhaps the lady of the tree +would kindly send him word if the ship he was looking for should come. + +It was about the middle of the afternoon, and Lena had dropped asleep +beneath the tree where Dickory and her parents were conversing, when +suddenly there rushed upon the little group a most surprising figure. +At the first flash of thought Dickory supposed that a boy from the skies +had dropped among them, but in an instant he recognised the face he had +seen above the bushes. It was Lucilla, the daughter of the house! Upon +her head was a little straw hat, and she wore a loose tunic and a pair +of sailor's trousers, which had been cut off and were short enough to +show that her feet and ankles were bare. Around her waist she had a belt +of skins, from which dangled a string of crimson sea-beans. Her eyes +were wide open, her face was pale, and she was trembling with +excitement. + +"What do you think!" she cried, not caring who was there or who might +look at her. "There's a ship at the spring, and there's a boat rowing +across the bay. A boat with four men in it!" + +All started to their feet. + +"A boat," cried Mander, "with four men in it? Run, my dear, to the cave; +press into its depths as far as you can. There is nothing there to be +afraid of, and no matter how frightened you are, press into its most +distant depths. You, sir, will remain with me, or would you rather +escape? If it is a pirate ship, it may be Blackbeard who has returned." + +"Not so," cried Lucilla, "it is a merchant vessel, and they are making +straight for the mouth of our stream." + +"I will stay here with you," said Dickory, "and stand by you, unless I +may help your family seek the cave you speak of." + +"No, no," said Mander, "they don't need you, and if you will do so we +will go down to the beach and meet these men; that will be better than +to have them search for us. They will know that people live here, for my +canoe is drawn up on the beach." + +"Is this safe?" cried Dickory; "would it not be better for you to go +with your family and hide with them? I will meet the men in the boat." + +"No, no," said Mander; "if their vessel is no pirate, I do not fear +them. But I will not have them here." + +Now, after Mander had embraced his family, they hurried away in tears, +the girl Lucilla casting not one glance at Dickory. Impressed by the +impulse that it was the proper thing to do, Dickory put on his coat and +waistcoat and clapped upon his head his high cocked hat. Then he rapidly +followed Mander to the beach, which they reached before the boat touched +the sand. + +When the man in the stern of the boat, which was now almost within +hailing distance, saw the two figures run down upon the beach, he spoke +to the oarsmen and they all stopped and looked around. The stop was +occasioned by the sight of Dickory in his uniform; and this, under the +circumstances, was enough to stop any boat's crew. Then they fell to +again and pulled ashore. When the boat was beached one of its occupants, +a roughly dressed man, sprang ashore and walked cautiously towards +Mander; then he gave a great shout. + +"Heigho, heigho!" he cried, "and Mander, this is you!" + +Then there was great hand-shaking and many words. + +"Excuse me, sir," said the man, raising his hat to Dickory, "it is now +more than two years since I have seen my friend here, when he was +marooned by pirates. We were all on the same merchantman, but the pirate +took me along, being short of hands. I got away at last, sir" (all the +time addressing Dickory instead of Mander, this being respect to his +rank), "and shipping on board that brig, sir, I begged it of the captain +that he would drop anchor here and take in water, although I cannot say +it was needed, and give me a chance to land and see if my old friend be +yet alive. I knew the spot, having well noted it when Mander and his +family were marooned." + +"And this is Lucilla's ship," said Dickory to himself. But to the sailor +he said: "This is a great day for your friend and his family. But you +must not lift your hat to me, for I am no officer." + +For a long time, at least it seemed so to Dickory, who wanted to run to +the cave and tell the good news, they all stood together on the sands +and talked and shook hands and laughed and were truly thankful, the men +who had come in the boat as much so as those who were found on the +island. It was agreed, and there was no discussion on this point, that +the Mander family should be carried away in the brig, which was an +English vessel bound for Jamaica, but the happy Mander would not ask any +of the boat's crew to visit him at his home. Instead, he besought them +to return to their vessel and bring back some clothes for women, if any +such should be included in her cargo. + +"My family," said he, "are not in fit condition to venture themselves +among well-clad people. They are, indeed, more like savages than am I +myself." + +"I doubt," said Mander's friend, "if the ship carries goods of that +description, but perhaps the captain might let you have a bale of cotton +cloth, although I suppose--" and here he looked a little embarrassed. + +"Oh, we can buy it," cried Dickory, taking some pieces of gold from his +pocket, being coin with which Blackbeard had furnished him, swearing +that his first lieutenant could not feel like a true officer without +money in his pocket; "take this and fetch the cloth if nothing better +can be had." + +"Thank you," cried Mander; "my wife and daughters can soon fashion it +into shape." + +"And," added Dickory, reflecting a little and remembering the general +hues of Lucilla's face, "if there be choice in colours, let the cloth be +pink." + +When Mander and Dickory reached the house they did not stop, but hurried +on towards the cave, both of them together, for each thought only of the +great joy they were taking with them. + +"Come out! Come out!" shouted Mander, as he ran, and before they reached +the cave its shuddering inmates had hurried into the light. When the +cries and the tears and the embraces were over, Lucilla first looked at +Dickory. She started, her face flushed, and she was about to draw back; +then she stopped, and advancing held out her hand. + +"It cannot be helped," she said; "anyway, you have seen me before, and I +suppose it doesn't matter. I'm a sailor boy, and have to own up to it. I +did hope you would think of me as a young lady, but we are all so happy +now that that doesn't matter. Oh, father!" she cried, "it can't be; we +are not fit to be saved; we must perish here in our wretched rags." + +"Not so," cried Dickory, with a bow; "I've already bought you a gown, +and I hope it is pink." + +As they all hurried away, the tale of the hoped-for clothes was told; +and although Mrs. Mander wondered how gowns were to be made while a +merchantman waited, she said nothing of her doubts, and they all ran +gleefully. Lucilla and Dickory being the fleetest led the others, and +Dickory said: "Now that I have seen you thus, I shall be almost sorry if +that ship can furnish you with common clothes, what you wear becomes you +so." + +"Oho!" cried Lucilla, "that's fine flattery, sir; but I am glad you said +it, for that speech has made me feel more like a woman than I have felt +since I first put on this sailor's toggery." + +In the afternoon the boat returned, Mander and Dickory watching on the +beach. When it grounded, Davids, Mander's friend, jumped on shore, +bearing in his arms a pile of great coarse sacks. These he threw upon +the sand and, handing to Dickory the gold pieces he had given him, said: +"The captain sends word that he has no time to look over any goods to +give or to sell, but he sends these sacks, out of which the women can +fashion themselves gowns, and so come aboard. Then the ship shall be +searched for stuffs which will suit their purposes and which they can +make at their leisure." + +It was towards the close of the afternoon that all of the Mander family +and Dickory came down to the boat which was waiting for them. + +"Do you know," said Dickory, as he and Lucilla stood together on the +sand, "that in that gown of gray, with the white sleeves, and the red +cord around your waist, you please me better than even you did when you +wore your sailor garb?" + +"And what matters it, sir, whether I please you or not?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +CAPTAIN ICHABOD + + +Kate Bonnet was indeed in a sad case. She had sailed from Kingston with +high hopes and a gay heart, and before she left she had written to +Master Martin Newcombe to express her joy that her father had given up +his unlawful calling and to say how she was going to sail after him, +fold him in her forgiving arms, and bring him back to Jamaica, where she +and her uncle would see to it that his past sins were forgiven on +account of his irresponsible mind, and where, for the rest of his life, +he would tread the paths of peace and probity. In this letter she had +not yielded to the earnest entreaty which was really the object and soul +of Master Newcombe's epistle. Many kind things she said to so kind a +friend, but to his offer to make her the queen of his life she made no +answer. She knew she was his very queen, but she would not yet consent +to be invested with the royal robes and with the crown. + +And when she had reached Belize, how proudly happy she had been! She +had seen her father, no longer an outlaw, honest though in mean +condition, earning his bread by honourable labour. Then, with a still +greater pride, she had seen him clad as a noble gentleman and bearing +himself with dignity and high complacence. What a figure he would have +made among the fine folks who were her uncle's friends in Kingston and +in Spanish Town! + +But all this was over now. With his own hand he had told her that once +again she was a pirate's daughter. She went below to her cabin, where, +with wet cheeks, Dame Charter attended her. + +Mr. Delaplaine was angry, intensely angry. Such a shameful, wicked trick +had never before been played upon a loving daughter. There were no words +in which to express his most justifiable wrath. Again he went to the +town to learn more, but there was nothing more to learn except that some +people said they had reason to believe that Bonnet had gone to follow +Blackbeard. From things they had heard they supposed that the vessel +which had sailed away in the night had gone to offer herself as consort +to the Revenge; to rob and burn in the company of that notorious ship. + +There was no satisfaction in this news for the heart of the good +merchant, and when he returned to the brig and sought his niece's cabin +he had no words with which to cheer her. All he could do was to tell her +the little he had learned and to listen to her supplications. + +"Oh, uncle," she exclaimed, "we must follow him, we must take him, we +must hold him! I care not where he is, even if it be in the company of +the dreadful Blackbeard! We must take him, we must hold him, and this +time we must carry him away, no matter whether he will or not. I believe +there must be some spark of feeling, even in the heart of a bloody +pirate, which will make him understand a daughter's love for her father, +and he will let me have mine. Oh, uncle! we were very wrong. When he was +here with us we should have taken him then; we should have shut him up; +we should have sailed with him to Kingston." + +All this was very depressing to the soul of Kate's loving uncle, for how +was he to sail after her father and take him and hold him and carry him +away? He went away to talk to the captain of the Belinda, but that tall +seaman shook his head. His vessel was not ready yet to sail, being much +delayed by the flight of Bonnet. And, moreover, he vowed that, although +he was as bold a seaman as any, he would never consent to set out upon +such an errand as the following of Blackbeard. It was terrifying enough +to be in the same bay with him, even though he were engaged in business +with the pirate, for no one knew what strange freak might at any time +suggest itself to the soul of that most bloody roisterer; but as to +following him, it was like walking into an alligator's jaws. He would +take his passengers back to Kingston, but he could not sail upon any +wild cruises, nor could he leave Belize immediately. + +But Kate took no notice of all this when her uncle had told it to her. +She did not wish to go back to Jamaica; she did not wish to wait at +Belize. It was the clamorous longing of her heart to go after her father +and to find him wherever he might be, and she did not care to consider +anything else. + +Dame Charter added also her supplications. Her boy was with Blackbeard, +and she wished to follow the pirate's ship. Even if she should never see +Major Bonnet--whom she loathed and despised, though never saying so--she +would find her Dickory. She, too, believed that there must be some spark +of feeling even in a bloody pirate's heart which would make him +understand the love of a mother for her son, and he would let her have +her boy. + +Mr. Delaplaine sat brooding on the deck. The righteous anger kindled by +the conduct of his brother-in-law, and his grief for the poor stricken +women, sobbing in the cabin, combined together to throw him into the +most dolorous state of mind, which was aggravated by the knowledge that +he could do nothing except to wait until the Belinda sailed back to +Jamaica and to go to Jamaica in her. + +As the unhappy merchant sat thus, his face buried in his hands, a small +boat came alongside and a passenger mounted to the deck. This person, +after asking a few questions, approached Mr. Delaplaine. + +"I have come, sir, to see you," he said. "I am Captain Ichabod of the +sloop Restless." + +Mr. Delaplaine looked up in surprise. "That is a pirate ship," said he. + +"Yes," said the other, "I'm a pirate." + +The newcomer was a tall young man, with long dark hair and with +well-made features and a certain diffidence in his manner which did not +befit his calling. + +Mr. Delaplaine rose. This was his first private interview with a +professional sea-robber, and he did not know exactly how to demean +himself; but as his visitor's manner was quiet, and as he came on board +alone, it was not to be supposed that his intentions were offensive. + +"And you wish to see me, sir?" said he. + +"Yes," said Captain Ichabod, "I thought I'd come over and talk to you. I +don't know you, bedad, but I know all about you, and I saw you and your +family when you came to town to visit that old fox, bedad, that +sugar-planter that Captain Blackbeard used to call Sir Nightcap. Not a +bad joke, either, bedad. I have heard of a good many dirty, mean things +that people in my line of business have done, but, bedad, I never did +hear of any captain who was dirty and mean to his own family. Fine +people, too, who came out to do the right thing by him, after he had +been cleaned out, bedad, by one of his 'Brothers of the Coast.' A rare +sort of brother, bedad, don't you say so?" + +"You are right, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "in what you say of the wild +conduct of my brother-in-law Bonnet. It pleases me, sir, to know that +you condemn it." + +"Condemn! I should say so, bedad," answered Captain Ichabod; "and I came +over here to say to you--that is, just to mention, not knowing, of +course, what you'd think about it, bedad--that I'm goin' to start on a +cruise to-morrow. That is, as soon as I can get in my water and some +stores, bedad--water anyway. And if you and your ladies might happen to +fancy it, bedad, I'd be glad to take you along. I've heard that you're +in a bad case here, the captain of this brig being unable or quite +unwilling to take you where you want to go." + +"But where are you going, sir?" in great surprise. + +"Anywhere," said Captain Ichabod, "anywhere you'd like to go. I'm +starting out on a cruise, and a cruise with me means anywhere. And my +opinion is, sir, that if you want to come up with that crack-brained +sugar-planter, you'd better follow Blackbeard; and the best place to +find him will be on the Carolina coast; that's his favourite +hunting-ground, bedad, and I expect the sugar-planter is with him by +this time." + +"But will not that be dangerous, sir?" asked Mr. Delaplaine. + +"Oh, no," said the other. "I know Blackbeard, and we have played many a +game together. You and your family need not have anything to do with it. +I'll board the Revenge, and you may wager, bedad, that I'll bring Sir +Nightcap back to you by the ear." + +"But there's another," said Delaplaine; "there's a young man belonging +to my party--" + +"Oh, yes, I know," said the other, "the young fellow Blackbeard took +away with him. Clapped a cocked hat on him, bedad! That was a good joke! +I will bring him too. One old man, one young man--I'll fetch 'em both. +Then I'll take you all where you want to go to. That is, as near as I +can get to it, bedad. Now, you tell your ladies about this, and I'll +have my sloop cleaned up a bit, and as soon as I can get my water on +board I'm ready to hoist anchor." + +"But look you, sir," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, "this is a very important +matter, and cannot be decided so quickly." + +"Oh, don't mention it, don't mention it," said Captain Ichabod; "just +you tell your ladies all about it, and I'll be ready to sail almost any +time to-morrow." + +"But, sir--" cried the merchant. + +"Very good," said the pirate captain, "you talk it over. I'm going to +the town now and I'll row out to you this afternoon and get your +instructions." + +And with this he got over the side. + +Mr. Delaplaine said nothing of this visit, but waited on deck until the +captain came on board, and then many were the questions he asked about +the pirate Ichabod. + +"Well, well!" the captain exclaimed, "that's just like him; he's a rare +one. Ichabod is not his name, of course, and I'm told he belongs to a +good English family--a younger son, and having taken his inheritance, he +invested it in a sloop and turned pirate. He has had some pretty good +fortune, I hear, in that line, but it hasn't profited him much, for he +is a terrible gambler, and all that he makes by his prizes he loses at +cards, so he is nearly always poor. Blackbeard sometimes helps him, so I +have heard--which he ought to do, for the old pirate has won bags of +money from him--but he is known as a good fellow, and to be trusted. I +have heard of his sailing a long way back to Belize to pay a gambling +debt he owed, he having captured a merchantman in the meantime." + +"Very honourable, indeed," remarked Mr. Delaplaine. + +"As pirates go, a white crow," said the other. "Now, sir, if you and +your ladies want to go to Blackbeard, and a rare desire is that, I +swear, you cannot do better than let Captain Ichabod take you. You will +be safe, I am sure of that, and there is every reason to think he will +find his man." + +When Mr. Delaplaine went below with his extraordinary news, Dame Charter +turned pale and screamed. + +"Sail in a pirate ship?" she cried. "I've seen the men belonging to one +of