Five Cent Wide Awake Library (vol. 1) (1883 09 19)
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Xm eo he IVE CERT e Entered according to Act of Congress, tn the year 1883, 6 FRANK TOUSEY, in the office of tne Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Entered at the Post Office at New York, N. ¥., as Second Class Matter. i ; z FRANK TOUSEY, Pustisuenr, 34 £ 86 NontH Moore Sraeet, N. Y. PRICE { No, 576. { COMPLETE § NEw York, September 19, 1883. IssuED EVERY WEDNESDAY. ts CENTS: } Vol. I | King Morgan, the Terror of the Seas By ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG. } } iy 1 a}
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2 Ps ‘KING MORGAN. The subscription price for Tam Wir Awake Library for the year 1882 will be $2.50 per year; $1.25 per 6 months, post paid. Address “FRANK TOUSEY, PouBtisuer, 34 and 86 North Moore Street, New York. — - KI Box 2730. \ ee ” G MORGAN. THE TERROR OF THE SEAS. A Tale of the Pirates of Old. By ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG, CHAPTER I. THE CAVE OF THE BUCCANEERS IN THE ISLE OF TORTUGO, TE opening scene of our tale is laid ina lovely island where reigns perpetual summer. t bright Isle of Tortugo, one of the-West-Indian group, now little known, and rarely visited; but, at the time we write of, celebrated as the realm of the buccaneers, Like a bright emerald set ina sapphire sea, Tortugo lay bathed in eternal sunshine; and on the bright June evening on which our narrative opens, well might that island have been taken for one of those isles of the blest, of which Mahomet dreamed, and in his Koran so poetically de- soribed. - The aroma of her spice groves might have been scented many miles out at sea, and beneath the waving fan-like leaves of her cocoa-nut and bread- fruit trees the warrapeet sang her evening song, and the fire-flies quiyered- and glittered, and flashed in the gathering shades. — ; Oh! how beautiful, how exquisitely beautiful it was, ; y F Andis this earthly heaven devoid of inhabi- tants? For nota house, nota hut, nota tent meets the view. : Surely, if human beings tenanted this earthly paradise they would be enjoying this calm and tranquil evening hour on the golden sands or neath the shade of the giant trees, or down in the valleys beside the rippling streamlets. And yet, whence come those loud discordant voices, those occasional bursts of revelry or snatches of song, interspersed with oaths and frequently with the clashing of arms? ; Ah! amidst the citron and the orange trees afar down in the valley yawns the mouth of a cayern, the one black flaw on the surface of the emerald. It is from thence that the uncouth sounds issue. , Alex ; Let us enter this seeming portal to the abode of the damned, brushing through the citron and orange bushes, and stooping to avoid the droop- ing branehes of the lime trees that strive to hide this blot on nature’s eseutcheon. ‘ f : Then down the dark, tunnel-like passage, be- yond where the horned bat flaps hi leathery wings o’erhead, and the toad and newt croak a hoarse response underfoot. ’ A noble subterranean hall presently reveals it- self to the astonished’ gaze, and within it a nu-, merous and richly-garbed, if not a noble com- pany, are assembled, : : Who are these men, who, like the bats, the toads, and the newts we have just mentioned, prefer the darkness to the light, who linger here like moles within the bowels of the e , when the gorgeous sunset, the rippling sea, the shady grove, the song of birds, and the musical murmur of the insect world, call them forth to enjoy the beauties of creation? Pte 4 Who are they? 7 : i oy Why, King Morgan and his mighty buccaneers ; the scourges of the world, the demons of the sea, rible tale, *Tis the |. tate and above all, fhe heroes of this our true and ter- | And yet, right winsome and courtly gallant do they look beneath the fiery radiance of the three dozen glaring and sputtering firewood torches that are affixed high up around thewalls of the caye. Gayer dresses, richer laces, or a greater profu- sion of velvets. and cloth of gold,cowld not well have been beheld at a royal court. And how white were the-hands of these cabal- leros, and how their fingers blazed with rings. Perhaps their hands were so white from their being so frequently bathed up to the very wrist in the blood of their foes, and the rings all glit- tering with diamonds and rubies and pearls be- ond price that decked their fingers had once be- onged to the dark-eyed senoras and senoritas of New. Spain. ’ : Yet no loye-gifts were these gemmed circlets; they had been torn from the quivering, stiffening fingers of violated and assassinated innocence ; for the buccaneers spared no man in their anger, no woman in their lust, no living thing in whose veins coursed one drop of Spanish blood. Though many of them are so effeminate in ap- pearance, they are all warriors stanch and true. No one was admitted a member of their-confra- ternity until he could indisputably prove that he had at different times overcome nine foes in per- sonal combat, and had then remorselessly slain each one. | ita But let us individualize some of the band. Amongst that array of a hundred and fifty plumed and brocaded cavaliers, three or four per- sonal introductions will be alone at. present nec- essary. : The leader of the host might haye been discoy- eredvat a glance, as leaders of hosts generally may be, by the extreme plainness of thoir dress as compared with that of their companions. ‘Twas thus with Alexander and with Casar; “twas thus in modern times with Napoleon and with Wellington; and twas equally so with Sir Henry Morgan, King of the Buccaneers, and Scourge of the Spanish Main. : He was seated before a rough deal table, clad ‘as soberly as a Puritan, in a suit of dark-brown cloth, but his plain steel cuirass was polished to the brightness of a mirror, as was the heavy hel- met, which was scarcely lifted from off his broad, massive brow. © ¢ | By his side sata gigantic black woman, who overtopped him by a head, for Henry Morgan was not very tall. She was young, and, for a negro, lovely, and yet her sex would not for a moment haye been guessed at, for she was dressed a la cavalier, and wore a sword at her side and pistols ‘at her belt, while a snow-white brodd-brimmed hat was | sSlouched over her eyes, from which waved 4 + hu- er had ever, splendid ostrich plume, = _ This woman was imagined to be the onl: man being whom Morgan the Buccan TOV i ie onto ads » She had been a slave in New oisoned her former master in ight the more readily elope with Morgan. a The buccaneer had since taught her navigation, | to-night Harry Seabornoe: ‘ seamanship, gunnery ond the use of rapier, cut- | caneer or to beshot, =) s vel lass, and boarding-pike, so that at these weapons her match could hardly be found. She was also a dead pistol-shot. She fought by Morgan’s side in battle, whether te shipboard or ashore, and had twice saved his ife. The third most important person of the-group was Walter Evandale, first lieutenant of Morganis a war-ship, the Death Cloud, which lay in a ittle bay on the south side of the island, with her crew on board, her guns shotted, and her snowy canvas ready to be expanded to the first favorable breeze that blew, for the buccaneers hoped that. this would be their last night on the island before putting to sea. Walter Hvandale was about twenty-five years of age, and particularly handsome, His features bore a noble expression, but there was something in his keen black eye singularly re- pellant and forbidding. S He seemed to be as much attached to Morgan as the black Amazon who sat at thé great freeboot- er's side, and had on many occasions done him signal service by delivering him out of sore straits where consummate skill and desperate courage would alone have effected {hat object. He was attired in a rich costume of blue and silver, his buff funnel boots'were adorned with spurs of solid gold, studded with jewels, and the diamond aigrette that fastened his heavy black plume to his wide-brimmed cavalier hat was worth a king’s ransom. ' By his side sat a Stripling, even more handsome than himself. ; He was & mere youth, certainly of not more than fifteen years of age, even if so old. His frank, open, sunny countenance proclaimed him to be English born, and his dress also showed that he had served on board an English