Beadle's Dime Library No. 103 — page 5: what you’re looking at

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

Merle, The Mutineer. 5 boat, and the only survivor of a vessel that foundered in a storm. ‘‘ Captain Freelance made me his second of- ficer, and, perforce, | accepted. At present I command the wreck, as you see,” and the youth smiled grimly, then he added: ’ v. beg to surrender the vessel and crew to you, sir,” and he saluted Captain Grenville. ** And the crew are below decks?” ** You hear them, sir.” | ‘* All drunk, I suppose?’ ‘“‘ All mad by this time, sir, doubtless. They have been shut up there since before dawn the night you attacked the schooner.” ‘How many inall?” _ ‘Our crew numbered eighty men; but we lost a number in your attack upon us, several more fell in a struggle we had among ourselves, a dozen were killed by lightning, and how many are now alive I cannot say.” ‘‘The schooner it was, then, that we saw struck by agree: od ‘‘ Yes, sir, and that stroke saved my life.” “How mean you, boy?’ asked Commodore Brainard. “The crew of the schooner never liked my advancement, sir, to an officer’s rank, and hated me—a waif cast up by the sea to the quarter- deck, and because I saved the life of this gentle- man, here, the other night, they saw fit tostring me up to the yard-arm.” € With the consent of Freelance?” ‘No, no, sir; he was ashore and came just in time to save me, for which he incurred the dis- pleasure of his men; but he cut me down and carried me to his cabin; see, I bear their mark on my throat,” and Merle pointed to the bruised circle around his neck. “You do indeed, poor boy. Freelance came just in time,” said the commodore, a tone of sympathy in his voice. ‘Yes, sir, for I was insensible when he cut me down; but for the act he lost his life—” ‘What! Do yous the truth?” ‘‘ Yes, sir, Captain Freelance is dead,” sorrow- fully said the youth. ‘Slain by his men?” ‘‘ Yes, sir; after the schooner ran out to sea the men came into the cabin and demanded that I should be given up tothem. Whether it was arranged to take the life of Captain Free- lance I know not; but he refused to give me up, struck down the ringleader, and a struggle fol- lowed, in which the chief lost his life.” ‘The sea is wellrid of a most reckless and des- perate buccaneer, at last.” ‘* True, Commodore Brainard, but a man who, in spite of his sins, had a noble heart,” warmly said the youth. ‘** With the chief dead,” continued Merle, *‘I was ed on deck and again swung up with a rope around my neck; but, just then the light- ning burst from the clouds, and striking the mainmast shivered it to splinters, while the men who held the rope were struck dead. ‘* Being in mid-air, I Sir% is all that saved my life, and, as it was, I fell to the deck par- tially stunned. ‘*But, recovering myself, I found that the wind had torn away the foremast, and the wreck of the mainmast, and that the schooner was a mere hulk upon the waters, while, to my surprise and delight, the frightened crew had shed to the cabin, and were busy drinking the chief’s wine and liquors, of which there was a very large supply on board. Instantly the thought seized upon me to re- venge myself upon my foes, and in a twinkling, had closed and securely barred the cabin companionway, and then battened down the forecastle and ward-room hatches. ‘* Every one, excepting Seta and those kill- ed by the lightning, were below, and armin myself from the bodies of the slain { awai the result, while the storm increased and the sea washed the dead from the deck, broke the guns from their lashings, and I believed would se the wreck. ‘Whenever the drunk and maddened crew below rs sg to break up through the com- panionway, I fired down upon them and with good effect, for ere long they gave themselves up for lost and reveled in drunkenness. “You know the rest, gentlemen; you hailed me, and I ho you would come on board yesterday, as I became weaker and weaker.” ‘**But who was it that replied to my hail, last night?” asked Captain Grenville, me arc ‘It was one of the crew, sir, from the stern lights. I also replied, but my voice was too weak to reach you. f, this wreck, 66 Now, sir, erle tendered the and her crew to you,” and cutlass he held in bis hand. r boy, you are not a prisoner, and I pardon you willingly, as you were not an inten- tional buccaneer; even you been, your brave conduct would have gained you on from the President. Now, Grenville, let the men break open the cabin companlonway, and we will see what style of demons we have below decks.” “ Ay, ay, commodore,” and Captain Grenville gave the order to his men, and the cabin-way was opened. Instantly there rushed forth a