Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 386 — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

ae dark-red splotches, clotbed bis nether extremi- ties, and his shoes, rich in buckles of gold, com- pleted his attire. The weapon which had given him the name he bore, was clutched in bis right band—a huge cutlass whose hilt glistened with gems, and in his belt were several pistols, completing the armament of the sea robbers of the last cen- tury. : There was an eagle eye in his head, dark, penetrating and deep-set, and his mouth was hidden under the long hairs of his mustache. This was the most fearless pest the waters of the Gulf of Darien and the Caribbean had ever known, the man who bad burned Spanish ships within sight of Porto Bello, and who had sworn to attack Cartagena some day. The two vessels were still lashed together, and Captain Cutlass stood among the dead and dy- ing, the victor of the fight. ‘Monsieur, mon ami, I am here,” said a voice at the scourge’s elbow, so unexpectedly that he turned as ifa challenge to fight again had been hissed in his ear, For a moment Captain Cutlass did not appear to notice who had addressed him, but all at once he started forward, and the hands of the two men met, ‘What! you here, Colonel Cristo?” the buc- neer exclaimed. ‘*I thought you were in Peru, or elsewhere,” ‘*T am here,” laughed Captain Fortuno’s pas- senger. ‘‘l amon my way to Cartagena. You have gained a grand victory, I see. Mon Dieu! what acontest you had! The Spaniards must have fought like Cata!onian panthers,” “Tt cost me some good men, but I am victor,” replied Captain Cutlass, as his brows knit. ‘I’m afraid you cannot continue your voy- age to Cartagena in this vessel, my friend.” Colonel Cristo did not speak. ‘You know my custom?” the buccaneer went ny > Yes,” “Well, I shall not break it on this occasion, I will deliver you, baggage and all, safely in Cartagena in the Vampire.” , a08 handsome Frenchman looked aston- ished, “There! don’t burst from astonishment—I mean what I say,” laughed Captain Cutlass. ‘Transfer your baggage on board my vessel, colonel, I am going to deal with the Spanish spawn, spared by cutlass and pistol for a dif- ferent doom.” ‘Thanks, captain. I bad a fight myself be- Jow while you were having it out with the Spaniards here on deck,” * A fight below? With whom?” ‘* With the lieutenant of the Red Mogul. He was a Poung lion, I tell you, captain, but I dropped him at the lady’s door.” ‘What lady?” “The daughter of Major Seward of the Colombian service,” Captain Cutlass started. ‘Is she now on board this ship?” he asked, ‘*She is, captain.” ‘* And the young lieutenant?—is he dead?” ‘*T think not.” ‘*T will see them both, but the lady not now. Colonel, you will transport her with all her effects along with yourself, on board the Vam- pire. Is there any treasure on board?’ ‘Nothing but one valuable pearl, and toit I lay claim,” langhed the Frenchman with a look which the buccaneer seemed to uaderstand, ‘**Very well; it will not be molested,” he said. if I do not wish to encounter the lady on this ship. ‘*T am here now, murderer!” rung out a clear voice and the beautiful American girl threw herself between Captain Cutlass and the traitor passenger and faced the merciless pest of the Gulf. ‘I have met you sooner than I expected, Heaven has sent you across my pars while the corpse of my father is yet un- uried,” Captain Cutlass with a surprised look in his eyes recoiled a step and regarded the young zirl strangely. ‘*1 know whose hands did it,” she went on. ‘*The dead man on the raft is somewhere on board this ship. Fate brought my father and I together before I expected to encounter him. It was your work, say men who know how you serve the innocent,” ‘Tt was by my orders,” suddenly cried the pirate, and before Lona could retrace a single step, he was before her and his band clutched her arm, ‘‘ You may not know that Major Seward and I were bitter enemies years ago. By his vote I was outlawed when I had made pro- posals to abandon this free life I lead, and in re- Captain Cutlass, the Ocean S$ turn for that vote I swore to give bim a sea ride