Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 172 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

( i and SS a ee eo less slumber, and he only awoke when a flood ef light streamed in his face, and he heard the words: ‘‘Messmates, the blow is over, and the Kitty- | wink has stood it well; but I don’t want to be | eaught in another such a gale, and have to ride | it out and trust in eur mud-hooks.” ‘* 16 was that cursed — Pete, that caused us to get caught, for if we hadn’t dropped sail to hide from him, we could have been in the Kennebec before the gale struck us.” ‘‘That’s so, Jack; but I, for one, don’t want | no more such gales, nor any pirates, and I hope that one has gone to Davy Jones’s locker.” ‘‘Not he; for pirates don’t sink in gales, as their ships is all made storm-proof by witches afore they sail.” | ‘‘That’s so. I wish they’d do as much for the Kitty wink.” | ‘*No, you don’t, messmate; we don’t want no | witch work on board our little craft.” | Every word of this conversation was distinct- | ly heard by Leon St. Vale, as he lay back in the | shadow of the cockpit, half under a canvas awning which had been torn from its fastening by the waves. : The speakers he saw, one of them standing in the companionway, one hand upon the top of each of the doors, which he held half open. His face was a bold one, and not unkindly, and he was dressed in a rough sailor suit. His companion, who sat back in the cabin, was similarly dressed, but St. Vale could not see his face, Just as be had made up his mind that the lit- tle craft was a fissing-smack, and these two were all that were on board, a strange’ voice eried: ‘* Well, lads, you do believe in witches, then?” ‘*T do, of course,” said one. ‘“‘T guess I’ll never be that full of learnin to believe in ’em, Billy Piper,” responde obtber. ‘‘Nor will I, for if there are wizards, there must be witches, and 1 have seen the former,”’ said the man addressed as Billy Piper, and who was not visible to Leon St. Vale. ‘You have seen ’em, Billy?” asked one. ‘Yes, for | was a prisoner to that scourge of the seas, the Black Pirate, and he isa wizard, (ll swear, for if he wants good weather he gets it; if he wants a storm it comes, and his crew say he’s kin to the devil.” ‘‘ How did he capture you, Billy?’ asked one, while St. Vale felt fully com Billy Piper as regarded the ship to Satan. ‘* Ab! it was when I was in the Cuban trade, you know. ‘* He captured our vessel, killed all on board ’cepting me, and robbed her of her cargo and scuttled her.” ‘* How came he to spare you, Bill?” ‘‘T happened to know one of his efficers, who recognized me, for we were boys together in Boston, and begged for my life, and Captain Ebony, that is the Black Pirate, said he’d spare me if I’d turn buccaneer.” * And you did?’ ‘‘Of course I did, and I tried hard to make him believe I was the most bloodthirsty devil on board; but the strange sights I saw in my cruise with him made me slip my piratical cable the first chance 1 got, and I’ve been afraid of salt water ever since, and when I recognized his brigantine this afternoon, I thought we were all gone up, and we would have been if he’d have seen us. ‘‘Don’t you think, messmates, we’d better run in now, as the gale is blown out, and the next time I take the trip from Portland to the Kennebec, I'll walk.” The man standing in the companionway had become interested in the story of the former captive of the Black Pirate, and re-entered the cabin,and in the laugh that followed Billy at determination, to walk from Kennebec to Port- land rather than go to sea again, Leon St. Vale arose with an effort and stepped within full view of those in the cabin. The light from the swinging lamp fell full up- on his haggard face, his shirt front wasred with blood his violent efforts to reach the chebacca- boat had forced from his mouth and nose, and he was certainly a startling looking personage, to appear like an apparition from the deep be- fore the three men. With a wild cry the mam nearest to him bounded te the furthest end ef the eabin; echo- ing the whoop of alarm the other, who had been seated at the table, dove under it, upsetting his chair, while Billy Piper, who had been | ina bunk, threw himself on the furthest side, and drew the shuck mattress over him. ‘Don’t be alarmed, messmates, for I am human,” said St. Vale, laughing im spite of him- self at the ht he had eaused. ‘‘Where did you come from?’ gasped Jack Bhopley, aiming courage at hearing his voice, not the tent to agree with lack Pirate’s kin- ut of the sea,” ‘‘Ask him if he’s Father Neptune or the . devil?’ called out Pete Pearson from under the table. ‘‘T am frem off the Black Pirate’s brig- antine,” said ®t. Vale, anxious te bring the celloquy to am end. —— eee ee -—---<—— The Black Pirate. _— —— a ee es } Instantly his words caused a radical chan in all, for Billy Piper emerged from the bunk, Peter Pearson suared upward from under the table, and Jack Shepley sprung forward, a pistol leveled at the young officer, and cried sternly: ‘‘Then, sir pirate, you are my prisoner!” ' CHAPTER XVIIL. A STRANGE RECEPTION. | It was certainly a startling surprise to Leon St. Vale, to find that his assertion that be had just come from the Black Pirate brigantine should be interpreted into his being one of the vile crew. That his words had created a feeling against him, bitter in the extreme, was very evident, as all the men on the chebacca-boat now coy- ered him with their weapons, and the slightest movement on his part would have ended bis life then and there. But he stood the ordeal without flinching, and said calmly: ‘* Messmates, as Isaid I came from the Black Pirate’s vessel, but I was a prisoner on board.” ‘‘ Aha!” said Jack Shepley, but what he meant by it no one seemed to understand by his manner or the word, and St. Vale con- tinued: ‘‘T ama British naval officer, and boarded the brigantine the other day in a calm, be- lieving it to be one of your swift and pretty American trading vessels, ‘‘I found out my mistake upon seeing the Black Pirate, and darkness coming on, and with it a breeze springing up, the brigantine escaped from the Vulture, my vessel, which was one of the two vessels sent out by His Majesty to hunt for pirates. | ‘‘The other, the Petrel, engaged the pirates in a short action and escaped, and has been pursued by her ever since; but seeing your vessel stripped of canvas late this afternoon, observing that no one else on the brigantine saw her, I took advantage of}the gaJe that struck her and jumped overboard and here I am. ‘‘ Now, messmates, a fellow-sesman in dis- tress asks your hospitality.” ; There was that in the frank manner and fearless face of Leon St. Vale that won the confidence of his hearers, and they as frankly bade bim welcome, for now that they knew he was alive, they felt that he could have no mo- tive in boarding them, and that his danger on the brigantine must have been great indeed, to cause bim to take the risk of the sea to reach them. Pete Pearson readily found some rum on board, and a meal was set out for the daring officer, who gave the three men a history of his experience on board. “You see, lieutenant, this is a little craft, ahd her cargo isn’t very valuable; but she be- longs to Pete and myself here, and we trade between the Kennebec and Portland, and occa- sionally get a passenger, like Billy Piper here, which helps the pot to boil at home. ‘‘ But we den’t want to lose that little, and as my two messmates were asleep, and I wasn’t very far from it, for I can doze and steer, too, I didn’t see the brigantine until near at hand, and Billy Piper swore it was the Black Pirate, and he ought to know, as you: heard him tell the story, you say, while you was lying in the it. ‘* Well, we stripped her quick, and trusted our bare poles wouldn’t be seen, and not daring to hoist sail, we bad to drop hooks and ride out the gale which the Kittywink did prime, as you see; but mow we’ll set the cloth on her and bead for port, and you is welcome to our berth, and we have a few pieces of silver to carry you on to Canada, if you need them.” “My goed fellow, I am amply supplied with funds, and shall pay you liberally for my oe,” “You won’t do no such thing, leftenant, for we don’t make the pot boil off of shipwrecked sailors,” ‘* But I shall have to pay some one to run me round Cape Sable to Halifax, and I think you can make a little more by it than one of