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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Corsair King, by Mor Jokai
+
+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: The Corsair King
+
+Author: Mor Jokai
+
+Translator: Mary J. Safford
+
+Release Date: October 9, 2008 [EBook #26865]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CORSAIR KING ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Cover of The Corsair King]
+
+
+
+
+The Corsair King
+
+(A KALOZ KIRALY)
+
+by Maurus Jokai
+
+Author of "Black Diamonds," "Manasseh," "The Baron's Sons," "Pretty
+Michal," etc.
+
+Translated by
+Mary J. Safford
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Boston
+L. C. Page & Company
+mdcccci
+
+
+Copyright, 1901, by
+L. C. Page & Company (Inc.)
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+The Heintzemann Press Boston
+
+
+
+
+WORKS OF
+MAURUS JOKAI
+
+MANASSEH
+THE BARON'S SONS
+PRETTY MICHAL
+THE CORSAIR KING
+MIDST THE WILD CARPATHIANS
+
+L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
+200 SUMMER STREET, BOSTON, MASS.
+
+
+
+
+Contents
+
+CHAPTER                             PAGE
+I.       CHOOSING A KING        11
+II.      IN HISPANIOLA          50
+III.     REVENGE               149
+IV.      RETRIBUTION           187
+
+
+
+
+The CORSAIR KING
+
+Chapter I
+
+Choosing a King
+
+
+The storm had spent itself, the sea was calm again, and on its smooth
+surface tossed empty casks and shattered masts,--the monuments of
+shipwrecked vessels. The stormy petrels had vanished with the tempest,
+and the flying fish were now making their clumsy leaps from wave to
+wave,--a sign of fair weather. A brigantine which had outlived the gale
+was moving slowly over the almost unrippled surface of the water; all
+hands were engaged in repairing the damage occasioned by the storm;
+temporary masts were rigged, sails trimmed, the crew worked fairly
+hanging in the air; for the ship had heeled far over,--a proof that her
+ballast had shifted during the tempest.
+
+With the exception of the blows of the carpenter's hammer, and the
+creaking of the pumps, nothing was heard save the voice of the captain,
+who stood leaning against the mainmast trying to ascertain on a chart
+the place to which he had been driven by the storm. The movements of the
+needle were scrutinized more and more carefully, while from time to
+time, the voice of an officer taking soundings, echoed on the air. At
+last the captain's finger stopped on a group of islands and he said
+quietly: "We are off the Ladrones." At the same moment a sailor on the
+mast-head shouted: "Land!" Without the slightest change of expression,
+the captain repeated: "The Ladrones."
+
+Then, folding the chart, he took out a small silver whistle and, blowing
+a signal, ordered the mate to summon the crew to investigate the
+occurrences of the preceding night.
+
+The Isles of Thieves were but a few miles distant, they had no cannon,
+their sails were tattered, yet the captain spoke as calmly in passing
+sentence upon his men as though he were sitting in the utmost security
+upon a jury bench.
+
+"By whose directions were the sick thrown overboard?" he asked, turning
+his stern face toward the crew.
+
+"The doctor ordered it," replied an old seaman.
+
+"You, Scudamore?" inquired the captain, wheeling round to look a tall
+thin man in the face.
+
+The latter's countenance was one of those which, at the first glance,
+appear smooth and gentle, whose features when smiling are even
+captivating, until some expression of mockery or greed of vengeance
+suddenly transforms the winning glance into an image of horror.
+
+"You gave the order yourself, Captain Rolls," replied the surgeon, with
+a smiling face, and in a tone of marked gentleness, as if the subject
+under discussion were some very noble deed, which he declined to
+acknowledge merely from exaggerated modesty. "When the ship sprung a
+leak, you commanded that all the superfluous ballast should be thrown
+overboard. The men first cast out the heavy ballast; then you ordered
+them to add whatever else could be spared. Then the cannon went, though
+it was a great pity, for we stand in need of them, especially when off
+the Ladrones, but even this did not lighten the ship sufficiently. You
+again issued orders that everything superfluous must be cast into the
+sea. There was nothing left which could be dispensed with except the
+bars of silver and the sick. The crew began to discuss which should be
+thrown overboard. I answered: 'We shall not be asked for the _men_ when
+we reach London, but we shall be for the silver;' and, by my advice, the
+silver was saved and the ship weathered the storm."
+
+"Dr. Scudamore," said the captain, with cool deliberation, "for this
+inhuman deed you will be cashiered, kept in irons until we reach London,
+and there delivered up to justice."
+
+"Sail in sight!" shouted the man at the helm, and several of the crew
+whispered in terror; "Pirates!"
+
+Scudamore fixed his green-gray eyes on the captain and, smiling
+contemptuously, said in tones which had suddenly grown hoarse.
+
+"I think it might be advisable to defer my punishment a few hours; you
+or some one else might need my services during the interval."
+
+"That is no affair of yours," returned the captain. "To die without a
+doctor or to be thrown into the sea by his orders is much the same
+thing."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha! You see, it might have been better for you in the end, had
+you relieved the ship of the sick in the first place, instead of
+throwing your guns overboard. But that's _your_ affair."
+
+Captain Rolls silently nodded to the men to take the doctor below. Then
+he gave orders that the bars of silver should be concealed in the hold,
+and that every man should go to his post to be prepared for any attack.
+He himself, taking his weapons, went to his usual station and, without
+changing the vessel's course in the least, ordered all sail to be set.
+
+Meanwhile the pirate craft was dashing toward the brigantine. The black
+flag was already visible, and a cannon ball, whistling close by the
+brigantine's rigging, was the first message from the sea-robber.
+
+Captain Rolls had no cannon with which to answer. The silence was
+interpreted by the pirates as fear, and one of their number shouted in a
+tone of thunder through his speaking trumpet:
+
+"Ship ahoy! A word with the captain."
+
+Instantly a battle-flag fluttered from every mast-head on the
+brigantine.
+
+A terrible uproar arose on the pirate ship; a tall man, with a gray
+vest, girdled by a scarlet sash, appeared on deck, issuing orders in
+loud, hoarse tones, upon which half the sails were furled, and with a
+swift turn the light craft came round before the wind close by the
+brigantine, without firing a shot, evidently considering her a sure
+prey, which must be spared from harm.
+
+On the pirate's prow was carved a strange human figure, the symbol of
+the ship's name, The Sea Devil, and, which, the pirates humorously
+asserted, was the living image of their Captain Davis, whose face had
+been so disfigured by the bursting of a shell that it resembled a
+death's head.
+
+The pirates dashed with Satanic recklessness toward the brigantine,
+whose defenders still awaited them in motionless silence. But just at
+the moment the grappling irons were thrown, Rolls made a sign, and the
+thunder of the report of the sailors' arms followed; when the smoke
+dispersed, the two vessels were already fast locked together, the fire
+had killed several of the pirates; the others, pushing their comrades'
+bodies aside, were trying to climb to the brigantine's deck. In an
+instant the two crews were fighting man to man with sabres and knives.
+One furiously attacked, the other coolly defended; neither feared wounds
+or weapons.
+
+The sailors fought bravely. Captain Rolls remained in his place, with
+his eyes fixed on the pirate leader, who had already fired at him three
+times without making his foe even turn his head.
+
+"I'll see whether you are the devil or I!" Davis at last shouted
+savagely. "Follow me, you scoundrels," and seizing his sabre between his
+teeth, while swinging a huge hammer above his head with his right hand,
+he sprang on the deck of the brigantine, felling two of her crew at the
+same instant. The pirates, with deafening yells, rushed into the breach
+thus made, and the terrified sailors began to yield, more alarmed by the
+hideous face of the pirate leader than by the weight of his blows.
+
+Rolls quietly drew a pistol from his belt. "You won't hit me!" yelled
+Davis, gnashing his teeth and trying to startle the captain by rolling
+his eye-balls hideously. The latter fired, and whoever was looking at
+Davis at the moment saw a bloody star on his forehead where the bullet
+entered. The pirate suddenly grasped the handle of his hammer with both
+hands and sank lifeless.
+
+Bewildered by the loss of their leader, the corsairs were on the point
+of yielding their vantage ground, when one of their number shouted
+triumphantly: "Hurrah, Barthelemy!" and at that moment a fierce yell
+arose from the center of the brigantine. While the fight had been raging
+on one side, six pirates in a boat had rowed around her and crept
+noiselessly to her deck, which they reached just as their captain fell.
+These men, too, turned to fly, but one of their number, a young, slender
+fellow, with a bronzed face, thick curling locks, and sparkling eyes,
+sprang behind Rolls, and, pinioning his arms, wrested his pistol from
+his hold and forced him to his knees.
+
+"Let no one stir or you are all dead men!" shouted the young pirate in
+bold, ringing tones, and the sailors, disheartened by the capture of
+their commander, laid down their arms before the savage forms thronging
+on deck.
+
+The victory was Barthelemy's; and his comrades' first act was to lift
+him on their shoulders, declare him their captain and, with terrible
+oaths, swear eternal fealty by death, hell, and the devil.
+
+A Herculean fellow raised him aloft like a child, and, pointing to the
+figures lying weltering in their blood, shouted in a voice of thunder:
+
+"Who deserves to be your leader better than Robert Barthelemy?"
+
+"No one! No one!" was the unanimous answer.
+
+"Will you have him for your leader, captain, king?"
+
+"Hurrah!" responded the crew.
+
+"Stop!" cried Barthelemy from the Hercules' shoulder. "I heard some one
+shout 'No.'"
+
+"Who was it?" roared the athlete; "does any one want to jest with
+death?"
+
+"Don't rage, Skyrme, don't rage, my brave giant. Speech is free. Come
+forward, Lord Simpson, you oppose my election. Step forward, my valiant
+nobleman, and tell us your objection to me!"
+
+The pirates, amid rude laughter, pushed before Barthelemy a tall, fair
+man, who, with his hands thrust into his pockets, eyed the new captain
+scornfully from head to foot.
+
+"Speak fair, noble lord!" said Skyrme, raising his sinewy hand,
+threateningly above Simpson's head, "or you'll bite your own tongue."
+
+"I should do that without your telling me," replied Simpson,
+nonchalantly, glancing at his comrades. "You know that my father was
+Lord Simpson?"
+
+"Of course we do!" shouted the others.
+
+"My father was the sworn foe of Jeffreys, who, after Monmouth's fall,
+brought the brave English Protestant nobles to the scaffold. My father
+suffered with them. Since that time I have hated the Papists, and do not
+want one even for a pirate chief. Not even you, Barthelemy, for you are
+a Papist."
+
+Instead of breaking the speaker's head, Skyrme raised him on his arm
+and, amid the loud laughter of the pirates, drew him toward Barthelemy,
+with whom he drained the cup of friendship, after Barthelemy had assured
+him, on his honor as a pirate, that he had not entered a church since
+his christening, and had never been in a priest's presence during his
+entire life. The new captain was then formally given the leader's cap
+with its scarlet plume, and the whole band then proceeded to the work of
+distributing the booty.
+
+Barthelemy sat on a cask turned upside down, holding on his knees a
+black book in which were written in red letters the names of the
+pirates, and read them one by one in a loud tone. Often nobody answered
+and, at the end of a long pause, some one growled: "Dead," and the name
+was instantly erased from the list.
+
+Just then a pirate brought Captain Rolls, who had been bound hand and
+foot, to the mainmast, where he laid him flat on the deck. Barthelemy
+raised his hat with the utmost courtesy.
+
+"Pardon me, captain, that my men have placed you in so uncomfortable a
+position. You are a brave soldier and fought well. Unbind this worthy
+man."
+
+"His hands too?" asked a pirate, casting a doubtful glance at his leader
+from under his shaggy brows.
+
+"Yes, Asphlant, especially if the captain will promise to do nothing
+against us."
+
+"I'll promise nothing," replied Rolls.
+
+"Well, no matter; I told you to unbind his hands at any rate, it will be
+our business to see that he doesn't break anybody's head. And now,
+captain, be kind enough to declare the contents of your vessel, which
+you have so bravely defended. No doubt you have a valuable cargo."
+
+"You have captured the ship, and can search every corner of her, I shall
+guide you nowhere."
+
+"Right again. Men, go below."
+
+The pirates instantly leaped down the hatchways and, after spending an
+hour in rummaging through every part of the ship, they returned to
+Barthelemy with the sorrowful tidings that there was nothing in the
+whole vessel except a cask of biscuit and one of water.
+
+Rolls could not help smiling at the fury of the disappointed men.
+
+"You could see that I had no guns, and therefore might have inferred
+that, if I had been in such straits that I was forced to throw them
+overboard, there would be no other ballast in the ship."
+
+"Devil take it!" roared Asphlant, throwing his cap on the deck, "have so
+many brave fellows eaten lead and drunk salt water for the sake of an
+empty box, full of rats? you are a cheat, captain. What had you to
+defend in this ship?"
+
+"My honor," replied Rolls proudly.
+
+"Which, when we have taken it from you, will be of no use to us," said
+the giant Skyrme, laughing. "What do you say to that, Moody?"
+
+The man addressed was a sullen, taciturn fellow, who was sitting on the
+bulwark, holding a short pipe between his teeth. The silver whistle
+hanging from his button-hole indicated that he was the pirate's
+boatswain.
+
+"What's the use of so much talk?" he rejoined. "Bore a hole in the
+bottom of the ark and let the whole crew go under water with her."
+
+"For heaven's sake, gentlemen!" shrieked a voice among the captured
+sailors, and a man, with his hands tied behind his back, threw himself
+at Barthelemy's feet and tried to kiss his boots, while his eyes rested
+despairingly on the face of the pirate chief.
+
+"For heaven's sake, you brave, valiant, worthy men! You heroes, you
+demi-gods! By heaven, hell, and all that is sacred to you, I beseech you
+not to murder me. Kill all my comrades, the scoundrels deserve it for
+resisting you; but I have given you no offence, I never held a weapon in
+my hand; I was imprisoned during the whole fight and have just been
+brought out by these brave, excellent men."
+
+Some of the pirates stared, others laughed.
+
+"Gentleman, renowned heroes, worshipped sovereigns of our age, hear me,
+I entreat you, by all you hold sacred. I am Dr. Scudamore, a persecuted
+man; persecuted as you are; I have nothing to do with these people; I am
+the mortal enemy of Captain Rolls. I implore you to distinguish between
+me and these people, not to condemn me with them. Oh, I beg you to be
+merciful and permit me, kissing the dust off your feet, to consider
+myself the humblest of your servants."
+
+Skyrme averted his face with an expression of loathing, while Moody
+kicked at the writhing figure, whom every one was eyeing with the
+deepest scorn.
+
+"Captain Rolls," said Barthelemy, "it appears that you have condemned
+this fellow?"
+
+"Only accused, not condemned. The judgment lies with the English
+courts."
+
+"Oh, we won't go so far," said Skyrme with a look of amusement; "make
+the charge; we'll represent the court of justice. Barthelemy will be
+judge, we the sheriffs and constables. Bring forward the complaint, the
+court is open."
+
+Rolls coldly averted his eyes without answering a syllable.
+
+Scudamore, who was scanning every face with the crafty glance of a man
+who fears for his life, hastily interposed.
+
+"You see, gentlemen, you see the contemptuous face with which he
+receives your offer, you see how proudly, how scornfully he looks down
+upon you, as if it would be a disgrace to him to recognize such worthy
+men as judges. Oh, _I_ will submit to your sentence, I have no desire to
+stand before wiser, more just or more distinguished judges. I will tell
+with my own lips everything of which I am accused."
+
+"I forbid you to do so!" cried Rolls vehemently.
+
+"There, you see for yourselves, gentlemen. He wants to command here
+still, here, where you are the rightful possessors. He will not even
+permit me to repeat the charge against me! Very natural! He knows that
+he, and not I, will be condemned. So listen, gentlemen, listen, for what
+I have to tell is an important matter; my crime is that we were bringing
+huge bars of silver--"
+
+"Ho! ho! that begins well," shouted Asphlant, craning his neck to hear
+better.
+
+"On the way a storm rose, the ship sprung a leak, and the captain
+ordered all useless ballast to be thrown overboard. There was nothing
+left except the sick and the silver, and the question was which should
+be cast into the sea?"
+
+"Well, and you, as the doctor, of course kept the sick," said Skyrme.
+
+"No indeed, I kept the silver, and now Captain Rolls wants to punish me
+for it."
+
+Barthelemy turned from the man in horror, while Rolls glared at him with
+blazing eyes.
+
+"Oho, captain," cried Asphlant, "so there is silver on your ship! Where
+did you hide it, eh?"
+
+"That I will not tell you."
+
+"You won't? Oh, the thumb screw will find out. Here, ropes, ropes!"
+
+"What do you mean?" cried Barthelemy, boldly surveying his companions.
