Beadle's Dime Library No. 103 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

| | | | | ed 10 — — — — ———— ae _— ly pm a, to the miniature, lay in the box, and taking it up, Merle clasped upon it the dia- mond and ruby-studded likenesses he yet held in his hands, which had for him a fascination far more powerful than the costly necklace and anchor. One other article the box contained—a long, slender poniard of purest steel, incased in a gem- set scabbard of gold: but the handle of the blade was the most remarkable, as it was in the shape of an anchor, each side set with rubies; the flukes of the anchor served as the guard of the knife, and the setting was massive and secure. Like one in a dream, Merle glanced at these treasures, and then handed them to Arthur Grenville. ‘“* This is all that the box contains, sir; now, I will read aloud this communication, for you are more deeply interested in it than am I.” ‘*T doubt it. By heaven! what a strange thought I have; but quick! read what my brother has written there;” and Captain Gren- ville threw himself back in an easy-chair, a strange expression upon his face, while Merle unrolled the papers in his hand, and in a low, but distinct voice began to read that which un- folded to him a strange and thrilling story. CHAPTER XII. THE BUCCANEER’S CONFESSION. Wuy Lance Grenville should have left him the r of such a valuable treasure, as were the contents of the little box, and the con- fession of his life, Merle could not understand, and he opened the document with tremblin fingers. t was headed simply: ‘“* 4 CONFESSION,” Then it was addressed to the youth, reading as follows: ‘* MERLE: ‘* Six months ago, one placid moonlight night I beheld a boat adrift upon the waters, and ordered my helmsman to steer toward it; which he did, and thus a strange destiny brought you across my path once more after a separation of we er ‘Tn that drifting boat I found five persons— four dead and one living, yet hovering on the verge of death. ‘Those who were dead were common seamen, men whose lives of hardship'should have kept them alive far longer than the delicate youth who had survived them. “They were thrown into the sea as food for fishes; the youth I bore to my own cabin, and ere many days he was convalescent, for 1 nursed him devotedly through the hours of delirium that followed his rescue from the boat. ‘‘T need not tell you, Merle, that you were that youth, for well you know it; but I will tell you that which you do not know, and that is —your delirious ravings told me who and what you were. ‘** Yet I needed not your own words for this, for already had I made a discovery. pon our left side, just over your heart, I beheld, attooed in red ink, an anchor. “That symbol told me who you were, for J had tattooed it there myself long years before. ‘* Now that [ have shown to you, Merle, that you were known to me, I will make to you a confession that is due you. Why it is due you, these lines will in the end prove to you. | will tell you of myself, of my life, and why it is I am an outlaw, a buccaneer, with no home but my ship, no nation, no people but those who fol- low me across the trackless seas. **T make this confession, writing it at night, when you are asleep, or pacing the deck on your watch, and, when I am dead, it shall tell you all, for my own lips have not the courage to tell you. ‘*T feel, Merle, that my life is ere long to end; that my sun must go down in gloom and death at last, though I have defied danger for years; hence, while my hand is yet strong in health I pen these lines to you. ‘**You, and the world, know me only as ‘ Cap- tain Freelance,’ or ‘ Freelance the Buccaneer; but my true name is Launcelot Grenville. ‘*Tam a native of the United States, and I was born upon the Gulf coast, where my ances- tors have lived for a century. ‘‘Why Fate singled me out to curse me, I never knew ; but, certain it is, that, ere | reach- ed the years of manhood, sorrow fell heavily ‘upon me, and its sable wings have ever flapped in my heart since, bruising it with cruel blows. ‘* But I will tell you all.” The confession then went on to tell of the early life of the unfortunate man; his happy home, darkened only by the cruel vendetta that hover- ed over it; his love for Lucille Darrington, the falling of her father by his hand, her suicide, and his wandering life and service in the young Navy of Mexico. Then followed his return home, his love of Helen Brainard, his parting with her, that his brother might have no cloud upon his life in the woman he loved, and then his arrest for the rvurder of that brother, his trial and sentence to death hanging, but his escape