Beadle's Dime Library No. 316 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

a oe ne ) 26 _—--— eS companied by a proper guard to the rendez- vous of Ricardo and his men. They were found in an old ruin without the walls of the city, and immediately surrounded and made prisoners, The rage of Ricardo, on dis- covering the treachery of Rep Knire, knew no bounds. With one spring, he fastened himself on Elliot, and would have torn him to pieces, had not the officers plucked them asunder. The scuffle was short however, for overpowered by numbers, Ricardo and his crew were quickly handcuffed and taken to prison. They died with great resolution, refusing all ghostly advice to the last, while Elliot went forth a wanderer upon the earth, despised even by those who had availed themselves of his servicesin bringing to jus- tice his Jate companions. But what should Elliot do now that he had caused the death of his companions? He was unfit to —pursue any honorable employ- ment, and indeed, he did not even dream of doing so. The eyes of the authorities were on him. He was watched at every step, and - soon found that Havana was no place for rim. It was then that, sauntering one day near the wharves, Elliot heard himself called by the old title of ‘‘ Red Knife.” He started as if one of his late companions had risen from the dead. Looking in every direction, he could not discover the person who had spoken. He turned, and was about pursu- ing his way again when he heard the same words. There was no person in sight from whom the old familiar sounds could have roceeded, unless, indeed, it was a young Spanish girl, who, at the momert, was look- ing from a high window that overlooked the shipping. He regarded her attentively, and though sbe seemed not to be noticing him, yet he imagined that he detected a smile on er lips. Could it be that his name was known to this girl? He gazed attentively at her features, and at length recognized in them a young female who had formerly been an attendant in a famous drinking-house to which he had often resorted with Ricardo in other we Perceiving herself known, the young girl beckoned Elliot to enter the house below. At first he hesitated, lest it should be a trap set for him by some of the friends of Ricar- do, to lure him into the house and revenge the death of his old aceomplices. But being rendered desperate by his forlorn and penni- less condition, he at length entered the building; and’ ascended to the apartment in which he had seen the girl. There he found an American—a tall Indian by the name of Richards, whom he had frequently met in the streets of Havana, and whom he had ¢ca- roused with in the days of his prosperity. The Indian shook his hand cordially, and entered into conversation with him. It was not long before he made known to Elliot his object in thus renewing their old acquain- tance. . | $ He inquired into the condition of Elliot, and finding that he was destitute of money, and had no means of procuring any, without stooping to manual labor, he made a sign to the girl, who withdrew a moment, and soon after appeared with wine and some choice eatables. Elliot, having done justice to these with his friend, felt in better spirits, and listened with interest to the develop- ments now made to him by Richards. He stated that a small schooner was at that mo- ment lying in an inlet near the mouth of a gulf, commanded by one Diego—an old Spaniard — who was anxious to procure a man for lieutenant who had been in the business before, and who had seen active service. Richards did not, or affected not to know the part which Elliot had acted toward his late companions, and though the latter watched him closely while speaking, he could not discover anything in his looks or manner that denoted a distrust of Elliot's good faith. Red Knife, therefore, could see no reason- able objection to closing with the offer so opportunecly made to him, and he at once acceded to it. On that very night, he put off with Richards in a small boat and sought the place of rendezvous. The schooner was pyres a fast sailer and admirably adapt- ed to the purpose for which she was de- signed. On going on board of her Elliot learned that her present crew had come into possession of her by putting off from the RR - Ss eae Sse Lafitte’s Lieutenant. tints — shore in two boats, boarding her, and put- ting to death her officers and crew. That argued well for their enterprise and good faith in the opinion of Red Knife, and, in- deed, a more desperate-looking set of vil- lains, he had never set his eyes upon. However fierce and unprincipled the crew of the schooner were, they had their match in Red Knife, who was not a whit inferior to any of them in those attainments which are so necessary to the piratical profession. He now found himself lieutenant of a schooner, and once more trod the deck with | was now made out to be a brig-of-war. Ln ing up with the Huron. The fire from the long gun was kept up at intervals, which in- terfered somewhat with her sailing, and she was obliged to yaw widely to avoid shooting away her own foremast. The schooner was within three hundred yards of the Huron when she opened her fire upon the pirate, and at the same moment, the ship’s main- mast fell over the side. Of course, the pirate had now nothing to do but to run alongside and board; but the vessel in the offing had been coming up all this time, ~ i he the comfortable feelings of a man of respect- | had, of course, seen the firing, and witnessed ability. Some little difficulty occasionally occurred between him and the men under his command, but he had only to flourish his long knife over their heads to persuade them that subordination was a virtue which even freebooters could not do without. In less than a week after Red Knife joined the schooner, they heard of a merchant ship with a rich cargo on her way from New Orleans. Vigorous preparations were made to overhaul her as soon as she had cleared the Gulf. The ballast was shifted to bring the schooner more by the stern, the sails were put in order, and every rag that could be — to bear was made ready for set- ting. The men were well armed with pis- tols, knives, and daggers, and to these Diego trusted more than to the long gun amidships. It was not long before a man stationed on the bluff came running down to the schoon- er, with