man-of- war. Such was indeed the case. Harry Seaborne had been two years in the’ navy, serving in the flagship of the brave Duke of York, High Admiral of England (still later Eng- land’s last ill-fated Stuart king) ; but then he had been transferred to a gunbrig, and this gunbrig had six weeks ago been captured-by “the great buecaneer ship, the Death Cloud, under the [com- mand of Morgan. ree i Eyery soul on board her, with the exception of our hero, were slain in cold blood after they had geendeted: ee ae - ee fe : ze : jeutenant Evandalefha: fee i ed our hero a thé close of the action, and struck by his heroism and almost girlish beauty, had carried him below, thrust him into a state-room, locked him in, and borne away the key. < : ; ” After the English captain and all his crew Had been slaughtered, their bodies committed to the deep, and the blood-longing of the buccaneers had been appeased, hehad first exacted a promise from Morgan that the boy’s life should be spared if within six weeks he would consent to become a buecaneer, and had then let him out of the aan nada, and had ‘state-room, conducted him on deck, and intro- order that she | duced him to the great chief, — To-night tho term of six weoks had expired— was. to. become: a duces € De
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‘ ant bent his knee bé KING MORGAN.” 3 Such was the decree of Morgan, and Morgan’s ‘decrees were immutable as those of doom, * ~ But the life or'death of a boy was but a trifle in comparison with the affairs of moment that needed the consideration of that august as- sembly, — A: rat it “The gunbrig captured from the English had been now turned into a buccaneer vessel; and the great mand her. : ; : Morgan was puzzled to decide. Amongst so many brave and blood-thirsty gallants it was hard to say which had deserved promotion to a cap- taincy the most..,; ©. : The matter was presently under strong dis- cussion.» ~ ease) RAK | The gallants were not backward in putting for- ward their claims. ; ‘ Modesty and diffidence are rather rare virtues amongst buccaneers, ~ : “By the gods! twas I who took Maracaibo, burnt the town about the cursed Spaniards’ éars, and after roasting five hundxéd women’ and ‘chil- dren in thé great cathedral of San Josef,” hung the priests in’ all their’ vestments around’ the battlements of the great tower, with the bishop two hundred feet above them; on the gilt weathér cock, Out of due respect for his exalted rank. From that town I brought you a hundred and fifty prisoners, and two thousahd ’ Spinish dollars,, Does not such a feat/as this entitle me to the captaincy?” ; oe So cried L’Olonois, one of the most’ blood- thirsty of the freebooters; but scarcely had’ the words escaped his lips when Monsvell, a gray- seat Dane, sprang to his ‘feet, exclaiming, ercely— ese Oe fide “Listen to the yaunting Frenchman! A rare feat of arms to\ brag about, on Look ‘at my head, comrades. How is itso ald? “Not from age, but because I have plucked out ‘a hair for every foe that I have slain, and, by the god of battles, in a few more years I shall haye parted with eyery one. Why, PLOlonois, in my last raid on Nata, I, with my own hand, plucked out the tongues of flye hundred women, because they would not reveal where, their husbands and brothers had buried the treasures of the town, and then I began to flay the backs of the men with red-hot sword blades, and at last one con- fessed, and so I enriched our treasury with ten thousand pieces of éight.” “Fury! do you dare to urge your pretensions against mine, gray beard?” cried L’Olonois. “ Ah! thou dost. ‘Then, by every fiend in the deyil’s army, T will give thee a clean shave with my sword a (ska tes | i ‘ - " € ; “Captain Henry Morgan, I am clumsy at giv- ing thanks,” replied the’ cavalier in black velvet. “T will express my gratitude by deeds, Believe me that in’ less than a’ week the Pestilence shall have’stiickén sore.” 73 O82 he dys sit et “eompis well,” answered Morgan, with a Hon smile. “TI lik your reply. We both set sail at sunrise.” LG a At : Rupert Russel, with a faint smile, retired to his’ seat, and the momentous business of the evening having been thus disposed of, the bucca- neers betook themselves to various employments to kill time. tee. ‘ ia . Some’ took up the dice-box, others devoted themselves to cards and ‘trie-trac, which they Die ee upon inverted casks and barrels, and the yellow gold suddenly shone forth in great heaps, and Out of gold and silver goblets set with gems, pillaged from many a Sacred shrine, they drank eka bat wine as though it had been limpid water. ‘ ; In the mjast of this scene of revelry and con- fusion, Morgan, who never ‘drank and never played, summoned before him the English boy- | j, prisoner, Harry Seaborne. ye : On hearing the voice of the terrible buccaneer king addressing him by name, Harry sprang to his feet, and would have walked up to him alone, but that Lieuténant’ Eyandale also arose, and grasping his arm'said— ; by ‘JT will go with you, boy, for I am your friend. Nay, I ‘will be whether thou’ will or not. Now do not throw thy young life away; and the’only way to preserve it is by joining our band. It may not be for long, for chances of escapé'will, doubt- less, offer’ themselves ;' but once beard a lion in his den and he will rend thee in piecés:” ‘Harry Seaborne made'no reply, but he grasped the lieutenant’s hand convulsively. ; ‘The next instant they were standing before the terrible Morgan: eke Searee hae * Boy,” said’ the buccanneer king, addressin our hero, and as he did so making his erent blade brows meet over his hooked nose,“ you have had six weeks’ to elect between two things—namely, the life of a jovial buccaneér or death.’ Which way hast thou decided?” 7 * EAB, “The Jad will become a bticcanéer, most as- htt said’ Walter “Evyandale, nudging our ero. ire ee ma Ot t : “But T must have the answer from his own Pes said Morgan, petulantly: “Speak out, my la Re. : : ‘ 4 ; “T would rather die a hundred’ deaths than ee ‘the life of a rascally pirate,” was the ‘brave reply: : pate : ah ¢ * “Fiends of hades! dare he beard us to our very faces,” cried Morgan, turning black in the face With rage? ; : ‘ ‘ =*Dare I? Yes; of course I dare. I am an ED boy, and I have fought under the brave Duke “of York, who will one ‘day be England’s king, God bless him! aye—fought with chivalrous Frenchmeén, and with brave Hollanders, and if I have not quailed before such foes, is it likely that I shall do so before'the bloodthirsty buccaneers of the Spanish Main?” auswered the brave Harry Séedborne, whilst his cheeks flushed with anger and indignation. ; ete ee * “Haye a care, lad, or your tongue will wag away sour! Tifé,”" roared | Morgan, “ turiously. “Det: ard furyl why will you not join us? Dare you say that there is any'disgrace in lead- ing the wild, free life of a buccaneer?”” eae ~ “There have been buccaneers who have won the world’s admiration and respect,” answered Harry Seaborne; ‘but they were’ not the men who burnt women and children ‘wholsesale in churches, who hung God’s ministers’ from thé towers and the'spires of God’s'temples, or who tore out tongues, or branded with red-hot sword- blades helpless prisoners in order’ to make them tvrn traitors to their kinsiien, ¢ And yet’ all these things [have heard ‘thy’ villainous followers con- fess to haye done—ayé! ‘and they have boasted of it with pride.” as : STE ON & ~~“ Prhe; boy ; but their victims Were but semper hissed Morgan between his clenched eth. bos ; “Spaniards or no, what matters it? Are not Spaniards’ fellow-beings? By Heaven! would . that I were onthe deck of our admiral’s ship; the Great Harry,’and had the hanging of all you cutthroat villains from the fore yardarm ; then when the last man of’ you had expired, I could die happy,”’said the*prisoner! “) i Captain Morgan, let me beseoth you not ‘to consign the poor boy to so terriblé’a doom)” said. Lieutenant’ Evandale. ‘*I have received most. x . ; \