them, and as to going on board and sailing with them, I'd rather die +just where I am." + +To the good Dame's astonishment and that of Mr. Delaplaine, Kate spoke +up very promptly. "But you cannot die here, Dame Charter; and if you +ever want to see your son again you have got to go to him. Which is also +the case with me and my father. And, as there is no other way for us to +go, I say, let us accept this man's offer if he be what my uncle thinks +he is. After all, it might be as safe for us on board his ship as to be +on a merchantman and be captured by pirates, which would be likely +enough in those regions where we are obliged to go; and so I say let us +see the man, and if he don't frighten us too much let us sail with him +and get my father and Dickory." + +"It would be a terrible danger, a terrible danger," said Mr. Delaplaine. + +"But, uncle," urged Kate, "everything is a terrible danger in the search +we're upon; let us then choose a danger that we know something about, +and which may serve our needs, rather than one of which we're ignorant +and which cannot possibly be of any good to us." + +It was actually the fact that the little party in the cabin had not +finished talking over this most momentous subject before they were +informed that Captain Ichabod was on deck. Up they went, Dame Charter +ready to faint. But she did not do so. When she saw the visitor she +thought it could not be the pirate captain, but some one whom he had +sent in his place. He was more soberly dressed than when he first came +on board, and his manners were even milder. The mind of Kate Bonnet was +so worked up by the trouble that had come upon her that she felt very +much as she did when she hung over the side of her father's vessel at +Bridgetown, ready to drop into the darkness and the water when the +signal should sound. She had an object now, as she had had then, and +again she must risk everything. On her second look at Captain Ichabod, +which embarrassed him very much, she was ready to trust him. + +"Dame Charter," she whispered, "we must do it or never see them again." + +So, when they had talked about it for a quarter of an hour, it was +agreed that they would sail with Captain Ichabod. + +When the sloop Restless made ready to sail the next day there was a +fine flurry in the harbour. Nothing of the kind had ever before happened +there. Two ladies and a most respectable old gentleman sailing away +under the skull and cross-bones! That was altogether new in the +Caribbean Sea. To those who talked to him about his quixotic expedition, +Captain Ichabod swore--and at times, as many men knew, he was a great +hand at being in earnest--that if he carried not his passengers through +their troubles and to a place of safety, the Restless, and all on board +of her, should mount to the skies in a thousand bits. Although this +alternative would not have been very comforting to said passengers if +they had known of it, it came from Captain Ichabod's heart, and showed +what sort of a man he was. + +Old Captain Sorby came to the Restless in a boat, and having previously +washed one hand, came on board and bade them all good-bye with great +earnestness. + +"You will catch him," said he to Kate, "and my advice to you is, when +you get him, hang him. That's the only way to keep him out of mischief. +But as you are his daughter, you may not like to string him up, so I say +put irons on him. If you don't he'll be playin' you some other wild +trick. He is not fit for a pirate, anyway, and he ought to be taken back +to his calves and his chickens." + +Kate did not resent this language; she even smiled, a little sadly. She +had a great work before her, and she could not mind trifles. + +None of the other pirates came on board, for they were afraid of Sorby, +and when that great man had made the round of the decks and had given +Captain Ichabod some bits of advice, he got down into his boat. The +anchor was weighed, the sails hoisted, and, amid shouts and cheers from +a dozen small boats containing some of the most terrible and bloody +sea-robbers who had ever infested the face of the waters, the Restless +sailed away: the only pirate ship which had, perhaps, ever left port +followed by blessings and goodwill; goodwill, although the words which +expressed it were curses and the men who waved their hats were +blasphemers and cut-throats. + +Away sailed our gentle and most respectable party, with the Jolly Roger +floating boldly high above them. Kate, looking skyward, noticed this and +took courage to bewail the fact to Captain Ichabod. + +He smiled. "While we're in sight of my Brethren of the Coast," he said, +"our skull and bones must wave, but when we're well out at sea we will +run up an English flag, if it please you." + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +DAME CHARTER MAKES A FRIEND + + +Captain Ichabod was in high feather. He whistled, he sang, and he kept +his men cleaning things. All that he could do for the comfort of his +passengers he did, even going so far as to drop as many of his "bedads" +as possible. Whenever he had an opportunity, and these came frequently, +he talked to Mr. Delaplaine, addressing a word or two to Kate if he +thought she looked gracious. For the first day or two Dame Charter kept +below. She was afraid of the men, and did not even want to look at them +if she could help it. + +"But the good woman's all wrong," said Captain Ichabod to Mr. +Delaplaine; "my men would not hurt her. They're not the most tremendous +kind of pirates, anyway, for I could not afford that sort. I have often +thought that I could make more profitable voyages if I had a savager lot +of men. I'll tell you, sir, we once tried to board a big Spanish +galleon, and the beastly foreigners beat us off, bedad, and we had a +hard time of it gettin' away. There are three or four good fellows in +the crew, tough old rascals who came with the sloop when I bought her, +but most of my men are but poor knaves, and not to be afraid of." + +This comfort Mr. Delaplaine kept to himself, and on the second day out, +the food which was served to them being most wretchedly cooked, Dame +Charter ventured into the galley to see if she could do anything in the +way of improvement. + +"I think you may eat this," she said, when she returned to Kate, "but I +don't think that anything on board is fit for you. When I went to the +kitchen, I came near dropping dead right in the doorway; that cook, +Mistress Kate, is the most terrible creature of all the pirates that +ever were born. His eyes are blistering green and his beard is all +twisted into points, with the ends stuck fast with blood, which has +never been washed off. He roars like a lion, with shining teeth, but he +speaks very fair, Mistress Kate; you would be amazed to hear how fair he +speaks. He told me, and every word he said set my teeth on edge with its +grating, that he wanted to know how I liked the meals cooked; that he +would do it right if there were things on board to do it with. Which +there are not, Mistress Kate. And when he was beatin' up that batter for +me and I asked him if he was not tired workin' so hard, he pulled up +his sleeve and showed me his arm, which was like a horse's leg, all +covered with hair, and asked me if I thought it was likely he could tear +himself with a spoon. I'm sure he would give us better food if he could, +for he leaned over and whispered to me, like a gust of wind coming in +through the door, that the captain was in a very hard case, having +lately lost everything he had at the gaming-table, and therefore had not +the money to store the ship as he would have done." + +"Oh, don't talk about that, Dame Charter," said Kate; "if we can get +enough to eat, no matter what it is, we must be satisfied and think only +of our great joy in sailing to my father and to your Dickory." + +That afternoon Captain Ichabod found Kate by herself on deck, and he +made bold to sit down by her; and before he knew what he was about, he +was telling her his whole story. She listened carefully to what he said. +He touched but lightly upon his wickednesses, although they were plain +enough to any listener of sense, and bemoaned his fearful passion for +gaming, which was sure to bring him to misery one day or another. + +"When I have staked my vessel and have lost it," said he, "then there +will be an end of me." + +"But why don't you sell your vessel before you lose it," said Kate, "and +become a farmer?" + +His eyes brightened. "I never thought of that," said he. "Bedad--excuse +me, Miss--some day when I've got a little together and can pay my men +I'll sell this sloop and buy a farm, bedad--I beg your pardon, +Miss--I'll buy a farm." + +Kate smiled, but it was easy to see that Captain Ichabod was in earnest. + +The next day Captain Ichabod came to Mr. Delaplaine and took him to one +side. "I want to speak to you," he said, "about a bit of business." + +"You may have noticed, sir, that we are somewhat short of provisions, +and the way of it is this. The night before we sailed, hoping to make a +bold stroke at the card-table and thereby fit out my vessel in a manner +suitable to the entertainment of a gentleman and ladies, I lost every +penny I had. I did hope that our provisions would last us a few days +longer, but I am disappointed, sir. That cook of mine, who is a +soft-hearted fellow, his neck always ready for the heel of a woman, has +thrown overboard even the few stores we had left for you, the good Dame +Charter having told him they were not fit to eat. And more, sir, even my +men are grumbling. So I thought I would speak to you and explain that it +would be necessary for us to overhaul a merchantman and replenish our +food supply. It can be done very quietly, sir, and I don't think that +even the ladies need be disturbed." + +Mr. Delaplaine stared in amazement. "Do you mean to say," he exclaimed, +"that you want me to consent to your committing piracy for our benefit?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the captain, "that's what I suppose you would call +it; but that's my business." + +"Now, sir, I wish you to know that I am a Christian and a gentleman," +said Mr. Delaplaine. + +"That's all very true, bedad," said Captain Ichabod, "but you're also +another thing; you're a human being, and you must eat." + +"This is terrible," exclaimed the merchant, "that at my time of life I +should consent to a felony at sea, and to profit by it. I cannot bear to +think of the wickedness and the disgrace of it." + +"Most respected sir," said Ichabod, "if the fellows behave themselves +properly and don't offer to fight us, then there'll be no wickedness, +bedad. I can make a good enough show of men to frighten any ordinary +merchant crew so that not a blow need be struck. And that is what I +expect to do, sir. I would not have any disturbance before ladies, you +may be sure of that, bedad. We bear down upon a vessel; we order her to +surrender; we take what we want, and we let her go. Truly, there's no +wickedness in that! And as for the disgrace, we can all better bear that +than starve." + +Mr. Delaplaine looked at the pirate without a word. He could not +comprehend how a man with such a frank and honest face could thus avow +his dishonest principles. But as he gazed and wondered the thought of a +scheme flashed across the mind of the merchant, a thoroughly +business-like scheme. This bold young pirate captain might seize upon +such supplies as they were in need of, but he, Felix Delaplaine, of +Spanish Town, Jamaica, would pay for them. Thus might their necessities +be relieved and their consciences kept clean. But he said nothing of +this to Ichabod; the pirate might deem such a proceeding unprofessional +and interpose some objection. Payment would be the merchant's part of +the business, and he would attend to it himself. A look of resignation +now came over Mr. Delaplaine's face. + +"Captain," said he, "I must yield to your reason; it is absolutely +necessary that we shall not starve." + +Ichabod's face shone and he held out his hand. "Bedad, sir," he cried, +"I honour you as a bold gentleman and a kind one. I will instantly lay +my course somewhat to the eastward, and I promise you, sir, it will not +be long before we run across some of these merchant fellows. I beg you, +sir, speak to your ladies and tell them that there will be no unpleasant +commotion; we may draw our swords and make a fierce show, but, bedad, I +don't believe there'll be any fighting. We shall want so little--for I +would not attempt to take a regular prize with ladies on board--that +the fellows will surely deliver what we demand, the quicker to make an +end of it." + +"If you are perfectly sure," said Mr. Delaplaine, "that you can restrain +your men from violence, I would like to be a member of your boarding +party; it would be a rare experience for me." + +Now Captain Ichabod fairly shouted with delight. + +"Bravo! Bravo!" he exclaimed; "I didn't dream, sir, that you were a man +of such a noble spirit. You shall go with us, sir. Your presence will +aid greatly in making our hoped-for capture a most orderly affair; no +one can look upon you, bedad, without knowing that you are a high-minded +and honourable man, and would not take a box or case from any one if you +did not need it. Now, sir, we shall put about, and by good fortune we +may soon sight a merchantman. Even if it be but a coastwise trader, it +may serve our purpose." + +Mr. Delaplaine, with something of a smile upon his sedate face, hurried +to Kate, who was upon the quarter-deck. + +"My dear, we are about to introduce a little variety into our dull +lives. As soon as we can overhaul a merchantman we shall commit a +piracy. But don't turn pale; I have arranged it all." + +"You!" exclaimed the wide-eyed Kate. + +"Yes," said her uncle, and he told his tale. + +"And remember this, my dear," he added; "if we cannot pay, we do not +eat. I shall be as relentless as the bloody Blackbeard; if they take not +my money, I shall swear to Ichabod that we touch not their goods." + +"And are you sure," she said, "that there will be no bloodshed?" + +"I vouch for that," said he, "for I shall lead the boarding party." + +She took him by both hands. "Why," she said, "it need be no more than +laying in goods from a store-house; and I cannot but be glad, dear +uncle, for I am so very, very hungry." + +Now Dame Charter came running and puffing. "Do you know," she cried, +"that there is to be a piracy? The word has just been passed and the +cook told me. There is to be no bloodshed, and the other ship will not +be burned and the people will not be made to walk a plank. The captain +has given those orders, and he is very firm, swearing, I am told, much +more than is his wont. It is dreadful, it is awful just to think about, +but the provisions are gone, and it is absolutely necessary to do +something, and it will really be very exciting. The cook tells me he +will put me in a good place where I cannot be hurt and where I shall see +everything. And, Mistress Kate and Master Delaplaine, I dare say he can +take care of you too." + +Kate looked at her uncle as if to ask if she might tell the good woman +what sort of a piracy this was to be, but he shook his head. It would +not do to interfere any more than was necessary with the regular +progress of events. The captain came up, excited. "Even now, bedad," he +cried, "there are two sails in sight--one far north, and the other to +the eastward, beating up this way. This one we shall make for. We have +the wind with us, which is a good thing, for the Restless is a bad +sailer and has lost many a prize through that fault. And now, Miss," he +said, addressing Kate, "I shall have to ask your leave to take down that +English flag and run up our Jolly Roger. It will be necessary, for if +the fellows fear not our long guns, they may change their course and get +away from us." + +"That will be right," said Kate; "if we're going to be pirates, we might +as well be pirates out and out." + +Captain Ichabod glowed with delight. "What a girl this was, and what an +uncle!" + +It was not long, for the Restless had a fair wind, before the sail to +the eastward came fully into sight. She was, in good truth, a +merchantman, and not a large one. Dame Charter, very much excited, +wondered what she would have on board. + +"The cook tells me," said she to Kate, "that sometimes ships from the +other side of the ocean carry the most astonishing and beautiful +things." + +"But we shall not see these things," said Kate, "even if that ship +carries them. We shall take but food, and shall not unnecessarily +despoil them of that. We may be pirates, but we shall not be wicked." + +"It is hard to see the difference," said Dame Charter, with a sigh, "but +we must eat. The cook tells me that they have made peaceful prizes +before now. This they do when they want some particular thing, such as +food or money, and care not for the trouble of stripping the ship, +putting all on board to death, and then setting her on fire. The cook +never does any boarding himself, so he says, but he stands on the deck +here, armed with his great axe, which likes him better than a cutlass, +and no matter what happens, he defends his kitchen." + +"From his looks," said Kate, "I should imagine him to be the fiercest +fighter among them all." + +"But that is not so," said Dame Charter; "he tells me that he is of a +very peaceable mind and would never engage in any broils or fights if he +could help it. Look! look!" she cried, "they're running out their long +brass guns; and do you see that other ship, how her sails are fluttering +in the wind? And there, that little spot at the top of her mast; that's +her flag, and it is coming down! Down, down it comes, and I must run to +the cook and ask him what will happen next." + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + +MR. DELAPLAINE LEADS A BOARDING PARTY + + +Steadily southward sailed the brig Black Swan which bore upon its decks +the happy Mander family and our poor friend Dickory, carrying with him +his lifelong destiny in the shape of the blood-stained letter from +Captain Vince. + +The sackcloth draperies of Lucilla, with the red cord lightly tied about +them, had given place to a very ordinary gown fashioned by her mother +and herself, which added so few charms to her young face and sparkling +eyes that Dickory often thought that he wished there were some bushes on +deck so that she might stand behind them and let him see only her face, +as he had seen it when first he met her. But he saw the pretty face a +great deal, for Lucilla was very anxious to know things, and asked many +questions about Barbadoes, and also asked if there was any probability +that the brig would go straight on to that lovely island without +bothering to stop at Jamaica. It was during such talks as this that +Dickory forgot, when he did forget, the blood-stained letter that he +carried with him always. + +Our young friend still wore the naval uniform, although in coming on the +brig he had changed it for some rough sailor's clothes. But Lucilla had +besought him to be again a brave