Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 172 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

oe = ae eee + _ _ ete oe Lely _— a Pa — i . “ Qa ena ~_ — - ‘ ae . ' « 4 4 “ y 4 7 — ee = ‘ oo now alive shall ornament the rigging of your own craft.” ‘* Good God! would you be so vile a brute?” ‘‘ You shall see, sir; ho there, men, rig chains in the rigging of this craft for the hanging of these men!” As if in no way strprised at the order of their chief, the pirates sprung to obey with alacrity, and ina very short while the yard-arms, gaff and bowsprit, even, had small chains swinging from them. ‘* As commander, sir, you shall swing from the gaff,” said the Black Pirate, and at a wave of his ring-studded hand his crew seized the young officer, manacled his hands behind his back, and dragged him aft. At the same time his crew were also ironed, and the chains fastened closely around their necks, There were some cries for mercy, a few prayers, a curse or two from the most reckless, but stern, fearless silence from the young officer, who sought to show his crew and foes how he could die. ‘*Will you not beg for mercy, sir?’ sneered the Black Pirat-. ‘*For my crew, yes; for myself, no!” ** Would you bave me spare them?” ‘‘ Yes, for they were but obeying orders, and going where their duty as seamen called them.” ‘*] will spare any of them who will join my crew.” ‘* What say you, men?” and the Black Pirate called out to the crew of the Petrel. Some looked at him a scornful refusal, others never raised their heads to reply, and a few, with shame-flushed faces, accepted his terms. ** Knock their irons off, and send them on the brigantine,” ordered the chief. astily the seamen who had purchased their lives with their dishonor, slunk from the sight of their indignant messmates, whom they dared not wait to see die. ‘“‘T have spared some of them, sir,” and the chief again turned to the young officer. ‘Yes, those who dared not face death, and such men are only fit to be pirates.” = “(4 heavens! but your nerve pleases me, and your king shall know how you died, for I shall send my report that I turned his cruiser into a gallovws-ship. ** Ready all! up with them!” And up into the air went the brave young officer and over a score of gallant tars, to strangle to death before the eyes of their foes. But, as though nature rebelled in anger at the cruel deed, suddenly a terrific peal of thun- der fairly shook the sea, and vivid flashes of lightning rent the gathering clouds asunder. ‘To the brigantine, you hounds, for the hurri- cane is upon us. ; ‘**Cast loose thosa grapnels! into the rigging there and furl that canvas. ** Lively, you devils, or you'll follow those Swinging corpses beneath the sea,” yelled the Black Pirate in trumpet tones, and so nimbly did his crew spring to obey, that the two ves- sels swung apart, and the brigantine was reefed close before the tempest struck it. They saw the Petrel careen far over as the wind and waves swept down upon it, and then all was darkness upon the face of the deep, for the inky clouds and gale-driven spray turned day into darkness. To CHAPTER XVI. A LEAP FOR LIFE. TuHat Leon St. Vale felt that he was abidin Over a powder magazine with a lighted match _ In hand and the kegs open, it took him a véry short while to find out, after his going on board the pirate brigantine. He saw that the huge negro was a man of education, and a most thorough seaman, but from whence he had come not one of his crew seemed to know. Yes, there was one exception, and that was Congo, his deformed y-servant; but the man had not been found on board with courage enough to question that hideous monster in the shape of a human being. As for the chief, he called himself simply Captain Ibouy, a very apprepriate name, Bi. Vale thought, and rather encouraged the Lelief among his crew that he was half man, half devil. He certainly acted upon the superstitious feelings of the ignorant men he commanded by om queer antics, ghastly guests and love of dead nes. After his meal, which was invariably taken alone until St. Vale boarded the brigantine, if I except his skeleton companions, Congo was wont to range the ghastly sewtette back against the cabin walls, and it was the wont of the chief to chat with them in a most friendly fashion, and sometimes, in conversing with the English lieu- tenant, he would turn and appeal to one of the bony forms his surgeon had so skillfully dressed, as thongh he expected an answer to his ques- tioning. That all this caused St. Vale the utmost ab- horrence there is 20 question; but be had placed Se = SSS _—_—_—— = ee — x3 28 Le = The Black ‘Pirate. Sa ee ee himself in the lion’s den, and