Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 280 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

} 2 Merle Monte’s Fate; $a: arene OR, PEARL, THE PIRATE’S PRIDE, . Companion. Story to “ Merle, the Mutineer,” “Merle, the Middy,” “The Midship- man Mutineer,” “The Floating Feather,” ‘“ The Gold Ship, and “ Morle Monte’s Cruise.” BY COLONEL PRENTISS INGRAHAM. alten CHAPTER L MERLE MONTE, Two armed vessels were lying at anchor in a secladed inlet ef what is now the Louisiana coast, and at a time when piracy on the high seas was rapidly becoming a thing of the past, though the Gulf of Mexico still floated upon its waters a few daring rovers, too desperate to give up their lawless lives even with a cer- tainty of death upon the gallows staring them in the face. The presence of the two vessels in that aiziaded. retreat was evidence sufficient to prove that some mystery hung about them, for few craft ever found their way into a place so deso- late, and wholly away from all highways of trade as was the inlet. It was a little harborage, large enough te ride at anchor perhaps half-a-dozen vessels, with heavily wooded shores, and a narrow passage- way connecting it with the waters of the Mexi- ean Gulf. Along the low banks all was drear, and the foliage formed a wall almost impenetrable to the eye, with its heavy draperies of moss and fuxuriant undergrowth. Even in the darkness that rested upon the scene, the two vessels displayed a trim and somewhat rakish appearance, one being a brig of some three hundred tons, and the other a eutter whose tonnage was not over a hundred. Both vessels were heavily armed, yet their erews were few in number, it seemed from the balf score men visible upon the deck of each. ** Bail ho!” The cry rung out in clear tones, and from the deck of the brig, where were visible but two persons standing aft. é One of these appeared to be a youth, and he it was who had given the warning. The other was a woman, and stood leaning listlessly over the bulwarks, until startled by the cry of her companion. ‘Yes, I see it, and she is standing into the inlet,” said the woman. “Then it ig the cruiser, and the end must soon come,” responded the youth, in a low, earnest tone. All eyes upon both vessels were now bent upon the sail, which was visible in the offing, pleated n toward the inlet. “Hol the cutter!” He hailed the little cutter, and back came th y in a deep tone: Ay, ay, sir.” Put your men at the guns, and stand read to ee that craft with a broadside, as I s os f she answers not my signal,” was the wAy ay, sir,” came the response, and the men of the twin veesels went quietly to their guns, and in silence waited the coming of the stran- er. : It was bright starlight, and the sail in the off- could be fairly seen heading in toward the en e to the inlet. It might be that she was ona tack that would bring her close inshore,to then stand off again; but it Jooked suspicious to those on the vessels in the €arbor, for she was pointed straight for the channel. : Nearer and nearer she drew, until the time came for her either to go about and stand off on the starboard tack, or to run straight in. The next moment decided it, for she stood on into the chan and at once the youth on the deck of the brig seized a battle lantern and whirled it five times around his head. Almost immediately, while all eyes were bent apon the stranger, came a , for a red light was turned once in a circle, and a blue one quickly followed it; both evidently held in a man’s hand. ‘It is the Sea Wolf, and Merle suecessful!” cried the youth. Moate has been Merle Monte’s Fate. And then on into the inlet came the stranger, shortening: sail as she did so, until luffing up sharp, she dropped anchor not a cable’s length from the two vessels that had been apparently awaiting her coming. Hardly had the anchor of the new-comer found a place upon the bottom, when a boa: put off from her side and approached the- brig. As it came alongside, two persons came over the gangway, one of them in appearance an or- dinary seaman, in pea-jacket and general sailor garb, while the other was in the full uniform of a captain in the United States Navy. ‘*T am glad to see you back in safety, Captain Monte,” said the youth, meeting the two at the gangway, and addressing the seaman. lam glad to get_ back, and to bring with me Captain Mayo Meredith, of the Sea Wolf, whom you have before met,” responded the:person addressed, while the uniformed offi- cer grasped the hand of the youth, and said: ‘‘ Yes, I have known your lieutenant here, Merle, under several aliases, first as my cabin boy, Little Belt, then as my friend and ally, Mr. Belden, whom I believed to be an old gentle- man, and now as—” ‘*Lieutenant Belt, the men call me, Captain Meredith, though they know that I am a wo- man. ‘** But Iam glad to meet you once more, and it is a happy moment for me now, when I. know ou have co'ne to take Captain Monte’s prisoner, randt, the Buccaneer,” said the supposed youth in an earnest tone, “Itis a happy moment for me too, Little Belt, I can assure ro and by the capture of the noted pirate chief you have all done won- ders, and accomplished what scores of cruisers have failed to do,” answered Captain Meredith. “T sup it was a surprise to you, sir, to see Captain Monte?” ‘* Yes, Little Belt, a great surprise anda glad one, ‘*My vessel was becalmed off the Delta, on her way up to New Orleans, and Merle boarded in bis little boat and came into my cabin. “In his disguise I failed to recognize him, and was astounded to hear him say that be had not only killed the Mexican pirate Eduardo, and captured his cutter, but also had taken that aN Brandt the Buccaneer, and his ves- sel,’ ‘No, Captain Meredith, I but aided Little Belt here, and Mrs. Branch, to whom, permit me to present you,” and the speaker turned to the lady, who has already been referred to. Captain Meredith