Beadle's Half Dime Library No. 674 — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

. “1 did; but, lhada good training 2 The Wizard Sailor. her brother will return from sea, and then thou wilt find upon thy crime-stained track one who cannot be shaken off, one who will have thy life, if my curses do not drive thee to take thine own life before his hand clutches at thy throat, Go! Kenton Carr, go! ere I strike thee dead where thou dost stand!” The man thus addressed turned and fled from the presence of the woman. He seemed todread her pursuit, for be fairly flew along the rugged rocks of the sea-shore, not halting until a turn in the coast shut the house of the one who had called herself Salina the Sorceress from view, Then he halted and stood looking down upon the waters of an inlet which here broke into the coast-line of Massachusetts. He was a young man of five-and-twenty years, elegantly dressed in the fashion of rich men of that day, wearing a profusion of jewelry and lace, and altogether a striking-looking person- age, albeit his face was marred by dissipation and a stamp of recklessness, Placing his fingers to his lips he gave a long, shrill whistle, and soon after a skiff witha single occupant moved out from a hiding-place among the rocks, and landed near where the young man had halted, and who now walked quickly down to the shore and sprung into the stern of the boat. The oarsman was a red-haired, long-bearded man, witha face evil and almost ferocious in expression, e was dressed in a sailor suit, wore his tar- ulin pulled down over his eyes, and said gruf- y as the young man entered the skiff: ** Well?” rite sure that he knows nothing about the ** And I am sure he does, for who else could?’ “That is the question, Red Ralph; but she put her curse upon me, and a cruel and bitter one it was,until I was glad to fly from her presence.” ** She cursed you, did she?” and the man with the iq shuddered, while his face paled slightly. . es,’ **1’d rather have the devil’s blessing than the curse of that old witch, captain; but, you are sure she did not know where the girl is?” **T am sure, Red Ralph, for she accused me of kidnapping her; and more, she threatened me with the vengeance of that young Sea Satan, Clifford Sweegan, whom I no more believe is the brother of Kate, than I do that either of them are the children of the old hag who calls herself & sorceress,” ** They may not be her children, Master Ken- ton, and they may not be sister and brother; but the, old woman is certaidly a sorceress, or a witch, for she has strange powers, and has done weird things, and I tell youagain I should not rest easy with her curses dogging my wake at sea, and my footsteps ashore, and l only hope no barm will come of it to you.” ** But, what is to be done, for if you have lost the girl, then the chance of getting the treasure, which you are sure she knows about, is lost.” at is a bad business, Master Kenton, I ad- mit. ‘** Bad, indeed, Red Ralph, and worse fcr me than for you,” ** How so?” ‘* Well, everybody looks upon you as a bad man, and suspects that you are the ally of smug- glers, perhaps of pirates, where they regard me at least asa man of honor, though naturally a trifle wild, and the latter they forgive with the expectation that 1 will be my uncle’s heir to a very large fortune, for they do not know, as you do, that I have gambled away every dollar of my inheritance, and my old kinsman will cut me off without a dollar when he knows the exact trutb.” “Then marry your cousin, and her father will tide you over.” ** Not so easy to do, for she will not have me.” “Use a little force, then.” “No, for that would make my uncle furious, - and he would disinherit her to ruin me, No, * I must try another plan,” ** What shall it be, Master Kenton?’ ** That is, if we cannot find the girl.” “Which it does not seem that we are able to do, or ever can, and time presses you bard,” “True, Red Ralph, and so [ shall play my last card with the old man.” ** Can you find another card to play with your uncle, for I thought you had played your last trump, in that quarter?” ‘*] bave one more, and you shail know what it is, Ralph, You know I was once in the pavy?” “Yes, and got dismissed for some scra uy dozen years I was there, as. an officer of an armed vessel, and my uncle was proud of having me a sailor, for you know he was a commodore in ’seventy-six.” 3 ‘** Yes, and a splendid officer, too, for | wasa middy under him then; about ’eighty-two, I think it was—how time flies, for that was thirty years cs I was a lad then in my teens,” Red Ralph seemed to suddenly drift back into bygone memories which changed the entire ex- pression of his face, for his evil look vanished, his dark eyes glistened and he volonger appear- ed the villain be bad become since his boyhood. ‘* Don’t get moody, Ralph, forit is not be- coming to you; but, let me tell you vhat my uncle was reading the other night of the coming war with England, and cursing his luck that his wooden leg would hot let him serve, while he added, with an angry look at me: ‘* Now, sir, would be the chance for you to distinguish yourself, and rub the tarnish off of your name Dy gallant acts, if you only had the will and nerve to do it,” ‘*My cousin told me what my uncle said, after I left the room, for I always set sail when he opens his broadsides upon me, He declared if I was worth it he would fit out a privateer for me, ‘* The very thing, Master Kenton!” ‘Yes; so [ shall go to him and tell him I have decided to fit out, at my own expense—” ** Your expense, Master Kenton!” said Red Ralph, with a sneer. **SoI will say, for he will at once tell me that be will stand the expense if I will go as captain, and we will share even,” ‘* Yes, he will do that, I guess.” ‘* And I can make my share return the fortune I have gambled away, and then it will put me all right with the old chap.” ‘*And your very humble servant, Captain Kenton Carr?” There was a world of meaning in the words and manner of the speaker. ‘** Ob, you shall be my—” What?’ ‘* Well, boatswain,.” ‘Thank you, no; I will goas first officer.” _ Bat, Ralph, what would people think and say / . **'You need not let them know who your offi- cers are until you sail; or you can keep back the name of your first luff, at least; then, when at sea, put the name of Ralph Rogers on the ship’s books,” “Til do it, for 1 know your worth, Ralph. But here we are at the landing, so I will hasten home, and to-morrow come and tell you what the result of my last card is to be. Good-even- in Bd ** And the girl?” 4 ‘* You must keep up your search for her, and we must hasten to get afloat in the privateer, for should she turn up and tell our story, then we would have to get away to save ourselves,” ‘“‘Sure,” and as Red Ralph spoke the young man threw himself into the saddle on the back of a splendid horse which had been hitched in a pine thicket near a cabin on the banks of the in- let, and rode away ata gallop, ~ Red Ralph looked after him a minute and then muttered as be entered the cabin: ‘* Tt won’t do for you to play me false, Kenton Carr, for my revenge would be as terrible as the curse of old Salina, the Sorceress,” CHAPTER II. CELINE CHETWYN’S DESTINY. ARounpD an old plantution-house on the coast of. Carolina, strange legends hung, and those who dwelt in the vicinity never cared to cross its lands, or go near its grand mansion, left crumbling away, as its broad acres of woodlands and fields were left to become overgrown with brush and weeds, For generations the Chetwyns had dwelt there, and the last male of his race, a proud and genial old gentleman, had but one child, a beau- tiful daughter, Celine. She was her father’s idol, and he held hope that when one day she would marry it would be to some noble nian, well worthy to wear a gem so precious, vt Fate, cruel Fate, shaped it otherwise, for one day, when returning together in the planta- tion yacht from Charleston, the father and daughter beheld an armed craft glide around a point ahead and bear down upon them, It was a coast outlaw, and that they were to be captured by a pirate they well knew, for escape seemed impossible, The yacht was a. slow sailer and was loaded down with plantation supplies, while her negro crew were almost paralyzed with fear, At a shot from the pirate, for he boldly flaunted the black flag, the yacht bove to and all hope was given up, when, suddenly, from out of an inlet sailed another armed vessel, and the buccaneer found that he had to look to bis own safety. The cruiser was splendidly handled, however; her first broadside crippled tbe pirate, and after a short action the outlaw was captured and tbe yacht saved, _ The rescuer proved to be an American serv- ing under the infant flag of Columbia, and few handsomer men ever trod a deck than was Cap- tain Beruard Bazil of the Columbian cruiser, Red Scorpion, Thus did Celine Chetwyn meet her fate, for the young captain often visited Sea Vale Plan- tation in bis eruises, and the result was that they became engaged, But, Celine had scores of lovers who would not give her up without a struggle, and soon rumors came to the ears of the planter that his intended son-in-law was using the flag of Columbia to carry on acts of piracy. He bad been in the service of the country whose flag he floated, but had taken to piracy, and was better known as Bazil the Buccaneer, This Celine would not believe, and one night when the schooner dropped anchor near Sea Vale, she was tempted by her fascinating lover and fled from her home and father to become his bride, Years after, when the old planter died, be left his property to go to his daughter’s children, if any, after a century had passed, thus cutting her off, and upon a brass tablet made fast upon the heavy front door, the tenor of his will was tere ved, along with a demand that Sea Vale should be deserted, homestead and lands, and allowed to go to decay and weeds. Thus several years passed, The master sium- bered in the little family burying-ground over- looking the sea, while the grand house went to ruin as time passed on, Then the neighbors were startled, one day, to see a small craft at anchor off Sea Vale, and, soon after, to learn that Celine, the buccaneer’s bride, had returned with two children, a boy and a girl, The people had heard of Bazil and his crew, some time before, for the pirate bad boarded a brig one night, expecting to find a prize, and had been entrapped by a cruiser, A storm sweeping down had parted the ves- sels, leaving the pirate chief’s wife and children, and a dozen men only, on board, and those on the brig bad been captured, But it was said that Bazil bad made his es- cape, when the cruiser had reached his first port, and what had become of his vessel, driven away from the brig and lost to sight in the storm, no one knew, When, therefore, it was said that Celine had returned to her old home, accompanied by her son and daughter, the place was more shunned than ever, and when a handsome, manly-look- ing youth was wont to sail around to Wilming- ton and purchase supplies, he was looked upon with curiosity and suspicion as the son of Bazil the Buccaneer, And one night, as mysteriously as they bad come, the other and her children sailed away from Sea Vale, and the plantation home and lands were again left to desolation and decay, For over a year the strange trio had dwelt there, avoided by all, yet seeking no associations with any one, and then they had as silently and mysteriously departed as they had come, going no one knew whither, So if was that Sea Vale was left to its gloom once more and more dreaded it became than ever, for a curse seemed upon it. o —— CHAPTER III, A MYSTERIOUS VisIT, “You seem to know the channel well into this bay, captain.” “Yes, I have run through this inlet into the sheet of water before us, which is known as the sound, many times, Costa—many times,” and the speaker turned away and ci the deck as though the scene called up memories of a painful nature. . The two stood upon the deck of an armed schooner, and a craft which had the look not often seen in honest cruisers or mercbantmen, She was too rakish-looking to inspire con- fidence, and a glance at her red-capped crew but carried out this suspicion, : She carried a large crew, a heay bastet ttery and her tall masts and long bowepelé wed that she could spread a vast quantity of sail, ' : ;.% dpi & ia Dyes 13 : | 4 : ™ * 4t- se TcCcCpovouc | P| a I be > » rs = r= —s _ "i - - : . : . a —? a y. Pade ‘s.com