lieutenant. + +They sailed and they sailed, and there was but little wind, and that +from the south and against them. But Lucilla did not complain at their +slow progress. The slowest vessel in the world was preferable just now +to a desert island which never moved. + +Davids was at the wheel and Mander stood near him. These old friends had +not yet finished talking about what had happened in the days since they +had seen each other. Mrs. Mander sat, not far away, still making +clothes, and the little Lena was helping her in her childlike way. +Lucilla and Dickory were still talking about Barbadoes. There never was +a girl who wanted to know so much about an island as that girl wanted to +know about Barbadoes. + +Suddenly there was a shout from above. + +"What's that?" asked Mander. + +"A sail," said Davids, peering out over the sea but able to see nothing. +Lucilla and Dickory did not cease talking. At that moment Lucilla did +not care greatly about sails, there was so much to be said about +Barbadoes. + +There was a good deal of talking forward, and after a while the captain +walked to the quarter-deck. He was a gruff man and his face was +troubled. + +"I am sorry to say," he growled, "that the ship we have sighted is a +pirate; she flies the black flag." + +Now there was no more talk about Barbadoes, or what had happened to old +friends, and the sewing dropped on the deck. Those poor Manders were +chilled to the soul. Were they again to be taken by pirates? + +"Captain," cried Mander, "what can we do, can we run away from them?" + +"We could not run away from their guns," growled the captain, "and there +is nothing to do. They intend to take this brig, and that's the reason +they have run up their skull and bones. They are bearing directly down +upon us with a fair wind; they will be firing a gun presently, and then +I shall lay to and wait for them." + +Mander stepped towards Dickory and Lucilla; his voice was husky as he +said: "We cannot expect, my dear, that we shall again be captured by +forbearing pirates. I shall kill my wife and little daughter rather than +they shall fall into the bloody hands of ordinary pirates, and to you, +sir, I will commit the care of my Lucilla. If this vessel is delivered +over to a horde of savages, I pray you, plunge your dirk into her +heart." + +"Yes," said Lucilla, clinging to the arm of Dickory, "if those fierce +pirates shall attack us, we will die together." + +Dickory shook his head. In an awful moment such as this he could hold +out no illusions. "No," said he, "I cannot die with you; I have a duty +before me, and until it is accomplished I cannot willingly give up my +life. I must rather be even a pirate's slave than that. But I will +accept your father's charge; should there be need, I will kill you." + +"Thank you very much," said Lucilla coolly. + +To the surprise of the people on the Black Swan there came no shot from +the approaching pirate; but as she still bore down upon them, running +before the wind, the captain of the brig lay to and lowered his flag. +Submission now was all there was before them. No man on the brig took up +arms, nor did the crew form themselves into any show of resistance; that +would have but made matters worse. + +As the pirate vessel came on, nearer and nearer, a great number of men +could be seen stretched along her deck, and some brass cannon were +visible trained upon the unfortunate brig. + +But, to the surprise of the captain of the Black Swan, and of nearly +everybody on board of her, the pirate did not run down upon her to make +fast and board. Instead of that, she put about into the wind and lay to +less than a quarter of a mile away. Then two boats were lowered and +filled with men, who rowed towards the brig. + +"They have special reasons for our capture," said the captain to those +who were crowding about him; "he may be well laden now with plunder, and +comes to us for our gold and silver. Or it may be that he merely wants +the brig. If that be so, he can quickly rid himself of us." + +That was a cruel speech when women had to hear it, but the captain was a +rough fellow. + +The boats came on as quietly as if they were about to land at a +neighbouring pier. Dickory and Lucilla cautiously peeped over the rail, +Dickory without his hat, and Lucilla, hiding herself, all but a part of +her face, behind him; the Manders crouched together on the deck, the +father with glaring eyes and a knife in his hand. The crew stood, with +their hats removed and their chins lowered, waiting for what might +happen next. + +Up to this time Dickory had shown no signs of fear, although his mind +was terribly tossed and disturbed; for, whatever might happen to him, it +possibly would be the end of that mission which was now the only object +of his life. But he grated his teeth together and awaited his fate. + +But now, as the boats came nearer, he began to tremble, and gradually +his knees shook under him. + +"I would not have believed that he was such a coward as that," thought +Lucilla. + +The boats neared the ship and were soon made fast; every help was +offered by the crew of the brig, and not a sign of resistance was shown. +The leader of the pirates mounted to the deck, followed by the greater +part of his men. + +For a moment Captain Ichabod glanced about him, and then, addressing the +captain of the brig, he said: "This is all very well. I am glad to see +that you have sense enough to take things as you find them, and not to +stir up a fracas and make trouble. I overhauled you that I might lay in +a stock of provisions, and some wine and spirits besides, having no +desire, if you treat us rightly, to despoil you further. So, we shall +have no more words about it, bedad, and if you will set your men to work +to get on deck such stores as my quarter-master here may demand of you, +we shall get through this business quickly. In the meantime, lower two +or three boats, so that your men can row the goods over to my vessel." + +The captain of the Black Swan simply bowed his head and turned away to +obey orders, while Captain Ichabod stepped a little aft and began to +survey the captured vessel. As soon as his back was turned, the captain +of the brig was approached by a very respectable elderly gentleman, +apparently not engaged either in the mercantile marine or in piratical +pursuits, who stopped him and said: "Sir, my name is Felix Delaplaine, +merchant, of Spanish Town, Jamaica. I am, against my will, engaged in +this piratical attack upon your vessel, but I wish to assure you +privately that I will not consent to have you robbed of your property, +and that, although some of your provisions may be taken by these +pirates, I here promise, as an honourable gentleman, to pay you the full +value of all that they seize upon." + +The captain of the Black Swan had no opportunity to make an answer to +this most extraordinary statement, for at that moment a naval officer, +shouting at the top of his voice, came rushing towards the respectable +gentleman who had just been making such honourable proposals. Almost at +the same moment there was a great shout from Captain Ichabod, who, +drawing his cutlass from its sheath, raised the glittering blade and +dashed in pursuit of the naval gentleman. + +"Hold there! Hold there!" cried the pirate. "Don't you touch him; don't +you lay your hand upon him!" + +But Ichabod was not quick enough. Dickory, swift as a stag, stretched +out both his arms and threw them around the neck of the amazed Mr. +Delaplaine. + +Now the pirate Ichabod reached the two; his great sword went high in +air, and was about to descend upon the naval person, whoever he was, +who had made such an unprovoked attack upon his honoured passenger, +when his arm was caught by some one from behind. Turning, with a great +curse, his eyes fell upon the face of a young girl. + +[Illustration: Lucilla rescues Dickory.] + +"Oh, don't kill him! Don't kill him!" she cried, "he will hurt nobody; +he is only hugging the old gentleman." + +Captain Ichabod looked from the girl to the two men, who were actually +embracing each other. Dickory's back was towards him, but the face of +Mr. Delaplaine fairly glowed with delight. + +"Oho!" said Ichabod, turning to Lucilla, "and what does this mean, +bedad?" + +"I don't know," she answered, "but the gentleman in the uniform is a +good man. Perhaps the other one is his father." + +"To my eyes," said Captain Ichabod, "this is a most fearsome mix." + +The Mander family, and nearly everybody else on board, crowded about the +little group, gazing with all their eyes but asking no questions. + +"Captain Ichabod," exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine, holding Dickory by the +hand, "this is one of the two persons you were taking us to find. This +is Dickory Charter, the son of good Dame Charter, now on your vessel. He +went away with Blackbeard, and we were in search of him." + +"Oho!" cried Captain Ichabod, "by my life I believe it. That's the +young fellow that Blackbeard dressed up in a cocked hat and took away +with him." + +"I am the same person, sir," said Dickory. + +"So far so good," said Captain Ichabod. "I am very glad that I did not +bring down my cutlass on you, which I should have done, bedad, had it +not been for this young woman." + +Now up spoke Mr. Delaplaine. "We have found you, Dickory," he cried, +"but what can you tell us of Major Bonnet?" + +"Ay, ay," added Captain Ichabod, "there's another one we're after; +where's the runaway Sir Nightcap?" + +"Alas!" said Dickory, "I do not know. I escaped from Blackbeard, and +since that day have heard nothing. I had supposed that Captain Bonnet +was in your company, Mr. Delaplaine." + +Now the captain of the Black Swan pushed himself forward. "Is it Captain +Bonnet, lately of the pirate ship Revenge, that you're talking about?" +he asked. "If so, I may tell you something of him. I am lately from +Charles Town, and the talk there was that Blackbeard was lying outside +the harbour in Stede Bonnet's old vessel, and that Bonnet had lately +joined him. I did not venture out of port until I had had certain news +that these pirates had sailed northward. They had two or three ships, +and the talk was that they were bound to the Virginias, and perhaps +still farther north. They were fitted out for a long cruise." + +"Gone again!" exclaimed Mr. Delaplaine in a hoarse voice. "Gone again!" + +Captain Ichabod's face grew clouded. + +"Gone north of Charles Town," he exclaimed, "that's bad, bedad, that's +very bad. You are sure he did not sail southward?" he asked of the +captain of the brig. + +That gruff mariner was in a strange state of mind. He had just been +captured by a pirate, and in the next moment had made, what might be a +very profitable sale, to a respectable merchant, of the goods the pirate +was about to take from him. Moreover, the said pirate seemed to be in +the employ of said merchant, and altogether, things seemed to him to be +in as fearsome a mix as they had seemed to Captain Ichabod, but he +brought his mind down to the question he had been asked. + +"No doubt about that," said he; "there were some of his men in the +town--for they are afraid of nobody--and they were not backward in +talking." + +"That upsets things badly," said Captain Ichabod, without unclouding his +brow. "With my slow vessel and my empty purse, bedad, I don't see how I +am ever goin' to catch Blackbeard if he has gone north. Finding +Blackbeard would have been a handful of trumps to me, but the game seems +to be up, bedad." + +The captain of the brig and Ichabod's quarter-master went away to +attend to the transfer of the needed goods to the Restless. Mander, with +his wife and little daughter, were standing together gazing with +amazement at the strange pirates who had come aboard, while Lucilla +stepped up to Dickory, who stood silent, with his eyes on the deck. + +"Can you tell me what this means?" said she. + +For a moment he did not answer, and then he said: "I don't know +everything myself, but I must presently go on board that vessel." + +"What!" exclaimed Lucilla, stepping back. "Is she there?" + +"Yes," said Dickory. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + +THE DELIVERY OF THE LETTER + + +The sea was smooth and the wind light, and the transfer of provisions +from the Black Swan to the pirate sloop, which two ships now lay as near +each other as safety would permit, was accomplished quietly. + +During the progress of the transfer Captain Ichabod's boat was rowed +back to his ship, and its arrival was watched with great interest by +everybody on board that pirate sloop. Kate and Dame Charter, as well as +all the men who stood looking over the rail, were amazed to see a naval +officer accompanying the captain and Mr. Delaplaine on their return. But +that amazement was greatly increased when that officer, as soon as he +set foot upon the deck, removed his hat and made directly for Dame +Charter, who, with a scream loud enough to frighten the fishes, enfolded +him in her arms and straightway fainted. It was like a son coming up out +of the sea, sure enough, as she afterward stated. Kate, recognising +Dickory, hurried to him with a scream of her own and both hands +outstretched, but the young fellow, who seemed greatly distressed at the +unconscious condition of his mother, did not greet Mistress Bonnet with +the enthusiastic delight which might have been expected under the +circumstances. He seemed troubled and embarrassed, which, perhaps, was +not surprising, for never before had he seen his mother faint. + +Kate was about to offer some assistance, but as the good Dame now showed +signs of returning consciousness, she thought it would be better to +leave the two together, and in a state of amazement she was hurrying to +her uncle when Dickory rose from the side of his mother and stopped her. + +"I have a letter for you," he said, in a husky voice. + +"A letter?" she cried, "from my father?" + +"No," said he, "from Captain Vince." And he handed her the blood-stained +missive. + +Kate turned pale and stared at him; here was horrible mystery. The +thought flashed through the young girl's mind that the wicked captain +had killed her father and had written to tell her so. + +"Is my father dead?" she gasped. + +"Not that I know of," said Dickory. + +"Where is he?" she cried. + +"I do not know," was the answer. + +She stood, holding the letter, while Dickory returned to his mother. +Mr. Delaplaine saw her standing thus, pale and shocked, but he did not +hasten to her. He had sad things to say to her, for his practical mind +told him that it would not be possible to continue the search for her +father, he having put himself out of the reach of Captain Ichabod and +his inefficient sloop. If Dickory had said anything about her father +which had so cast her down, how much harder would it be for him when he +had to tell her the whole truth. + + +But Kate did not wait for further speech from anybody. She gave a great +start, and then rushed down the companion-way to her cabin. There, with +her door shut, she opened the letter. This was the letter, written in +lead pencil, in an irregular but bold hand, with some letters partly +dimmed where the paper had been damp: + + "At the very end of my life I write to you that you have escaped + the fiercest love that ever a man had for a woman. I shall carry + this love with me to hell, if it may be, but you have escaped it. + This escape is a blessing, and now that I cannot help it I give it + to you. Had I lived, I should have shed the blood of every one whom + you loved to gain you and you would have cursed me. So love me now + for dying. + + "Yours, anywhere and always, + CHRISTOPHER VINCE." + + +Kate put down the letter and some colour came into her face; she bowed +her head in thankful prayer. + +"He is dead," she said, "and now he cannot harm my father." That was the +only thought she had regarding this hot-brained and infatuated lover. He +was dead, her father was safe from him. How he died, how Dickory came to +bring the letter, how anything had happened that had happened except the +death of Captain Vince, did not at this moment concern her. Not until +now had she known how the fear of the vengeful captain of the Badger had +constantly been with her. + +Over and over again Dickory told his tale to his mother. She interrupted +him so much with her embraces that he could not explain things clearly +to her, but she did not care, she had him with her. He was with her, and +she had fast hold of him, and she would never let him go again. What +mattered it what sort of clothes he wore, or where he had escaped +from--a family on a desert island or from a pirate crew? She had him, +and her happiness knew no bounds. Dickory was perfectly willing to stay +with her and to talk to her. He did not care to be with anybody else, +not even with Mistress Kate, who had taken so much interest in him all +the time he had been away; though, of course, not so much interest as +his own dear mother. + +Then the good Dame Charter, being greatly recovered and so happy, began +to talk of herself. Slipping in a disjointed way over her various +experiences, she told her dear boy, in strictest confidence, that she +was very much disappointed in the way pirates took ships. She thought it +was going to be something very exciting that she would remember to the +end of her days, and wake up in the middle of the night and scream when +she thought of it, but it was nothing of the kind; not a shot was fired, +not a drop of blood shed; there was not even a shout or a yell or a +scream for mercy. It was all like going into the pantry to get the flour +and the sugar. She was all the time waiting for something to happen, and +nothing ever did. Dickory smiled, but it was like watered milk. + +"I do not understand such piracy," he said, "but supposed, dear mother, +that these pirates had taken that ship in the usual way, I being on +board." + +At this he was clasped so tightly to his mother's breast that he could +say no more. + +The boats plied steadily between the two vessels, and on one of the +trips Mr. Delaplaine went over to the brig on business, and also glad to +escape for a little the dreaded interview which must soon come between +himself and his niece. + +"Now, sir," said the merchant to the captain of the brig, "you will make +a bill against me for the provisions which are being taken to that +pirate, but I hope you have reserved a sufficient store of food for +your own maintenance until you reach a port, and that of myself and two +women who wish to sail with you, craving most earnestly that you will +land us in Jamaica or in some place convenient of access to that +island." + +"Which I can do," said the captain, "for I am bound to Kingston; and as +to subsistence, shall have plenty." + +On the brig Mr. Delaplaine found Captain Ichabod, who had come over to +superintend operations, and who was now talking to the pretty girl who +had seized him by the arm when he was about to slay the naval officer. + +"I would talk with you, captain," said the merchant, "on a matter of +immediate import." And