greeted her courteously, while she replied: : ‘* Captain Monte is too modest, for it was his daring plan that captured Brandt the Buccaneer, and I was but an instrument to aid in the carry- ing of it out.” | ‘Well, madam, Ihave you all to thank for it, and the deed will raise the shadow from Merle Monte that now Government, and he will yet be restored to full honor.” ‘* Yes, Captain Meredith, I live with that hope in my heart. “T acted in self-defense, and to save my slave, Mezrak, and myself, took life, and for it I was sentenced to death,and am now known as Merle Monte the Condemned Midshipman; but I have work ahead of me to accomplish, and when that is done, then I will ask that my Gov- ernment remove the stain it has put upon m name,” and Merle Monte spoke with deep feel- ing. “T wish you would ask it now, Merle, for I can assure you the capture of these two vessels, to say nothing of ha Brandt the Buccaneer in irons beneath your decks, demands that you be honored.” ‘Not yet, Captain: Meredith, for I am still to remain the commander of a havenless and flag- less vessel, my Gold Ship, which must continue to cruise until I have eM my pledge to this lady, and removed from the seas one other bold pirate.” fi ae can you mean the Sea Marauder?” “*T do, sir. “A strange fatality took this lady and her daughter to sea, to join, as she su pene’, her nasieind. who had departed for Gervestan to better bis fortunes. ‘“* He had sailed in the Galveston packet-bri ge which Brandt the Buccaneer ha recently ship a crew upon, and captured when out in the Gulf. ‘* A foe of this lady’s led her to believe that her husband had sent for her and her daughter to join him, and they started upon the packet- schooner Flyaway which was in a sits upon him with his | which was tidy in the e a “My vessel, the Gold obits Pred up three persons off the wreck—this lady, the captain, and the man who kad inveigled Mrs. Branch and her te hapa? from their home under a. se of joining the husband and father in - veston. ‘‘ One of the boats was picked up by the brig commanded by the buecaneer chief, and u which we now stand, and the daughter of i Branch was unfortunately in that one and hence fell into the hands of Brandt, who thereby gained possession of both father and daughter, for, as I said, Mr, Branch was a passenger on the vessel when it was seized by the pirate crew.” ‘‘ And now that you have captured the brig and chief, where are Mr. Branch and his daugh- ter,” asked et Meredith, who was deeply interested in Merle Monte’s story. ‘“They were not on board when we captured the Huntress, and Brandt, the Buccaneer, says he released them and sent them by a smack to New Orleans, and I have since learned Ba a coaster, that the little craft was overhauled b the Sea Marauder, and Mr. Branch and b daughter were taken prisoners by the pirate, and, the duty I have pledged myself to, Captain Meredith, is to restore to Mrs. Branch those whom she so fondly loves, and in doing so, to capture that third terror of the Gulf, and thus almost end piracy in these waters, ‘* Now come, and we’ll go and see the pirate chief, but as there is no longer need of my dis- guise I will cast it aside.” As Merle Monte spoke he went into a state- room, and almost instantly returned, but so wholly metamorphosed that his voice alone seemed the same. The unkempt beard and wig had been thrown aside, revealing a darkly bronzed face of rare power of expression in every feature, and hand+ some and youthful, for he wasnot past eighteen, though be had the appearance of being older on account of the stern resolution that stam his mouth and dwelt in his brilliant black eyes. “The pea-jacket and hat had also been cast aside, and be appeared in an elegant black uni- form, trimmed with gold lace, and in his hand was a cap encircled by a a cord, and with a miniature sbip of cold on the front of it. Such was Merle Monte, a fugitive from his Government, which had eondemned him upon the testimony of his rivals, and the commander, though a boy in years, of the Gold Ship, a craft that was known to cruise here and there over the seas, with no nation’s flag at the peak, and no port into which she dare go to drop anchor, yet whose young captain had captured two noted pirates and delivered them up to the ver vessel upon which he had been sentenced to at the yard-arm, CHAPTER II. THE PIRATE PRISONER. In the guard-room of the brig, which he had daringly seized and turned into a pirate cruiser, sat a man of fine presence, dignity of manner, and face so stern that it marred the perfection of his features. His physique was most striking, for both symmetry and strength, though now upon his wrists and ankles were heavy iron manacles that held him chained to rings in the deck. There was no look of fear be his face, al- though he knew he was utterly in the power of his foes, and that bis crimes were legion, and amost any ohe was enough to condemn him to He was attired in an ele-ant, though fanoc; uniform, and was not enough cast down by bis fearful position to neglect his appearance, me. — , Without the door of the guard-room paced a ard heavily armed, and, as though to allow fhe pirate chief, for he was Brandt, the Bucca- neer, no chances of escape, there were stationed near by several seamen to watch the 2 parently, that bribery might not buy the p oner out of imprisonment. ‘Ah! I know that voice. | ‘‘T am to have a visitor from my boy captor it seems,” said Brandt, the Buccaneer, glanc- ing up quickly from his brooding attitude, as Merle Monte and Captain Meredith stopped at his door. The guard saluted and pene aside in re- spectful silence, while Merle nte placed the key in the lock and threw open the door, ‘Well, captdin Dames =e come to tell you that we night,” Merle. «What you hang me crithont’ Grialf” asked the-chief. ‘With your hanging I have nothing to do, MIGIOOKS.E€o ” mies a ae Te | ge areacn’ (E(©)