that should cbill his blood.” There was triumph in the buccaneer’s tones and not a particle of pity. ‘*'You carried out your oath to the letter,” sbe said, giving bim look for look. ‘‘ You sent him dead to bis daughter coming home to him. Captain Cutlass, more vows than one have been registered in heaven.” e laughed, ‘* No douvt of that, my Colombian pearl,” he said, ‘‘ I suppose you have taken one to get even with Captain Cutlass.” ‘“*T have and I will fulfill it now /” There flashed suddenly in the girl’s hand as she spoke the blade of a knife, and the next in- stant it might have ended the career of the buccaneer if a hand bad not suddenly encircled the uplifted arm. *‘No thanks, Colonel Cristo!” cried Lona, wheeling upon the man who had interposed to prevent the success of ber stroke, ‘‘ No thanks to you, sir. You have already struck downa friend of mine, and now you vary your duties by saving the life of one of yours,” The Frenchman did not reply, but continued to keep the girl’s hand imprisoned. ‘* You will continue your voyage in my ves- sel,” said Captain Cutlass, addressing her. ‘“ Under the flag that protects you?” ‘Yes. Iassure you that it will convey you safely to Cartagena.” ‘*Dare you go thither?” “Why not? Lona did not reply, but her hand dropped at her side, and her eyes suddenly lost their fierce- ness, ‘¢ All the prisoners will go on board the Vam- pire, will they not?’ she asked. ‘‘{ am not fixed for carrying prisoners,” said the buccaneer with a perceptible smile, ‘I carry passengers sometimes. Colonel Cristo and ourself will be given comfortable quarters on oard my sea queen. The rest I shall dispose of as I see fit.” ‘* Which means that Captain Cutlass is deter- mined to keep up the name that bas attached it- self to him,” , The eyes of the ocean outlaw glittered, but he made no reply to the girh ‘* Colonel, you will see that this lady, with ber baggage, is transferred to the Vampire,” he said to the Frenchman. ‘‘I am desirous that the change take place as quickly as possible,” Lona gave the speaker a meanful look as he turned on his heel end left her with the man she despised. ; Forced by circumstances to abandon tha ves- sel which she had hoped to make a vengeance- hunter of the seas, the daughter of the soldier to resolved to face her fate with resignation end bide ber time which she felt would surely come. Thirty minutes after her interview with Cap- tain Cutlass, the fastenings that held the two vessels together were loosened and they drifted slowly apart. Not one prisoner had been taken to the holds of the Vampire, and as the buccaneer left his prize with severed masts and almost sailless, a helpless hulk on the waters, there appeared a tigerish gleam in his eyes. 6 had achieved a great victory; another in- famous triumph bad been added to the long list already wh but the hight of brutality had not yet been reached, He watched the dismantled Huntress from his accustomed place among the rigging of his own ship as the two vessels separated. Suddenly a voice reached his ears, and he looked down into the upturned face of Colonel Cristo, ‘‘She drifts slowly from us, captain,” said the Frenchman, as he threw a look toward the Huntress, ‘‘ At that rate, she will not sink be- fore midnight.” | ‘Sink?’ almost laughed Captain Cutlass, as he lent a hand to assist the sinister colonel up tokim. ‘Do you think I have depended on the auger to rid the seas of Captain Fortuno and his Spanish spawn?” ‘* Such, indeed, was my idea,” was the an- swer, ‘‘Then let me dissipate it, my dear friend. That vessel is drifting away with a slow-match burning toward her magazine! Captain Fortu- no and bis living crew are bound on their own decks. The young man you fought with is a prisoner in the cabin, This is a specimen of my vengeance!” CHAPTER IV. UNTAMED, ‘““WHERE is she now? Here, sweep the sea with my glass and tell me if you see a sail?” > : : ‘J ..' Pe rie : sy “in = ~~ . . . 416% - P ' p.\. : ‘. . ro ‘ : »Ts fr cl . 