score of wild- _——_—-—- eyed, haggard-faced beings, looking more like very devils than mortal men, and armed with cu pistols and knives, they hurled them- selves upon the surprised and ed crew. “Shoot them down! they are wild madmen, all of them,” cried Captain Grenville, springing forward, and at once a desperate combat be- gan, the buccaneers uttering wild shrieks and iabolical laughter, while they fought with the frenzy of fiends incarnate. But the frigate’s men doubled them in num- ber, and, cool and fearless, gained the mastery after a short and desperate conflict, and those of the buccaneers who were not slain were bound securely. “‘Great God! this will turn the frigate into a lunatic asylum! Thank Heaven there are no more of them!” exclaimed Commodore Brain- vir and then, led by Merle, they entered the cabin. There a horrible sight met their view, an brave as they were, those beholding it star back with a cry and a shudder. The rich carpet was torn from the floor, and fifteen or twenty dead bodies lay in a heap, the tall form of Freelance surmounting the ghastly ile. . Bottles, broken and whole, strewed the floor, with arms of all kinds and nations, and upon several spirit casks, emptied of their contents were d men seated, tied into position, an holding in their nerveless hands musical instru- ments, as though playing upon them. One held a violin, another a flute, and a third a Spanish guitar. o the supposed music of this ghastly trio the mad revelers had danced around the dead pile of humanity, drinking, cursing, howling, sing- ing and laughing, in wild glee, until human na- ture could stand no more, and one by one they would sink down to die. The floor and walls were yippee bet with blood; the faces of the dead were blackening with de- cay, and their eyes were wide open, sightless, yet staring. sight, and It was a desperate, ptnaligse dio no wonder those brave men shrunk back from that cabin, which had been the revel-chamber of maniacs. At agen Merle step into the death-den, and laid his hand upon the body of the chief. ‘‘ This is Captain Freelance,” he said, quietly. The dark face was turned toward them; the light fell full upon every bold, fearless feature, and the black eyes seemed to question them, though dead, while the tall, elegant form was visible in all its proportions. With a bound Captain Grenville sprung for- ward, and dropping on his knees before the dead chief, cried in a voice of anguish: “Great God! this man is my brother !” CHAPTER VI. THE VENDETTA. LEAVING the death-haunted schooner rocking n the deep blue sea, a strange scene enact- in her cabin, I will beg the kind reader to cast a retrospective glance with me to a time a number of years before the incidents related in the pea hee chapters of this story; which, though tinged with fiction, is based on reality, far more strange and true. To a sunny southern land, whose shores are washed by the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, I would have the reader come with me and view a pleasant scene, upon a balmy afternoon, not very long after the close of the 1812 war with eS end he is heading sh d grace -of-war is heading shorewar under a cloud of canvas, and this is the only sail that dots the blue waters, whose waves spring up and burst in rainbow showers under the pressure of the sea breeze. Along the shore are visible a number of plan- tation homes, half-embowered in the groves of orange, myrtle and magnolia trees, and, sur- rounded by broad piazzas, as they all are, and overlooking gardens of rare flowers and velvet lawns, they appear, just what ey are, the abodes of the rich and refined, who have gath- ered around them every comfort and luxury that heart could desire. A silence, inviting repose, brooded over the land, broken only by the shrill shriek of the eagle from his eyrie, or the splash of the alliga- tor, as he plunged into his lair in some deep la- goon. Upon a point of land jutting out from the main, and forming the arm of a small harbor, stood the handsomest of the houses alon shore—a white villa, large, rambling and beau- tifully situated, for from its wide porticoes could be viewed far up and down the coast, and in- land, as the location was somewhat elevated above the surrounding country, and terminated in acliff half a hundred feet in hight, at the base of which the waves fell with heavy roar. Upon the cliff was a rustic arbor, or summer- house, half hidden in vines, and a lovely retreat from which to view the Gulf, and the shores upon either side. Within this arbor were two persons at the time of which I write, and their eyes were turn- ibe ‘em the coming vessel, a league distant, and heading toward the