your Portland and Kennebec voyages will bring you.” ‘“Wall, as to that, I guess the Kittywink can be chartered, ef you'll give us time to run into Kennebec first.” “ Certainly, teke your own time, and if I can catch a vessel going to Halifax you need not make the rua unless you wish to.” ‘* We'll make it, aud not be hard on you either, leftenamt, amd you'll find the Kitty- wink a bird for sailing,” and Jack Shepley went on deck, and soon after Leon St. Vale had an opportunity to see that the skippers had not praised their little vessel too highly, for she fairly flew over the rough waters on her way into port, after ber narrow escape from capture by the Black Pirate, and shipwreck in the fierce tempest. Having unloaded their cargo, and bidden Billy Piper farewell, with the assurance from him that he would walk rather than take the sea trip again, the skipper, mate and crew, all in two persons, got the Kittywink under way for Halifax, and the second day out as Leon St. Vale came on deck he found the little vcs- sel flying with all speed from a strange sail that was in sight. One glange at the stranger, whom both Jack Shepley and Pete Pearson had pronounced ‘‘ another bloody pirate,” and the young of- ficer cried eagerly: ‘‘Ready about, Jads; that vessel is no pirate, but the Vulture,on board of whieh I am first Luff. ‘* Head for her, and you'll save yourselves a long voyage, and get full pay in the bargain, as though you bad made the run to Halifax.” “Are you certain, leftenant?’ asked the cautious Jack, eying the vessel very closely. ‘Yes, are you certain it’s the Vulture, sir?’ echoed Pete. *Do you know your own mother’s face when you see it, my lads?” “T don’t, for the old lady’s been dead since I were a kid,” said Pete. “IT does, God bless the old lady,” responded Jack, ‘Well, I know yonder craft as well, so ready about, and head for her,’’ and Leon St. Vale himself sprung to the tiller. The Vulture in the mean time was holding on her course to the northward, having evi- dently been blown far to the south by the gale, and sighting the coast was running for Halifax. The Kittywink shook out all of her reefs, in spite of the stiff breeze that was blowing, aud St. Vale placed her on the port tack to cross the forefoot of the Vulture, and drawing nearer signaled to her that they wanted to speak with her. Half an hour after the young officer had paid the two skippers for his trip, bidder them farewell, and sprung over the side of the Vu!tnre, which continued on her course while the Kittywink went flying back to ber loved — Keonebec. Seated in the cockpit, and with a sailor’s tarp..ulin and rough pea-jacket on, no one had recognized Leon St. Vale until he suddenly sprupg upon the deck, and then all who saw him vave a sudden start, while Lieutenant Kent Lomax, the officer who had stepped into his plece, and who liked not his return, said sneeringly: ‘Well, sir pirate, have you come back to beg your king’s mercy?” Instantly the good right arm of the returned officer went out straight from the shoulder, and Kent Lomax measured his length upon the deck, while St. Vale walked aft, and raising his tarpaulin to Captain Stannix, Sir Grey Al- stone and Lady Eve, who had not yet recog- nized him, and who stood in a group on the quarter deck, said calmly: “Sir Roslyn, I have to report my return, sir, and also, I regret to say, the punishment of Lieutenant Lomax for an insult offered upon this deck.”’ **Leon St. Vale,” and as the name passed her lips Eve took an involuntary step forward. “What! St. Vale! you in a common sea- man’s garb, and so far forgetting yourself as to strike the officer of the deck. “By Heaven, sir, but in your going, your | coming, and your actions there is some strange mystery that should not hang over a king’s officer, sir.” ‘‘A mystery, sir, I can clear up, if you will hear me.”’ ‘““When you have replaced that garb for your uniform, I will give you an interview in my cabin, sir.” The face of Leon St. Vale flushed, but he bowed and went below to change his attire, strangely impressed with the reception he had received. CHAPTER XIX. THE THREAT. Wuewn Sir Roslyn Stannix, the Vulture’s commander, entered the cabin his brow was comic JOO ‘S co ) n