Beadle's Dime Library No. 388: The Giant Buccaneer — page 2: what you’re looking at

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

2 oe eo The night was bright starlight, and a six-knot breeze was blowing, causing a gentle swell and some white caps, as the little vessel sailed merri- ly along, a ripple under her sharp bows, a white line of foam in her wake, She was a nimble-looking craft—had a saucy look about her, and, withal, a dangerous one, for she was of the build known as *‘ long, low, narrow and rakish,” and her sides showed ‘* teeth ”— that is guns, three to a broadside, with a pivot Long Tom mounted astern and one on the fore- castle, as a bow-chaser, Her crew wore skull-caps, dark suits, and belts of arms, while about the masts were stacked muskets, boarding-pikes and cutlasses, . . . . ' Her sails were white as snow, carried a single | reef, and she had but mainsail, foresail and jib set, and was bowling merrily along, making ‘good speed. One man stood at the wheel, and readily man- aged her course, while near him stood three ther, whose dress and appearance, even in the darkness of night, proclaimed them to be officers, Had not the rakish appearance and large crew | given the craft a suspicious look to the seaman who might meet her, there hung at her peak, al- though it was night, a huge black flag. The breeze so floated this sable ensign that now and then it would spread out in such a way as to have the bright light beaming from the companionway fall directly upon it, and then it ent be revealed in all its hideousness, black as jet, and ornamented with a skeleton form hold- ing in one bony hand a flaming red sword, and in the other a golden anchor. It was a strange device, and told plainly that the master of that craft, whoever he might be had a golden anchor as his og of winning gold by a reddened sword, or Death. When the cry from the foretop announced a sail in sight, one of the officers upon the emg ca deck coolly took a cigar from between his lips, and called out: ‘* Whereaway, my man?” * Dead ahead, sir.” ** Ay, ay! Can you make her out yet?” ** She is a small craft, sir, and only a short dis- tance off,” answered the lookout. ‘s What do you call asmall craft?” impatiently cried the officer. Thus urged, the lookout replied: ; “She is a small boat, sir, perhaps a ton in measurement, and carries a leg-of-mutton sail.” ‘“T gee her now, and we are but a few cable- tlengths away. ‘** You should have discovered that craft sooner lookout.” ‘She seemed to come in sight very suddenly, sir, and— Great God, sir! see there! The wild of the lookout was followed by a shriek, and iosing his hold from fright, he fell headlong to the deck, striking with a crunching sound that sickened those who heard it, And from those on the schooner came an echo of the lookout’s ery, while the captain of the out- law craft shouted in tones that thrille d his crew with horror: ‘‘ God above! it is the Death Craft, and we are doomed !” A moan burst from the crew at the words of their leader, and many hid their eyes with their hands to shut out the fearful sight, while others, with chattering teeth and trembling hands sprung to their posts to obey the stern command, delivered in a quivering voice: ; ‘Hard! hard down your helm! About ship and let fly everything! f ‘‘ Now, shake those reefs out, you devils, and set every rag she'll bear, for we must drop yon- der craft out of sight!” The voice,of their leader aroused the men to busy action, and the graceful schooner went about as though on a pivot, and instantly she darted away in flight, leaving the strange craft that had so struck terror to the hearts of her crew, calmly sailing in her wake. ; And such a strange, weird craft, for it was in - the shape of a coffin. . It carried a single mast, upon the top of which burned a bluish light, ing a circle of ghastly glare about it as it glided along over the water. The sail was what is known asa leg-of-mutton, was blood-red, and had upon it a white skull and cross-bones, while the one person visible upon its deck, was, to all appearance, a skeleton, one bony hand resting upon the tiller, the other hold- ing the sheet rope. With such a strange craft and helmsman in sight, no wonder the schooner fled under clouds of canvas, nor that her pirate crew, full of superstition, rendered worse by their crimes, trembled with horror at the fearful doom they felt must overtake them. CHAPTER II, LOST UPON THE OCEAN. THE scene changes to the sunset hour preced- ing the night upon which the pirate schooner came upon the Death Craft of which there was a strange superstition prevailing among the sea- men. Upon a rugged