Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 393 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

! ee t+ ee ee _~-—- ——_—__-— ~~. + — oo 26 the English army in Afriea, he had uttered the prayer he had learned there. Like an ebony statue, Congo stood gazing at him, and his whole form trembled with some internal emotion. rig me did the white man repeat the words: ** Poor Yusef, where can he be, I wonder?” ‘** Here, master !” The answer was in the black’s deep voice, and \ the white man started and opened his eyes. He gazed at the deck overhead, at the cabin, t and then at the negro, while he said: ss “ Why, Yusef, I have had such a long, strange | dream, and here I am lying wounded in the cabin of the ship that bears us to England.” ** Yes, master.” ‘Yusef, I dreamed that we had returned to England, and when I bore the dispatches to the commander-in-chief, he promo me for my sey and gave me a furlough, telling me go home and get well. ‘*T dreampt that he had a beautiful daughter, and that I loved her at first sight, and that she loved me; but her father frowned against my love, I being only a young officer of low rank, and he separated us, ‘* But we were secretly married, and I was forced to resign and seek safety in flight from gia ge for they sought to take my bride rom me, “You went with me, good Yusef, in my dream; but soon you were taken from me, and I never saw you more, | ‘¢ Then our little child was stolen from us, and so my wife and I sought a home in the New World ite of America. | ** We sailed on a Ri | oath and we were put as cit late island. wth ** All died, my wife included, but I lived on, that my mind was lost, my H =m _— — aa — — ee a ee & —, +> a gi plague ship, as it turned out, ore with others upon a deso- and I dream head became wild, and I went mad. ** Since then my dream seems unreal and con- ah ale fused, and now, after seeming long, long years of mental anguish, I awake to find you by my ___- side, and that we are on our way England with my dispatches from the general in Africa. ‘** But is the ship in port, . usef, for she is so still?” rt CO As the man spoke the African had drawn ‘nearer and neerer to him, and, as he ceased he sunk down in a crouching attitude by his i, Pek t side, while he gra: his hand. __ ** Master,” he said in his deep, musical voice: | *Do Ton recall how you were captured one day Uy he wild tribes, and made a prisoner?” ‘Yes, Yusef.” ‘Do you remember that you found in their , coin a foe, whom they meant to torture to death, one of a rival tribe?” “6 Yas.” **Do you recall how that prisoner, myself, had been much in your soldiers’ camps, as a friendly chief, and ke your lan age, and how you talked with him, freed his bonds, and aided hi to escape?” ~~ - Of course, Yusef, I recall all this.” + 'Then you took me with you, we beat back our foes, lay for days in the funies but at last reached your camp and were safe. _ **My people had been annihilated, and I be- came your slave—” ‘“‘ My friend and companion, good Yusef.” Tn one sense, yes, master; but also your slave, and you carried me to England with you, — and P hte met there the lady you married, and—” Bie ae ut, Yusef, we have not yet arrived in Eng- -——s« ** Master, your dream, as you called it, was not a dream, but reality, only all these years ‘have seemed like a fearful dream to you. “See! your hair is white, your beard is white, and you have passed through all you deemed a ——s dream, for I was stolen from you, as your | ia; child was, and I found you here on this island Fs where you have dwelt for years alone.” ins as ibe: Great God! am I dreaming now, awake, or rh P a ‘*Master, you are not dreaming, you are / awake, and you are not mad, though your brain its has been wandering. _ -*Thave had strange adventures, too, since we ‘aa — for I have served other masters, my last ha me 8 pirate chief. "We were wrecked on an island of the Baha- ‘mas, with a vast treasure; but he sailed from there in a small boat, with his crew, left me to back for it. Pa * : \ one aR! : pte | : guard the booty, and he never came EF >>. “Years passed, and at last a vessel appeared; Si a it was this little craft. ~ “T saw them land, from my hiding-place, be- ed on ; HE Pi: i held them find the treasure, and I slip a oat was ‘board, hid in yonder state-room, whic -- vacant, and then we sailed. - -* f heard the plot of the crew to get rid of the man who had told them of the treasure, who had enriched them, and they set him adrift in ba an open boat. Then, in my costume, that caused me to look oie. _ like Satan, I went on deck at night, and the my ee guilty wretches sprung into the sea. ay +* Thus was I alone on this yacht, with the ; ie ‘treasure. ss * Daylight came, and, strange to