Beadle's Dime Library No. 18 — page 20: what you’re looking at

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

a0 ——----— +-— ——- ——— - -- - dressed the wounds of a pirate who was ciing- ing to life with tenacity. The a.tack was made some three hours be- tore daylight, or thereabouts yet the boats» crews of the vessels were kept busy until day- light in picking up wounded men, while the rest still ept careful guard on board, lest wits reinfarcements the pirates might.be so desper- ate as to attempt to renew the attack. But they did not—their los; had been too gveat fur that. beasts CHAPTER XXXVI. When Colcefrinas was borne into his eham- ber, at the rendezvous, by some of his now- disheartened men, Monona, with mock-sym- pathy upon her lips and in her face, was the first to tender her assistance—for she had re- turned undiscovered, and none but those who were in the secret knew. Groaning more with bitterness of heart than with the pain of his wounds, Coleefrinas bade her leave ats rudely refusing her assistance. And as soon as hia surgeon had attended to his wounds, he or- sere a council of his chief officers to assem- le. “ There has been treason at work somewhere among ourselves!’ said he. “ If the Yankees bad not been forewarned of our intended at- tack, they could not have been so completely prepared. They were at their guns, and the gun loaded expressly for an attack, and their ights and rockets ready to throw their glare upon us! It is evident that there must be some one among us who is false!” The ethers assented to this—but to discover the traitor or traitors was thg thing to be ac- somplehads “Who among you will desert me?” asked the wounded pirate. “ Not ome—we will die with you, but never desert you!” was the unanimous reply. The chief smiled a ghastly smile, for he was sufferiny all the while. “T had expected this devotion!” he said, But you do not understand me. I want a volunteer who will desert—under a flag of truce deliver himself into the hands of the Yankeee, and under the pledge of pardon and rotection, agree to act asa pilot for them. e can gain their confidence by leading them to some of our long-shore boat-stations, from which our men, forewarned, may escape to the hills, and he cas discover who the traitor is that has been so nearly our ruin, and who will be our destruction, wihout he is discovered and pun- ished! Who now will volunteer to de this work ?”” No one responded! It was dangerous; for, once on board the American vessels, and trea- chery there would be sure to meet the rope! ()pen danger none.of them would have shunned. Each man was willing to fight to the last gasp, but none of them liked the idea of wearing a hempen cravat. Few men do. There would be a thousand murders a day were it not for the wholesome fear of that uncomfortable ar- ticle. And yet some mawkish philanthropists, with more sympathy fw the murderers than their victims, would have its use abolished! A little rope among them would benefit the world in general, I believe. “ ] will not send any one, for the duty is as unpleasant as it is full of risk!’’ said Colee- frinas. And then his face brightened, as a new idea seemed to strike him. He dismissed all of his officers, except two in whom he confided more than all ihe rest. To one he said: “ You will see that the lady Monona is, during the rest of the day and night, confined strictly to her ehamber. Let her have communication with no one outside. To-morrow, I care not where the goes!” To the other he confided a me sage in a whisper, only adding, at the close, in a louder tone, “If she consents, bring her here quickly —if ba let her remain until I will it other- wise!” The officer bowed and hurried away, while bis comrade went for a guard to carry out the other order of his chief, This plan will work, I think, muttered the chief, and exhausted with his exertions, he sunk back upon his couch to rest. ————- CHAPTER XXXVII. Mariana, left hopeless by the sudden depart- ure of Colcefrinas, pined even more rapidly than did poor Maraquita, when she had no hope of relief before her, and feared a fate sere dreadiul thin death, Her heart bad not see Re emery. been schooled to reverses, and her nature | taught to bend and yield, rather than to resist | and break. Ah! this is a hard world to learn, eud one is apt to die just when he has got fairly schooled in its bitter lessons. Mariana sat moody and listless in the splen- dor of her prison, when again the sound of footsteps fell upon her ear, and she heard the door unbarred. But she did not raise her towed head from the table whereon it rested, for she knew that they were not his footsteps which she heard—that he was not the one who approached. “T bear a message from Colcefrinas to Ma- riana !’’ said the person who stood before her. She knew the voice, and quickly raised her t black eyes, and anxiously seanned his ace, as if she would read there his tidings before he spake them. “ You know me ?” said the officer. “I do, Solano—I do! What message did ke send to me ?” “He is sorely wounded, or he would have come himself; but he bade me ask you, if he ave you freedom, would you swear to render ars to him and the band a most import- ant service !” “I would die for him! I never have been unfaithful to him, but in aiding the relerse of the poor girl whom he kept here so lonely against her will. He is noble. too noble to war against women, or to try to force then love! Love is a thing which grows--s.owly, but ah! how deep it roots. Go to him and tel} him, that he may command my ye breath in life. I would lose each drop of blocd in my veins, drop by drop, in his service! I ask no freedom but to serve him. Go to him, good Solano, go to him, and tell him this!” “ My instruetions were, if I found you will- ing, to take you with me into his presence!” “Oh joy! I am ready this instant to go. But shall t not go in the garments I used to wen No lady— d h will b “ No, if F ju aright, you will be his page no louiges asi the cer. “And the garmen's you now wear become you too much for any one to wish to see you in any other!” Mariana made no objections. She was but too glad to leave her prison—too glad to go te him for whom she felt a love as wild and deep as it was strange and unnatural. She stood by his