the tidings that a sail was in sight. Diego took the spy-glass and went up to the lookout. He came back and announced to his expectant crew, that there was a show of canvas above the horizon, though he thought it could not be the vessel for which the waited, as the size of the sail was too small. After taking a look at the object, Elliot dif- fered from the captain. He thought the vessel must be the onc they were desirous of boarding, and advised that immediate pre- arations should be made for the attack. iego, who placed great dependence in his lieutenant, gave the necessary orders, and the schooner was turned down to the mouth of the inlet where she rode by one anchor just dropped under the fore- foot. But the breeze was light, and much time elapsed before ‘the pirates could decide upon the character of the stranger, remained upon their minds that the vessel was the Huron, a large ship, belonging to New York. Several of the pirates had seen the same ship and remembered her peculiar rig, the rake of her masts, and. the varnished waist which was now distinctly visible by the aid of the glass. The schooner lay still till about two o'clock in the afternoon, by which time the ship had come up nearly abreast the inlet, with a fair wind and studding-sails set on both sides, though the breeze was not more than four knots. Diego now gave orders to lift the anchor. Sails were set, and the schooner shot out into the Gulf, three or four points from the wind, so as to intercept the Huron. It was evident that this movement was im- mediately discovered by the ship, and that suspicions were awakened; for the latter came up as close to the wind as she could without shaking her studding-sails, heading off-shore. Two men were also ‘seen going aloft to look out for sails. The schooner kept up the chase in the wake of the Huron, and was soon able to bring her long gun to bear. Preparations were made to give the ship a shot through the cabin windows, when the latter yawed and presented her broadside to the pirate. It was evident that every motion of the schooner was elosely watched from the ship. Orders were given by Diego to fire, however. The shot took effect just forward of the foremast, and splinters were seen flying from the bulwark of the ship. There was also a commotion on board as if some of the crew had been wounded. The ship then discharged a eouple of guns, but the shots fell short, which caused a fierce shout of laughter among the pirate crew. | ‘Load! and give it to her again!” cried Diego; but just then a sail was discovered approaching the mouth of the Gulf. Diego | the fall of the ship’s mainmast. Toward noon, however, no doubt | When first observed, she had been far to windward of the ship. The two latter vessels were about ten miles from the land, and the pirate cap- tain began to caleulate his chances. ‘7 think,” said he to Elliot, ‘‘ that the fellow intends to getinside of us and cut us | off from the land. ‘* Curse him,” returned Red Knife, ‘‘ what can he do then? The ship is crippled, and he can’t join in the chase; and our schooner can outsail the brig—” ‘‘But look yonder,” returned Diego. ‘I don’t like those mare’s tails; we shall have a puff of wind—” Just then, a shot from the ship passed be- tween Diego and his lieutenant, and struck down Richards, the Indian of whom we have spoken. . Diego stamped on the deck, and swore that he would have revenge if he hung in chains for it an hour afterward. ‘‘Brig or no brig,’ said he, ‘‘we will = the throats of the rascals who fired the shot.” In a few moments'after these words were uttered the pirate schooner was under the stern of the Huron. Tho crew of the latter were on the taffrail and quarter-railing with various weapons in their hands. They threw down logs of wood, pig-iron, and even hot water upon the deck of the pirate, which did little hurt to the fierce and motley crew, but exasperated them to such a degree, that it was evident to the ship’s company that they had but little mercy to expect. One pirate undertook to climb in the cabin win- dows, when the steward cut his nose clean from his face by one blow with his carving- knife. The man yelled and fell back into the water. All this was the work of a mo- ment, for the pirates had begun to run on board the ship as soon as they had got near enough to do so. They went over the stern like rats, and a fierce contest ensued. The cries, the spouting of blood, the rage of the combatants, and the desperate valor with which the ship’s crew and oflicers defended themselves are indescribable, The contest was, however, short. Not a soul was spared by the pirates. One man ran up the main rigging, but was brought down bya discharge from Elliot’s pistol. Both he and Diego were wounded, but not disabled. Covered with blood, Elliot sprung into the rigging, and announced that the brig was making a short board, and would be on them in a few minutes. ‘The pirates retreated to the schooner, with what plun- der they could readily seize, such as watches, jewelry, and money, and made sail from the ship, on board of which they had not left a living soul. Diego was careful to keep the ship between him and the brig, and when the Iatter opened her fire, many of her shot struck the hull or rigging of the wreck. This was not long, however, for the brig soon passed the schooner; but as the pursuer must alter his course every time he fired, the schooner had considerably in- creased the distance between them before evening. “And now,” said Diego, ‘we shall slip our necks from the halter in the darkness. The brig is falling astern as it is; and as soon as night sets in, we will run into the inlet, and in case he should twig us, and it comes to the worst, we can escape to the shore, I hope our next adventure will bring us more ingots and ounces; but, curse me! it does me good to think that we have sent so many to the Old Boy.” Elliot grinned anid hugged his long knife as he remembered that several throats had been severed by it. Diego asked him be- low, and they drank together, and swore went aloft with the spy-glass, but he could | eternal friendship—a friendship cemented by not make out the character of the stranger. | blood, for their hands absolutely stuck to- All this time the schooner was slowly draw- gether on account of the et which was on GOMIGVOGCKS >. (EC) nese — ee