island among a chain of isles in the Gulf of Mexico, a thrilling scene is being enacted. The Giant Buccaneer. A youth, clad in the uniform of a midshipman in the American navy, a hundred years ago, is flying like the very wind across a plateau that forms the center of the island, and coming in full chase of him is a pack of bloodhounds. The plateau is ser in on three sides by a cliff that faces the waters of the Gulf, and too high to spring from without going to certain death, and too precipitous té scale. Not a tree breaks the level expanse, only a stump of what the lightning had left of a grand old pine. Toward this the young sailor was running with the speed of a hunted deer. In the background stood three persons, one a giant form in stature, clad in white, the second a young man in sailor garb, with a bandsome, yet dark and sinister face, and the third a wo- man, but so tortured out of all semblance by her wild attire, and tattooed face and arms, as to be hardly recognizable as such. ny they stood gazing at the youth flying for his life from the savage bloodhounds, and seeming to anticipate joy in seeing Him run down, pulied to earth and torn to pieces by their ravenous jaws, But the face of the youth, though pale, is serene, and as he runs, he uncoils from beneath his jacket a long rope. Already in the end a noose is tied, and this he throws around the lightning-shattered trunk, and with a spring is over the the edge of the cliff, sliding down with the agility that only a sailor can. After him, unable to check their speed, one or two of the bloodhounds follow with a crash that shatters their bones, while the rest of the pack stand baying wildly on the edge of the precipice. But, unheeding now his harmless pursuers, the youth flies along the beach to ental cove where two vessels lie moored. One of them is a smack, but her sails are not bent and lie bleaching upon the sands. The other is a craft that a brave heart might hesitate before venturing in, for it is in the shape of a “6h, It is stanchly built, has the appearance of being a good sailer, yet is the shape of a coffin, blunt bows and stern, and decked over in such a way as to perfectly resemble one, while only a small cockpit is aft. | A single mast is forward, for it is cat-rigged, and the sail is red, with hideous emblems in white upon it. Upon the “a of the short mast is a lantern, though not lighted. But the “ti did not hesitate an instant as to going in that ghastly craft, for he sprung into it, raised the sail, and headed for the inlet, where the surf was running high. ‘But through the breakers he went in safety, and, as twilight fell upon the waters he was out eae the blue waters of the Gulf, cruising swift- y along. ,Glancing back he saw the giant form and his two companions, with the hounds at their heels, hastening to the cove, and beheld them hastily bending the sails upon the smack. But darkness shut them from view as the smack got ready to run out in chase, and he saw them no more. “They will not catch me, for now I can change my course,” he muttered, as he stood off at an angle with the course he had been steering. about his strange craft he saw with Glancin regret that she carried no stores, no water, and that he was afloat in a vessel that might in- deed prove his coffin, ine knot on the end he A small stick with a took to be used for lighti Bain lamp from the cockpit, and there was a box of matches for striking alight. Then he found a bundle in the stern locker, and opening it a hideous skull mask hans See played, with a black suit, so painted with white, as to resemble at a distance a skeleton form. ‘Why I can frighten a seventy-four gun shi out of the Gulf with this,” he muttered, an then added: ‘* This is the rig that giant d of the island had on when he sailed out and picked me up the other night, after the Smuggler Queen had re- venged herself by throwing me into the sea.- ‘Well, it isa queer craft, and a weird igs but it’s a plank between me and death, and I j cling to the old coffin until she goes under, and t make the nearest port,” | thio saying, he trimmed his sail, took his bear- ings as well as he could, and began to beat to- ward the nearest haven. For several hours he went merrily along, in spite of his dismal craft, and then suddenly, as he put away on another tack, beheld a vessel not far distant, and heading straight for him. Just then the flag at her peak fluttered out full, and the reflection from the lamp in the Caen omrey fell upomit. ‘**Great Heaven! it is the black flag, and con- sequently the craft is a pirate. ‘I must not be taken, so I will try to see if this ghastly paraphernalia will save