Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 1139 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

Ne eee —— . —_ —— Se (ORE EY SERN OE SREP Et ARES ED Pe ered the Isabelle in some of his carousals ashore? that is the Vixen, as I live) He is heading straight for the island! tion.”’ It was late in the afternoon before the distant sail 1 SMa ee near enough for her hull to be plainly ble from the island. The breeze was but a light one, pone A paige the cruiser was able to make but the island, she fell off a few slow progress. earin points, until her whole length was visible. From his post of observation, the pirate saw that their glasses were leveled on the island, but San- tillez’s foresight had already provided for this emer- gency. The yines trained over his window effectually con- cealed him. As for the schooner, screened as she was behind the bold bluff, she was as effectually concealed as if she had not existed, Neither was a trace of human habitation visible from the sea, while the pirate’s crew had been or- dered to remain out of sight. The cruiser, however, acted as if she had resolved to investigate the island still more closely. In a short time she went about again, now running @ course parallel with the reefs beyond. “He means to stand off and on until morning,” muttered the pirate. ‘‘ Well, if he does that, the chances are he will be far enough from power to | harm us by that time. If I’m not mistaken in m reckoning, and the barometer is not a liar, there wi be an old-fashioned hurricane in these parts before morning. Those reefs yonder would make a fine end of the reckless Yankee. By all the saints!’’ he added, suddenly, ‘she shal bleach her bones there, if it’s in my power to make her!” A sudden mete: resolution had taken possession of the pirate chief. . Summoning Sancho to his side, he gave him a few hurried orders. “ Have the schooner’s heavy canvas bent at once. Make everything secure on her decks, and be ready to slip the cable at a moment’s notice. By the by, you can countermand the order for a double allow- ance to the gang, at present. heads and steady hands for the work before us this at,” he new lieutenant had been conducted through the secret s . In turning to depart, he was about to pass out the other door, **Stop! you fool!”’ cried the pirate, fiercely. ‘*‘ Don’t ou know that there's a dozen glasses watching this nd, every moment? Take the secret stairway, by which you came, and caution the men again, not to show so much as a head to those Yankees yonder. Away with you at once.” The red sun sunk in the ocean with an oniy Far 23 in ie Sage appeared a en) cloud, ow ng er and ominous 0 schief; then Se eae hee | upon the scene, with the cruiser still hovering near the island. Already the schooner had been prepared for ser- vice. The sails, so recently reefed by his orders, were set when he reached her decks. Her bows -tahicr with the tide, were already pointing toward e sea. In a very few moments the cable was slipped that or her. Then she began to gather headway for her Never before had the gallant schooner passed through that channel save Ly daylight. It was Cangenons even then; but doubly so in the darkness of the night. Santillez himself seized the wheel. With his black eyes seeming to pierce the dark- ness, ke steered toward the opening. The wind had been sn In ges Already it was blowing in a manner suggestive of worse to come. ** Send the men aft,’’ commanded Santillez quietly. In a few moments the crew were assembled before “My brave men,” said he, coolly, “ you have seen the cruiser yonder, watching our islandallday. She is still suspicious of the place for she seems to be waiting until to-morrow’s sun to make a closer exami- tiation. In spite of all our security, the Yankees number us two to one, so it would never do to give them a foot- ing on the island. This is the third time yonder ves- oe has been on our track and it shall be the last. Be- fore the morning dawns, this infernai Yankee shall be crushed to pieces on the reefs or our brave “ Isa- belle’ shall herself go to the bottom. The ocean is not wide enough for both of us. Once forall it shall be settled between us. What say you, men?”’ A hoarse cheer was his answer. “Good! And now to your posts. Let no man flinch from his duty this night.” CHAPTER VIII. "HZ SEA RACE Tae wind to whistle ominously through the Isabelle’s as she gathered headway and rounded the hat shut her off from the sea. The darkness of the night was intense. It leoked as if no mortal eye could pierce the gloom that surround- ed them. Standing aft, his muscular hands ing the e wheel, the pirate chief StOBN reaolnitety to his dangerous task. His cat-like eyes seemed in- deed abie pierce that intense darkness, Anon he would cast a swift glance over the side, as the hoarse voice of the breakers sounded nearer than Then a few swift turns of the wheel and they would glide safely by the dangerous obstacle. aavagely. ‘'Can it be that the drunken scoun- drel I have just hung has betrayed the serechee of | fi @8, Curses on the Yankee! Well, then, if he insists upon it, we will give him a warm recep- Sn We will need clear’ Le ii — la LS