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' ehamber could be reached. & KING MORGAN. hurt in the encounter, and surely if. I can for- ivo— : “ Icannot!’ cried Morgan, interrupting him. | “*Tioutenant Evandale, ’tis easier to shake a tower of granite than Harry Morgan. The mala- -pert boy shall die as I have commanded, though you begged me to the contrary until the day of doom. Haye I not pronounced justly?” he added, giaring round on the assembly. ; “Aye, aire most justly,” shouted all, “ Death |” Walter Evandale bit his lip until the blood flowed, and then his face was passionless as ever. “Forgive mé, my only friend, for having unwit- tingly hurt you,” said Harry. "TI do, m jp boy. are led forth to suffer, and if you have any dyin wishes, perhaps I may be able to fulfll them,” was the reply, and he held our hero’s hand for a moment in his. : ; The English middy was then led away to the dark and cheerless Cave of Despair. After he had departed a kind of listlessness and apathy seemed to fall over the assembly. * They drank their wine in silence. Cards, dice, and tric-trac_ were now thrown ide: . “Death and the devil, let us arm and out!” suddenly cried Morgan, half drawing his great sword, and then clashing it back into its scab- bard. ‘Methinks that day will soon dawn in the east; and there is much to do aboard both the Death Uloud and the Pestilence before we can pur tosea. This will bo no common yoyage, my rethren. Our first prey shall be the gold-laden Spanish galleons; and thereafter I have sworn to lay waste, to burn and destroy every Spanish seaport from Cordova to Costa Rica. Ah, ah! we will have rare spoil and rare sport, too.” With wild cries the buccaneers then seized their arms, and thirsting once more for scenes of blood re the breeze, followed their great captain out of 6 cave. CHAPTER II. THE CAVE OF DESPAIR—LIBUTENANT | EVANDALE MAKES A CONFESSION, THE rock-bound dungeon into which Harry Seaborne was thrust by the flerce buccaneers was a kind of inner cave, the entrance to which con- sisted of a huge rock, nearly a ton in weight, which had to be rolled back by the joint efforts of about a score of men ere the terrible prison- When he was fairly within it, and the stone was rolled back to its place, so closely did it fill the aperture that not a ray of light was admitted from the outer cayern, and every sound was also excludod. Tho darkness was so intense as to be almost Barpavls: ‘ Twas difficult to breathe in such a place, for the air felt heavy as lead. Well did it deserve its name of the Cave of De- spair, for bondage therein, though it lasted but for a few hours, was enough to crush the stoutest heart, and exclude hope from the most sanguine breast. ji But this was not the reason that it had won its terrible name. It was because the buccaneers confined no prisoners therein but such as were destined to rs within twenty-four hours, a death of tor- ure, . : li answered to the condemned cell in Newgate, only there was no reprieves at the Isle of Tortugo. King Morgan was not’ a monarch who in- dulged in prerogatives of mercy. Hour after hour passed by, and to Harry Sea- borne each one seémed an age. : If he sat down it was upon an oozy bed of wet slime; if he stood up the roof of the cave was so low that he could often. in his apathy or thought- Jessness, knock his head against it, and nearly stun himself with the blow. It seomed, however, to be of great length. Ho guessed that by the echoes of his voice if he spoke aloud; but he had no desire to investigate its intricacies. He knew full well that had there been any exit therefrom the pirates would not have immured him therein. ort That was a very safe conclusion. At length he discovered that the great stone which had been rolled back to allow-of his being oe into this loathsome den was again in mo- on. : ; Presently the aperture was once more clear, and a tall, elegant cavalier entered, holding in his hand a lam : le / Q ‘Directly be had done so the rocky door was once more shut, and. Harry Seaborne, who had |. been momontarily blinded by the strong glare of the lamp, after having been so long immured in eel I will see you before you |. the pitchy darkness, recognized the form and fea- tures of Lieutenant Evandale. “Oh! Sir, this is kind of you,” faltered Harry. ‘What news do you bring me, my only friend?” *‘None, my boy,” replied the buccaneer lieu- tenant. ‘“The:doom that Morgan has threatened will, without doubt, be inflicted upon you; and ‘did Iattempt to save you I should be inyolved in the same fate, without effecting any good by the sacrifice of my life. Morgan would turn upon his best friend who endeavored to thwart his designs.” é “Oh, what a monster he is! Why did you interpose to save him when I had my sword-point at his throat?” “Were I to tell you, boy, you would scarcely peers me,” replied HKyandale, with a strange smile. ; “But I would believe you, my friend, no matter how strange the reason,” replied our hero. “Well, then, my, lad, I 2will tell you. Secrets are safe in the keeping of the dead, and you will be dead in afew hours more, and even if ’twere notsoI believe I could trust you under all cir- cumstances, Harry.” : “Of course you could, Did you not saye my life, Mr. Eyvandale?” ‘“‘ A doubtful service, since I but preserved you for a more terrible death,” sighed the licutenant. “Never mind that now, but tell me why you saved Morgan’s life at the risk of your own.” “ Because I hate him.” in ‘Because you hate him? Thatis a very strange reason,” stammered Harry Scaborne. “Yot, nevertheless, a true one. I owe him a terrible debt of vengeance, and I will suffer no one to cancel that debtfor me. Listen to me,” and the young lieutenant’s utterance was now choked By zasping sobs as he spoke. “That man slew my father on his own doorsteep; he cruci- fled my mother on the roof of our hacienda; he thrust. three baby brothers and sisters into. an heated oven, and baked them to death with slow tortures; and lastly, a great hole was dug, and therein every, house servant and slave was buried alive. And all these horrors were perpetrated because this man-fiend found less money and less treasure in the hacienda than he had antici- pated.” “Horrible, horrible! But how.did you escape the wholesale massacre?” inquired Harry. “By being absent from the hacienda at the time, on a visit to an uncle who dwelt far away in the interior. As I grow older the terrible tale was told unto me, and the name of the perpetrator. of all the barbarities, and I swore that when I had grown to mun’s estate I would avenge my slaugh- tered. kindred. That is why Iam a buccaneer,” “«But why have you delayed your vengeance so long?” asked our hero, ‘Surely you must have had many opportunities of slaying the blood- thirsty freebooter since you have joined the band.” “Ayo, many; but I am waiting until his life is more valued by him. “Until lately he has been as reckless of it as though it was worth nothing; but now he begins to appreciate it ata higher value. . _ ‘Ho has fallen in loye with a young and beau- tiful girl, and one of the objects of this expedition on which we are about to start is to capture her and carry her off, . “Then with the immense wealth that he ex- Bote amass fromthe plunder of the gold-laden jpanish galleons and of the towns along the coast, Henry Morgan means to buy a fair estate in some foreign land, and there, in company with his young and beautiful wife, to lead a life which he deems will exceed in happiness that of the seyenth heaven.” * , “ And can such a wretch as this buccaneer chief really love?” exclaimed Harry Seaborne. “All men who can hate deeply can love strong- ly, and that.he loves this beautiful Spanish girl ‘eres can be no doubt. 2 ‘ “T have eyen heard him rave of her in his sleep. Well, I will help him to fill his cup of piu to the brim} I will aid him to raise it to his lips, and then, ere he can taste one drop of its honeyed contents, I will dash it from his grasp, and at the portals of the earthly heaven he has so long sinned and sighed for I will avenge father, mother, brother, and sisters, by dispatching him straight to that nethermost pit which is yawning wide. to receive him. : “ But first he shall have a foretaste of its tor- tures at my hands; such as I have been maturing for years.’ - “Oh! itis all very horrible,” muttered our hero, with.an involuntary shudder. _ Tt is all very just,” was the cold, stern reply. ‘That man’s life is as much my property as the rings on my. fingers or the diamond buckle that secures my plume. “Woe be to him who cheats me of my long- hoarded vengeance. “ Better for him had he never been horn. “ And that black Amazon, Zoabinda! Over her I must kéep an especial watch, for if she hears Morgan rave in his met I have done, of Don- na Catalina de Guzman, her hatred towards him ‘will grow as bitter as my own; and, instilled by a paltry jealousy, she will endeayor to take a life which is forfeited for very different rea- sons. “Yos, Mistress Zoabinda, I will take especial care that you do not thwart me.” : At this juncture a great noise was heard in the large cavern without, CHAPTER III. THE SAILING OF THE BUCCANEERS—ALONE ON A DESERT ISLE—THE ALLIGATOR. Tux great stone that blocked up the entrance to the Cave of Despair was again rolled backwards, and revealed.a number of the buccaneer sailors, all armed to the teeth, standing in the aperture, “Tieutenant Evandale,” said one, touching his forelock, ‘‘ Captain Morgan requires your imme- diate presence aboard the Death Cloud. We are about to weigh anchor, sir, Prisoner, you are to come along with us.” : “My poor boy, in talking of other matters, I have forgotten to ask if. you have any last wishes or dying requests to make,” said the handsome lieutenant, laying his hand upon Harry Seaborne’s shoulder; “‘ because, if so——” - “T haye not, sir,” replied our hero, sorrowfully. “T am an orphan, and leaye no one in the wide world to mourn my fate. I am glad that I do not, for it is a very terrible one; yet, nevertheless, I have enough courage to erdure it.” “That is well,” answered the lieutenant. ‘f Let us on then, for ’tis useless to trifle with fate.” The buccaneers closed round our hero with their swords drawn, the lieutenant placed him- self at their head, and in this manner. they uitted the cavern, and bent their steps towards 6 seashore. : . How beautiful was the face of nature after his dong tmcerion in the gloom of the cave! ® sun was just rising from behind the mountain peaks, and threw his first rays of checkered light upon the tops of the towering bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees, leaving the valleys | still in partial shadow. a The birds were singing in the tree tops, bees and other insects were merrily buzzing amongst the myriad tinted tropical flowers, and the mur-° mur of the sea fell soothingly on the ear. Here, in the little bay that was almost land- locked at its mouth, and formed a secure haven in all weathers, lay the great war ship, Death, eels and close by, her consort, the brig Pesti- eC. At the main peak of the former vessel fluttered in the breeze an immense black banner, on which were emblazoned a skull above two cross-bones, *Twas the dreaded flag of the buccaneers. It had waved over a hundred victories, but neyer over a defeat; and that white skull had grinned from its lofty perch upon such scenes of cruelty and ruthless slaughter as never before had. disgraced a conqueror’s arms. Cheerily came the song of the sailors as they manned the capstan bars and wound up the great anchor from its bed, and on the towerin, uarter-deck paced the watchful sentries, an slanting sunbeams flashed and sparkled upon their steel morions, corslets, and the points of their shouldered spears. Her ports were all open, and the bright-polished pias carronades flashed in three lines from her sides, Those grim bull-dogs were silent now, but in a few hours, at most, they would be belching forth | destruction and death. : Morgan was plainly distinguishable standing on one ofthe high, battlemented round towers that rose one on each side of the richly-carved and galleried stern. : He was surrounded by many of his chief offi- cers, whose showy raiment ae profusion of gold lace, feathers, and jewelry, were very pictur- esque adjuncts to the gay and spirit stirring scene. “Farewell, Harry Seaborne; I must’aboard at once, for Morgan is no doubt chafing.at my de- lay. May Heaven give you grace and strength to bear the tortures that are in store for you,” said Walter Evandale, seizing our hero’s hand. * The brave English boy returned the pressure, and the next instant: Walter Evandale was one. e Harry felt a strange and bitter being who had shown him any his captivity quitted his sides, _ He coul ave cried like a child, but he checked the bitter tears and strode manfully on. In a few minutes more they had reached, the beach, and there, far above high-water mark, pang as the only indness during ~
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KING MORGAN. 5 five feet in depth. ar The hole was Harry Seaborne’s living grave. | He was grasped Py two strong sailors, and his arms pinioned tightly to his side witha cord. They then raised him in their arms and drop- ped him, feet first, into the hole., He exactly filled it. ‘ fin My His Head alone appeared aboye the level of the ground, Situated as he was, he could by no earth possibility have clambered out of the hole unaid- ed; but, to render his living grave more secure, the flerce buccaneer sailors proceeded to trample the clay-mingled sand tightly down around him, until it was as firm as adamant, and the pressure upon his body nearly stifled him. Thon one of them, with a ot Aa grin that might have become a mocking fiend, placed a jug, full to the brim with cool limpid water.on one side of his head, and a dish of luscious fruit on the other. Harry shuddered, for he felt that these tempt- ing things were placed so near to him that, when a few hours hence he was raving with thirst and hunger, they might increase his tomment, for, like unhappy Tantalus, though they would be almost, within reach of his lips, yet he: would .be BARS to put out a hand to convey them to his mouth. The sailors now left him and hurried aboard their ships. Five minutes. later Harry. Seaborne was the, sole human inhabitant of the beautiful Isle of Tortugo. Slowly and majestically the glaring bows of the mee ate Cloud and the Pestilence swung round sea- ward. ; Then clouds of white canvas bellied out from the square .black YEE es and the ships began to plide up the bay like two stately swans, the Death Noud leading the way, with the mouths of all her brass carronades flashing jn the sunlight, and the Pestilence following in her wake with a plood-red flag waving at her, peak. . It was a fair and gallant sight, and Harry Sea- borne forgot his own hapless condition in con- templating it. _ But when Morgan, quitting his plumed and jeweled warriors, stalked to the stern of the ves- sel, and, raising his hat, waved him an ironical adieu, he remembored all, and his heart throbbed for an instant as though it would break, _ Then clenching his teeth and knitting his brows in flerce angor, he muttered to himself: “Walter Evandale’s narrative affords me some consolation now. In ayenging his slaughtered parents. and. brothers and sisters, he will also ‘avenge me. Ayo! cruel murderer, thy days, like my Own, are numbered, and thy end will be equally terrible.” He watched the two vessels bay until they passed the hea hidden from his view. Then he turned his thoughts inwards, and tried to realize the full horrors of his position, ; It was no difficult matter to do so, since a mo- ment’s consideration resolved itself in the. con- viction that escape was absolutely impossible, and that if the heat of the mid-day sun did not, by Sun-stroke, put a speedy termination to his miser- able existence, he must still perish by the slower Process of starvation. rox Slowly the glorious luminary crept up the cloud- less heavens towards its meridian, until at length it looked like a great golden boss in the center of a vast shield of glittering steel. Then Harry Seaborne’s tortures commenced. His brain felt like a mass of burning lava, for the Perpendicular rays of that tropical sun were streaming down upon his uncovered head. Already an intolerable thirst consumed him, and his tongue seemed to cleave to the roof of his mouth. | He heard buzz gliding down the lands, and were the melody of the song birds, the of the summer insects, the musical murmur of the sea, as One ina dream; but sometimes his) ‘eyes would wander to the cool cocoa-nut groves scarcely five hundred yards away with an in- tense longing, and then Would turn with greater desics still to the limpid water that sparkled in tho'stone jug by his side, or to the plate of rich and luscious fruit that only required an outstretched ha ae tot ate reget ; _ But alas! both his hands were pinioned down tightly to his sides, and even had his arms not been bound with cords, the weight of the cold, «clayey sand would have prevented him raising thom, even had he possessed