Beadle's New York Dime Library, No. 418 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

from me, an ae a “Tt is not icion, it is the truth, for I have watched you closely, yes, and Manton Mon- crief, too.” ‘* You have been well employed.” ‘* You may sneer, but it is so. ** At first [ thought that you liked Surgeon Bennett, for I saw that he was deeply interested in you. ‘*Then I judged that Moncrief had the strong- est hold upon your heart, for you seemed to re- gard him more tenderly. ** Next, when I met you this poring tp the presence of Captain Bainbridge I saw that you smiled sweetly upon him.” ‘“* You have been very watchful of me, Mr. Bronx, and I would like to know for what pur- ? *“To guard you.” **From what?” ** Danger.” ** What danger?” ** You are beset by three dangerous men, for they are all young, handsome, and have fascina- tions of manners which I do not possess, ‘* You lead them all to believe that you care for them, and—” . ‘* My dear Hugh, don’t be a fool, for a woman is supposed to treat all men alike until she finds one she can love. ‘‘If I smiled on Surgeon Bennett, it was be- cause his skill saved my father’s life, and his ex- treme kindness won my respect and regard while he is certainly a man of rare culture and intelligence. ‘““Tf I was pleasant toward Lieutenant Mon- crief, you have but to remember that he saved the Mermaid from the hands of Bianca, the Buc- caneer, and what your fate would have been, and my father’s, you had reason to know, ‘‘ He is as brave as a lion, has won fame upon the sea, is very fascinating, and I am proud to call him my friend. ‘* Now to Captain Bainbridge: ** He is but a shade less handsome than Lieu- tenant Moncrief, is a dashing, splendid fellow, and half the girls in the town are Se aa in love with him, and so I am glad to number him my friends, and so | treat all three alike. ‘* Until you know which one you love,” he sneered. ‘** Yes, and then there will be no difference in my manner, until I know if that one loves me.” ‘**Tt will be Moncrief.” ** Indeed?” 46 Yes.” a v3 Well, suppose we drop this subject, Mr. ronx? ‘* No, for I came to tell you, Sibyl, that I love you, although you already know that. ‘‘] came to tell you that J have loved you since we first met, and to ask you to be my wife. ** Do not be frightened, for 1 do not ask itnow but when I have won fame and riches. “You know me, Sibyl, and all about me, and T am not as those other men, a stranger to you. “To-day your father refused to sell me the Merma‘d, but gave it to Moncrief; but I was not to be thwarted in my determination, so I bought the Scorpion from her commander, the papers are already in my hands, and I have forty good men upon her, getting her ready for sea, and I go as her captain, commanding my own boat as a privateer.” ‘Hugh Bronx, fave you well considered the step ou have taken!” asked Sibyl, earnestly. PP have,” ‘¢ Though a fine seaman, Hugh, you have had little os arg a commander, and none upon an armed deck. “T willsoon gainit.” __ ‘You made a failure of your attack with the barque the other ne in attempting to capture the schooner, while Lieutenant Moncrief went in boats and captured the schooner, the barque and the British brig, showing thereby the skilled commander.” ‘Curses upon him! Id have rather died in an English prison than owed my rescue to him,” savagely said the young sailor. ‘* You do not like Lieutenant Moncrief, it is evident; though he saved you from the yard-arm of Bianca’s vessel and an oe prison.” ‘No, I hate him,” hissed Hugh. ‘* And how has he ever harmed you, that you should hate him?’ ‘* He loves you, and he is bg iy your love d I hate any man that comes be- tween you and I, Sibyl Hurst, ‘“‘T have a vessel, and I paid for it, by draw- ing upon my inheritance in New York, and I shall win fame and then come back to make you my wife.” ““ My dear Hugh, don’t be foolish, for you can pever make me any such thing.” ; ‘* What! do you say I can never win you, _ when [ have gained fame at sea?” ‘¢ You can never win me, Hugh.” ‘¢ You refuse me, then?” ‘ Ttterly.” “Why?” he gasped forth. * Because I do not love you, as you wish my ve, ‘*You are dear to me as a friend, yes as a brother, for I have ever so regarded you; but I Ne RR TT tie Bea:Siren. do not love you, Hugh, as you wish, and I never can, never will.” He seemed stunned by her words, for although he had accused her of loving others, he yet had felt when he was in command of a vessel, and on the highway to fame and fortune, that she could not but