side, blushing and trem- bling like a child in the presence of a god! He, still faint and weak from the loss of blood, was also pale, but he never had looked so noble in her eyes, for he spoke very gently and kind y. “These Yankees have been too much for us, Mariana!” said he. ‘And they will yet destroy us all if we do not soon turn the tables on them. Solano says that you are willing to serve me!” ‘With my life, my lord—you have but to command, and | will obey!” “Some one among us has been playing the traitor. The Yankees have been made ac- quainted with our intended movements; and it is only wonderful to me that the traitor, whoever it be, has not revealed our place of rendezvous. Dut that satisfies me that he is yet among us, probably has a family here, and has not yet prepared to finish all his work of treachery. It is necessary to find out who he is, and to mislead the Yankees until we can take them at an. advantage he “You wish me to go ?’ | “Yes, Mariana; for I feel that I can trust you, and when you tell them that you have escaped from your prison, they will believe you—for the lady Maraquita is on board of Allen's vessel, and will confirm your etate- ments |” * She there? Do you wish to secure her ain?” asked Mariana, with an eage~ness which betrayed her feelings. “ No,” said Colcefrinas, with an air of sare- lessness which at once disarmed Mariana af all her jealous thoughts. “TI do not care to rob the Yankee of his worthless treasure. But I will have his life, or drive him and his con- federates away from the coast. That done, we could seek a more quiet home in some other land, but now, they even cut off ow only path of retreat. Can you do me this service, Mariana ?” “T ean and will, faithfully, ir I lose my life in carrying out your wishes. I have no desire but to serve you, no wish but to live and die near oh tr? “We will never be long separated, Mariana!” him news that was far from unimportant. —_ — said the wily pirate. “If we but succeed in driving these pests away, I intend to gather together my treasure, and to go far, far from here. I have seen enough of peril and of bloodshed! Your young days have been dark enes, in future you shall see sunshine !” The impassioned girl knelt by his bedside, and covered his hands with glad tears and kisses. It seemed strange, even to Coleefrinas, that during all this time she did not ask for her' mother. But she seemed to have but one thought—one feeling—to know of, or to care to know of, but one being on earth. ‘‘When shall I go, my master ?” she asked, gs slice arose to her feet. “ As soon as night mantles the sky, my love. Take my own light skiff, which | will have prepared for you. You will easily find the Americans. They are at anchor in Tortuga Bay. When you have learned all you can, and found out who it is that has betrayed us, hasten to my side. They will not watch you, and escape will be easy. In the meantime, do rot speak toa soul here. Your mother is in her apartment, and not very well. But I do not wish her to know that you are here!” “If my master will permit, I will remain by his side until it is time for me to start!” « You surely shall have your wish, my good Mariana! How strange that I should not have discovered your sex before! You are very, very beautiful!” o well was the entranee to the rendezvous of the pirates concealed, that the boats of the Amer can expedition rowed by within less than two hundred yards of it, and did not discover it, on the day after their suecessful repulse of the pirates. And though they hunted up and down the coast for some leagues to the eastward and westward of their anchorage, they discovered nothing of note. When Allen returned to his vessel at night, he was weary and disappointed, for he had felt confident that he would discover the main nest of the gang, and completely break them ap. But he found a visitor who brought to It was none other than the American Consul from Matanzas, in person, who came to de- scribe the suspicious-looking sehooner which was refitting in that oe as a Spanish priva- teer, and which he believed to be a pirate. From the consul’s deseription, Allen had no deubt but that she was his late antagonist, and his first thought was to sail at onee and eapture her. But he knew that Colcefrinas was not in her, fcr he had recognized him in the night attack, and hoped thet he was slain | for twice, with an almost unerring rifle, he had fired at him, as he believed, with good aim. The consul had also learned that near a week would pass before the schooner would be ready for sea, and Allen, therefore, determined to spend a day or two more in his search for the pirates, for he knew that they must be somewhere near. While he was conversing with the consul and Maraquita, a messenger from the officer of the deck announced that a boat with a single person. and that a woman, had come alongside, not having been seen un- til she was within a few feet of the gangway. “If so poor a watch is kept as that, we are never safe from surprise!” said Allen, angrily. “Have the woman brought into the cabin, and double the watch. It is doubtless the same who forewarned us of the night attack. She promised to return.” When the messenger returned, bringing Mariana instead of her mother, Allen was — surprised, and Maraquita uttering a ery of joy, hastened to embrace her, for she felt that to her, principally, she owed her free- dom. Hurried inquiries were made, and re- plies given, between the two females, by which Allen learned that Mariana, fearing that Col- cefrinas would slay her, had escaped, and fled to his vessel for protection. She had not seen her mother, but had heard of the night-attack, and that Colcefrinas was badly wounded. And to her utter astonishment, Mariana now learned that her mother had been the one whe had warned the Americans of the intended at- tack—to her agony we may add, for she had sworn to Coleeirinas that would find out and reveal the traitor, whoever it might be. She knew how wild and jealous was her mo- ther’s disposition, but she had not dret med that it would lead her to be false to those with whom she had dwelt so many years, apd to him whom she had so wildly loved. It must be remembered that Marvana, reared from childhood amongst these des NIGDOOKS (E(0) Cc (E (0)