point of land. u eee nL ee eee re oy S The one was a maiden of eighteen, tall, grace- ful, and with a dark, rich, olive complexion, warmed by a sunny clime, Her eyes were dark, full of fire, and very large and beautiful, while in her manner there was an irresistible softness and fascination, She was attired in a dress of soft, light ma- terial, and wore about her shoulders, a dark mantle of rich lace, which half concealed the ie ae of her exquisite form. , ‘ er companion was a young man of perha twenty-one years of age, with a bold, frank 3 and a face peculiarly PR sb Wer cinia * while his form was above the medium hight, and denoted strength and activity. He was clad in the undress uniform of a ju- nior officer in the United States Navy, and hi jaunty cap was encircled by a gold cord. “The brig comes bravely on, Helen; within the hour my brother will have landed, and then, sweet one, you will have to guard well your heart, for he is dangerously handsome and fas- cinating J assure you,” and the young officer smiled at his fair companion, half seriously. “Loving you as I do, Arthur, how can I ever love Launcelot, except as a sister should love a brother?” reproachf said the maiden. “T was but jesting, Helen; but indeed, Lance is a splendid fellow, and you will admire him:— a little wild, perhaps, and a restless wanderer, but with a heart true as steel. ‘“‘From boyhood I have always looked up to Lance as a protector, though he is but two years my senior; still he seems older, and after the death of father he took ch of the plan- tation. When I became a midshipman in the navy, Lance remained at home with mother, and would doubtless now be but a humdrum planter, had it not been—” The young man paused, and the maiden, see- ing that he did not continue, asked: ‘**Had it not been for what, Arthur? You remember I have lived here but six months, and know little of your neighborhood and its people, excepting what 1 have learned from you. But you look pained; perhaps I should not ask you more?” “There is nothing that I will not tell you wife, and should eves ou are my promi nt na ow ding the name you bear; but it isa vata subject to me.” **Then do not speak of it, Arthur.” **'Yes, I may as well tell you now as in the future, and have it over with. Have you ever heard how my father died, Helen?’ ‘** Papa told me he was killed in a duel, and said I must not speak of it.” ‘Yes, he fell by the hand of the man who owned yonder plantation—the fourth from here —see, the one adjoining my own home,” and the young man pointed down the coast, to what had once n an elegant mansion, but was now wearing the badge of desertion and neglect. ‘You refer to the Darrington estate a Yes; the place of Colonel Ferd Darring- n. “Tt is deserted now, I have heard, and m maid, Chloe, says it is haunted,” said Helen, wit a slight shudder. ; “Haunted by bitter memories, it certainly is, Helen, for four of its masters have fallen a vendetta with my family, and three of my an- cestors have also lost their lives confronting a Darrington, for a bitter feud exists between our maT ee Tang go 8 torial ong ago, and my grea oth- er, an Sinireae and a beauty, was the innocent cause, She loved my egreat-grandfather, and his rival, a Darrington, never forgave him, and shot him down, a few years after his m . * e24 a the Nea chads ie the vendet- which offered up a life every few years, un- til'my father fell Ly the band of Colonel Ferd Da ose ‘Perhaps here it would have ended, for neith- er my brother Lance nor sa wig cared to kee up the red record, especially Lance, as he, think, loved secretly the only child of the colo- nel, Lucille Darrington, whom in some way he had met, and who certainly returned t ove. ‘‘But Colonel Darrington was a bitter man, and one night met Lance face to face with his daughter, and the result was a challenge to my oreThat eave just after I left ; was five years ago a e home to enter the navy; but from my mother I ted the challenge, and selected learned all. ** Lance accep swords as the weapons, and, a splendid swords- man, disarmed the colonel; but it did not end here, and Colonel Darrington demanded a sec- ond meeting with pistols. “Tt was granted and Lance received the fire of the colonel, who wounded him in the arm, but he fired in the air. ‘This so infuriated his enemy, that the colo- nel forward and struck Lance in the his glove. “Of course this was too much for human na-- ture, and especially Grenville human nature, to stand, and my brother challenged Ferd Darring- ton, determined to kill him, for he knew that the one whose life he had twice spared had killed our father. ‘“Kagerly Colonel Darrington accepted, chose JOO EOMUIG <S (EO) i