Beadle's Dime Library No. 109 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

. we a ee et a ee steel and fire, the pirate crew swept aft, carry- ing ali opposition before them. **Now at them! over them! strike off their ike heads with your cutlasses,” and like a ercules the Pirate Chicf‘hurled men from his pathway as though they were mere children, and followed by his red devils, he swept aft, and all was lost. ‘Mercy! quarter! quarter!” The cries resounded upon all sides and came from the crew of the cruiser, for they had been cut down, routed, defeated upon their own deck, and by not more than half their number. CHAPTER XXXV. THE BUCCANEER’S PRIZE. ‘Wao commands this vessel?” and the firing having ceased the buccaneer chief stood glancing around him with no more excitement than he would have shown under the most ordinary cir- cumstances, Out of the crowd a young man stepped for- ward and said: *“* Since the captain is dead I am the ranking officer.” "4 How are you supplied with the munitions of war? “We have a full supply.” ‘*Good! TI need iron to get me gold. You have other things on board here that I need, or { would not have attacked you, for bard knocks are generally all we get out of a vessel-of-war. You captured, several days ago, a treasure ship bound for the Spanish main.” **Ta! how know you that, Sir Pirate?” The chief smiled, but, making no reply, turned and walked aft, while his men were busy secur- ing what booty they could, and stores and am- munition they needed. Halting amidships he gazed upon the sicken- ing scene of death and misery around him, and the moonlight fell full upon his face and form. The latter was a model of manly beauty, tall, straight, broad-shouldered and as wiry as a tiger; the face was very dark, stern, and a Jong brown mustache drooped over the mouth, soft- ening the scornful expression that rested there. His eyes were large, and seemed to blaze in excitement and melt in repose, and could flash from sadness to intense anger in an instant. His hair was worn long, dropping upon his broad shoulders, and a soft hat, in which was a sable plume, aap in with a diamond dag- ger, shaded his haughty head. He was dressed in buckskin boots with fane tops, wore knee-breechbes of red cloth, a blac velvet jacket trimmed with gold lace, a blue searf of silk net, and buckskin gloves, now blood- stained. **Hullo, Marko! here’s game, and she’ll be mine if I fight for her,” suddenly cried a voice aft, and then came in stern tones: ** Back, miscreant, or Ill sheathe my sword in your heart.” he words brought the pirate chief to him- self, for he had been lost in reverie, and bound- ing aft to the quarter-deck, he beheld an elder- ly gentleman, standing sword in hand before the open companionway, in which crouched a feminine form. | It was the Earl of Belmont, and Lady Grace, and, confronting the nobleman, were three buccaneers, one of whom had spoken claiming a r Se ; “Tl fight thee for her, old man,” he said, coolly, raising his weapon and advancing. ‘Hold! what means this outrage?” and the chief bounded forward. ‘‘It means I’ve a prize, a fair petticoat, cap- tain, and the old gent will noti give her up, un- ti! | show him the temper of my steel.” “Great God! tae Earl of Belmont!”. The cry came from the chief’s lips, and he stepped quickly back, drawing his hat down, so as to the better conceal his battle-begrimed face. ‘* Ay, that am I, the Earl of Belmont; but who are you that calls me by name?” ‘Tt matters not who I am, my lord; I expect- ed not to see you on board this vessel, or would -_-— ee ee ‘never have turned my guns upon her.” ‘‘Ha! have we then met before, and you have received favor at my hands, that you speak thus?” “It matters not, my lord; but you are free to po on your way, without greater barm than has en already done, and I will order my men on my vessel at once,” and turning to the three who stood near, he said sternly: ‘* To the schooner, hounds, and mind you, car- ry nothing with you but the arms you brought.” ** But, captain, Pll not give up yonder lovely wize,” said the man who had before claimed aan Grace. The chief cast a glance at the shrinking form, and turned his face quickly away, while he said ip ringing tones: ‘* Did you hear my order, sirrah?” ‘‘T heard it, captain, but—” ‘Do you intend to obey?” “T will if I get the girl, but not unless.” With a cry like an enraged wild beast the chief sprung toward him, and his cutlass made one sweep thfouzh the air, and fell with terrific force upon the blade of the man who vainly tried to ward it