Beadle's Dime Library No. 18 — page 8: what you’re looking at

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

\ ! —=——_ = SSS GFL EP NE Ee we er ie en wre om + , at a ~~ - 8 The New York Library. * In our power ?” said the mother, strangely quiet for one of her warm blood. “ Yes, mother! We have his treasures un- der our control. We have the power to be- tray him, and to punish him for his perfidy !” “Yet we will not do it, child! Were he a thousand times false to me, though never again should he press his lip to mine, I would not betray him !’’ said Monona. “Very well, mother, mine—very well! You re? tamely bear your wrongs, if you will, but The heavy and sudden report of a gun out- side the coast-line, caused the speaker to atop ere the sentence commenced was finished. “ What was that?” asked Monona, starting at the sound. “ A cannon from seaward! another, and another. The the direction of the ‘Two Sisters,’ Las Dos Hermanas !”’ said Mariano. “ Perhaps Lieu- tenant Allen has found work for his Alligator in strange waters. But the guns all seem to eome from one source. There is no sound like the heavy metal in our vessel!” “That is so—we must send out a boat to see what is going on !” “Tt is night, mother, and a boat will not learn much in the dark!” “True, child. But I eannot bear suspense. A boat may learn something, and one shall be sent. Have Solano called hither !” “As you wish, mother—as you wish—yet ‘twill be useless!” And there goes seem to be in CHAPTER XV. After the storm had passed away, and the wind sighed itself down into a scarcely respect- able breeze, the Alligator was once more headed toward the Cuban shore, under easy sail, according to the directions of Quiestra, to whose pilotage Allen now confided her, for the apparent eagerness of the Spaniard to take her in where the pirates could be found, and in the night when hey would be taken at a disad- vantage, led him more and more into the be- lief that the man was truly his friend, and would work for his interest. The breeze was quite light, and growin more and more faint, when shortly before mide night the look-outs forward cried out, “ Sail Oo !” “Where away?” asked the officer of the deck, startled from a dreamy position on the weather quarter rail. “Right ahead! Two vessels under a full spread of canvass, sir !’’ “The watch to quarters! Rouse all hands from below! Call the captain!” said the offi- eer, hurriedly.” “You take too much trouble, sir!” said Qu- jestra. “ What do you wish to do?” “To bring those vessels to, and take them, if they are pirates!” said the officer, vointing to two white objects, a mile or so ahead, and seeming like two vessels becalmed together, under canvass. ’ “They'll wait where they are till you have @ chance to inspect them !”’ said Quiestra, with ® quiet smile; and he went forward to evade further questioning.” “Stand by ‘pes two forward guns!” cried the officer at this moment, and as he gave the order, Allen came on deck. : “ What is the matter?” asked the young commander. “Two vessels in aight, sir, nearly ahead !” “ Which way are they etanding?” “They seem to be becalmed, sir—they do not alter their bearings!” “ Are they within reach of our iron ?” “T was about to order a trial, sir, when you came on deck !” “Go on with it. Let us know who and what they are!” “Fire as soon as you can throw a shot a half cable's length to windward of the strange sail !” cried the officer. “ Ay, at !” replied the gunners from forward. And ina very few moments a bright flash from one gun, and its thundering report, and that followed by another, shook the little vessel from stem to stern. The hissing iron evidently struck the water near the destined spot, but no re ly came from the a vessels—not a Sitzail of any kind. “ Are they in range of our broadside, sir ?” asked Allen, annoyed that the strangers did not return his fife. “J —_ they are, air!” replied the officer al < “ Am | a hae guns bear on them, but keep as near our course as you can!” “he officer gave the required orders, and for a half hour or more, while creeping on with the light breeze toward the stranger vessels, the schooner’s guns sent shot after shot toward them. ‘Have you an overplus of powder and shot on board, sir ?” asked Quiestra, quietly of Al- len, after the firing had been continued for some time. “ No, sir, not more than we shall need on our cruise—but why do you ask ?” “ Because if you have not an overplus, tar- get-shooting at a couple of white cliffs, or isl- ands, marked as Las Dos Hermanas, or the ‘Two Sisters,’ on your chart, will not pay!” said Quiestra, quietly. “Rocks? Islands? Are not those vessels at which we are firing ?” “No, sir—not without they are on dry land! sayy your powder, you will need it by-and. !”’ Allen, mortified at his error, gave the order to cease firing, and as the wind had died en- tirely away, and the current was drifting him toward shoal ground, he took Quiestra’s ad- vice, and ordered the sails taken in, and drop- ped his anchor. This done, he bade the officer of the deck to keep a good look-out, with one watch of the crew on deck under arma, and then retired to rest, for he looked and hoped for work on the morrow. CHAPTER XVI. The other American vessels followed Allen to sea on the day after he sailed, having hur- riedly taken in water and provisions. They had searcely been lost sight of, before a Spanish merchantman came in, having on board Charley Howard, and the crew of the Piiot, whom they had picked up, fortunately. The American commander hurried to his consul to state the occurrences which had deprived him of his vessel; and by the advice of the latter, who accompanied him, he at once pro- ceeded to inform the Intendente-General of the same. The marquis did not seem at all startled by the news, for news it was not tohim. He knew it already. He merely replied : “There is a squadron on the coast, of your own countrymen, and they may recover your vessel !”” “So I hear, and I’m off to help them, if your exeellency will only let me have one of your small guarda costas, and some arms. M erew will be but too glad to measure strengt with the bloody pirates on fair chances !” ‘¥ have no vessel which I can spare,” re- plied uwe marquis to Howard, coldly. “Then let me have some arms. I will fit up my long-boat—she can run down the coast!” urged the porns American. “Armed boats without a license are not allowed on our coast !’’ said the marquis, evas- ively. “Allowed or not, there’ are plenty of them, as our suffering merehantmen know!” said the consul, in a sarcastic tone. “Not when or where it is in our power to prevent it!” replied the marquis, haughtily. “Captain, I am sorry for your misfortunes, but as you are in the hands of your own con- sul, any offers of aid on my part will only be taking from him his prerogatives! Adieu—I am very much engaged this afternoon.” _ This was said in a tone which implied their dismissal. Howard went away angry at this discourtesy, but the consul had ies 80 used to such treatment, from the same source, that he paid but little attention to it. “Have you not weapons to arm myself and boat’s crew ?” asked the seaman of the consul ; “TI regret to say that I have not!” “ You can at least tell me where they can be “ght n “They cannot be had in this place without @ written permit from the alealde. Such is the rule all over this tvrant-riddea isle!” “Tf you are as bold and fearless as you look to be and will take me for a volunteer, I will show you how to get, not only weapons, buta | swilt-sailing vessel !” said a clear and musical voice close behind them. Both Howard aud. the, consul turned sud- denly to sae where and who the speaker was, who evidently had been following them, and had overheard their conversation, or he woulé not have known their wants. He was a young and slender bov—evidently ke. > let them “. a B vai shots as the | pot more than seventeen or eighteen, with 4 ¢! mae ‘ | very dark complexion, and a brow almost hid- den under a heavy mass of black hair. dress was like that of the better class of sery- ants in gentlemen’s houses in that country, where but few white servants are seen. “How do you know that I want a vessel and arms?” asked Howard, sternly. ‘And why are you dogging our footsteps ?” “Because I happen to be in a position where, unseen, I witnessed your interview with the alealde--heard your story and demands, and his refusal. I follow you to serve you, for I can do it. LI also wish to go down the coast with you, to give Lieutenant Allen some very important information, which will enable him to capture the chief of the piratical horde whom he is after!” ‘What, Colcefrinas ?” exclaimed Howard “ Yes, sir!” said the youth, frankly. “Then I’m with you, young man, if you lead to the devil’s own den!” “Who are you? Your face is not familiar to me, and yet it seems as if I had seen you before!” said the consul, ** Tt matters not who I am, Senor Consul!” said the youth, “TI know you very well, andI am a friend to the North Americans!” “ Where is the vessel you intend me to take, and where can we get arms ?” asked Howard. “T shall with your aid borrow the alcalde’s private yacht. It is American built, and fast, and he always keeps plenty of arms on board. It is never fully manned, except when he goes on @ pleasure-trip, and is moored off the pal- ace-garden. We can get her away at night, if we are careful and you are skillful, and be at sea long before she is missed !” “You're a trump, and I’m the man to pla the game ont with your help!” said Toward gayly “When iid where will you meet me and my crew to put our plan in operation ?” “At the consul’s house, as soon as it is dark !” said the young man; and turning on his heel, he went tase the way that he had come. “ Well, fortune seems on the change for me!” said Howard, in a better humor than when the alealde dismissed them “ Yes, if this young man speaks the truth. I am trying to think when and where I have seen him before, for [am sure I have met him somewhere !” replied the consul, as they walked on toward his office. a CHAPTER XVII. When the morning dawned once more on the Alligator, Allen was called, as he had directed. When he came on deck, the land-breeze was blowing gently, bringing off the delicious per- fumes of that flowery clime. But in vain did he and the watch look for the vessels which they had seen the night before. Not a sign of them, or of anything human, could be seen. The small islands which dotted the water as far to the eastward as the eye could reach, were covered with a tall growth of mangrove, and other woods, and among these, in channels well known to them, but not laid down at that day in any chart, they had undoubtedly found refuge “This Colecefrinas was very bold on paper. I do not see why he should avoid me now, that I am here!” muttered Allen, in a tone of dis- appointment, while he lowered the glass which he had held to his eye for for some time, ‘Perhaps he wants to draw you into some position whence your retreat will be a matter of difficulty, if not an impossibility !” said a quiet voice, at his elbow. The young lieutenant’s face flushed, as he recognized the speaker, and he said : “] would have the Senor Quiestra to under- stand that I shall never retreat. There is not an officer or man of all my crew who would not scorn to turn his back on a bloody pirate, and who would not die at his post, toy than do so, But the vessels which we saw last night cannot be faraway. There has been but little wind all night, and even with sweeps they could have gone no great distance. They must be somewhere among these islands, and I shall man my boats and try to hunt them up !” The Spaniard smiled, but made no answer. At the same moment, the eye of the young American brightened, for white and clear a column of smoke rose from an island, not a league distant. ‘ “Man the first, second, and third cutters !” cried Allen, instantly. “Let every man fully armed, and put spare ammunition in the boats. Be in a hurry !” While he yet was speaking, another, and then another columa of smoke rose frum other Hia Eomicbooks G 9)