+"Are we members of the Inquisition, that we seek to learn truth by
+torture? No, my friends; let no one have the right to say that the
+pirates use the tools of the auto-da-fe! Should not we, who call
+ourselves the heroes of the free sea, honor freedom? If Captain Rolls
+will not reveal the hiding-place in his vessel we will take her into
+port, pull every plank apart, and find the silver without committing a
+deed which would dishonor us."
+
+The pirates cheered their captain's speech, and began to fasten the
+brigantine to their ship.
+
+Scudamore, who had refrained from disclosing the hiding-place merely
+that the pirates might wreak their vengeance on Captain Rolls, now,
+perceiving that the latter had escaped, said:
+
+"Don't trouble yourselves, gentlemen. Why should you drag this miserable
+craft after you? Release me and promise to spare my life, and I'll take
+you to the spot where the silver is hidden."
+
+"Loose the doctor's hands from the irons," said Barthelemy signing to
+his men. "I'll promise that we will not harm a hair of your head. Show
+us the hiding-place."
+
+Scudamore, finding his hands at liberty, tried to shake hands with each
+one of the pirates in turn, but they angrily pushed him back.
+
+"Hurry up!" cried Asphlant, dealing him a blow, while another pirate,
+grasping him with both hands, dragged him along, Scudamore protesting
+that he should feel under obligations to the whole company as long as he
+lived.
+
+The pirates soon returned, exultingly bearing the chests of silver on
+their shoulders. Barthelemy ordered them to be placed on board their own
+vessel, while Scudamore showed the utmost zeal in helping the men,
+calling each, meanwhile, his dear, kind friend, a compliment which they
+repaid with all sorts of abusive epithets and the command not to touch
+their property.
+
+The last to come on deck was Asphlant, who said with great satisfaction:
+"We shall leave nothing here, captain! The ship is entirely empty. Shall
+we bore a hole in her bottom? Or will it be better to hang these fellows
+in a row on the mainyard, and let the vessel drift where she likes?"
+
+The loud laughter of the pirates showed their cordial approval of this
+proposal. The sailors gave no sign of emotion, while Scudamore tried to
+lock arms with one after another of the pirates, constantly asserting
+that he had nothing to do with the other party.
+
+"Silence!" ordered Barthelemy sternly. "You will neither scuttle the
+ship nor hang the crew. That might do for miserable Spanish privateers,
+pitiful Tunisian cut-throats, but not for us, Englishmen and Frenchmen.
+Are we to make ourselves ashamed of the name of pirate, admit that it
+has nothing in common with the word honor? Were not the first
+inhabitants of Rome also corsairs? Our mission is to place the name of
+fillibuster in a new light. Captain Rolls, you and your whole ship's
+company are free to go wherever you desire."
+
+A fierce uproar arose among the robbers. Many approved the captain's
+speech, some strove to oppose it.
+
+Barthelemy stamped his foot violently. "Is there any one who desires to
+contradict me?"
+
+"Yes!" shrieked Moody, stepping in front of him and thrusting the pipe
+he held between his teeth so close to the captain's face that it almost
+touched his eyes. "I say you are a fool, captain. You are acting against
+all the customs of pirates and, if you don't take back your order, I'll
+scuttle the ship myself."
+
+"Do you think so?" said Barthelemy. "Skyrme! Seize this fellow and bind
+him to the mainmast."
+
+The pirates shrank back, startled. Moody was the oldest of the band,
+whom no captain had ever ventured to punish. Barthelemy again motioned
+to Skyrme, and the latter, rushing upon the chief mate, bound him, in
+spite of his struggles, to the mainmast, so that he clasped it with
+both arms, his back turned to the crew; but, while pouring forth a
+continuous torrent of oaths, he still kept his pipe in his mouth.
+
+"Is there any one else who wishes to oppose me?" asked the young chief.
+
+A suppressed murmur ran through the ranks of the pirates, but no one
+raised his voice distinctly.
+
+Barthelemy now turned to Captain Rolls and, taking from his pocket a
+piece of paper and a pencil he said:
+
+"Captain Rolls! I hope you will reach London with your ship in safety.
+It is true that you will return her to her owners empty, but that is no
+fault of yours, in proof of which I will give you the following
+certificate for your justification at home.
+
+     We, free knights of fortune, bear witness in the
+     presence of all whom it concerns, that Rolls, captain
+     of the brigantine Neptune, was attacked by us on the
+     Pacific Ocean, and, having just lost his guns and part
+     of his rigging in a gale, defended himself against us
+     in the bravest manner for an hour and a half, and did
+     not yield until, after losing nine of our best men and
+     our captain, we completely overwhelmed him and thereby
+     alone obtained the silver entrusted to his care.
+
+                                 CAPTAIN ROBERT BARTHELEMY.
+
+"Add," said Rolls, "that you succeeded in securing the silver only
+through Scudamore's treachery."
+
+"True," replied Barthelemy, adding the sentence.
+
+"Gentlemen!" interposed Scudamore trembling, "what are you going to do
+with me?"
+
+"Nothing," said Barthelemy. "We promised that we would not harm a hair
+of your head."
+
+"Yes," returned the other mournfully, "but if you release the captain,
+and me with him, what is to become of me?"
+
+"I don't know," returned the corsair-chief, shrugging his shoulders.
+
+Skyrme laughed aloud. "That's a splendid joke!"
+
+"For heaven's sake! What shall I say to you?" stammered Scudamore,
+throwing himself at Barthelemy's feet. "Oh, gentlemen, don't leave me in
+this man's power, he will have no mercy on me. He is a horrible
+villain."
+
+"Ha! ha! ha!" cried Skyrme. "Don't spoil this joke, captain. When you
+set the commander of the brigantine free, let him take this fellow with
+him; what a fine lot of talk there will be when they call him to account
+at home for the service he has rendered us."
+
+"Gentlemen! Brave men!" shrieked Scudamore clasping Barthelemy's knees.
+"Surely you are only jesting with me. It amuses you to drive me to
+desperation in this way, but you will not really ruin me. You cannot
+forget that I have rendered you an important service, and shall perform
+still more. I am a physician; you need one, take me with you. I will be
+just such a man, such a devil as all the rest, I'll be no disgrace to
+your band. You will never repent having made my acquaintance. I beseech,
+I implore you to say a good word to the captain for me. Oh, you good,
+brave man, you leader with the face of a hero, give me your hand, that I
+may kiss it."
+
+"Rise," said Barthelemy curtly. "We _do_ need a surgeon, I'll take you."
+
+"What! a surgeon among us!" growled Moody, who was still bound to the
+mast, "a surgeon who, whenever one of our band is wounded in the hand or
+foot, will cut it off? A living human saw? A poisoner, who won't let a
+man die in peace? I've no use for him. Throw him out of the ship, or
+I'll kill him."
+
+"Not another word, Moody!" cried Barthelemy. "It is my wish, and so it
+shall be. You manage the ropes and sails, but you need not trouble
+yourself about anything else."
+
+"I beg you, sir," said Scudamore, "not to vex our valiant captain, you
+seem to be such a worthy man, I know I shall have the warmest regard for
+you."
+
+"Come nearer, so that I can see you," said Moody. And when Scudamore
+approached near enough for him to reach him with his foot, he gave him
+such a kick that he nearly fell over backward.
+
+"Men!" shouted Barthelemy, "bring me the cat o' nine tails. Give this
+man thirty blows on the back. Whoever disobeys me must suffer for it."
+
+The nine-lashed scourge was instantly brought. "To work at once!"
+Barthelemy commanded. "No one is exempt from punishment."
+
+Moody's eyes fairly started from their sockets with rage, and when the
+man bearing the cat o' nine tails approached him, he began to throw
+himself frantically to the right and left, but thereby only caused the
+blows to fall on him haphazard, till at last one knocked the pipe from
+his mouth.
+
+Barthelemy coolly awaited the end of the punishment, and then called
+Scudamore to write his name in the list of pirates. Scudamore seized the
+pen with eager joy, and wrote his signature with such horrible glee that
+even the robbers were startled, and then, turning to Captain Rolls,
+exclaimed scornfully:
+
+"When you reach London, inform the government of my new occupation."
+
+Skyrme laid his huge hand on his shoulder and muttered between his
+teeth: "You scoundrel, you'll make a first-class devil."
+
+"At least as good as any of you."
+
+From that moment, Scudamore felt perfectly at home in his new sphere,
+looking at the list with his name enrolled as if it were some diabolical
+patent of nobility, and eyeing Captain Rolls with the air of a newly
+appointed official surveying his former comrades.
+
+"Now, Captain Rolls," said Barthelemy, "you can take possession of your
+ship. But that we may not leave our mate here in exchange for your
+doctor, loose Moody from the mast."
+
+Two pirates obeyed the command, avoiding the feet of the chief mate, who
+was trying to deal them a severe kick. When he found his hands free, his
+first act was to give the nearest liberator a heavy blow, and the second
+to pick up his short pipe and put it between his lips.
+
+"Moody!" said the captain, folding his arms, "I just punished you as
+your commander's subordinate; now that it is over we again stand man to
+man; if you feel that I have wronged you, take your weapons. I am ready
+to give you any satisfaction and, if you desire, will fight with you."
+
+Moody did not utter a syllable in reply, but hastily threw off his coat,
+rolled up his sleeves, loosed his collar and, with sparkling eyes,
+eagerly looked about for a weapon.
+
+"Give him arms," said Barthelemy; "which will you have, pistol or
+sabre?"
+
+"Give me a sword," gasped Moody hoarsely, "we shall be nearer each
+other."
+
+"Make room for this brave man, lads; keep out of the reach of his arm,
+for he'll strike at any one. Excuse our fighting in your ship, Captain
+Rolls, but satisfaction must be given in the presence of those who
+witnessed the offence. Well, Moody, are you ready? Give a signal, when
+you are ready."
+
+Moody, however, required few preparations, and as soon as he seized the
+sword, with the flat of whose blade he dealt a severe blow on the back
+of the person who handed it, he began to strike furiously around him in
+every direction, so that had twelve men stood near he would have mowed
+them all down--only he failed to hit the one directly in front of him.
+
+Barthelemy seemed to be merely toying with him. He scarcely moved his
+arm to parry the strokes which his adversary's fury did not suffer him
+to calculate.
+
+"Take care--you are running directly upon my sword--Moody, don't put
+your own eyes out. Look, I am not standing where you are aiming. Don't
+strike at me so fiercely, I shall think you want to kill me."
+
+It was a true robber-fray; for the rage of one adversary, the jests of
+the other, the rude laughter of the bystanders, the jeering, irritating
+remarks do not occur in duels between gentlemen.
+
+The loud laughter of the pirates enraged the chief mate still more, and
+he grew fairly frantic when, glancing aside, he saw among them Dr.
+Scudamore, who had spread out his surgical instruments on his knees, and
+was gazing at him with a look of diabolical pleasure in his green eyes.
+Turning from the captain he rushed directly at the surgeon.
+
+"Oho, my good fellow, don't run overboard," said Barthelemy, barring his
+way, upon which Moody, his face distorted by rage, again attacked him.
+Barthelemy avoided the blow and pierced his right arm. The chief mate
+instantly picked up his sword with his left hand; the foes again
+confronted each other, breast to breast.
+
+Then Barthelemy, with a clever trick of fence, struck his antagonist's
+sword from his grasp and, setting his foot upon it, seized him by the
+throat and flung him among his companions.
+
+Scudamore officiously ran forward to aid the wounded man.
+
+"Don't come here!" roared Moody hoarsely, "or I'll tear you to pieces
+and put you on my wounds, as the ourang outang does leaves."
+
+The chief mate would not allow his injuries to be bandaged, but though
+bleeding profusely, struggled with his companions till they bound one
+arm to a beam; and continued to strike about him with the injured one
+till that too, was bound, after which he kicked violently and when his
+feet were also tied, bit like a mad dog. They were obliged even to gag
+him before the doctor could bandage his wounds, and stanch the blood.
+
+"How bad the old gentleman's teeth are," said Scudamore, with a
+malicious twinkle in his eyes. "We shall probably have to pull out some
+of them."
+
+Moody could make no reply to this hideous threat except a roar like a
+wild beast's, and could not even bite the hand which the doctor passed
+over him.
+
+Meanwhile Barthelemy had had the brigantine's crew released and told
+them that they would find all their weapons in the mate's cabin, whose
+key he would give them when he left the Neptune.
+
+With these words he approached Rolls, bowed courteously, and held out
+his hand. After a short pause the latter clasped it, saying:
+
+"Very well, I will take it, in the hope that we may meet again."
+
+"I hope this will happen soon. A presentiment tells me that some day I
+shall kill you in a victorious battle, Captain Rolls."
+
+"And one tells me that I shall get you hung, Robert Barthelemy."
+
+"I thank you for your kind intention. By the way, you have only one keg
+of biscuits and a cask of water--that will not supply you until you
+reach London. May I offer you some of my store of provisions?"
+
+"I will accept it, and trust that you will be fully repaid."
+
+"Oh, it's not worth talking about. I would willingly lend you a few
+cannons, that you may not be captured on the way."
+
+"I advise you not to do so, for if I had even two guns, I would try to
+recover my stolen silver."
+
+"You are a good fellow. We shall meet again somewhere. Till then,
+farewell."
+
+The two captains shook hands with each other. Meanwhile the pirates had
+rolled several casks of biscuit and water from their vessel to the
+brigantine. Barthelemy gave the sailors the key and, with a bound,
+reached the deck of his own ship, the pirates shoved off from the
+Neptune and, with three cheers, set sail. Half an hour later, two
+vessels were seen moving across the sea in opposite directions, widening
+the space between them every moment.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter II
+
+In Hispaniola
+
+
+Robert Barthelemy's name became known everywhere on the high seas.
+Holland and Portuguese sailors trembled before him; for when they
+recognized his vessel and, after a desperate chase, gained the shelter
+of a harbor, he followed them, robbed them under the very guns of the
+port and, if attacked, ordered the town to be bombarded and its
+fortifications given to the flames.
+
+There was no end to the marvelous tales related about him.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the southern coast of the beautiful Island of Hayti, in a pleasant
+valley, stands a small wooden house, whose front is covered with
+climbing vines, and whose windows are filled with flowers; doves coo
+softly on the gable-roof, and a white cat lies purring on the threshold.
+
+At both sides of the little house stretch cotton fields, whose green
+foliage charms the traveler's eye as, coming from the interior, he sees
+toward evening the little cottage in the quiet valley.
+
+Who lived there?
+
+One evening just at twilight, a light boat containing three men was
+pulled to the shore. One left it, the two others remained.
+
+The youth who climbed the bank was a handsome fellow, with a bright,
+eager face; his complexion was bronzed by exposure to the weather and,
+as the wind tossed back his hair, the locks bared a high, broad
+forehead.
+
+He gazed around him with the joyous expression of one who, after a long
+absence, again treads his native soil, and to whom every tree and bush
+is familiar.
+
+A rough seaman's cape rested on his shoulders, his head was covered by a
+round straw hat, and his white shirt collar turned over a loosely tied
+scarf; he was probably a young sailor who, after a long voyage, had
+again come near his home and was permitted to pay it a short visit.
+
+The path was just as he had left it, perhaps a little more uneven than
+in the old days; the doves were cooing, and the white cat purred in the
+doorway just as of yore. The new-comer approached with noiseless tread,
+softly turned the handle of the door, and entered.
+
+A gray-haired woman sat inside in a large armchair. She was the young
+man's grandmother. With her were three girls--two were fair, the third
+was dark, with starry eyes and a face like the young dawn.
+
+All started at his entrance, exclaiming in one breath; "William!" The
+two sisters ran to meet him, the grandmother, unable to leave her
+chair, only held out her arms, his betrothed bride was the last to greet
+him that she might remain the longer in his embrace.
+
+There was great delight in the little circle, a hundred questions rained
+upon him.
+
+"It is a whole year since we saw you last," said the grandmother, with
+tears in her eyes.
+
+"A whole eternity," murmured his betrothed bride, laying her head on his
+shoulder.
+
+"You won't leave us again, will you?" asked his youngest sister,
+clinging to her brother's neck as if she could hold him at her side.
+
+"I can stay an hour. The ship is in the offing while the sailors are
+getting a supply of fresh water on shore."
+
+"Must you still remain absent from us?" asked the gray-haired woman,
+sighing.
+
+"Unfortunately, yes. I expected to attain my purpose in a shorter time,
+but fate is against me; whenever I have thought I was approaching my
+goal, I was thrust back. Twice I have acquired some property, but
+ill-luck deprived me of it, and I was forced to begin anew."
+
+"Ill luck?" asked the younger sister, "that means shipwreck and pirates,
+doesn't it?"
+
+"Yes, shipwreck."
+
+"And not pirates? We have feared them most! How often we have said that
+they might capture or kill you, leaving us to weep for you forever."
+
+The young man smiled.
+
+"Fear nothing from them, dear. They will not harm me. At the utmost,
+they will rob me of my property, and you would receive me kindly, were I
+to return penniless, would you not?"