off, for down upon the head it came, cleaving the skull in twain. d « ‘ / * ee SS a $a re ree ee Se Not a sound escaped the lips of the mutineer, while his two companions, who had doggedly oe by as though to urge him on, fled for their ives. ‘“‘Galley Slaves, obey!” called the chief in his trumpet tones. ‘Ay, ay, sir,” was the answer, from half a hundred lips. ‘* Back to the schooner, at once! carry not a thing with you from this vessel! ready all to make sail!” Instantly and quietly the crew obeyed, though some of them failed to drop the plunder they had secured, Seeing this, the chief walked forward a few steps. ‘“Do you dare me, devils? I said take nota thing with you, more than you boarded with.” All were surprised; none more so than the cruiser’s crew, and all eyes were turned upon the chief, while as each man of the schooner caught his burning gaze, he moved toward his own vessel. ‘** You will not tell me where we have met be- fore, sir chief, for such I see you are; and why from your hands I receive this kindness?” asked the earl. ‘It matters not! Earlof Belmont; I am what I am, no more,” was the haughty reply, and the chief still kept his face from the moonlight, while: ‘‘Oh God! what a scene is this for me!” broke in a low tone of anguish, from the lips of the buccaneer leader. And again the earl approached and said, kind- y: ** Sir chief, myself and family owe much to you, more than we can ever repay; here, you are out of your sphere, so take my advice and give up this mad life you lead, and in me you will ever find a friend.” ‘** Earl of Belmont, you speak idly; you mean well, but you know not what you say; there is no other hfe for me; away from scenes like the one just enacted on your deck, I would go mad with bitter thought. ‘* You are free to go, sir, and I regret the de- tention to your vessel.” ‘* Mysterious man, from my inmost heart I thauk you; but atleast answer me one ques- tion—are you the man whom men call Kyd ?” ‘““-Yes, Earl of Belmont, Jam The Kyd; ay, and worse.” He turned quickly away, sprung upon the Ger ank and then into the ratlines, and said sternly: i Lot her fall off there!” The two vessels swung quickly apart, and standing on the cruiser’s deck, Lady Grace murmured in low, sobbing tones: “The Witch said truly: he is a pirate,” CHAPTER XXXVI. CAVANAUGH. THE Governor’s mansion of New York oy nearly two hundred years ago, was a grand o d stone building, in the Dutch style of architec- ture, and, from being painted white, was called by the burghers Der Vite Sails, a name, which being interpreted means, ‘The White Hall.” The mansion was quite large, stood in a park, and upon a site which is now the Battery grounds. Commanding extensive views across East river to the Long Island Hights, now Brooklyn, up es Hudson river, across to the Jersey shore, and down the beautiful harbor, the mansion was a most desirable abode in which to dwell, and neither the Earl of Belmont, nor any mem- ber of his family, regretted having given up Castle Cor in old Ireiand, that “Emerald gem on the breast of the sea.” Since his coming to New York, some months before, the Karl of Belmont had made a popular Governor, and his family were dearly loved by all who knew them; but yet there were those, among the prominent merchants, who said he was not energetic in freeing the coast of the terrible prrsie Kyd, who each week was winning greater fame as a buccaneer of merciless humor, and who feared neither God, man nor the devil. And yet the king’s yacht, or cutter, known as the Bloodhound, was constantly cruising about the bay and coast, in search of the famous a for her commander, Clement St. Vane, ad sworn a solemn oath to yet bring Kyd to the gallows, And knowing of this vow of Captain St. Vane The Kyd had boldly sent him word that he would one day swing him to the yard-arm of his schooner, and sail past New York City with him there, and in broad daylight, Such was the state of affairs shortly after the arrival of the Earl of Belmont in the Colonies, and, with a deperate pirate cruising off the coast, and sometimes boldly running up into the harbor, it was no wonder that the family in the White Hall were kept constantly in a state of excitement. One pleasant afternoon, and near the sunset hour, Kate of Belmont sat alone in the private parlor of the mansion, and which looked out upon the lawn that sloped to the river bank. Though growing more beautiful each day, there was yet a look of dreamy sadness ever ‘ 4 . ‘ : . Yi _ Captain Kyd, the King of the Black Flag. — ee — PS a 8 Se ee —— ee haunting