say, I be- held land 1 knew, this island, and ina storm I , Fy mes headed for it. 7 bes: é ‘ ‘*T ran into the basin where the yacht now lies, landed, and met you, and we fought for our lives. ‘*T believed that I had killed out I had not soon after, and here. ‘* Now, master, you know all, and that all is not a dream, but a reality, and that we have met again, and I can give to you a king’s riches, Without a word the white man listened to the strange og 4 He realized that it was not a dream, but a reality through which he had passed, and reason gradually came back into his brain with full power. ie When the black had finished, he stretched forth his hand and grasping that of Congo, or rather Yusef, as he had known him, said: ‘* How strange is all this, my friend; but now we live for the future, and what it will bring to ou, but found brought you us, ‘We have strangely met again, good Yusef, and I am a little bewildered now, though I have my reason once more, and we will not part again.” ‘‘No, master,” was the fervent response of the African. CHAPTER XXXIX. A BATTLE FOR REVENGE. AFTER his duel with the pirate chief, Duluth uickly began work to get the schooner to sea, or he was most anxious to keep his rendezvous with Captain Caspar at Isle Haut Bay. Of course it would be a different kind of en- gagement from what Caspar the Corsair expect- ed, as he had no idea that his first officer and intended victim would come to meet him on equal terms, ey eerie sh but it was just such a meeting as Duluth desired, and was glad of the opportunity of having. The schooner was most thoroughly overhauled from truck to keel; new sails were made and bent on, new spars set, and every part of the schooner was put in perfect condition and fight- ing trim. he crew were daily drilled at the guns, in boarding, ee boarders, setting sail, taking itin, and all that was necessary to make them thorough in their work when the need should come for thoroughness, Then it was that Duluth set sail, and, needing certain things yet, he ran down off Portland, and taking his smaller vessel, went into the har- bor by night and made his purchases. To get rid of the little vessel then was easy work, for she sold readily, and feeling ready then for the contest he intended to bring on, he sailed slowly up the coast, floating above his decks the flag of the Cartagenians, in whose ser- vice he had once been. As he was anxious to know all that had hap- pened to Count Delorme, and ecially to (Queen, in the eget that had passed since he had left them on the shores of Maine, he determined to sail to the spot where they had landed, and, as he had ample time on his hands before meet- ing Caspar the Corsair, to discover for himself if the count had kept his pledge to him, or given his daughter to another. Turning to his first officer, as he came in view of the elegant mansion on the cliff, he said: ‘‘ Senor, wonderful changes have taken place here since last I saw yonder coast. fishing-hut here and there were all to be seen then, but now yonder rises a seeming pal- ace, and my glass shows me beautiful grounds about it,a handsome summer-house upon the cliff, a stairway to the beach below, and half a dozen small pleasure craft lying at anchor there.” : ‘* You know the place well then, captain?” ‘* Oh, yes; for my boyhood was passed about here, and these waters I can sail over the dark- oe night, for I learned them well in those s. nd for a long time did Duluth gaze upon the changed scene as he neared the shores, his face looking phat Ser sad, as though bygone mem- ories cut him to the heart. i At last, as the schooner moved in toward Big Sentinel Island, his lieutenant said as he ap- proached him: : ** Those look like ugly waters ahead of us, sir. ‘*-Yes, they are,” ‘Shall we put off the coast now, sir, for we are getting well in?” ‘* No; I shall visit yonder home.” ‘** How shall we head, sir, for rocks, reefs and islands seem upon all sides ahead of us.” ‘*[ will take the helm myself in a few mo- ments,” was the reply. ' And still Duluth watched the shores earnestly, until, as Big Sentinel island loomed up ahead, he step the wheel and said: ‘¢Helmsman, I will relieve you, for it requires a good pilot to run into this bay.” ‘I should think so, sir, and a cool head and strong nerve as well,” replied the helmsman, as he politely saluted and yielded the wheel to his commander. With a manner that seemed indifferent to recklessness, considering the dangers about them m o-~— =~ oo ee ae — So =. a Re 3 nt one 8 ae Na - ss ‘a ; . . * - i The Convict Captain. en LL LL LLL LL LLL LL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL EL LL A LL ———_—_—_—_—_- ee ee, ee ee —s ae ee es . r ’ . s Duluth ran his vessel through the circuitous