a — oe ee I Yn, | bd aan ; . ye errr ee , The Ocean Bioodhound. Holding their very breath in fear, the crew stood rm to their posts. With their confidence in | their leader’s nerve and skill, they felt that they were engaged in a most daring and desperate un- dertaking, The swerving of a schooner’s breadth from that narrow channel, would dash their light vessel like an eggshell on the treacherous rocks, The silence of the scené was unbroken save by an occasional sharp order from their leader as he | directed a pull on the sheets to turn her course. At length after what seemed to be an endless half- hour to the waiting crew, they heard the roar of the breakers disappearing behind them. They had run that dangerous gantlet in safety, thanks to the iron nerve of their leacer. ‘‘A narrow shave,” he muttered coolly; “ but a miss is as good as amile, Now then, to see whether that cursed Truxillo has left his bad-luck as a legacy to the schooner. Slack off your sheets, men,” he ox as he allowed the schooner’s heac to fall off a rifle, ‘*So then! Belay all! Now, off with that cover from the long-tom amidships! Get kim ready to speak when I call on him! ok to the carronades for’ard, and see them in order.” The schooner began to dart ahead with increased speed in the rising wind. Buoyant as a bird she rose and fell as she dashed on. Surrendering the wheel to his lieutenant, Sancho, the pirate chief strode forward to the bows, There he stood with his hand to his ear, straining forward to catch the slightest sound. For some time he remained motionless. ‘Ha!’ he exclaimed, suddenly, as the quick rat- tle of sheaves in the blocks and the flapping of reef points against the canvas was borne to his ears. “The *‘ Vixen’ has gone about, I denis $ We'll be across her bows in ten minutes more. Is the long- tom ready, boys?”’ ‘* All ready, senor captain,” ‘* Stand by to fire when I give the order, Ferdinand! We'll make that Yankee think he has stirred up a hornets’ nest before we're through with him.” Still, nothing could be seen in the darkness to de- note the presence of their enemy, which as a meas- ure of precaution, had omitted to show her side- lights. But, the sharp eyes of the pirate had seen more than his men. The faint glow of a lantern in the officers’ wardroom glimmered through the port and revealed to Santillez’s eyes the position of his ene- my. x Luff a little, Sancho,” said he, striding aft. “There, steady you go!”’ On rushed the saucy schooner in a direction cal- culated to carry her directly across the bows of her enemy. One of the pirates, with a burning fuse concealed under his tarpaulin, stood by the breach of the long- tom amidships. “Ready!” cried Santillez, in the same low tone, as the wash of the water under the cruiser’s bows be- came plainly audible to their ears, , ‘* Hire’ he cried the next moment, as a dark ob- ject loomed up on their lee-beam., There was a loud report and the iron messenger went crashing into the bulwarks of their ah ‘Well done, boys,"’ cried the pirate, exult ngly. ‘*Hard up your helm, Sancho! e'll give the Yan- kee another dose before he wakes up.’ The schooner, careening over until her lee-rail swept the water, swung gas on her keel and made for her antagonist in. But the pirate had mistaken the time it would take for the Yankee to “ wake up.” Before the schooner could deliver her second at- tack and take to her heels, the keen, shrill whistle of a boatswain-pipe came to the pirate’s ears, ‘** All hands to quarters! Clear away your guns!”’ The next moment, the Yankee’s ports dropped as if by magic ard dozens of battle-lanterns gleamed through the darkness like so many fire-flies. The pirate saw that he had made a mistake; but there was nothing left now but to carry out his man- euvre and take his chances. Again his long-tom spoke as they swept under the enemy's stern. : As she did so, the cruiser’s head fell off until her broadside was brought to bear. “Ready! Fire!’ came the quick, sharp tones of her commander. A dozen iron throats belched forth their missives of destruction at the same instant. , Unfortunately for the cruiser, the schooner had at that instant sunk into the hollow of a huge wave, and the iron messengers meant for her destruction, passed through her rigging with little CAMMAGE. By this time, the moon began to show her face through the scudding clouds, by which the two an- tagonists were enabied to get occasional glimpses of each other. As it stood, the cruiser had the weather-gauge, a fact that her commander was not slow to recognize. Contrary to their expectations the pirate wore short round on his heel, and with his sails wide spread, like a flying bird, he darted on with a free wind. ‘‘What think you of that maneuver, Mr. Jones?” asked the commander of the Vixen, addressing his first-lieutenant, who stood beside him. : “Tt appears to me like a ruse of some kind, sir, re- piled the young man respectfully. ‘‘He must know hat we can overhaul him before long with the wind free for us who carry the most canvas.” fy “The fellow is evidently prepared for hard work, averred Captain Clark, thoughtfully. ‘*T see he is reefed down as if he expected hea