Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 386 — page 6: what you’re looking at

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

‘ | : ws - “a4 ‘ tt) " ‘ 7 * ay at} ‘ ae i ¥ Sok PED ge Pt ; a as » Prog. - . ; “" ‘sl ” Captain Cutlass, the Ocean Spider. The strange craft was now but a little ways from the Vampire, so near, indeed, that Cap- tain Cutlass could see that it was near his own size and similarly built. [t was a moment of intense though suppressed excitement. The gunners stood ready with matches heid a few inches from the touch-vents, and the buarders, stripped to the waists, held their cut- lasses ready for the expected onset. Another minute would decide the question of superiority. On, on came the stranger without a hail, but one was forming on the lips of the buccaneer. Clutching a pistol in the hand that did not clutch the ropes, be leaned toward the ship i a wild glitter of fight in the depths of his orbs. ‘Ship ahoy!” rung out in clear and distinct tones from his throat. ‘‘ Who are you?” At that moment, as if driven forward by the breath of some sea monster, the challenged vessel reached the Vampire and was passing on under her very prow as it were. Captain Cutlass caught sight of a number of —- on the stranger’s deck as he issued the call, He saw one rush toward him pistol in hand, and heard the answer to his hail. ‘*This is the Ocean Huntress! pliments, Captain Cutlass,” At the samme time the heavy pistol of the speaker shot upward, and the last word was followed by a flash and a report. The next instant the figure of a human being swayed to and fro among the Vampire’s rig- ging, and while the crew stood spellbound about the guns, it dropped with a dull thud upon the deck! Several men sprung forward and bent over the buccaneer. ** Riddle him!” be hissed. Captain Fortuno and bis accursed ship! him to the bottom of the sea!” it was too late; the supreme moment had passed, and the Huntress—if Captain Cutlass had not mistaken the stranger’s identity—was riding the sea some distance away. ‘‘ By the stars! he shall pay for his shot!” continued the buccaneer, who seemed to be seriously wounded by the shot which had tum- bled him from the rigging. ‘‘ Bring him to with the long Tom! Perdition shall welcome this Spanish dog before day!” The stranger was still in sight, and a good target for an experienced gunner. *“1’ll bring him to!” growled a lank fellow whose skin was the complexion of a Malay’s as he bounded toward the long chaser which was —— above the decks on a movable plat- orm. He was instantly followed by several of the crew who, with many an oath, belped him to bring the gun to bear on the ship, then—a loid report broke the sleeping echoes of the moonlit sea, and those who watched and listen- ed heard the crash of the heavy shot in the side just above the water-line, and saw the next mo- ment a dark gap where the well-aimed shot had struck. ‘*That’ll either fetch him to or provoke a fight,” grinned the guuner. ‘‘Ah! here it comes!” The following second the side of the enemy seemed to bea sheet of flame and while the unner’s last sentence still sounded, a storm of iron crashed through the Vampire’s rigging. It made Captain Cutlass stagger to his feet and whirl upon the helmsman. “One of us goes to the bottom to-night!” he flasbed in a madman’s voice. ‘ Steer straight toward the Spanish cur, and we’ll make this episode a death-grapple. Forward for victory or death!” The crew of the buccaneer gave a wild cheer, and the ship, answering the helm with almost human eagerness, swept forward, with her mad captain a statue of fierceness in the moon- cast shadow of the mainmast. Take my com- ‘* By Heaven a is end eaten CHAPTER VI. BARELY IN TIME. Was it true that the stranger ship was the same vessel we have lately seen dismantled and sent adrift by the commands of the buccaneer of the Gulf? We know that Captain Cutlass called the man who shot him in the rigging Captain Fortuno, and this was the name of the commander of the Red Mogul, or Ocean Huntress, What had transpired if the two ships had met again? . cat vp m es ~ is a art ba sal P ‘ ? - P YP ae eh ~~ ‘ om ss ye wl - ¥ < ee EO RE SEN < ~ » swe” * ae eae | oe - —— or fen Who had snatched the match from the trail that led to the magazine of the Huntress? Let us see, True it was that Captain Cutlass had taken pains to rid the seas forever of the Spanish captain who had sailed them for years despite the terror the name of Cutlass inspired. When the two svips separated in mid-gulf after the bloody contest on the Spaniard’s decks, it was with terrible doom overshadow- ing the one, Lying bound on the upper deck among the dead who had fallen in the desperate hand-to- hand encounter, were Captain Fortuno and his men. They could curse the sea villain who had sent them adrift, but they were powerless to help one another. Below, in one of the cabins, a young man walked to and frolike a caged tiger, his hands bound on his back, and with fire in his eyes. This individual was Roland Manton, the young American officer of the Huntress, A blow on the head from Colonel Cristo’s sword bad rendered him unconscious, and when be recovered he found himself lying on the floor of his cabin with his hands tied, and practically helpless, 6 heard the wild cheer of the buccaneers that announced the wind-up of the conflict on the upper decks, and after awhile he felt the Huntress moving away, slowly it is true, but still moving. He inspected the door.of the cabin, and found it locked, as be expected. He was a prisoner, and with the belief that he was the sole survivor of the encounter. Of course, he did not know that Captain For- tuno and his crew were bound captives in their own ship. Meanwhile, in a corridor that ended at the door of the vessel’s magazine, burned a match, or fuse, which the buccaneer had lighted for their destruction. It burned slowly, throwing out flashes of light here and there, as it crept like a hissing serpent toward the powder store, Inch by inch the fire advanced, shorten- ing each second the lives