through the love and courage of his faithful slaves. Merle, The Mutineer. Another neck-chain of massive gold, evident- | | | | lieve that Arthur was dead; I felt that he yet awa ‘*Had I been guilty, Merle; had I been the Cain a court of justice proved me to be, I should never have attempted to escape, but met my death as a just retribution. ‘* But I was innocent of an evil thought against my brother, and I fled that I might live to show that I.had been falsely accused, tor I did not be- lived—in some mysterious manner spirited yet not to his death. ‘Who had done him, and me, this wrong, I had no means of knowing; but, certain it is, I had some powerful enemy working against me and his every action masked; that foe | hoped to have found out. ‘‘As for Helen Brainard, for her testimony against me, I forgive her, for, in her grief she had ace me of murdering Arthur, whom she loved with her whole heart, and the law forced her to speak; but I bless my brother for not marrying her, when it was her fair lips that pronounced my doom, as her statement. weighed most heavily against me. “There was another whom the law forced to speak—Rosal Abercrombie. ‘*T believed him my friend; I have since thought he might have been my enemy; still I may be wrong. ‘*The jury who condemned me [ shall never forgive—they looked me straight in the face and said I was guilty, and I have treasured them u for revenge, should I live long enough to mete it out. “Those of them whom death may have snatched from me I cannot reach; those of them ho P he live shall not escape. ‘*Qne who swore my life away I felt swore falsely ; that man was Beal, the fisherman. ‘**He has already felt the weight of my hand, for 1 shot him through the heart as I fled from the gallows; he attempted to seize my bridle- rein and I killed him, ‘* Now that I have told you of my enemies, I will speak of my wanderings, and which pre- vented my returning home, when, years after, I learned that my brother was not dead, but in command of an American cruiser in Eastern waters. ‘When I boarded an outward-bound vessel off the Delta of the Pantie l found that it was a Spaniard, with sugars for Madrid. “Having with me the money I had the night of my arrest, I paid my passage to Madrid, de- termined to return to Mexico, and again offer my services, which I was confident would be ac- cepted, after all that I had done for the infant government. ‘*But man’s intentions go often wrong, and so I found, for our vessel was captured by a Moorish corsair, and those of us who were not slain were sold as slaves to the Moors. ‘* My fate led me a captive into the Moorish — where I becaine the slave of an Amazerg chief. ““To him I soon made myself most useful, in many ways, and ere long he made me an officer under him; but finding out, as soon as I had learned to speak the lan e well, that I was a sailor, he fitted out a vessel, armed and man- ned it, and made me its second in command, his brother being captain. ‘*The Amazerg chief I had greatly liked; his brother was a petty tyrant med 5 cruel monster, and I hated him; but I was forced to serve un- der him, for there were no means then of es- cape, though I determined that I would do so at the first opportunity, for the vessel, though under the Moorish flag, was nothing but a cor- sair. “Several times, to my intense regret, we went into action with American cruisers, and this made me the foe of my own country, though I could not do otherwise, and begged my commander to allow me to remain in the dabin during the combat, that I might not strike against my own flag. “ But my savage commander refused me the edehbra. 9-9 35 my sword was turned against my own e. e dey we overhauled a Persian vessel, that had been blown by a storm far off its course, and we found it a treasure-ship, and upon it a prize, of far more value in my eyes t all the gold and precious stones it con- tained. “This prize was a maiden of seventeen—a Princess of Persia, and exquisitely beautiful, beyond all compare. ‘She was en route to Constantinople, to be- come the bride of Abdul Mezziz, the favorite son of the Sultan, and with her was her whole retinue of maidens and slaves, with the costly presents for the bridegroom—presents the value of which was beyond price. ‘‘The Persians fought nobly and desperately to save their vessel; but Mezurah the Moorish captain, commanded a crew that knew not defeat; a monster himself, his men were little less than devils incarnate, and the Per- sians were captured. “Mad with fury at the losses he had sustained, frenzied with joy at the treasures he had won, and in rapture at the beauty of the princess, whom he claimed for his