Roving Jack, The Pirate Hunter — page 193: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ROVING JACK, THE PIRATE, HUNTER. 213 a “T require your oath to——”. “T swear to keep my word,” “Enough; in the time you have given Jack Sheppard he will make good speed, and you will not again catch him use whip and spur as- you may.” With the words Hllen Peyveril passed through the panel from the apartment, ‘ She had hardly shut it when Jonathan Wild was heard returning from his interview with Wirth Wolfgang, and knocking for admittance at the barred-up door, CHAPTER XCY, THE HAUNTED HULK—THE PHANTOM SKIPPER AND HIS DROWNED CREW—ROVING JACK’S COMPACT WITH “‘VANDERDECKEN, OR THE FLY- ING DUTOHMAN,” AND HOW HE GOT OUT OF THE HOLD, ON the bosom of the lordly Thames, in about three fathom of water, unmindful of the spring cable, which hung down as a rope which had fallen over- board, there lay motionless as death the hulk of a sunken vessel. She was of gigantic proportions, and would challenge the admiration of all who could appre- ciate the pristine merits of her build. So beautiful had been the construction of this mighty ship, that, floating on the waves, one could have imagined her a created being of the ocean, and fashioned by the divine architect, rather than a simple specimen of the skill of man, A dismantled deck and broken masts were now all that remained of her imposing and elegant model between the meeting of the firmament and horizon, her vast body being buried in the waters of the flowing stream. Her occasional impediment to the traffic of the river would haye caused her removal, but that superstition, common to the age, forbade such a course with regard to the “ haunted hulk.” She had been one of the privateers in the service of Holland during a war with that country and our own, nearly a century, previous to our story. Forcing her passage from the Medway to the Thames, she had foundered at the spot where she ever remained. And universal consent had stamped it as impiety to raise her from the, supposed altar of retribu- tion. To add still more to the bigoted notions of our ancestors, the craft bore the ominous name of the far-famed and dreaded ‘‘ Vanderdecken, or Flying Dutchman.” | We must now go on board, and be further sur- prised. Instead of a small vessel of ninety tons, as she appeared from the water’s edge, we discover that she is upwards of two hundred, Her breadth of beam is enormous. And those” spars that once appeared so light and commanding in grandeur, of unexpected dimensions, though falling fast into decay. Her decks of fir-planks, without the least spring or rise, are wasting and water-soaked. While her ropes of Manilla, metal stanchions, and bright boarding {pikes perish in the desolation that rankles in the wreck. Everything seems but as a remembrance of the past, and corrodes with the action of the river under which it is emerged, or festers from the corruption of the damp, dark, fetid atmosphere the rotting timber engenders, In the hold of this gloomy vessel is a youth. He wears a pair of loose sailor’s trousers, the rest of his body is naked, Though his countenance is handsome and intelli- gent, it wears now a mournful and sad impression. And truly so, for Roving Jack, the character we have described, is once more in the hands of his bitterest enemies. Without hopes, without food, and with death. Forlorn, he exclaimed, “Yet, why should I murmur, if my life is to be taken by the fiat of heaven, that deals with us as it thinks fit? Not a sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge, and it is for Him to save or sacrifice. _ I am but the creature of His will, and I must bend to the command of One whose ways are inscrutable.” At one time he would call to’ mind all that had passed and acknowledge it was too true. At another he would persuade himself: that his senses had been worked up in a moment of excite- ment, and that the whole event was an illusion, While in this—we might almost say supernatural —state, betwixt sleeping and waking, an extra- ordinary scene was pictured to his view, as in a vision. Suddenly, the fastenings of one of the port-holes were removed, and the gushing waters, as if by Magic, stayed their course and flowed past instead of into the vessel. When the shutters descended, they unfolded a light so vivid as almost to dazzle the eyesight of the beholder, This very tlight of brilliant day overthrew the resolution of Roving Jack more than the previous gloom and darkness by which he had been sur- rounded. : Presently he became aware of the presence of a man who had glided like a phantom through the stream into the hold in which he was imprisoned. He was habited in a green, old-fashioned dress of the Dutch style, with enormously full breeches, each garment being covered profusely with white sugar-loaf buttons, High boots encased his legs, while a conical black hat and red feather formed his head-gear. His whole appearance was unearthly and ghost- like, His face that of a corpse. “ Advance !” said the spectre, welcoming Roving Jack with a melancholy smile. ‘““There is a sepulchral tone in your language which chills me as the thrilling blast of winter,” replied the pirate hunter. His blood curdled when he felt no mortal hand grasped his own. “The ember-like light of your eye,’ he con- tinued, tremblingly, “fills my soul with horror, as does that of the snake, which fascinates to destroy. Let me fly from thee.” “To what? To poverty and despair ?” exclaimed the spectre. ‘© Tf T boast not of riches still I possess them.” “No; they are confiscated—passed into other hands, and owned by the powers of darkness.” “ Ah! am I to be deprived of my just rights and titles?” asked Jack, in surprise and dismay. ““T am forbid to reveal secrets, but can offer a remedy for your misery. Because I pity your for- lorn condition, you liken me to a serpent.” ‘Forgive me, [——”’ “ Are you content to confide in me?” eomniclooolKs.comel