of the men on deck. Roland Manton knew nothing of this. A prisoner in his own cabin, be was ignorant of Captain Cutlass’s crowning act of infamy. A breeze that sprung up shortly after the fight sent the Huntress through the water with some spirit, notwithstanding her crippled con- dition; it also cooled the cheeks of the men ly- ing on deck. The young lieutenant tried his door as best he could, He bestowed upon it sundry kicks which had no effect, and at last he went back to a chair, upon which he. threw himself with a mad curse, In a chest that stood open in one corner of the cabin lay a hatchet, which he could gazs upon and grate his teeth, but which he could not touch. It seemed to mock him with a smile, and maddened him almost beyond endurance. With the hatchet in his possession, be could cut his way to the deck. ‘*T will escape!” he exclaimed. ‘‘ By Heav- ens! I owe this sea-crab a debt which my bonds shall not keep me from paying.” “The lid of the chest was bound with brass, and having shut it with bis foot Manton put his hands upon the metal and began to see-saw on the ropes that secured them. It was slow work, but he worked with the feelings of a desperate man, without apparent- ly making the least impression on his bonds. ‘Dll try till daylight,” he said with resolu- tion. ‘*Thisis my only hope. The brass bind- ing of my chest must save my life.” For more than an hour Manton kept in a posi- tion that cramped him, but he worked on his bonds with the pertinacity of a hero, Would they nsver part? Was he to die the most horrible of deatbs, cooped up in a-vessel doomed to drift for months perhaps at the mercy of wind and wave? In his wildest dreams of peril on the sea, he had never seen the shadow of such a fate, He worked on, despairing not. The brass rim of his chest did not seem to take hold on the ropes, and he could not see what progress he bad made. ; At last, however, a sudden thrill went to his eert. He sprung up with a cry of victory, and jerked bis arms apart! He was free so far as the little area of his cabin was concerned, eh pac 4 al A: od ‘ , cast Ee be eee pe i= RP Re Ce i ital — . 1 ys d a ME~ os & ~ an Ney t * - — . ~y ~ 7 : 7% > viel as ~« — a els owe * y * A dine ¢ » a “> 7 p. 4 s * f His first impulse was to rush to the hatchet, seize it and cut his way through the door whicb be knew had been secured from the outside. But he needed rest before beginning the at- tack, Ab! if he could have seen the fuse burning toward the magazine of the ship, there would have been no rest for him. Five brief minutes, and precious ones they were for the Ocean Huntress, seemed to rest him completely. ‘* Now for the good sea air!” he exclaimed. The lid of the chest flew open, and a minute later the young lieutenant struck the first blow on the door. 7 Again and again he drove the heavy hatchet deep into the planks, working with the energy of a man determined to win in the desperate fight before him. The interior of the cabin was not dark, for those who had bound him had left bim a lighted lantern suspended from a beam overhead, It did not take Manton long to cut through the cabin. He dealt blows that told visibly on the wood, and at last he sprung through the opening he had made, A loud ejaculation of triumpb burst from his throat as he rushed toward the ladder, up which he went with the agility of an acrobat. ‘*Tll navigate this ship if ’'m the only man on board!” he said to bimself. ‘‘ The day will come, Captain Cutlsss, when you will curse yourself for having spared my life!” When he reached the stillslippery deck of the Huntress a sight for which be was not prepared burst suddenly upon his vision, ‘‘Santissima! is it you?” crid a voice from a group of recumbent figures on the moonlit planks, ‘* Captain Fortuno!” Manton sprung forward as he uttered the name and bent over the captain of the Hun- tress. ‘‘Thank fortune!” he ejaculated. ‘* There are twoof usnow. Let the Sea Spider look to the web he spins!” The eyes of the Spanish captain flashed. ‘* Did you trample out bis infamous fuse?’ he asked. Manton leaped erect. , ‘* What fuse?’ he cried. ‘The one that creeps toward our powder!” ‘¢ Heavens, no!” The next instant the lieutenant of the Hun- tress was flying below. ‘*The infamous wretch! Would he consign us all in a flash to the depths of the sea?” he cried. ‘‘The fuse! The fuse! My God if it should reach the powder, we would die in a second!” He lost no time in getting below, and rapid bounds carried him toward the me gazine where was stored enough powder to blow the vessel into strips. lt was the most exciting moment in the American’s life, He gained the narrow corridor that led to the store-house, and almost recoiled as bis eyes caught sight of a spark that danced on the floor some distance ahead! | He knew the imminent danger then. There were particles of powder on the floor near the magazine, and at any moment they were likely to be ignited bv the fuse that seemed intent on carrying out Captain Cutlass’s de- signs. Roland Manton did not hesitate. He knew that the terrible fuse bad burned to within a few inches of the door of the magazine, — that the existence of ship and crew might be numbered by seconds, A great bound carried him toward the danc- ing light, for at times the burning fuse threw out little showers of sparks, He saw nothing but the accursed fire! All at once he brought one foot down upon it, and crushed it out of existence in the twinkling of an eye! He had not a moment to spare, for when he thrust bis hand forward it entered at the open door of the magazine, and he felt the fuse be- yond it! He had reached the spot in the nick of time! For several minutes Manton stood amid the darkuess that enveloped him. The fuse bad been entirely extinguished, and he withdrew it from the magazine and coiled it. about bis hand. “Tl save it for you, Captain Cutlass,” he said, taking delight in his own words. ‘‘Now I will release the captain.” Once more he went up on deck, and a knife cut the cords of the men bound there, ‘*Now for vengeance!” grated the Spaniard.