4° i * Tae : d = > » | <?, = ‘a "> ner “a ie ee | CR aan —_—_—_——— oe i lg 4) — pider. The man who sp>ke thus was Captain Cut- lass, and be stood on an elevated part of the Vampire’s deck beside Colonel Cristo, into whos» hands he thrust an el-gant sea-glass as he fin~ ished, The Frenchman took the proffered ins ru- ment, and swept the sea in every quarter b for: he replied. ‘T see nothing,” he said at length. beard no explosion lost night.” “True; but the wind that struck us shortiy after the separation. continued, as you know, untilan hourego. For awhile last night the keel of the Vampire scarcely seemed to touc's the water. Do rot think that my match failed to burn to the powder stored in the Spaniard’s magazine. It has never failed me befere; it did its duty last night. Have no fears, colone!.” ‘Fears?’ echoed Colonel Cristo, with a leugh. ‘Why should | have fears? Lieutenant Mar- ton, the young American, was a half-urco - scious prisoner in the cabin when we pirtec. company with the Red Mogul.” ‘¢ And he shared the fate of the rest.” ‘“Certainly. Then why should I have fear ?” Captain Cutlass did not speak for a momert. si > pee did the lady pass the night?” be asked. ‘‘ Not very well, I think.” ‘6 She doesn’t think very well of you, colonel?” he observed, with a smile. ae Under his mustache the Frenchman bit his 6% But We ip. Mi And not very well of you!” be suddenly re- torted, looking into the captain’s face. ‘‘Of course not,” was the cool rejoinder. ‘‘ She holds me responsible for the death of the man whose vote outlawed me.” ‘* Her father?” | ‘‘Yes. Why doesn’t she like you, colonel.” “T}{ be banged if I know,” growled the Frenchman, ‘I got acquainted with her dur- ing her stay in Porto Bello. Her black eyes in- fatuated me,” ‘‘ And you were at her feet before you knew it?” ‘¢ Mon Dieu! how could I help it? It wasn’t my fault.” Captain Cutlass smiled. ‘‘T did not carry my infatuation to a pro- osal, but [ suppose it would have come to that if she had not started for Cartagena ratber suddenly. Of course I suddenly discovered that I had business there also, and Captain For- tuno sailed just at the right time to suit me.” ‘“TDid she meet the American lieutenant of the Red Mogul on board that vessel for the first time?’ asked the buccaneer. ‘*T think so.” ‘‘ And it was a case of love at first sight?’ Colonel Cristo seemed to recoil a pace, ‘‘ Love?” he echoed as his brows darkened. ‘¢ Who says she loves him?” “Tt looks very much that way to me,” was the answer. ‘At any rate, she takes a good deal of interest in him. They may not have met before, but they cannot have been entirely unconscious of each otber’s existence, eyes flashed madly as he looked seaward, cau- tiously watched unawares by the man at his side, ‘¢ Well,” he growled under his breath. “If tain Cutlass bas stepped between.” ‘‘This reminds me that I have not seen this beautiful Colombiin pantheress since she has cooled down,” said the buccaneer suddenly. “‘T believe I will go down and look at her in daylight. She’s calm now, isn’t she, colonel?” ‘Yes, ascalm as you would expect a woman to be on the ship of a man whom she calls the slayer of her parent.” . Captain Cutlass laughed in a manner calcula- ted to cut bis companion to the quick. ‘‘ Keep my glass and watch for a sail till I re- turn,” he said to Colonel Cristo, ‘I will not romise that you will catch sight of the Red Mogul: but you may make out a good chase,” Before the Frenchman could return the sea- glass or make a reply, Captain Cutlass was moving away, : . ‘‘Tam still near that beautiful girl if I am under your flag!” hesent in a hiss after the huceaneer. ‘Insult her or refuse to land us both in Cartagena, and you will find in me, Captain Cutlass, afoe worthy of your steel. Eighteen years’ service in the French army have taught me to fear no man.” The-captain of the Vampire disappeared while Colonel Cristo watcbed him, and the French- man turned uneasily toward tbe sea. The vessel was bowling along through the making good headway. Back of his drooping lasbes Colonel Cristo’s: she loved him, the devilish vengeance of Cap- waters of the Gulf under easy canvas, and. \" = — ae Be ‘ * <* sO Le es = — Ls : Le = or mney Ts be LY bn J . A's =| @ ed -*¢ (iva am £ ,—=— Y O + i? : . Show ty yi g al . ~ e vige 7 dh ° ~ Ey : « a