love him as he wished. ** ‘You send me from you, Sibyl?” ‘*] would rather that you accepted Lieutenant Moncriet’s offer, which father told me of, and showed me that officer’s letter to him, saying you had declined, for tren I believe you could get experience and work your way up. ‘**But to go out as acommander yourself, I fear that you but go to your own ruin; but if you win fame, far exceeding that of Moncrief’s, you can never be to me more than you now are, a dear good friend, one who has stood in the place of a brother.” ‘**Enough; [ thank you for your advice, Miss Hurst, but will not profit by it, as I sail as soon as my vessel is ready, and you will soon hear that the Sea Scorpion has not lost her powers on account of a change of commanders, while I wish to say to you, and have you know that I mean what I say, and that is, never shall you be the wife of any other man than Hugh Bronx.” With these words he wheeled on his heel and strode rapidly away, unchecked by a call for him to come back, which he had hoped he would hear from Sibyl’s lips. CHAPTER XTX, A DEADLY DEED. THE British brig-of-war, Brimstone, was cer- tainly a most valuable prize, for Lieutenant Moncrief, for she was found to be a crack craft, a good sailer, and her armament and equip- ment were perfect. Manton Moncrief found that he could equip the Sea Siren, as he called the Mermaid, in splendid style, with a large and formidable bat- tery, a complete outfit in small-arms, ammuni- tion, boats and all that was needed, while the brig would yet have half a dozen guns and a geod supply of small-arms left. Her officers and men were taken ashore, as prisoners, to await the return of Moncrief from a cruise, for he couid not bear to be idle, while waiting for his new vessel, and then they were to be taken north in their own vessel, the Sea Siren acting as convoy. Finding that he could spare them, and know- ing just what the Scorpion was wanting in, Manton Moncrief sent several boat-loads of things on board the schooner with his compli- ments to Hugh Bronx, and the insulting re- sponse from the jealous young sailor was that ‘**as he needed the things very much, and could not otherwise procure them in the town, he would take them, paying for them in New York when he reached that port.” The eyes of Manton Moncrief flashed, as the se delivered his message, but he said simply: ‘** He can do as he pleases, and what he pays can go in as prize-money for the men, ‘** How I have offended young Captain Bronx I do not know; but he must be careful not to go too far, as he seems inclined, I have observed, to pick a quarrel with me.” The Brimstone being in good condition, was gotten out to sea first, Moncrief having enlisted a number of men for the cruise, as his own de- pleted crew were not sufficient to man her. Several days after Hugh Bronx went to sea in the schooner, and she went flying down the har- bor under fullsail, and winning much admira- tion from all who saw her, for certainly she was a saucy looking craft. Standing at the window in her father’s room Sibylsaw her go by, and waved her kerchief, though it gained no recognition from the morose young captain, though he saw it and turned away. Finding that he did not call again upon her, Sibyl, not wishing to have him go off in anger, wrote him a note, telling him to come and say good-by to her father and herself, if he had time, but if not, please to accept her heart- felt wishes for his success as a commander, and to be sure and visit them when his cruising brought bim near their home. This note he had not answered, for he was too full of jealous bitterness to do so, and he had put to sea without calling. ’ Seeing that his captain walked forward, and evidently did not see the waving kerchief, and recognizing the one who held it, Vesey, one of the old crew of the Mermaid, and the first officer of the Scorpion, at once sprung to the peak halliards and dipped the flag in response, for, like the rest of the crew from the brig, they loved and respected Sibyl greatly. Catching sight of his act, Hugh Bronx turned like a madman, and rushing upon the unfortun- ate officer, dealt him a blow with his pistol-butt eon felled him to the deck, while he hissed orth: ‘** How dare you dip that flag, sir, to a salute I did not notice?” The officer did not move, but lay prone upon the deck, and Rossmore, the junior officer, and the men looked on with horror at the act of their commander, ‘* Come, men, bear him to his berth, and have \ * 4 ) get =} ee mI ——_ = — . LLL LLL LLL LL