+
+"Ah, if only you would never go," whispered his beautiful fiancee.
+
+"Nay, dearest, I cannot let you spend your life here; I wish to see you
+in splendor. I long to take you to some great, beautiful city, where you
+can have pleasant society, where the sun cannot scorch these fair
+features, nor toil roughen these little hands. You will see that it will
+yet come to pass."
+
+"Add: with the help of God!" said the grandmother. "Every enterprise
+must begin with God's favor, then it will end with it. Do you still
+pray, William?"
+
+The young man sighed.
+
+"You once taught me many prayers, grandmother."
+
+"Do not forget them. _We_ pray for you every day."
+
+"Yes indeed," said the younger sister. "Grandmother reads from the
+prayer-book, and then we repeat a long prayer, in which we name all the
+good things we entreat God to grant you and all the evil ones from
+which we beseech him to guard you: storms, sickness, shipwreck, hunger,
+thirst, sharks, savages, and above all, Robert Barthelemy."
+
+The young man gazed at her with a smile. "And why from Robert
+Barthelemy?" he asked.
+
+"Because he is a wicked pirate, whom no one can resist, who is in league
+with the devil, and who either burns all whom he captures over a slow
+fire or else casts them into the sea."
+
+"That is not true, Barthelemy never tortures any one."
+
+"Oh, we remember him, too, in our daily prayer."
+
+"Do you?"
+
+"Yes indeed. Every day, crossing ourselves three times, we entreat God
+to sink to the bottom of the sea the horrible monster, whom we hold in
+such fear for your sake."
+
+"So you all remember Robert Barthelemy at the end of your prayers?"
+asked the youth, embracing the girls in turn as they hung weeping and
+laughing around his neck.
+
+"Julietta!" said one, "sing William the song you composed about him and
+the pirates."
+
+"You have composed a song about me and the pirates?" asked the youth.
+
+Julietta flushed crimson and after withdrawing shyly from his embrace
+she sang in a sweet, tremulous voice:
+
+    Far, far away the white dove flies,
+    In fierce pursuit the black hawk hies,
+    The dove is my lover so dear,
+    The hawk is the pirate I fear.
+    Oh, God, stretch forth Thy mighty arm
+    My absent lover shield from harm.
+    Wing the dove's flight,
+    The black hawk smite;
+    Back to its nest let the white dove flee,
+    Whelm the black hawk beneath the sea.
+
+"Do you understand?" asked the younger sister. "You are the dove, and
+the hawk is--Robert Barthelemy."
+
+The young man showered kisses upon the three beautiful girls, not one of
+whom suspected that the dear brother, the still dearer lover, whom they
+embraced was--Robert Barthelemy himself.
+
+Yet it was even so. This quiet little house had sheltered his childhood,
+the gray-haired woman had taught him to pray, the merry girls to love.
+
+Two families had emigrated to this island, one from Ireland, the other
+from Corsica; the parents of both speedily succumbed to the foreign
+climate, and the two families became united under one roof. Julietta
+grew up as William's sister to become finally his affianced wife.
+
+They were poor, and it pierced the young man to the heart to witness
+their penury. He longed for a fairer fortune, and often stood on the
+threshold absorbed in watching some ship vanishing across the sea. He
+frequently met sailors who came on shore for fresh water, and heard of
+their wonderful adventures, of countries with golden sands, of the good
+luck of sailors, and when he returned home he brooded in gloomy silence
+for hours.
+
+One day he told his family that he was going to seek his fortune and,
+bidding them farewell, embarked on a slave ship. Their tears at his
+departure, the memory of how they followed him, renewing their farewell,
+how his affianced wife, forgetting her maidenly shyness, convulsively
+embraced him, covering his face with tears and kisses, sinking
+unconscious on the shore as his boat tossed on the waves toward the
+ship--all these things remained forever engraved on William's heart,
+though Fate in after days inscribed much more upon it.
+
+His industry and honesty made him popular upon the ship, first he became
+boatswain, then mate, and was already on his way home with the wages he
+had saved, already saw in imagination the home, the family for whom he
+intended to win a better fate, when the ship was attacked and captured
+by pirates.
+
+William fought single-handed against ten, but in vain, superior numbers
+prevailed. Knives already glittered at his throat, when the captain's
+hoarse voice shouted: "The lad must not be hurt. Bring him to me alive."
+
+The pirates seized the youth and bore him to their leader. William
+looked at him in horror. It was Davis, the Sea Devil.
+
+"You are a good fighter," said Davis in his shrill, piercing tones,
+"it's a pity that you became an ordinary sailor, you would have been a
+splendid pirate. Boys, give him a drink."
+
+One of the pirates held his calabash filled with rum to William's lips,
+but he turned his head away in loathing. To drink from the pirates' cups
+means joining the band.
+
+"Ha! ha!" cried the captain laughing, "You are an obstinate fellow. Have
+you ever seen a man tied to the main-mast when the sun is hottest? Or
+have you witnessed the jest of sewing a man naked in a raw hide and
+exposing him to the sun's rays till the skin on his body shrivels?"
+
+"You can torture me," William remarked quietly.
+
+"That is why I shall _not_," answered Davis. "Here, men, release this
+fellow and guard him well, for we shall yet make a man of him. Since I
+turned pirate, this is the first rascal who has dared to defy me: take
+good care of him, he'll be my successor some day."
+
+William remained on the pirate ship, hoping that it would encounter a
+stronger vessel and he would thus be released.
+
+Not a week passed without a fray, the pirates attacked every vessel that
+appeared on the horizon, even when it was larger than their own, and
+always conquered; the foe was vanquished or yielded, fortune favored the
+robbers.
+
+At last two ships of war pursued the Sea Devil. William now hoped
+confidently for liberation. The foe had eighty guns and two hundred men,
+while the pirate had thirty guns and a crew of sixty.
+
+When the pirates perceived that they could not fly, they boldly attacked
+one of the frigates and, at the first fire, sent a red hot ball into the
+enemy's powder magazine. The vessel was instantly blown into the air,
+her companion set sail and, with cowardly haste, fled from the pirates.
+
+"So that is the fate of honest folk!" thought William, as the pirates'
+shouts of victory echoed around him, and turning to his next neighbor,
+he said:
+
+"Give me a drink from your calabash."
+
+The man was Skyrme.
+
+"All right, my lad!" shouted the Hercules, giving the youth a hearty
+slap on the shoulder, "I knew this would be the end."
+
+As he spoke he drew the young man to the captain and, before the eyes of
+the whole ship's company, he wrote in the black book the name: Robert
+Barthelemy.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Sisters, betrothed bride, and grandmother had wept till their hearts
+were relieved. The hour had passed, William had returned. He could not
+give his family a single shilling, though his ship was full of treasure.
+But it was all stolen property, and William could bring nothing stained
+with crime beneath the roof where his dear ones dwelt--poor, but pure in
+heart.
+
+The gray-haired grandmother kissed and blessed him, her tears falling on
+his head, the girls went with him to the shore and, while Julietta clung
+about his neck, the others lingered behind, in order not to disturb the
+sweet mysterious whispers of the lovers.
+
+"When shall you return?" asked the girl.
+
+"When I can make you happy."
+
+"Your love alone can do that. You need not sail the sea for my
+happiness, it could be gained by seeing you always at my side."
+
+"That is what children think. I wish we could never outgrow the belief.
+But--in the hands of the poor everything is poor, even happiness."
+
+The young girl shook her head.
+
+Meanwhile they reached a copse which concealed the shore, and here the
+young man stopped.
+
+"Don't go any farther; my companions are rough sailors, I do not wish
+them to disturb our parting. Turn back now. Our grandmother is expecting
+you."
+
+The two sisters, with many kisses, embraces, and tears, turned back, but
+Julietta still clung to her departing lover, whispering in stifled
+tones.
+
+"Take me with you."
+
+The youth trembled from head to foot and gazed with a blanched face at
+the young girl, who still clasped him in a convulsive embrace.
+
+"What are you thinking of? You would come with me--to sea?"
+
+"I should be happy anywhere with you. I should not fear the storms, the
+sight of your face would give me courage. I should be happy if I might
+share with you every peril, every privation, which you must now
+encounter alone; and if it were not God's will that we should ever
+attain our goal, I could at least die with you."
+
+William's face clouded still more. What love! What self-sacrifice! A
+Paradise opened before him. But at the portal of that Paradise stood an
+angel with a flaming sword, saying: "Back, your name is Robert
+Barthelemy."
+
+"I have often thought," said the girl trembling, "that some day when you
+return and ask, 'Where is Julietta? Why doesn't she come to meet me?'
+they will lead you to a flowery mound and say: 'She waited long, waited
+until her heart broke, she faded away and now rests here'--will you not
+then say to yourself: 'Why did I not take her with me?'"
+
+"Do not talk so! Do not talk so!" exclaimed the lover, in a voice choked
+with anguish. "What you ask is impossible. Go back."
+
+The girl grew as white as a lily, her arms fell from her lover's neck,
+her beautiful head drooped upon her breast.
+
+He caught the fainting figure in his arms and laid it gently on the
+grass, pressed a kiss on the colorless face, and then rushed through the
+copse like a madman.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Barthelemy thrust the scarlet plume in his hat and joined his men; no
+tears glittered in his eyes, which now flashed fire; he was once more
+the proud, bold, reckless corsair chief.
+
+The haughty carriage of his head, his steady glance and resolute
+movements all belied the gentle, dreamy lover of an hour before.
+
+The first look from his keen eyes noticed the dissatisfaction on the
+faces of the band. During his absence, their mood toward their leader
+had changed. Some one had guessed its motive, and the rumor ran that
+their captain was entangled by a love affair.
+
+"What is the matter?" cried Barthelemy, his eyes wandering from face to
+face. "Why do you look so sullen? Speak."
+
+The pirates drew back defiantly. Moody thrust his hands into his
+pockets, puffed violently at his short pipe, and gazed at the clouds.
+
+"Speak, old Lucifer, what has happened to these fellows?"
+
+"H'm, captain," replied the pirate, folding his arms and leaning with
+his back against a beam, "don't you know the pirates' creed? The creed
+of loving no one and fearing no one."
+
+"I know it very well. Do _I_ fear any one?"
+
+"But you love; and whoever loves, sighs, whoever loves, feels, and
+whoever feels is not fit for a pirate."
+
+"So you think that if I hold a woman dear, I may not be the equal of any
+among you?"
+
+"You could not, captain! Whoever is in love, is always thinking of the
+future, and longing, sooner or later, to retire to some quiet nook where
+he can be happy, grow old, and die; he is always gaping at the moon, he
+scorns his comrades and wants to be better than they. Such a man is not
+fit for us. Captain, I never loved any one in my life, never, and these
+stout fellows around you have neither father, mother, wife, nor
+sweetheart. Such men belong to the sea, men who, when tempests howl and
+bullets hiss, do not think of quiet homes and loving maidens. These
+flowers do not bloom for us. If a girl embraces and kisses you to-day,
+she will deceive and betray you to-morrow. Once we thought of bringing a
+cargo of wives from Paris. We chose them from the Salpetriere; at least
+we had no cause to fear that we should fall in love with them. Huh! Even
+that didn't last long; pirate folk are not used to joking; when they
+are angered, instead of beating, they kill. At the end of a month, not
+more than two of the women were alive. Such feelings demoralize
+pirates."
+
+"So you believe," replied Barthelemy, looking him full in the face,
+"that your hearts are stouter than mine, because they expect nothing.
+You will have an opportunity to prove it at once. Take heed. We shall
+meet to-night on the high seas a fleet of Portuguese merchant
+vessels--forty-two ships under the convoy of two well-equipped men of
+war--from the islands of Todos los Santos, laden with gold and goods. If
+you want to see a venture that will fill half the world with admiration,
+come with me."
+
+"Surely you won't assert that you'll conquer these forty-two ships?"
+asked Skyrme.
+
+"No, but I will seize the one which has the richest cargo and, in full
+view of the whole fleet and the men of war, take her away with us from
+amid the forty-one other vessels."
+
+The pirates gazed doubtfully into Barthelemy's face, uncertain whether
+he was jesting or in earnest.
+
+"This will afford an opportunity to show whose heart is boldest!" said
+Barthelemy, "each one of us must cope with a hundred men, and each
+individual must perform every minute a miracle at which he himself will
+afterwards wonder."
+
+"Captain," said Asphlant, after a long pause, "that borders on the
+impossible."
+
+"A minute ago you were all boasting of your hard hearts; Moody doesn't
+seem to have interpreted your feelings correctly when he said that the
+pirate should fear nothing. And _you_ want to teach _me_ courage. Go!
+Let whoever fears to accompany me, quit the ship--we are near land--and
+return to his mother! If I am left with but three men, I will still do
+what I have said, for I am brave, not only while drunk with rum, like
+you, but while my face is still wet with the tears of the woman I love."
+
+The pirates shrank back, shamed, yet perplexed, by the boundless
+audacity of their leader. Barthelemy noted the effect of his speech and
+turned again to them with words of stirring encouragement.
+
+"Are you afraid when I lead the way? If I should say: 'Come with me to
+the bottom of the sea, we'll attack Neptune and drag him by the beard to
+the sunlight, I will lead you!' Would not you follow? If I should say:
+'Let us declare war against half the world, sail up the Thames, and set
+fire to the Tower, I will lead!' Would you remain behind? If I should
+say: 'Earthly strife is pitiful, come with me to Heaven, come with me to
+Hell!' Would you not follow even there?"
+
+The pirates, in a frenzy of enthusiasm, roared: "We'll go with you!" and
+stretched their hands to Barthelemy, who clasped them one by one.
+
+"There, my men, there! We are sons of Fortune, and Fortune favors the
+bold. The sea is our slave, the storm our playfellow, death our delight!
+What others dare not think, we do."
+
+"Hurrah! Long live Robert Barthelemy!" roared the whole band, tossing
+their caps into the air.
+
+Twilight was gathering. In the cottage three angels, with clasped hands,
+were praying that God would bury in the depths of the ocean that evil
+monster, Robert Barthelemy, the terror of all travelers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Darkness had closed in, the myriad stars of night were reflected from
+the surface of the sea. Forty-two ships, sailing at nearly equal
+distances from one another, appeared on the horizon. The wind was fair,
+the crews were sleeping quietly, the men watching from the mast-heads
+drowsily announced that a sail was in sight, the captains heard the
+words and turning over, fell asleep again.
+
+The approaching vessel tacked for some time, then steered straight
+toward one of the ships in the middle of the fleet, the Triton.
+
+Her captain was slumbering soundly in his hammock, when the mate entered
+and reported the approach of the craft.
+
+"Salute him," said the commander, peevishly, drawing up the coverlet.
+
+The approaching vessel stopped, and a boat put off in which sat six men,
+who rowed with vigorous strokes to the Triton. No one seemed disturbed
+by their approach. On their arrival, three men remained in their seats,
+while the three others climbed on deck.
+
+One of the party inquired for the captain, with whom he had urgent
+business. The cabin where he slept was pointed out, and the speaker
+entered, the other two men remaining at the door.
+
+"What is wanted now?" cried the captain angrily, leaning out of the
+hammock. To this question the stranger replied quietly:
+
+"Not another word, sir. I am Robert Barthelemy."
+
+The captain was rigid with fright. The pirate placed no pistol at his
+breast, did not threaten him with death; he merely said: "I am Robert
+Barthelemy."
+
+"What do you desire?" asked the captain with chattering teeth.
+
+"Nothing at all," answered the pirate, "except an answer to a single
+question: can you tell me which of these forty-two ships has the richest
+cargo?"
+
+"You ask which has the richest cargo?"
+
+"If it is against your principles to answer my question, I will take
+your own ship, and if you should make it compatible with honor to
+deceive me by false statements, you may rest assured that you shall eat
+steel and drink sea-water."
+
+The pirate's resolute language, the sight of the fierce fellows in the
+doorway, speedily brought the captain to terms and he promised to point
+out the vessel in question, especially as he felt perfectly sure that,
+if the pirates ventured to attack it, they would certainly be defeated.
+
+"Dress yourself and come with us," said Barthelemy.
+
+"What? To _your_ ship?"
+
+"That you may not betray us by a signal to the other ships. No excuses.
+I must have the _best_ cargo, unless you want me to content myself with
+yours. Forward!"
+
+The captain yielded, threw on his clothes, and surrounded by the three
+pirates, without daring to attract the attention of his own men, he
+followed Barthelemy and his companions into the boat, which returned to
+the ship.
+
+Meanwhile the men on board of the other vessels in the fleet quietly
+witnessed the strange vessel's intercourse with the Triton, without the
+slightest suspicion.
+
+On reaching the Sea Devil, the abducted captain pointed out to Captain
+Barthelemy the vessel he desired, assuring him, on his word of honor,
+that it possessed the most valuable cargo, but withholding the fact that
+it had forty guns and a crew of one hundred and fifty men.
