Beadle's Dime Library No. 388: The Giant Buccaneer — page 4: what you’re looking at

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

| ad oot > The Giant Buccaneer. die, for she is driving to her doom, shrieked the ‘* But my doom will soon be sealed, for I know y tattooed Woman Wrecker, and she danced in that yonder beacon burns on the Haunted glee about her false beacon, sending forth its deadly light over the tempest-tossed waters, CHAPTER VI. SELLING ONE’S SOUL. As the woman, tattooed to disfigurement, im- bittered to revenge upon her fellow-beings, and turned wrecker from sheer despair, stood on the cliff by her false beacon, she had the appearance of a very fiend. She had found some clothing among the booty in the hut that she had made her quarters, and she had robed herself in white, leaving her tat- tooed neck and arms bare, revealing all the hide- ous devices thereon. Her hair was loosened and hung down her back, with locks here and there blown wildly by the wind, and in her hand she held a staff in the shape of a cross. Standing there in the baleful glare of the dead- ly light, this Woman Wrecker was enough to strike terror to any heart, while she seemed to have lost all pity, all heart, and fairly reveled in the mad elements and their warring upen the fatal ship. Boom after boom burst above the roar of the storm, and each flash of the minute gun illumin- ed the wreck driving toward the reef, and re- vealed scores of dark forms crowded together upon the deck, gazing anxiously shoreward. Were they drifting into some safe harbor? Were they driving to ruin? | ' } Island! ‘*Had the captain heeded my warning, he would have given this accursed place a wide berth. ‘‘ Better we had gone down in the Gulf than strike here. ** Alas! alas! all are gone, and I must meet a fearful fate, too, I fear. ‘‘ Ha! how the old wreck rocks! It will soon go to pieces, and what to do God only knows, and it is His punishment for my crimes.” The man’s fendi again bowed, and he remained in deep silence. But all he had said the woman had heard, as she crouched in the foreeastle, only a few feet from him. Suddenly she glided forward to where the light of the lantern fell full upon her. Then the man raised his eyes, and they fell upon the woman. A shriek broke from his lips, as he saw that strange form in white, the clinging robe, the long waving hair, the tattooed facc, neck and arms, She appeared to him like some ghostly appari- tion, and he covered his face with his hands to shut out the sight. Then he looked again, and groaned, for it was no hallucination, for there she stood in the full glare of the lantern. ‘* Woman, devil, spirit, what and who are ou?’ gasped the man, in tones that quivered as Such were the thoughts in the minds of the | he spok doomed as they were swept nearer and nearer the shore. Suddenly a wild wail was heard, following quickly on the boom of the gun so piteously pleading for Rear Their eyes had fallen upon the breakers near, and they knew that no mortal power could save them. Hither, thither they ran, women shrieking, | children wailing and strong men crying aloud in | their despair. All these sounds reached the ears of the | Woman Wrecker, as she stood by her false beacon, and she answered them by one long, loud peal of laughter. : She had ome demoniacal in her hatred of her kind, and her joy in their sufferings com- mingled. The next moment she heard the crash, the rending of timbers, the wails of anguish, and then only the roar of the elements were heard, Hastening down the water-worn steps to the beach, she stood where the spray fell upon her, watching the foaming, curling waves. Suddenly her eyes caught sight of a dark ob- ject in the midst of the snowy foam, and the next instant it was cast ashore at her feet. Quickly she seized it and drew it beyond the reach of the waves. It was a woman, a babe clasped in her arms, Both were dead. A moment the Woman Wrecker stood gazing upon them in the darkness, and then she sighed ; but, wheeling suddenly toward the sea, she saw that here, there, and all along the beach dark forms were being hurled on shore. Running from one tothe other of them, she dragged them beyond the break of the seas, and momentarily bent over each in turn. ‘Dead, all dead! And how could it be other- wise?” she muttered. And thus they came, one at a time, and then two locked in each other's arms, as they had died in their death-struggle with the treacherous waves, Over a score now lay upon the beach, and, as the waves cast up no more, the woman seemed to decide upon some bold plan. Wrapping the long folds of her white gown about her, she watched her chance and dashed into the breakers. One passed over her, then another, but she arose far out from the shore. In her captivity she had learned to swim like a fish, and the wildest sea was not too rough for her. Boldly she breasted the waves, and her course lay for the wreck, which had struck bows on upon the reef. To one of the stumps of a mast hung a lantern, and this was her guide, while behind her flashed her own false beacon. With powerful stroke she swam on, came up under the lee of the wreck, and seizing some rigging that hung over the bows, drew herself on board. : At the first glance she believed that the wreck was deserted. : It rocked wildly, and was pounding away in a manner that showed it must soon go to pieces. Then her eyes fell upon a form by the fore- The lantern above cast a dim light upon the deck, and she beheld a man lashed to the stump of the mast, yet sitting down. His head was bowed and he did not see her, and suddenly, in a deep voice, that reached her earn be cried: ‘Great God! can it be that I alone am saved? Can it be that my life, after what I have been guilty of, has heen spared, er e, ‘¢T am the Ghost of this Haunted Island,” was the response of the strange being. ‘Oh, God!” he groaned. ‘*You need not call upon the Being whose laws you have outraged, crime-stained man, for ot ip am can save you other than the power [ old. ‘‘And will you save me?’ he tremblingly pleaded. ‘‘ Upon conditions,” was the distinctly-uttered response, ‘* W hat conditions? ‘‘ Speak, woman or ghost, and tell me quick, or I shall go mad!” he cried. ‘* My conditions are that you become my slave for five years, to