channel and the dangers of thebay. He at last luffed up for an anchorage, and, en- tering his cabin was absent a short while. Upon his return on deck he wore a uniform which he had purchased in Portland, and had had the ship’s tailor to improve it to suit himself and he certainly looked exceedingly handsome in it, and a man to win a fair maiden’s admira- tion. A boat, by his orders, already awaited him, and he was rowed ashore, where he met Count . Leon Delorme and Queen, from whom he had parted a little more than three years before. It was a strange meeting, indeed, for then he had been master of the barque that had brought them to that very spot, and he had, in parting, sued for the maiden’s hand, and been told that - must match her fortune with his own to claim er. He had determined to do so, for he knew where he could secure such riches; but how bit- ter had been his lot, since he had sailed away from that bay. Captured by a pirate, he had been sworn to be such by Caspar the Corsair, and condemned to life imprisonment. He had been a convict for three long years, escaped, recovered his riches, been treacherously robbed of them, set adrift in an open boat, and nearly died, while his rescue from death he owed to his old Smeeny Caspar the Corsair. That enemy had still been treacherous, and meant him ill; but fortune was again favoring and he was on an armed deck, the Cartagenian flag floating above him, his crew true and brave and soon he would have his battle for revenge with the pirate who had sought his destruction. If Queen was yet unmarried, he had hope, for he had the means of wealth at his command and did he capture Caspar the Corsair, he would gain riches, and do the entire world a good ser- vice, in ridding the seas of the cruel outlaw. Such were the thoughts that crowded upon him, as he sought the count in his grand Amer- ican home, and his heart throbbed with joy, as. he found that Queen was yet unwedded. Thus it was, with a glad heart, he sailed to meet and fight Caspar the Corsair, the pretend- ed Spanish officer, Captain Conrado of the schooner-of-war Lron Don. As the vessels came in full view, Duluth determined it should be a battle of revenge, and to the death, with the eyes of Queen Delorme gazing upon him from the Overlook Arbor, and he so told his crew. Nearer and nearer the schooners drew, and Caspar the Corsair, as he first beheld the flag of the Cartagenian, whom as an enemy of Spain he was forced, under his disguise, to fight, felt relieved that he had not to meet an American cruiser, of all which he stood in dread. But, after the first shots were fired, he saw the Cartagenian flag come down from the peak, and in its place went up a red field with a black gallows upon it. This amazed him, and he could not understand it. But he was in for a battle, and with a craft that certainly appeared to be nearly his equal in tonnage, guns and crew, and he too, knowing that the eyes of Queen Delorme were upon him, Se pei that it should be a battle to the eath. As the schooners neared each other, Captain Caspar uttered an exclamation of amazement, followed by a bitter oath. He had been gazing through his glass, and had recognized Bianca Duluth, his intended victim, standing upon the quarter-deck of his adversary. F : A second careful observation proved to him that Duluth was the commander of the schooner and he shouted out: ‘‘Lads, yonder craft is commanded by my traitor lieutenant. : ‘¢ He found the treasure yacht, fitted out yon- der vessel, and means to destroy us and get the a OR have earned, ‘* Let this be a fight for revenge, and remem- ber, he has over two million dollars on that ves- sel, and it is yours if you do your duty. ‘* Now fight like the devils you are!” The words of C r were received with ar of commingled hatred and delight, and loud pealed the guns as they were turned upon the other schooner. Duluth was a man to fear, and Caspar the Corsair did dread him as a foe, as well as a rival. He saw at once, and none knew better than he, who had fo ht a hundred battles, how to judge, that uth was handling his vessel splendidly, firing slowly, and keeping his crew well in hand. : ‘‘T must board him and crush him by weight and desperate fighting,” he muttered, and at once the schooner was put away for the other vessel, while loud rung out the Corsair’s cry: ‘¢ Boarders, ahoy!” The reckless outlaws, maddened by the com- bat, and wild with the anticipation of gaining the vast treasure which their chief had led them to believe Duluth had 1 tere and had on board, gathered about Caspar with desperate determin- ation, = EoOmichboo ( S (E ef. [oa a w ’ ; id oles aa * 7 + =, ie » * 4 stis i + = | so + wtp Ae a —— ——— ~ a at, (s Cre. rh , J s eet * t ; 4 4 - 7 ~* e