the strength ofa . giant. So hour after hour passed away, each one in- creasing and intensifying the sufferings of the poor sailor boy, until the overpowering odor of musk suddenly assailed his nostrils. \ He opened his eyes and glared wildly around him, | | acim was approaching him now... Well he smell. , Z Ae Sake He knew that it came not from a pian, or its aroma would haye reached him long before. ~ The only living things, naturally: giving forth that strong and overpowering perfume are the musk-rat and alligator. ~ One of these creatures he knew it must be who guessed. what caused that ill-omened Hoe looked ‘around; his terrors were no idle ones; an alligator, at least twelve feet in length, was approaching him at.a sluggish trot. ’ His seales glittering in the sunshine, his great mouth wide open, and displaying its formidable rows of double fangs, regular as the teeth of a saws : Escape was, of course, impossible; his body was protected and out of harm’s way, but at one snap the alligator would) tear his head from off his shoulders. Well, he could but die after all. : These thoughts passed through his brain with lightning rapidity, Yet, when he poked round, the unwieldy brute was close upon him,so near that he could feel its hot nauseous breath upon his face. At the very moment, however, when Harry Seaborne thought that the next would be his last, the report of fire-arms reached his ears, followed by the most unearthly howl and shriek that he had ever heard. rents He opened his eyes, and the first sight, he be- held was the alligator lying on its back and struggling in the agonies of death. The second, a large boat lying broadside by the shore, and full of armed men. It was evidently some of these who had fired upon and killed the alligator, for one or two of them still grasped fusils that were smoking at the muzzle. ‘ ot ‘ Baie were they, and what brought them ere ; The boat was a large one, and propelled by eight long-bladed sweeps, or oars. | ; ; Its occupants could not have numbered less than a score of men, some of whom were evident- ly common sailors, others assuredly common sol- iers, and the rest officers in both services, of s0me rank and distinction. ot : These latter sprang ashore directly the boat grounded on the beach, and advanced straight towards the prostrate but still struggling alliga- tor. SOA} SP eae shot of thine, Don Pedro. . It has evidently pierced the brute in a vital part. As for my bullet, it glanced off its scales and flew up- wards like a hailstone from sloping glass,” said one. : ; : “Yes; I flatter myself on the general correct- ness,of my aim and the steadiness of my hand,” replied another voice, which must have been Don Pedro. “But now, to give the mighty, saurian his coup de grace. ‘That pleasing duty pertains, to my rapier’s point. New, gentereny behold !” The speaker unsheathe as he spoke, and glanced keenly at the animal’s ene yellow belly, to detect the exact spot where throbbed its heart, At last he found it. But just as he was about to thrust home, the bruto in its dying agonies, and without any mal- ice prepense, with a sudden flap of its, scaly tail | tossed Don Pedro high in the air. At the same instant another cavalier thrust his sword in the alligator’s body up to the very hilt. thus giving the monster its quielus, for it stiffened out and lay quite still in death. hae The discomfited Don Pedro picked himself up from off the wet sand, his brillant dress all soiled and crumpled, returned his rapier t6 its sheath, shook himself to see if any bones wero broken, and then ejaculated : af “‘The alligator had his revenge there; delicate attention in return for delicate attention; but I see, Don Guzman, you haye effected my self- constutited task for me, You haye slain the monster.” ape. ‘“Yes; that I have,” retorted he who answered to the name of Don Guzman, witha laugh. “ But, ab!” he ejaculated, in an altered tone, ‘‘ we have arrived too late to rescue a poor fellow-creature from his voracious maw. See, the brute has de- youred him entirely, save his head. Let us cut the animal up, and see if he hath swallowed the body entire.” ; ‘You may cut him up, but you won’t find the body thero,” said our hero, gravely, ‘ “Ah, the head speuks !” excluimed Don Pedro. “There is some deviltry here.” ‘ _ And he,crossed himself devoutly, “There has been some deyiltry here,” replied Harry Seaborne, * but not of the Kind you dread. My body is attached to my head, never fear; but I have been buried alive, and left here to starve by the accursed buccaneers.” : ‘ “Ah! say you so?” exclaimed Don Guzman; his long, slim rapier | q they halted beside a small round hole of ‘about i “that, little plot of theirs we will, at all events, frustrate. Ho, there, you in the boat! Send two mén hither’at once with a spade and picks.” ; They speedily came, and in a very few min- utes our hero was unearthed and pulled out of the hole, fs f ; ‘Now tell us quickly who you are,” said Don Guzman, in an authoritative manner. “T am an English midshipman. My vessel, the Bulldog, was captured some weeks ago by the buccaneers. All were slain but me. I was re- served for the still more terrible fate from which you have just rescued me. Whom have I to thank for that timely rescue?” , “Tam Don Juan Perez de Guzman, captain- general of the sea and land forces in New Spain of his most Catholic Majesty, Alonzo TIT, _“ For months my most ardent longing has been to discover the island which harbors the blood- thirsty buceaneers who pillage and destroy our Seaport towns, ; “T have done so, and I know itis at present deserted by them, because we saw their two war vessels leave the bay, and steer seaward, while we were creeping up close under the shadow of the shore, © ; “Now our object is to sack their cave of as much pillage as we can carry. away withus, and then quarter in it some eight or nine hundred Spanish soldiers, so that when after their present cruise they return home, they may find them-- selves made prisoners in their own stronghold. Can you guide us to this cave of theirs, my boy?” “Most assuredly I can; follow me, signors,” said Harry Seaborne, in an ecstasy of delight. He led the way confidently from the beach up the grassy slopes; the path to and from the cave was firmly,impressed upon his mind, he couldn t miss it; already, he thought he saw the top of the great lime tree whose lower branches drooped over its yawning mouth. He never hesitated in his onward course, therefore, yet when he reach- ed the spot where the mouth of the caye should have been naught could be seen of it. Harry stammered out his surprise and con- sternation; his manner was too natural for the Spaniards for a moment to fancy that he was deceiving them, Search was mado in every direc- tion for the cavern, and in that search he himself zealously assisted, yet no cavern was anywhere discovered. “The rascals must have a trick of so covering or hiding its mouth with brushwood or some other contrivance that’ perhaps it would ‘take days or even weeks to discover the cave,” said the captain-general. ‘‘That time we have’ not now at our disposal. We must return to Costa Rica, in order at once to dispatch hither a force of tried soldiers to take possession of the island, and capture this robber horde when they return. Young man, will you cast in your lot with us? Wealth and fame are to be earned in the army and navy of King Alonzo as quickly as in those of uss other monarch. Come, your decision, and uickly.” : “T will enter any service wherein I may have a speedy ty, of crossing swords with this wretch, Morgan,” replied our hero, bitterly. “By Heayen! I thirst as much for his blood now as I did for the water which stood beside me, and which I could not reach, when buried in the sand half an hour ago.” ; : “Then I wl appoint you to a man-of-war that we are going to send out from Costa Rica on pur- pose to engage and capture this villain. Then you may have an opportunity not only of cross- ing blades with him, but of afterwards seeing him hang in chains from the fore yard-arm,” said the captain-general. sa oe “Agzeed, I will join that ship,” answered Harry Seaborne, quietly. 2 ‘“Let us to the coust then, and away,” said the captain-general ; ‘come on, my friends,” t that moment the boom ef heavy guns was Clearly distinguishable in the distance, _ CHAPTER IY. THE DEATH CLOUD AND THE SPANISH GALLEON. “Our readers will remomber that the last view our hero obtained of the two buccaneer vessels was when they rounded. the headlands that fermed the narrow entrance to the bay and glided out to sea. fates Thereafter he and the Spaniards, after they had relinquished their search for the cave, and whilst they were proceeding to the beach, had heard the sound of very heavy firing in the distance. Let us now follow the fortunes of the two pi- ratical craft, and see. how that’ firing was caused. * * ** * * * . Like twe graceful, white-winged swans the ves- sels dropped down the bay; the stately three- master leading the way, and the pretty little gun- brig following close in her wake. —