+
+The Sea Devil instantly turned and steered toward the ship.
+
+She was a huge three-master of clumsy build; her elaborately ornamented
+prow, the shape of her decks, and her rigging all marked her as an
+old-fashioned merchantman.
+
+The pirate had come so near that one could shout from one ship to the
+other. The deepest silence reigned on board the former, the men stood
+motionless at their posts beside the ropes, oars, or guns. Suddenly,
+when every eye was fixed upon the approaching ship, whose mate watched
+the craft with drowsy indifference, not feeling the slightest suspicion,
+the captured captain perceived that no one was watching him and,
+springing on the bulwark, shouted: "To arms, men!" threw himself into
+the sea, and swam rapidly back to his own ship.
+
+All this was done so quickly and unexpectedly that the pirates, in their
+surprise, did not know what course to pursue.
+
+The attention of the crew had been instantly roused by the captain's
+warning shout, and the pirates saw with astonishment the superior force
+that opposed them.
+
+Some looked doubtfully at each other, and all thought that instant
+flight was their only refuge.
+
+Barthelemy gazed scornfully around, and quietly folded his arms.
+
+"They are only Portuguese," he said contemptuously.
+
+The corsairs burst into a loud roar of laughter and pressed closer to
+the ship, whose defenders, terrified by the sight of the fierce,
+laughing faces, discharged their guns without taking correct aim, not
+even doing the rigging of the Sea Devil the slightest damage. The
+grappling irons of the latter were already flung on her foe, and the
+next instant the savage pirates sprang on deck, so overwhelming the crew
+by their furious onslaught that, unheeding their officers' commands,
+they flung down their weapons and leaped into the sea.
+
+The battle continued on the deck of the merchantman, whose firing had
+alarmed the other forty-one vessels, which now also began to discharge
+their guns right and left, but without coming nearer, for they had no
+desire to mingle in the fray, and, in the very midst of the fleet, the
+pirates killed one half the Portuguese sailors, while losing only two of
+their own number.
+
+Barthelemy became master of the ship, and lashing it to the Sea Devil,
+sailed off with both vessels at a wonderful rate of speed.
+
+The two men-of-war that were guarding the fleet now appeared and gave
+chase to the pirate craft.
+
+Barthelemy fled for a time and, after drawing the two ships far enough
+away, he suddenly turned, divided his crew between his own vessel and
+the prize, and sailed toward the pursuers.
+
+The latter seemed startled by this audacity, signalled to each other,
+and while the pirates were wondering what was to be the outcome of their
+clumsy manoeuvres, they stopped the chase and returned to the fleet,
+leaving the Sea Devil to sail joyously over the high seas with her
+booty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The pirates landed on the coast of Guiana in a very merry mood. They had
+plenty of money; for they had found in the captured ship eight thousand
+gold coins, strings of oriental pearls sent by the Emperor of Brazil as
+a gift to the Queen of Portugal, and whole chests of valuable goods.
+
+And was it their intention to put the money at interest, the costly
+fabrics in shops to be sold by the yard? No indeed, their custom was to
+drink till the last gold coin was squandered. Whoever laid aside his
+share of the booty was a traitor, and whoever withdrew with his money to
+lead a respectable life, they killed.
+
+This habit of the pirates was well-known on shore. They came on land
+only when they had money and wanted to spend their treasure in the
+shortest possible time. On the sea men trembled before them, on shore
+they received them with open arms. There are documents proving that on
+the islands near Surinam the highest officials vied with one another in
+their hospitality to the pirates.
+
+True the corsairs, in a single fortnight, spent eight thousand gold
+moidores, and the women of the city, from the highest lady to the lowest
+servant wench, were clad in silks and cashmeres, while the costly pearls
+destined for the fair neck of Her Majesty the Queen of Portugal clasped
+that of the Regent's wife; indeed there were gala entertainments from
+the halls of the governor's residence to the lowest hut, and the pirates
+went from one to another, here a gentleman and there a lout, carousing,
+dancing, fighting, and love-making all day long. For an entire fortnight
+there was neither night nor day, only one continuous revel, a sea of
+pleasure whose depths no man could sound.
+
+Then, when all joys were exhausted, that is, when the last moidore had
+slipped through their fingers, the pirates went back to their ships,
+rubbed their eyes, and looked about for more work.
+
+They received tidings of a richly laden brigantine which was approaching
+the coast. Towards evening the helmsman saw the ship on the horizon.
+
+"Caution!" warned Barthelemy. "If they see us, they will have time to
+escape. Let the two ships remain here under Lieutenant Kennedy's
+command, while forty picked men go on board the sloop with me. Then we
+can approach the brigantine unsuspected."
+
+He himself chose his men, among them Skyrme, Scudamore, the mate Henry
+Glasby, Asphlant, Moody, and Simpson, and felt so sure of capturing the
+brigantine before morning that, contrary to his custom, he did not see
+that the sloop was provided with a sufficient supply of provisions.
+
+The night was dark and all through the long hours the sloop fairly flew
+in the direction where they expected to find the brigantine. According
+to Barthelemy's calculation, they would be within gunshot of her at
+dawn.
+
+And lo, when the sun rose and they gazed around the horizon, the
+brigantine was nowhere in sight. They tacked right and left, but not a
+sail was visible anywhere on the horizon.
+
+The brigantine had doubtless discovered them and vanished under cover of
+the darkness.
+
+Barthelemy was furious, and, unwilling to return defeated, sought the
+brigantine by altering his course hither and thither. For a week he
+sailed the seas, constantly struggling with head winds and currents; on
+the eighth day his supply of provisions was exhausted and he was forced
+to anchor and send a small boat back to his ships for food and
+assistance. Barthelemy and his companions remained on the sloop.
+
+According to the closest estimate the boat would need three days to
+reach the ships and the same time to return. So Barthelemy must stay six
+days at one point in the ocean.
+
+A week before they were revelling in luxury, while wine flowed in
+rivers, now, under the rays of a scorching sun, they divided their last
+biscuit and longed for a drink of water.
+
+At last Barthelemy thought of lashing some masts together into a raft,
+on which he sent two men with a cask to seek land. They were almost
+dying of thirst when the raft returned; the men had reached the shore
+and filled the cask with muddy water. They also brought a bunch of some
+plant which resembled a radish.
+
+Miry water and radishes! A royal banquet for the pirates! But soon this,
+too, was exhausted, the six days had expired, the boat had not returned,
+and the adverse tide made it impossible for the raft to reach the shore
+a second time.
+
+The men grew desperate and began to murmur.
+
+"Worthless fellows!" blustered Moody. "Degenerate pirates, who succumb
+to hunger after fasting only three days. The world is going to ruin.
+Even pirates turn cowards. It wasn't so when I was young and Olonais was
+captain.
+
+"For a whole week we ate nothing but dry roots, and then we got food
+from the governor's table in the heart of Vera Cruz."
+
+"And you ventured to fight on land?" asked Asphlant, with an incredulous
+look.
+
+"The ground certainly didn't tremble under our feet as it does under
+yours when you go ashore; once, twenty of us, under Olonais, pushed
+forward to the gates of Havana."
+
+"I didn't hear that you ever captured the city."
+
+"We came within an ace of it. Luckily for himself, the governor found
+out how few of us there were in the party before we got our hands on his
+throat."
+
+"So you returned whence you came."
+
+"It's easy enough for you to talk; the governor sent two hundred men
+after us in a warship, while we had only two boats. He also sent along
+an executioner to hang us to the trees on the coast when we were
+caught."
+
+"So you managed to escape."
+
+"We waited for them and, after having lured them far enough from Havana,
+I and another dare-devil, who, however, did not live to grow old, like
+me, slipped overboard and, swimming under the ship with our augers,
+bored eight holes in her bottom. Ho! ho! how quickly she sunk, how the
+soldiers roared for help, splashed about in the water and held out their
+hands for aid. Then Olonais went back with the boats and wherever a
+soldier's head rose out of the water he slashed it off with a huge
+sabre, all but the executioner, whom he recognized by his red cap and
+sent back to the governor with his compliments and the message that he
+did not need him."
+
+"Your captain was a bold fellow, Moody. What became of him?"
+
+"H'm! H'm! he had a strange end."
+
+"I suppose he was captured at last."
+
+"Far stranger than that. In a fight with savages, he was wounded and
+taken prisoner. The scoundrels ate the poor man."
+
+"The boat!" suddenly shouted the man at the helm, and all left the old
+pirate and his stories to watch the approaching yawl, which they hailed
+with cheers, waving their caps aloft, while the returning men sat
+silent, as if they found the meeting less joyful than their comrades.
+
+Skyrme was the captain of the boat. When he reached the sloop he stepped
+on her deck with a downcast, angry face, and answered the questions
+poured upon him from all sides: "Have you rum, meat, biscuit?" with
+"Nothing," and when, wondering at the reply, the men shook their heads,
+Skyrme turned to Barthelemy with quivering lips.
+
+"Captain, we are deceived, betrayed, lost."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Both the ships you intrusted to Kennedy have disappeared."
+
+"Impossible."
+
+"It is true. We searched two days without finding any trace of them; at
+last we learned from some fisherman that, as soon as we were out of
+sight, they crowded on all sail and went to sea."
+
+A roar of mingled fury and despair greeted these words; the cheated
+pirates, with knives uplifted, vowed to inflict a thousand tortures on
+the traitors. Barthelemy was deadly pale.
+
+"We will meet them," he said hoarsely. "There is not a moment to lose.
+Forward my lads."
+
+"Where?" asked Skyrme despairingly.
+
+"To sea!" answered Barthelemy proudly, pointing to the offing.
+
+"Yes, but in this plight, without a mouthful of bread, a drop of water."
+
+"The first ship will give us both. Woe to those we encounter, they will
+fight with fiends."
+
+"But suppose we should meet no vessel for days?"
+
+"There are forty of us. If we meet no ship for two days, we will have a
+true pirate banquet; whoever draws the fatal lot will yield us his body
+for food, his blood for drink. We are supplied for forty days; those who
+survive will inherit our need of vengeance. Forward!"
+
+The savage shouts of the pirates echoed far over the waves as they
+boldly steered toward the open sea, and that very day they met two
+well-armed sloops coming from the island of Defrada.
+
+The buccaneers were thirsting for carnage. After a stubborn defence they
+captured both vessels, from which they took only the guns and provisions
+and then sunk them.
+
+Again they sailed to and fro for several days without encountering any
+craft. Their provisions ran out and, just as they had divided the last
+portion of water, they saw on the horizon a Bristol vessel. The sloop
+instantly gave chase. The other tried to escape and the pirates pursued
+all day, crowding so much sail upon the sloop that she often buried her
+deck in the waves. Towards evening the clumsy ship, finding escape
+impossible, yielded without resistance.
+
+The pirates were infuriated by the long pursuit, and the faces of many
+plainly revealed their desire to cool their vengeance by giving their
+captives a sea-bath.
+
+Barthelemy climbed on deck, where the crew awaited him with uncovered
+heads.
+
+"Where is your captain?" he shouted.
+
+The worthy man, who was by no means desirous of renown, had gone below
+to his cabin, from which he was dragged and brought before Barthelemy,
+to whom he knelt.
+
+"Stand up, don't kneel. Lift him, that he may stand erect."
+
+Two pirates were obliged to drag the captain from his knees by main
+force, but when he perceived that he would not be allowed to kneel on
+deck, he lifted up his feet and knelt in the air, a comical sight which
+turned the pirates' rage into laughter.
+
+"What is your ship's cargo?" asked Barthelemy.
+
+The captain earnestly begged to be released, protesting that he could
+not speak while he was held in such a way, and then, trembling
+violently, said that his vessel was loaded with Spanish wine.
+
+"That word saves you," returned Barthelemy, as the pirates exultingly
+flung the captain into the air like a ball, and then ran down to the
+hold whence they speedily rolled up two or three iron-bound casks. The
+poor captain, sighing heavily, answered in reply to the buccaneers'
+query concerning the name of his wine, "Malaga."
+
+The terrified man kept glancing anxiously toward one of the partitions
+in the ship, and the pirates, noticing his fear, broke down the door,
+behind which was carefully hidden a supply of the finest brain sausages,
+which they brought out hung around their necks like strings of beads.
+
+This captain was a great gourmand, who had provided himself with the
+choicest provisions. The pirates found large coops filled with pheasants
+and Calcutta hens, which had been fed on nuts to give their flesh a
+better flavor. The rascals pulled out every one of the birds.
+
+"Where's the barber?" they shouted, "Here's something to bleed!" and
+they dragged Scudamore forward to use his valuable surgical instruments
+to cut off the heads of the capons. Scudamore gleefully beheaded the
+squawking fowl, each one of which the Bristol captain seemed to mourn,
+and when he had dispatched the last, he suddenly seized the sighing
+sailor by the hair, put his knife to his throat, and would have sent him
+after the birds, had not Skyrme dealt him such a blow that he fell
+headlong.
+
+"I supposed _these_ were to follow!" said the doctor with a fiendish
+laugh.
+
+Meanwhile the pirates began to pluck the poultry, and then cut the fowl
+up clumsily, lacking the help of Scudamore, who swore by all the imps of
+Satan that he didn't enlist to kill animals, but men.
+
+The beautiful pheasants were flung into three large copper kettles,
+white pepper and cod-fish were added, and fires were lighted under the
+caldrons.
+
+"Oh, what barbarians!" sighed the English captain, "To cook cod-fish
+with pheasants."
+
+As soon as the meat was half done they gathered around, flourishing
+their knives. The captain was invited to take his seat among them and
+share the meal, which he eagerly did, for on discovering that the birds
+could no longer be saved, he developed a laudable intention of devouring
+enough of them for three men.
+
+After the repast the wretches brought out the captain's preserved fruit,
+stored carefully away for his own use, and ate it before his eyes.
+
+The rude fellows, accustomed to coarse smoked meat, greedily swallowed
+the expensive pistachio nuts and preserved pineapples, while saying
+contemptuously that they would much rather have onions.
+
+And how they drank the noble wine! From the narrow-necked bottles in
+which it is usually sold! No, they knocked out the bottoms of the casks
+and dipped it up with their hats, or held their mouths under the cock
+and drank till they could scarcely rise. Swiftly as the wine poured into
+their throats, songs and laughter poured out, the wildest shouts of
+revelry which buccaneers ever uttered; even the English captain was
+obliged to drink his own wine, and the more he swallowed, the more
+firmly he began to believe that he himself was the pirate chief who had
+captured and plundered a ship, and advised the men to hang each other,
+being affected in precisely the opposite manner from Scudamore, who,
+under the influence of the wine, believed himself an honest man who had
+been taken prisoner by bandits; the result of which was that the two men
+had a violent scuffle, and as the captain proved to be the stronger,
+Scudamore lost two of his teeth.
+
+The former then triumphantly resumed his seat among the pirates, and by
+singing several songs aloud, roused their enthusiasm to such a pitch
+that Skyrme, starting up, vowed by a sea of wine to drink the Bristol
+captain's health in a glass which no man had ever used.
+
+He kept his word, for, ordering a cask filled with Malvoisie to be
+rolled up, he knocked out the head, sprang into it, and there drank the
+health of the captain, who almost died with laughter, thinking it vastly
+entertaining that a man should sit in the vessel from which he drank
+without being afraid of swallowing himself.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The carouse on the captured ship lasted uninterruptedly for three days
+and nights. On the third day the intoxicated pirates embraced the
+drunken captain and, rolling a few casks of wine upon their own sloop as
+a remembrance, took leave, urging him, when he reached Barbadoes, to
+send them a few rich merchantmen, of which just now they were in great
+need. Before he arrived there, however, the captain had entirely
+recovered from his intoxication and, remembering, doubtless, his
+slaughtered fowl and plundered wine, resolved to send a few ships in
+pursuit of the pirates.
+
+He went to the governor, related his misfortune, and induced him, in the
+absence of men-of-war, to fit up a merchant vessel with twenty-four guns
+and a sloop with ten, and despatch them under the command of Captains
+Rogers and Graves in chase of the bold buccaneers who roved so daringly
+in waters so near port. The latter were not yet sober, for they still
+had their wine, and when they saw the approaching vessels, believing
+that they would prove rich prizes, tacked and stood toward them.
+
+The ship and sloop allowed them to come close, without answering the
+pirates' first fire.
+
+This made the latter still bolder and, shouting to them to haul down
+their flags and surrender, they steered directly toward them.
+
+But, at the instant they seized their grappling irons to throw on the
+ship, her guns suddenly thundered a warning and, instead of an easy
+prey, the buccaneers found themselves in the presence of a formidable
+foe, which attacked them on both sides with a terrible cannonade.
+
+The peril instantly sobered the pirates, their confused yells ceased and
+nothing was heard except the voice of Barthelemy, who always felt
+strongest in the presence of the greatest danger.