her face in repose, showing that her thoughts were often roaming to scenes of the past. The room was handsomely furnished, and a harp stood near where she half sat, balf reclin- ed, upon an easy lounge; but the harp-strings were unswept now, and silence brooded over all, for the Governor was visiting the forts, the Lady Lenore and Grace bad gone for a horse- back ride with a young officer of the Governor’s staff, and Captain Clement St. Vane, who was in port, thoroughly refitting his cutter to go again after the famous pirate, and Kate was left alone with her thoughts. ‘*Ah me, Icould have mourned him dead a thousand times, with less grief than I feel now, knowing him to be what Grace has told me he is, and what I cannot but believe him to be, ‘‘ And men seek my heart in love, and my fa- ther urges that I give my hand: alas! the hand must go without the heart, for that is buried in the grave of the past; would to God he also slept in his grave, for how will all this end? ** Ay, how can it end, but in death?’ She started, a half-cry upon her lips, as sud- denlv a shadow fell into the open window, and she beheld a tall form sanding within three feet of her. She would have fled, but she had not the strength; cry out she dare not, and, white as a corpse she sunk back, one word upon her lips: * Cavanaugh.” There he stood before her; magnificent, digni- fied, and with his sad, impassioned eyes fixed upon her, but greatly changed from the youth of two years before, and after a moment he said in his deep, earnest voice: ‘* Lady Kate of Belmont, have you forgotten me quite?” ‘* No, I remember you but too well.” “* And is this your welcome to an old friend?’ “Would you ask for a different greeting when you know what you are?” pene started visibly, but replied in a light ne: : ‘Tam asailor, a wanderer over many seas, and one who, tired of the life I lead, would seek some fond heart, and have it for all my own: do you know of such an one that could love Kenton Cavanaugh, Lady Grace, in return for the idola- trous love he would give her?” ‘Yes, the Kenton Cavanaugh of long ago, a woman might love; but not the mockery of what he once was, not what he is to-day, could a pure-hearted maiden regard with affection,” she answered firmly. He started again, and walked to and fro for an instant: then he said quickly: ‘*Do you know measI am, Rate of Belmont?” ce Yes. ? ‘*My name?” ‘* | dare not utter it; for it is one that mothers ere their naughty children with: itisaname I shuddered at hearing before I Jeft Castle Cor: it is a name branded with infamy and red with blood: yes, Kenton Cavanaugh, I know you now, as Kid, the King of the Black Flag,” His face was like marble, but he said calmly: 2 And thus knowing me you could never love me? ** Never!” ‘** Once, you let me look into your eyes, the windows of your soul, Kate of Belmont, and see down into your inmost heart, and what do you think I saw there?” ; ‘* Your image, as it was,” she said, in a low one, ‘Yes, and you say it was not indelibly en- graven there; that time has faded it?’ ‘No, it isnot there, but an eternity of time would not have erased what thy crimes have done,” ; ; ‘*Then my image is notin your heart, Kate of Belmont?” ac No. ”? ‘* Whose is?’ and he asked the question with a jealous flash in his eyes. ‘“A grave only is there; the grave of my buried love for the Kenton of the past,” ‘Kate of Belmont, farewell; to-day we part forever, ; ‘*TIt was madness for me to come here and see you, but I had not the strength to resist. ‘“T am all that is bad, far worse than you can ever know; but there is one thing that is pure and good in me, and that is my love for you. ‘** Pehold yonder brig lying at anchor under the very guns of the Bloodhound; that vessel I captured last night, and my crew are on board of her, while my schooner, the Galley Slave, awaits me two leagues away. : ‘‘T came here to see you, eo look once more in your face, in your eyes, and see if your love for me, as mine for you, had remained : ‘* Alas! you cast me off, and I do not blame you, for what pure woman could love such as I? And now I bid you farewell. “But mark my words, Lady Kate of Castle Cor, from this day I sink in oblivion the and revel only in the present, eoping nothing for the future, and so merciless s whole world shall tremble at the name of Kyd; heed my prophecy.” Ue turned on his heel and strode away across the lawn, while tremblingly fascinated she re- be that the . ined after him, saw him enter a boat _ ==comicbooks.com , we Oo , pn, 4 t . ‘ he Negi Soh eo wee ae : * 4 | 1