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56) iI They sailed in company about two miles out to sea, and then the Death Cloud signaled to the Pestilence for her captain to come aboard to re- ceive his final directions. i 3 The Pestilence backed her fore-yard, a boat was promptly lowered, and six flashing oar-blades presently made the scattered waters. foam and sparkle as they rose and fell in monotonous but regular cadence, : Morgan and Walter Evandale stood alone on the towering poop of the Death Cloud when Cap- tain Rupert Russel came up to the side and as- cended the three flights of steps that led to the quarter-deck. : He was still clad in the somber suit of black velvet he had worn in'the cavern on the preced- ing éyening, his long silver spurs clinked on the oaken planks (it was the fashion even for officers in the royal navy to wear spurs in those days), as did the gilded end of his sword scabbard, “Ho doffed his black, broad-brimmed, sable- plumed cavalier hat as he approached Morgan, and then, after a low bow, folded his arms on his . breast and silently awaited his commands. * Captain Rupert Russel,’’said Morgan, ““Thave made a slight change in our -plans since our an- chors haye been at the hows and our ships have been breasting the waves. Our cruising ground is the Spanish Main as we determined last night, but I mean to attack Chagres, and not to leaye of that city one stone upon another, for I owe Ohagres a very heayy dobt of: vengeance, and I am too honest to leaye it unpaid.” P Rupert Russel (it might have been out of ro- spect for Morgan’s honesty, it might haye been out of mere politeness) bowed low at this; and his jeweled fingers played unconsciously for a moment with the hilt of his rapier. ; “Well, gallant Captain Russel,” continued Mor- gan, “thou knowest the Caribbean Sea’ near unto the coast-line is full of coral reefs, and not adapted for tacking or maneuvering. I therefore send your Pestilence to keep considerably to wind- ward of me, so that if a fleet of Spanish men-of- war should appear on the horizon you may bear down upon the Death Cloud, and give us 4 timely warning to evade them. Do you understand?” “Perfectly, Captain Morgan,” was the reply. *But.am I to be manases from engaging any yessol in fair fight?” : “Any vessel of your own size you may, for I know that you will come off victor, Any larger yessel no, for your destruction might lead to ours. Do you plainly understand me, Captain Rupert Russel?” “Plainly, Captain Morgan,” was tho reply; *‘and I will act up to your injunctions in a things.” She deca aan ‘Tis well; then get thee back on board thy ship. Thy course is sou’-sou’-west, half west; but keep sufficient'y close to the land the thir aby, from the present, that the noise of a largo city being blown up by gunpowder may reach thine ears. Then, should this incident happen, tack - ship and bear down upon Chagres.” Rupert Russel again bowed low. £ By commands shall be obeyed to the very letter,” he said; ‘ yet, in spite of the injunctions thou hast laid upon me, the Pestilence may have stricken sore ere thou seest me again.” ‘ Turning on his heel he then quitted the quar- ter-deck of the flag-ship, and was rowed back to his own vessel. ; : Then the two buccaneers bore “away from each other through running down the sides of an isos- celes triangle. - SoM * ” * * * , Morgan and Lieutenant Evandale, who was the first officer of the watch, stood npn the quarter- deck of the Death Cloud until their consort was pretty well half down on the horizon, Brightly the sun shone. on the calm bosom of the ocean, but the gentle breeze that blew from the westward soon caused the beautiful Isle of Tortugo to lessen far astern, and at last to dis- By peat the oat ooped ship careered over, her great white sails Bon ed; before the wind, and the right blue water flashed from her sharp prow to bubble in many showers under the expanded wings of the white steed that, with blood-red nos- pus and arching neck, upreared beneath the bow- sprit. The sailors, with the lesser officers and the arquebusiers, were grouped in the forecastle and in the deep. waist, over which peered the brass Seay bueee of the poop, while the sailing-master, with a great gaudy chart spread on the capstan, was intently measuring the distance from head- Jand to headland along the Guatemala coast, and from thence to Chagres and Panama. — Yet still Morgan and Walter Evandale strode: _ up and down the quarter-deck por eratn gs The stern buceaneer chief was telling his younger companion of all his brilliant hopes and aspirations ow that he longed to, and indeed KING MORGAN. had sworn that he would, one day become the ruler of a state, and king of a mighty country, and that that country he would take from the effete and cowardly Spaniards. ° _“T know that thou lovest me,” he said, ‘or I would not tell thee of these my day-dreams.” “You may trust me, Morgan,” replied Walter Eyandale. ‘‘Haye I not thrice’ stood between thee and death?” : “ Aye, and on two occasions when all my other officérs stood aloof, because not one of them could have saved my life except at the imminent hazard of-his own. And yet you, my friend, shrank not from the danger.” ’ “T shrank not, because thy life is, very dear, to me, Morgan,” was the reply. > ~ “And yet why should it bese? I haye done no more ior thee than for others,” said the buc- caneer. ors ““Pardon me, Morgan, but your ideo heart forgets the many favors it has. sonferred—the many kindnesses it has granted. I owe you a on dept, and one day I will pay it.” ad Morgan noticed the expression of the young lieutenant’s face as he uttered these words 16 would have been startled, for assuredly no loye illumined that pale, handsome, but saturnine countenance. ‘The momentary clenched teeth and flashing eyes spoke rather of a.terrible hat- red, Morgan’s attention was, however, taken up else- where, for suddenly he exclaimed: “Hal yonder is a sail that beareth towards ‘us somewhat suspiciously.’ By Heaven! she is Span- ish, too.” f . Lieutenant Evandale sprang upon one of the culyerins, and shading his eyes with his hand, for there weré then no teléscopes, he peered for an instant intently at the stranger. “Well, what do you make her out to be?” asked Morgan. abruptly. . laser “A great Spanish frigate, galleon-rigged, with twenty-four culverins a-side, cross-bows on her forecastle, and hackbuts on her poop, full of men, too—see how many helmets are’ glittering in the sunshine.” — ; *TwWas eyen asthe young lieutenant said, forthe noondiay sun shone joyously on the bright blue séa, and fell upon the snow-white canvas of the approaching yessel, which was swelling to the breeze above the tier of brass-mouthed culverins that jieered from the red’ port-holes of the bow waist, and her toworing poop and forezastle, which were coyered with a profusion of heraldic and symoblicul carving and gilding. Her masts were each composed of two tall spars, having four large square sails. She had ponderous basketed top and poop lan- terns, a great square spritsail, under which the water that boiled against her bow was flashing as it wreathed and foamed in the light of the merid- dan sun, and bubbled under the counters of her towering stern. : Several men in armor were yisible above the gun- nel, and their pikes glistened as she approached, rolling over the great waves; and there was one whose cuirass and helmet of polished steel shone likesilver as he stood on the lofty poop. When she was still about half a mile distant, a red flash broke from the tall forecastle of the Stranger, a wrealth of white smoke curled aloft through her ratlins and white canvas, and a stone bullet