do my bidding, whatever it be, day or night, and if you fail me you yield your soul to Satan. ‘‘ Speak! Do you agree to my terms if I save your life, and, after your term of service ex- ab pledge you your freedom?” ‘** Must I lose my soul if I fail you?’ the man asked, in a hoarse whisper. ‘* Yes, and body and soul you must sell your- self to me for the time IJ ask. ‘Do you accept, or shall I kill you now?” She moved a step forward, and he fairly groaned forth: ‘“‘ Spare my life, and I will sell my soul to you for the time you ask.” CHAPTER VII. THE GIANT SLAVE. ‘*CAN you swim?” The Woman Wrecker asked the question of the man who had just pledged himself body and soul to her. ‘‘] can swim like a South Sea Islander,” was his answer, as he untied the rope with which he had lashed himself to the broken mass. At his response she started, for vividly did her long captivity among the South Sea Island- ers come up before her. ‘‘ Come,” she said, hoarsely, and she walked toward the bow. ‘*'W here?” * This old hulk will go to pieces soon, so follow me. Over the bows she went into the foaming wa- ters, and he followed her. Both struck out with strong stroke and were borne rapidly shoreward, the man keeping near the woman. At last they reached the shore, and she pointed to the bodies that strewed the sand. * Those are your shipmates,” she said. ‘* Yes; are all dead? ‘Yes, all; but should we find one alive that one must die.” ‘Must die?” ‘“'Yes. Come!” She led the way along the row of dead, placin her hands on the pulse and heart of each, an drawing out several more bodies that had been washed ashore. ‘‘ Ab! this man is not dead; drag him back into the waves,” she said. “cc But—" ‘Slave, obey!” was her stern command, and, wholly under the influence of the woman, he took up the limp form and tossed it into the sea. Soon itcame out again, and once more she said: ‘Throw him in again.” He did so, until when it was cast ashore for the third time, the woman remarked coolly: ** Now there is no life in him. ** What ship was that?” ‘“The Spanish ship Ferdinand.” ‘* Where from?” : _ **The Indies and bound to Spain; but she was blown off her course by the storm, dismasted and cast ashore.” ‘*These bodies are those who were her crew and wassengers ” $s Yeu’ ** How many in all had she?” ‘Twenty-two in crew, and twelve in the cabin.” ay Wealthy Dons, and their families, doult- te Yes,” ‘ And you?” ** Am an Englishman.” **'Your name?” ** Call me English,” ‘* Tt is as good, doubtless, as the one yeu fear to make known; but what were you on board:” ‘+ A mate.” * Ah!” and the woman walked on in silence for some time. Then she turned into the ravine, and reaching the hut said: ** You will find dry clothing and wraps there, and you can make your bed yonder under that shelter.” With this she turned away and sought her own quarters, seemingly oblivious of the misery she had just witnessed, and the dead forms that were dotting the beach. ‘* With the first blush of dawn she was up and out upon the sands, " But the man she had saved was there before er. He was a giant in size, even over seven feet tall, dressed in sailor garb, for he still retained his own clothes, and was the Hercules he looked. His face was handsome, strongly cut, and yet it was one to fear rather than love. “You are looking at your dead friends?’ she interrogated, ** Yes,” and he gazed at her curiously. ‘““Give me the jewels you have taken from them.” He started, looked surprised, and silently hand- ed over many rare and beautiful gems and golden trinkets. She made no comment upon them, but went on down the line: searching several he had nos been to. Then she turned to the giant and said: ‘*The storm has gone down and the wreck still helds. ‘* We must get the booty ashore, if there are boats on board.” He told her there were two, and springing into the sea, she started for the wreck, he at once ful- lowing her. In the hold was a cage of several large blood hounds, and these the Woman Wrecker gazed cn with admiration, and they were carefully taken on shore in the one boat that still remained on the wreck. Then stores followed in abundance, and all day long the Giant Slave, for such he had become, pulled between the wreck and the shore, the wo- Sn bringing the things she wished from the old, Thus three days. passed, and then a stcrm swept round and broke up the old hulk, and the giant felt that his doom was sealed, for his su- perstitious nature held him enthralled to the wo- man to whom he had bartered his soul, and whom he looked upon as some strange being almost supernatural. CHAPTFR VIII. Z A STARTLING DISCOVERY. SEVERAL years passed away, after the mid- night wreck of the Spanish craft, upon the Haunted Island, and in that time tidings had spread al] along the Gulf shores that a dread be- ing, a witch, made the place her home, It was said that in earlier days buccaneers had buried their treasure there, and in each hole, with the gold and jewels, had thrown a human being in alive, and it was the ghosts of these, ru- mor had it, that kept guard over the island. Wreckers had gone thither and attempted to live, but the legend had it that these alleged ghosts, the guards of the hidden treasure, had driven them off in alarm, and it was these huts an eer which the Woman Wrecker had ound, With her a dweller upon the island it became more dreaded than ever by seamen, and all ves- sels gave it a wide berth, unless some poor, un- fortunate craft, driven by storm and losing her bearings, beheld the supposed friendly light and thus dashed on to ruin and death. Dwelling there with her Giant Slave, and concocting all manner of schemes to alarm the superstitious, the Woman Wrecker became a Witch in appearance, as well as 1n name, The bones of those who had been lost there she had whitened and ornamented her cavern with, for she had had the Giant Slave dig a cave in the ravine cliff for her, besides others where she had put unfortunates whom afterward she put to death. \ The bloodhounds had increased in number to a good-sized pack, her store-huts were filled with booty and stores, and the strange man she esi her slave obeyed her every word and ges- re. Thus the years went by, until one night @ stanch vessel came on shore, and among e¢om <5) Eboo 7 " i } of | . i 4 = s