me.” Instantly he drew on him the skeleton suit, incased his head in the skull mask, and then lighted the torch and next the lantern. e effect upon those on the schooner the - " ' ‘ ‘ - . . ~ & ‘ )o ‘> » Ste eos ssh sss OT ~~ — reader already knows, and how she fled in dis- may from the Death Craft. In spite of his situation, the youth laughed heartily at his triumph and said: ‘*T know I could put a line-of-battle ship to flight; but Pll have to find a port, for there is not a vessel afloat that would pick me up.” As he sat there in the full glare of the mast- head fight, his face and form were distinctly revealed. He was perhaps eighteen, and of a sinewy, agile form, broad-shouldered, and with every indication of possessing great strength, His face was exceedingly handsome, a trifle reckless, maybe, and full of youthful vigor; but it was a strong face, could be stern at times, and his eyes were lustrous and most ex- pre SSlVe, That he was one who could meet any situation with nerve and fearlessness was certain, and even in his then desperate strait he was not in the least alarmed. After the schooner had been flying in fright for some time, he took up his stick and extin- guished his lantern, and threw aside the hideous attire that he had put on. c Thus the night passed away and the Cay dawned, But no sail was in sight, no land was visiLle, and he was alone upon the vast blue waters, All day long he watched the horizon, thirsty, hungry, tired; but he did not despair. Again “* Night’s dark wing o’er the sea was thrown,” and the poor youth was desolate, though he did not give up. Toward midnight some fishing-smacks ap- peared in sight, and he headed toward them, filled with joy at a speedy rescue, But suddenly over the waters rung in sten- torian tones, from one who had evidently been watching the strange craft through a glass: ‘* Ho, lads, yonder craft is the one I has seen off Witch’s Island. ‘*T knows her cut, so fly all for your lives!” Instantly the rattling of blocks, the fluttering of sails, and frightened voices giving orders fol- lowed, and away started the little fleet of half a score, scudding off under all sail. “Ho, the smacks! I am alone and need aid!” shouted the youth, in a voice that rung far over the waters. But the fleet heeded not, if they heard, and angry with their fears, the youth muttered: ‘“Bools! I will scare them still more. ‘‘] will leave them no doubt but that this is the Death Craft.” With this he threw on his skeleton suit and mask and lighted the lantern. The wild yell of terror that broke from the superstitious seamen at this reached his ears, and then, in spite of his distress, his boyish nature exerted itself, and he broke forth in ring- ing laughter. » CHAPTER III. A WRECK IN THE SOUTH SEAS. From the waters of the Gulf of Mexico I must beg my kind reader to accompany me to the South Sea, where, one night of fearful storm, some twenty years previous to the opening of this romance, a stanch brig is driving along al- most under bare poles. : Upon her decks a wild scene is transpiring, for her crew, maddened with drink, having broken into the spirit-room, are engaged in mutiny, and dead forms lie here and there, with others in death-agonies, and still more battling savagely with each other for mastery. As the broiling crowd surge ate the helmsmen leave the wheel, the brig’s bows fly up into the wind, and rolling, pitching, and washed by the seas, she drives side on, while the mutineers and defenders of the vessel still grapple in the death- struggle, unheeding their danger from the elements. Suddenly a terrific shock is felt through the length of the ship, and every man stands aghast. gain it comes, and then too late they all re- cognize their deadly danger, x moment more, and with a crash that seems to split her almost apart, the devoted craft is hurled upon the shore a helpless wreck, Then, amid the howling winds and roaring waves arise the shrieks of the ea muti- neers and those who were true, and foes and friends are borne off together to die in the mad waters. . Thus through the long night of storm the brig rocks upon the where she was thrown, no one upon her decks, and her hatches all nailed down, her companionway fastened from with- out. ; With the dawn the storm | careers, the sea runs down, and as the sun : above the hori- zon, the blows of an ax are eard. It is some one cutting through the fastened panionwa from within. enn and aster, harder and harder resound the blows, and then the sharp edge of the ax ‘cuts through the wood. But just then wild yells are heard, and clam- bering over tbe shattered bulwarks come & + | ag ‘ ? GOomIcbooks (E(@) / | | i |