+
+Amid the most furious cannonade, he defended himself against both
+assailants, and as soon as a well-aimed broadside had caused momentary
+confusion on one of the vessels, he availed himself of it to run out
+between them, then, spreading all sail, fled with his foes in full
+chase. Both were swift craft. It was impossible for Barthelemy to
+escape.
+
+The cannonade continued, the Sea Devil fighting while flying, the other
+two trying, first from the right, then from the left, to sail across her
+bows. Suddenly the pirate's fire ceased, Barthelemy had thrown his guns
+overboard.
+
+The pirate sloop was instantly lightened and, at the very moment his
+foes believed him hopelessly lost, Barthelemy's craft flew away as
+swiftly as a sea-gull, once more at liberty.
+
+The pursuers, left behind, at last gave up the chase and returned to
+port.
+
+Off went the pirate, like a startled gadfly, to Newfoundland. Twenty-two
+ships were in the harbor. The buccaneers had neither guns nor powder,
+nothing but fury and knives.
+
+On reaching the port they beat their drums, blew their trumpets, ran up
+the black flag, and the crews of the twenty-two ships fled to the shore.
+
+The pirates chose the best vessel in the fleet, robbed the others, and
+set them on fire. The lesson received at Barbadoes still rankled in
+their souls, they must have flames somewhere. So long as they remembered
+Barbadoes, not a ship escaped them, and if one from that port fell into
+their hands they slaughtered even the mice.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Luck changed, Barthelemy's star was in the ascendant, every day brought
+treasures and victories. The whole sea was his taxpayer. At last he took
+nothing from the captured ships except coined money; and the crews did
+not even offer any resistance. With his splendid ship, on whose prow
+was a carved and gilded figure of Fortuna, he visited every port in
+turn, levying taxes from the vessels anchored in them. They paid
+heavily; nay, if rumor could be trusted, safe-conducts could be
+purchased from him--in advance.
+
+The rulers of all countries forbade their subjects to furnish the
+pirates with provisions; but that was easily remedied. Ships bound for
+Africa sailed at regular intervals, laden with provisions, from the
+English colonies. These met the pirate by a concerted agreement, allowed
+themselves to be plundered, apparently by force, and yielded up one or
+two ships' cargoes. The buccaneers paid well for them.
+
+Once the young pirate chief ran into the harbor of St. Barthelemy and
+went on shore with his whole crew. The inhabitants illuminated their
+city, the governor came to meet him with a band of music and ordered
+fireworks in their honor, while the ladies gave them a ball.
+
+The buccaneers knew how to entertain. True, with them dancing was very
+apt to close with an orgy, and the orgy to end in a brawl; but fair
+women feared kisses as little as broken heads; for the pirates scattered
+gold with lavish hands in every direction.
+
+The pirates were gallants; they wore silk garments, gold lace, and
+plumed hats, the chains of two or three gold watches hung from their
+pockets, and diamonds and rubies flashed on their fingers. True, the
+gold lace was perfumed with rum and brandy, the breath of the flatterers
+reeked with the odor of onions and tobacco, pistols and blood-stained
+knives were carried in their pockets with the gold watches, and the
+hands on which diamonds glittered were black with the smoke of powder.
+But fair women did not shrink from these things, for they knew that the
+pirates never left a place until the last ring had vanished from their
+fingers and the last watch from their pockets.
+
+The buccaneer obtained nothing by cajolery, he paid cash for everything,
+and his hands were as full of gold as his lips of oaths. So why was it
+so great a marvel that the governors opened their doors, and those who
+ought to have led them to the gallows invited them to their tables.
+
+The governor of St. Christopher tried to drive Barthelemy out of his
+harbor--what did he gain by it? Barthelemy burned his ships and
+bombarded his city; the governor of St. Barthelemy was wiser, he
+introduced the corsair to his wife and became a rich man. There are as
+many customs as there are countries. We should think such proceedings
+very strange.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The governor's wife was a beautiful Creole, whose eyes fired men's
+hearts. Her face was pale, but when the sun of passion glowed upon it,
+her cheeks at first flushed faintly with the rose-hue of dawn, then
+deepened into crimson.
+
+To watch the alternation of these tints was the school of madness.
+
+Everyone was affected by the contagion of this frenzy, save her
+husband--and no one more than the pirate chief Barthelemy.
+
+The husband, a stout, placid man, sat beside Barthelemy at the banquet,
+opposite to the fair Creole. Barthelemy was drunk with wine and love.
+
+"Look at that woman," he said to the husband, extolling his wife: "What
+a face! What eyes! What a matchless figure! A goddess who has left her
+temple to come to West India! See those eyes! How they sparkle! What
+need have we of sun or stars so long as they shine upon us?"
+
+The husband, on the contrary, paid no heed, but apparently deemed it
+wiser to shut his eyes and nod sleepily.
+
+Barthelemy shook him by the collar.
+
+"Why are you not my foe, why don't I fling you into the sea, kill you at
+once? I would make myself a king to call your wife my queen."
+
+The husband neither saw nor heard; when Barthelemy loosed his hold he
+fell back into his chair and snored.
+
+Wild songs and the rattling of glasses echoed on all sides; each of the
+buccaneers had found a sweetheart, and the voices and laughter of women
+mingled with the oaths of the pirates; it seemed to be considered a
+special token of tenderness--and many of the corsairs bestowed it,--to
+fire their pistols in the room.
+
+Barthelemy, with a trembling hand, held out his wine-glass to the Creole
+who drained it to the health of the corsair king. When she set it down,
+he was kneeling at her feet.
+
+She had a fair round neck, and Barthelemy could not bear to see it
+without an ornament, so snatching from his own a diamond chain worth ten
+thousand dollars he clasped it round the beautiful woman's throat. Could
+he do so without pressing her head against his breast, and when it
+rested there, could he help kissing her?
+
+All the buccaneers joined in such a thundering cheer that the walls
+shook, pounded the tables with their fists, and fired salvos of shots.
+
+The husband slept on like a drowsy bear. Barthelemy clasped the Creole's
+slender waist.
+
+"Come with me," he whispered beseechingly; "I'll buy you from your
+husband, I'll give him a million of gold in exchange. If he wants a
+fleet, I'll drive hundreds of ships here like a flock of sheep. Come
+with me, I will rob Satan of Hades and transform it into a Paradise for
+you. I will load you with treasures, overwhelm you with delights, come
+with me!"
+
+"Ay, ay, Captain," shouted Moody from the corner where he sat surrounded
+by empty wine bottles, "drain the cup of joy and dash it against the
+wall."
+
+Just at that moment a messenger entered, bringing dispatches for the
+governor.
+
+The pirates gave him no chance to speak. "Don't wake him, don't you see
+how sweetly he is sleeping? You would better drink."
+
+The herald was soon completely intoxicated and, seeing the governor's
+wife whispering tenderly to Barthelemy, in the bewilderment of a
+drunkard's ideas he carried the despatch to him.
+
+The latter was about to throw it down when, glancing at the address,
+his eye caught the name "Hispaniola."
+
+The young leader's face suddenly darkened; he tore open the despatch and
+with blanched face, read the following lines.
+
+     _Sir_: The slaves in San Domingo rebelled a few days
+     ago, attacked the cotton plantations along the whole
+     coast, burned and destroyed them, and pitilessly
+     murdered the planters, sparing neither man, woman, nor
+     child. There is not a single dwelling left standing on
+     the northern coast of Hispaniola.
+
+Drops of cold perspiration stood on Barthelemy's brow, his eyes stared
+fixedly into vacancy, his fingers clenched the paper convulsively; then,
+starting up, he flung the Creole aside and dealt the table such a blow
+with his clenched fist that the pirates, to a man, instantly became
+silent and stared at him in wonder.
+
+"The carouse is over!" thundered their leader in a terrible voice.
+"Hence to the ship, drop toying, and seize your weapons."
+
+The buccaneers could not yet recover from their bewilderment. The Creole
+beauty, with sparkling eyes, pressed nearer to Barthelemy and raised his
+hand to her glowing lips.
+
+Barthelemy's eyes sought Moody. The old pirate had drunk heavily, but
+was perfectly sober.
+
+"You told me to drain the cup of joy to the dregs and then shatter it,"
+cried the young chief. "I will shatter it ere my lips have touched it."
+
+Even while speaking, he wrenched his hand from the Creole's clasp, and
+drawing his sword, cried:
+
+"Forward to the coast of Hispaniola."
+
+Carried away by their leader's passion, the buccaneers joined in a
+terrible cheer, and throwing down their glasses, pressed after him with
+drunken enthusiasm from the joys of the banquet to wrestle with the fury
+of the tempests.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The ship reached the shore of Hispaniola. Barthelemy promised his men
+the treasures of a whole people, reserving for himself only their blood.
+
+He did not find a single ship in the harbor; there were only a few
+fisher-boats tossing on the waves, from whose owners he learned that the
+insurgent slaves, after ravaging the coast, had retired in large numbers
+to the interior of the island.
+
+Barthelemy went on shore and rushed like a madman toward the cottage.
+
+He soon neared the hill which concealed the little valley, and continued
+his way slowly, with a throbbing heart, as if fearing to behold with his
+eyes what he already witnessed in his soul. The hill afforded a view of
+the cottage. Here he had parted for the last time with his betrothed
+bride; here she had sobbed, "Take me with you"; here she had predicted,
+"Some day you will return and ask, 'Where is Julietta? Why doesn't she
+come to meet me?'"
+
+His very heart shrank. One step more, and he would reach the hill-top--a
+weeping-willow obstructed the view and, bending the boughs apart, he
+gazed down into the valley.
+
+It was empty. Bare yellow fields lay dry and withered in the place of
+the green plantation, and the site of the cottage was marked by a black
+spot.
+
+Barthelemy stood motionless, with fixed eyes. No sigh escaped his lips,
+but he suddenly fell as if lifeless, with his face pressed against the
+grass. Perhaps he might have passed into the eternal slumber, had not
+sad dreams come and forced him to witness the horrible bloody scenes
+enacted when the Satanic band burst into the quiet, lonely cottage,
+where the three girls and their grandmother knelt in prayer; he saw the
+rabble rush in through door and windows, seizing their victims by the
+hair, the thin, gray locks of the poor old grandmother, the luxuriant
+raven ones, which he had so often kissed, of his worshipped Julietta. If
+he had been lying in his grave, such a dream must have roused him.
+
+"Ah!" shrieked the pirate struggling back to consciousness, like a
+person throwing off a deadly burden from his heart, and gazing around
+him, gasping for breath as he wiped the perspiration from his eyes and
+brow. "It is well that it was _only_ a dream," he faltered. Then a
+glance into the valley proved that it was no delusion, but reality.
+Springing to his feet he rushed wildly down into the valley to the ruins
+of the hut, called the names of his dear ones, stirred the ashes as if
+he might find them there, examined the footprints in the mire to see if
+he could discover among them any traces of those of the objects of his
+love. But he found nothing except the marks of clumsy negro feet,
+nowhere the imprint of the dear, fairy-like ones. They were lost. Not a
+vestige of the cottage remained except the charred threshold. Barthelemy
+embraced and kissed it, his eyes growing dim with tears.
+
+"Ah!" he shouted, dashing them from his eyes, "Not water, but oil on the
+flames! This is not the time to weep, but to avenge. A pirate's tears
+are drops of blood! I will avenge you, my murdered family, on mankind,
+on the whole world. Earth, grant me no more rest. Change the wine-cup to
+wormwood ere it reaches my lips, and every throb of my heart to hate. I
+had a single joy, my soul a single steadfast idea, which came to my
+remembrance whenever any one sued to me for mercy, and I granted it.
+That was joy. But it is forever torn from my heart, henceforward I will
+give quarter to no one. Hear my vow, ye powers of Hell, and tremble--I
+will send you as many black fiends as there are grains of dust in this
+handful of ashes which I scatter on my head."
+
+With a terrible imprecation, Barthelemy flung into the air a handful of
+ashes which he had clutched and, as they floated slowly down upon his
+head, he sank on his knees and, sobbing convulsively, kissed the
+threshold.
+
+"My God, my God, if it was Thy will to punish me, why didst Thou not
+dash me against a cliff during the raging of a tempest, why didst Thou
+not let me perish by arms, by hunger? Why didst Thou not make me mount
+the scaffold? Why didst Thou permit Thy angels to atone for my crimes?"
+
+He sobbed bitterly, while the ashes he had scattered to bear witness to
+his vow, drifted slowly down upon his head.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+A traveller, driving his mule before him, came through the path leading
+from the forest. Barthelemy barred his way. The man started at sight of
+the fierce-looking stranger and began to appeal to his patron saint.
+
+"Whence do you come?" asked the pirate.
+
+"From La Vega. I bring good news. The insurgents are conquered and
+already hang along the coast."
+
+"Bad news for me! Have none of them escaped?"
+
+"A few hundred took refuge in a captured ship and fled to Africa."
+
+"I thank you. You can go on."
+
+The messenger continued his journey, shaking his head; he could not
+understand why any one should regret that the rebels were conquered, or
+rejoice because a number of them had escaped.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What has happened to you, captain?" asked Moody, when Barthelemy
+returned to the ship. "You are as pale as a corpse."
+
+"Nothing," replied his commander in a hollow tone. "Only my heart has
+died in my breast."
+
+The pirates asked no further questions. They knew all. Whenever any one
+of them left the band, the others kept watch from a distance. They had
+seen Barthelemy sitting despairingly beside the ruins of the hut, and
+all shrank in timid silence from the pallid man.
+
+Barthelemy shut himself up in his cabin and, taking a chart, began to
+study the course to Africa. His face was gloomy, but ever and anon his
+eyes flashed fiercely. Suddenly he heard a knock at the door and angrily
+opened it.
+
+"Who is disturbing me, now?"
+
+"I, captain," replied Scudamore. "We need your judgment."
+
+"Go until to-morrow. I will grant no favors to-day."
+
+"I want no favors from you, only the execution of the law. Three members
+of the band took advantage of the time during which we were on shore to
+desert and take refuge in the interior of the island. But I sleep with
+my eyes open and, though I have but two of them, can watch the whole
+hundred men."
+
+"And me also?"
+
+"There can be no discrimination, captain, we need one another, whoever
+seeks to leave us is a traitor. We want no path for retreat, only for
+advance. Whoever has once sworn faith, is ours forever, belongs to hell,
+no power can free him, and if he will not live with us he must die."
+
+"Have you captured the fugitives?"
+
+"All three, they were only a mile from La Vega when we overtook them."
+
+"Bring them before me singly."
+
+Scudamore went in search of the prisoners, with fiendish delight, and
+returned dragging the first one by the ear.
+
+He was a cowardly fellow whom the pirates had forced to join their band.
+
+"Oh, captain!" he cried falling on his knees before Barthelemy, "if you
+believe in God and the angels, let me leave this accursed place. You are
+all doomed to hell, permit me to save my soul from the flames of
+purgatory. Oh! all you saints of Heaven, have mercy on my sinful head."
+
+A horrible roar of laughter from the pirates greeted these imploring
+words.
+
+"You shall die," said Barthelemy coldly, motioning to the men to lead
+him away.
+
+"Captain! For heaven's sake, you won't let me die thus, without the
+sacrament or extreme unction, to the ruin and eternal perdition of my
+soul?"
+
+"Wait, I'll confess you," said Scudamore with a diabolical laugh,
+putting the rope around the doomed man's neck.
+
+"Oh God, my Creator, is there no one to say a prayer for me? Alas, I
+once knew so many and have forgotten them all."
+
+The pirates, laughing loudly, dragged to the mast the unhappy man, who
+began to roar the air of a song whose words he had long since forgotten.
+A minute later the song ceased, the man was hanging above.
+
+The second prisoner was now brought forward. He, too, was only a common
+sailor. His companions were forced to bind him hand and foot in order to
+drag him before the captain, and he kept up a constant torrent of oaths.
+
+"Yes, I ran away from you because I loathed this vile, roystering life,
+toiling and fighting every day and when, at the risk of death, one
+gained a little money, a man had to throw it away. I'll run from you a
+hundred times more."
+
+"Not once," replied Scudamore grinning. He apparently had far more taste
+for the hangman's trade than for the physician's. Barthelemy silently
+waved his hand, and the pirate hung.
+
+The third prisoner now appeared, and Barthelemy exclaimed in surprise,
+"That is Henry Glasby."
+
+The former captain of the Fortuna was the third captive.
+
+Glasby was a handsome young man, with a noble face, whom the pirates
+kept among them by force on account of his superior knowledge of
+seamanship; his gentle nature and kind heart were known to the whole
+band, for he protected all who fell into their hands, as far as lay in
+his power, frequently paying their ransom out of his own pocket; his
+entreaties had saved many a ship from burning, and he had always kept
+aloof from the bacchanalian orgies of his companions, for which reason
+they did not hold him in special regard, and always watched him with
+suspicious eyes. He had already made one attempt to escape, which had
+been pardoned, now he was certainly doomed. After the first expression
+of surprise, Barthelemy's face had regained its cold, unmoved composure.