whistled over the water across the foreyard of the Death Cloud. ra Morgan signaled that no notice should be taken of this hostile demonstration. f Then the aoe galléon, spreading her broad canvas more fully to the wind, sheered ahead, and, backing her foreyard with an air of consider- able seamanship, lay-to across the bows of the buecaneer. A great yellow banner then slowly rose to her main peak. ; ’ As it unfolded itself there gleamed thereon the three golden castles of Spain. And now, on each side of her glaring bows, could be clearly read her name. “It was— La Sancta Trinidad (The Holy Trinity). One glance at the lofty sides, the grim cannon, tior aboye tier, and the gigantic poop of the Spanish galleon, with her gunnelslined by pike-men and aE aeouRiene Ee their steel caps and coats of mail, sufficed to convince both Morgan and his lieu- tenant that they were opposed to a ship which it would be next to madness to engage, and yet from whom there was in all probability no escape. “T think that by putting’ our head about and steering sou’-sou’-west we might out-sail her,” said Evandale. : : ‘‘Outsail her!” echoed Morgan, with an oath. “But I won't outsail her! The Death Cloud has fully halfas many men, and more than half as many guns, as this yvaunting stranger, and we buccaneers are unused to run either by sea or land. By Jove! ’tis just as well that we never learn the way. Let my black banner with the skull and cross-bones flutter in deflance of yonder jaun- ieee flag; and hark'ye, Evandale, nail it to’ the mast,” : Up went thé sable flag’ in“an’ instant, the great — skull grinning, as ifin Horrid mockery at the ‘| coming carnival of death.’ Lieutenant Hvandale, with a’ hammér' slung to' his ‘right sidé, and a bag of nails clutched between his, teeth, ran up the shrouds and quickly performed his mission. He had» séarcely regained the deck when the — red flash of a cannon gleamed from the Death Cloud, and the whizz of the ball could be | distinctly heard ‘as it passed through the Don’s | rigging. At this pret reply to her own gruff challenge a dozen’ ‘bright banners ‘at'least fluttered in the wind from'the gaff, peak; and mast-heads of the Spanish galleon, These were the private’ pennons of the com- mandeér and of the ‘distinguished officers who served under hin:, ‘many of whom were blue- blooded grandeés ‘of old Spain. Both vessels had been going under easy sail, but they now began to shorten way and bear up for each other, making all secure on board as the distance Jessened between them. The trumpets rang shrilly out; the drums beat and the cymbals clashed in harsh response. + Open thé gun ports. Shoot home the culver- tee ?’ cried Evandale, through’ a’ speaking-trum- pet. 9. "ihn therpike ‘’'Vare, pat my yeomen of the sheets and braces! Cheerily, cheerily ho!” af. shea to the poop and forecistle |” halloed the artillery master, *‘‘ Prime pans, light matches,” - reat - . © “Cross-howmen to the tops and yards,” echoed the captain of anchors, in a-shrill treble. Thus was the Death Cloud cleared for battle, ; cide order was obeyed with alacrity. The buccaneers, like a pack of blood-hounds, were anxious to fasten’their grip on Spanish throats. * an ue Holy Trinity was coming on under top- sails, : acy Her canvas being. hauled up i Se her steel-bristling decks, and the polished mouths of her gréat carthouns, that gleamed upon the dark blue water, as they were run through the carved and pointed'sides of her gunnel. ; These primitive cannon were loaded with bul- lets of stone and iron, and pebbles lapped in lead. “Onboard of the ‘Death Cloud the cross-bow- men, With their weapons’ bent and bows taid, and the arquébusiers, with muzzles pointed and matches lit, were crouching behind the wooden parapets of the poop and forecastle, which, like those around the tops, were all fashioned in the shape of battlements. — The cannoniers stood by their culverins with linstock and rammer, and the waist of the ship bristled with steel caps, short pikes, bared sword blades, and ponderous axes. On the poop were now gathered Morgan, Evan- dale, and a couple of score other cavaliers glitter- ing with lace, and velvets, ‘and cloth-of-gold, their white bejeweled fingers toying with the gem-set stocks of ‘the pistols’ that were thrust within their broad silken sashes, or with the pene Se het gold-hilted rapiers, that hung 80 gracefully at their left sides. } hese are the gay gallants to whom the reader was introduced in the eayern on the preceding eyenin: We Shall see how long their hands will remain white presently. It is quite a mistake to assume that a fop is genorally a coward. Experience shows us that it is generally the reverse. \ Prinée Murat (Le beau Sabrem) was ever in the yan. ofbattle. : . So was our own Prince Rupert. The cayaliers of Charles I. had more of mad valor than the somLerly-clad Puritans; and it has been noted in many a modern battle-field that the yery richly-uniformed regiments of ‘cavalry haye, in most cases, eclipsed in daring, in dash, and in élan those less splendidly garbed. ier Af, length both vessels were within three lance leugths of each other. ; roared Morgan, No sound broke from either but the ripple of Z the parting waters under their counters. 4 . Their bows were very nearly in the same direc- on. { . They were approaching each other crabwise— broadside opposed to broadside, = By oes was very little maneuvering in those ays. tio Ring . Close quarters was the prevailing fashion: of engaging, and the sooner yard-arm was linked +o yard-arm the better the combatants liked it. Thus the adverse crews continued gazing on pion other, both longing for a closer rélation- ship. — pues Teese ‘, ants
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KING MORGAN. Z All at once a line of lights deck of the Spanish galleon. . : “Down on your faces, my hearts of steel,” cried Walter Evandale, waving his sword. Arquebusiers, cannoniers, swordsmen, cross- bowmen, pistoliers had thrown themselves flat on the deck almost ere the flames had shot from out the gaping muzzles of the Spaniard’s great car- thouns and demi-culverins. * The stone and iron hail that the galleon belch- ed forth tore across the Death Uloud’s decks, splintering her bulwarks, and rending her rigging and canvas; but, owing to this wise precaution, did no destruction to human life beyond slaying six arquebusiers, who occupied a little wooden turret at an angle of the poop. ; glittered along the CHAPTER Y. DESTRUCTION OF THE SPANISH GALLEON, ‘Now, my merry deyils, it is our turn,” roared Morgan, foaming at the mouth, as he always did when he was strongly excited. ‘Cannoniers, to your lintstocks; crossbowmen, to your duty. Aim low and. aim sure. Remember we all fight with halters around our necks, for the captured will be hung on the yardarm.” . A flerce cheer burst from the buccaneer crew, and the next instant a yolley from their cannon, crossbows and arquebuses was poured upon the great quarter and lowering stern of La Sancta Trinidad, while her people slowly and laboriously recharged their great unwieldy pieces of artil- lery. The bolts whizzed from the crossbows, buiets whizzed from the arquebuses a croc, and the cannon-shots boomed as they flew over the decks or sank with a heavy crash into the echo- ing hull of the great Spanish frigate, causing her to reel for a moment like a drunken man. But the Dons replied with vigor, and the re- ports of their answering guns reyerberated like thunder across the bosom of that tropical, sun- illuminated sea. : From the poop and forecastle the arquebuses maintained an incessant roar, and their bullets, each containing three ounces of lead, being fired point-blank, did deadly execution, beating great pieces of buff and mail into the bodies of those whom they slew or severely wounded. “Now, now, yeomen of the sheets and braces! wear, wear! Look alive, my beys, or we shallall look dead enough in five minntes—wear, wear, say! Cheerily, ho! cheerily,” roared Morgan, once more, ip He required no speaking-trumpet to make his stentorian yoice heard. ; He was obeyed promptly. By Seay of maneuyer and superior sea- manship, the Death Cloud, almost hidden by the dense smoke of the carronade, bore baek for an ‘instant, and then sheered down upon the lar- board side of the Holy Trinity. Immediately she had done so she poured ina tremendous broadside upon the