he led the pirate away from the pretty girl. + +The matter to be discussed was, indeed, of deep import. + +"I am loath to say it, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "when I think of the +hospitality and most exceptional kindness with which you have treated me +and my niece, and for which we shall feel grateful all our lives, but I +think you will agree with me that it would be useless for us to pursue +the search after that most reprehensible person, my brother-in-law, +Bonnet. There can be no doubt, I believe, that he and Blackbeard have +left the vicinity of Charles Town, and have gone, we know not where." + +"No doubt of that, bedad," said Ichabod, knitting his brows as he +spoke; "if Blackbeard had been outside the harbour, this brig would not +have been here." + +"And, therefore, sir," continued Mr. Delaplaine, "I have judged it to be +wise, and indeed necessary, for us to part company with you, sir, and to +take passage on this brig, which, by a most fortunate chance, is bound +for Kingston. My niece, I know, will be greatly disappointed by this +course of events, but we have no choice but to fall in with them." + +"I don't like to agree with you," said the captain, "but, bedad, I am +bound to do it. I am disappointed myself, sir, but I have been +disappointed so often that I suppose I ought to be used to it. If I had +caught up with Blackbeard I should have been all right, and after I had +settled your affairs--and I know I could have done that--I think I would +have joined him. But all I can do now is to hammer along at the +business, take prizes in the usual way, and wait for Blackbeard to come +south again, and then I'll either sell out or join him." + +"It is a great pity, sir," said Mr. Delaplaine, "a great pity--" + +"Yes, it is," interrupted Ichabod, "it's a very great pity, sir, a very +great pity. If I had known more about ships when I bought the Restless I +would have had a faster craft, and by this time I might have been a man +of comfortable means. But that sloop over there, bedad, is so slow, +that many a time, sir, I have seen a fat merchantman sail away from her +and leave us, in spite of our guns, cursing and swearing, miles behind. +I am sorry to have you leave me, sir, and with your ladies; but, as you +say, here's your chance to get home, and I don't know when I could give +you another." + +Mr. Delaplaine replied courteously and gratefully, and by the next boat +he went back to the Restless. Captain Ichabod, his brow still clouded by +the approaching separation, walked over to Lucilla and continued his +conversation with her about the island of Barbadoes, a subject of which +he knew very little and she nothing. + +When Kate returned to the deck she found Dickory alone, Dame Charter +having gone to talk to the cook about the wonderful things which had +happened, of which she knew very little and he nothing at all. + +"Dickory," said Kate, "I want to talk to you, and that quickly. I have +heard nothing of what has happened to you. How did you get possession of +the letter you brought me, and what do you know of Captain Vince?" + +"I can tell you nothing," he said, without looking at her, "until you +tell me what I ought to know about Captain Vince." And as he said this +he could not help wondering in his heart that there were no signs of +grief about her. + +"Ought to know?" she repeated, regarding him earnestly. "Well, you and I +have been always good friends, and I will tell you." And then she told +him the story of the captain of the Badger; of his love-making and of +his commission to sail upon the sea and destroy the pirate ship Revenge, +and all on board of her. + +"And now," she said, as she concluded, "I think it would be well for you +to read this letter." And she handed him the missive he had carried so +long and with such pain. He read the bold, uneven lines, and then he +turned and looked upon her, his face shining like the morning sky. + +"Then you have never loved him?" he gasped. + +"Why should I?" said Kate. + +In spite of the fact that there were a great many people on board that +pirate sloop who might see him; in spite of the fact that there were +people in boats plying upon the water who might notice his actions, +Dickory fell upon his knees before Kate, and, seizing her hand, he +pressed it to his lips. + +"Why should I?" said Kate, quietly drawing her hand from him, "for I +have a devoted lover already--Master Martin Newcombe, of Barbadoes." + +Dickory, repulsed, rose to his feet, but his face did not lose its glow. +He had heard so much about Martin Newcombe that he had ceased to mind +him. + +"To think of it!" he cried, "to think how I stood and watched him +fight; how I admired and marvelled at his wonderful strength and skill, +his fine figure, and his flashing eye! How my soul went out to him, how +I longed that he might kill that scoundrel Blackbeard! And all the time +he was your enemy, he was my enemy, he was a viler wretch than even the +bloody pirate who killed him. Oh, Kate, Kate! if I had but known." + +"Miss Kate, if you please," said the girl. "And it is well, Dickory, you +did not know, for then you might have jumped upon him and stuck him in +the back, and that would have been dishonourable." + +"He thought," said Dickory, not in the least abashed by his reproof, +"that the Revenge was commanded by your father, for he sprang upon the +deck, shouting for the captain, and when he saw Blackbeard I heard him +exclaim in surprise, 'A sugar-planter!'" + +"And he would have killed my father?" said Kate, turning pale at the +thought. + +"Yes," replied Dickory, "he would have killed any man except the great +Blackbeard. And to think of it! I stood there watching them, and wishing +that vile Englishman the victory. Oh, Kate! you should have seen that +wonderful pirate fight. No man could have stood before him." Then, with +sparkling eyes and waving arms, he told her of the combat. When he had +finished, the souls of these two young people were united in an +overpowering admiration, almost reverence, for the prowess and strength +of the wicked and bloody pirate who had slain the captain of the Badger. + +When Mr. Delaplaine came on board, Kate, who had been waiting, took him +aside. + +"Uncle," she exclaimed, "I have great news. Captain Vince is dead. At +last he came up with the Revenge, but instead of finding my father in +command he found Blackbeard, who killed him. Now my father is safe!" + +The good man scarcely knew what to say to this bright-faced girl, whose +father's safety was all the world to her. If he had heard that his +worthless and wicked brother-in-law had been killed, it would have been +trouble and sorrow for the present, but it would have been peace for the +future. But he was a Christian gentleman and a loving uncle, and he +banished this thought from his heart. He listened to Kate as she rapidly +went on talking, but he did not hear her; his mind was busy with the +news he had to tell her--the news that she must give up her loving +search and go back with him to Spanish Town. + +"And now, uncle," said Kate, "there's another thing I want to say to +you. Since this great grief has been lifted from my soul, since I know +that no wrathful and vindictive captain of a man-of-war is scouring the +seas, armed with authority to kill my father and savage for his life, I +feel that it is not right for me to put other people who are so good to +me to sad discomfort and great expense to try to follow my father into +regions far away, and to us almost unknown. + +"Some day he will come back into this part of the world, and I hope he +may return disheartened and weary of his present mode of life, and then +I may have a better chance of winning him back to the domestic life he +used to love so much. But he is safe, uncle, and that is everything now, +and so I came to say to you that I think it would be well for us to +relieve this kind Captain Ichabod from the charges and labours he has +taken upon himself for our sakes and, if it be possible, engage that +ship yonder to take us back to Jamaica; she was sailing in that +direction, and her captain might be induced to touch at Kingston. This +is what I have been thinking about, dear uncle, and do you not agree +with me?" + +High rose the spirits of the good Mr. Delaplaine; banished was all the +overhanging blackness of his dreaded interview with Kate. The sky was +bright, her soul was singing songs of joy and thankfulness, and his soul +might join her. He never appreciated better than now the blessings which +might be shed upon humanity by the death of a bad man. His mind even +gambolled a little in his relief. + +"But, Kate," he said, "if we leave that kind Captain Ichabod, and he be +not restrained by our presence, then, my dear, he will return to his +former evil ways, and his next captures will not be like this one, but +like ordinary piracies, sinful in every way." + +"Uncle," said Kate, looking up into his face, "it is too much to ask of +one young girl to undertake the responsibilities of two pirates; I hope +some day to be of benefit to my poor father, but when it comes to +Captain Ichabod, kind as he has been, I am afraid I will have to let him +go and manage the affairs of his soul for himself." + +Her uncle smiled upon her. Now that he was to go back to his home and +take this dear girl with him, he was ready to smile at almost anything. +That he thought one pirate much better worth saving than the other, and +that his choice did not agree with that of his niece, was not for him +even to think about at such a happy moment. It was not long after this +conversation that the largest boat belonging to the Restless was rowed +over to the brig, and in it sat, not only Kate, Dame Charter, and +Dickory, but Captain Ichabod, who would accompany his guests to take +proper leave of them. The crew of the pirate sloop crowded themselves +along her sides, and even mounted into her shrouds, waving their hats +and shouting as the boat moved away. The cook was the loudest shouter, +and his ragged hat waved highest. And, as Dame Charter shook her +handkerchief above her head and gazed back at her savage friend, there +was a moisture in her eyes. Up to this moment she never would have +believed that she would have grieved to depart from a pirate vessel and +to leave behind a pirate cook. + +Lucilla watched carefully the newcomers as they ascended to the deck of +the Black Swan. "That is the girl," she said to herself, "and I am not +surprised." + +A little later she remarked to Captain Ichabod, who sat by her: "Are +they mother and daughter, those two?" + +"Oh, no," said he. "Mistress Bonnet is too fine a lady and too beautiful +to be daughter to that old woman, who is her attendant and the mother of +the young fellow in the cocked hat." + +"Too fine and beautiful!" repeated Lucilla. + +"I greatly grieve to leave you all," continued the young pirate captain, +"although some of you I have known so short a time. It will be very +lonely when I sail away with none to speak to save the bloody dogs I +command, who may yet throttle me. And it is to Barbadoes you go to +settle with your family?" + +"That is our destination," said Lucilla, "but I know not if we shall +find the money to settle there; we were taken by pirates and lost +everything." + +Now the captain of the brig came up to Ichabod and informed him that the +goods he demanded had been delivered on board his vessel, and that the +brig was ready to sail. It was the time for leave-taking, but Ichabod +was tardy. Presently he approached Kate, and drew her to one side. + +"Dear lady," he said, and his voice was hesitating, while a slight flush +of embarrassment appeared on his face, "you may have thought, dear +lady," he repeated, "you may have thought that so fair a being as +yourself should have attracted during the days we have sailed +together--may have attracted, bedad, I mean--the declared admiration +even of a fellow like myself, we being so much together; but I had heard +your story, fair lady, and of the courtship paid you by Captain Vince of +the corvette Badger--whose family I knew in England--and, acknowledging +his superior claims, I constantly refrained, though not without great +effort (I must say that much for myself, fair lady), from--from--" + +"Addressing me, I suppose you mean," said Kate. "What you say, kind +captain, redounds to your honour, and I thank you for your noble +consideration, but I feel bound to tell you that there was never +anything between me and Captain Vince, and he is now dead." + +The young pirate stepped back suddenly and opened wide his eyes. "What!" +he exclaimed, "and all the time you were--" + +"Not free," she interrupted with a smile, "for I have a lover on the +island of Barbadoes." + +"Barbadoes," repeated Captain Ichabod, and he bade Kate a most +courteous farewell. + +All the good-byes had been said and good wishes had been wished, when, +just as he was about to descend to his boat, Captain Ichabod turned to +Lucilla. "And it is truly to Barbadoes you go?" he asked. + +"Yes," said she, "I think we shall certainly do that." + +Now his face flushed. "And do you care for that fellow in the cocked +hat?" + +Here was a cruel situation for poor Lucilla. She must lie or lose two +men. She might lose them anyway, but she would not do it of her own free +will, and so she lied. + +"Not a whit!" said Lucilla. + +The eyes of Ichabod brightened as he went down the side of the brig. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + +BLACKBEARD GIVES GREENWAY SOME DIFFICULT WORK + + +The great pirate Blackbeard, inactive and taking his ease, was seated on +the quarter-deck of his fine vessel, on which he had lately done some +sharp work off the harbour of Charles Town. He was now commanding a +small fleet. Besides the ship on which he sailed, he had two other +vessels, well manned and well laden with supplies from his recent +captures. Satisfied with conquest, he was sailing northward to one of +his favourite resorts on the North Carolina coast. + +To this conquering hero now came Ben Greenway, the Scotchman, touching +his hat. + +"And what do you want?" cried the burly pirate. "Haven't they given you +your prize-money yet, or isn't it enough?" + +"Prize-money!" exclaimed Greenway. "I hae none o' it, nor will I hae +any. What money I hae--an' it is but little--came to me fairly." + +"Oho!" cried Blackbeard, "and you have money then, have you? Is it +enough to make it worth my while to take it?" + +"Ye can count it an' see, whenever ye like," said Ben. "But it isna +money that I came to talk to ye about. I came to ask ye, at the first +convenient season, to put me on board that ship out there, that I may be +in my rightful place by the side o' Master Bonnet." + +"And what good are you to him, or he to you," asked the pirate, with a +fine long oath, "that I should put myself to that much trouble?" + +"I have the responsibeelity o' his soul on my hands," said Ben, "an' +since we left Charles Town I hae not seen him, he bein' on ane ship an' +I on anither." + +"And very well that is too," said Blackbeard, "for I like each of you +better separate. And now look ye, me kirk bird, you have not done very +well with your 'responsibeelities' so far, and you might as well make up +your mind to stop trying to convert that sneak of a Nightcap and take up +the business of converting me. I'm in great need of it, I can tell you." + +"You!" cried Ben. + +"I tell you, yes," shouted Blackbeard, "it is I, myself, that I am +talking about. I want to be converted from the evil of my ways, and I +have made up my mind that you shall do it. You are a good and a pious +man, and it is not often that I get hold of one of that kind; or, if I +do, I slice off his head before I discover his quality." + +"I fear me," said the truthful Scotchman, "that the job is beyond my +abeelity." + +"Not a bit of it, not a bit of it," shouted the pirate. "I am fifty +times easier to work upon than that Nightcap man of yours, and a hundred +times better worth the trouble. I put no trust in that downfaced farmer. +When he shouts loudest for the black flag he is most likely to go into +priestly orders, and the better is he reformed the quicker is he to rob +and murder. He is of the kind the devil wants, but it is of no use for +any one to show him the way there, he is well able to find it for +himself. But it is different with me, you canny Scotchman, it is +different with me. I am an open-handed and an open-mouthed scoundrel, +and I never pretended to be anything else. When you begin reforming me +you will find your work half done." + +The Scotchman shook his head. "I fear me--" he said. + +"No, you don't fear yourself," cried Blackbeard, "and I won't have it; I +don't want any of that lazy piety on board my vessel. If you don't +reform me, and do it rightly, I'll slice off both your ears." + +At this moment a man came aft, carrying a great tankard of mixed drink. +Blackbeard took it and held it in his hand. + +"Now then, you balking chaplain," he cried, "here's a chance for you to +begin. What would you have me do? Drain off this great mug and go +slashing among my crew, or hurl it, mug and all--" + +"Nay, nay," cried Greenway, "but rather give half o' it to me; then will +it no' disturb your brain, an' mine will be comforted." + +"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard. "Truly you are a better chaplain than I +thought you. Drain half this mug and then, by all the powers of heaven +and hell, you shall convert me. Now, look ye," said the pirate, when the +mug was empty, "and hear what a brave repentance I have already begun. I +am tired, my gay gardener, of all these piracies; I have had enough of +them. Even now, my spoils and prizes are greater than I can manage, and +why should I strive to make them more? I told you of my young +lieutenant, who ran away and who gave his carcass to the birds of prey +rather than sail with me and marry my strapping daughter. I liked that +fellow, Greenway, and if he had known what was well for him there might +be some reason for me to keep on piling up goods and money, but there's +cursed little reason for it now. I have merchandise of value at Belize +and much more of it in these ships, besides money from Charles Town +which ought to last an honest gentleman for the rest of his days." + +"Ay," said Ben, "but an honest gentleman is sparing of his +expenditures." + +"And you think I am not that kind of a man, do you?" shouted the +pirate. "But let me tell you this. I am sailing now for Topsail Inlet, +on the North Carolina coast, and I am going to run in there, disperse +this fleet, sell my goods, and--" + +"Be hanged?" interpolated Greenway in surprise. + +"Not a bit of it, you croaking crow!" roared the pirate. "Not a bit of +it. Don't you know, you dull-head, that our good King George has issued +a proclamation to the Brethren of the Coast to come in and behave +themselves like honest citizens and receive their pardon? I have done +that once, and so I know all about it; but I backslid, showing that my +conversion was badly done." + +"It must hae been a poor hand that did the job for ye," said Greenway, +"for truly the conversion washed off in the first rain." + +The pirate laughed a great laugh. "The fact is," he said, "I did the +work myself, and knowing nothing about it made a bad botch of it, but +this time it will be different. I am going to give the matter into your +hands, and I shall expect you to do it well. If I become not an honest +gentleman this time you shall pay for it, first with your ears and then +with your head." + +"An' ye're goin' to keep me by ye?" said Greenway, with an expression +not of the best. + +"Truly so," said Blackbeard. "I shall make you my clerk as long as I am +a pirate, for I have much writing and figuring work to be done, and +after that you shall be my chaplain. And whether or not your work will +be easier than it is now, it is not for me to say." + +The Scotchman was about to make an exclamation which might not have been +complimentary, but he restrained himself. + +"An' Master Bonnet?" he asked. "If ye go out o' piracy he may go too, +and take the oath." + +"Of course he may," cried the pirate, "and of course he shall; I will +see to that myself. Then I will give him back his ship, for I don't want +it, and let him become an honest merchant." + +"Give him back his ship!" exclaimed Greenway, his countenance downcast. +"That will be puttin' into his hands the means o' beginnin' again a life +o' sin. I pray ye, don't do that." + +Blackbeard leaned back and laughed. "I swear that I thought it would be +one of the very first steps in conversion for me to give back to the +fellow the ship which is his own and which I have taken from him. But +fear not, my noble pirate's clerk; he is not the man that I am; he is a +vile coward, and when he has taken the oath he will be afraid to break +it. Moreover--" + +"And if, with that ship," said Greenway, his eyes beginning to sparkle, +"he become an honest merchant--" + +"I don't trust him," said Blackbeard; "he is a knave and a sharper, and +there is no truth in him. But when you have settled up my business, my +clerk, and have gotten me well converted, I will send you away with him, +and you shall take up again the responsibility of his soul." + +The Scotchman clapped his horny hands together. "And once I get him back +to Bridgetown, I will burn his cursed ship!" + +"Heigho!" cried Blackbeard, "and that will be your way of converting +him? You know your business, my royal chaplain, you know it well." And +with that he gave Greenway a tremendous slap on the back which would +have dashed to the deck an ordinary man, but Ben Greenway was a +Scotchman, tough as a yew-tree. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + +CAPTAIN THOMAS OF THE ROYAL JAMES + + +When Blackbeard's little fleet anchored in Topsail Inlet, Stede Bonnet, +who had not been informed of the intentions of the pirate, was a good +deal puzzled. Since joining Blackbeard's fleet in the vessel which came +up from Belize, Bonnet had considered himself very shabbily treated, and +his reasons for that opinion were not bad. During the engagements off +Charles Town his services had not been required and his opinion had not +been consulted, Blackbeard having no use for the one and no respect for +the other. The pirate captain had taken a fancy to Ben Greenway, while +his contempt for the Scotchman's master increased day by day; and it was +for this reason that Greenway had been taken on board the flag-ship, +while Bonnet remained on one of the smaller vessels. + +Bonnet was in a discontented and somewhat sulky mood, but when +Blackbeard's full plans were made known to him and he found that he +might again resume command of his own vessel, the Revenge, if he chose +to do so, his eyes began to sparkle once more. + +Ben Greenway soon resumed his former position with Bonnet, for it did +not take Blackbeard very long to settle up his affairs, and in a very +short time he became tired of the work of conversion; or, to speak more +correctly, of the bore of talking about it. Bonnet was glad to have the +Scotchman back again, although he never ceased to declare his desire to +get rid of this faithful friend and helper; for, when the Revenge again +came into his hands, there were many things to be done, and few people +to help him do it. + +"It will be merchandise an' fair trade this time," said Ben, "an' ye'll +find it no' so easy as your piracies, though safer. An' when ye're off +to see the Governor an' hae got your pardon, it'll be a happy day, +Master Bonnet, for ye an' for your daughter, an' for your brother-in-law +an' everybody in Bridgetown wha either knew ye or respected ye." + +"No more of that," cried Bonnet. "I did not say I was going to +Bridgetown, or that I wanted anybody there to respect me. It is my +purpose to fit out the Revenge as a privateer and get a commission to +sail in her in the war between Spain and the Allies. This will be much +more to my taste, Ben Greenway, than trading in sugar and hides." + +Greenway was very grave. + +"There is so little difference," said he, "between a privateer an' a +pirate that it is a great strain on a common mind to keep them separate; +but a commission from the king is better than a commission from the +de'il, an' we'll hope there won't be much o' a war after all is said an' +done." + +There was not much intercourse between Blackbeard and Bonnet at Topsail +Inlet. The pirate was on very good terms with the authorities at that +place, who for their own sakes cared not much to interfere with him, and +Bonnet had his own work in hand and industriously engaged in it. He went +to Bath and got his pardon; he procured a clearance for St. Thomas, +where he freely announced his intention to take out a commission as +privateer, and he fitted out his vessel as best he could. Of men he had +not many, but when he left the inlet he sailed down to an island on the +coast, where Blackbeard, having had too many men on his return from +Charles Town, had marooned a large number of the sailors belonging to +his different crews, finding this the easiest way of getting rid of +them. Bonnet took these men on board with the avowed intention of taking +them to St. Thomas, and then he set sail upon the high seas as free and +untrammelled as a fish-hawk sweeping over the surface of a harbour with +clearance papers tied to his leg. + +Stede Bonnet had changed very much since he last trod the quarter-deck +of the Revenge as her captain. He was not so important to look at, and +he put on fewer airs of authority, but he issued a great many more +commands. In fact, he had learned much about a sailor's life, of +navigation and the management of a vessel, and was far better able to +command a ship than he had ever been before. He had had a long rest from +the position of a pirate captain, and he had not failed to take +advantage of the lessons which had been involuntarily given him by the +veteran scoundrels who had held him in contempt. He was now, to a great +extent, sailing-master as well as captain of the Revenge; but Ben +Greenway, who was much given to that sort of thing, undertook to offer +Bonnet some advice in regard to his course. + +"I am no sailor," said he, "but I ken a chart when I see it, an' it is +my opeenion that there is no need o' your sailin' so far to the east +before ye turn about southward. There is naething much stickin' out from +the coast between here an' St. Thomas." + +Bonnet looked at the Scotchman with lofty contempt. + +"Perhaps you can tell me," said he, "what there is stickin' out from the +coast between here and Ocracoke Inlet, where you yourself told me that +Blackbeard had gone with the one sloop he kept for himself?" + +"Blackbeard!" shouted the Scotchman, "an' what in the de'il have ye got +to do wi' Blackbeard?" + +"Do with that infernal dog?" cried Bonnet, "I have everything to do with +him before I do aught with anybody or anything besides. He stole from me +my possessions, he degraded me from my position, he made me a +laughing-stock to my men, and he even made me blush and bow my head with +shame before my daughter and my brother-in-law, two people in whose +sight I would have stood up grander and bolder than before any others in +the world. He took away from me my sword and he gave me instead a +wretched pen; he made me nothing where I had been everything. He even +ceased to consider me any more than if I had been the dirty deck under +his feet. And then, when he had done with my property and could get no +more good out of it, he cast it to me in charity as a man would toss a +penny to a beggar. Before I sail anywhere else, Ben Greenway," continued +Bonnet, "I sail for Ocracoke Inlet, and when I sight Blackbeard's +miserable little sloop I shall pour broadside after broadside into her +until I sink his wretched craft with his bedizened carcass on board of +it." + +"But wi' your men stand by ye?" cried Greenway. "Ye're neither a pirate +nor a vessel o' war to enter into a business like that." + +Bonnet swore one of his greatest oaths. "There is no business nor war +for me, Ben Greenway," he cried, "until I have taught that insolent +Blackbeard what manner of man I am." + +Ben Greenway was very much disheartened. "If Blackbeard should sink the +Revenge instead of Master Bonnet sinking him," he said to himself, "and +would be kind enough to maroon my old master an' me, it might be the +best for everybody after all. Master Bonnet is vera humble-minded an' +complacent when bad fortune comes upon him, an' it is my opeenion that +on a desert island I could weel manage him for the good o' his soul." + +But there were no vessels sunk on that cruise. Blackbeard had gone, +nobody knew where, and after a time Bonnet gave up the search for his +old enemy and turned his bow southward. Now Ben Greenway's countenance +gleamed once more. + +"It'll be a glad day at Spanish Town when Mistress Kate shall get my +letter." + +"And what have you been writing to her?" cried Bonnet. + +"I told her," said Ben Greenway, "how at last ye hae come to your right +mind, an' how ye are a true servant o' the king, wi' your pardon in your +pocket an' your commission waitin' for ye at St. Thomas, an' that, +whatever else ye may do at sea, there'll be no more black flag floatin' +over your head, nor a see-saw plank wobblin' under the feet o' onybody +else. The days o' your piracies are over, an' ye're an honest mon once +more." + +"You wrote her that?" said Bonnet, with a frown. + +"Ay," said Greenway, "an' I left it in the care o' a good mon, whose +ship is weel on its way to Kingston by this day." + +That afternoon Captain Bonnet called all his men together and addressed +them. + +He made a very good speech, a better one than that delivered when he +first took real command of the Revenge after sailing out of the river at +Bridgetown, and it was listened to with respectful and earnest interest. +In brief manner he explained to all on board that he had thrown to the +winds all idea of merchandising or privateering; that his pardon and his +ship's clearance were of no value to him except he should happen to get +into some uncomfortable predicament with the law; that he had no idea of +sailing towards St. Thomas, but intended to proceed up the coast to burn +and steal and rob and slay wherever he might find it convenient to do +so; that he had brought the greater part of his crew from the desert +island where Blackbeard had left them because he knew that they were +stout and reckless fellows, just the sort of men he wanted for the +piratical cruise he was about to begin; and that, in order to mislead +any government authorities who by land or sea might seek to interfere +with him, he had changed the name of the good old Revenge to the Royal +James, while its captain, once Stede Bonnet, was now to be known on +board and everywhere else as Captain Thomas, with nothing against him. +He concluded by saying that all that had been done on that ship from the +time she first hoisted the black flag until the present moment was +nothing at all compared to the fire and the blood and the booty which +should follow in the wake of that gallant vessel, the Royal James, +commanded by Captain Thomas. + +The men looked at each other, but did not say much. They were all +pirates, although few of them had regularly started out on a piratical +career, and there was nothing new to them in this sort of piratical +dishonour. In the little cruise after Blackbeard their new captain had +shown himself to be a good man, ready with his oaths and very certain +about what he wanted done. So, whenever Stede Bonnet chose to run up the +Jolly Roger, he might do it for all they cared. + +Poor Ben Greenway sat apart, his head bowed upon his hands. + +"You seem to be in a bad case, old Ben," said Bonnet, gazing down upon +him, "but you throw yourself into needless trouble. As soon as I lay +hold of some craft which I am willing shall go away with a sound hull, I +will put you on board of her and let you go back to the farm. I will +keep you no longer among these wicked people, Ben Greenway, and in this +wicked place." + +Ben shook his head. "I started wi' ye an' I stay wi' ye," said he, "an' +I'll follow ye to the vera gates o' hell, but farther than that, Master +Bonnet, I willna go; at the gates o' hell I leave ye!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + +A CHAPTER OF HAPPENINGS + + +For happiness with a flaw in it, it was a very fair happiness which now +hung over the Delaplaine home near Spanish Town. Kate Bonnet's father +was still a pirate, but there was no Captain Vince in hot pursuit of +him, seeking his blood. Kate could sing with the birds and laugh with +Dickory whenever she thought of the death of the wicked enemy. This was +not, it may be thought, a proper joy for a young maiden's heart, but it +came to Kate whether she would or not; the change was so great from the +fear which had possessed her before. + +The old home life began again, although it was a very quiet life. +Dickory went into Mr. Delaplaine's counting-house, but it was hard for +the young man to doff the naval uniform which had been bestowed upon him +by Blackbeard, for he knew he looked very well in it, and everybody else +thought so and told him so; but it could not be helped, and with all +convenient speed he discarded his cocked hat and all the rest of it, +and clothed himself in the simple garb of a merchant's clerk, although +it might be said, that in all the West Indies, at that day, there was no +clerk so good-looking as was Dickory. Dame Charter was so thankful that +her boy had come safely through all his troubles, so proud of him, and +so eminently well satisfied with his present position, that she asked +nothing of her particular guardian angel but that Stede Bonnet might +stay away. If, after tiring of piracy, that man came back, as his +relatives wished him to do, the good dame was sure he would make +mischief of some sort, and as like as not in the direction of her +Dickory. If this evil family genius should be lost at sea or should +disappear from the world in some equally painless and undisgraceful +fashion, Dame Charter was sure that she could in a reasonable time quiet +the grief of poor Kate; for what right-minded damsel could fail to +mingle thankfulness with her sorrow that a kind death should relieve a +parent from the sins and disgraces which in life always seemed to open +up in front of him. + +About this time there came a letter from Barbadoes, which was of great +interest to everybody in the household. It was from Master Martin +Newcombe, and of course was written to Kate, but she read many portions +of it to the others. The first part of the epistle was not read aloud, +but it was very pleasant for Kate to read it to herself. This man was a +close lover and an ardent one. Whatever had happened to her fortunes, +nothing had interfered with his affection; whatever he had said he still +bravely stood by, and to whatever she had objected in the way of +obstacles he had paid no attention whatever. + +In the parts of the letter read to her uncle and the others, Master +Newcombe told how, not having heard from them for so long, he had been +beginning to be greatly troubled, but the arrival of the Black Swan, +which, after touching at Kingston, had continued her course to +Barbadoes, had given him new life and hope; and it was his intention, as +soon as he could arrange his affairs, to come to Jamaica, and there say +by word of mouth and do, in his own person, so much for which a letter +was totally inadequate. The thought of seeing Kate again made him +tremble as he walked through his fields. This was read inadvertently, +and Dickory frowned. Dame Charter frowned too. She had never supposed +that Master Newcombe would come to Spanish Town; she had always looked +upon him as a very worthy young farmer; so worthy that he would not +neglect his interest by travelling about to other islands than his own. +She did not know exactly how her son felt about all this, nor did she +like to ask him, but Dickory saved her the trouble. + +"If that Newcombe comes here," he said, "I am going to fight him." + +"What!" cried his mother. "You would not do that. That would be +terrible; it would ruin everything." + +"Ruin what?" he asked. + +His mother answered diplomatically. "It would ruin all your fine +opportunities in this family." + +Dickory smiled with a certain sarcastic hardness. "I don't mean," said +he, "that I am going to hack at him with a sword, because neither he nor +I properly know how to use swords, and after the wonderful practice that +I have seen, I would not want to prove myself a bungler even if the +other man were a worse one. No, mother, I mean to fight with him by all +fair means to gain the hand of my dear Kate. I love her, and I am far +more worthy of her than he is. He is not a well-disposed man, being +rough and inconsiderate in his speech." Dickory had never forgiven the +interview by the river bank when he had gone to see Madam Bonnet. "And +as to his being a stout lover, he is none of it. Had he been that, he +would long ago have crossed the little sea between Barbadoes and here." + +"Do you mean, you foolish boy," exclaimed Dame Charter, "to say that you +presume to love our Mistress Kate?" And her eyes glowed upon him with +all the warmth of a mother's pride, for this was the wish of her heart, +and never absent from it. + +"Ay, mother," said Dickory, "I shall fight for her; I shall show her +that I am worthier than he is and that I love her better. I shall even +strive for her if that mad pirate comes back and tries to overset +everything." + +"Oh, do it before that!" cried Dame Charter, anxiety in every wrinkle. +"Do it before that!" + +Mr. Delaplaine was a little troubled by the promised visit from +Barbadoes. He had heard of Master Newcombe as being a most estimable +young man, but the fault about him, in his opinion, was that he resided +not in Jamaica. For a long time the good merchant had lived his own +life, with no one to love him, and he now had with him his sister's +child, whom he had come to look upon as a daughter, and he did not wish +to give her up. It