the surgeon sent to him,” called out Hugh Bronx, turning slightly pale, as the form never moved. Rossmore, a handsome young seaman, step- ped forward, bent over the form, and said: ‘* Officer Vesey is dead, Captain Bronx.” ** Quick! send the surgeon here,” cried Hugh Bronx, now thoroughly alarmed, and a moment after the surgeon, a doctor lured from his prac- tice in the town with the hope of prize-money, came up from his state-room and bent over the ** Dead, sir, he is. “ An attack of heart trouble, I suppose, but a post-mortem will show, if you wish to know the exact cause.” **T know the cause, Surgeon Scott. “* He acted without consulting me, and against my wishes, and I struck him with my pistol- butt, though not intending to kill him. ‘* Mr. Rossmore, you are now first officer, sir, so bave the body sewn up ina hammock for burial at sea,” and Hugh Bronx went into his cabin, well knowing that his cruel act had won the hatred of every man on board his vessel. ‘*T have begun badly, and bad luck may dog me; but I'll not let my crew see that I feel, and shall rule them with an iron hand, for I am to be master of this craft, in the fullest sense of the word, and I'll yet win a name that will make that proud beauty bend her haughty head in my presence.” Once out in deep water, Hugh Bronx ordered the burial of the unfortunate Vesey, and with a brazen effrontery that seemed to thrill his crew, read the service for the dead over him. Then the schooner was put away on her course up the coast, and a bright lookout was ordered a for prizes. he schooner was certainly in good trim, and her crew, which Hugh Bronx had increased to seventy men, were set to work practicing at the guns, and with the small-arms, and the young captain congratulated himself after a week’s cruise, that he had a formidable vessel for her size and the number of her seamen. Several British cruisers had been sighted, but a large sloops-of-war, Hugh Bronx had to try the Scorpion’s heels in flight, and he was pleased to see that he had a fleet-going craft. One night, just after dark, and some ten days after sailing, he was becalmed not far from the shore, and between two points of land, some two leagues apart. When the dawn came, to his dismay, he saw a large sloop-of-war standing in toward him, and bringing a stiff breeze with ber. She was British, beyond all doubt, and she was in a position to cut him off from escaping to sea, The men realized their danger, as he did, and mutterings went around: ‘* Now for his punishment for killing Officer Vesey.” ; CHAPTER XX, AN ACT OF SUSPICION. For the second time in his life Hugh Bronx felt what it was to have a fearful responsibility resting upon him alone. He had experienced it the first time when he had taken the barque down to cut out the schooner, and it had not been a pleasant thought, especially when he realized that his undertaking was a failure, Now, when he was becalmed, for the wind had not yet reached him, and a large British sloop- of-war was coming down upon him, he felt the full danger of the situation, and that seventy airs of eyes were looking upon him, seventy tie depending upon him. He :aw that he was in a trap, for be bad been caught in a large cove, or bay, between two headijands, He was fully a league from open water, and the sloop coming in, would have bim fully under the range of her broadsides, so that he must surrender, go eshore in bis boats, or run his vessel upon the beach and destroy her, as soon as the wind reached him, for it would be mad- ness to open fire upon the Englishman. As the wind reached him he decided upon his course, and that was to run the schooner ashore, set her on fire and escape in his boats with what they could carry with them. He had just given the order to the helmsman to head for the shore, when the sloop-of-war fired a shot over him. He had no flag at the peak, and to try and escape a broadside as long as possible, ordered the British ensign run up. But, as he still held on his course, the sloop fired again, and soon after, luffing sharp, sent a broadside after him, Several shots tore along his decks, two men fell dead, and others were wounded by splin- ters. ‘Lower away that English flag, and set the American, for she shall die under our own colors, as she will have to go,” called out Hugh Bronx, and Rossmore sprung to obey, but sto ped short as suddenly a shot came from cff the starboard-quarter. ‘** Sail ho!” shouted the lookout, as the shot ICO (E (0) Gomiel S | 1 LE = -. LS eS ge, og a a oe ee ee ee eee