could only strive to keep his head from between his jaws. The steady chase of the Vulture Leon St. Vale had watched with eager interest, and noted that the pirate had it in his power to drop the brig when he wanted to, for he was com- pelled to confess he had never seen a more sea- worthy and swift vessel than was the brigan- tine. When they had dropped the Vulture and come upon the Petre) n St. Vale was in an agony of dread, for well he knew the brig by sight, and that it was the very craft that bore on board Sir Grey Alstone and Eve, as before leaving he had learned that they were to sail with Captain Rupert Cuthbert, Though with all this dread at his heart, for be had seen enough of the brigantine, ber com- mander and ferocious crew to know that they were a match for either the Vulture or Petrel, he had to play well his part with tbe Black Pirate, who said to him: ‘“‘If the Valture were to capture us your neck would be snapped.” ‘““No, Id make some excuse about being prisoner to you,” laughed St. Vale, though he felt little in humor for merriment. Then came the attack upon the Petrel, and St. Vale had made up his mind that the Black Pirate should die by his hand ratber than that his im- ere eyes should fall upon Eve, whom his glass ad shown him upon the brig’s deck, and it was with delight that the coming of the Vulture as she did, and which he had just descried, gave him a chance to call off the pirate crew to save themselves. When chased by the Petrel, after seeing the transfer of Sir Grey and Lady Eve to the Vulture, Leon felt greatly relieved that the maiden was now out of danger, but feared greatly for the brig, as be was convinced from all he had seen that the Black Pirate was a foe that could not be taken unless by a vastly supe- rior vessel and crew to what the brigantine was and was manned with. Knowing that Eve, in the Vulture, had safely gone on to Halifax, Leon St. Vale had now changed his mind as to a plot he had om hand, and which will be developed as the story goes on, and determined to, in some way, leave the hated vessel at the first opportunity, for the Black Pirate had told him he was going to run down the coast of the United States from Port- land to the Gulf of Mexico, where he expected to make many important captures. The night that land was sighted on board the Petrel the reader will remember tliat a sud- den hurricane swept down upon the brig in which Lord Cecil Milnor and several of the crew were carried off by the waves. That same tempest Leon St. Vale bad been carefully watching as it approached and, being on deck, and in charge of the brigantine at the time, he brought her round head to, to meet it. Just before dark he had observed a small chebacca-boat, such as are often seen on the Maine coast, or rather were at thattime, further insbore, and under bare poles, as though at anchor and trying to hide from the brigantine. Not even the look-out on the pirate had seen the little craft, and as it was just in a line be- tween the brigantine and the shore, and the coming tempest was bearing right toward it, St. Vale determined to make a desperate effort to escape from the deck of the buccaneer craft. This effort he made, just as the hurricane struck the brigantine with terrific force, and a deluge of waters was mii the deck. The first shock over, and, unseen by any one, he leaped into the sea, and was borne along upon the avalanche of waters, driven by the wind at terrific speed. Suddenly in the foaming caldron something sped his arm. “‘Great God!” he cried, for he feared he had been seized by a shark, and instantly he whip- ped out a dirk from his breast pocket. ** Don’t kill me, sir.” In the glare of the phosphorescent waters he saw a face looking into his own, and knew that it must be one of the brigantine’s crew, swept off by the waves, and he answered: “T donot intend to kill you, my man; but you must release gear grasp upon me,” The poor wretch could only catch the words, amid the howling wind and roaring waters, that told him to release his hold of the arm he had grasped with drowning energy, and shriek- ed forth: ‘*Ob sir, if I do, I shall die, for I cannot swim.” ‘* Release me, I say!” But the terrified man threw his arms around St. Vale’s neck and cried piteously: ‘* Save me; oh save me, sir!” “TI cannot, for your weight will drown both of us. ‘Release me!” was the stern response. But the drowning wretch clung but the closer and they both sunk beneath a rolling wave. At length one arose to the surface and steadied himself as well as he could upon the top of the driving waters. That one was Leon St. Vale, and his knife was gone, for it was buried im the heart of the drewning pirate. | | CHAPTER