+Scudamore awaited the verdict with greedy impatience.
+
+Glasby stood before Barthelemy with unquailing resolution.
+
+"You have already pronounced sentence upon two," he said fearlessly.
+"There is no reason why you should make me an exception. I have but one
+request; send this valueless locket containing my portrait to my
+mother,--she lives in Norfolk. It also has a curl of hair belonging to
+my betrothed bride, whom I longed to see, and for whom I die."
+
+Barthelemy trembled and gazed intently at Glasby's face.
+
+"You have a betrothed bride whom you longed to see?" he said in a
+stifled voice, loosing the ropes from his wrists--"go back to her, I
+release you--"
+
+"Captain! Two are hanging already," shouted Scudamore, furious as he saw
+the escape of the man whose death he most desired. "The third rope is
+waiting for its ornament."
+
+"It will pull up the man who dares to contradict my judgment!" answered
+Barthelemy, gazing fiercely at the defiant faces, and closed the door of
+his cabin behind him.
+
+The whole band remained silent.
+
+From that moment Barthelemy was completely transformed. His heart was
+stone, nothing touched it except a woman's sobs; then he fled, it was
+more than he could bear.
+
+To his men he was stern to the point of injustice, the most trivial
+offence did not escape his punishment, every evening he held a court of
+justice by which he had those who were accused imprisoned in the ship's
+hold, flogged, or shot. Yet there was one person whom he never attacked,
+Glasby. He spent whole nights in questioning him about his family life,
+his mother, and his betrothed bride, listening with eager attention to
+all the details for the hundredth time. He showed mercy to no one,
+burning or sinking the captured ships, unmoved by submission or
+entreaties, but if a vessel chanced to have a woman on board, and he
+heard her voice he would take nothing from the ship and let her pursue
+her way uninjured.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+One day he assembled the crews of both pirate cruisers on the deck of
+the Commodore.
+
+"My lads," he said, "life here is beginning to grow wearisome. Fortune
+offers her favors in vain, there is no one on this side of the world
+whom we fear; we have plenty of booty, but no fame, for we encounter no
+foemen worthy of us. Let us go farther. These Dutch and Portuguese
+merchantmen already fear us to such a degree that they almost love us.
+Let us go where we are not known, among the English and French, whose
+troops sleep secure in their fortresses along the coast, where Fortune
+is still a coy maiden who permits her favors to be grasped only by
+strong hands. Let us win honor and fame in the places where the wise
+law-makers have written a hundred paragraphs against us in their code of
+laws, let us tear out the page, and place in its stead the words that
+there are no laws for the brave."
+
+Barthelemy wished to fire his comrades' hearts as he had done in former
+days, but he was unsuccessful, the tones which had once thrilled them
+were dead; the fire in his soul, one spark of which had sufficed to
+kindle theirs, was extinct. Now he could influence them only by his
+coldness.
+
+"Pirates," he went on, folding his arms, "I promised you treasures, you
+promised me blood. Let us both keep our word. Our work here is beggarly.
+To plunder the ships of peaceful merchants, who surrender their goods
+without defence! And of what use are they? We merely give them away. I
+will take you to the home of treasures, the coasts of Africa, where
+ships laden with gold-dust plough the sea, where the negro kings sleep
+on golden sand and the negro warriors fight with golden weapons. We will
+plunder _these_ ships, dig the golden sand from under the sleeping
+kings, and bury them in it, wrench the precious weapons from the
+negroes' hands and give them cheaper ones of iron in their hearts."
+
+This pleased the pirates who made up the Commodore's crew, and they
+responded with murmurs of approval, but the Fortuna's men remained
+silent, with sullen, defiant faces.
+
+Barthelemy noted the different effect he had produced, and wrapping
+himself deliberately in his ample cloak, whose folds concealed his
+hands, he added: "Perhaps there is some one who does not approve this
+plan, let him state what he has against it. He can speak freely, I will
+listen."
+
+The crew of the Fortuna began to gather into groups and whisper
+together; at last two men came forward, hitching their trousers, and
+stood with resolute faces before the captain.
+
+"Yes, we don't approve of your plan, captain," said one, and the other
+nodded assent, while their comrades murmured approval.
+
+"You don't approve of it, my children?" asked Barthelemy in his sweetest
+tones, "and why?"
+
+"Because we are not tired of having things go well with us and finding
+booty everywhere without danger," said one.
+
+"Because we don't want to seek unknown risks in unknown gold regions,"
+added the other.
+
+"Where there are laws against us."
+
+"And where royal men-of-war protect commerce."
+
+"We don't care for fame, but prizes."
+
+"And we would rather stay here, where people fear us, than go where we
+must fear others."
+
+"If you want blood, we can shed as much here for you as you desire."
+
+"But we won't go a thousand miles and seek danger merely to avenge you
+on the negroes who killed your sweetheart."
+
+Robert Barthelemy's face blanched to a ghastly pallor.
+
+"You wish to stay here, my dear children," he replied in a tone of
+childlike blandness. "You like it here, and are afraid to go elsewhere.
+Why, my dear children, just think it over a moment."
+
+"We have already thought of it," they answered defiantly.
+
+"Very well," said Barthelemy, suddenly throwing back his cloak, and the
+next instant he had sent a bullet through the heads of both.
+
+For a moment the others stood petrified with horror, then they turned
+furiously upon Barthelemy, their eyes and knives flashing around him.
+
+"What! You dare to oppose, when I command! Away with you, worthless
+rascals!" thundered their young leader in a voice which rose above the
+fray, and seizing a piece of stout rope he rushed among them, dealing
+blows right and left at the mutineers, who were so amazed by his daring
+that, forgetting their rage, they scattered.
+
+"Put them all in irons. Keep them in confinement on bread and water for
+three days! If any one utters a word against me, throw him into the
+sea," shouted Barthelemy, and in a moment the Fortuna's crew were
+disarmed by the Commodore's men.
+
+"You are taking a great risk," Glasby whispered to Barthelemy.
+
+"Oh, I fear neither man nor devil," replied the pirate defiantly.
+
+The ships sailed for Africa that very day. The time of punishment of the
+Fortuna's crew expired on the third, and Barthelemy, to prevent any
+attempt at flight, removed all the nautical instruments and all the men
+who had any knowledge of navigation to the Commodore.
+
+Nevertheless the Fortuna vanished one night when they were still four
+hundred miles from the African coast.
+
+As Barthelemy predicted the ship ran on a sandbank in the first storm
+which overtook her, and her crew all perished.
+
+But the leader did not give up his plan; though his strength was
+diminished, his courage was unchanged.
+
+One morning at dawn he saw a mountain peak on the horizon--it was Cape
+Corso. "We have reached our destination," said Barthelemy to the
+exulting pirates, and began to cruise up and down before the harbor.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+At that time the French government had a monopoly of the india-rubber
+trade and, as the most venomous antidote of monopoly is smuggling, the
+coasts of Cayenne were constantly watched by French men-of-war.
+
+Two of them instantly noticed the suspicious craft and, believing it to
+be a smuggler, gave chase. Barthelemy lured them too far from the shore
+for the battle to be seen, then, after a short conflict, conquered both,
+sank one and, keeping the other, manned it with part of his crew under
+the command of Skyrme, and called it the Fox-Hound.
+
+From the French prisoners he learned that the two most formidable
+English war-ships, the Weymouth and Hirondelle had left the coast and
+would not return for several months, so they sailed boldly into the
+harbor.
+
+The Onslow, the finest vessel of the Anglo-African Company was lying at
+anchor in the port.
+
+Her captain and officers were on shore, where the governor was giving a
+ball in their honor. From the windows of his residence they could see
+the pirates assail their ship and, ere they could hasten back to it, the
+crew had surrendered.
+
+The captain of the Onslow, Fennimore Gee, rowed alone to the pirate ship
+and, pistol in hand, demanded that Barthelemy should restore his ship
+and fight with him like an honest man, instead of attacking by stealth.
+
+The novel proposition of returning a captured ship to its owner and then
+fighting for its possession so pleased Barthelemy that he declared his
+willingness to accept it.
+
+His own men also accepted the challenge, but the Onslow's crew refused
+to fight against Barthelemy, and begged him to take them into his band.
+
+Captain Gee despairingly fired his pistols among the rascally throng,
+and appealed to Barthelemy, if he had a drop of honorable blood in his
+body, not to stain his fame as a buccaneer by receiving into his band
+the worthless fellows who, in the hour of peril, had deserted their
+captain.
+
+"I'll tell you, my worthy captain," said Robert gayly to his opponent,
+tossing in the little boat on the waves below. "You are so brave a man
+that I could not reconcile my conscience to leaving you without a ship.
+Come, I'll give you, in exchange for the Onslow, my own vessel, the
+Commodore here. I can vouch for its being a good sailer and valuable,
+though I got it very cheap. But from sheer philanthropy, I can't give up
+your crew, you would decimate it; the soldiers, however, you shall have,
+I don't care what becomes of the land rats."
+
+So before the eyes of the whole harbor, he exchanged ships with the
+English captain, and after having the old name Onslow effaced and Royal
+Fortune painted over it in large gilt letters, he set sail with both
+his vessels for Calabar.
+
+By way of pastime, part of the pirates, under Skyrme's command, made
+short expeditions on the Fox-Hound to search for any ships that might be
+crossing their path.
+
+One day the Fox-Hound returned to the Royal Fortune, with all sail set,
+and reported having noticed on the horizon two suspicious vessels, which
+instantly gave chase; they were probably men-of-war, and the Fox-Hound
+had escaped only by crowding on all sail, but they were still pursuing.
+
+"Let them come," said Barthelemy, sweeping the sea with his glass, and
+soon discovered on the horizon the two ships which, at that distance,
+resembled sea-gulls.
+
+"Those are not men-of-war," cried Barthelemy, "they look more like
+pirates, and are coming toward us with every inch of canvas spread.
+They will fare badly."
+
+"Ha! ha!" laughed Skyrme, "that's all we lack. We have conquered plenty
+of merchantmen and war-ships, now we must capture pirates to have the
+whole variety."
+
+The entire crew watched the approaching ships with eager curiosity,
+saying to one another, "They think they are attacking a government ship,
+how amazed they will be when they reach us!"
+
+Moody was shading his eyes first with one hand and then the other,
+straining them till they fairly started from their sockets. Suddenly he
+clapped his hands, threw up his hat, and throwing himself down on the
+deck laughed till he was red in the face.
+
+"Moody! Have you gone crazy?" asked Barthelemy. "The man never laughed
+before in his whole life. What ails you, Moody?"
+
+"Don't you know those ships?" he asked, half raising himself, then flung
+himself back in another fit of laughter so uncontrollable that the men
+were obliged to seize and hold him before he grew quiet.
+
+"Speak, old lunatic, what ails you?"
+
+"When I tell you, you'll all jump out of your skins. Don't you see those
+two ships? Don't you recognize them? They are the Sea Devil, and the
+Dutch ship which ran away from us, left us starving on the sea, and now
+are coming straight into the jaws of our guns! Isn't it enough to drive
+a man mad with joy?"
+
+The awful shout of delight from the pirates drowned Moody's laughter;
+with bloodthirsty eagerness they rushed for their weapons, climbed on
+the yards to get a better view of the approaching vessels, and shook
+their fists at them.
+
+They had found the traitors who had left their comrades to meet the most
+terrible death by starvation, and who now voluntarily came to encounter
+their revenge. This thought moved even Barthelemy so much that a burning
+flush crimsoned his pale face. His mute lips refused to give utterance
+to his feverish joy, but his countenance belied them.
+
+"Calm yourselves!" he said to his men, "we'll let them come nearer; get
+behind the bulwarks, they must be an easy prey, and their hearts shall
+stop beating when they suddenly see our faces."
+
+The buccaneers quietly drew back; their foes came toward them with every
+sail spread. Already they could see distinctly on the prow the hideous
+figure of the Sea Devil, and as the pirates recognized one man after
+another they whispered, gnashing their teeth: "There is so and so!"
+
+"Keep your weapons ready," Barthelemy commanded in a low tone.
+
+"We need no knives, we'll tear them to pieces with our nails," said
+Asphlant.
+
+On arriving within gunshot range, the black flag suddenly fluttered from
+every masthead of the Sea Devil, and a bullet, hissing between the Royal
+Fortune's sails was the challenge to speak. The deepest silence reigned
+on Barthelemy's ship. The Sea Devil sailed close up to it, the Dutch
+consort remaining a little behind. "Oho! Where is your captain?" shouted
+some one on the Sea Devil.
+
+"That's Kennedy's voice!" whispered Barthelemy giving the signal to
+raise the black flag.
+
+At the moment when, to the horror of the men on the Sea Devil, the black
+flag floated from the Royal Fortune's mast, Barthelemy sprang on the
+bulwark, shouting in stentorian tones:
+
+"I am here, you worthless traitors! Do you still know Robert
+Barthelemy?"
+
+The assailants were instantly as silent as if death had stricken them;
+Kennedy, in his terror, leaped into a boat and, pushing off from the
+ship tried to reach the Dutch vessel, the others flung their weapons
+away like madmen and, in the insanity of terror, leaped into the waves.
+
+They were soon released from their trouble; two volleys poured at the
+same moment from the guns of the Royal Fortune and the Fox Hound
+shattered the Sea Devil which, amid frightful shrieks of despair, sank
+with every man on board.
+
+Meanwhile Kennedy and a few others had succeeded in reaching the Dutch
+ship, which instantly spread every sail in a desperate effort to reach
+the land.
+
+Barthelemy pursued with both his ships.
+
+The fugitive flung overboard all her ballast and finally even her guns,
+by which sacrifice she succeeded in reaching the shore before the other
+ships could interpose.
+
+A throng of Calabrian negroes stood on the land watching the fight.
+
+Kennedy hastily ordered his men into the boats and escaped to the shore.
+"Not even that will save you," said Barthelemy, ordering the largest
+boat to be lowered. He had eight guns placed in it, entered himself with
+forty of his men, and commanded them to row to the beach.
+
+Kennedy saw that Barthelemy intended to land and began to tell the
+negroes, with loud cries, that he was a monster who had come to conquer
+their land and burn their dwellings. They must on no account permit him
+to come ashore.
+
+The shouts of the negroes showed that the pirates had succeeded in
+exciting these savages against their former comrades, and the negroes
+soon began to greet the boat with a shower of arrows and stones.
+
+"So much the better," murmured Barthelemy. "Two at one blow: traitors
+and negroes. To-day vengeance will reap a harvest, this is the festival
+of death. Fire among them."
+
+The guns of the boat roared, scattering death among the blacks, in whose
+ranks the bombs tore wide openings, and, amid this thunder, forty men
+landed in the face of ten thousand negroes.
+
+Kennedy and his companions urged the Calabrians to a desperate defence,
+and they rushed with bloodthirsty fury at the buccaneers, hurling a
+cloud of arrows and lances.
+
+Only two or three fell wounded by these missiles, the others moved
+forward in close ranks, aiming at the most prominent leaders in the
+negro ranks.
+
+When the latter saw their strongest warriors, who in battle were equal
+to a hundred men, fall by invisible weapons sent from a distance before
+they could reach their assailants with their battle axes, they began to
+retreat in confusion, left their huts and, dragging Kennedy and his men
+with them, climbed a steep hill, up which they could not be followed,
+and from which no efforts availed to draw them. Barthelemy, with wild
+delight, walked over the battle-ground, counting the corpses. They had
+all been victims of his revenge for his murdered love.
+
+"This was blessed work," he murmured. "Hell is blacker by eight hundred
+negroes."
+
+"Captain," said Scudamore, rousing him from his reverie, "our bitterest
+enemies have escaped under our eyes. There is but one way to reach and
+destroy them in the place where they have sought refuge."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"It would be idle for me to show you, you would not use it, but give me
+authority to do as I please for half an hour and I promise to bring you
+the heads of all these traitors without sacrificing one of our men."
+
+"I should like to see that."
+
+"You will hear it. You need not witness it; it is a stratagem of war
+which you could not learn from me. Go back to the ship and wait for my
+return."
+
+This bold language surprised Barthelemy. A sort of intoxication arising
+from the bloodshed still held him in thrall, and he allowed himself to
+be persuaded to return to the Royal Fortune and let the doctor work his
+will. As soon as the captain was out of sight, Scudamore ordered the
+pirates to go to the deserted cabins and murder the families of the
+fugitives.
+
+Shouting exultingly, the fierce crew, thirsting for revenge, obeyed;
+from the lofty cliff the blacks saw their wives killed, their children
+slaughtered, and when all were slain, their homes set on fire and
+destroyed amid clouds of smoke that rose to their eyrie.