was true that it might be possible, under favourable +pressure, to induce young Newcombe to come to Jamaica and settle there, +but this was all very vague. Had he had his own way, he would have +driven from Kate every thought of love or marriage until the time when +his new clerk, Dickory Charter, had become a young merchant of good +standing, worthy of such a wife. Then he might have been willing to give +Kate to Dickory, and Dickory would have given her to him, and they might +have all been happy. That is, if that hare-brained Bonnet did not come +home. + +The Delaplaine family did not go much into society at that time, for +people had known about the pirate and his ship, the Revenge, and the +pursuit upon which Captain Vince of the royal corvette Badger had been +sent. They had all heard, too, of the death of Captain Vince, and some +of them were not quite certain whether he had been killed by the pirate +Bonnet or another desperado equally dangerous. Knowing all this, +although if they had not known it they would scarcely have found it out +from the speech of their neighbours, the Delaplaines kept much to +themselves. And they were happy, and the keynote of their happiness was +struck by Kate, whose thankful heart could never forget the death of +Captain Vince. + +Mr. Delaplaine made his proper visit to Spanish Town, to carry his +thanks and to tell the Governor how things had happened to him; and the +Governor still showed his interest in Mistress Kate Bonnet, and +expressed his regret that she had not come with her uncle, which was a +very natural wish indeed for a governor of good taste. + +This is a chapter of happenings, and the next happening was a letter +from that good man, Ben Greenway, and it told the most wonderful, +splendid, and glorious news that had ever been told under the bright sun +of the beautiful West Indies. It told that Captain Stede Bonnet was no +longer a pirate, and that Kate was no longer a pirate's daughter. These +happy people did not join hands and dance and sing over the great news, +but Kate's joy was so great that she might have done all these things +without knowing it, so thankful was she that once again she had a +father. This rapture so far outshone her relief at the news of the death +of Captain Vince that she almost forgot that that wicked man was safe +and dead. Kate was in such a state of wild delight that she insisted +that her uncle should make another visit to the Governor's house and +take her with him, that she herself might carry the Governor the good +news; and the Governor said such heart-warming things when he heard it +that Kate kissed him in very joy. But as Dickory was not of the party, +this incident was not entered as part of the proceedings. + +Now society, both in Spanish Town and Kingston, opened its arms and +insisted that the fair star of Barbadoes should enter them, and there +were parties and dances and dinners, and it might have been supposed +that everybody had been a father or a mother to a prodigal son, so +genial and joyful were the festivities--Kate high above all others. + +At some of these social functions Dickory Charter was present, but it is +doubtful whether he was happier when he saw Kate surrounded by gay +admirers or when he was at home imagining what was going on about her. + +There was but one cloud in the midst of all this sunshine, and that was +that Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, and her son Dickory could not forget +that it was now in the line of events that Stede Bonnet would soon be +with them, and beyond that all was chaos. + +And over the seas sailed the good ship the Royal James, Captain Thomas +in command. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + +THE TIDE DECIDES + + +It was now September, and the weather was beautiful on the North +Carolina coast. Captain Thomas (late Bonnet) of the Royal James (late +Revenge) had always enjoyed cool nights and invigorating morning air, +and therefore it was that he said to his faithful servitor, Ben +Greenway, when first he stepped out upon the deck as his vessel lay +comfortably anchored in a little cove in the Cape Fear River, that he +did not remember ever having been in a more pleasant harbour. This +well-tried pirate captain--Stede Bonnet, as we shall call him, +notwithstanding his assumption of another name--was in a genial mood as +he drank in the morning air. + +From his point of view he had a right to be genial; he had a right to be +pleased with the scenery and the air; he had a right to swear at the +Scotchman, and to ask him why he did not put on a merrier visage on such +a sparkling morning, for since he had first started out as Captain +Thomas of the Royal James he had been a most successful pirate. He had +sailed up the Virginia coast; he had burned, he had sunk, he had robbed, +he had slain; he had gone up the Delaware Bay, and the people in ships +and the people on the coasts trembled even when they heard that his +black flag had been sighted. + +No man could now say that the former captain of the Revenge was not an +accomplished and seasoned desperado. Even the great Blackbeard would not +have cared to give him nicknames, nor dared to play his blithesome +tricks upon him; he was now no more Captain Nightcap to any man. His +crew of hairy ruffians had learned to understand that he knew what he +wanted, and, more than that, he knew how to order it done. They listened +to his great oaths and they respected him. This powerful pirate now +commanded a small fleet, for in the cove where lay his flag-ship also +lay two good-sized sloops, manned by their own crews, which he had +captured in Delaware Bay and had brought down with him to this quiet +spot, a few miles up the Cape Fear River, where now he was repairing his +own ship, which had had a hard time of it since she had again come into +his hands. + +For many a long day the sound of the hammer and the saw had mingled with +the song of the birds, and Captain Bonnet felt that in a day or two he +might again sail out upon the sea, conveying his two prizes to some +convenient mart, while he, with his good ship, freshened and restored, +would go in search of more victories, more booty, and more blood. + +"Greenway, I tell you," said Bonnet, continuing his remarks, "you are +too glum; you've got the only long face in all this, my fleet. Even +those poor fellows who man my prizes are not so solemn, although they +know not, when I have done with them, whether I shall maroon them to +quietly starve or shall sink them in their own vessels." + +"But I hae no such reason to be cheerful," said Ben. "I hae bound mysel' +to stand by ye till ye hae gone to the de'il, an' I hae no chance o' +freein' mysel' from my responsibeelities by perishin' on land or in the +sea." + +"If anything could make me glum, Ben Greenway, it would be you," said +the other; "but I am getting used to you, and some of these days when I +have captured a ship laden with Scotch liquors and Scotch plaids I +believe that you will turn pirate yourself for the sake of your share of +the prizes." + +"Which is likely to be on the same mornin' that ye turn to be an honest +mon," said Ben; "but I am no' in the way o' expectin' miracles." + +On went the pounding and the sawing and the hammering and the swearing +and the singing of birds, although the latter were a little farther away +than they had been, and in the course of the day the pirate captain, +erect, scrutinizing, and blasphemous, went over his ship, +superintending the repairs. In a day or two everything would be +finished, and then he and his two prizes could up sail and away. It was +a beautiful harbour in which he lay, but he was getting tired of it. + +There were great prospects before our pirate captain. Perhaps he might +have the grand good fortune to fall in with that low-born devil, +Blackbeard, who, when last he had been heard from, commanded but a small +vessel, fearing no attack upon this coast. What a proud and glorious +moment it would be when a broadside and another and another should be +poured in upon his little craft from the long guns of the Royal James. + +Bonnet was still standing, reflecting, with bright eyes, upon this +dazzling future, and wondering what would be the best way of letting the +dastardly Blackbeard know whose guns they were which had sunk his ship, +when a boat was seen coming around the headland. This was one of his own +boats, which had been posted as a sentinel, and which now brought the +news that two vessels were coming in at the mouth of the river, but that +as the distance was great and the night was coming on they could not +decide what manner of craft they were. + +This information made everybody jump, on board the Royal James, and the +noise of the sawing and the hammering ceased as completely as had the +songs of the birds. In a few minutes that quick and able mariner, +Bonnet, had sent three armed boats down the river to reconnoitre. If the +vessels entering the river were merchantmen, they should not be allowed +to get away; but if they were enemies, although it was difficult to +understand how enemies could make their appearance in these quiet +waters, they must be attended to, either by fight or flight. + +When the three boats came back, and it was late before they appeared, +every man upon the Royal James was crowded along her side to hear the +news, and even the people on the prizes knew that something had +happened, and stood upon every point of vantage, hoping that in some way +they could find out what it was. + +The news brought by the boats was to the effect that two vessels, not +sailing as merchantmen and well armed and manned, were now ashore on +sand-bars, not very far above the mouth of the river. Now Bonnet swore +bravely. If the work upon his vessels had been finished he would up +anchor and away and sail past these two grounded ships, whatever they +were and whatever they came for. He would sail past them and take with +him his two prizes; he would glide out to sea with the tide, and he +would laugh at them as he left them behind. But the Royal James was not +ready to sail. + +The tide was now low; five hours afterward, when it should be high, +those two ships, whatever they were, would float again, and the Royal +James, whatever her course of action should be, would be cut off from +the mouth of the river. This was a greater risk than even a pirate as +bold as Bonnet would wish to run, and so there was no sleep that night +on the Royal James. The blows of the hammers and the sounds of the saws +made a greater noise than they had ever done before, so that the night +birds were frightened and flew shrieking away. Every man worked with all +the energy that was in him, for each hairy rascal had reason to believe +that if the vessel they were on did not get out of the river before the +two armed strangers should be afloat there might be hard times ahead for +them. Even Ben Greenway was aroused. "The de'il shall not get him any +sooner than can be helped," he said to himself, and he hammered and +sawed with the rest of them. + +On his stout and well-armed sloop the Henry, Mr. William Rhett, of +Charles Town, South Carolina, paced anxiously all night. Frequently from +the sand-bar on which his vessel was grounded he called over to his +other sloop, also fast grounded, giving orders and asking questions. On +both vessels everybody was at work, getting ready for action when the +tide should rise. + +Some weeks before the wails and complaints of a tortured sea-coast had +come down from the Jersey shores to South Carolina, asking for help at +the only place along that coast whence help could come. A pirate named +Thomas was working his way southward, spreading terror before him and +leaving misery behind. These appeals touched the hearts of the people of +Charles Town, already sore from the injuries and insults inflicted upon +them by Blackbeard in those days when Bonnet sat silently on the pirate +ship, doing nothing and learning much. + +There was no hesitancy; for their own sake and for the sake of their +commerce, this new pirate must not come to Charles Town harbour, and an +expedition of two vessels, heavily armed and well manned and commanded +by Mr. William Rhett, was sent northward up the coast to look for the +pirate named Thomas and to destroy him and his ship. Mr. Rhett was not a +military man, nor did he belong to the navy. He was a citizen capable of +commanding soldiers, and as such he went forth to destroy the pirate +Thomas. + +Mr. Rhett met people enough along the coast who told him where he might +find the pirate, but he found no one to tell him how to navigate the +dangerous waters of the Cape Fear River, and so it was that soon after +entering that fine stream he and his consort found themselves aground. + +Mr. Rhett was quite sure that he had discovered the lair of the big game +he was looking for. Just before dark, three boats, well filled with men, +had appeared from up the river, and they had looked so formidable that +everything had been made ready to resist an attack from them. They +retired, but every now and then during the night, when there was quiet +for a few minutes, there would come down the river on the wind the sound +of distant hammering and the noise of saws. + +It was after midnight before the Henry and the Sea Nymph floated free, +but they anchored where they were and waited for the morning. Whether +they would sail up the river after the pirate or whether he would come +down to them, daylight would show. + +Mr. Rhett's vessels had been at anchor for five hours, and every man on +board of them were watching and waiting, when daylight appeared and +showed them a tall ship, under full sail, rounding the distant headland +up the river. Now up came their anchors and their sails were set. The +pirate was coming! + +Whatever the Royal James intended to do, Mr. Rhett had but one plan, and +that was to meet the enemy as soon as possible and fight him. So up +sailed the Henry and up sailed the Sea Nymph, and they pressed ahead so +steadily to meet the Royal James that the latter vessel, in carrying out +what was now her obvious intention of getting out to sea, was forced +shoreward, where she speedily ran upon a bar. Then, from the vessels of +Charles Town there came great shouts of triumph, which ceased when first +the Henry and then the Sea Nymph ran upon other bars and remained +stationary. + +Here was an unusual condition--three ships of war all aground and about +to begin a battle, a battle which would probably last for five hours if +one or more of the stationary vessels were not destroyed before that +time. It was soon found, however, that there would only be two parties +to the fight, for the Sea Nymph was too far away to use her guns. The +Royal James had an advantage over her opponents, since, when she +slightly careened, her decks were slanted away from the enemy, while the +latter's were presented to her fire. + +At it they went, hot and heavy. Bonnet and his men now knew that they +were engaged with commissioned war vessels, and they fought for their +lives. Mr. Rhett knew that he was fighting Thomas, the dreaded pirate of +the coast, and he felt that he must destroy him before his vessel should +float again. The cannon roared, muskets blazed away, and the combatants +were near enough even to use pistols upon each other. Men died, blood +flowed, and the fight grew fiercer and fiercer. + +Bonnet roared like an incarnate devil; he swore at his men, he swore at +the enemy, he swore at his bad fortune, for had he not missed the +channel the game would have been in his own hands. + +So on they fought, and the tide kept steadily rising. The five hours +must pass at last, and the vessel which first floated would win the day. + +The five hours did pass, and the Henry floated, and Bonnet swore louder +and more fiercely than before. He roared to his men to fire and to +fight, no matter whether they were still aground or not, and with many +oaths he vowed that if any one of them showed but a sign of weakening he +would cut him down upon the spot. But the hairy scoundrels who made up +the crew of the Royal James had no idea of lying there with their ship +on its side, while two other ships--for the Sea Nymph was now +afloat--should sail around them, rake their decks, and shatter them to +pieces. So the crew consulted together, despite their captain's roars +and oaths, and many of them counselled surrender. Their vessel was much +farther inshore than the two others, and no matter what happened +afterward they preferred to live longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. + +But Bonnet quailed not before fate, before the enemy, or before his +crew; if he heard another word of surrender he would fire the magazine +and blow the ship to the sky with every man in it. Raising his cutlass +in air, he was about to bring it down upon one of the cowards he +berated, when suddenly he was seized by two powerful hands, which pinned +his arms behind him. With a scream of rage, he turned his head and +found that he was in the grasp of Ben Greenway. + +"Let go your sword, Master Bonnet," said Ben; "it is o' no use to ye +now, for ye canna get awa' from me. I'm nae older than ye are, though I +look it, an' I've got the harder muscles. Ye may be makin' your way +steadily an' surely to the gates o' hell an' it mayna be possible that I +can prevent ye, but I'm not goin' to let ye tumble in by accident so +long as I've got two arms left to me." + +Pale, haggard, and writhing, Stede Bonnet was disarmed, and the Jolly +Roger came down. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + +BONNET AND GREENWAY PART COMPANY + + +It was three days after this memorable combat--for the vessels engaged +in it needed considerable repairs--when Mr. Rhett of Charles Town sailed +down the Cape Fear River with his five vessels--the two with which he +had entered it, the pirate Royal James, and the two prizes of the +latter, which had waited quietly up the river to see how matters were +going to turn out. + +On the Henry sailed the pirate Thomas, now discovered to be the +notorious Stede Bonnet, and a very quiet and respectful man he was. As +has been seen before, Bonnet was a man able to adapt himself to +circumstances. There never was a more demure counting-house clerk than +was Bonnet at Belize; there never was an humbler dependent than the +almost unnoticed Bonnet after he had joined Blackbeard's fleet before +Charles Town, and there never was a more deferential and respectful +prisoner than Stede Bonnet on board the Henry. It was really touching to +see how this cursing and raging pirate deported himself as a meek and +uncomplaining gentleman. + +There was no prison-house in Charles Town, but Stede Bonnet's wicked +crew, including Ben Greenway--for his captors were not making any +distinctions in regard to common men taken on a pirate ship--were +clapped into the watch-house--and a crowded and uncomfortable place it +was--and put under a heavy and military guard. The authorities were, +however, making distinctions where gentlemen of family and owners of +landed estates were concerned, no matter if they did happen to be taken +on a pirate ship, and Major Bonnet of Barbadoes was lodged in the +provost marshal's house, in comfortable quarters, with only two +sentinels outside to make him understand he was a prisoner. + +The capture of this celebrated pirate created a sensation in Charles +Town, and many of the citizens were not slow to pay the unfortunate +prisoner the attentions due to his former position in society. He was +very well satisfied with his treatment in Charles Town, which city he +had never before had the pleasure of visiting. + +The attentions paid to Ben Greenway were not pleasing; sometimes he was +shoved into one corner and sometimes into another. He frequently had +enough to eat and drink, but very often this was not the case. Bonnet +never inquired after him. If he thought of him at all, he hoped that he +had been killed in the fight, for if that were the case he would be rid +of his eternal preachments. + +Greenway made known the state of his own case whenever he had a chance +to do so, but his complaints received no attention, and he might have +remained with the crew of the Royal James as long as they were shut up +in the watch-house had not some of the hairy cut-throats themselves +taken pity upon him and assured the guards that this man was not one of +them, and that they knew from what they had heard him say and seen him +do that there was no more determined enemy of piracy in all the Western +continent. So it happened, that after some weeks of confinement Greenway +was let out of the watch-house and allowed to find quarters for himself. + +The first day the Scotchman was free he went to the provost-marshal's +house and petitioned an interview with his old master, Bonnet. + +"Heigho!" cried the latter, who was comfortably seated in a chair +reading a letter. "And where do you come from, Ben Greenway? I had +thought you were dead and buried in the Cape Fear River." + +"Ye did not think I was dead," replied Ben, "when I seized ye an' held +ye an' kept ye from buryin' yoursel' in that same river." + +Bonnet waved his hand. "No more of that," said he; "I was unfortunate, +but that is over now and things have turned out better than any man +could have expected." + +"Better!" exclaimed Ben. "I vow I know not what that means." + +Bonnet laughed. He was looking very well; he was shaved, and wore a neat +suit of clothes. + +"Ben Greenway," said he, "you are now looking upon a man of high +distinction. At this moment I am the greatest pirate on the face of the +earth. Yes, Greenway, the greatest pirate on the face of the earth. I +have a letter here, which was received by the provost-marshal and which +he gave me to read, which tells that Blackbeard, the first pirate of his +age, is dead. Therefore, Ben Greenway, I take his place, and there is no +living pirate greater than I am." + +"An' ye pride yoursel' on that, an' at this moment?" asked Ben, truly +amazed. + +"That do I," said Bonnet. "And think of it, Ben Greenway, that +presumptuous, overbearing Blackbeard was killed, and his head brought +away sticking up on the bow of a vessel. What a rare sight that must +have been, Ben! Think of his long beard, all tied up with ribbons, stuck +up on the bow of a ship!" + +"An' ye are now the head de'il on earth?" said Ben. + +"You can put it that way, if you like," said Bonnet, "but I am not so +looked upon in this town. I am an honoured person. I doubt very much if +any prisoner in this country was ever treated with the distinction that +is shown me, but I don't wonder at it; I have the reputation of two +great pirates joined in one--the pirate Bonnet, of the dreaded ship +Revenge, and the terrible Thomas of the Royal James. My man, there are +people in this town who have been to me and who have said that a man so +famous should not even be imprisoned. I have good reason to believe that +it will not be long before pardon papers are made out for me, and that I +may go my way." + +"An' your men?" asked Greenway. "Will they go free or will they be hung +like common pirates?" + +Bonnet frowned impatiently. "I don't want to hear anything about the +men," he said; "of course they will be hung. What could be done with +them if they were not hung? But it is entirely different with me. I am a +most respectable person, and, now that I am willing to resign my +piratical career, having won in it all the glory that can come to one +man, that respectability must be considered." + +"Weel, weel," said the Scotchman; "an' when it comes that +respectabeelity is better for a man's soul an' body than righteousness, +then I am no fit counsellor for ye, Master Bonnet," and he took his +leave. + +The next morning, when Ben Greenway left his lodging he found the town +in an uproar. The pirate Bonnet had bribed his sentinels and, with some +others, had escaped. Ben stood still and stamped his foot. Such infamy, +such perfidy to the authorities who had treated him so well, the +Scotchman could not at first imagine, but when the truth became plain to +him, his face glowed, his eye burned; this vile conduct of his old +master was a triumph to Ben's principles. Wickedness was wickedness, and +could not be washed away by respectability. + +The days passed on; Bonnet was recaptured, more securely imprisoned, put +upon trial, found guilty, and, in spite of the efforts of the advocates +of respectability, was condemned to be hung on the same spot where +nearly all the members of his pirate crew had been executed. + +During all this time Ben Greenway kept away from his old master; he had +borne ill-treatment of every kind, but the deception practised upon him +when, at his latest interview, Bonnet talked to him of his +respectability, having already planned an escape and return to his evil +ways, was too much for the honest Scotchman. He had done with this man, +faithless to friend and foe, to his own blood, and even to his own bad +reputation. + +But not quite done. It was but half an hour before the time fixed for +the pirate's execution that Ben Greenway gained access to him. + +"What!" cried Bonnet, raising his head from his hands. "You here? I +thought I had done with you!" + +"Ay, I am here," said Ben Greenway. "I hae stood by ye in good fortune +an' in bad fortune, an' I hae never left ye, no matter what happened; +an' I told ye I would follow ye to the gates o' hell, but I could go no +farther. I hae kept my word an' here I stop. Fareweel!" + +"The only comfortable thing about this business," said Bonnet, "is to +know that at last I am rid of that fellow!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + +AGAIN DICKORY WAS THERE + + +There were indeed gay times in Spanish Town, and with the two loads +lifted from her heart, Kate helped very much to promote the gaiety. If +this young lady had wished to make a good colonial match, she had +opportunities enough for so doing, but she was not in that frame of +mind, and encouraged no suitor. + +But, bright as she was, she was not so bright as on that great and +glorious day when she received Ben Greenway's letter, telling her that +her father was no longer a pirate. There were several reasons for this +gradually growing twilight of her happiness, and one was that no letter +came from her father. To be sure, there were many reasons why no letter +should come. There were no regular mails in these colonies which could +be depended upon, and, besides, the new career of her father, sailing as +a privateer under the king's flag, would probably make it very +difficult for him to send a letter to Jamaica by any regular or +irregular method. Moreover, her father was a miserable correspondent, +and always had been. Thus she comforted herself and was content, though +not very well content, to wait. + +Then there was another thing which troubled her, when she thought of it. +That good man and steady lover, Martin Newcombe, had written that he was +coming to Spanish Town, and she knew very well what he was coming for +and what he would say, but she did not know what she would say to him; +and the thought of this troubled her. In a letter she might put off the +answer for which he had been so long and patiently waiting, but when she +met him face to face there could be no more delay; she must tell him yes +or no, and she was not ready to do this. + +There was so much to think of, so many plans to be considered in regard +to going back to Barbadoes or staying in Jamaica, that really she could +not make up her mind, at least not until she had seen her father. She +would be so sorry if Mr. Newcombe came to Spanish Town before her father +should arrive, or at least before she should hear from him. + +Then there was another thing which added to the twilight of these +cheerful days, and this Kate could scarcely understand, because she +could see no reason why it should affect her. The Governor, whom they +frequently met in the course of the pleasant social functions of the +town, looked troubled, and was not the genial gentleman he used to be. +Of course he had a right to his own private perplexities and annoyances, +but it grieved Kate to see the change in him. He had always been so +cordial and so cheerful; he was now just as kind as ever, perhaps a +little more so, in his manner, but he was not cheerful. + +Kate mentioned to her uncle the changed demeanour of the Governor, but +he could give no explanation; he had heard of no political troubles, but +supposed that family matters might easily have saddened the good man. + +He himself was not very cheerful, for day after day brought nearer the +time when that uncertain Stede Bonnet might arrive in Jamaica, and what +would happen after that no man could tell. One thing he greatly feared, +and that was, that his dear niece, Kate, might be taken away from him. +Dame Charter was not so very cheerful either. Only in one way did she +believe in Stede Bonnet, and that was, that after some fashion or +another he would come between her and her bright dreams for her dear +Dickory. + +And so there were some people in Spanish Town who were not as happy as +they had been. + +Still there were dinners and little parties, and society made itself +very pleasant; and in the midst of them all a ship came in from +Barbadoes, bringing a letter from Martin Newcombe. + +A strange thing about this letter was that it was addressed to Mr. +Delaplaine and not to Miss Kate Bonnet. This, of course, proved the +letter must be on business; and, although he was with his little family +when he opened his letter, he thought it well to glance at it before +reading it aloud. The first few lines showed him that it was indeed a +business letter, for it told of the death of Madam Bonnet, and how the +writer, Martin Newcombe, as a neighbour and friend of the family, had +been called in to take temporary charge of her effects, and, having done +so, he hastened to inform Mr. Delaplaine of his proceedings and to ask +advice. This letter he now read aloud, and Kate and the others were +greatly interested therein, although they cautiously forbore the +expression of any opinion which might rise in their minds regarding this +turn of affairs. + +Having finished these business details, Mr. Delaplaine went on and read +aloud, and in the succeeding portion of the letter Mr. Newcombe begged +Mr. Delaplaine to believe that it was the hardest duty of his whole life +to write what he was now obliged to write, but that he knew he must do +it, and therefore would not hesitate. At this the reader looked at his +niece and stopped. + +"Go on," cried Kate, her face a little flushed, "go on!" + +The face of Mr. Delaplaine was pale, and for a moment he hesitated, +then, with a sudden jerk, he nerved himself to the effort and read on; +he had seen enough to make him understand that the duty before him +was to read on. + +[Illustration: In an instant Dickory was there.] + +Briefly and tersely, but with tears in the very ink, so sad were the +words, the writer assured Mr. Delaplaine that his love for his niece had +been, and was, the overpowering impulse of his life; that to win this +love he had dared everything, he had hoped for everything, he had been +willing to pass by and overlook everything, but that now, and it tore +his heart to write it, his evil fortune had been too much for him; he +could do anything for the sake of his love that a man with respect for +himself could do, but there was one thing at which he must stop, at +which he must bow his head and submit to his fate--he could not marry +the daughter of an executed felon. + +Thus came to that little family group the news of the pirate Bonnet's +death. There was more of the letter, but Mr. Delaplaine did not read it. + +Kate did not scream, nor moan, nor faint, but she sat up straight in her +chair and gazed, with a wild intentness, at her uncle. No one spoke. At +such a moment condolence or sympathy would have been a cruel mockery. +They were all as pale as chalk. In his heart, Mr. Delaplaine said: "I +see it all; the Governor must have known, and he loved her so he could +not break her heart." + +In the midst of the silence, in the midst of the chalky whiteness of +their faces, in the midst of the blackness which was settling down upon +them, Kate Bonnet still sat upright, a coldness creeping through every +part of her. Suddenly she turned her head, and in a voice of wild +entreaty she called out: "Oh, Dickory, why don't you come to me!" + +In an instant Dickory was there, and, cold and lifeless, Kate Bonnet was +in his arms. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + +THE BLESSINGS WHICH COME FROM THE DEATH OF THE WICKED + + +It was three weeks after Martin Newcombe's letter came before Ben +Greenway arrived in Spanish Town. He had had a hard time to get there, +having but little money and no friends to help him; but he had a strong +heart and an earnest, and so he was bound to get there at last; and, +although Kate saw no visitors, she saw him. She was not dressed in +mourning; she could not wear black for herself. + +She greeted the Scotchman with earnestness; he was a friend out of the +old past, but she gave him no chance to speak first. + +"Ben," she exclaimed, "have you a message for me?" + +"No message," he replied, "but I hae somethin' on my heart I wish to say +to ye. I hae toiled an' laboured an' hae striven wi' mony obstacles to +get to ye an' to say it." + +She looked at him, with her brows knit, wondering if she should allow +him to speak; then, with the words scarcely audible between her tightly +closed lips, she said: "Ben, what is it?" + +"It is this, an' no more nor less," replied the Scotchman; "he was never +fit to be your father, an' it is not fit now for ye to remember him as +your father. I was faithful to him to the vera last, but there was no +truth in him. It is an abomination an' a wickedness for ye to remember +him as your father!" + +Kate spoke no word, nor did she shed a tear. + +"It was my heart's desire ye should know it," said the Scotchman, "an' I +came mony a weary league to tell ye so." + +"Ben," said she, "I think I have known it for a long time, but I would +not suffer myself to believe it; but now, having heard your words, I am +sure of it." + +"Uncle," said she an hour afterward, "I have no father, and I never had +one." + +With tears in his eyes he folded her to his breast, and peace began to +rise in his soul. No greater blessing can come to really good people +than the absolute disappearance of the wicked. + +And the wickedness which had so long shadowed and stained the life of +Kate Bonnet was now removed from it. It was hard to get away from the +shadow and to wipe off the stain, but she was a brave girl and she did +it. + +In this work of her life--a work which if not accomplished would make +that life not worth the living--Kate was much helped by Dickory; and he +helped her by not saying a word about it or ever allowing himself, when +in her presence, to remember that there had been a shadow or a stain. +And if he thought of it at all when by himself, his only feeling was one +of thankfulness that what had happened had given her to him. + +Even the Governor brightened. He had striven hard to keep from Kate the +news which had come to him from Charles Town, suppressing it in the +hopes that it might reach her more gradually and with less terrible +effect than if he told it, but now that he knew that she knew it the +blessings which are shed abroad by the disappearance of the wicked +affected him also, and he brightened. There were no functions for Kate, +but she brightened, striving with all her soul to have this so, for her +own sake as well as that of others. As for Mr. Delaplaine, Dame Charter, +and Dickory, they brightened without any trouble at all, the +disappearance of the wicked having such a direct and forcible effect +upon them. + +Dickory Charter, who matured in a fashion which made everybody forget +that Kate Bonnet was eleven months his senior, entered into business +with Mr. Delaplaine, and Jamaica became the home of this happy family, +whose welfare was founded, as on a rock, upon the disappearance of the +wicked. + +Here, then, was a brave girl who had loved her father with a love which +was more than that of a daughter, which was the love of a mother, of a +wife; who had loved him in prosperity and in times of sorrow and of +shame; who had rejoiced like an angel whenever he turned his footsteps +into the right way, and who had mourned like an angel whenever he went +wrong. She had longed to throw her arms around her father's neck, to +hold him to her, and thus keep off the hangman's noose. Her courage and +affection never waned until those arms were rudely thrust aside and +their devoted owner dastardly repulsed. + +True to herself and to him, she loved her father so long as there was +anything parental in him which she might love; and, true to herself, +when he had left her nothing she might love, she bowed her head and +suffered him, as he passed out of his life, to pass out of her own. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + +CAPTAIN ICHABOD PUTS THE CASE + + +In the river at Bridgetown lay the good brig King and Queen, just +arrived from Jamaica. On her deck was an impatient young gentleman, +leaning over the rail and watching the approach of a boat, with two men +rowing and a passenger in the stern. + +This impatient young man was Dickory Charter, that morning arrived at +Bridgetown and not yet having been on shore. He came for the purpose of +settling some business affairs, partly on account of Miss Kate Bonnet +and partly for his mother. + +As the boat came nearer, Dickory recognised one of the men who were +rowing and hailed him. + +"Heigho! Tom Hilyer," he cried, "I am right glad to see you on this +river again. I want a boat to go to my mother's house; know you of one +at liberty?" + +The man ceased rowing for a moment and then addressed the passenger in +the stern, who, having heard what he had to say, nodded briefly. + +"Well, well, Dick Charter!" cried out the man, "and have you come back +as governor of the colony? You look fine enough, anyway. But if you want +a boat to go to your mother's old home, you can have a seat in this one; +we're going there, and our passenger does not object." + +"Pull up here," cried Dickory, and in a moment he had dropped into the +bow of the boat, which then proceeded on its way. + +The man in the stern was fairly young, handsome, sunburned, and well +dressed in a suit of black. When Dickory thanked him for allowing him to +share his boat the passenger in the stern nodded his head with a jerk +and an air which indicated that he took the incident as a matter of +course, not to be further mentioned or considered. + +The men who rowed the boat were good oarsmen, but they were not +thoroughly acquainted with the cove, especially at low tide, and +presently they ran upon a sand-bar. Then uprose the passenger in the +stern and began to swear with an ease and facility which betokened long +practice. Dickory did not swear, but he knit his brows and berated +himself for not having taken the direction of the course into his own +hands, he who knew the river and the cove so well. The tide was rising +but Dickory was too impatient to sit still and wait until it should be +high enough to float the boat. That was his old home, that little house +at the head of the cove, and he wanted to get there, he wanted to see +it. Part of the business which brought him to Barbadoes concerned that +little house. With a sudden movement he made a dive at his shoes and +stockings and speedily had them lying at the bottom of the boat. Then he +stepped overboard and waded towards the shore. In some of the deeper +places he wetted the bottom of his breeches, but he did not mind that. +The passenger in the stern sat down, but he continued to swear. + +Presently Dickory was on the dry sand, and running up to that cottage +door. A little back from the front of the house and in the shade there +was a bench, and on this bench there sat a girl, reading. She lifted her +head in surprise as Dickory approached, for his bare feet had made no +noise, then she stood up quickly, blushing. + +"You!" she exclaimed. + +"Yes," cried Dickory; "and you look just the same as when you first put +your head above the bushes and talked to me." + +"Except that I am more suitably clothed," she said. + +And she was entirely right, for her present dress was feminine, and +extremely becoming. + +Dickory did not wish to say anything more on this subject, and so he +remarked: "I have just arrived at the town, and I came directly here." + +Lucilla blushed again. + +"This is my old home," added Dickory. + +"But you knew we were here?" she asked, with a hesitating look of +inquiry. + +"Oh, yes," said he, "I knew that the house had been let to your father." + +Now she changed colour twice--first red, then white. "Are you," she +said, "I mean ... the other, is she--" + +"I left her in Jamaica," said Dickory, "but I am going to marry her." + +For a moment the rim of her hat got between the sun and her face, and +one could not decide very well whether her countenance was red or white. + +"I am very glad to find you here," said Dickory, "and may I see your +father and mother?" + +"Yes," said she, "but they are both in the field with my young sister. +But who is this man walking up the shore? And is that the boat you came +in?" + +"It is," said Dickory. "We stuck fast, but I was in such a hurry that I +waded ashore. I don't know the man; he had hired the boat, and kindly +took me in, I was in such haste to get here." + +For a moment Lucilla bent her eyes on the ground. "In such haste to get +here!" she said to herself; then she raised her head and exclaimed: "Oh, +I know that man; he is the pirate captain who captured the Belinda, +which afterward brought us here." And with both hands outstretched, she +ran to meet him. + +The face of Captain Ichabod glowed with irrepressible delight; one might +have thought he was about to embrace the young woman, notwithstanding +the presence of Dickory and the two boatmen, but he did everything he +could do before witnesses to express his joy. + +Dickory now stepped up to Captain Ichabod. "Oh, now I know you," cried +he, and he held out his hand. "You were very kind indeed to my friends, +and they have spoken much about you. This is my old home; this is the +house where I was born." + +"Yes, yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "a very good house, bedad, a +very good house." But hesitating a little and addressing Lucilla: "You +don't live here alone, do you?" + +The girl laughed. + +"Oh, no," she cried. "My father and mother will be here presently; in +fact, I see them coming." + +"That's very well," said Ichabod, "very well indeed. It's quite right +that they should live with you. I remember them now; they were on the +ship with you." + +"Oh, yes," said Lucilla, still laughing. + +"Quite right, quite right," said Ichabod; "that was very right." + +"I will go meet your father and mother and the dear little Lena; I +remember them so well," said Dickory. He started to run off in spite of +his bare feet, but he had gone but a little way when Lucilla stopped +him. She looked up at him, and this time her face was white. + +"Are you sure," said she, "that everything is settled between you and +that other girl?" + +"Very sure," said Dickory, looking kindly upon her and remembering how +pretty she had looked when he first saw her face over the bushes. + +She did not say anything, but turned and walked back to Captain Ichabod. +She found that tall gentleman somewhat agitated; he seemed to have a +great deal on his mind which he wished to say, feeling, at the same +time, that he ought to say everything first. + +"That's your father and mother," said he, "stopping to talk to the young +man who was born here?" + +"Yes," she answered, "and they will be with us presently." + +"Very good, very good, that's quite right," said Captain Ichabod +hurriedly; "but before they come, I want to say--that is, I would like +you to know--that I have sold my ship. I am not a pirate any longer, I +am a sugar-planter, bedad. Beg your pardon! That is, I intend to be +one. You remember that you once talked to me about sugar-planting in +Barbadoes, and so I am here. I want to find a good sugar plantation, to +buy it, and live on it; I heard that you were stopping on this side of +the river, and so I came here." + +"But there is no sugar plantation here," said Lucilla, very demurely. + +"Oh, no," said Ichabod, "oh, no, of course not; but you are here, and I +wanted to find you; a sugar plantation would be of no use without you." + +She looked at him, still very demurely. "I don't quite understand you," +she said. She turned her head a little and saw that her family and +Dickory were slowly moving towards the house. She knew that with +diffident persons no time should be lost, for, if interrupted, it often +happened that they did not begin again. + +"Then I suppose," she said, her face turned up towards him, but her eyes +cast down, "that you are going to say that you would like to marry me?" + +"Of course, of course," exclaimed Ichabod; "I thought you knew that that +is what I came here for, bedad." + +"Very well, then," said Lucilla, turning her eyes to the face of the man +she had dreamed of in many happy nights. "No, no," she added quickly, +"you must not kiss me; they are all coming, and there are the two +boatmen." + +He did not kiss her, but later he made up for the omission. + +The moment Mrs. Mander saw Captain Ichabod and her daughter standing +together she knew exactly what had happened; she had noticed things on +board the Belinda. She hurried up to Lucilla and drew her aside. + +"My dear," she whispered, with a frightened face, "you cannot marry a +pirate; you never, never can!" + +"Dear mother," said Lucilla, "he is not a pirate; he has sold his ship +and is going to be a sugar-planter." + +Now they all came up and heard these words of Lucilla. + +"Yes, indeed," said Captain Ichabod, "you may not suppose it, but your +daughter and I are about to marry, and will plant sugar together. Now, I +want to buy a plantation. Where is that young man who was born here, +bedad?" + +Dickory advanced, laughing. Here was a fine opportunity, a miraculous +opportunity, of disposing of the Bonnet estate, which was part of the +business which had brought him here. So he told the beaming captain that +he knew of a fine plantation up the river, which he thought would suit +him. + +"Very good," said Captain Ichabod. "I have a boat here; let us go and +look at the place, and if it suits us I will buy it, bedad." + +So with Mrs. Mander and her husband beside her, and with Lucilla and +the captain by her, the boat was rowed up the river, with Dickory and +young Lena in the bow. + +When the boat reached the Bonnet estate it was run up on the shore near +the shady spot where Kate Bonnet had once caught a fish. Then they all +stepped out upon the little beach, even the oarsmen made the boat fast +and joined the party, who started to walk up to the house. Suddenly +Captain Ichabod stopped and said to Mr. Mander: "I don't think I care to +walk up that hill, you know; and if you and your good wife will look +over that house and cast your eyes about the place, I will buy it, if +you say so: you know a good deal more about such things than I do, +bedad. I suppose, of course, that will suit you?" he said to Lucilla. + +It suited Lucilla exactly. They sat in the shade in the very place where +Kate had sat when she saw Master Newcombe crossing the bridge. + +A small boat came down the river, rowed by a young man. As he passed the +old Bonnet property he carelessly cast his eyes shoreward, but his heart +took no interest in what he saw there. What did it matter to him if two +lovers sat there in the shade, close to the river's brink? His sad soul +now took no interest in lovers. He had just been up the river to arrange +for the sale of his plantation to one of his neighbours. He had decided +to leave the island of Barbadoes and to return to England. + +The house suited Captain Ichabod exactly, when Mrs. Mander told him +about it, and Lucilla agreed with him because she was always accustomed +to trust her mother in such things. + +So they all got into the boat and rowed back to Dickory's old home, and +on the way Captain Ichabod told Dickory that when they returned together +to the town he would pay him for the plantation, having brought specie +sufficient for the purpose. + +It was a gay party in the boat as they rowed down the river; it was a +gay party at the house when they reached it, and they would have all +taken supper together had the Manders been prepared for such +hospitality; but they were poor, having taken the place upon a short +lease and having had but few returns so far. But they were all going to +live at the old Bonnet place, and happiness shone over everything. It +was twilight, and the two young men were about to walk down to the boat, +one of them promising to come again early in the morning, when Lucilla +approached Dickory. + +"Where are you going to live with that girl?" she asked in a low voice. + +"In Jamaica," said he. + +"I am glad of it," she replied, quite frankly. + + * * * * * + +They were well content, those Jamaica people, when Ben Greenway came to +live with them. It had been proposed at one time that he should go to +his old Bridgetown home and take charge of the place as he used to, but +the good Scotchman demurred to this. + +"I hae served ane master before he became a pirate," he said, "an' I +don't want to try anither after he has finished bein' ane. If I serve +ony mon, let him be one wha has been righteous, wha is righteous now, +an' wha will continue in righteousness." + +"Then serve Mr. Delaplaine," said Dickory. + + * * * * * + +The Manders soon removed to the little house where Dickory was born. The +mansion of their daughter and her husband was a hospitable place and a +lively, but the life there was so wayward, erratic, and eccentric that +it did not suit their sober lives and the education of their young +daughter. So they dwelt contentedly in the cottage at the head of the +cove, and there was much rowing up and down the river. + + * * * * * + +It was upon a fine morning that the ex-pirate Ichabod thus addressed a +citizen of the town: + +"Yes, sir, I know well who once lived in the house I own. I knew the man +myself; I knew him at Belize. He was a dastardly knave, and would have +played false to the sun, the moon, and the stars had they shown him an +opportunity, bedad. But I also knew his daughter; she sailed on my ship +for many days, and her presence blessed the very boards she trod on. She +is a most noble lady; and if you will not admit, sir, that her sweet +spirit and pure soul have not banished from this earth every taint of +wickedness left here by her father, then, sir, bedad, stand where you +are and draw!" + + +THE END + + + + * * * * * + + + +RECENT FICTION. + + +SOME WOMEN I HAVE KNOWN. + +By MAARTEN MAARTENS, author of "God's Fool," etc. With +Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "Maarten Maartens stands head and shoulders above the average + novelist of the day in intellectual subtlety and imaginative + power."--_Boston Beacon._ + +THE WAGE OF CHARACTER. + +By JULIEN GORDON, author of "Mrs. Clyde," etc. With Portrait. +12mo. Cloth, $1.25. + + Julien Gordon's new novel is a story of the world of fashion and + intrigue, written with an insight, an epigrammatic force, and a + realization of the dramatic and the pathetic as well as more + superficial phases of life, that stamp the book as one immediate + and personal in its interest and convincing in its appeal to the + minds and to the sympathies of readers. + +THE QUIBERON TOUCH. + +A Romance of the Sea. By CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, author of "For +the Freedom of the Sea," "The Grip of Honor," etc. With Frontispiece. +12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "This story has a real beauty; it breathes of the sea. Fenimore + Cooper would not be ashamed to own a disciple in the school of + which he was master in these descriptions of the tug of war as it + was in the eighteenth century between battle-ships under + sail."--_New York Mail and Express._ + +SHIPMATES. + +A Volume of Salt-Water Fiction. By MORGAN ROBERTSON, author of +"Masters of Men," etc. With Frontispiece. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + When Mr. Robertson writes of the sea, the tang of the brine and the + snap of the sea-breeze are felt behind his words. The adventures + and mysteries of sea life, the humors and strange complications + possible in yachting, the inner tragedies of the foks'l, the + delightful adventures of Finnegan in war, and the original + developments in the course of true love at sea, are among the vivid + pictures that make up a volume so vital in its interests and + dramatic in its situations, so delightful in its quaint humor and + so vigorous and stirring throughout, that it will be read by sea + lovers for its full flavor of the sea, and by others as a + refreshing tonic. + +A NEST OF LINNETS. + +By F. FRANKFORT MOORE, author of "The Jessamy Bride," "A Gray +Eye or So," etc. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "That 'A Nest of Linnets' is bright, clever, and well written + follows as a matter of course, considering that it was written by + F. 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Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "The attention of the reader is held from start to finish, because + the whole plot is original, and one can not tell what is going to + happen next."--_Washington Times._ + +THE BELEAGUERED FOREST. + +By ELIA W. PEATTIE. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "'The Beleaguered Forest' is not a novel--it is a romance; it is + not a romance--it is a poem."--_Chicago Post._ + +SHACKLETT. + +A Story of American Politics. By WALTER BARR. 12mo. Cloth, +$1.50. + + "As a picture of American political life and possibilities it is + wonderfully vivid and truthful."--_Brooklyn Eagle._ + +FOUR-LEAVED CLOVER. + +By MAXWELL GRAY, author of "The Silence of Dean Maitland." +12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "An honest piece of work by a story-teller who knows her trade + thoroughly.... It is a book which ought to be in every + hammock."--_Pittsburg Commercial Gazette._ + + + +A WOMAN ALONE. + +By MRS. W.K. CLIFFORD, author of "Love Letters of a Worldly +Woman." 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "Mrs. Clifford is an adroit writer, whose knowledge of the world + and whose brilliancy have not destroyed in her a simple tenderness + to which every sensitive reader must respond."--_Chicago Tribune._ + +MILLS OF GOD. + +By ELINOR MACARTNEY LANE. Illustrated. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "It is a good novel in comparison with even the best in current + American fiction. Its author, in this her maiden effort, easily + takes her place among the Churchills and the Johnstons and the + Runkles."--_New York Herald._ + +THE SEAL OF SILENCE. + +By ARTHUR R. CONDER. 12mo. Cloth, $1.00; paper, 50 cents. + + "A novel of marked originality, of extraordinary strength.... I + recommend this very dramatic and exciting story, with its quaint + love interest and its dry, quiet humor, to all lovers of a good + story capitally conceived and happily told."--GEORGE S. + GOODWIN, in _Philadelphia Item._ + +THE MAN WHO KNEW BETTER. + +By T. GALLON, author of "Tatterley," etc. Illustrated by Gordon +Browne. 8vo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "The best Christmas story that has appeared since the death of + Charles Dickens.... It is an admirably written story, and merits + warm welcome and broad recognition."--_Baltimore Sun._ + +UNDER THE SKYLIGHTS. + +By HENRY B. FULLER, author of "The Chevalier of Pensieri-Vani," +"The Cliff Dwellers," etc. 12mo. Deckle edge, gilt top, $1.50. + + The charming humor, delightful flavor, and refined quality of Mr. + Fuller's work impart a peculiar zest to this subtly satirical + picture of the extraordinary vicissitudes of arts and letters in a + Western metropolis. + +THE APOSTLES OF THE SOUTHEAST. + +By FRANK T. BULLEN, author of "The Cruise of the Cachalot," +"Idyls of the Sea," etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "Mr. Bullen writes with a sympathy and pathetic touch rare indeed. + His characters are living ones, his scenes full of life and + realism, and there is not a page in the whole book which is not + brimful of deepest interest."--_Philadelphia Item._ + +THE ALIEN. + +By F.F. MONTRESOR, author of "Into the Highways and Hedges," +etc. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50. + + "May be confidently commended to the most exacting reader as an + absorbing story, excellently told."--_Kansas City Star._ + +WHILE CHARLIE WAS AWAY. + +By MRS. POULTNEY BIGELOW. 16mo. Cloth, 75 cents. + + Mrs. Bigelow tells a wonderfully vivid story of a woman in London + "smart" life whose hunger for love involves her in perils, but + finds a true way out in the end. + +D. 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