XVIL. OUT OF THE DEPTHS. Ir was a hard thing to do, to drive a knife te the heart of one who clung to him, begging him tosave him from death; but Leon St. Vale saw that he must rid bimself of the human burden he carried, or sink with him. In his mad terror the man would not release his hold upon him and a struggle for mastery would but tire him out, so he must act promptly oe deep into the broad breast went the keen ade. Rising to the surface, St. Vale found that the fury of the hurricane had passed on ahead, and that he was in the flow of the tempest. yet still driven on at great speed. He had the bearings of the chebacca-boat well in his mind, and felt that he must be near it, “* eagerly he gezed into the mist ahead of im. A bold swimmer, having never met his equal, and once having swum for hours in a gale, when washed overboard from his vessel, he had felt confidence in reaching the little craft, if not driven by it in the darkness and storm, and then he knew he had to take his chances of reaching some of the small islands he had ob- served along the coast before the sun bad set. In either case he understood fully the desper- ate chances he had taken; but to remain on the Black Pirate’s vessel was even worse, for he knew that there was a suspicion upon him which might break forth at any moment, while, if the brigantine captured the brig, be would be forced to behold her crew cruelly put to death, unable to aid them, and perhaps forced to be master of ceremonies at their execution, for he did not doubt but that the chief would put him to some such test as this to try his loyalty to the black flag he professed to have adopted. These thoughts and conclusions had caused Leon St. Vale to take the desperate chance of reaching the chebacca boat, or failing in that, of trying to gain the coast, five leagues from where the brigantine was at the time the burri- cane struck her. His eyes were therefore kept strained for a sight of the little craft, and at last, just as he had given up all hope of seeing it, and believed he had been driven by in the darkness, he rose on a mighty wave, and sighted a dark object a few points to the port, and half a dozen cable- lengths away. Another wave coming along the next instant, and the dark object took the shape of a hull and masts. He shouted with joy at the discovery and struggled manfully in an oblique course to reach the little craft, at the same time hailing loudly, to rouse any one to his aid, and prevent his driving by. But though he neared the craft no answer came to his hail, and he grew too hoarse to cry out more, and felt that he was weakening him- self thereby, and keeping silent devoted his every energy to the struggle. On the wild waters drove him, and slightly nearer to the craft his tremendous exertions brought him, yet it seemed as though be could not reach it. To be driven past there he knew was certain death, for he was becoming utterly worn out and must sink from exhaustion long ere he could reach the coast. With this thought seething through his brain, he worked like a giant, and crept nearer the chebacca boat, though he was swiftly driving landward with the gale. Nearer and nearer, and yet seemingly so far away. One more loud hail he gave, and yet no an- swer came from the boat. He could see the craft bounding wildly over the passing waves at times, and then burying her bows deep beneath them. That she was at anchor he knew, and con- cluded, as her decks were deluged with water, her crew, trusting in her perfect séaworthiness, had gone below to keep from being washed overboard, He knew therefore that he could only depend upon himself for safety, and like the bold man he was, he set bis heart in his task, determined not to die, but to live. Nearer and nearer the chebacea boat, and vet nearer and nearer the coast, until at last the little craft was not thirty feet, away. But would he reach it, with that mad torrent driving him by at race-horse speed? Putting forth a giant effort, and not yielding to fatigue, though he felt as though bis very head would burst, he grasped, just as he was goin by, the cabie of the port anchor, for she ad both books out, and though it lacerated his hand, be held on. Another effort, and he got a firmer gripe, and then, as a huge wave bounded over the sharp bows. he went with it, grasped the mast, held on until it was gone by, and tottering aft, fe)l almost fainting into the cockpit, bis strength, his energy, utterly gone from him. But he dragged himself out ef the depths, a stamch though small deck was beneath him, and be was safe. Utterly prostrated by his long and terrific struggle, Leon St. Valesunk into a deep, dreany. omichooksseom