Spaniards, who did not expect itfrom that point, and the sudden crash and slaughter filled them with alarm. “By Jove! that is well done, my trusty carron- jers! . Fire into them and fail not, or never again will ye, handle sponge or rammer, ‘To it, Mans- veldt, with thy bowmen! At it,,D’Olonois, with thy arquebusiers!. Bring down those rascally archers from the galleon-tops, or, by Heaven ! we Shall all be riddled with holes like kitchen cullen- ders,” bellowed Morgan. . A loud cheer was the response to his words, and crossbowmen and arquebusiers, knowing that his eye was upon them, strove to outvie each other in skill with their respective weapons, — The deck of the Death Cloud had, by this time, become encumbered with the dead and wounded, and as there was neither accommodation nor due attendance for the latter, they were permitted to lie just where they fell, with their blood stream- ing away to leeward, and dripping from the seup- pers into the ocean, while the shot plowed and tore up the oak planking of the deck, beat down the bulwarks, rending masts and boom and spars to shreds and splinters, and each time the pon- dorous stone bullets of the great Spanish carth- ouns thundered and rushed through the sides of the Death Oloud she staggered and trembled in every rib and plank, “Sweep down the Spanish gunners with your arquebuses—shoot them dead through their open ports! shrieked Morgan, hastily traversing the corpse-strewn main-deck, and then leaping upon the forecastle, where Mansyeldt, the Dutchman like a burly blacksmith, was handling one of those ponderous firearms as easily as if it had been a modern rifle, “For God’s sake do as I bid you, for one more volley from those accursed carthouns will send _the Death Cloud to her ocean bed with the rapidi- ‘ty ofa flash of lightning,” continued the buccaneer chief; whilst in the madness of his anxiety and excitement he bit his nether lip until the blood flowed. - : “We are doing our best, and our men can do no more,” muttered Mansveldt, who had not been in a good temper since Robert Russel had been promoted over his head to the command of the Pestilence. ‘We haye been. purging the Dons with leaden pills ever since the game com- menced, and, I doubt not, we’ye made some hundred or more of them sick with the dose. But in this sudden darkness which has come on, we aim at random.” = - As he spoke, ke leveled one of the long arque- buses in its iron sling with his own hand, and ap- plied the match to the open pan. ; 3 A shriek from within one of the Spaniard’s ports, and the heavy fall of a steel-clad gunner, echoed simultaneously with the report, proving that he was no indifferent marksman. / But, as Mansveldt had remarked, the darkness had almost becoms that of night. The clouds had gathered in thick masses, totally obscuring the blue sky, and the red sheet lightnin began to gleam from behind the jagged rifts, al from behind the oft recurring rents, } Dark as ink grew the calmly-heaving sea, but alow murmuying wind was rising in the distance that threatened shortly to fleck its surface with foam, even if it did not stir it into mountainous ridges. But these sudden changes were either unseen’ or unheeded ps the combatants, who were now lying-to, with their foresails backed, and pouring eir missiles upon each other with a deadly ani- mosity that increased as the slaughter and the darkness deepened around them together. CERES the superior size of the Holy Trinity, and the heavier metal of her cannon, the Death Goud stood to her bravely, for those bold and desperate men by whom she was manned fought as with ropes around their necks, and this urged them to the highest pitch of rash- ness and yalor. Meanwhile, Morgan, who had returned to the poop, stood with his arms folded on his chest, calmly surveying the scene, though bullets and crossbow-bolts whistled around him like hail- stones in Labrador. Wheneyer a barbed crossbow-bolt from the Holy Trinity struck down a braye buccaneer, to writhe in agony and welter in his blood within his sight, or when a shot tore up plank and beam L| almost beneath*his feet, he would growl a heayy malediction, but the next instant he was calm and tranquil as ever. Suddenly Walter Evandale grasped him by the hand, and pointed to the Spanish galleon, say- ng: * She has hauled her wind—she is bracing up fie foreyard-arm—she is' about to give us the slip.” Pipat she shall never do!” roared Morgan. ‘By that maneuyer she has signed her death- warrant.” : “Ho, my lads! up with her helm— bend sheets and braces. Now, then, he eomen m hard ‘down—hard, I say. Let her luff, and may the deyil not be put out at having to find unexpected accommodation for so many visitors.” He concluded with a strange sepulchral laugh, which was drowned in the shout of triumph that burst from his crew as they perceived the object of the maneuver. It was answered by a wild shrick as the prow of the Death Cloud struck the hull of the Spantard galleon right amidships, That shriek was the despairing cry of the strong and brave, who had never flinched when ee arrow flew and the culverin boomed around em. At the crash, the faremast of the Holy Trinity bent like a willowy wand, and then went by the board, bringing down with it the maintop-mast and a wilderness of spars and sails. The heayy culverins and carthouns went surg- ing all to leeward, and, crashing away the lee bulwarks, plunged into the sea. Then the ey herself parted in two, the tower- ing forecastle floating one way, the castled poop another, and these, with the poor fellows who clung to them with the blind tenacity of despair and dread, were, again and again at the sport of the waves, dashed aloft towards the. cloud-drap- ed sky, and then were hidden as a mountain of foam swept over them, hurrying them down fathoms deep, never to rise more, together with the last fragments of their ill-fated ship. The Death Cloud, with her white sails expand- ed, floated triumphant over their ocean tomb, CHAPTER VI. IN WHICH THE PESTILENCE STRIKES. WHILE Morgan is goiting his ship into some- | thing like order, an i kiae damage done, and the number of his wounded, let us See what Rupert Russel is about. It will be remembered that the Pestilence bore away from.the Death Cloud in a sou’-sou’-westerly direction, some two or three hours before the lat- es ship encountered the ill-fated Spanish gal- eon. : But, strange as the coincidence may appear, almost at the very moment that Morgan and Walter Eyandale, from the deck of the Death Cloud, sighted the Holy Trinity, Rupert Russel and his first lieutenant, who, in like manner, were pases the quarter. deck of the Pestilence, be- eld a strange sail approaching them. That this poeueen was also Spanish there could be no manner of doubt; she betrayed it in her build, her manner of sailing, and in many other ‘ways that the experienced sight of a seaman would detect. 7 2 It soon became apparent also that she was a much larger vessel than the Pestilence, but then the pleasurable discovery was at the same time made that she was a merchantman, not a war- ship, “Outward bound to Old Spain, I'll warrant, and laden with the gold and diamonds and all the other priceless gems of the New World. By Heayen! we must take that ship, Joseph Brad- ley. Come, my friend, we must entrap her by a ruse, Let us make ready, so that the Pestilence may strike sore.” Joseph Bradley, the second in command, gave a grim smile at the superior officer’s lowly-uttered but ghastly joke, and half drew his sword, an intimation that he was ready to obey his com- mands. “Hoist the British flag half-mast high, and above it the plain blue pennon of distress. Close all our ports, so that we may ourselves resemble a harmless merchant craft, but so lightly that they may open at a moment’s notice, and see that all the culverins within are double-shotted, Then get all our men out of sightsave some two dozen, whom order to divest themselves of their armor and don their plain clothes, When this has been done, keep firing the smallest of our culverins as © a signal of distress, so as to entice this Spaniard ie our assistance, when we will board and carry er.” “ Good—good! a ee dies device, Captain Rus- sei,” exclaimed Joseph Bradley, rubbing his hands with evident delight. ‘All shall be dons as you bid. But how quickly she Spprodes us.” “All the more reason for haste on our parts. