Beadle's Half Dime Library (no. 1109) (1901 01)
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Th RO A ac WwW eat R\ AW. OBWR= Go Hawn 4 pel (ada! pees ‘NGA (han! Vine ri y ys =~ aluliiiAN | Copyrirent, 1877, By Beapte & Apams. ; WE. o. AWS & CO., Publishers, (JAMES SULLIVAN, Prorpriktor), 379 Pearl Street. New York. H { / 19 Published Every 0, . Month. Ships at sea caught in that fearful hurricane The Sea-Cat; 3 mb | had their masts torn out of them, snapped like THE WITCH OF DARIEN. | piesa, and were dashed and buffeted about »y the angry waves, till their seams gaped with A STORY OF THE SPANISH MAIN. | like card-houses, and scattering their remnants | In the air like scraps of at oth Open wounds, and the devouring sea over- whelmed and ingulfed them. Black clouds shut out the licht of the sun as with a pall of velvet, and revolved slowly in a BY FREDERICK WHITTAKER, | AUTHOR OF "THE RED RAJAH,” ““ DOUBLE- | huge circle, a hundred miles or more in diame- DEATH,” “ THE ROCK RIDER,” ETC. | ter, around a central point, where a funnel-like | opening let in a view of the calm sky above, CHAPTER I. | blue, eternal, and unchangeable, in solemn con- { THE GALLEON. trast to the fearful tornado raging below. | A TERRIDIE eyelone was raging over the Ca- Under the slowly-revolving pall of cloud / | ribbean Sea, Sweeping over the palm-fringed | howled the tempest of Wind, driving in an ex- islands, tearing‘up trees by the roots, hurling the thatched hute of the matives to the earth actly goapsite direction, With such force that it cut off the tops of the Waves, and reduced the te = et 46 Dona Inez uttered a faint shriek in those horrfble cols, the ai —. Date) ENTERED as Skconp Cuass MATTER aT THE New Yorks, N. Y,, Post OFrice. January, 1901, ol HU. PRICE 5 CENTS. 50c. a Year. sea to a flattened mass of white foam, flying through the air in a thick mist. Not a drop of rain fell at the outskirts of this circle. Only the fierce cyclone howled over the waters like a ravenous beast hungry for prey. But all around the silent funnel in the center a sheet of water was falling from the black clcuds, while the glare of lightning and the roll of thunder never ceased. Far outside, on the outskirts of the storm, where the wind was less violent, and the waves rolled moimtains high, where the ragged scud-clouds at the edge of the cyclone went fiving through the air like scared sea-birds, a small vessel, made of the trunk of a | single tree, slim and elegant in shape, was climbing tho slopes of the billows, only te plunge madly into the trough of the sea at the opposite side, under a single, close-reefed lateen | Se Biscayan heaved up the boarding-ax, and flercely attacked She tarrfdle mometer.
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2 Beadle’s Hal TSCM TT | aE one oa f-Dime 20 SET We ; Many a mile away from her, but rapidly drifting nearer, was a tall and stately ship, with lofty forecastle and poop, covered with carv- ing and gilding, an image of the Madonna at the prow, and twenty gum@of aside. Her pe- culiar build and rig, the enormous size of her ards. witk close-reefed sails below, announced er to be a Spanish galleon of the largest size, while the course she was steering proclaimed her to be homeward bound, in all probability with treasures for Spain, for it was in the year of grace 1664, and the Spaniards ruled all Peru and Mexico. The galleon, which bore the name NUESTRA SENORA DEL ASUNCION on her stern, did not seem to have suffered much in the hurricane, chiefly because she had avoided its full force by keeping on the outskirts, owing to the skill of a passenger on board, and not to any seamanship of the commander. That commander, a white-haired cavalier of very distinguished appearance, was none other than Don Alonzo del Campo y Espinosa, late Governor of Cartagena de las Indias, now going home with his daughter, Dona Inez, to Spain. The old Governor paced the poop, watching the breaking storm, for every minute drove it further and further away, and the galleon, as she got further and further from the center, be- gan to spread her wings once more, and travel on her homeward voyage, To the north-east, on the larboard bow, two needle-like peaks rose out of the sea, the well- known Pitons of St. Lucia, and toward these the galleon was steering her course. Don Alonzo looked worn and anxious, for the storm had tried the vessel severely, and they were not out of danger yet. The demons of the storm might have been cheated of their prey, but/other demons remain- ed no less dreaded by the Spaniards, and espe- cially by those sailing in treasure-ships—the buccaneers. The time was the royal time for the sea rovers, whose audacity in those days approached the sublime, and whc were paying back ta’ the Spaniards, at the hands of) English and French alike, the robberies and cruelties by which they had become masters of New Spain and Peru. As Don Alonzo watched the seas for a sail, now and then saying a word to his daughter, Tnez, a man ascended the ladder from the waist, and stood upon the aftercastle, or poop. This man was the same passenger whose seamanship had saved the gaileon from being caught into the whirl of the tornado, and he was so differ- ent in looks from the stately Governor and his beautiful daughter, that he ni¢rits description, for he was a remarkable person. He was a head shorter than Espinosa, very ré and lean, but with immensely br shoulders. His square, bull-dog jaw and satur- nine face, were decided] Celtic, his curling hair, contrary to the fashion, was cut somewhat short, and his mustache was thin and long, waxed in the military mode, bat unrelieved by a chin tuft. Despite the decidedly un-Spanish style of his countenance, he was dressed in the Spanish style, with richly gold-broidered vetvets and satins, and/he spoke the language with such a pure accent that an old Castilian might have claimed brotherhood with him |, “And so you think there is no further danger of our meeting, with those accursed devils of buccaneers, Dcn Enrique?” said the Governor, as he paced to and fro on the poop, scanning the ’ horizon at every turn. © Tnez was seated on the carved seat above the stern gallery, working quietly at an embroider- ed aiiaedlogh, She raised her soft eyes to the keen orbs of Don Enrique, and shuddered as she embossed armor, and said: “Oh! Holy Virgin, protect us! I hope so, Se- nor Morganos.” Don Enrique Morganos had been furtively ywatching the beautiful devotee, and s slightly as she spoke. His dark face flushed a Titel as he said; “Ne pirate, be he ever so bloody, would dare to harm you, senorita.” * T would rather trust to our good pieces of eighteen for seca than the beauty of an angel,” said the old. Governor, a little sarcastic- aily. ‘‘These rovers, the scum of every land, are none too good to rob a church; and sacrile- gious persons such as that, would show no mercy even to an angel.” Don Enrique smiled faintly as he answered: “ You are has on the buccaneers, Don Alonzo, Your bi ys 2 pers remembers, that they were once what their name implies, men who lived by the chase, and dried their béucan for gale to ships. But the Spanish galleons, , a7 f an Grae i. mL t j . 9 sok Bi aes" and captains with roving commissions, robbed Library. | them of all their goods, and turned them out to | starve. Who can blame them for revenging themselves?” Don Alonzo flushed angrily to the roots of his white hair. “Who says they had any right here, senor? Did not his Holiness the Pope give all this con- tinerftt and the circumjacent islands in perpetual possession to his Most Catholic Majesty of Spain? and what right had these dogs of hun- ters, English, French, or what you will, to tres- | pass on our preserves? One would think you were one of them, Senor Morganos, instead of a loyal gentleman of Biscay, to hear you plead for them.” Morganos only smiled in answer. He al- lowed the hot-headed old soldier to cool down before he said: ‘““T only stated the other side of the case, se- nor. The buccaneers, a% least the English por- tion of them, are heretics, and care not for his Holiness. I do not justify them. If any such as they were to come in my way, ’tis but a short shrift [ would give them.” “No shorter than I,” returned Espinosa, an- grily. ‘tI would they would try conclusions with me now, in open sea, with a good ship un- der my feet. But that is not their game. they always select some coward to plunder.” Don Enrique turned away and looked over the quarter of the galleon over the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea. A little white speck was just becoming visible there, as yet quite un- noticed from the ship. He turned back to the old Spaniard, with his peculiar sardonic smile. “Perhaps not,” he said. ‘‘ Yonder’s a sail in chase of us, and from the lift of her topsails I should judge her to be one of the buccaneers.” Don Alonzo started and gazed eagerly astern. The strange sail was coming from the north- west, the direction of Jamaica, and pursuing a course that promised to cut them off before they reached St. Lancia. And even at that distance it became plain that | the stranger was a fast sailer, able to overhaul the galleon. CHAPTER IT. THE ROVERS. ‘Ts a buccaneer, beyond a doubt,” said the old Spaniard, half to himself, when he had | some means of escape for us?” watched the distant vessel for some time in si- | lence. ‘She is but a small vessel, Don Enrique. We need not fear her.” Don Enrique cast a glance over the decks of | the galleon, where the Spanish sailors were clustered in knots about the vessel, playing cards or busying themselves at little tasks, un- conscious of their appproaching foes, ere he an- swered: ‘‘ Perhaps not. These pirates fight well, how- ever. Supposing yonder vessel should be one of Lollonois’s erwisers?” The old Governor’s face underwent a change. Lollonois was the most universally dreaded of all the pirates of the Caribbean, from the _piti- less warfare which he waged against the Span- iards, and the desperate ferocity of his assaults. But as Don Alonzo surveyed his gallant and well-ordered ship, his courage rose into indigna- tion at the momentary tremor. “Let it be Lollonois himself, with all his crew of demons: he shall not escape me, if he once attack me, senor,” he said. “Ho! at the masthead, there! Where are your eyes, that | you can not see the ship on the larboard ‘quar- ry’ The man who was stationed in the little bat- tlemented hutch at the masthead, known as the ““Crow’s Nest,” looked over the side at his com- mander, in some trepidation. ‘The sun was in my eyes, senor, as I looked ahead,” he answered; *‘ but {see her now. "Tis a vessel with two masts, canoe-rigged,” ‘“A pirate, beyond a doubt,” muttered Don Enrique to himself, in English. “ ’Twould be a strange thing were she to—no, she shall not.” He turned away to the larboard quarter, and looked earnestly at the stranger, while Don Alonzo’s powerful voice echoed from the summit of the aftercastle, erying: ‘All hands on deck! A pirate is comin, down upon us! Mariners to the ropes, and sol- diers to the guns! By the blessing of Heaven we will sink the accursed wretalaes in the bottom of the sea!” At the sound of the commander’s voice, the sailors started up from their various occupa- tions, with vast noise and clamor, and a number of men came pouring up the hatches from be- low. There were mariners, in their red caps and shorts kilts, to work the vessel, and Pak gerade} of soldiers to do the fighting, as was t tay bs | island of St. Lucia, where the Asuncion was to ‘ ‘ bie , t i: Op FS round to meet the pleasing dark eyes of Dona Inez. The girl exhibited none of the ordinary | tremors of her, sex at the approach of battle, She rather seemed some softly sorrowing angel who grieved at the perils of others. ; ‘Senor Morganos,” she said ina low tone, “is yonder vessel a pirate?” . “‘T think so. [am sure of it,” responded Mor- i ganos, gravely. ; “Can we not escape without slaughter? she asked, suddenly. “T fear not, senorita,” “4 “Think, senor. You told us onee that you had been a captive to these buccaneers, and knew all their secret ways. Can you not devise : pee >. eth “Tf I do,” said the other, looking her full in py tai ‘‘what good will it bring me, senor- ita’ ‘Tf the blessing of a daughter for helping her father be of good, I will bless and love you for * % it, senor,” said Inez, warmly. : f ‘* Will you love me for it? he asked, abruptly. She blushed deeply, as she answered: : ‘‘As much as a Christian maiden may, that hopes to be the spouse of our Lord. Remember, l am vowed to the church, senor.” ‘Your father says not so, Dona Inez.” ‘*My father will consent in good, time, Don pa » pa ~ eras, ve Fs eee vigel a —s ~ ‘ 3 NS roy of Mexico, and Had praycd w passage to the Enrique. But you do not answer my question. gt Can you not think of a way to escape the sinof | §\j | slaying yonder wicked men invtheir sins?” tee “T can, if you will promise toJove me for it. |; >) Not without,” he said, obstinately, and his keen “a : eyes glittered strangely. wee he “Then do it,” said Inez, impetuously; end |) > i—) she shrunk away, red as fire, tyhen she saw the sy ee trinmphant glitter in the eyes of the strange fed Biscayan, whose manner had puzzled her durin aia all the voyage from Chagres. Don Enrique ha ay come aboard there, with letters from the Vice- Aa touch on her voyage to Cadiz. He ‘had become a great favorite of Don Alonzo, on account of his evident experience in warfare;.and his pres- ence on d seemed to have acted as a charm against the buccaneers, for they had seen none till that day, when almost out of their range. “T will do it,” he said now, in a low tone, to Inez, with a look of great meaning. “ But, mark my words, senorita, I witl have my re- ward.” He turned away as he spoke, with a careless glance at the strange vessel, now plainly in sight, and descended the ladder that led to the” waist, whence he entered the cabin below the aftercastle. Inez del Campo calmly returned to her seat over the stern gallery, and watehed the mane’ - vers of the two vessels, with an interest that was gradually quickening into «xcitement, de- spite her usual calmness, The strange vessel was, compared to the Asun- cion, a mere pigmy in point of size, and not even fully dectet: as they could see, She was one of those nondescript craft, originally in- vented by the Indians of the islands, larger fhan a canoe, but made in the same way, out of the trunk of a singie tree, one of the giants of the tropics. ‘These huge canoes were called perta- vas, and frequently measured a hundred feet in length, by ten across, being hewn into models of great beauty and swiftness, and hollowed out so as to contain forty or fitty men, It wes a riagua, with prow like a knife and two huge ateen, sails, that was coming skimming along close hauled to the wind, sailing three fect ts one of the galleon’s, and aiming to intercept her on her voyage to St. Lucia. any It may be said, why should the Spaniards ~ fear so contemptible an adversary? The reason was that under just such ridiculous disparities of force had the buccaneers acquired their name of terror, and the. instances of large galleons being taken by just such periaguas, by the force of ferocious bravery at close ¢ rs, were fre- ae Ws ones * a zat e aes fata = - ms ~ = e a aha a ? = ees wees ta - i eo Fe? eo evil aes Rete REL AES Re a
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wry ale 2 Ss TRE CSR Se Se ee ee. COT ‘ey M 4 ™4 We he looked isthe Yc eR The Sea-Cat. 3 ee 4 The grt stood steadily on toward St. Lucia, the two conical Pitons being now plain- ly visible, even to the ravines furrowing their des. The captain of the Asuncion was deter- mined to run in between these two mountains, | and fight, if necessary, in the deep land-locked | bay that lies between them, in sight of the town and forts, and in reach of help from land if pos- sible. That a vessel of forty guns should be re- duced to such a humiliating course will show to what an extent was the terror spread by the buccaneers. That the incident is by no means an exaggeration, contemporary history will vouch. The Asuncion, with forty guns and two hundred and fifty men, crowded all sail to es- cape from a periagua without a cannon, and probably holding sixty men at the most, But it soon became doubtful whether she would escape her pigmy antagonist, without fighting in the open sea. Holy Virgin I was on board ge to make use of those secrets to save you. Enough, senor. Are you going to tack, or will you run ashore here?” ‘‘ We will enter the harbor, if it please you,” said Espinosa. ‘‘I promised you a passage thither.” He forbore to question a guest further, with the high-bred courtesy of the Spanish gentle- man, though burning with curiosity. “Put me ashore on yonder rock,” said Mor- ganos, pointing to a spit of low rocks that pro- jected from the Grand Piton on the side away from the bay. ‘‘ There is water enough for a fleet, and you need not even turn from your course.” The old Governor looked surprised at the singular whim of his passenger, for the island of St. Lucia was almost uninhabited at the | time, and the further side of the mountain in- The Pitons were coming plainer and plainer | into sight; and the deep bay, with the houses of Santa Lucia at its further extremity, was al- most ahead, when the white foam, cast from the bow of the periagua, was plainly audible in | their ears, and the next moment the plucky little craft shot across their forefoot, and falling off from the wind, came sweeping past with a rush like that of an angry tiger, steering so close | to the galleon’s weather side that a grappling- | iron, caught in the fore-rigging, was not three feet from the.side of the buccaneer periagua. A crowd of powerful bearded men, in glittering | blue water, which was rapidly growing c | cipice, two thousand feet in armor, and loaded with weapons, rose up as the | irons were thrown, with a hoarse shout of tri- | umph_ brandishing their swords. it must not be supposed that the crew of the alleon were idle. ad been fired at the pirate from the lee guns; but naval gunnery was then in its infancy, and Several ineffectual shots | the sea was too rough to make good practice at | the best. The great guns were almost harmless. In another moment it is probable that the buccaneers would have boarded the Spaniard, when a sudden interruption occurred. Don Enrique Morganos rushed out of the cabin, sprang on a gun in the waist, and shouted to the pirates in a strange tongue. CHAPTER ITI. THE SEA-CAT. Wuat the Biscayan said, or in what lang he spoke, the crew of the Asuncion never knew. The effect of his words was surprising. The rope that held the ppling-irons to the eon was cast loose, and one of the Spaniards ound no difficulty in throwing it overboard, when the two vessels parted company as sud- denly and pees ass, § as they had met, and the periagua, spreading her huge lateen sails wing- and-wing, went dashing away with the speed of \@ racer. : » Don Alonzo had hardly time to utter an ex- Gamation of wonder, when the long, tapering lateen yard of the buccaneers passed over the weather quarter of the galleon, and was gone. Then he saw Don Enrique leap down from the | n and enter the cabin as calmly as if nothing happened. | © Madre de Dios!” exclaimed the old soldier: “what manner of man is this?) How did he do it? He must bea wizard!” He turned to his daughter, Inez, who had maintained her seat on the stern with perfect tranquillity during the imminent danger that Thad juse away from them, and asked “Inez, who is this man? You were speaking to him awhile ago, and you seem to know some- thing. Who is he?” ~ *T can not tell, my father,” she answered. * He told me that he had once been a captive to these pirates, and knew certain secrets of theirs but how he has driven away yonder vessel, I ‘know not. Ask him, for he comes.” - And, indeed, at the same moment, the dark, gaturnine face of the mysterious Morganos ap- ared over the top of the waist Jadder, and Don Enrique aithirel the aftercastle as quietly as a saloon. “Don Enrique, we owe you our lives,” said the Governor, warmly. ‘But tell me, senor, ‘what words of yours were powerful enough to turn away the assaults of these sea demons? What did you say?” “Morganos looked astern, where the buccaneer ‘periagua was fast vanishing from view. Then ahead to the towering rocks of the and bg not now a quarter of a mile off, ‘ere he “The pirates belo: to the squadron of the Admiral Mansvelt. was once a mer to and learned certain t they a are, I may not tell; but you may thank the age | angel volved a journey of at least ten miles for one who desired to make his way overland to the city. “* Are you really in earnest, senor?’ he asked, doubtingly. “Fully,” said Morganos, coolly. ‘I am a man of strange tastes and I love solitude.” The old soldier made no answer, and signed to the helmsman to luff closer to the wind, as the stately galleon moved steadily on over deep er, under the shadow of a nearly perpendicular pre- hig nt. The sullen wash of the waves against this precipice echoed dismally in the ears of the mariners, and the wind, cast back and reflected by the wall of rock, became fitful and baffling as the galleond coasted along its base. Presently the mountain gave a turn, and dis- closed the point of rocks before them, the wa- ter still continuing as deep as ever, to all seem- ing. Morganos stood with folded arms, appar- ently buried in a gloomy reverie, as the Asun- cion slowly forged nearer the point. Don Alonzo looked as iim with ill-disguised surprise and some suspicion, for since the mysterious visit of the pirates, strange thoughts had risen in his mind concerning the other. Presently he said: “*T will go down into the waist, Don Enrique, and order out the boat for yourself and your belongings. We dare not go any closer with the ship.” The other hardly seemed to hear him, though he bowed slightly, and Espinosa descended the ladder, muttering: “T like not this stranger. He knows too much of the pirates to be an honest Spaniard. I am right glad to be rid of him.” eee ag waited till he was alone with Inez, when he abruptly asked: “Do you know who I am, senorita?” ‘“*T think I do,” said Inez, steadily, raising her dark eyes to his. “You are right,” he answered, without a word of excuse. ‘fam what you think, a buc- caneer; more, yonder is one of my ships, and I meant to have plundered this vessel, when I came aboard. Your eyes have saved the gal- leon. Do you understand?” Inez trembled slightly, and turned pale. Her fine feminine tact had suspected something of the kind, but the plain avowal frightened her. ‘**Oh, senor, can you not repent?’ she said, faintly. ‘“‘ You cannot be all bad, or you would not have spared us.” ‘“‘ Hush!” he said, somewhat contemptuously, “‘T- do not believe in your saints and idols, and your Spanish robbers deserve all they get from us. But you, Inez, are an angel, and right or wrong, I cannot harm you. Ficreatter, when you hear Spaniards cursing the pirate} remem- r that he spared you because he loved you.” Inez blushed crimson at the speech, and looked over the stern of the galleon to hide her confusion. Though loth to confess it to her- self, the bold Biscayan had won upon her, dur- ing the voyage in the Asuncion, more than she thought possible. The very contrast of their characters had tended to deepen the impression made on the timid convent-bred girl. She hung her head over the stern, looking in- to the clear sea, and painfully conscious of the flush that dyed her very neck as the disgui eee proceeded in a low, impasstoned me: “Inez del Campo, I am a man who never yet spared one of your nation; and who has sworn vengeance on them for the 66 EY they have done me and my countrymen. Till I knew you, I believed them all alike, cowards and tyrants, robbers of helpless Indians, to flee before brave men. But you have changed all that with your and ways. Here before God I swear, r if you will be mine, I will leave the sea and be- come, what I have hated, a Spaniard in truth. You love me already. Say you will wed me, and all the riches of the Indies shall be poured at your feet forever. Inez, speak. I will not force you; but if you refuse to save your countrymen, on your head be the evils that follow; for I swear that I will never more show mercy to a Span- iard.” The girl made no answer; indeed, she was hardly conscious of his words in the tumult of her emotions. But as she sat there, gazing down into the clear, dark waters, unusually transparent as they were, a strange sight slow- ly began to dawn on her senses, which, for the time, completely distracted her attention from the other’s words. Deep down in those trans- arent waters she became conscious of the Paleful light of a pair of eyes, green and glaring like those of a cat, but of enormous size: eyes as large as a common plate or cash, and set about two feet apart. Nothing else was visible in the dark waters but those fearful eyes, and yet there was a nameless hungry horror in their aspect, which froze the blood in spite of the vagueness of the peril. Involuntarily she rose with a shudder, and exclaimed, as she -'ung te him: eS ‘‘Oh, Morganos, Morganos, i you love me, save me from that fearful monster.” The Biscayan started at the words, and ad- vanced hastily to the side of the ship. No sooner had he looked over, than he, too, shud- dered, in spite. of all his courage. The baleful green eyes were close to the sur- face, and the form of the monster to which they belonged was plainly visible, And what a form! Fancy a rounded, shapeless body, like that of a toad, but twice as large as a common ho head, with long, snaky arms twining and writh- ing about under the water, as long as the galleon herself, and inexpressibly loathsome in appear- ance! 7 Only one look did the Biscayan give, and then he sprung to the mizzen-mast, where a sheaf of weapons hung, and seized a ponderous board- ing-ax, shouting, in stentorian tones: ““OuIDADO EL GATO DEL MAR!” (Ware the sea-cat !) That name produced a fearful commotion in the vessel. Shouts of warning and yells of ter- ror arose on all sides, while the crew rushed to the masts for axes. It needed no explanation to tell them of the fearful enemy that was about to assail them. They had_ heard of it before, in the sw itious yarns of brother-sailqrs, and one or two of the crew had seen the monster before. Many, par- alyzed with fear, sunk on their knees, and prays ed to the Madonna to save them, too cowardly to make an effort to save themselves, And Dona Inez, half dead with terror herself, when she saw the effect produced even on the daring Morganos, stood in the midst of the after- castle, close to the taffrail, gazing down, as if fascinated, on the horrible nightmare called the sea-cat. Except for the green, fiery eyes there was no likeness to a cat. A spider as large as an ele- ee with exaggerated snaky limbs, was moru ike the monster; but the green, hun eyes were still fixed on the girl’s, their object since first she leaned over the side, and attracted its attention. She could ‘see the whole of the loathsome terror plainly, and yet was unable to move back. The shouts of sailors and soldiers sounded in her ears like a noise in a dream, and she slowly moved toward the taffrail, like a bird charmed by the serpent. ; Then, all of a sudden, the lately-quiescent nightmare woke to life. One of the Jong, snaky arms writhed up from the sea, as thick as a ship’s cable, da over the bulwarks, and entwined the hapless girl in its fearful, coils, Seven more of the leathsome, writhing wea- pons came streaming up at various places iq the galleon, and the confusion became fearful, while the sea-cat raised its body half out of the water by the force of those arms, revealing a broad mouth in its belly, garnished with the incarnation of devilish, though blind, vo- racity. Aa Bis Inez uttered a faint shriek in those horrible coils, the Biscayan heaved up the pa and fiercely attacked the terrible monster, CHAPTER IV. Auneapy the form of poor Inez was dragged pe gle Reng Se ee oe of the monster. “he Bisoa ee se ON gs t oe
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* iSeadie’s HalI-Dime Liprary. as Rae NCE ra 73 za an ee Was a man of vast strength, and the first blow of the ax crashed through the hard scales and | cartilages that formed the arms of the sea-cat, | nearly dividing the horrible weapon. Had the blow come with less force and skill, it would have been useless, for the arms of the creature were by no means the soft, slimy things they seemed. Every one of our readers, probably, has seen, in the cages of canary birds, the oval masses of joints of that smaller species of the same ani- mal, common on our southern coasts, under the name of the cuttle-fish or devil-fish. Such will ow to the size of a small keg, with arms rom six to nine feet in length, and from these come the joints in use in cages. But in the ‘tropics, where nature luxuriates in giants, vege- ‘table and animal, the monster, under the name “of the ‘‘sea-cat,” has been known to attain the full dimensions recorded in our story, and inci- dents such as we now relaie have occurred in very truth. But for merciful provision of na- ture they would be mcecommon,; but the Ruler of ali has curtailed t... destructive powers of the monster by denying to it the power of loco- motion. Savefor the means of rising an‘ sink- ing in the water, the sea-cat 1s compelled to re- ly on currents of the sea to transport it in search of food; and thus its voracious maw is ever unsatisfied, and the avicity with which it seizes on a prey ix @lways the terrible longing of semi-starvation. Now it had risen to the surface frona the bot- tom of the sea, where iv had bec lying in wait for prey like a cat, attracted b?7 to app nce of the galleon, which it too’: for a living crea- ture, and especially by the sight of Dona Inez looking over the taffrail. At the first blow of the ax, the long feeler, at the end of the arm which encircle<. the girl, thrashed madly and blindly about, while hun- dreds of little moutl.: opened in. the under sur- face of the deadly coils aud began to tear and suck at the poor victim’s flesh. The Biscayan, foarless “f the flying weapon that thrashed about the quarter-deck, Leaved up the ax again, with a muttered curse ot des- peration, and dealt a second blow at the same lace. The blow was effectual, for it divided the writhing, snake-like arm, and a flood of dark, horrible blood spouted from the wound over the white deck. The coils around the Spanish maiden relaxed and fell nerveless from her, when Morganos snatched her away to the other side of the deck, and laid her senseless by one of the guns, out of sight of the glaring eyes of the terrible sea-cas. And he was only just intime to do it; for the rest of the huge arm, where it was not cut off kept feeling and gliding about, as if nothing had happened, reaching further and further atevery alte: Meanwhi e, in the waist of the ship, matters were at a terrible pass. When Mor- os looked down from the lofty aftercastle, fie wight caused even his iron nerves to shudder ® moment. Those writhing arms, eight in number alto- gether, were twining, twisting and lashing about on the decks among the crew. Two of them, each with a shrieking, struggling victim en- coiled, rose up in the air as he looked, and were yecurved over the side toward those terrible ley only to return, empty, for more victims. braver portion of the crew were hacking at the scaly arms with axes, and had already suc- ceeded in severing two, but the result appear- ed not to inconvenience the sea-cat to any ex- tent. ‘ Like all anin..s of the low organization of the radiates, the sea-cat seems to insensible to pain, and unharmed unless attacked at the center of the system. And the center of that mass of writhing hide- ousness was slowly but surely lifting itself up the side of the galleon, by the strength of its hty arms, so that the glaring eyes might be e to see the prey those mighty arms were now blindly seeking for. Then it was that the dauntless buccaneer sud- denly leaped from the aftercastle, ax in hand, and flung himself into the melee below, fearless of the monster. Two fierce blows, and one of the arms was divided close to the bulwark, while Morganos ssed close to the —- streami lack lood as it was, knowing that there was the only place of comparative safety. The deck was strewn with weapons, dropped from the hands of victims; five men had y been snatched wvrerboard to a fearfyl doom; the rest, Lips i te with terror at the apparent uselessness of their _ pfforte, had sunk on their knees to pray for z | the terrible body was rising up from the sea. hard, white bone or cartilage, that form the | mercy, when the loud shout of the Biscayan | roused them anew. f ‘*For shame, cowards! If ye must die, die fighting! Boerding-pikes here! The sea-cat will be aboard in a minute! Stab him in the | eyes, when you see them!” . As he spoke, one of the long arms wrapped itself round the mainmast, and grew rigid as a column of iron, while it became evident that ** Pikes! Soap th yelled the Biscayan, and at the word, the men gathered fresh courage, and ran to him with weapons. He dropped the ax, and seized a long pike, just as the black, round- ed mass of the creature’s head rose over the bulwarks. The remaining arms, four in num- | ber, were all attached to various parts of the | ship, and straining violently to raise the body, so that a moment’s respite from death was af- forded the cowardly Spaniards, They clus- tered behind the bold Biscayan like sheep be- hind their leader, holding their pikes with trembling hands. Then, with a sudden slippery surge, the great black pulpy mass of the monster’s y flopped over the rail, with huge glaring eyes standin far out of its head, a gaping maw below, anc came down with a heavy squelch on the deck! In the same instant, all of the mighty arms detached their hold, like lightning, and darted writhing among the crew. For now the sea-cat could see its prey. But if its means of offense were thus intensi- fied, its defense was at the same time weak- ened. The one vulnerable point, the eye, was within reach; and deep into that eye the bue- caneer drove the long pike, while fifty similar weapons,’ plunged with the energy of. despair | into the same vulnerable place, and into the soft puipy belly of the fearful monster, trans- | fixed iv in a moment to the blood-stained deck | of the galleon. The sea-cat quivered all over; and its mighty arms, no longer sentient, coiling weapons, obe- dient to the will, shook and thrashed blindly about, till they slowly stiffened in death. Even in death, their wild blows struck down several sailors and soldiers, and swelled the ghastly roll of slaughter. But it was only the expiring effort of the creature. In a few min- utes it had ceased to quiver, and lay still and stiff, the black blood welling over the deck in streams, while the triumphant Biscayan turned coolly away, and accosted Don Alonzo as if nothing had happened, saying: “Senor Espinosa, now we will hoist out the boat, if you please. The sea-cat never hunts in couples.’ CHAPTER V. THE BUCCANEERS’ RENDEZVOUS. Frve years have rolled their round away, and the scene changes to the edge of the tropic for- ests of Darien. The perpendicular stems of enormous trees towered aloft on every side, with a maze of tangled lianas stretching from bush to bush overhead, and well-nigh shutting out the intense glare of the tropic sun, so that all beneath was a delicious bower of cool ver- dure. The ground had been cleared of all the luxuriant vegetation below by the hand of man, and the flowers were blooming fifty feet over- head, every vine loaded with its own separate species, while the wild jasmine, tuberose, and night-blooming cereus covered the trunks of many an old tree. At the edge of this forest, in a partial clear- ing, which opened on a green savanna to the north, a group of men were gathered around the form of a woman, who appeared to hold | sway over them, from the deference which they paid to her. The men were Indians, armed with bows, ar- | rows, and spears; the woman was to all seem- ing of white blood, although completely In- dianized in costume and surroundings. Her form had all the delicate symmetry peculiar to the Caucasian race, when untrammeled and undeformed by fashion, and her large liquid brown eyes and curling hair, as well as the pale tint of her skin, sufficiently marked the superi- ority of her race over that of the coarse-hai copper-hued Indians around her. er dregs, what there was of it, was of the most costly materials, a crown or em of gold, set with rough emeralds of great size, and a short skirt reaching to the knees, made of strings of gold beads in the form of a es heavy fringe, which, by its weight, always ad- justed itself to the movements of the wearer. The rest of her body and limbs, graceful and rounded as those of a Greek statue, were unin- cumbered with clothing, and xe from the force of purity and chastity in face of the girl, seemiéd as proper and decent das if robed in a nun’s habit. The diadem on hey head was crowned with white plumes, and she bote in her hand a slender spear made of solid gold, which seemed to be her ensign of royalty. The Indian Queen looked across the open | Stvanna, on the further side of which lay the open sea, and watched, with an eager gaze, the 9 of a vessel that was standing toward the shore, The presence of several other vessels, lying at anchor in the mouth of a river to the right, an- nounced the presence of white men, in proba- bly familiar intercourse with the Indians of Darien. ‘*The king of the strangers approaches, Chepo, I know his ship. ’Tis larger than all the rest,” said the queen, to a grizzled old Indian. ‘‘ Run back; hasten to rouse the tribe to receive and welcome him.” The old Indian bowed his face to the earth, and then turned away and hastened into the depths of the forest, when the queen continued: ‘And you, Natato, go and prepare the palace in the air, with a feast such as the strange king loves; and I, Lola, Queen of Darien, will go among the strangers to meet him.” ** Great queen, said ono of the Indians, re- spectfully, ‘‘’tis not safe for you to go among the white devils alone. Remember how fierce and rude they are, and how they have treated the maidens who have ventured among them.” Queen Lola smiled disdainfully. “Did I not say the white king was coming and am I not a child of the sun as he is? Let them harm me if they dare, and the king will punish them.” “But we can not be certain that yonder ves- sel holcs their king,” persisted Natato. ‘‘ These strangers seem to be at war with the other white devils, who have robbed us of our coun- try, but they are devils themselves.” ‘** Fool,” said Lola, in a tone of vexation, ‘‘am not. I the daughter of the sun, and Queen of Darien, and have I not asked the gods when the stranger should come that should deliver us from the power of the Spaniards?, "Twas the gods that promised us a deliverer: and yonder he comes as’ they promised. Follow me, and fear naught; the good gods themselves protect Lola, daughter of the sun and the sea.” As she spoke she moved forward with stately grace, and the submissive Indians followed her in silence, but full of apprehensions, to a spot on the sea-shore, where the sivanna grass came down nearly to high-water mark, whence the sound of boisterous merriment proceeded. There, scattered in groups around a huge fire, at which a hog was roasting whole, sat, lay, or stood, a number of bearded men, rough and fierce in expression, but all dressed with a sin. gular mixture of magnificence and neglect. Al wore armor or buff coats, in either case richly worked in gold and silver. Some were crowned with gayly plumed. beavers, others with morions of steel in the fashion of a previous century, or caps of leather, iron-bound, such as were intro- duced by Cromwell. Velvets, satin, and laces abounded in their dress, with boots of red or yellow morocco; but most of these were defiled with grease, and with sleeping on the und. while Tweek well. tattered. boota in holes ‘atid feathers battered, some more, some less. But the weapons of the party—and all were armed with sword, pistol, musketoon, ur hal- berd—were in splendid condition, of the most gorgeous character in ornament, and ready for immediate use. Such as they were, these jolly ruffians were drinking from a cask of wine that stood on the sand, with the head knocked out, and all were alternately eying the roasting pig and the ap- proaching vessel while conversing. ‘The admiral will be right glad when he hears of our success,” said a black-browed ruf- fian, in broken French-English, “for ‘tis not every day that such a fort is taken by assault; , and the Spanish dogs fought well, we must ad- mit. “Ay, ay, Lenoir; but that was only because they had no hole to creep to,” responded a flaxen-headed giant, whose accent bespoke him as English. ‘‘Had the castle had a wood in the rear, they would have fled long ere they did. Well, well, after all, there was not much plun- der got, and the men fell like rotten sheep in taking it. Porto Bello was something like a sack. Wine and women and gold in pl aby But here was naught but a heap of ashes, plenty of wounds to get for one’s share.” Boom! went a gun from one of the anchored ships, and in a moment more it was taken by the rest in turn, as they thundered out a sa- lute to their approaching comrade; the in-
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The Sea-Cat. a —_— —— coming ship sent forth gun for gun in an- swer. “Up, lads, and carry the admiral up the hill to the castle,” cried Lenoir. ‘Give him a reg- ular buccaneer welcome, and we'll have a jolly earouse to-night!” At the word all the buccaneers scrambled to their feet, and hastened down to the harbor, where the strange vessel was just dropping her General@@chor, and across whose waters a large canoe, 7 * Woolwordecorated with costly hangings for an awning, a was paddling to shore, urged by a dozen buc- caneers. In the high curving prow stood a rnate Gen'lplittering figure, in cuirass and helmet of steel, nager mber of ity, N.Y ernate Gen with black and scarlet dress, covered with gold, ©°and shaded by a long white cloak, ‘“The admiral! The admiral! Long live Mor- ‘gan, the King of the Buccaneers,” roared the “ules Cemecrowd, as the canoe approached the shore, and Be PR ident [Transporta N. > . . as the buccaneer admiral landed, he was sur- rounded by a crowd of his enthusiastic follow- Generaers, who caught him on their shoulders in tri- umph, and carried him up a hillock that sloped ‘down to the river's mouth, on whose summit could be discerned the still smoking ruins of the _once formidable castle of Chagres. sw York, N° For at ea it was, then only a castle with t Ta ete its garrison, that the greatest and most famous expedition of the buccaneers was now assem- bled; and it was the chief of all the freebooters | of the Spanish Main, who well deserved the title of “King of the Buccaneers,” Morgan himself, who now approached the rendezvous of his com- rades, preparatory to his great expedition against Panama. The buccaneers already ar- rived had stormed Chagres the day before, and | Morgan, who had been collecting succor for his friends at Jamaica and elsewhere, was but just some to join them. Up the hill and amid the ruins they carried him, shouting and singing, all talking together and telling of the incidents of the fight; while the chief, silent and somewhat saturnine as isual, quietly listened to all the stories, without thanging a muscle of his countenance. At last he opened his own lips a moment, only to say: ‘“Hold your prate. This was naught but the %ginning. The riches will come when Panama thall be taken. To-night bemerry. To-morrow we start on our journey. Set me down.” Their noisy enthusiasm stbsided in a moment ander his quiet and somewhat contemptuous manner. The wily chief well knew the secret of keeping his men at a distance and in awe. At a sign he was placed on his feet, and waved them away. Then he was about to give some orders, when he suddenly started, became pale, and fixed his eyes on an object without the up, ejaculating: id hs Inez! ENO Who in God’s name are you?” And the buccaneers became suddenly aware that Queen Lola had come nigh to them, unseen, and stood looking at Morgan. : it cannot be! CHAPTER VI. THE GOVERNOR’S SON-IN-LAW. In a lofty and magnificently-fitted apartment in the city of Panama stood Don Alonzo del Compo y Espinosa, talking to a very gorgeously- appareled military gentleman, whose person was about as handsome as could be found, whilé his regular face, adorned with magnificent mustache and beard, would have been pleasing for its beauty, but for the air of conceit and in- tolerable arrogance affected by so many hand- some men, especially Spaniards. Don Alonzo looked a little older than when we saw him first, but his eye was still bright, and his step firm. “Tell me, captain, what you have discovered about the pirates and their intentions,” said the Governor, ‘‘ Have you ordered out the scouts I told you, and have they reported?” “They have come in this morning, not an hour ago,” said the captain, in a tone of im- rtance. ‘‘Imis Mendoza has not been a sol- er for naught, your excellency. The whole of the track from here to Chagres is full of our friendly Indians, who will trot backward and forward with news as the foreign devils ad- vance. As yet they have done nothing, except to attack our fort at Chagres, which, as your excellency well knows, is capable of defying all forces.” “T know nothing out of my own sight, Don ” said the Governor, gravely. ‘‘ One would haye thought Porto Bello impregnable, save to artillery and regular assaults, and yet the pi- rates took it, with only four hundred men, inst a garrison of five hundred.”* | * Historical fact. “h o4 ua 5 **T was not there, your excellency,” said Don Luis Mendoza, with an air of ineffable impor- tance. ‘‘And your excellency was not there either,” he added, as if to detract from his own arrogance. ‘‘Had we been—who knows, Don Alonzo—we might have captured the devil Mor- gan and all his fellow devils.” “‘Killed them, perhaps, never taken them, Luis,” said Espinosa. ‘‘ You have never seen these pirates, or you would not talk so. I have been in a ship of forty guns when a canoe, with some fifty of.these desperate men attacked us; and by heavens, Luis, I fear they would have taken us but for an accident. I never yet saw men so totally devoid of fear. I am no coward myself, but I freely confess, they caused me to tremble when I saw the effect of their presence on the crew of my galleon. They became like dying men for fear; and think of it, Luis, Inez was on deck when they tried to board us.” “Would I had been there, too!” said Don Luis. ‘I would have scattered the dogs of heretics! But what saved your excellency?” ‘“* A passenger, whom I have since discovered to be none other than the redoubted Morgan himself, though he was then in disguise.” ‘* Por Dios!” was Mendoza’s only remark. ‘“Ay, Luis. He ordered off the pirates; and we were saved, only to fall into a fresh peril, from which, too, he saved us by his skill and daring. We were attacked by the monstrous cuttlefish they call the sea-cat, and he it was who cut in sunder the-monster’s arms, and final- ly slew it. He went ashore at St. Lucia as mys- teriously as he came aboard, and we never saw him again.” ‘““ And how did your excellency find out that it was the pirate?” . ‘*Inez told me, long afterward. She had found him out by his name, which he had hard- ly disguised. It was not so well known then as since,” Don Luis started, and a frown contracted his handsome face. ‘* And she never told me all this,” he mut- tered, His cogitations, of whatever nature, were in- dlicmichor by the entrance of Dona Inez herself, modest and beautiful as ever, but no longer wearing the semi-conventual dress of yore. Inez del Campo, in obedience to her father’s will, and without a feeling of love, had married Don Luis Mendoza, captain of her father’s puards, and heir to a dukedom, a year before. she had been taught filial obedience as her first duty, and had none of our modern romantic thoughts about love. Obedient, gentle and good, she had yet lived almost apart from her husband since their marriage, he, on his part, acquiescing in an arrangement that left him free to pursue his gallantries elsewhere. But, indifferent as was Don Luis, he would have been no Spaniard had he not been jealous as fire. The mere notion of his wife having a secret from him angered him. It was ina tone of annoyance, with a flashing eye, that he ad- dressed her now. ‘So, madam, your ladyship did not see fit to tell me that you had secrets with the pirates.” Dona Inez looked at him, amazedly. ‘“ What secrets? What do you mean, senor?” “T mean—” he began, but mn Alonzo inter- rupted him. “Stop, stop; you forget whom you speak to, and in whose presence,” he said, gravely. “Don Luis Mendoza, this lady is a Governor's daughter, and, as such, merits to be addressed as befits her station.” “She is my wife, your excellency—” began Mendoza, angrily. ‘“‘ And I am your superior officer, senor,” said Espinosa, sternly; “‘ and this lady is my daugh- ter and heiress. Do, you understand? ‘When you speak in my presence, remember the tone of voice.” Don Luis looked sullen, but made no answer, Inez,in a gentle tone of voice, addressed him, herself; : ‘* Nay, Luis, be not an with me without cause.’ { would have told you all long ago had you but asked me, But, indeed, the remem- brance of that terrible day, wherein I under- went such peril, is so painful to recall, that I have striven to forget it. Think of it, Luis! I was encircled by the slimy grasp of that odious monster, and in another moment should have been snatched overboard, when he saved me, Could I betray him to inevitable death when he had saved my life? He confessed to me who he was, and threw himself on my merey—” “ And you red him,” said Mendoza, sar- castically. ‘‘I suppose he was a handsome cavalier?” “Far, from it,” interrupted her father. ‘He was a short, square man, with no ty of face or person to recommend him; nothing but his wonderful strength and courage. Come, Luis, be reasonable. ou have no cause for jealousy, I assure you. I have lost one child already in the bowels of the sea. Let me see the other happy with the husband I have chosen for her. Remember, that your future fortunes will de- pend on your behavior to her. The duke, your father, is not rich, and J have not made my will yet.’ He spoke the last words with great meaning, and left the room as he said them. Don Luis remained biting his lip, something like a sulky schoolboy. ‘What did the Governor mean by losing a child?’ he asked, presently, in a more pacific tone. ‘I thought you were his only child, but it seems I know nothing of the secrets of your family.” “Tam his only child now, alas that it should be so,” said Dona Inez, sadly. ‘But did you not ever hear that my mother was drowned when I was only three years old, and that my only sister was lost with her?’ ‘* No,” said Mendoza, in a tone of curiosity, ‘“how was it?” ‘* She was coming over to join my father, who was then Governor of Carthagena. I was left behind, in the convent of Madrid, to be edu- cated there, but my mother took with her the little Pepita, a babe at the breast. The ship de- parted from Cadiz, and was never heard of again; and it is only known that pieces of the wreck were found in the sea, on the coasts of Yucatan. My father still keeps poor Pepita’s birthday as a day of mourning. Were she alive she would be eighteen, this year.” Don Luis said ndthing aloud, but as he turned away to the window he muttered: ‘*So much the better. There are less to share Espinosa’s savings.” ** Poor Bs ee > said Inez, sadly; “‘ God knows how willingly I would give up all claim to my father’s fortune, were it only possible that my sister were alive. But alas, she and our mother rest in peace at the bottom of the deep ocean. But tell me, Luis, what is it makes my father and you so grave to-day? There is some mys- terious danger in the air and no one will tell me what it is.” ‘Tt is your gallant friends, the robbers,” said Mendoza, in a sarcastic tone, ‘‘who are comin to redeem their promise of taking Panama, i they can. The pirates have attacked the castle at Chagres, and our brave soldiers have beaten them back in disgrace. My messengers brought in the news this morning.’ He had hardly finished the news, when a loud murmur was heard in the streets below, which rose into cries of terror and rage, as the tumult came nearer and nearer to the Governor's palace. Don Luis changed color, and went to the win- dow. Below, he saw a confused crowd running rapidly toward the palace, crowding around the figure of a horseman, with bloody armor and bandaged head, who was riding slowly forward, evidently engaged in telling some story to the crowd as he went. “More news. sere A Heaven it be not bad!” ejaculated Inez. ‘‘Oh, Luis see the poor man! e is wounded!” Don Luis hastily left the oom and rushed down to the court, which he found full of the Governor’s Guards, in their gorgeous uniforms, while Don Alonzo himself, with grave, anxious face, was standing on the palace steps, awaiting the horseman’s approach, ‘Tis the lieutenant of the castle at Chagres,” said the Governor to Mendoza, in a low tone, “You told me they had beaten off the pirates.” ‘*So help me all the saints, my runners told me so this morning,” said Mendoza, in a fright- ened voice. ‘* Let us hear what he/has to say,” said Don Alonzo, sternly. ‘I have trusted you too long, Luis. - Now J Saas command,” In a moment more the horseman had crossed the court, and slowly swung himself from his horse, as with a painful effort. “What news, Gaspar?” asked Don Alonzo, kindly. ‘‘Thou’rt wounded. Is the castle—?’ he paused. “Taken, my lord, and the garrison slaughter- ed without mercy,” said the wounded officer, faintly. ‘“‘Two days we resisted their assaults, when they came on like devils as they are. We slew hun , but thousands took their places. At last they set fire to the isades with flam- ing arro and the thatch of the barracks caught the blaze. Then, while we were extin- i wnat. Yop fer the buccaneers shot us down, and ea general assault. After that, I only
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§ : know that I was cut down, lay for dead for hours, and woke in the night, to find the place deserted and a mass of ruins, while the pirates were carousing in triumph on the beach below. I crept away, and got into the woods, where Queen Lola’s Indians helped me away, and got me a horse from a plantation on the road. The irates have taken Chagres, and by this time, oubtiless, are on the march hither, to take Pan- ama.” “And the Indians, can they be de think you?” asked the Governor, kindly. they treat you well?” ‘“They seemed to be hesitating which side to join,” answered Gaspar. ‘‘ Were it not for their ueen, they would have attacked the pirates in the rearywhen they assaulted us; but they told ded on “Did me that Queen Lola was well affected toward | the strangers.” “Have you ever sen this queen of theirs?” asked Don Alonzo. . ‘*No, senor. She keeps herself secluded in some mysterious bower, which the Indians told me wasup in the air, among the birds. They say that she is unfriendly to us, and no one knows what manner of woman she is. One of them told me that she was the daughter of the sun and the sea, and that they found her on the sea-shore at sunrise. vors the pirates. So much is certain.” Don Alonzo compressed his lips. “Then she must be removed, or slain. As his majesty’s viceroy, I have power over all these Indians. Luis, come hither.” He drew the captain of the guards aside, and gave him some orders, in a low tone of voice. On that same evening, Don Luis Mendoza, splendidly armed and mounted, and attended by | squad of splendid cavaliers, left the city of anama, at dusk, and took the road to Chagres. | As he went, he issued certain orders to every Indian he met, and mysterious signals echoed through the forest for miles around. And on that sa evening it was, that Mor- n the buccaneer first met, face to face, Queen la of Darien, and marveled at her likeness to Inez del Campo. CHAPTER VII. A BOWER IN THE AIR. THE full moon, with a porely silver radiance, only known in the torrid zone, making every thing as light as day, shone down on the forest of Darien, three or four nights after the landing of the buccaneer chief. In the depths of the forest, by the banks of a deep, narrow stream, glittered imiumerable fires, and around cluster- ed the fierce-looking, picturesque group of buc- caneers, ready for pee march against Panama in the morning. _ All around them the shadows of the forest were as black as jet, while the red glare of the fires, catching the trunks of distant trees, made them stand out like ghosts amid the dark back- d. But away from these fires, and far overhead, a scene far different was enacting, where the rays of the moon were free to pene- trate the upper foliage of the trees, lighting up that mysterious region seldom penetra by man, and usually sacred to ths birds and no less agile monkeys of the tropics. (p among the tree-tops, on a vast platform, woven together with canes and wild vines, like a huge bird’s nest, was a perfect fairy bower of blossoms, every intrusive branch cut away, a thick, oft carpet of dried grass covering every in ality of the platform. The walls seemed to made of flowers, so profusely did they bloom, and overhead looked down’ the round moon through a maze of blossoms. t But that was not all the light afforded to this singular bower, for, spangling the wall like stars, appeared innumerable points of green light, twinkling and changing perpetually; and these points of light, closely examined, revealed them- em a as the glorious fireflies of the aye im- risoned for a while to do vom d as lanterns. That duty they performed admirably, aiding the moon; and the remotest corners of the great - Bower were plainly visible. In the midst of this fai -like scene, reclining on heaps of flowers, was the beautiful Queen of | Darien; and at her feet sat Morgan, the bucca- neer, listening to her dulcet tones, while slender dian maidens flitted here and there around em, but not a man was to be seen. Lola was fin king to the chief in the broken Spanish 7 dialect that the Indians of Darien commonly used, and seemed to be finishing some story. “That is all I remember, ig ea they tell | me I was dressed in the clothes that the cruel _ Spaniards put on infants, when they found me J ee ee et cas ioe are kilo Ye But she hates us, and fa- | . from the gaze of our tyrants, for fear the | should claim me as one of them. Do you think | I look like one of them, senor?’ | ‘Had it not been for your likeness to a lady I once met,” said Morgan, gravely, ‘‘I should not have been here, beautiful queen.” “And this lady, who was she? Did you love her?’ asked Lola, simply. ‘She was the daug: iter of a Spaniard, and I | could not love her,” said the buccaneer, in a | strange, absent tone. ‘‘ These Spaniards have ; committed such wrongs on me and my country- men in the past, that I were less than man to forgive them. -But for all that, Dona Inez was so pure and good that she made me do what I never did before or since.” “And what was that?” ‘* Spare a Spaniard,” said Morgan, shortly, and he ground his teeth as if angry and ashamed of the recollection. A | ** To not spare them now,” said Lola, angrily, and her eyes flashed. ‘‘They have destroyed and oppressed my people long enough, making them bear their burdens, build their cities, and work as slaves for them ever since they came into our country. Oh, that I could slay | them all for what they have done to my chil- dren!” Morgan laughed carelessly. ** You are fierce, little one. What could your | naked Indians do against the Spaniards, clothed | in steel?’ | ** We could die slaying them,” she answered, -ailnagg ** But, alas, my people have no cour- age. They fear and serve the Spaniards; and | were it not for me, they would now be giving them news of your march, instead of guarding your outposts as they are.” ‘You did wisely to join us, beautiful queen,” | said the buccaneer. ‘ We are the only people that can save you from the Spaniards, and as Mb help us, so shall you be rewarded when we ave taken the city.” Lola was about to reply when a long quaver- ing note came faintly to their ears from the far distance, and she started hastily up. ‘‘News from my people,” she said, eagerly. ‘‘ The enemy are hovering round our posts.” Morgan rose on his elbow to listen. The call was repeated twice, and he too started up, when Lola motioned him down. **The white chief shall lie still, and his Indian friends shall guard him,” she said. Not one of the white strangers shall be harmed, while Lola is Queen of Darien.” ‘*Nay, but there is danger without,” urged Morgan, ‘‘ and my men are armed to encounter it. ou must not risk your own person.” For all answer the Indian queen motioned him imperiously to lie down, and then, turning away, she sprung to the side of the bower, aud disappeared with all the agility of one used to living among the. tree-tops, while at the same moment every one of the attendants also van- ished, and the buccaneer chief was left alone in the aeriel bower, sixty feet from #he ground. CHAPTER VIII. THE OUTPOSTS. FAR away in the forests a long line of Indians, in a sort of open skirmishing order, lay on the ground, covering the track to Panama, Track there was little, save a bridle-path in the oozy soil of the forest; but narrow and overgrown as it was, the wild natives knew every turn as familiarly as if it were a high road. The In- dians seemed to be in some excitement, for a movement was running back and forth along the line, and contrary to their usual practice, low voices were heard in conversation. Outside the line, in an opening of the path, where. the moonbeams penetrated through a gap in the trees, stood a party of horsemen in slittering armor, surrounded by a dense knot of ndians, with spears and shields. The whole party, white and dark, were rest- ing quietly opposite the line of pickets, as if | awaiting some expected event. A little in ad- vance of all was a single cavalier, on whose glittering and splendid dress the moonbeams played with fine effect. At intervals of about a minute, one of the In- | dians of the line would utter a long, quavering | call, which was taken up and repeated by an | invisible chain of their comrades far into the | forest. |“ Por Dios!” muttered the splendid cavalier to himself, with a slight shiver; ‘‘ his excellency has sent me ona nice job. These fellows seem to be faithful to their Pact and what shall we do‘if,they fight? The English devils cannot be far off, now.” ~ Again the long, guavering call echoed through Me Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. a the forest, and this time it was answered close by, from the top of a neighboring tree. The cavalier started. ‘What the deuce!” he muttered, “‘ who can that be?” The instant that call sounded, ending with a culiar intonation, every Indian fell flat on his ace to the earth, including those with the party of horsemen. ,Then there was a slight rustle in the branches overhead, and a slender, active fig- ure came flying through the air with a circular swing, at the end of a long, slim liana, and stood on its feet in front of the horse of Don Luis Mendoza, who sat gazing at it in blank as- tonishment. It was the figure of a girl, slim and fairy-like with skin as light as his own,and a face of marvelous beauty; the face of Lola, Queen of Darien. But when she spoke, as she did a mo- ment after, in broken Spanish, Mendoza was even more surprised, for the voice was that of his own wife, Dona Inez. ‘* What wishes the senor, at the posts of Queen Lola?’ asked she, proudlv. Mendoza looked at her earnestly a minute, ere he answered: ““Who are you, senora, in God’s name?” “T am Queen Lola, daughter of the sun and the sea,” said the girl, proudly; ‘‘and once more I say—what would you?” “T come from the Governor of Panama,” said Mendoza, as soon as he had recovered from his surprise; ‘‘and I come to demand of Queen Lola that she place scouts on the track of the foreign devils that have landed, and kee away all pro- visions from them. | The king of Spain is ver werful, Lola, and these wretches will cued § iy be'conquered. If you join with us to destroy them you shall be rewarded; but if you cling to them, you will but share their fate.’ ‘“‘ And what reward shall be given to me and my people, if I do as you wish?’ asked Lola, sarcastically. ‘*The greatest reward in the gift of the Goy- ernor,” said Mendoza, ‘and a thousand spears to arm your warriors.” ‘* And suppose I prefer to trust to the stran- gers, who promise to make us free from taxes and labors, such as you give us—what then?” she demanded scornfully. ‘*Then your kingdom will be taken from you, your tribes hunted down with bloodhounds, and yourself burned to death in the city of Pana- ma,” said the Spaniard, coldly. ‘*Fool! Knowest thou that the white sons of the sea are here, before whom your warriors faint and cry like women? They will avenge me if you touch a hair of my head. What ho! Rouse ye all, and seize me this meddler, my faithful children!” In a moment every Indian was on his feet, and the don was the center of a crowd of threat- ening spears. The men who had come with him, recognizing the voice of their queen seemed inclined to be hostile, and for a moment Mendoza was in danger. He extricated himself from it by an appeal to the long-standing fears of his audito ian he well knew in the character of faithf servient slaves. ‘‘Hearken, Indians of Darien,” he cried; “ve know who is your king, and how the Gov- ernor of Panama is his viceroy. In the name of Don Felipe, king of Spain and all the Indies, I ronounce Queen Lola to be no longer queen, ut Natato, the son of Dando, is king in her stead!” This Natato was an Indian whom he knew to have been ill-treated he ie riotous buecaneers some time before, and to be desirous of revenge. A large party of the Darien Indians were ako partisans of Natato, who was one of their most famous warriors and hunters. And Natato was commander of the line of Indians that guarded the buccaneer camp. The words he uttered pred iced an immediate and marked effect. The iniians, for over a hundred years, had been so much accustomed to obey the Spaniards that they felt like re- bellious schoolboys, fearful even while defiant, when Lola influenced them to join the bucca- neers. The making and deposing of kings by the viceroy was not unknown to them. Asa consequence the Indians hesitated, and Natato, who had always been a malcontent turned loweringly on the queen, whom he had jatay paved ee ie endoza improved the opportu crying: ‘In the name of Kin Philip of. Spain, ei command you, King Natato, to seize that rebel- lious girl and deliver her to me.” ‘*Men of Darien, you hear the order! Thus I seize her!” cried Natato. But he was not destined to do it that time. and sub- ’ : bs |
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The Sea-Cat. 7 SS —e————————eEeEoaoaoaoaoaoaaaaaaeaeEasS=ESeEeaaSaoaooaoooooooaooooaoaoeoeoaoaoaoaoaeeeeeeaeeaeeeee eee SSS eS With an active bound, Lola sprung back, glowing with indignant courage, and cried, in clear, ene tones: ** All who wish for liberty strike down Natato and the Spaniards. J am your queen, sent by the sun-god out of the sea.” Her words were not without effect, and again the Indians on both sides wavered in their alle- iance, for they had a superstitious reverence for he child found on the beach at sunrise long ago, whom they imagined to be a goddess. But Natato, who was an old man, and re- membered the circumstances of the supposed | divine appearance, was also determined to keep his newly acquired royalty, if fighting for it would help him. ‘Sho is no goddess!” he cried, ‘‘’T'was but a babe of the white people drifted ashore on a float from the wreck of a re ship. Long live tne king of Spain, and down with the white witch the: has deceived us all for so long!” As he spoke he brded on Lola and seized her delicate form in his powertcl grasp. The girl was quite unarmed, and as she felt the gripe of Natato, and saw the Spanish horsemen, at a signal from Mendoza, urge their horses forward | in a crowd round her, her courage gave way for an instant, and she shrieked aloud. She was but a girl, and not of that stolid In- dian race after all, though educated as such, and | the instinct of natural terror overcame the ac- quired hardihood of the Indian queen. — Natato laughed savagely and raised his spear. | ‘*She has fooled us long enough. Let us be | men, and obey a warrior.” But Mendoza stayed his arm, saying: “Call off your warriors from guarding these God-forsaken wretches. This girl is none of ‘you. She is a Spanish maiden, and must be judged by Spanish laws. Give her to me, and bind her fast.” ; In a trice the obsequious Natato and his ser- vile followers had pounced on the unfortunate queen, who was bound hand and foot and taken in front of Mendoza’s saddle. Then, turning his horse on the way to Panama, the cavalier rode toward the west, followed by the elon 5 aan ed king;who had seized and appropriated the gold diadem from poor Lola’s brow, and was obeyed | by the Indians as cheerfully as though it had al- ways been there. “So,” said Mendoza to himself, as he rode off, “that is a job well done, and more than I ex- pected. Now the Indians will be for us, firmer | than ever, and ’twill puzzle these buccaneers to | food or news on the way to Panama. And | I do not much mistake me, this maiden will prove to.be the daughter of his excellency, whom a! *hought to be drowned.” CHAPTER IX. {XE WITCH OF DARIEN, Two days after, Don Alonzo was returning | from the plains without Panama, whither he fiad repaired to review all the forces available for the defense of the city against the threaten- invasion of the buccaneers, ° These were ; | | | ; as numerous as any that Morgan could hope to raisé, four \hundred of them being Spanish cav- alry, of the centaur type that has descended to our day in the vaqueros of Mexico. The old Governor’s spirits were much better than usual, for his men seemed to be animated with the best courage; and all were splendidly equipped. The sound of martial music was pleasant and inspiring, as the troops defiled away into the town, and the Governor rode gently toward the dense forests on the east, to see if any news awaited him there, from his In- dian allies. ren All day long, runners had been coming) in from the east, where a chain of scouts had n established, who reported, almost every hour, the movements of the buccaneers, thirty miles awa He. “heard that they were pressing on their way through the forest, without any guides, almost devoid of food, and in great extremities. ‘Every plantation on their way was deserted, and the Indians were shooting arrows into their camps at night, and harassing them as closely. as they dared to. He ‘heard also that Don Luis Mendoza had succeeded in kidnapping the Queen of Darien, whom he was bringing a captive with him. The Jast runner announced him as only a short distance off, and Don Alonzo was going to meet him. * ’ As he approached the forest, the sun was oping down to the horizon behind him; and e level beams, darting through the forest, re- da party of horsemen coming toward sufficiently formidable, being nearly three times him, which he soon recognized as Don Luis and his cavalcade. The se fers of the guards was looking his best, and made a gallant appearance on his handsome black charger at the head of his men. By his side rode a muffled-up figure, with a fea- thered head-dress, that seemed to be the espe- cial object of his care, for he himself held the bridle of the mule on which it was mounted. Don Alonzo galloped up and was respectfully saluted by Mendoza, who, in a pompous tone, announced to him: “Dona Lola, your excellency, once Queen of Darien, captive to my sword.” At the same moment he twitched aside one of the muffling folds that enveloped the face of his companion, and disclosed the withered fea- tures of an old Indian hag, with gray hair. ‘She is their prophetess and queen, your ex- cellency,” he said. ‘‘ I made one Natato assume the office of king, and the savages wisely sub- mitted to the decrees of the king of Spain.” ‘““You have done well and redeemed your fame,” said Espinosa, heartily. ‘‘ Does she talk our language, this prophetess of theirs?” ‘‘ Not a word,” said Don Luis, hastily. ‘‘ Your excellency is aware that I have learned the barbarous tongue of these savages. Whatever questjons you are pleased to ask, I will put them | to het.” ** Ask her, then, what made her join with the enemies of Spain,” said the Governor; Don Luis spoke to the old woman in a strange language, and she opened her withered lips in a short answer. ‘““She says she is ready to die,” said Don Luis. ‘‘’Twould be well to kill her, your ex- | cellency, for she has much power among these | ale.” Pee Take her to the city, and keep her under guard in my palace,” said Don Alonzo. ‘‘ We will not stain our hands with unnecessary blood, when we may be assaulted at any moment. How far off are the pirates, and what is their condition, Luis?” “They dogs of the forest,” said the captain, contemptu- ously, ‘‘They are gnawing at hides of leather and digging for roots, so that they will be as weak as rats, when they come here. We shall have little trouble, save to bury them.” “What is their number?’ asked Don Alonzo, without heeding the gasconade. “Scarce twelve hundred, without artillery; | half armed with pikes and halberds, and the rest with short musketoons, swords and pistols.” “Twelve hundred. I think we can | account of them,” said the Governor, thought- fully. ‘‘ Luis, you shall take command of the cavalry, and make the first attack. Now go and rest.” As he spoke, they turned, and rode toward the city. Little was said on the way, for the Gov- | ernor was thoughtful and anxious; and Don Luis, after the first burst of egotism, seemed to be equally disinclined to speak. They rode silently across the fields and entered the streets of Panama, where the people welcomed them with glee, having heard of the capture of the Indian queen; and they gazed with open-mouth- ed euriosity at the muffled-up figure that rode beside Mendoza, as if it had been some strange wild beast. In a short time they arrived at the palace, where they separated. Don Luis conducted his silent prisoner to an upper chamber, next to his own, and only opening into it, where he signed to her to enter, and placed a sentry over the door. Then he left the chamber, saying: : Let not the Indian witch entice thee to spea: to her, soldier. She is a heathen sorceress, who can change her face and figure to anything she . | of Darien, was pacing moodily to and fro in the pleases, when she is alone with a- man, even to the face of an angel, and speak with all tongues. If she addresses thee, make the sign of the cross, and turn thy back. If she strives to leave the room, thrust her back with thy halberd.” The soldier saluted, and as his commander left the room, muttered: ' “Ay, ay; all the witches of Darien cannot be- witch Blas Ortiz. "Twould be a-good service, no doubt, to slay her, as an offering to holy church.” Don Luis where his wife’s apartments were situated, and abruptly entered. » Dona Inez, who was seated at tapestry work with her maids, started up to welcome him with quiet modesty, and affecting a pleasure she did not feel, but offering her cheek to his kiss in dutiful fashion. Hendon kissed her coldly, and then abruptly said: “and if | | she does not deserve death for rebellion.” are starving to death, like the wild | ive an | | If it is, I have a galleon loaded and ready in the roceeded along the corridor to “Send your maidsaway. I’ve something to tell you.” With a gesture she dismissed the attendants, and he continued: ‘“You have been a cold wife to me, Inez, but I will admit, a good one. Tell me, if I com: mitted a secret to you, would you keep it?” “T should do my duty, my lord, and obey you in all lawful commands,” said Inez, quietly. ‘‘I have been taught so, by the good sisters.” “And if there were a strife between your fa- ther and myself, which would you go with?’ he demanded, keenly. ‘Nay, now, God forbid!” said Inez, with a shudder; “ how is that a possible thing?” ‘Suppose I ordered you to do something, and your father forbade it—would you obey him or me?” **Nay,my lord, my father would not counter- | mand your orders,” she said; ‘‘but if it were possible, I owe my first duty to you.” “‘And would you obey me even to death?” he asked, with er meaning. “Ay, cheerfully, my lord,” said Inez, with a gentle sigh. ‘‘I would meet death itself, any- thing but dishonor, to save you from harm,” *“Do you say that from love or duty?’ he asked, again. “From duty, my lord,” she replied, frankly. ‘“You know I have never deceived you about love, but I have tried to do my duty toward you.” Don Luis stood looking at her silently for a minute, then turned away and paced the room two or three times. When he came back, he said: “Swear before God and all the saints that you will never reveal what I am about to say till I give you leave.” “My lord, if you have any secrets, you may be sure of my silence without swearing to it.” “Ay, but this is something even your father must not know,” said Mendoza, in a low tone, and looking apprehensively around. “Then pray 3 it in your own breast,” said Dona Inez, gravely. “If it is not for him to know, it is not for me to hear.” ‘*Bah, foolish girl!” he snapped out, fiercely; tis nothing wrong. But, if you will not keep your husband’s secrets, let it go. There is news that is no secret. Morgan and his pirates will be in sight cf Panama to-night unless they are all dead men. How like you that?’ Dona Inez turned pale and trembled. “Oh, heavens!” she murmured, ‘‘ what will | become of us if they take the place?’ ‘““Hasy enough told, my y. The fate will not be pleasant. But the place is not taken yet. ee to which we shall fly, and where we shall » safe; for the pirates have left their boats at Chagres. But why du I say this? No doubt you will be well treated if Don Enrique Mor- ganos has not forgotten you.” He said the last weElls with deep meaning, and looked keenly at his wife. Evidently the man was brocding over something he had heard. What it was they never explained to each other, for at that moment the di t sound of, musketry rolled toward them on the evening air, and Mendoza started, exclaiming: { “Ha, St. Jago! The pirates were closer on our heels than I thought. I must away to my duties. You would not listen to what I had to say. You may besorry for it, my lady. Fare- well, and, whatever happens, continue to be the same paiement virtuous piece of ice, or you you may find Mendoza is no fool.” He left the apartment with the ap ce of great irritation, and left Inez wondering at the meaning of his words. Blas Ortiz, the sentry on duty over the witch fast-gathering darkness, when the door of the: captive’s room gently —— and a low, sweet voice addressed him, in broken Spanish: ‘Senor soldado, for the love of God, is the wicked captain gone?’ For all answer Ortiz presented the point of his Partizan at the door, and sternly growled: “Go back, old witch. I know your tricks. The captain warned me.” Some one shrunk back in the darkness, and the same sweet voice said, in a frightened tone: “No, no, E.will not try to escape, indeed; bu oh, senor, listen a moment. I am not what seem, indeed.” . Hirai Bt pe ae beh so ete me plaintive, , involuntarily, the ro sol i the vl of gt and She e voice of a girl, and the face of ati old witch. Why isthis” “Indeed, senor. you have not seen ny face.”
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8 pee urged the sweet voice. ‘I wore a cunningly contrived mask, which the cruel captain forced me to assume, threatening me with worse than death if I refused. And, oh, senor, he told me that I am to be burned as a witch to-morrow.” “Tt’s true,” said Ortiz, assentingly, ‘and, if the priests say true, ’twill serve ye right.” «But, oh, senor, indeed I am no witch,” plead- ed the voice in the dark. “I am but a poor irl, [ know not whom, and I only wish to speak i the Governor of Panama alone.” “Tt can’t be done,” said Ortiz, decidedly. Then he added, dubiouslv: ‘‘ At least not that I see now, and yet—I’m sorry for you.” ' “See, senor,” said the voice, eagerly; ‘‘I have ld with me yet. I will give you gold worth a oubloon if you will do me an errand to the Governor.” “T cannot,” said Ortiz, decidedly. He paused, and again added, softly: ‘‘ Till Pm off guard at least.’ “ And you will do it then?” said the voice, in atone of joy. ‘Tis but a little thing, only to give himthis. Put out your hand.” Ortiz put out his hand, and met the soft, lump fingers of a girl. She slipped into his and something, that his pious senses recog- nized at once, even in the dark, as a cross. ““Give that to him,” she whispered. ‘‘ What it is I know not, but the old priest of the sun-god ave it to me, and told me, if I were in any peril, send it to the chief of the Spaniards, and *%twould save me. Will you do me this errand? You shall be well rewarded.” Tl} do what I can when I’m off guard,” said Ortiz, ‘‘for you talk like a Christian, and I should like to see your face.” Before the other could answer came the rapid steps of Mendoza; and, a moment later, he stalked into the room with a lantern, only to find Ortiz pacing stolidly up and down before the closed door. “‘Look close to the prisoner, Ortiz,” he said, and he opened the door, and, holding up the lantern, peered in. Ortiz, over his shoulder, beheld a wrinkled, withered old hag in the middle of the room, half-raised on her elbow from where she lay on the floor.’ Mendoza seemed satisfied and turned away. * Now, for the outposts,” he muttered. ‘‘ To- morrow will tell the tale.’ _ The boom of a heavy gun cut off the end of the sentence. ea ae CHAPTER X. THE BUCCANEER CAMP. THE short twilight of the tropic was over, and the full moon was some five degrees or so above the horizon, when the worn and haggard- looking head of a straggling column of men emerged from the forests around Panama, and debouched on the open ground. Before them was a range of low hills, that promised to in- tercept the view of the city when they should go. a little further, but over these hills they could see the lights of Panama, and before them ‘was a large troop of horse, the moonbeams glit- tering on cuirass and helmet. The weary and haggard men.on foot were the buccaneers, who, for five days, had been strug- gling through the forest, nearly starved, reduced the extremity of feeding on scraps of hides and leather. Not one of them had tasted food for the last twenty-four hours, and yet every man broke out in a rapturous cheer as the lights of Panama came in sight. : There was the goal of their course, the prize of their sufferings, before them; and the bellow- ing of oxen in the vales announced that food was near. But the food was defended by their enemies. The glittering troop of horse was trotting across the rear of a large herd of oxen, and the crics of drivers in the distance told that og Mier vapir the oxen, as fast as might be, toward 6 city. Then, with the wild, desperate ferocity of starving men, the head ef the buccaneer column broke loose from all restraint, and rushed out over the plain, the men running like deer, after ' the flying cattle, fearless of their guardians. The bright flashes of muskets and the rapid erackle of reports followed in succession as the wild rovers dashed forward; and the: gallant- looking troop of horse scattered and fled in con- icp several.saddles being emptied in the first vo. } Then there was a yell of hungry triumph as the buccaneers dashed into the midst of the cat- tle, stabbing and shoo till three score car- ; eases strewed the ! ; Little cared they for the contemptible efforts EER NaS ET PIR ee aE of their enemies, and, as the rest of their com- rades came running out of the woods in con- | butcher’s shop, where the cooks were at work close to their meat in ten minutes from the first sight of the Spaniards.* And then it was that a single horseman on a black steed came riding through the bivouac among the fires, and everywhere he went was followed by enthusiastic cheers, while the late- regular order with marvelous quickness, and the camp assumed the appearance of a discip- lined army. It was the buccaneer king, whose entrance produced such an effect. His iron features anxious frown was on his brow, as he gave a few brief orders. Then a chain of sentries were thrown out on the plain, with a silence and celerity that told | of iron discipline, and the resting buccaneers enjoyed their first meal in quiet security, jest- ing and singing around their fires over the ex- pected conflict of the morrow. Morgan himself rode through the chain of sentries, and, passing through a gap in the en- circling hills, sat on his horse, looking at the dis- tant lights of Panama. The buccaneer chief was gloomy and anxious, Since the strange berg go ig i of Queen Lola, and the withdrawal of his Indian allies, every sort of vexatious impediment had been thrown in his way. Accustomed as he had been to de- spise the Spaniards, he realized that an able and acute mind was now controlling their move- men™, and, bold as he was, he was not free from ear. “ But, by all the powers of Heaven,” he mut- tered, fiercely shaking his hand at the distant | city, “‘if I find ye have harmed one hair of that | innocent girl’s head, not one stone will I leave on another of your priest-ridden city.” As he sat there, brooding, the distant rumble of horses’ hoofs at a gallop announced to him that an enemy was approaching. It could be nothing else where he was. The buccaneer glanced round behind him, to where the line of sentries were left on guard. They were almost invisible in the darkness, for all were crouching to the earth in the hunter fashion of their original pursuit. Then he drew from his holster a long horse pistol, and, cocking it, awaited the approach of | the enemy. Ina few minutes the dark forms of a small oe of horsemen were seen approaching, and forgan rode out into the «moonlight to show himself. The other party halted at the sight, and then a single cavalier approached him, bearing a small white flag, and demanded, courteously: “Senor, where shall I find Don Enrique Mor- ganos? I am Don Luis Mendoza, the Gover- nor’s son-in-law, and captain of his guards,” Morgan scanned the other from head to foot ere he answered: “Tam Morgan, admiral of the forces of the king of England, and ally of Queen Lola, of Da- rien.¢ What would you?” CHAPTER XI. THE WITCH’S FATE.. Down Luts saluted the other politely: ““T come, senor, to demand, in the name of Don Alonzo del Campo y we teage Governor of Panama, what is the meaning of this bold invasion of the territories of the king of Spain?” “The meaning will be found in my commis sion,” said Morgan. ‘If you require more ex- planation you will get it to-morrow, You have stolen away Queen Lola, of Darien. Where is she?” “In prison, for the witch she is,” said Men- | doza, haughtily. “Tn three days she will be | burned alive as a witch.” Morgan’s impassive gravity never altered. The line of his mouth Closed tighter, and his | brows met slightly, as he said: “T thank you, sir, for your frankness. Now, listen to my words, and remember every one, for Morgan keeps his promises. If you harm one hair of her head, I will not leave a man alive in Panama. You, yourself, captured her, Men- doza. My spies have told me that. Well, then, I hold you responsible for her. Harm her, and you shall ery out for death in vain, amid such tortures as my men only can invent. You may flee to the uttermost parts of the earth, and even. there I will follow you. You cannot escape me. * Fact. ; ity The Petmclpal Mnigicelitelns Spee naboR are: iar: eae A Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. fused crowds, the valley was turned into a great | ly riotous groups resolved themselves into a | were set in an expression of firm resolve, an | | eee ee back, and tell your master what I have | said,’ He waved him disdainfully off with the pistol, | but Don Luis, who had been using his eyes to | the best advantage, had by this time made the discovery that the chief was alone and unsup- ported. With the treachery of his race, he tried to avail himself of the advantage. Asif conyulsed | with rage, he suddenly exclaimed; ‘Say you so, vile pirate? Then you shall die Seize him, men, and kill him if he | with her. resists!” In an instant there was a rush of horsemen toward the chief, and his pistel exploded with a loud report. The foremost soldier threw up his arms with a yell, and fell from his saddle. But the rest still spurred on, and in a moment in- closed the buccaneer, while Don iuis, shout- ing, “Surrender!” struck at him with his sword. It met the blade of Morgan, who hast Wot even backed his horse to escape. The buccaneer chief sat like a rock, bis long sword playing from side to side like a flash and parrying the desperate blows of the Spaniards with apparent se. When he struck back, every blow came like the kick of a horse, with a rapidity and strength that was amazing. Don Luis, meeting one of them, lost his guard, and fell over half-stunned by a stroke that clove his steei cap like paper. Another slash cut open a trooper’s face, and a third killed a horse. Then there was a rush- ing and shouting close by, and a number of buccaneers came running up, opening fire as they came. e arrival of succor disheartened the Span- iards, already deinoralized by the stubborn re- sistance of the strong buccaneer, With one accord they fled, headed by Don Luis, who shouted, as he went: “Dogs! We shall see to-morrow.”* And the buccaneer chief coolly wiped his blade, never stirring from his place, and ob- served: ‘*We must extend our posts, men. These fel- | lows will try to surprise us if we do not keep a | good watch. See yonder. I thought they only came to feel us.” As he spoke he pointed to the town. The bright flash of a piece of artillery ilu- minated the night, followed by a dull, heavy 1¢- port. Then they heard the loud hum of a shot, and the missile itself plunged into the hill-side several hundred yards off. The buccaneers burst into a universal Jangh of scorn at the ineffectua! shot, and one of them remarked to his chief, in the independent tash- ion of their organization: “By my faith, admiral, ‘twill be easy work taking that town, if they shoot 10 *siter by daylight.” “Fear not for that,” said Morgan, finvely ‘We shall have all the fight we want tc-mor-: row ere we get to Panama. Keep good watch.” He turned round and walked his horse s!owly back to the bivouac, buried in a brown study. He was thinking of the morrow. And all night long th» Spaniards continued their ineffectual cannonade, while the Lucea- neers slept soundly besice their fires, unmind- ful of the danger, and only wishing for the com- ing of that daylight which was to bring them victory or death.+ Don Luis Mendoza stood on the shore of the bay of Panama, watching the trips backv ard and forward of a laden boat. Every time it came to shore, a pile of articles of furniture, boxes and bags was lessened by a beat-load, Several other boats were plying backward and forward, and they all had the same déstination, and bore similar loads from different parts of the | sea-shore, | Their destination was a huge and st: tely gal- | leon, as large as a frigate, witb thirty grinning’ . port-holes at a side, commanding the town. In spite of threefold forces and all ihe aid of | artillery, the Spaniards were already in dread of the next day, and were conveying away all | their valuables on board the gallcon, ready to . flee at a moment’s notice. Don Luis was gloomily meditating on. ‘lie chances of the next day, the dull pain in his | head where the stunning blow of Morgan had lighted, helping to tinge his anticipations with disaster. ‘* By the swerd of ipocre, “oe muttered, te , ‘whe would have thought a short, um * Bistorieal words, + Historical, T . hee su Lhe, eng t; 42 wate “ ae 4 BS Pe 2 Z| 14 2. al * ‘ ‘ de r Pi | i es . r j r 4 4 .* bee
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AU — The Sea-Cat. 9 fersized man like him sugh a giant in strength. He thrust us over like children. But he has one weakness. He loves this Lola, and I can | | and hastened to the apartment where the. mys- terious witch of Darien was confined. He found Bias Ortiz as stolid and wide-awake buy him with her, if so be fortune turns against | as ever, and relieved that gentleman from guard us on the morrow. not who she is, so far. I shall take care he does not, till it suits my purpose.” A trample of hoofs near him, and a soldier | sive in the torchlight. % rode up. “The senor commandante wishes to see you, .. tapitano,” he said. “{ will be with him, immediately. Hurry with that boat there. ship an hour before dawn. Now, soldier.” Tis well Don Alonzo\knows | } sorne | beac All of this must be in the | nd the captain turned away and proceeded | , to the Governor’s palace, in some doubt as to the cause of the summons. He found Don Alonzo pacing up and down | his room in deep thought, and was surprised at | the wey eeting he received, so absent was it. Sr Tam here.” eihtorw ‘“Ay, Don Luis. I sent you forth to observe the motions of the enemy, and had not time till now totake yourreport. Have you been around the troops to-night?” * Ay, your excellency.” ** Are they ready to move in the morning?” **They sleep on their arms in line of battle covering the city.” “‘ And the pirates, where are they?” ** Bncamped within long gunshot, your excel- lency. The cannonade will prevent their ad- vancing before daylight.” “Did you see their leader?” a aid,” And Don Luis detailed the conversation that had ensued with Morgan. Don Alonzo frowned thoughtfully, and walk- ed up and down for several minutes without an- | swering. Then he said: “This old witch must be an influential per- sonage, for the chief pirate to be so anxious about her. Who is she, Luis?’ “She seems to be a sorceress, your excellen- ey. As long as her yoice controlled the In- dians, I was in great peril; but by seizing her with force all her arts availed not. Were it not best to burn her alive, so that her arts may not east a shadow over our people?” The old Governor crossed himself supersti- tiously. ; ** Perhaps you are right, Luis, Since she has entered the palace I feel a kind of gloomy fore- boding overcome me as to to-morrow’s , battle. The soldiers are full of spirit, but I know how long ’twill last, if they meet with any disaster. *Tis the enchantments of this witch, no doubt, that depress me. She must die, and yet—” “And yet the goodness of your excellency’s heart can not bear to witness the deed. Is it not so?” “Frankly, yes.” ‘Leave it to me, your excellency. I will see to it that ere morning not a charm shall be left to dismay our brave soldiers.” The Governor gave a sigh of relief. *Doso, Luis. I can face the weapons of the English devils, and feel satisfied of victory, but Father Pedro has just left me, and he has been telling me of my duty to the church.” Don Luis smiled. Father Pedro was an old tool of his, and he knew who had sent him to bias the mind of Espinosa. As he turned away the Governor observed: “Be ready at dawn. I have resolved what to do. I shall attack the pirates instead of waiting to receive their assault. You will lead our excellency was pleased to send for me. | | his well-equip duty, to his great satisfaction. Then the witch was brought out, still muffled in her rags, her withered face stony and impas- Without a word of re- monstrance she suffered herself to be taken , in Don Luis’s charge, and escorted to the 1. Here the captain put her in’a boat, and, declining any assistance, pulled her away him- self out into the bay. He was gone half an hour. When he came back, the boat was empty of all but himself. CHAPTER XII. THE BATTLE. Wirk the early dawn of morning, all the city of Panama was astir. Companies of infantry, some armed with pike, cuirass and morion, others with heavy matchlock-musket and rest, debouched out of the principal avenues of the city, and marched forth on the plain, at the heels of a heavy column of cavalry. Don Alonzo sat on his horse, surveying the passing forces, close to a long line of cannon, planted to defend the approaches to the town. He watched with pride the steady march of 1 men, as they ranged them- selves in three bodies, while the horsemen drew off to the right, and formed line of battle on the flank of the infantry. As yet there was no sign of a movement from the buccaneers. The smoke of their fires cculd be seen rising on the other side of the interven- ing hills, announcing that they were cooking breakfast, but the solitary figure of a sentinel on the crest of the ridge, observing the Spaniards, was the only sign of life apparent otherwise. Presently Don Luis Mendoza left his post at the head of the cavalry, and galloped up to Es- pinosa, gallant, and handsome, saluting as he came, and inquiring: “Js it your excellency’s pleasure we advance? The pirates may be surprised by a rapid dash, and my cavalry are ready.” Don Alonzo waved his hand. ** Forward, in God’s name,” he said. Then there was a sounding of trumpets and beating of drums. With one accord the artillery opened fire at the crest of the hills, and the infantry, in two lines, pressed steadily and slowly on. Each line was composed of eight ranks of men, musketeers in the center, and pikemen shelterin | the flanks, while six ranks of horsemen press the first charge of cavalry, and I shall follow it | with pikes and musketeers, as speedily as a ible. I have directed the Indian allies to ive a herd of fierce bulls on the enemy, and with tthe blessing of God, we shall destroy them utterly.” “Ay, your apap Sy not if they are as- | of the witch of Da- _ The Governor shuddered, and waved him away. The old soldier had not the callous \ -of the young one, “Don’t talk of it,” he muttered, irritably. “Do your duty, and no more.” - Don Luis bowed, and left the room. —~ When he was in the corridor he laughed to himself. _ “1 didn’t think Father Pedro would frighten im so. Now I am safe, in any event.” ‘He summoned a pivoany| from the guard-room, | forward at a trot toward the hills that sheltered | the buccaneers. Espinosa’s cheek flushed with excitement as he saw the movement, and the ardor of his youth seemed to return tohim. Only the reflec- tion that on his own life depended the issue of the day, restrained him from dashing forward to head the assault, But he knew that his'‘officers were all alike unpracticed in war, and that the artillery especially required. his presence. To the management of that he devoted him- self at once, and directed a far more efficacious fire than that of the night, dropping the missiles over the crest of the hill with great accuracy. The infantry did not go far. Almost as soon as they were put in motion, a bugle sounded in the buccaneer camp, and a line of skirmishers came dashing over the crest of the ridge at a run. Then the head of asmall, compact colamn erherged. from a gap, at a slow trot, and the dauntless buccaneers bore down on the Spanish center, The size of the body was ludicrously dispro- portioned to the numbers of Spaniards, but the strangers seemed to be perfectly confident, for they advanced with a shrill yell. Not a pikeman was in that body of strangers. In the eyes of a soldier of that day it was vir- | tually defenseless. So thought Don Luis, as he beheld it. He | waved his sword, the trumpets sounded the charge, and down went the horsemen on the buc- caneer column, with a loud shout of triumph. The skirmishers ran back to the hill, and cluster- ed in knots at the sight, but the little band in the center spread into a line fronting the cuirassiers, halted in their tracks, and quietly awaited the onset of the 5S: } Bhat cn not long to wait. Confident of, victory from the absence of pikes, and spurring their horses to desperate , Don Luis and the cuirassiers thundered own. Like a range of statues stood the bucca- neers, till less than seventy yards intervened. Then down went the front rank on one knee and up went the bright muskets. Silent and ja. aie Pe EM Readily ti a. fy Rs Need grim as statues, something in their attitudeawed the Spaniards. The headlong speed of the charge insensibly diminished, as first one, and then ¢n- other began to pull at his horse, till the gallop became a canter. : ‘ Don Luis shrunk back into the ranks, which became disordered, and finally slackened into a trot, within twenty yards of the muskets. Then, and not till then, a long, rolling volley came from the kneeling rank of the buccaneers, and asecond followed from the stooping rank above them. Scores of saddles were emptied at each volley, horses plunged and kicked, and the cuirassiers became in a moment a helpless, surg- ing mass of confusion. : A third volley, still more withering, in an- other second completed the rout, and then the three advanced ranks of the buccaneers fell om their faces, while the fourth, fifth and sixth ranks opened their fire, They shot into a crowd of fugitives. Thoroughly demoralized, the whole of the Spanish cavalry broke and galloped to the rear in wild confusion, just as the reserve of the en- emy, in serried ranks of pikes, came out of the gap on the field, und the skirmishers spread out once more, and dashed ahead at a run, shouting: fiercely. Then arose a great confusion on the Spanish side, as officers gallo about on the front of the infantry, excitedly begging them to stand fast, and the bellowing of cattle began to be heard. Out of a neighboring hollow issued .a great herd of fierce bulls, driven by crowds of In- dians, and came rushing over the field at full speed, Instead of charging the buccaneers, as the were expected to do, the obstinate brutes rushed in between the contending forces, right. in front of the discomfited cavalry. Maddened with rage and terror, as the latter desperately spurred through, some broke to one side and ran over some Spanish infantry, others ran at the buccaneers, only to be shot down and stabbed. by the veteran hunters, while the greater part swept over the artillery, bellowing loudly, and dashed into Panama. With loud yells the whole of the buccaneers ran forward, shooting as they went. The rem- nant of the Spanish infantry began to fire in re- turn, and in a few minutes a warm engagement was in progress in that part of the field. Don Alonzo had watched the various disasters: with coolness and intrepidity. When cavalry and bulls alike fled without doing any damage, he looked worried, but as the steady lines of the Spanish foot moved forward and delivered their volleys, his countenance cleared. He galloped to and fro among the guns, directing their fire, and beheld with joy that the enemy’s advance was checked. So fierce and deadly was the ar- tillery fire, that the buccaneers at last began to turn and run, amid the smoke, and a cessation of the musketry announced that they were in full retreat. The old Governor galloped forward to the lines of infantry, to encourage them to charge and found them much shaken, \They had lost heavily, and worse than that, they were scared. With the quick decision of a soldier, he with- drew them behind the shelter of the guns, and © for several minutes a pause of silent expectation took place. The buccaneers could be seen in the distance, clustered in knots, while a single mounted man —their leader—was galloping backward and for- ward with wild gestures, as if exhorting thens to a fresh effort. It was while Don Alonzo was watching them and his own men, that a pikeman, who wa: straggling past him to the town, wounded, stopped beside his commander, and respectfull saluting, extended his hand, holding a east gold cross. Don Alonzo looked at him surprisedly. ‘‘ What is the matter, soldier? What's this?” “So please your bres yee I was on a last night over the witch of Darien, and the old hag gave me this, which I promised to deliver to your excellency.” _Don Alonzo, took it with superstitious hesita- tion. ‘*A cross! In possession of an Indian witch} May it not be a new sorcery? Nay, I have heard crosses will avert witchcraft.” Then he looked carefully at the cross, a ed thing set with jewels: and as he looked, countenance changed and became deadly oa ibe ‘‘ What—what is this?” he cried, in low cae ee ““What—where got she this? ‘Who is ee she ae: Blas Ortiz looked “The old witch your excellency saw. Cap a Mendoza put her in—” _ 16 Ate
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10 Beadle’s Half-Dime Library os deep groan burst from Don Alonzo as he e. ‘God of Heaven, I sent her to death, and she knows about my child! Aad I only know it now.” Crack, erack, crack! The enemy’s skirmishers opened again, and came rushing on with a yell whose ferocity told of the desperation of the buccaneers. Just in the crisis of a fierce battle, when victory trem- bled in the balance, and the commander of the Spaniards needed all his wits, came this tiny eross a messenger from a dead woman, whom he himself had sent to her doom in ignorance. And this cross he recognized in a moment as one he had hung round the neck of his child, Pepita, eighteen years before, when she was a baby inarms. She must then have survived the wreck, or this cross must have been taken from her dead body, washed ashore. Which was it? Oh, for one moment to ask the question, to question Don Luis, to do some- thing! But stern, pitiless war, that slays all alike, was sweeping down on them, in a ferocious band of desperate ruffians, led by the scourge of all Spaniards, Morgan himself. Already the fire was warming up, and the artillery opening grape on the advancing pi- rates. The Spaniards were wavering, and need- ed support, and the only one able to give it was the Governor, torn with conflicting emotions. He looked round for Mendoza. The captain of of the gay cavaliers who had galloped on so proudly in the mornin “God help us, for said Espinosa, despairingly, and he gal to the infantry, just as the buccaneers charged recklessly in with swords and _ pistols, yelling dike demons. t can only do “4 duty,” CHAPTER XIII. THE SACK. Dona Inez sat in her chamber listening to the reports of the cannon, and wondering how the battle was going. The streets below her were deserted, for the women and children were all hiding in the houses, and the able-bodied men were in the field. Since she had seen her father and husband go out in the morning she had had no means of in- telligence, save to listen to the noise of the bat- tle. And that grew louder and louder every min- ute, the reports of the guns more and more inces- sant, while the rolling rattle of the musketry in- creased momentarily. Itwas the very first con- test at which the girl had ever been a near auditor, and she was utterly unused to the sounds of war. And yet she reasoned from the sounds of bat- tle as correctly as a veteran. After all it does not take long tv acquire that art. First she heard nothing but a distant rum- ble of cannon. Then it came nearer, and the eackle of musketry was audible. Then both joined together quite plain, and a faint occa- sional distant yell was eard. Next she looked down from the window, and saw a few women ‘at the doors, peering down the streets. Anon several of them made excited gestures, and she heard the rapid clatter of hoofs. Then came a single mounted soldier down the street, full and went past like a whirlwind. Soon after was a furious burst of cannonading out- side, with the sound of a gradually increasing yell, which came nearer and nearer. Then : re was more clatter of hoofs, and Don Luis ' Mendoza, with a party of cavalry dragging a cannon, dashed past and was gone. Inez trem- bled violently, and throwing oo the window, leaned far out to look. A dark stream of hu- man beings was pouring down the streets from tie fields outside, and a white pall of smoke hid the battle-field. The cannonreports were grow- ing less and less, and the sound of the yelling came nearer and nearer. Inez hastily threw on her vail, and ran down the stairs of the pal- uce to the entrance, Here were grouped a number of frightened domestics, the women screaming, the men talk- ing together. She saw the street, in the brief instants that intervened, full of people, and mord were swarming out of the houses, and flee- ing toward the port. A number of soldiers without arms, many wounded, all pale with terror and evidently demoralized, hurried along - in the erowd. And the cannonade had quite ceased. N could have told her, that the day had gone : her coun en. 1 ‘hat was she to do, whither to fly? The ir- ” the guards was gone, and with him every one | ali | back into the palace, and allowed the cowards et up Then Inez caer bio well as the great captain | regular and fitful fire still maintained by the small-arms announced that her father must be | still resisting, after the loss. of his guns, with the remainder of his infantry; but the increasing crowd of fugitives who came running along, | some with arms, some without, gave plain token that the combatants could not be far off. | Already the street was deserted by the citizens; | the servants had fled to the port, and she was left alone by the palace gate, when the renewed reports of cannon were followed by the crash, crash of a round shot ricochetting along on the | rough pavement and tearing a wide breach in an opposite house. Again the novice understood what had hap- ned as well as the veteran. Danger sharpened er senses. The buccaneers had taken the Spanish guns, | and were turning them against their owners! The fight was virtually over from that mo- ment. As the guns opened their fire on the town, and the shot crashed through the houses, the street became full of fugitives, fleeing in the wildest disorder. Inez, standing with clasped hands in the gateway, saw officer and sot alike fleeing like cowards, and was recognized | by many, who cried: “His excellency’s daughter! Fly, senora, the pirates are coming in millions! We must flee to the woods or go tosea! Come with us, senora! | The foreign devils will eat you alive!” But Inez only answered: ‘My father—where is my father?” And no one could tell her, so that she shrunk to joy nd they were not long in passing, for all were at a run, and almost all had thrown away | their weapons, and huddled together into a crowd. At least a thousand men were jammed together in that body, and all the parallel streets were equally full of men in full flight. | And still Inez would not stir, for the being she | loved best in all the world, her noble, white- ‘haired father, was not among the fugitives; and her only thought now was to find him, Of her | husband she thought nothing. She had seen | him fleeing in safety, unmindful of her, at the very first touch of disaster, and a sense of in- describable contempt was growing up in her heart toward him. At last the street was empty. A few distant, dropping shots were still audible as Inez wrap- ped mantle and vail around her, and elnty emerged into the street, bending her steps to- ward the very lines of the superstitiously dread- ed pirates, without a tremor. Her whole mind seemed absorbed in the task of finding her fa- ther, and she forgot all other dangers. In front of her, a hundred yards off, a knot | of men, spread out as skirmishers, came cau- tiously along through the streets with poised muskets. Every now and then one of them stop- | ped and fired down the street, past the advan- | cing girl, at the distant crowd of fugitives; and Still Inez seemed insensible to peril. As she came near the men stared at her, but not one spoke a word, as the slight feminine — draped in black, glided past them in si- ence. A cannon boomed in the distance, and the shot hummed over her head, and still she kept fearlessly on, passing with a rapid step the uiet empty streets, till the dead bodies of sol- iers, here and there, told her she had reached the battle-field. Then she was sensible, as if in a dream, of a crowd of men halted by some cannon, talking and shouting confusedly, and knew she was close to the mysterious buccaneers, of whom she had heard such terrible atrocities. Then, for the first time, she trembled and stopped. The full peril of her position flashed on her, but she retained her calmness. The | men were all afoot save one, in bright uniform of black, scarlet and gold, with a brilliant gleam- ing breast-plate. is was their leader, she thought, and to him she advanced with dignity, throwing back her vail: The wild buccaneers, rude and. reckless as they were generally, shrunk back on all sides in death silence, and left a free passage for the ane daughter to the presence of their chief. Then Inez spoke in a clear and distinct | voice: ** Senor, Iam Dona Inez de Mendoza, daugh- | ter of the Governor of Panama, and I have | come in search of my father. Tell me he is not | hurt, but only a prisoner, for the Virgin’s sake?” | in the Then, for the first. time, she looked w que | leader s face, and met the eyes of Don Morganos. ‘*Ts Morgan’s face so changed that Inez has forgotten it?’ said the buccaneer chief, in a low tone. ‘‘ Your father was wounded ere I could save him, but the surgeon is attending him now.” As he spoke, he dismounted, and resigned his horse to an attendant. ‘* Forward, and pass the orders to occupy the town,” he said to those around him. “Kee the men from drinking, for I have news that the Spaniards have poisoned the wine in the town. Search everywhere for the Indian queen, but do no violence to the women, I shall occupy the Governor’s palace. Bring the wounded Spanish officer thither.” Then he turned to Inez, and offered his arm with a grave courtesy, that recognized nothing of the time. She refused it for a moment, saying: ‘*Oh, senor, where is my father? i me see him first.” He shook his head. ‘Don Alonzo will be brought to the palace, and you can see himthere. But I made a solemn | oath, only yesterday, to your husband, madam r | that, if he harmed Queen la of Darien, I woul slay every one in Panama, and burn the town. Has she been harmed?” ‘* T know not of whom you speak, senor,” she said, wonderingly. “So much the worse,” said Morgan, frown- ing. ‘‘Foul play has been dealt to her, and woe betide the dealers, when I find them.” Again he offered his arm, and Inez, trembling with vague fear, accompanied him within the precincts of the doomed city. CHAPTER XIV. PEPITA., Don Luis MENDOZA stood on the aftercastle of the stately pebecs San Salvador, and watch- ed, with trembling limbs and ashy face, the hur- ried efforts of the crew to make sail and escape from the sack of Panama. Selfish and coward- ly, as soon as he saw that the fortune of the day was going against his friends, the captain of the ards had given up the contest, without an ef- ort to restore it, and fled from the wavering | field at the very moment when a single vigorous charge might have decided it in favor of the Spaniards. Half-crazed with terror, he had forgotten his wife and everything but his own safety, gallo ed to the shore, taken boat, and fled to the gal- leon his caution had provided. She was onl half-manned with sailors, and the few demoral- ized soldiers who had fled with him, but she was heavily armed and a good sailer, and load- | ed with all the wealth of the Panama churches. As he beheld the sails go slowly up, while the vessel swung short over her anchor, the captain’s | mind was greatly relieved, for he had been in a frenzy of anxiety for fear the enemy should overtake him and spoil his little game, ; The bay was full of boats putting off to the | various vessels, and several approached the gal- leon, while their inmates implored to be en aboard. To all he returned the same answer: ie There is no room. This is the Governor’s ship.” The noise of fighting in the town had died away, to be replaced by the shouts and yells of the buccaneers roving through the streets, in- tent on plunder. Every minute he expected te hear the hum of a shot from one of the captured batteries firing at the galleon, but’ still the were silent; and at last the anchor left the bot tom, the big foresail bellied out, and the Salva dor slowly forged ahead out of, the bay among | a crowd of boats, standing seaward. Even as she left the anchorage a number of wild-iooking figures rushed out on the beach, and seizing a canoe, started in slow pursuit. But there were only two paddles in the canoe, and the buccaneers were already half drunk. They soon wa and assaulted a large boat full of women fleeing from the town, which was overtaken in a few minutes. * Don Luis smiled triumphantly as he saw the , boat stop, and the white foam bubbled round the prow of the Salvador. ‘Stay there, senores,” he muttered. ‘‘ Ye have your reward, but I have mine too. ‘Tis always well to have two strings to your bow.” Now he the aftercastle with an air) of | great relief, for the Salvador was fast sailing | out of Fer ora and alread or’ n sea was lay on the the o free before them. The Pear] Islan _ larboard bow, and the trade-wind inflated every sail of the galleon as she sped away from dan- . ; ger. ‘““What if there are but fifty men on board,” muttered Don Luis. ‘There are no buccaneers on these seas yet, and fifty are enough to map -