weather, and I would not be surprised if he right.” a 5 Pee wt ga so, too, sir,’’ the young officer responded, etly. “Mr. Jones,’ remarked the captain, slowly, “if you were in command of this ship what would you do under the circumstances?” ‘** Do?” was the prompt reply, “I'd run that scoun- drel to the bottom, or carry away every mast in the attempt,’’ **Bravo!l”’ said the captain, with a quict pus. ‘You're a man after my own heart, sir. Well, that is just the decision Jcame to from the moment that fellow showed his teeth. It bothers me, though,” he added, ‘‘to see how he managed to track us 80 suddenly. We are evidently mistaken in the charac. ter of the island we've been watching all day, Even had a vessel been concealed behind Dione rocks, she could not have run out through those reefsin this darkness.”’ ‘It certainly does look impossible, replied the offi- cer. ‘It strikes me, sir, he has got news of our movements through stopping at some of the islands we have lately visited. You know, the aa poaige of these islanders are in sympathy and collusion with these scoundrels.”’ ‘**I believe you, Mr. Jones,” said the captain, con- fidently. ‘‘Some years ago I was in pursuit of this same sea rover. We had got upon his tracks after a eat deal of trouble, and fancied we should soon ave the pleasure of capturing him. We even knew his place of resort. Well, we ran down in that direc- tion only to find that he had gathered his followers, acked up his treasures and left. We did get upon 1is track afterward, itis true, but he had too much lead for us to capture him. learned later that a Spaniard on a neighboring island at whose house we had been well received, was the traitor who had be- trayed our purpose to the buccaneer.” ‘Speaking of traitors, sir,” responded the you officer, ‘reminds me that I have pretty good evi- dence there is one among the pirates.” ‘‘A traitor among the pirates?’’ repeated the cap. tain, in amazement. " Yes, sir,’’ ‘““What grounds have you for making such a strange declaration?” ‘Very good ones, indeed, sir. You remember those fellows tried to blow up the brig when we sur- prised them so suddenly?” ‘Yes; but what has that got do with your state- ment? I remember that we were the gainers by u keg of powder in that transaction,” said Captain Clark, with an amused sinile. “* Nothing, sir!’ was the dry reply; “ only I hearti- ly wish that all the powder in the pirate'’s magazine was of the same quality.” “You awaken my Yankee curiosity, sir; please speak out at once and keep me no longer in sus- pense.”’ ‘Well, sir, in plain words, the keg of powder left to is up the brig was in reality only a keg of black sand, CHAPTER IX. A DARE-DEVIL CHASE. Ter commander of the “ Vixen” uttered a low whistle of surprise. ‘How did you happen to make this discovery, Mr, Jones?” he asked, * Well, sir, one of the men told me that the fuse had burned completely up before our second cutter reached the brig, It puzzled me some to see how it had failed to igrite the powder. Afterward I exam- ined the keg and became convinced that it was really black sand, In order to assure myself that there could be no mistake, I took a small portion and touched a match to it. It failed to ex lode, and J afterward threw another small quantity in the cook’s galley, with the same result.” “That is a yarn queer discovery,’’ said Captain Clark, thoughtfully, ‘*One thing is certain; those scoundrels are not given to ee Sea e jokes,” ‘** IT think, sir,’’ remarked the lieutenant, “‘ that they have a traitor on board; or, rather, Some person who is trying to thwart them by every possible means It must be some one of considerable influence also, or he would not get the opportunity te make such a substitution as that.” “Look!” cried the captain, once more glancing toward the schooner, ‘ we're geining re idly on the rascals, Ah! the reas is ge or the southern end of the island. It must be there is a passage somewhere through the reefs that he is acquainted with. If he gets into the open water beyond he will be very apt to slip through our fingers. Well, we will soon see whether he is able to trick us so 6asi- The wind by this time had increased almost to a gale, The “ Vixen’s”’ masts bent under her heavy ress of canvas, for, as yet, not a single reef had ntaken. Her massive shrouds straightened out under the strain until they stood rigid as iron bars. Every moment it seemed as if something must give way under that terrible force. And stil] the comman- der of the Vixen watched the chase, his eyes restin RSCRe OORT: on the straining masts with looks anxiety. All possible precautions had been duly taken. Pre- venter-braces and stays: chafing-wales to prevent wear on rigging, and every thing ssible to guard pray reg were long since mel places, " _Rapidly the heavy ec rwas gaining upon her lighter-heeled but more cautious adversa o Four inen now, instead of the usual two, by the heavy double wheel, Even then it was no easy mat- sack keep control of the rudder in that heavy wind and sea, - Suddenly a sound from aloft broke upon their ears like the report of @ cannon. All eyes were turned upward only in time to see a mass of white disap 7cOom