Beadle's Dime Library No. 341 — page 17: what you’re looking at

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

} < a a cabin, od f . ‘2s ; ‘‘ Fire a shot astern of him, sir!” The Sea Desperado. —_— ——— $$ —__— — But upon her decks discipline held her « Ay, ay, sir!” ealled out a gunner, and aj} crew, for the men were at their posts of . heavy shot struck a couple of fathoms astern | duty, officers paced to and fro with easy | of the stranger, throwing the spray upon his | tread, and all had the appearance of having decks. | ‘1 do not wish to fire upon him unless I am sure it is the pirate, so I'll send a shot through his rigging, to see if he’ll take the. hint.” | The order vas given, the shot went on its | way, shivering a spar, and instantly the side | of the stranger blazed forth a line of fire, and | her broadside came crashing upon the Play- | ful in a manner that was a surprise, and did | much damage. ‘‘At your guns there! aim true! fire!” The shout came from Lord Stanwix, and | the Playful returned her broadside and with | ood effect. Still the two vessels held on their course as | before, and which must bring them together in a very few minutes. Once the pirate had opéned he fired rapid- ly, and the flash of his guns illumined the hure black flag which had gone up to his | peak with the broadside he had fired. | passed through no fearful ordeal. The pretty craft glided into the harbor, saluted the fort, and dropped anchor off the town, while half a dozen shore-boats rowed out to her to glean what news there was. hour after she saw the brig’s cutter coming shoreward. An awning was over the stern, and the men pulled with slow and measured sweep. Not for the town did the boat head, but for the landixg near the Hayward mansion. What could it mean? This question Helen asked Lucy over and over again. At last the cutter ran in to the shore, and half a dozen seamen jumped out into the wa- ter to their knees. Then upon their shoulders was raised a litter upon which rested a human form. Up the hillside the men came bearing their 1'7 wounded, though it is not known how many.” ‘Father, why are you so obtuse, or so neglectful as not to tell me if that man was killed or wounded?” ‘You mean Captain Morte?” asked Mr. Hayward, with provoking calmness, though Helen could not believe that he would thus . trifle with ber. One of these boats Helen recognized as her | father’s, and watching attentively, half an ‘* Yes, of course, for who else could you think | meant, father, when you know the precipice upon which | stand waiting?” and Helen spoke with considerable indignation in her tone. ‘‘Forgive me, my child, if 1 seemed re- miss; but, the fact is, 1 am all worked up _ by this affair and the occurrences of the past few days; but, to answer your question, Lord Stanwix said that his first wound was given _him by the pirate captain himself, who drove his sword into his body. ' The Playful hotly returned the fire, and | load, while before them Helen beheld her | nearing each other rapidly all the while, the havoc was great upon either vessel. But neither Englishman nor pirate flinched, and soon the range became at pistol-shot dis- tance, and small-arms mingled their deadly rattle with the deep boom of the heavy guns. A moment more and the two brigs touched, the grapnels were thrown, and the boarders from each craft met upon the bulwarks, Here the fighting became terrible, in a hand to-hand encounter, and seemingly even- ly matched in numbers and courage, neither side could beat the other back, until sudden- ly Lord Stanwix reeled and fell back into the arms of his men. fight! ‘*Vane, you are in command,” cried the , gallant young officer. ‘Lieutenant Vane is dead, sir,’ middy. “Then tell Gregory to take com—”’ | But the sentence was not finished, for an- | other wound was received by the gallant Englishman and he was borne back to his cried a. At the same moment the pirates made an onslaught with terrific fury; but suddenly they were recalled by a loud voice, they cast loose the grapnels as they fell back, and the two b.igs swung apart, each one most will- ing to withdraw from the desperate combat. CHAPTER XXX. THE PLAYFUL’S RETURN, Ir was the day after the sailing of the brig- of-war Playful in search of the pirate. The townspeople were anxiously hoping for tidings, for a vessel had come in early in the reorning and reported a terrific battle raging between two brigs some leagues down the coast. It could be none other than the Playful and the Winged Witch all knew. Had the British craft defeated the pirate? Had the pirate defeated the British craft? These questions were asked again and again, but none could answer them. That the pirate had fought hard there could be no doubt, for all the morning tidings came in that terrific firing had been heard after midnight far out at sea. | In the afternoon Helen Hayward went to | the Sea View Arbor, accompanied by her faithful maid, for she disliked to be alone. Hardly had she taken a seat there, when a vessel rounded a wooded point of the coast | below. “It is the brig!” cried Helen, eagerly. | ‘Which brig, Miss Helen?’ asked Lucy. | ‘* Ah, yes; which one? for the British ves- sel and the pirate are both brigs and strange- ly alike,” said Helen, sadly. | “It is the Playful, Miss Helen, for now I see her flag,” cried Lucy. | rr rr ee TT ' ' ’ : slowly, and she seems crippled.” | Watching the vessel as it drew nearer, the | holes, her masts and spars were wounded, and her bulwarks presented gaping fissures where an iron hail had passed through. She had been ina fierce action, that was certain. father and an officer and man from the ship. ‘*Oh, Lucy! . I fear Lord Stanwix Sedge- ‘‘As he fell, Lord Stanwix fired upon Rupert Mortimer, and says that he saw him ' stagger back into the arms of his men, and, from their giving up the battle as they did he hopes and believes that he killed him.”’ ‘‘God grant that he did,” fervently said Helen, and then she added: ‘*And now, father, knowing as I do that moor has been either killed or v.ounded, and | Lord Stanwix went out to seek that man to father is having him brought to the mansion. | save me from the fate that threatened me, I ‘* Come, let us go.” beg you to let me care for him as I would They left the arbor and hastened to the | for a brother.” mansion, where Helen found her mother | 7. busy preparing a guest’s room for Lord | like his wife, he was an ambitious man, and | Sedgemoor, Mr. Hayward having sent a_ messenger on ahead to say that the young officer had been twice severely wounded, and that he was bringing him to the house where he could be well cared for. Mr. Hayward was glad to hear this, for, it was in the hope of making a match be- | tween Helen and the nobleman, that he had | prged his comin } ~ to his home. o he said with eagerness: * You are a noble girl, Helen, and you Soon the party arrived, and Helen, from | shall have your way, so make up your mind her window, saw that the handsome young that Rupert Mortimer will trouble you no ‘‘ Throw me on the deck and keep up the | Englishman looked very white and haggard, | more, and devote yourself as a nurse to Lord closed. Into the room the seamen bore him, and | her, an then he was tenderly lifted to the bed. _as be lay upon the stretcher with his eyes , Stanwix.” Happy at having something to occupy take her thoughts away from her- self, Helen devoted herself to her duty of The men were then dismissed, to return caring for the man who, she felt, had to the brig, their captain thanking them in a sought to kill Captain Morte to save her, low tone; but the surgeon of the Playful, and the servant of Lord Stanwix remained with the wounded commander at the man- sion, upon which a hush now fell. Helen could stand the suspense no longer. She must know if the Englishman was from him. CHAPTER XXXI. THE WOUNDED CHIEF. SomE days had come and gone since the mortally wounded, and if the pirate had battle of the brigs, and the expiration of the been captured. Quietly she went down-stairs, and met ber | father in the hall. month given Helen Hayward was at hand. As soon as the Playful had returned, re- porting her battle with the Winged Witch, ‘‘Oh, father! what has happened?” she and that she had left her crippled, or at least asked. _glad to draw out of the fight, couriers had He led her into the library and answered: | been dispatched up and down the coast to ‘* Helen, the Playful has returned.” | the seaports, to warn cruisers of the vicinity ‘1 saw her enter the harbur, all torn and of the pirate, and small craft had also been scarred, as though she had been in a fearful , sent on the same mission with the hope of battle.” ‘* She has.” ‘* With the pirate?” cc Yes + | “ Pather, please tell me all that has oc- shot. | | falling in with some vessels-of-war. As on a former occasion a large barque had been hastily armed with guns from the fort, and manned by a volunteer crew, to go in pursuit, and strong hopes were held that curred, for Lord Stanwix looked so white | the famous desperado of the sea would this and haggard, as Il saw them bear him beneath the window.” ‘He was twice severely wounded, once | with a sword-thrust, and once with a pistol- | came of the capture o | that people began to despair of hearing such time be captured, as he was certainly in a crippled condition. But the days had gone by and no news the Winged Witch, so ‘‘ THis surgeon pronounces the wounds dan- | glad tidings. gerous, though not necessarily fatal, and’ says that he must have the utmost quiet and | having been boarded by the pirate, and when devoted nursing, and on that account I had | the barque sent in chase of her returned, him brought here.” ** Oh! Still no news came of any other vessels bringing a boat, spars and other debris pick- ‘m so sorry for him, sir; but what | ed up floating near the scene of the battle, _ of the pirate?’ and Helen asked the last | and reported having seen nothing of the brig, question as though she dreaded an answer. it was hoped that she had sunk with all on ‘To tell you all, my child, I must say that | board, having been fatally wounded by the offing, and gave chase, ‘‘The pirate did not seek or shun a battle, and when fired upon, answered with a broad- | were dressed in the semi-sailor uniform of the side. % ‘‘The vessels, the guns and the crews were the Playful sighted the Winged Witch im the | Playful. This hope was added to by finding bodies along the beach that bore no wounds, and Winged Witch. | As the time went by the belief that the bri most evenly matchec, and the result was a | had gone down with all on board gain drawn battle, each craft swinging off and ground, and a feeling of confidence again ** Yes, and alone; but see, she comes very | leaving the action as though by common con- | pervaded the community. sent. Helen heard all of these rumors, told her | “The Playful lost Lieutenant Vane and | by her father, and smiled sadly, and hoped, two saw that her sails were riddled with shot- | two middies, and a score of men killed, and as she would sit by the side of the wounded: | twice as many wounded while she suffered severely in hull and rigging.” | English officer; but there seemed to be a pre- sentiment far down in her heart that Rupert ‘‘A fearful loss, father; but what of the , Mortimer was not dead, and that she would pirate?” find him on hand at the end of the month to ‘She suffered also severely in killed and | claim the fulfillment of her pledge to him. 4 boo <eom S (GE * . + a” » * 2 ‘ ; + =e ‘ _