+
+Then Scudamore stepped forward and shouted:
+
+"Now, you black scoundrels, you have seen how we served your families.
+The same fate awaits you, down to the last man, if you don't submit and
+surrender our friends, whom you dragged away with you."
+
+Kennedy saw through the stratagem and protested violently.
+
+"Don't believe a word he says, the whole thing is a fiendish plot, we
+are no friends of his, we don't know one another."
+
+"Kennedy, don't be a coward," said Scudamore reproachfully, "why should
+you deny that you agreed to lead these people astray so that they would
+run into the mouths of our guns? Be bold, and with the help of your
+stout comrades throw them down on our knives; I, a pirate, am worth a
+hundred negroes; don't disown me."
+
+The negroes, with threatening gestures began to surround Kennedy and his
+men, who in great terror, tried to defend themselves.
+
+"Brave friends, don't believe the words of that devil, we never saw him;
+those men are our worst enemies."
+
+"Oh, Kennedy, you disgrace us, how can you disown us when you, too, sail
+under the black flag? If we had never seen each other how should I know
+that you have, on your left shoulder, the mark of a gallows, branded
+there when you were in the pillory?"
+
+The negroes instantly seized Kennedy, stripped his coat from his
+shoulders and, as soon as they had convinced themselves that
+Scudamore's words were true, they flung him down and one, raising his
+copper axe, set his foot upon his victim's neck.
+
+"Don't hurt a hair of his head!" shouted Scudamore, feigning fury. The
+next instant the axe fell, and Kennedy's head was hurled over the cliff.
+
+The others followed.
+
+When the half hour expired, Scudamore returned to Barthelemy and,
+pointing to the boat, said: "There are the heads of the traitors!"
+
+
+
+
+Chapter III
+
+Revenge
+
+
+The time of the monsoons had come. News of shipwrecks arrived daily. The
+elements of the air and sea were ceaselessly contending in a strife
+before which the petty quarrels of men were ended. Nothing was heard at
+present of Barthelemy. The English and Dutch agencies were perfectly
+aware that his ships were anchored in the harbor of Cape Corso. Who
+would venture to tempt Providence by putting to sea in such weather? The
+heart of the boldest pirate trembles when he sees sky and water
+transformed into darkness, illumined only by flashes of lightning. It
+would be a devil and not a man who, amid this illumination, would risk a
+battle in the midst of peals of thunder and the howling of the gale.
+
+Barthelemy was resting on the coast; his men were drinking, carousing
+and giving banquets. What else could they do in such terrible weather
+when, each morning, the sea flung fresh wrecks upon the strand?
+
+Meanwhile the governments were quietly gathering their ships against the
+bold pirates who dared, single-handed, to assail a whole quarter of the
+globe; in the harbor of Mydaw alone there were eleven ships waiting only
+for the King Solomon with its eighty guns, and the Swallow with its
+hundred and ten, to set sail in pursuit of Robert Barthelemy as soon as
+the monsoons were over.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The tempest was raging, the sea tossed wildly, the black clouds hung so
+low that it seemed as if they nearly touched the waves, and the surges
+tossed their white foam upward toward the clouds.
+
+The horizon was a dark violet blue, through which darted flashes of
+lightning. A ship was visible far away tossing on the billows, its
+closely furled sails and erect masts looking like black crosses.
+
+It was the King Solomon, a proud warship, with three tiers of decks
+supplied with windows, which resembled a three-story house with wings;
+but windows and portholes were now tightly closed.
+
+The rain was pouring, black and white stormy petrels fluttered around
+the vessel, and ever and anon the waves tossed aloft one of the sharks
+swimming around the ship, which looked down greedily a moment, with its
+cold, fixed eyes, at the trembling sailors.
+
+Every man had his hands full; in the midst stood Captain Trahern; the
+boldest of the crew were in the rigging, trying to secure the sails;
+others were attempting to rig a jury mast in place of one which had been
+carried away. Another group toiled at the pumps, and four men were at
+the helm, straining every muscle whenever a wave stronger than usual
+dashed against the bow of the ship. In the intervals of rest the sailors
+at the helm talked with one another.
+
+"What a gale! It's impossible for us ever to reach port again."
+
+"We came near sticking fast in the clouds just now, the waves flung us
+up so high."
+
+"Lord help us! The thunderbolts are falling like ripe pears, one of us
+will be hit presently."
+
+"Hush, don't you see the St. Elmo's fire yonder at the mast-head?" asked
+Philip, the helmsman.
+
+"St. George preserve us!" whispered the others in horror. "That means
+evil. The St. Elmo's fire usually appears only on ships devoted to
+destruction. See how it dances!"
+
+"Mind your helm!" shouted the captain, but it was too late; while the
+men were staring at the electrical phenomena hovering around the
+mast-head, a huge wave approached the ship, a wave which resembled a
+transparent mountain-chain in motion. Every effort to put the ship about
+proved futile, the vast surge, higher than the highest mast-head, rolled
+nearer, its top crested with foam. The men clung to the rigging and
+bulwarks. Suddenly the King Solomon rose more rapidly, tossed upward on
+the towering wave, and the next moment lay on her side with her masts in
+the water and wave after wave sweeping over her decks. In a few minutes
+the ship righted again, the water rolling from her as it drips from the
+plumage of a swan, and the crew, drenched to the skin, returned to their
+tasks.
+
+"See! The St. Elmo's fire is still shining at the mast-head!" cried
+Philip, "if it were not kindled by the devil, that flood of water would
+have put it out."
+
+"Those stormy petrels suspect something wrong, too, they follow us
+everywhere."
+
+"Jack says he saw the spectre ship last night."
+
+"Is that true, Jack?"
+
+"Why should I say so, if I hadn't seen it? You were all asleep, I stood
+alone at the helm. Suddenly, from the distance, the form of a ship moved
+toward us. It seemed scarcely to touch the water, and was sailing
+against the wind. Shadows that looked like men were moving about her
+deck as if pulling on the ropes, and a misty shape, like the captain,
+glided to and fro. Terrified, I hailed the apparition, and suddenly the
+whole vision vanished, but I heard distinctly, above the whistling of
+the wind and the plashing of the waves, the flapping of the ropes
+against the mast of the spectre ship."
+
+"That means mischief."
+
+The sailors gazed timidly at the cloud-veiled horizon, as they usually
+do when ghost stories are told in their presence.
+
+"Look, look yonder!" said Philip, suddenly pointing into the gray mist,
+"I swear by St. George, I see the spectre ship!"
+
+His messmates, panting for breath, followed the direction of his finger.
+The lightning flashed and they all made the sign of the cross.
+
+"There it is."
+
+"What do you see there?" called the captain, noticing the surprise of
+his men.
+
+"The spectre ship, sir," one of them answered at last, trembling.
+
+Trahern began to scan the vessel through his spy-glass.
+
+"That's no spectre ship," he said after a short pause.
+
+"What else could she be, sir? Would any mortal man carry sail in such a
+tempest? See how fast she approaches us! She does not heed the shock of
+the waves, but flies like a bird."
+
+"That is no spectre ship," the captain repeated, "they are pirates."
+
+"Living devils," muttered Philip.
+
+"It must be Barthelemy," said Trahern. "What a pity that we cannot
+approach him, we would capture him at once. But who could fight in such
+a storm?"
+
+The pirate swiftly approached the King Solomon. From time to time the
+waves concealed it, but the next instant it rose on their crests, still
+advancing.
+
+"Those crazy fellows actually seem to be trying to meet us," said
+Trahern.
+
+"Those are not men," replied Philip. "If men tried to cut through the
+waves in that fashion their ship would be battered to pieces."
+
+The vessel really seemed to be pursuing the King Solomon; approaching
+it on one tack, it made every effort to come alongside, but was
+constantly baffled by the force of the waves which, like a stronger
+power, constantly tossed the two ships apart, and if they were within
+gunshot of each other at one moment, separated them the next by half a
+mile.
+
+"Honest men pray to God at such times," cried Philip. "These do not even
+fear the gale. Ha! How that lightning blazed between the ships. The very
+fires of Heaven forbid approach."
+
+The pirate suddenly furled her sails, and the next instant the crew of
+the King Solomon saw the large boat lowered. Twenty pirates sprang in
+and rowed toward the King Solomon.
+
+The man-of-war had two hundred men and eighty guns; Trahern could not
+imagine what the object of these few people could be.
+
+The waves tossed the boat to and fro but, spite of wind and water, the
+oarstrokes of the twenty men gradually brought it nearer. Then a
+gigantic figure stood erect, spite of the terrible tossing of the waves,
+and, raising a speaking trumpet to his lips, shouted in deep, ringing
+tones, "Captain Trahern, Robert Barthelemy hereby summons you to
+surrender at discretion the King Solomon and her crew."
+
+The speaker was Skyrme.
+
+Trahern, indignant at the audacity of the pirates, which bordered on
+insolence, ordered his men to fire on them. His gunners replied that the
+cannon were wet.
+
+"That is a lie," shouted Trahern, "they are under cover. Take your
+weapons and crush these bold dogs."
+
+"What?" shrieked Philip, "are these mortal men whom we can fight and
+kill? Did any one ever see a devil die? I'll fight with no fiends."
+
+He flung down his arms as he spoke.
+
+"Nor I, nor I!" shouted the rest of the crew, firing their weapons in
+the air and then throwing them down. Trahern found himself abandoned.
+
+"And you will disgrace yourselves by surrendering to a force ten times
+smaller! Men! Come to your senses, these are no ghosts."
+
+But no power on earth could have induced them to attack the corsairs,
+who were already fastening their grappling irons to the ship.
+
+"Then I will defend the vessel alone," said the captain despairingly
+and, seizing a carbine, he discharged it among the buccaneers.
+
+No one was hit, for his own men had struck up the weapon and would not
+let him aim at the assailants the second time.
+
+A moment later the pirates were masters of the King Solomon.
+
+The crew dared not resist them; their reputation for being able to
+accomplish whatever they desired had spread so far that the trembling
+seamen fairly lost their senses when they found themselves in the
+presence of people whom they regarded as beings from another world, and,
+even when they outstripped them tenfold in numbers, did not venture to
+offer any resistance.
+
+If it were not for the existence of documents which prove it, no one
+would believe that twenty pirates, in a boat, amid the raging of a
+furious tempest, captured a man-of-war which had eighty guns, two
+hundred armed men, and a brave commander.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The eleven ships in the harbor of Mydaw were only awaiting the cessation
+of the monsoons and the arrival of the King Solomon to sail against
+Barthelemy.
+
+The monsoons were still raging with the utmost fury when Robert
+Barthelemy entered the port, bringing the King Solomon in tow.
+
+Black flags fluttered from every mast of the Royal Fortune and between
+her sails was stretched a square banner, on which was a hideous picture,
+a skeleton transfixed by a lance, holding an hour-glass in one hand,
+with its legs crossed and a bleeding heart at its feet. The Fox-Hound's
+standard, on the contrary, bore a man in a scarlet coat of mail, holding
+in his hand a flaming sword on whose point was a skull. The flag of St.
+George floated at her mast-head.
+
+Amid the howling of the gale echoed the diabolical beating of drums and
+blare of trumpets of the captured band of the King Solomon, to whose
+accompaniment the pirates roared an ear-splitting song. So they sailed
+into the harbor.
+
+The eleven ships all surrendered at the first shot. Barthelemy assembled
+all the captains on the Royal Fortune and gave them a magnificent
+banquet, to which, after some little hesitation, they sat down, with the
+exception of one man, Fletcher, who positively declared that he would
+not sit at the pirates' table to eat and carouse with them. Barthelemy
+permitted him to do as he pleased, and he turned his back upon them.
+
+Toward the end of the entertainment, when the wine began to excite them,
+Barthelemy became kindly disposed, and told the captains that they could
+redeem their ships by paying a ransom of eight pounds of gold dust.
+
+They instantly consented, with the exception of Fletcher who again
+refused, saying that he would accept no favors from pirates, and would
+not purchase his ship at the cost of his honor; they might do with him
+whatever they chose. He spoke like a true Englishman.
+
+Barthelemy instantly gave orders to fire Fletcher's ship and burn her
+with her whole cargo.
+
+Asphlant undertook to execute the command, but soon returned to report
+that the ship's cargo consisted of eighty negro slaves and, as he did
+not know whether one could kindle negroes, he had come to ask what to do
+with them.
+
+Barthelemy's eyes flashed with a fiendish delight.
+
+"Negroes?" he asked, grinding his teeth, "Throw them into the sea, they
+must learn to swim."
+
+Asphlant did not utter a syllable in reply, but went to execute the
+order. The revellers continued their carouse.
+
+From time to time their conversation was interrupted by a blood-curdling
+death shriek, which silenced the bacchanalian songs for a moment and
+stopped the wine-cup on its way to their lips, but the next instant the
+talk was resumed.
+
+The orgy was closed by an illumination furnished by the flames consuming
+Fletcher's ship, which lighted the whole harbor.
+
+The negroes were chained together in couples, and the harbor swarmed
+with sharks. Whenever a pair was thrown into the sea the waves around
+were reddened; at each death shriek Barthelemy drained a glass of wine,
+muttering: "That is for the cottage in Hispaniola." The negroes were all
+murdered, but Barthelemy was not yet drunk.
+
+The captains left him at a late hour, hoping that they might meet again.
+Barthelemy gave each a receipt for the ransom money which, preserved
+among other documents in the government archives, ran as follows:
+
+     We, the Knights of Fortune, hereby inform all whom it
+     may concern, that we have received from Captain ---- of
+     the ship ---- eight pounds of gold dust as ransom
+     money, for which we released the said ship. Given under
+     our hand and seal in the harbor of Mydaw, on the 13th
+     of January, 1722.
+
+                           ROBERT BARTHELEMY (HENRY GLASBY).
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The storm was subsiding. A calm night followed. The moon rose, shedding
+a magical lustre upon the sea. Barthelemy stood on the deck of his ship
+with folded arms, gazing at the stars.
+
+How much wine and blood he had poured to intoxicate himself, but all in
+vain. Neither wine nor blood gave him peace and forgetfulness. Ah, he
+could win no forgetfulness, that sweet unconsciousness of the soul, but
+instead came memory, the anguish of recalling the past.
+
+The stars exert a magical power over the soul; whoever gazes at them
+long has it drawn whither it does not desire, whither it fears to go.
+
+What did Barthelemy behold in those stars? He saw the years of his
+youth, painted in sweet, glimmering pictures, as unlike those of the
+present as if either the one or the other must be a dream.
+
+There were the three girlish figures sporting around him, weaving
+garlands for his head, fastening them on with kisses, amid merry
+laughter. How softly the palms were whispering!
+
+They sat together in the little house, the grandmother, in her armchair,
+telling marvelous, terrible tales of famous warriors; the young girls
+casting timid glances at the windows, where the darkness of the
+gathering night appeared, and the fire on the hearth died slowly, while
+William's heart began to swell with eager desire to battle with these
+unknown perils, and win for himself a name like those of the heroes
+glorified by tradition. How softly the palms were whispering!
+
+The moon shone brilliantly. The moonlight nights of the South are
+brighter than the days of the North. His Julietta, clinging to him,
+murmured tenderly: "How I love you; we will live and die together."
+William's head sank on his breast, and he fancied he clasped in his arms
+the whole kingdom of heaven. How softly the palms were whispering!
+
+The young girl sat on the green shore; her white kerchief fluttered in
+the wind as she waited every evening for the ship on which her lover had
+sailed, waited with yearning and prayers. How her heart leaped when, on
+the distant horizon, she fancied she recognized the slender masts that
+appeared before her, and measured in her imagination, a hundred times
+over, the space which yawned between them. Her bosom heaved, her soul
+burned with joy and, as it came nearer and nearer, she threw kisses--
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"What ship is that?" shouted Moody's harsh, strident tones close beside
+Barthelemy.
+
+Roused from his waking dream, he cast a half startled, half angry glance
+at the speaker.
+
+"What ship do you mean?"
+
+"The one at which you have been looking steadily for half an hour, the
+sail appearing yonder on the horizon."
+
+Barthelemy now, for the first time, noticed a vessel whose outlines had
+blended with the ship seen in his dream, and which seemed to be swiftly
+approaching.
+
+"Oho! Off with the Fox-Hound!" he cried. "Forward, my lads!"
+
+"Not to-night," shouted one of the crew from the other ship, "the Royal
+Fortune ought to go. You have drunk enough, we are sober; and even my
+grandfather's spook wouldn't fight sober."
+
+"What talk is this?"
+
+"The talk that came to us to-night from the rum and sugar, when even the
+fish got punch from the Royal Fortune."
+
+"You rascals, do I manufacture sugar and brandy that you ask me for it?
+When the supply is exhausted, get more. Wherever a Portuguese galleon
+appears on the horizon, you can find all the sugar you want. Follow her
+and drink your fill."