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The Sea-Cat. this ship, if not to fight her. Frighten every one else, and no one can dispute my title to these treasures now.” e remained on deck till the steeples of Pana- ma were gray in the distance, and the fears of his men had quieted down. There was no sign of pursuit; and if there had been, he feared it , not. Not a vessel in the harbor could catch the Salvador, and she was the only armed ship short of Callao. Toward Callao he determined to take his way, to announce the death of the Gov- ernor, the taking of Panama, and the fearful ferocity of those pirates, who, from twelve hun- dred had already spread in Spanish reports to fifty thousand. Also he was determined to make a full report of his own heroism in defend- ing the town, and carrying off its treasures un- touched. The church property he would give up. He was a good Catholic. But as for Don Alonzo’s plate, and certain bags of doubloons, | r Don Alonze was dead, and the gold was | is in right of his wife. Whatif his wife were dead, too? Ah, then he had another card to lay. ‘ F Bua as he thought of it, | » smiled and rubbed his hands, and turned round to descend the lad- der intc the cabin below. The vessel was already in order, and Don Luis was recognized ashercommander. Hestationed | a sentry at the cabin door, saying: “ Let no one in, on any pretext, till I call.” Then he entered the cabin, and locked the door. The cabin of the galleon was magnificently | furnished, and far more lofty and commodious than that of a modern vessel of the same size. It was hung with tapestry, and decorated with earving and gilding of the most ornate charac- ter, while the breeches of four richly-ornament- ed sterh-chaser cannon gave a warlike aspect to the apartment. In the midst of the cabin the wily captain of the guards stopped, an? _—s up a ring in the floor, raised a trap-door, and disclosed a flight of stairs, leading to the lowest recesses of the vessel. “Come forth,” he said, in a quick, command- ing voice; and then retired and took his seat on | the couch close by. There was a slow, faltering step on the ladder, and then the dark, withered features of the Witch of Darien rose above the trap. The old woman slowly ascended to the cabin, and stood trembling before the captain. Don Luis, who had been trembling with cra- ven fear an hour before, was now as cool as possible. Indeed, the manner of the gallant Dia ‘d might have been fairly described as hectoring, as he curtly ordered her toshut down the trap. The witch silently obeyed, and stood before | him ‘So, my lovely damsel, your teeth are drawn,” he said, sneeringly. - ted and beaten your piratical friend, and you are on the seas, in my power, while he is on the land, searching for you in Panama. What think you? Do you believe he will save you et?’ : In a low sweet voice, a strange contrast to her withered face, the Witch of “Darien answered m: ‘1 know he will, senor. He promised to love | Lola forever.” : ; “ He’s welcome to you, when i let him have you,” said the Spaniard, with a sneer. “ You are of more importance than you deem, my pretty damsel. Do you know why I made you assume the disguise you wear?” \ “T can guess now,” said the witch, calmly. &J have learned much since I have béen in the power of the white men.” “Whai have you learned?” ‘“*T have learned the reason you dare not put me to death,” said she, steadily. on guard told me last night.” ‘“Hal what did he tell you?” asked Mendoza, starting. ‘ ‘He saw this face, and told me whose it was like.” As she spoke, the disfiguring rags and hideous mask dropped from her form, and Lola, the eaptive queen of Darien, stood revealed, But no longer in the savage dress of the Indian princess was Lola arrayed, she wore the robes of a Spanish lady of rank, and thus arrayed, her likeness to Inez was start- Way. Don Luis,” she said, proudly, while the amazed captain sat gazing at her, bewildered; “vou thought that the poor Indian maid you had threatened with nameless tortures, if she re- yvealod herself, was completely cowed to obe your will. Know, senor, that for years past Our guns will : “T have outwit- | “The soldier | Instead of that, | have known who I am, and only the love of my | old wild, free life has kept me from claiming my kindred, and joining my people. The old | priest who found me alive on my mother’s | breast, sixteen years ago, and buried her onthe sea-shore, told me all about it when I grew*to womanhood. I know who I am—Pepita del Campo; and ere this, my father has received | the cross with my name inscribed on it, that | was hidden in my hair when you stole me like |a traitor. Now, senor, stop me if you dare. | My sister’s clothes were left here, but where is } my sister? I will go find her.” And she swept proudly to the door of the cabin, and laid her hand on the lock. Mendoza, for the first time, seemed to remem- ber himself. He had plenty of courage when fighting women, and he sprung forward like a tiger on her. Pepita—as we must call her hence- forth—shrieked, and tried to turn the key, but the brute was too quick and decided. “Scream away,” he said, savagely, as he dragged her away from the door. ‘They'll not mind you. So you’ve been masquerading in my wife’s clothes, and pretend to be her sister. Very well. He forced her down on the sofa with a heavy fall, and continued: | ‘*Now, mark my words, my lady: out of this cabin you do not. go till you sign the papers I require of you; ed if you try to appeal to the crew— hearken,” And he leaned forward and whispered in her ear. Pepita turned deathly pale and trembled in every limb. CHAPTER XV. In a large and sumptuous apartment of the Governor’s palace at Panama, lay Don Alonzo del Campo y Espinosa, wounded unto death, with two bullets in his body and a saber-cut on his head. The last might have been cured, and together had caused such a loss of blood that the Governor was dying. and Morgan stood a little distance off, with gloomy face and folded arms, sternly surveying the form of Blas Ortiz, the wounded pikeman, who stood before him, ready to drop with weak- ness. Weak as was Don Alonzo also, he was speak- ing to the soldier, and the buccaneer chief was listening to the conversation, occasionally put- ting in a short, grim question. Me gga i Ortiz,” said the Governor, y. faint have not long to live. You say rou got the cross from the old Indian woman Coont in as prisoner by Mendoza?” ‘*T did, senor.” ‘‘ How came she to do it?’ interjected Mor- an. ‘‘T was placed on guard over her, senor. Don Luis gave me strict orders not to converse with her. He told me she was a dangerous witch who could assume any face she pleased. But when she gave me the cross, I knew it must be a mistake, for crosses are death to witches. Don Luis looked in, and left a lamp in the outer room. When he was gone, the witch looked out, and strange to relate, senor, her old and wrinkl- ed face was gone. Had I not seen her before, I could have sworn ‘twas his excellency’s daughter, Dona Inez herself. But it must have been en- chantment, for when the relief came in, the opened the door to see if ’twas all right, and swear to your excellency, the same old woman was there, and we all saw her Spromag f Then, | before the new sentry was on, came Don Luis, and took her away, and that was the last we saw of her.” X “Have you heard anything since?’ demanded | the’Governor. | “My comrade, Pepe Diaz, who was killed this morning, was one of\ the guard that followed Don Luis, senor. He says that the captain-took her out in a boat to the great galleon, and came back without her. Whether he slew her, or put her on board the galleon, we cannot tell. He | came back alone,” “And the galleon escaped, thanks to my drunken ruffians,” muttered the buccaneer. | Then to Espinosa: [ ‘“The story is plain, senor, and you are not to | blame. This wretch, Mendoza, has deceived | you and all of us. He disguised the queen of arien as an old woman, and her own father did not recognize her... She is at sea with him, whether as Lola of Darien or Pepita del Campo. He isa sore ore this Mendoza, and has fool- ed us all. oe betide him, when I catch him. Make your will, senor. I am your enemy, but | you can trust me for all that, Give Pepita’s neither of the former was mortal, but the three | By the side of the couch knelt Inez, in tears, | 11 interests into my hands, and I swear to you I will protect her when I find her, and avenge her on this Mendoza, if I come too late for any thing else. Refuse, and I perform my oath; and then, woe to Panama.” napa, lay silent for some moments, then said: “* And Inez—what of her?” “Dona Inez is my enemy’s wife,” said Mor- gan, coldly. ‘She is Lola’s sister also. If your excellency wishes her restored to her hus- band, I will do it, but only when I have punish- ed him as he deserves.” The Governor shuddered slightly. The bue- caneer’s words were very quiet and decorous, but there was a certain swelling of the two side muscles of the square, lean jaw of the chief, and a dilating of the white of the eye, that told ofa tempest of passion surging within, only restrain- ed by the iron will of the man. He trembled as he thought of his daughter— the only one that he had known till now—ex- sed to the pitiless vengeance of the Welsh yuccaneer, who was renowned for the cruelties he had committed when unable to accomplish his will otherwise. ‘What do you wish me to do, senor?” he asked, faintly. ‘‘Be merciful, for I have not long to live.” ‘Call a notary and make your will,” said Morgan, harshly. ‘‘ Leave half of your goods | to your daughter Pepita, and appoint me her guardian. J will take care the will be obeyed.” | The Governor considered a while. | ‘J will do it. Send for the notary. I will | trust you, senor, for you have proved a more generous foe than I thought.” - Morgan nodded adruptly. . “ Ay,ay, you shall see, and he shall feel.” Then he left the room, and went down the palace steps to the street. All along the streets of Panama groups of fierce buccaneers were strolling, and others were searching the houses and bringing forth valuables to a great pile in the middle of the | public square. An order and decency prevailed in the whole expedition, which spoke of an iron discipline. Private plunder was not allowed by the bucea- | neers, who were by no means the lawless pi- | rates we have been accustomed to consider them. On the contrary, Morgan acted under a commission from the English king, Charles II., | and issued commissions to his captains, as admi- | ral of the British forces. The a ae of Pana- ma was all brought together, and carefully di- vided in shares, according to a regular scale, wherein wounds as well as rank were consid- | ered, and the man who lost a limb was paid for | it with five hundred doubloons. | Drunkenness there was little or none now, for | the leader’s ruse of suggesting poison in the wine | had effectually stopped the prevailing vice on | the second day. But the first had been wasted, | and Mor; had learned, when too late, of the | escape of the galleon and what she contained in | treasure, besides the discovery that Pepita was probably on board, if not dead. As he walked along, gloomily brooding over the news, and planning vengeance in the future, | he forgot all about Don Alonzo and Inez, the | girl whom he had once been captivated by. Ab- | sence had cured him of part of that love, her marriage of the rest; but there was an angry devil rey Brom the buccaneer’s heart as he thought of la, whom he loved now, in the power of Inez’s husband, and of Inezin his own wer. ** Let him look to himself,” he muttered. “If he has Pepita, I have Inez; and the one sister shall pay for the other’s wrongs.” ‘ He passed through the streets, dropping a | word here, an order there, till he arrived at the beach. He found it encircled with the charred | remnants of burned houses. In the first fury | of the assault the day before, the torch, applied | by the ruthless hand of the destroyer, had con- | sumed more than half of Panama. As he stood gloomily watching the smoking ruins, a Spaniard came humbly toward hi wished to see him. | mie and entered the palace. on Alonzo was indeed dying. He was so far gone as to be unable to , and he faint- ly indicated by signs a wish for the buccaneer to read a parchment that lay on the couch. read it. It was Don Alonzo’s will, ueathing all his possessions equally to his two chilaren, con- stituting his conquering enemy guardian 6f both, and charging him to find and rescue his daugh- ter Pepita, and to marry her, if he would. “And, forasmuch as my daughter Inez is and told him that the Governor was dying, and Slowly he retraced his Reluctantly Morgan took the instrument and _ -_—
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wedded to a bad man,” continued the will, ‘‘who will surely ill-treat her, if he gets a chance, I straitly commit her to the care of Don Enrique Morganos aforesaid, charging him on the honor of a soldier, to harm, and to guard her as his sister. And if he ag her from all | Beadle’s HalfDime Library. appeared. There was a great commotion in the sea, at the same time, and a strange appearance, as of some curious monster rising from tha wa- | ter: and then the stranger was away like 9 } fail to do so, then may the curse of a dead man | rest on him and his forever, and may he never | | make his report. know peace in this world or the next.” Morgan read the will steadily through. alose was interrupted by a struggle from the wounded man. The chief looked him in the face gravely, bowed his head, and said: et ip the trust.” Don Alonzo smiled faintly, and fell back, lead. Three days after, a column of loaded mules, Whose packs were all of gold, silver and jewels, threaded its way throug booters. Morgan, gloomy and silent, rode in the van, | and Inez del Campo followed, a close prisoner. To Chagres the column took its way, where the plunder of the expedition was whence Morgan took ship for parts unknown. For some unexplained reason he sent back Dona Inez to Panama, with a number of liber- ated Spaniards, but before he went he had a long and secret discussion with her, from which Then he | | | | he came forth gloomier than before. left, alone, and the greatest of all the buccaneer exploits was over. What. became of, the chief no one knew CHAPTER XVI. NEW PANAMA. A year has passed since the burning of Pana- ma, and the city has partly risen from its ashes, but on another site, surrounded by fortifications. the forests of Darien, | surrounded by the triumphant and satiated free- | Its | flash; and the frigate, hoisting Spanish colors, stood in, and came to anchor under the guns of the forts. Much puzzled, the watchman descended to At the same time, in a new house in another part of the city, Dona Inez Mendoza, from the | summit of the azotea or flat roof, beheld all this | doing all this time, she knew not. ivided, and | | scene, and trembled as she looked. Some presentiment told her that that vessel held her husband, returned to claim her and her father’s property by the operation of the law. Where he had been, and what he had been Whether the strange and audacious vessel that pursued him was the bark that held the only man that could save her, or not, shé was ignorant. She only knew that Morgan had promised her, a year before, that he would not rest till he had found her sister Pepita, if alive. That she her- self was not still with him was owing to her own fears as to her strength of mind. When it was too late, Inez, wife of Mendoza, had made the | | fatal discovery that she loved Morgan. | his own love had gone to another, but the poor | True, | senora dreaded the dangers of the old passion In all that year not a sound has been heard of | the lost Pepita del Campo, nor of the galleon San Salvador. Whatever the intentions of its commander, that vessel never reached Peru, but had disappeared from human sight as complete- ly as if she had never existed, In those days it. was not hard to lose one’s self in the Pacific. Outside of the regular track fromthe Philippines to Panama, the whole ocean was regarded as a solitude, into which no one | dared to penetrate till a hundred years later. Morgan, the buccaneer, had also reget a from his usual haunts, no one knew whither, Peace being concluded between England and | | at last. Spain, the more powerful expeditions were now out of the question, as they required a cover of legality in order t3 be fitted out with safety. ust one year toa day from the time of the sack of Panama, a strange vessel, long and low, with lateen sails, was seen in the offing, off the Pear! Islands, and the alarm spread ‘all through the city that the pirates were coming again, for the rig of the periagua was recogni) peculiar to the pirates. Then the watchman on the new tower beheld the fleet of pearl-boats, that had been attending the fishery at the islands, hastily slip their an- chors and come sailing toward the harbor, fol- lowed by the strange vessel. And as they came in, past a certain small island on the way, a singular phenomenon took place before the watchman’s sight. Without any assignable cause, three of the foremost /vessels suddenly por raga in the depths of the sea in a cloud of white reds The rest of the pearl-boats scattered in all di- rections like a flock of frightened water-fow] and the strange vessel hauled her wind an stood off again to sea. The watchman had hardly got over his aston- ishment, when he caught i of the sails of a large ship in the distance, behind the little island of Tobago, and distinguished the white smoke that told she was firing her guns at the stranger, while the dull booming reports echoed over the water to the city. It was not long before the whole population of Panama was out in the streets to witness the fight, which soon came into plain view. he avert ship steered out from behind the island, and the periagua was seen to steer di- rectly toward her, while every now and then the flash of a gun by a report that told of much lighter metal. as one | from. her sides was followed | The contest seemed entirely unequal, and yet | the lar; sips 2 a full-rigged frigate, was running away from the periagua toward the city, evi- dently anxious to escape. How long this might have lasted there is no saying, when the smaller vessel suddenly hauled her wind once more, a little short of the place where the three boats had so mysteriously dis- reviving. At her own request, he had sent her back to Panama, there to wait the arrival of Don Luis, who, they knew, was pretty sure to come back to the scene of Don Alonzo’s property. ‘When he comes back,” Morgan had said, M5 t shall be there, when he and you least expect it.’ ‘And now Luis has come, and he is power- less,” murmured she, as she looked at the stately Spanish frigate coming to anchor, and the di- minutive periagua gliding along in the distance. As she spoke, a boat dropped from the side of | the vessel, and moved toward the city, propelled by twelve oars. : It was received at the quay by a detachment of the guard, for Panama was much better pro- tected now than when it was taken by the buc- caneers, and the fortifications were heavily armed and fully manned. The commander of the boat landed, and then the houses shut in further view from Dona Inez, But she had seen enough already. She knew well enough who was coming, and descending to the great saloon, she calmly awaited the ar- | rival of the person she knew was sure to come And she had not long to wait. Within half an hour there was a thundering knock at the door below, and soon after the tramp of an armed heel coming along the paved hall. Then the door opened, and Don handsome as ever, in magnificently worked ar- mor, and covered with orders and decorations, entered the room, The Spaniard advanced to his wife with an appearance of great affection, exclaiming: * Querida Inez, how have I wearied for you this year of toil and danger !’” Dona Inez waved him off as he came near, and checked him with a short inquiry: “ Tuis, where is my sister ?” Don Luis actually changed color at this ques- tion. For a moment he stammered and hesi- tated. Then he put on a face of innocence, asking: ‘“What do you mean?” “TJ mean, where is my sister Pepita, who was | a captive in your ship, when you fled and left | me to the merey of the buccaneers?” Don Luis laughed uneasily. ‘You are crazy. What should I know about your sister? She is dead, long ago.” “* How long ago ?” Again the direct question staggered him, but he recovered. “Twenty years ago, I suppose. You said so.” ‘‘Then where have you been, all this year?” She knew that he lied, but dissembled in her turn. Don Luis swelled with importance. “JT have been to Spain, senora, and have cruised against those buccaneers who slew your father. [ have avenged him fully and recover- ed great treasures; and, moreover, my father is dead, and I am now the duke of Mendoza. His majesty’s own hand has made me a knight of the Golden Fleece, and I have come to reclaim | the duchess, my wife, from her solitude, and to assume the vice-royalty of New Spain, whither I am now bound, by way of Acapulco.” Inez looked steadily at the man she was com- pelled to call husband, and a septine of the deepest distress possessed her, Sontething told uis Mendoza, as | — | her all was not right, and yet she knew not how | to proceed to find out. At last she said, somewhat bitterly: “Your grace has tarried very long. God, and not you, protected me from the dangers of the assauit when you fled,” ** Retreated, not fled, Inez. What could | do against such numbers? But I have avenged it on the buccaneers, and they are after me with a vast fleet. No doubt you were surprised at the way I sailed into harbor, chased by a single periagua. Alas, child, there are twenty more concealed behind yonder islands, and had | stood out to fight them, I should infallibly have lost my ship. But the blessed virgin inter- posed, and saved me, by sending that fearful - monster, the sea-cat—” Inez shuddered violently. ‘‘The sea-cat? What, is there one in our bay? Good heavens, Luis, what shall we do? Oh, I shall never forget those fearful eyes and writhing arms. What shall we do?’ ‘* Steer clear of the place he lies,” said Don Luis, coolly. ‘‘He swallowed the crews of three pearl-boats, and I saw him rise to receive the pirates. But they sheered offin time. As Jong as he stays there, the pirates dare not en- ter by that passage.” Dona Inez shuddered again, and murmured: “Tt is a fatality. e cannot save me or | Pepita.” | “TI shall sail for Acapulco to-morrow, God | willing,” said Don Luis, finally. ‘‘ Lexpect my | lady duchess to accompany me, in spite of her | cool reception; and, meantime, I have business | with the commandante here. So, for the pre- | sent, farewell.” | And he was gone, and Inez alone 4 CHAPTER XVII. THE MIDNIGH® PROWLER. NIGHT closed over the new city of Panama, a night of darkness, with the moon above, while a heavy, crawling, malarious mist shut outhe view of the stars overhead. In the thick darkness that enveloped every- thing the sickly gleam of lanterns shone out here and there, at the edge of the bay, marking the line of the just completed ramparts. . The sea-wall was finished, but on the land-side there | were many long stretches as yet quite open to |anenemy. The Spaniards knew that their best defense as yet was in the fact that they had lit- tle left to p under, and the long stretch of walls | surrounded very few houses above the rank of huts. In a nook of the bay, opposite the side of the Old city, a line of canoes was slowly and silent- | ly paddling to the shore, all loaded with men, he ruins of old Panama were already nearly hidden by the luxuriant vegetation of the tro- | pies, and the few walls and towers that remain- | ed were covered with creepers. Not a livin | being tenanted them save the monkeys an birds of the forest, and, as the canoes reached the shore and disembarked their crews, not a sound was heard. Quietly and cautiously, like a troop of ghosts, the strangers climbed up the steep and rocky | beach here, and disappeared among the ruins. Half an hour later they might have been found clustered together, to the number of some fifty men, in the ruined basement of the old watch- tower of San Jerome, In the midst was the form of a man, evident- | ly in authority, who was giving them some di- rections in a low voice: ‘¢-You will remain here,” he said, “ till I come back, which will be before to-morrow nrgat. You will keep yourself hidden from the view of any passing Spaniard, unless he should be fool enough to come so close as to find out | where you are. In that case, seize him and keep him till Icome back. If Il am not here by midnight to-morrow, I shall be dead. In that case, go back to the vessel, and never spare a Spaniard’s life so long as you are on the seas.” A stern hum of assent followed the last words, and the chief gathered his cloak around him and left the ruin. The men left behind stretch- ed themselves silently on the ground and pre- pared to the night in sleep. Meanwhile the leader threaded the ruins of | the once populous streets with the air of a man who knew his way well, and quitted the pre cincts of the old city, emerging on @ mass of black rocks, which once formed the northern boundary. Over these he clambered with some difficulty, and saw before him a stretch of fair white beach, the only barrier between him and the walls of New Panama. With a free and careless he advanced to the city, hidden by the dense white fog and only
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an ary Nc ends ‘to let him go so easi Tape it *Foughly : ee = ~ _ —— The Sea-Cat. iS cea guided on his way by the sound of the softly lap- | ping surf at his left hand. Every ten minutes or so he would stop and lis- ten intently. No sound but the wash of the waves was heard for some time. At last he caught sight of the sickly yellow gleam of lamps some way ahead, and recognized | the line of the sea-wall. Assoon as hesaw that, he turned to the right, left the shore, and struck off into the fields and woods. At regular intervals the drowsy ery of ‘‘ Sen- ) tinella alerta” from the city announced the po- | ition of the line of guards. The stranger skirted them ata etful dis- | tanee, till he arrived age: the largest and | longest of the gaps in the fortifieations, which | ihe could see from the different position of the lights, down on the ground. The unknown seemed to be perfectly familiar with the way, for he turned in here, and ad- ‘vanced boldly toward the line of sentries. Steady as was his approach, however, it was entirely noiseless. He seemed to be shod with velvet, so quietly did he move. When he was close to the line of lights, he directed his course midway between them and halted once more to listen. The steps of several sentries were audible, pacing to and fro, but they themselves were in- | visible. y Then the stranger sunk down on the earth and looked toward the dim lights in the fog. For about six inches from the earth the atmosphere was comparatively clear, and the legs of the pacing guards became visible. By looking up- | ward, also, the rest of their bodies loomed out against the faint light of the sky above the mist, znd their positions were definable. Two of theta were coming toward him. Silently the stranger awaited their coming, fill the twoseutries met. One of them growled | gut a sulky remark to the other about the fog, | and the other replied: “Never mind; the relief will soon be round. | The fog will keep off the buccaneers.” “Ay,” growled the first, ‘if they’re here. But that’s not likely, with four regiments of pikes and muskets, and a first-class frigate in the bay.” ‘“Good-night, and a better temper, Pepe,” said the second,.and both sentries turned their backs and paced away. When they were half down their beats, the stranger rose as silently as he had come, and | coolly walked through the picket line, hidden by the fog. In < moment he was safe within the city | limits. He advanced now with much more caution, | for the streets were full of the materials of build- | ings in progress, and he seemed to be ignorant of the localities. He passed silently on amid piles of stones and timber, without meeting a human being or seeing a light for some time. It was near midnight, and moreover he was in a part | “of the city as yet uninhabited! At last the glimmer of lights in a line ahead ‘announced that he was coming to a more popu- | lous locality, and shortly after heran up against | “nother person meeting him in the fog, with a ‘clash of armc~ that told that both were sol- | wliers. ‘“Madre de dtos, camarado, can’t you see Where you're going?” exclaimed the second man, pearly. **-You’re too careless to be a gentle- aman, do ine hear?’ The unknown answered the insulting tone of ‘the'soldier with great mildness, considering the ‘dueling a apes of the age. ‘*T humbly crave your pardon, cavalier, I am not yet used to your Panama fogs, andI was lookingifor some one to tell me the way to the Calle Nuevo.” The soldier seemed pacified at once. He | thought he had cowed down the other, and in a | tone of more an he said: ““Yonder isthe Calle Nuevo. The first large | house you come to belongs to Don Luis Men- | "doza, who came in this afternoon from the old eountry. He’salucky dog. They sayhe brings | back a million pesos, that he has stolen from those Godless buccaneers.” The stranger gave a short laugh. **Ha! he says that, does he? Buenos noches, ( Senor.” And he turned abruptly away. The strange ‘Soldier, who seemed to be an officer of some kind from his lan , did not seem disposed . He had cowed him |} down once, as he thought, and he was resolved | He touched him on the shoul- y, and arrested his course, saying | ; Lara } | ed the stranger, in English. ‘I ‘‘Hola, senor, you have not told me your | men on his frigate at last, and the capture was name, yet. I am Don Ramon Gutierrez, first swordsman of Panama. Who the devil are ba you? The unknown turned quietly round. He was | standing ciose to the latter, and spoke in a pecu- liarly mild and pleasant tone. “Do you really wish to know my name, | senor? I would not advise you to ask it, for you | will not live long after you have heard it.” Don Ramon laughed scornfully and folded his arms. “* Tell me, and I’ll take the risk,” he said. The stranger whispered something in his ear, and almost at the same instant executed a sud- den wrestling trick which overthrew the Span- iard like a child. Standing close to him, he leaned forward, casting one heel behind that of | the Spaniard, and in the same instant pushed him with both hands on his shoulders, Don Ramon’s heels flew up, and the unknown, con- tinuing the impulse with tremendous strength, brough the other to the pavement with a crash, the back of his head striking the stones with such violence that he lay senseless. ‘**Much good may the name do you,” mutter- your skull’s whole in the morning, ‘twill be because my arm has lost its pith.” He deliberately lifted up the head of the fallen man and gave it one crack against the stones. Then he turned away, and advanced toward the Calle Nuevo with fearless steps. CHAPTER XVIII. A VISITOR. Dona INEZ MenpozA was kneeling at her oratory, praying fervently to Heaven_to release her from her bondage and restore her sister to her, when she heard a light tap at her casement. In great alarm she started to her feet, for she was all alone in that part of the house, which was built, like most Spanish-American houses, on a single story, rambling in all directions, An external veranda surrounded the building, and on this the intruder, whoever he was, must be standing. At once she thought of her husband, and the | thought filled her with aversion. She knew he | had a right to enter, and yet she knew him as the probable murderer of her sister, and as a false cavalier who fled in the hour of danger. All these thoughts crossed her like a flash as | she faintly asked: ** Who’s there?” ‘* Enrique, ey brother,” was the low reply. “Let me in, but put out the light first: I have much to say and ask.” With a nervous start Inez recognized the voice of Morgan, and in a moment she had extinguish- ed the light and flown to the window, only pro- tected as it was by slight blinds. Without a wordy the other entered the room, and stood listening to some sound in the street below. After a long pause he turned round and whis- pered: “Tt is well. He has d. I thought ‘twas my enemy. And now, Inez, he have seen him to-day. I have kept my word, and am here.” ‘*But, oh, Senor Morganos, think of the dan- ger were you found here. There are troops enough in the city—” “T know all, Inez. But Mendoza, tell me, has he said aught about your sister? ‘I have chased him over the wide world, from Spain to the Pacific, and have not come up with him till now. Said he aught of Pepita?”’ ‘SNot a word, save this.” And she detailed the morning’s conversation with Don Luis in full. The buccaneer listened till she had finished, and then he said: ‘‘ Pepita is dead, and he has killed her. he would not have come back for you.” ** But what makes you think so?” *‘ Listen. I have traced every step of that villain’s course since he fled from before me, a year ago. His vessel never went to Peru, but sailed away down the coast. And when I pro- cured a vessel. in Jamaica, and sailed in chase, he had disappeared. But I soen heard of him, Inez, and what, think you, was he doing? The Tf not | cowardly dog had taken a leaf out of my book, and turned buccaneer. Ay, girl, but not as we do, against the enemies of our country, but on his own friends and countrymen, the Spanish merchants. Ship after ship nome tp from view, plundered and sunk by him, for they took him for a friend, and allowed him to come alongside, There was no danger where he went At last one of my fleet met him, grown fat and insolent, and omy oH him. Well, Inez, ’twas but a periagua with thirty men attacked him, and he took her. He gathered four hundred | | this. just what he wanted. He sunk the periagua, took her men to Spain, and thus accounted for his plunder as captured from my buccaneers. I heard of it in Cadiz, whither I went in dis- guise, and by my faith, the fellow cheated the whole court, and was made a heroof. Has he told you#—ay, he has—of his being appointed viceroy of New Spain. "Tis true. But he will never get there alive, if he has harmed a hair of Pepita’s head.” “But what can we do?’ demanded Inez, timidly. ‘‘He has a large ship, and you have nothing but—” ‘But brave men to take her. True. But you shall see it done, Inez. All I ask you to do is He says that he leaves for Acapulco to morrow. He will want to take you with him. Delay going till night. Make any pretense you like not to be ready. But do not set foot on the Srigate till after dark.” ‘* I will try it,” said Inez, hesitatingly. ce you wish to see your sister again, do it,” said Morgan, ag wing § ‘*T know what he has come here for, and I will let him do it. Your father’s will shall be kept to the letter, pa i to him if he has defeated it by Pepita’s death.” “But he could not have the heart to kill an innocent girl,” said Inez, earnestly. ‘I can not believe it. He must be keeping her hidden away somewhere, in the hopes that we do not know of her existence, to claim her share as mine.” Morgan looked grim, as he answered: “Tt may beso. *Twere better for him he had never been born else.” Then there was a short silence, first broken by the buccafteer, **Do you think he will come here to-night?’ Inez was glad for the darkness to-cover her blushes, as she answered: ‘*'No, no; in God’s name, I hope not.” “Tf he comes, remember, he is your sister’s murderer,” said the buccaneer, solemnly. ‘For me, I must away. In your hands to-morrow will rest justice to the wicked. Do not goaboard till sunset. Farewell.” He hastily pressed her hand, and then turned ‘and vanished through the window, while Inez | returned to her prayers with redoubled fervor. The daring freebooter passed down the ve- randa with the same noiseless tread with which he had entered the town, a fact easily explain- ed. His heavy boots were muffled with strips of thick blanket, which made his tread as soft as that. of a.tiger. Morgan was heavily armed under his muffling cloak, and, being accustomed to dangerous enterprises, seemed io feel no un- easiness at his position, alone in a city full of foes. He assumed an air as if he was perfectly at home, and stalked down the street toward the well-remembered gap in the wall by which he had entered so cleverly. At the end of the Calle Nuevo he came across the prostrate figure of Don Ramon, still insensi- ble and breathing heavily. “Fool,” muttered Morgan, as he passed, ‘did you think to hector me ;with your Biscayan oan a would have let you go had you been civil. He had hardly uttered the words when an- other figure loomed up in the fog, and the noise dl a clattering, swaggering stride became audi- e. Instantly the buecaneer stepped to one side, and freeing his sword arm from the incumber- ing cloak, brought the hilt of the weapon to the front, and awaited the stranger. His quick senses realized whé was the new-comer, though only seen once before, by moonlight, in spite of | the white mist. The approaching cavalier was Don Luis Men- doza, swaggering along in the direction of the Calle Nuevo. The buccaneer ground out a fearful blas- phemy between his teeth as he noted the form of the other, and suddenly drawing, said, harsh- ly: ~ * Halt! or you’re a dead man.” Don Luis did halt instantly. More, he jumped back with remarkable alacrity, and cried out, trembling: who are you? What do you want with me?” “Your sword,” said the buccaneer, fiercely. “ Dnaw it, or take it off, dog. Quick!” Don Luis drew ina moment. He wasa fencer, and not quite a coward, but he was dreadfully frightened at the sudden apparition of ae unknown man, challenging him so sav- y. “ENO sooner was his sword out than the bucca- neer pressed forward on him with a straight.
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14 ~_ eran a = /_—— strong lunge, so close to his body that the Span- | iard had to leap back, with a shout of terror. Not asingle feint or trick did Morgan use, but followed him up so close with his fierce, straight thrusts, in grim silence, that Mendoza backed, backed, and again still further, till he finally turned and ran away like a flash, yelling for help. arcun’a sword followed him for several steps, prodding him to still greater efforts, and then the reckless freebooter plunged down a side street, heedless of the clamor that was gathering every moment from other parts of the town, at the sound of Mendoza’s unearthly yells. He marched boldly on till he came to the deserted portion of the town, when he threaded his way among the half-finished houses, till he emerged close to the picket-line. He found it on the alert, the sentries moving quickly up and down. With a pistol in each hand and a sword be- tween his teeth, he charged boldly down upon them, heedless of bullets in the dark, shot down the line out into the dense fog, throwing back a derisive laugh as he went. Before he was fifty yards from the walls, he heard the clatter of cen in full pursuit. CHAPTER XIX. A BARGAIN, At noon of the next day, Don Luis Mendoza, bravely dressed and covered with orders, swag- gered down the principal street of New Panama, swelling with satisfied vanity, No one who saw him could have recognized the trembling coward who, the night before, ha@ fled down the Calle Nuevo through the fog, screaming for help against a single antagonist. roe, he had represented that antagonist as a crowd of men at the guard-house, which he had alarmed, and a patrol of cavalry had scour- | ed the town and its environs in a Vain search, | till they stumbled into a swamp and lost them- selves. No trace had been found of the buccaneer; | and when the insensible body of Don Ramon Gutierrez was discovered, the poor man was quite delirious, with a fractured skull, and un- able to tell the name of his assailant. Don Luis himself had no suspicion of the real character of his enemy. For a whole year he had enjoyed immunity from peril, and had filled his pockets by a series of cowardly piracies. The only enemy he had met had been the one small periagua which he had sunk, and its crew had told him that Morgan had retired from buc- caneering. The vessel that chased him into Panama he | had taken for some rover of small means, and | no one knew better than himself the lie he had | told about a mythical pirate fleet among the | Rank cowardice had alone impelled his | islands. flight to Panama. he reason of his coming was to become ap- parent that morning; for before he had gone wherein he had lodged the night before, accosted by an old man, whose physiognomy and appearance were unmistakably usurious, who addressed him with: **T kiss your hand, my lord duke. Your grace has concluded, I hope, to take my offer.” dy Perhaps not, friend Abram,” said Mendoza, loftily. ‘‘I have a better one already, fifty thousand Pesos for the lands and two for the house.” “Oh, holy father Jacob, senor, you must be esting with your friend Abram. I know well the value of lands in this city, and no one ean afford to do that without losing money. Friend Abram was money-lender, slave-deal- er, horse and cattle-buyer and seller, merchant in cotton, sugar, and indigo, and withal the keenest investor in real estate in Panama. Don Luis had come to Panama for the express pur- pose of carrying away his wife, pw at once converting all the landed property of his late father-in-law into cash, so as to add to the wealth on board his galleon, and be able to en- ter his new government as became a hidalgo. He well knew that Abram was the only man in Panama possessed of money and boldness to buy in those perilous times, and his boast of another purchaser did not deceive the astute capitalist. Abram offered him about one-tenth the value of the property, but Abram knew Mendoza’s hurry to be off, and suspected that all was not | right with him. Consequently he traded on his | necessities, and was determined to make a good | bargain. Don Luis followed him, willingly enough, to the house indicated, and was ushered by the old | Jew into a magnificent saloon. a sentry within two feet, and dashed through | | into friend Abram’s hands after a month’s riot- Consider, senor, that property is unsettled, and | that we are still unprotected. with walls. No one can do better with the nobility than friend Abram, who has had dealings with princes of the blood. Ah, my lord duke, be reasonable/ Consider that my offer is not from an unreliable | man. I will count out the gold in your pre- sence, take all the risks of title, and only ask | you to sign the deed in my favor.” ** So will the other man,” said Don Luis, roll- ing a cigarette. sand pesos, and the house and lands are yours. What do you say?” ‘“Tmpossible, my lord,” said the other, firmly. “ But if my lord will step into my humble little dwelling here, and talk over the matter, there is no saying that we might not come to an agree- ment.” And the money-lender indicated with a wave of his hand, a splendid new building about half a block distant, one of the finest in Panama, and the home of the richest man there, | money. “Come, Abram, sixty thou- | | would trouble me to pay the taxes. | all.” : | which both parties came to a compromise on | tohimself to think that he had outwitted the twenty steps from the new Governor’s palace, | @ WAS | | of their value at the time. | settle the business in my cabin. It must not be supposed that Abram had wasted his money in building this house. Far from it. He had bought it—for a song. In Panama, as in other places, there were plenty of spendthrifts, and one of these, a youth whose father had perished under tortures rather than disclose his buried wealth to the buccaneers, had spent the whole of it to boast that he had run up a palace in ten months and collapsed ous living. ‘*Now, my lord duke,” said the old money- lender, rubbing his hands, as the other sunk on a gorgeous couch, “we can settle the affair here and at once satisfactorily. I will come half- way to meet you. Forty thousand pesos in gold counted to you on board your ship to-night, and | the lands are mine. Is that a bargain?” ‘*“Not a bit of it. Sixty thousand or I keep the title. There are bankers in New Spain who will gladly give me a hundred, but I have no time to bother with the business.” ‘‘ Ah, my lord, do not be so hard. Remember | that I am a poor man, and this property will be all outlays and no returns for a long time.” “That is your business, friend Abram.’ The property is mine in right of my wife, Dona Inez, and if [ sell it, it’s only to avoid trouble in the future.” ) ‘*Trouble in the future,” said Abram, keenly. | ‘* Ah? then there are other heirs, I swppose?”’ Don Luis colored slightly at his mistake. “Bymo means. I meant no such thing. It | That is “Then of course my lord will be glad to be | rid of the trouble, and take the forty thousand pesos.” ‘* Sixty or nothing.” 4 And so the bargain went with wearisome monotony for nearly two hours, at the end of | fifty thousand pesos, and Old Abram chuckled Spaniard, and acquired several leagues of hill and dale, and a handsome house for one-eighth To Don Luis, on the other hand, the whole transaction was clear gain. He had reason to know that his title was defective, and had re- solved to cheat the money-lender at his own | game. ) As he rose to depart, he observed: ‘* Farewell, friend Abram. I am going now to announce my departure to the duchess, and hurry everything on board, You can. take pos- session after we are gone, and come on board at | sunset. Bring the money with you, and we will | God be with you, senor.” And he lifted his hat with ceremonious cour- | tesy and saluted the Jew money-lender. “VY con usted,” (and with you) said friend | Abram, with a low inclination. Then as the handsome and pompous Don left the room, the old man chuckled to himself, and muttered: > ‘* Ay, ay, we will settle it, and with half the I have a goodly stoek of sweated dou- bloons that will reduce the price wonderfully, and moreover, once aboard, you will not anxious to come back.” And the old miser ascended to his strong- | room, and inspected several bags which bore a certain secret mark on them. “They will do to pay him,” he muttered. ‘*T never could pass them here, but these Span- ish nobles know) nothing of money, and clip- pings and filings pay well, for there’s no risk about them.” Friend Abram ws certainly an industrious Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. TTS RSE EN | man, as the condition of the coins in those bags | of that which led would have shown to an expert. Every coin had been subjected to the file more or less, some had little chips off the edges, others had holes bored in them. All had lost a part of their substance under the industrious hands of the old miser, who could plan at the same moment swallowing an estate of half a million, and sweating a doubloon of adollar’s worth of gold, so as not to show the abstraction. The labor of the leisure moments of twenty years | was in those bags, and the opportunity to real- ize on it was his at last. The dust of the filings had long ago been melted down and coined, and now the opportunity to pay out the sweated money without fear of its coming back was his. Friend Abram grinned and chuckled as he left the room, and ordered his black slave to get ready to attend him in the evening to the frigate of “Jon Luis Mendoza. CHAPTER XX. MIST ON THE WATERS. AGAIN the warm darkness of the tropic night fell over the city of Panama; and the heavy, white mist, redolent of malaria, arose from swamp and forest, and rolled like a curtain over city and bay, The sea-fog, which at certain seasons of the year is as thick at the equator as off Newfound- land, aking by occasional gusts of icy wind from the distant Cordilleras, was thicker even than that on the land, and made the city perfectly invisible. At some little distance from the shore, how- ever, there was a bright illumination, which pierced the mist for some fifty feet, and revealed a long row of lights below, with four lanterns of different colors at some hight above. A person very close by could have made out | the light below to be shown at the open ports of a two-decked ship, and the colored lanterns above were Clearly the masthead and bowsprit lights of the same ship. This ship was none other than the frigate Trinidada, in which Don Luis had arrived, and | which was now awaiting his embarkation, with the crew in gala dress, eating, drinking and singing. curious and very unpleasing crew was that of the Trinidada, and far worse than the fiercest of the buccaneers in appearance. The Spanish race produces about as repulsive a type of ras: cal, when it runs that way, as any on the face of the globe. So long the prey of the English and French | rovers, who were hardy and, desperate fellows, courting an open fight, and scorning treachery or surprise except with very inferior numbers, the Spanish courage had sunk to a mere shadow ortes to Mexico. Cowardly and treacherous at their best, these Spaniards of Don Luis’s crew had been engaged | in decoying their own countrymen alongside for a whole year, only to murder them in cold blood when they got there. Such a course of life had tended to enhance the cruel bull-fight element of Spanish character, without increasing its courage, and Don Luis and his crew, at first timid, hesitating snappers-up of small craft, had become as hangdog a set of ruffians as could be found, the scum of all the captured vevsels, the good men having walked the plank. ; To these ruffians, all bravely dressed in the | spoils of murder, and knowing that ier Fix | was loaded with treasure, the time ssed High ly away, as they waited for the leader who had been so successful with them. At last the plash of oars was heard, and pres sently a great barge pes alongside; and Don Luis, more gorgeous than ever in steel and gold, ascended the side, handing up a beautiful lady in mourning. “By St. Hubert, aaa of hunters and thieves,” said one ruffian to his mate, “ the captain has a fine wife. But, who is her face so like?” “Tl swear I’ve seen something like it on board,” replied the other, ‘“‘but where, I can’t say.” ee further conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the senora’s luggage ina pile of boxes in another boat. Shortly after, the dip of oars announced a third, which contained the shriveled figure of friend Abram, with his black slave Matias, who oaned under the weight of two heavy bags of oubloons. ; The sailors were about to order him rough] away, when Don Luis ordered him to be ad- mitted on board, and escorted him into the ose fF with ceremonious politeness, followed by tias. . . } 3 Behe = Py G4
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| a3 eae) .; : i f ha S2Y you can have two. Then the door closed, and the sailors were left to wonder. ‘‘By all the saints,” said one, “but that the voyage is nigh over and the plunder has to be tivided yet, I would go into that cabin for all Pon Luis. But he knew what he was about vhen he put us under the guns of the fort. We ean’t do.anything till we get on the high seas, ard then—we’ll see who has the treasures.” From whence it became apparent that disci- pline on board the frigate had not quite attain- “i the completeness of that of the buccaneers, who never grumbled. Far out in the darkness, at the same time, on the shelving beach, tangled with mangroves, that marked the site of old Panama, a line of anoes Was being dragged out of the thickets in which they had been hid. Morgan himself, wrapped in his dark cloak, watched the embarkation of his men, four or five in each Jittle canoe, and apf fifty all:told. He had conceived some vague designs of sur- prising the city with that small force, but had abandoned it when he learned of Don Luis Men- doza’s intention to set sail that night. “He could not have played into my hands better,” soliloquized the buccaneer, as he watch- | the embarkation. ‘“‘I ask no better than to find him ready to sail.” Then he advanced to the last canoe, which had been kept waiting for him, took his seat in s stern, and Jay back, while the canoes pad- died out into the mist in a long line, head and stern close together. Fifty feet from land they seemed to be float- ing in space, for the mist hid every thing but the bow of the next canoe. But the keen senses of the buccaneers found a guide through the darkness, when every thing elss failed; and the sound of the lapping waves on the beach kept them true to their direction. Silent as ghosts glided the canoes, that con- taming Morgan being ahead of the line, the al- most noiseless dip of the paddle urging them slowly along through the thick darkness. Every now and then they had to bear toward the shore, for the undertow was carrying them out of sound of the surf. At last they began to hear the noise of voices on shore, and the cry of ‘‘ Sentinella alerta!” from the distant right announced that they were coming to the walls of New Panama once more. Then Morgan sat up in the stern-sheets for the first time, and uttered a low signal. His own canoe remained stationary, and the others glided up alongside on either hand, turning their bows inward so as to form a star around the central Canoe. ** Now, men,” said tue leader, in a low tone, “I will tell you what lies before you, and you shall say if you will dare to follow Morgan.” © We'll do that to Hades’ mouth, admiral,” whispered a voice, in another canoe, * That’s my brave Coxon,” said Morgan, ‘I selected you, men, from all my old comrades because | had watched you in many a fight. it would rather command fifty devils like you than a thousand ee Now listen: this is our last, cruise. Each of you has a bag of pieces of eight nigh your Own weight already, on board the periagua, I am going to take you to-night where you can get twice as much more, and if you don’t like to go home and live in peace on that, you must find another captain, Win you come and take the prize?” “ Ay, ay, we will.” A. déep murmur rolled over the water, and Morgan continued: ‘The treasure lies in a sixty-gun frigate, with four hundred Spaniards aboard. How like ye that? Will ye o still?’ ‘AY, ay.’ The murmur was more emphatic then ever. “ Then listen, A thousand pieces to the first man on board, a thousand for any limb lost, ten thousand for P prong widows if you’re killed. Are you all agreed on the price?” “ Ay, ay; lead us on,” Stop,” said the leader, firmly. “My own share must be a half of all, and every woman Jound aboard. Will you agree to that?” There was a silence of several minutes, till Coxon inquired: . Will there be enough left to pay us?” “ To each man I ntee ten thousand pieces of eight,” said Morgan. “But half, and the women, I must have. Is it agreed?” Phere was a short whispered discussion, when Coxon spoke. “It is, admiral, all but the women. The men but no more.” agree,” said the leader, z ‘Two be it, then. The Sea-Cat. “Now swear the buccaneer’s oath, and for- ward.” In a low voice, but very distinctly and in unison, the buccaneers repeated their oath of fidelity to their own wild laws: ‘* By fire and flood, by blade and blood, By hopes of life, by fear of God, Sasoogh deadly strife, we swear to keep The laws we swore on deck of ship. To the chief, till death obey, To a comrade, help alway, To the Spaniard, naught but death, While we draw a living breath; And we swear, we swear, on a Spanish deck The foot once set shall never give back, Till victory gives the prize, ? Or the last among us dies.”’ “Forward, then!” The canoes glided through the fog in grim silence. CHAPTER XXI. DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. THE cabin of the Trinidada was gorgeous be- yond any thing known in our days. Originally a treasure-ship, since she had been captured by the treacherous Spaniard, the wealth of every prize had been nddad to her splendors, till the cabin blazed with gold. Every visible bulkhead was covered with carving, and costly velvets and tapestry covered the seats and couches. In the center of this cabin, before a splendid table inlaid with mosaic, the prize from a Geno- ese carrack, sat Don Luis Mendoza, while friend Abram was unfolding a huge parchment before im. Patient Matias, with a stolid look of apathy on his black face, stood guard over four little white bags in another part of the cabin, and by the door was a dark-faced page with long blac hair, whose dress was surprisingly rich and fan- tastic even for tho. days of brave apparel. Dona Inez was not to be seen. She was ina state-room near by, and anxiously awaiting— she knew not what. ‘* What is that paper you have there, Abram?” asked Don Luis. “The deed which your lordship promised to sign for me. Indeed, my lord, you have taken vantage of the poor old man, and driven a terribly hard bargain with me; but the Jew is honest. What he has said he will keep to; and I have brought the sum for your lordship’s use, in good gold.” “Tam glad to hear it,” said Mendoza, rubbin his hands. ‘‘ Let us see the deed, Abram. t have one already prepared.” The Jew smiled a crafty smile. “‘ Strange that both of us should have thought of the same thing.’ But I should prefer your lordship to sign my deed. It was drawn by the best notary in Panama, and contains all the pro- visions usual in such cases,” “T prefer to sign my own,” said Don Luis, quietly. ‘‘ My own notary drew it. Look at it.” He threw a folded paper across the table to the Jew, and proceec ed to roll a cigarette, watching the other furtively. Old Abram took the paper, and began to tremble with excitement. We knew well that the bargain was not over yet, and began to feel a vague sense of uneasiness. After all, Don Luis on shore in Abram’s palace, and Don Luis in the cabin of his own frigate, were two differ- ent ey Fey The hidalgo wore an expression of furtively insolent triumph that frightened the Jew. He looked at the deed submitted by the other, and found that it was a transfer of all his rights and interests in his wife’s property; but the wife herself was not associated in it, “Tecan not accept this deed, senor,” he said, firmly. ‘‘ Dona Inez herself must sign, as in my own deed.” “T can not trouble Dona Inez witb such de- tails,” said the captam, scornfully. ‘‘Do you think that a Castilian lady is meant to chaffer with a cheating old Jew peddler? You buy the property now at a tenth of its value, and what more can I bage ask? I sell you my rights. My wife can take care of her own.” ‘*« Then I suppose I must see the lady,” said the Jew, resignedly. ‘‘It is a cruel sacrifice to re- quire of me, senor.” “Who requires it? Not I. Take your deed, and give me my money.” ‘*] shall leave lordship instead,” said gous Abram, rising. ‘I know my money, bat I do not know my title. Matias, take the bags to the boat. I shall go ashore.” “Stop a moment,” and the hidalgo rose and stepped between him and the door. ‘ You'll keep your bargain and pay the money, or you’ll Is that plain, o overboard to feed the sharks. bram?’ | ly. 15 PE RE. Re The old Jew for one moment straightened, quivering with rage, for he wasno coward. The | next minute a thought seemed to strike him, and he calmed down. “T will take the deed,” he said. signed?” Don Luis became pleasant at once. “ Ay, ay, I wouldn’t cheat you, old man, but you should have stipulated for my wife’s signa- ture ashore. What you get, you get. The rest is hers. Take the deed.” Abram secured the deed in his pocket, and beckoned to Matias to lay the bags on the table. ‘¢ Will your lordship please to count the gold?” he said. “Let the slave do it,” said Mendoza, careless ‘‘ You wouldn’t dare to bring a short weight here.” The old Jew’s eyes glittered strangely. **T suppose your lordship will not sail till to- morrow. The mist isso thick to-night that ne man can penetrate it.” ‘*Of course not,” said Mendoza. ‘Count the gold, Matias,” said Abram, and he turned away toward the door, saying to him- self: ‘‘ And to-morrow [Pll have the information laid that will prevent your ever sailing hence,” For Abram had not been idle all day, and had found out from the men of Trinidada, whe were drinking ashore, certain facts in the his- tory of that vessel, which he had resolved to use for revenge. Matias, in his dull, monotonous fashion, be- gan telling out the pieces on the table—‘‘ uno, duo, tre, quatro, cinque, seis, sette, otto, nove dieiz, and such is the influence of chinking gold on human senses, that insensibly Don Luis found himself watching the slow operation with inter- est, and checking the count. Old Abram meanwhile had been attracted by the glittering figure of the beautiful page, whom he now noticed for the first time. The lad was very dark, and his costume was composed entirely of cloth of gold, while every button of his doublet was a cluster of brilliants, But the sharp eyes of the old Jew were especial- ly riveted on his face, and as he looked, he trem- bled violently. He said nothing, but a leaden paleness spread over his features, for he realized that he had been duped at last. Before him stood the living: image of Dona Inez, the dead Governor’s daughter, and the keen-witted Jew, who knew the secret history of every Panama family, re- alized that this must be the missing heiress about whom he had heard such rumors from the sol- diery. Blas Ortiz had spread the tale of the false Witch of Darien, and Abram had heard it, half-believing it. ere, before his eyes war the truth. While he was revolving in his mind fresh schemes to outwit this new combination and save his darling money, he heard a slight elink at one of the stern windows of the oalloon. It was so light that Don Luis did not notice it, ab- sorbed as he was in watching the counting of the gold. The disguised page heard it, too, and for the first time Started tau looked eagerly toward the stern. Abram’s eyes followed his. amd beheld a strange sight. The stern-ports of the frigate were large and lofty, and fourrichly-chased guns occupied the afterpart of the cabin. By each of these guns stood an armed man, who must have climbed in from the outside; and a fifth man, short and spare in flesh, with very broad shoulders and a square dark face, was in the act of stepping out from between the guns. The man was in half armor and magnificent- ly dressed. His belt was full of pistéls, and he wore a long sword which he seemed to disdain to draw. ow such a party had effected its en- trance so quietly was a mystery to Abram, but none to the cat-footed buccaneers. As Abram canght sight of them, the disguised ge uttered a cry of delight: “The white chief. We are saved !” In the same instant Dona Inez darted from a state-room to Morgan’s side; Don Luis turned with a great start, and became white as a sheet: the page flew to cto cy and embraced his knees, sobbing, and the leader uttered the stern command: ‘* Silence, all, and secure the door.” In a moment four buccaneers had crossed the cabin and stood by the doors, silent and grim, while a number of others poured into the cabin through the stern windows, and filled ger ment, not a word being uttered by a , till Morgan said: ‘“Now by the great God who hears us I swear - that if —— is unharmed, I will leave the seas forever. m Luis Mendoza, you are met at “Is it
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16 last, and you and I will settle this matter like | men. Surrender your ship, for I will have no more bloodshed, if I can help it.” And Don Luis, pale as ashes, stammered out: | “J surrender. Spare my life and I will join | your band, king of the sea- rovers,” “ Morgan’s lip curled with disdain. “T would not keep you fora powder-monkey. Men, fire the signal to clear the ship.” CHAPTER XXII. CUTTING THE CABLE. At the words of the buccaneer chief the doors that led to the deck were thrown wide open, disclosing the crew of the Trinidada, gathered in knots, most of them half drunk. One of the buccaneers fired a pistol into the crowd, and in & moment a scene of the wildest confusion arose, Buccaneers poured in through the open ports, and the cracking of pistols was followed by the | charging yell of the desperate rovers: They | were all selected from the bravest of Morgan's | old comrades. The chief himself rushed out of the cabin at the head of his own body, and dealt such fearful blows with his razor-like cut- lass, that the cowardly ruffians fled before him in terror. : \ The buccaneers were down below, throwing hand-grenades, and driving the men between decks up to the air; and others were above, cut- ting them down as they made their appearance. en first one and then another began to drop out of the ports, and swim to shore, and within ten minutes every Spaniard, but Don Luis, and the dead and wounded, had vacated the Trini- dada, and was seeking safety in the water. And then was exhibited the iron discipline of the buccaneers, the great secret of their success. Some flew to the rigging, ascended the yards and cast loose the sails, while others manned sheets and braces in desperate haste. Morgan sprung to the sumnrit of the after castle, and thundered his orders over the ship. Then came a flash through the fog toward the shore, and the boom of a gun was followed by the humming of a round shot overhead. Morgan laughed scornfully and muttered: ‘Fire from every gun, *Tis all guess-work.” As if to amswer his words, a great shouting was heard from the shore, and a succession of | flashes along the sea-wall announced that the | earrison was alarmed, and determined to sink | tne Trinidada if they could. During the daytime every gun had been | trained on or about the frigate, which lay full under their broadside, and spite of the fog, the missiles came surprisingly near. The only thing which saved the Trinidada was the circumstance of her having swung out of line with the tide, so as to keep her out of the direct fire. Se While the cannonade continued increasing in fierceness, the reckless buccaneers laughed and joked as they manned the ropes, and before long one of them came to report that the ship was ready to start all but tripping the anchor. Then Morgan held up his hand, and felt a faint breeze, about enough to fill the sails, ‘“Qut the cable,” he said, briefly. ‘‘I take ‘the helm myself to-night.” The next moment the heavy blows of an ax were heard, and the cannonade from the shore grew louder than before. E Suddenly there was a sound of parting ropes, and the frigate, hitherto straining at her anchor, glided smootaly away with an easy motion that told that she was free, and yielding to her helm awept round seaward through the mist, guided by the brilliant flashes of the guns on shore as she stood out to sea. > 5 It was a dangerous experiment in such a chan- mel, and amid such a fog, but the latter was rapidly clearing away owing to the tremulous motion given to the air by the hot cannonade. First it thinned, then it began to lift, and finally it swept entirely away as a brisk breeze from the north came rushing down from the mount- ains, curling the bay into little waves, and re- vealing the Trinidada bending over to the breeze with all sail set. Every instant increased the distance, and in half an hour the Trinidada was out of nshot. The buecaneer chief, relin- quished the helm, and went down into the cabin. The sisters were seated together on a couch, exchanging the confidences of twenty years’ separation, and Don Luis was moodily watching | them, guarded by the grim-looking buccaneer with his pistol. ‘ ny Friend Abram and Matias were wai pa- tientiy near by, both of them hopeful of release- into this group Morgan broke with the words. **Don Luis pins ta repare to die.” Instantly the haughty cavalier sunk on his knees, ashy pale with fear, and began to falter out prayers for life. Morgan cut him short. | for your right, you could produce her at the Beadle’s Half-Dime Library. ““Dog, you have cost me too long a chase; but I'll give you one chance for your life. Will you fight me here and now?’ ‘* What have I done?” cried Mendoza in agony. “‘T swear that Pepita is as pure as when—” ‘*Dog, I know it,” said the buccaneer, with cutting scorn. ‘‘Think you I would offer you the rights of a gentleman else? You kept her to cheat yonder Jew, so that when he had paid ns ast moment and claim the half of the property in hers. But, senor, you know not something. Don Alonzo del Campo y Espinosa made a will, and under that will Jam Pepita’s guardian. heard your bargain with yonder Jew, and he is the man that shall right Pepita and give her back her fortune.” Friend Abram started, alarmed at a certain meaning in the buccaneer’s tone, exclaiming: “Holy father Jacob, senior bucaniero, how can I doit? Iam but a very poor man.” ‘*T will settle with you afterward,” said Mor- gan, icily. ‘*‘ You escaped my men last year. I will see that you disgorge now. Don Luis, will you come on deck? You have insulted and ill- treated my promised wife, Dona Pepita del pcm e y Espinosa, I offer you the death of a gentleman. Will you come?” But Don Luis made no answer, only trembling. Then the freebooter rd 8 up to him, and struck him, with a backhanded blow, across the face, starting the blood. Don Luis started up, drew his sword, and rushed out on deck. Morgan was about to follow, when Dona Inez flung herself on her knees before him. ‘* Morganos, do not you slay him, Remember, I am his wife.” “Ay, but Pepita is mine. 5 late. You should have waought of that before you married him.” ‘‘Morganos, one word. You loved me once. For that love, spare him.” ‘Fer that love I will do this, Inez. I will drive him overboard. If he can swim, good. If not, God have mercy on him,” And he rushed out on deck into the night. Pepita stopped her sister from following. ‘* Not to save him, sister. My honor was safe only through his fears, and I were less than a dog could I forgive what he has made me suffer. And the disguised page threw back her black hair, and stood at the cabin door, somber and pitiless, to see her wrongs avenged. Morgan and Mendoza; both stripped to the waist, stood amid a ring of buceaneers, who gathered round with stern impartiality to see the singular duel. CHAPTER XXIII. THE END OF ALL. DEEP down in the bosom of the waters, on the track the Trinidada was steering, lay a reef of rocks twenty feet from the surface, a marine mountain, with a rugged, craggy head. Sprawled far out over this reef, like a gigantic spider, lay the ghastly hideous form of the sea- cat, for the few men it had swallowed were but a whet to its monstrous appetite. In size it was even huger than the well-remem- | bered creature that attacked the Asuncion off St. Lucia years before. Its mighty arms were some fifty feet in length, and as thick at the base as the body of a man, tapering away to whiplike extremities. * So the sea-cat waited for its prey, patient and “Sp watchful. Anon the lately quiescent mass warned it of the coming of the ship. The great green eyes were turned, with a hungry glare, toward the land, and the body swelled out to three times its former dimensions, while the arms loosened their hold on the rock, and the whole creature rose up in the water to- ward the surface. Presently the splashing of waves against the bows of a ship became audible, and the great frigate Trinidada bore down on the monster with all sail set. On her decks in the waist were Mo and Mendoza, and as they neared the sea-cat they approached each other with drawn swords. * The sperm whale, as is well known to sailors and | naturalists, makes the cuttle-fish, of all sizes, includ- | ing the sea-cat, a principal article of food. Pieces of the arms of the latter have been found in the stom- ach of the cachalot, which, judging from proportion- ate thickness, must have come from tims measur- ing twenty, forty, sixty, and, in one instance, seven- ty-four feet in length. it is 2 fortunate thing for hu- manity that the larger timens of this monster keep at the bottom of the sea for the most part. Were food to fail them there, compelling them to rise Hy Nyt the sea would be far more dangerous Girl, you are too} n to exhibit signs of life, as if instinct | ed. ener | The instant the swords clashed evéry one draw | aside, leaving an open passage to the ports | Then Morgan, without a word, see His tee and lunged like a steam-engine at Don Eigim, | when, all of a sudden, a long White Snake seemed to dart in at the open port) and “aught the unhappy man about the middle] ** The sea-cat! The sea-cat !” In a twinkling the buccaneers ha@ Sprang for axes, and attacked the monster as #S8c0nd arm writhed in over the bulwarks, In'a moment the massive arm Gye fhe bak | warks was divided, and the sole remimining Gne I | was that wrapped around Don Luis, Then the poor wretch clung frantically to a gi ikea, shrieking wildly for help, while th Inatkeome coils clung tighter and tighter, until, with 4 despairing yell, he loosed his hoki and was | snatched through the port into the dapksome sea without, to the ravenous maw of the Sea-Gat The men rushed to the side as the Vessel sumer on, and saw a writhing arm uplifted amid ie white wake of the frigate, holding\a yelliz struggling human figure. Then the aan curved inward to the sea, and all was still, as U>° Saag). sunk to the bottom with its victim, It needs but little to tell what followed. The once-pitiless and always royilly-resitiess buccaneer left the seas after his 1% egptuie. Before he left the coast of Pananuiy bo Gone pelled friend Abram to-disgorge en sith o* )ia ul-gotten wealth to Pa a fair price “or the im heritance of the children of Espinosa and Matias was the messenger for the begs of go\e that were | the purchase-money of half Panama) As for the money-lender himself, he had heard )jo niach of buccaneer tortures to stand out for terms, He received a good deed from Espinosa Melts, ant paid a fair price for the first time his life, getting off safe with his skin, Then the Trinidada sailed away, ead Morgan. the buccaneer, disappeared from Whe scene of his victories, and troubled the Spaniards no | more. He reached England in safily, married Pepita, was knighted by the king, age Hequired a splendid estate in Wales, his nativy> Couliary. nez remained a widow only tw@ years, ang | married an English baronet, Sir Milles Wak | Sham. Her. posterity exists to the yeesent day | The union of Pepita and Morgan Was blessed | with but one child, a daughter, who Smrvied her first cousin, John Walsham, and elifighed that family with her vast wealth. | And the hand that traces these gi belon™ to one whose family, at the present MV, any Get ashamed to trace. back part of thei? iineag6 to the king of the buccaneers; for they ome i a direct line from Morgan and Pepit#, the Tndian es the disguised Witch of Darien, saved om her last enemy by the terrible SRA-CAR THE END. - —_—* Beadle’s Half-Dime Lilvary. 141 Sour Sam. By Edward L. Wheele? . 142 Hanpsome Harry, By Charles Mchrig 143 Scar-Face Saut.. By Oll Coomes. oan 144 Datnry Lance, THE Boy Sport. Hy Badwer, 145 Caprary Perre?. By Edward L.Witeeler | 146 Stpver Star. By Oll Coomes,..--.7% | 147 Witn Winprire. By Charles Morrig, 148 SHarp SAM. By J. Alexander Patt@y ‘ 149 A Game or Gop. By Edward L, Witeeler 150 LANo# AND Lasso. By Capt. F. Whittaker, . 151 Pantuer Pavuy. 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