prize, Mezurah Rais seized her in his bloodstained arms to carry her to his cabin. — ** The r = gave one shriek of terror, and stretched forth her hands to me, while her eyes implored me to save her. ‘* My determination was instantly made, and, with my drawn scimitar, I confronted my chief upon his own deck. ‘* Like a very maniac he dropped his prize and rushed upon me, his yataghan uplifted to cut me down. ‘*He was a man as large as myself, a desper- ate fighter, and most powerful; tant I felt that we were well matched, and I there determined to kill him. ‘** I will not tire you, Merle, with an account of that desperate combat, the worst of my life; but it ended in the death of Mezurah ais, and yet that was not the end, for he had followers who rushed to avenge him, and between those who fought for him, and those who sided with me, began another deadly conflict, that resulted at last in victory for me. ‘Need I tell you how thankful was the maiden tome? No, I will go on to say that had her vessel been in condition to proceed, I would have released her then and there; but it was a mere wreck, after our hot action with it, and we were compelled to move the treasure and all to our cruiser. ‘Still I intended to restore the princess to her friends, and set sail for that purpose, for I was now the Moorish Rais, but on the way I learned to love ‘the maiden more than my life, and my love was returned, and Zulah, the Per- sian Princess, became my wife. ‘* Seeking a quiet port, I chartered two vessels; one of these | devoted to the Persian crew, who in it returned home, except a few faithful fol- lowers who preferred to remain with their mistress. “The other vessel f took for myself, placed on board all the treasure belonging to my wife, and that which had been the property of Mezurah Rais—which was enormous—as well as my own share, that was on board the cor- sair. ‘*The Moorish vessel I then turned over to the crew, and what became of it I never knew; but I set sail for Mexico after nearly a year’s cruise—for I visited many lands. I arrived within sight of the sunny shores, and a storm ne re me upon an island in the dead of night. e Had my men remained upon the vessel, as I ordered, all would have saved their lives; but, f believing that the wreck was going to pieces, they took to the boats, and when the morning sun arose we saw their dead bodies strewing the island coast, and out of all that had been with me but four besides myself remained alive—my beautiful bride, two servants that had followed the fortunes of their mistress, and one who had been a prisoner with me among the Amazergs, and whom I had taken with me upon the cor- sair craft. ‘** But though the sun shone brightly the morn- ing after the wreck, the seas ran high, and we could not land; then, as night came on, another hurricane swept the waters, and the vessel rocked like a cradle, as it lay upon the reef, for- tunately above the worst shocks of the waves. **On that fateful night, with the winds howl- ing like mad wolves, the waves roaring like thun- der, and the vessel swaying fearfully, Zulah, my beautiful bride gave birth to a son—ay, gave her life to a tiny boy, for she died ere it was an hour old. “That little child, Merle, born in the tem- t, and upon a wreck, the child of Zulah the erslan, was yourself.” CHAPTER XIIt. THE HIDDEN TREASURE. ‘‘By Heaven! I believed it so!” It was the excited exclamation of Captain Grenville, when Merle had read the words— “the child of Zulah the Persian was yourself.” ‘He was then my father,” said Merle, in a voice hardly audible, and with the deepest feel- ing, eyes, he was your father, boy; but read on, for I would learn more of this strange story; and, thank Heaven, if I mourn Launcelot dead, I have his son to love,” and Arthur Grenville laid his hand heavily upon the youth’s shoulder, while he added: :; ‘You are strangely like your father, Merle— the same perfect features, dark waving hair, and glorious, * pee somber eyes; but you are anxious to read on—I am listening.” In a voice that now trembled, in spite of the effort to control it, the youth read on: 2 ALS ag you = my 4-0 but do not unha ather for leaving you a stained name. Read on, and then judge'me in your heart of hearts. Upon that fateful night of vat ra you first came into the world, and your mother gave you her life. “ Bitterly I mourned her dead; with joy I eee you living in my arms, for I had not ost allin her; you remained to me, and I was determined that you should not die. ‘*In the morning, leaving you in the care of the Persian woman, who had followed your mother’s fortunes, I swam ashore, accompanied COMMCGELAOO KS (El) 4 ms