+
+Meanwhile the vessel had come so near that they could count all her
+sails in the bright moonbeams; then she tacked and began to recede.
+
+"Follow her!" shouted Barthelemy; "See, she has discovered us and wants
+to escape. Skyrme, quick, don't let her elude us. Up, up, to the chase
+my lads!"
+
+The Fox-Hound instantly unfurled every sail; the crew of the larger
+ship, greedy for prey, rushed on her deck and, aided by a favorable
+wind, the pursuit of the unknown ship began, which, overhauled more and
+more by the Fox-Hound, soon disappeared with it below the horizon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The fugitive was the Swallow, the formidable English man-of-war,
+commanded by two of the bravest captains, David Oyle and--Rolls.
+
+When Barthelemy had captured all the ships that had been sent against
+him, the Swallow sailed out alone to seek and conquer him.
+
+On reaching the harbor, they saw in the distance the pirate ships, which
+were easily recognized, and wanted to attack them at once, but were
+obliged first to sail around a large shoal known as the "French
+Sand-bank," and the pirates, mistaking this circuit for flight, rushed
+in pursuit.
+
+The Swallow merely sailed far enough out to sea to lure the Fox-Hound to
+a point where the cannonading could not be heard on land, and then
+allowed herself to be overtaken.
+
+Suddenly the pirates, with loud shouts, ran up the black flag and dashed
+with the speed of an arrow toward the Swallow. Skyrme stood in the bow,
+holding his grappling iron ready.
+
+"Barthelemy and death!" roared the whole band.
+
+At the same moment the cannon of the British ship, with a terrible
+thunder, sent a devastating volley upon the deck of the Fox-Hound,
+veiling her in a cloud of smoke.
+
+As soon as it lifted, the pirates were seen standing as if dazed by the
+thunderbolt which had fallen upon them. The deck was strewn with mangled
+corpses, the black flag was shot from the mast. Skyrme alone had
+retained his presence of mind.
+
+"Forward, you knaves!" he roared furiously, "what are you staring at? Up
+with the flag again, and throw your grappling irons."
+
+The pirates quickly hauled up the flag, and Skyrme's stentorian voice
+shouted: "Forward!"
+
+A second volley thundered down upon them from the British cannon. The
+flag fell a second time, and with it Skyrme, whose legs were torn off by
+a cannon ball. The pirates lost their self-control, and rushing to the
+man at the helm, forced him to turn and spread their sails for flight.
+
+"Do not yield," roared Skyrme, clinging to the mast. "Shame and disgrace
+upon you! Stick to the ship, and rush upon her decks. Die the death of
+heroes!"
+
+The pirates, with a last outburst of daring, began to urge the
+Fox-Hound toward the Swallow, and had almost succeeded in reaching it
+with their grappling irons, when a third volley echoed on the air. The
+main-mast was shattered and fell with all the rigging, into the sea.
+
+They were lost. They could fight no longer.
+
+"Throw the flag into the water that it may not fall into the hands of
+the enemy!" gasped Skyrme, only half of whose gigantic body remained.
+"Go to the powder room and fire among the kegs!"
+
+Five pirates, with loaded pistols, instantly leaped below, and at the
+end of a minute, with a roar like thunder, a cloud of smoke rose into
+the air; otherwise there was no harm done. There was not powder enough
+to shatter the ship. The five pirates lay in the hold, burnt and
+swearing, as black as if they had been transformed into devils in
+advance. The explosion threw the helmsman flat on the deck and, as if
+he had no other care on his mind, he screamed for his hat, which had
+gone overboard.
+
+The Englishmen instantly took possession of the wreck, whose deck was
+strewn with the dead and wounded.
+
+The latter were raised and cared for.
+
+"Don't touch me!" shrieked Skyrme in a frenzy of rage, and seizing a
+sabre in each hand he began a desperate struggle. The bravest soldiers
+could scarcely succeed in disarming the mangled giant, who, when his
+huge hands were chained in order to bind up his wounds, tore off the
+bandages with his fetters and, by a last tremendous exertion of
+strength, burst them and--died.
+
+Meanwhile, in order not to waste time, Barthelemy captured a ship coming
+from India. Her captain, Jonathan Hill, was a jovial fellow who,
+accepting the pirate's invitation, sat down to breakfast with him,
+became very friendly after his first glass of wine, and when the second
+was emptied, asked the company to drink for a wager, in which contest he
+vowed to land them all under the table.
+
+During this noble rivalry every man was called upon for his favorite
+song. Hill had two or three.
+
+"Now let us have _your_ favorite, Barthelemy!" he said at last, turning
+to the pirate chief.
+
+"I cannot sing," replied Barthelemy.
+
+"Oho! But you ought at least to learn the one which is being sung
+everywhere about you; for instance this:
+
+    "Far, far away the white dove flies,
+    In fierce pursuit the black hawk hies;
+    The dove is my lover so dear,
+    The hawk is the pirate I fear."
+
+Barthelemy shuddered.
+
+"Where did you hear that song?"
+
+"Ha! ha! my friend, from a wonderfully beautiful girl, of whom your
+soul must not even dream; it's a pity that she was in love with someone
+else."
+
+"Speak! when? where?"
+
+"Well, it was a romantic adventure. I had just anchored off the coast of
+Hispaniola when the negroes in San Domingo rose against their masters. I
+had gone on shore with twenty men to get some fresh water, when I heard
+a shriek in the distance. 'Let's go there!' I said to my companions,
+'we'll help if there is need'; and seizing our guns we rushed toward the
+sound. Three young girls came from behind the hill, pursued by three
+hundred negroes. The black rascals, shouting and yelling, were fast
+gaining upon them. The girls could not run fast enough, for they were
+dragging a large armchair in which sat an old woman. 'Fire!' I shouted,
+and we sent a volley among the black devils. They scattered, and before
+they could gather again, we had seized the poor hunted women and rushed
+to our boats with them. The beautiful girl was as light as a bird, I can
+tell you. I could have carried her in my arms to the ends of the earth."
+
+"Go on," whispered Barthelemy in an almost unintelligible tone.
+
+"Aha, you are interested in hearing of a beautiful girl? And she thought
+of you, too, but how? She wrote the song about you, which is not
+particularly flattering. It seems she had a lover, who had gone on a
+long voyage and, as she was constantly afraid you would do the poor
+fellow some mischief, she added whenever she prayed for him the entreaty
+that God would sink Robert Barthelemy in the depths of the sea. Poor
+girl, how she loved that man! She asked every sailor we met if he had
+seen the ship on which William went. My heart ached for her. I left her
+in Dublin. I don't know whether she has found her lover."
+
+Barthelemy's face had gradually blanched to a corpse-like pallor, his
+eyes were fixed on vacancy and a strange smile rested on his ghastly
+face.
+
+"See how the captain is smiling, he has gone crazy!" whispered the
+pirates, starting up in alarm.
+
+"What has happened to you?" exclaimed Hill, striking Barthelemy on the
+shoulder. The latter started at the touch, and a look of profound,
+unutterable sadness drove the smile from his face.
+
+Rising from the table, he grasped Hill by the hand, drew him aside,
+slipped his arm into his, and walking forward to the bow of the ship,
+said in a stifled voice:
+
+"Captain, this is the last day of my life! I feel, I know it. You must
+not ask why. That is my own affair. The pirate has his superstitions as
+well as the rest of the world. The sailor knows that he is doomed when
+he meets the spectre of the sea. My soul has such a spectre, and I
+encountered it to-day. I know not how or where, but I shall fall. In the
+hold of the captured King Solomon there are ten thousand pounds sterling
+in gold dust; if I fall, take it--as compensation for your stolen
+property."
+
+Hill gazed at him from head to foot, and then returned to the others.
+
+"Your captain is so drunk that he doesn't know what he is talking
+about."
+
+An hour later most of the pirates lay intoxicated under the tables, only
+two or three remaining erect, disputing the wager with Jonathan Hill,
+when the man at the helm shouted:
+
+"Sail in sight!"
+
+The cry sobered some of the pirates and, staggering forward, they
+recognized in the approaching vessel the ship seen the night before.
+
+A strange dread took possession of them all. They hastily shook their
+drunken messmates from their dreams, pointed to the ship, and hurried to
+Barthelemy with the tidings. The latter noticed the terror in their
+faces, and said coldly:
+
+"That is certainly the Portuguese sugar maker which fled from the
+Fox-Hound yesterday and, in trying to escape into some harbor, has now
+run between two fires."
+
+"That's no Portuguese trader, sir," said one of the pirates in a
+trembling voice. "Before I deserted to you, I served on that ship and
+know her well. It is the Swallow."
+
+"Well?" said Barthelemy, smiling scornfully, "and suppose she is, would
+my men be too cowardly to meet her?"
+
+"She has one hundred and ten guns and is one of the best sailers in the
+navy."
+
+"That makes no difference. Who are her captains?"
+
+"One is named David Oyle--the other Rolls."
+
+"Rolls!" repeated Barthelemy starting. "So my presentiment was true. Up,
+my men! Beat the drums, show the flags, spread every inch of canvas,
+prepare for the battle! Fear nothing, the god of war is on our side."
+
+The buccaneers seized their weapons, the gunners went to their stations,
+and Barthelemy withdrew for a few moments to his cabin.
+
+He soon reappeared, wearing on his head a broad-brimmed hat, with a long
+scarlet plume fastened with a ruby buckle; his costume, studded with
+gems, was girdled with a Persian shawl; around his neck hung a broad
+gold chain, sustaining a glittering diamond cross, and in his belt were
+thrust pistols whose handles were set with pearls. So he came forth,
+haughty in bearing and magnificently clad, like a bridegroom going to
+his marriage banquet.
+
+The eyes of all the pirates were fixed upon him. Every one had the
+firmest belief that nothing was impossible for Barthelemy.
+
+The latter beckoned to Moody and whispered in his ear:
+
+"Old comrade, I need not tell you that this will be the hour of greatest
+peril which we have ever experienced. We must hold by each other. I have
+decided to approach the enemy with all sail set, receiving and returning
+his fire. If he dismasts us, we will try to escape to land; if that
+fails, we will grapple the enemy and blow both ships into the air."
+
+"Very well," muttered the old pirate, clenching his pipe between his
+teeth.
+
+"One thing more, Moody. If I should fall, throw my body into the sea. I
+want to rest on the bottom of the ocean."
+
+The pirate bent his head and growled: "Very well."
+
+Then each man went to his post. Barthelemy drew his sword and, raising
+his head proudly, cried: "Raise the anchors."
+
+The order was obeyed, the wind filled the sails, and the two ships, with
+their flags fluttering in the breeze, rapidly approached each other.
+
+On arriving within a certain distance, both turned suddenly. The Swallow
+fired first, sixty guns thundering at the same instant. The Royal
+Fortune reserving her fire, did not lose a single sail, and only three
+of her men fell.
+
+"Up and at them!" shouted Barthelemy, "the advantage is ours"; and as he
+spoke his forty guns returned the volley of the Swallow, which rocked
+heavily under the shock.
+
+Just at that moment the report of a pistol echoed from the Swallow's
+deck and Barthelemy sank lifeless on a cannon. The bullet had pierced
+his heart.
+
+The man at the helm, Stephenson, saw him fall and, not perceiving the
+wound, shouted:
+
+"Don't lie down, captain, but look the danger boldly in the face and
+fight as beseems a man."
+
+Even as he spoke a jet of blood gushed from Barthelemy's breast.
+
+Stephenson, seeing it, leaped from his post in despair, leaving his
+place at the helm, and throwing himself on Barthelemy's body shouted,
+sobbing aloud: "He is dead!"
+
+The cry fairly paralyzed the pirates just at the critical moment;
+nameless terror filled their hearts, and all rushed to their captain's
+corpse.
+
+Moody thrust them aside right and left till he reached the body, and
+hastily seizing it, he threw it over the bulwark into the sea.
+
+With Barthelemy, the moving spirit of the pirates fled. Throwing down
+their weapons, they surrendered. No man knew exactly what he was doing;
+they sank like a headless body.
+
+Scudamore was the only one who thought of anything. He recognized Rolls
+on the other ship and, seizing a lighted slow-match, rushed to the
+powder magazine, but met Henry Glasby standing with a drawn sword at the
+door.
+
+"What are you doing here?" he shrieked.
+
+"Keeping you back," replied Glasby, wrenching the match from his hand
+and stamping out the light.
+
+"Oho! Asphlant, Moody, here!" shouted Scudamore. "Here is a traitor.
+Help me break into the powder magazine."
+
+An uproar followed. Some of the pirates wanted to blow up the ship,
+others opposed it, and while the two parties were contending Glasby
+poured water into the kegs, so that the powder was useless.
+
+An hour after the whole crew were prisoners.
+
+
+
+
+Chapter IV
+
+Retribution
+
+
+The foaming wine is drained from the cup, nothing remains but the dregs,
+which we will also empty.
+
+During the battle Captain Hill released himself and his ship and, taking
+possession of the pirates' money, sailed away.
+
+The buccaneers, prisoners on board their own ship, were taken to Cape
+Corso, but not even this disaster could subdue them. The injured men
+would not allow their wounds to be bandaged, and when they were put in
+irons, beat their aching, bleeding wounds with their chains, and died
+uttering imprecations, reconciled neither to God nor man. The others
+sang wild buccaneer songs and irritated their guards with sneering
+jests.
+
+Weighing the ration of bread in his hand one of them said, laughing:
+"You want us to dry up to save hemp; we shall get so thin on this fare
+that you can hang us by a thread of yarn."
+
+They were chained together in couples. One began to sing and pray; his
+companion gave him a violent thrust in the side.
+
+"What do you expect to gain by that?" he asked.
+
+"The Kingdom of Heaven," replied the other humbly.
+
+"You? The Kingdom of Heaven? You passed that port long ago with the rest
+of us. We're sailing for hell. The captain is already waiting for us,
+and we shall enter according to our rank, and when we run into harbor
+there we'll salute him with a salvo of thirteen shots. Hurrah for
+Barthelemy and his luck."
+
+The poor, penitent sinner did not stop singing and praying, spite of the
+oaths of his companion, till the latter, in all seriousness, begged the
+captain of the ship to relieve them from this fellow, whose howling
+disturbed the good-humor of the others, and who had proved himself
+unworthy of such distinguished company; or at any rate, for the
+maintenance of order, to take away his prayer-book.
+
+The most dangerous members of the pirate band were kept prisoners on the
+Swallow, and among them were Moody and Asphlant. The latter formed a
+plot to escape from their confinement some night, kill both the
+captains, and form a still more powerful buccaneer crew.
+
+One of them, however, deemed it advisable to save himself at the expense
+of the others and betrayed the plan. The prisoners had already managed
+to file through their chains. Afterwards they were watched day and
+night.
+
+Scudamore had been left on the Royal Fortune, where he was permitted
+liberty to move about to care for the wounded pirates, so far as they
+would permit.
+
+One night Scudamore instigated them to free themselves with his aid, and
+die fighting rather than be executed. The conspiracy was discovered at
+the moment of the outbreak and, that it might not be repeated, on
+reaching the land a trial was held at once in order to make short work
+of the pirates.
+
+They were divided into two classes, one containing the officers, the
+other the men; the former had ordered everything, the latter had merely
+executed their commands. The first was jestingly called the Upper House.
+The trial of the Upper House ended badly. All were condemned to death;
+among them Moody, Asphlant, Simpson and Scudamore. Only one was
+acquitted--Henry Glasby. His noble character was known by reputation;
+many owed their lives and property to his intercession; he had often
+attempted, at the risk of his life, to escape from the pirates, but was
+always captured. The court released him. At last he could join his
+promised bride.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The end of the notorious band of pirates was noised abroad throughout
+the entire world. Three young girls went in turn to every church in
+Dublin, offering grateful thanks to Heaven for having heard their
+petitions and sunk the terrible corsair king in the sea. Then, in a
+whisper, they added: "And protect our beloved William, restore him to
+us."
+
+Robert Barthelemy lay a hundred fathoms beneath the waves amid the coral
+and sea-shells.
+
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: The original edition of this text was typeset with
+unindented paragraphs, making it sometimes unclear whether a sentence
+begins a new paragraph or not.
+
+The following typographical errors present in the original text have
+been corrected.
+
+In Chapter I, "Scudaamore's treachery" was changed to "Scudamore's
+treachery", and "we do need a surgeon" was changed to "We do need a
+surgeon".
+
+In Chapter II, "What eyes?" was changed to "What eyes!", a missing
+period was added after "cried the young chief", a quotation mark was
+added after "we can approach the brigantine unsuspected", "There can be
+no discrimination, captain, We need one another" was changed to "There
+can be no discrimination, captain, we need one another", and "to all the
+details for the hundreth time" was changed to "to all the details for
+the hundredth time".
+
+In Chapter III, a missing quotation mark was added after "It is the
+Swallow."]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Corsair King, by Mor Jokai
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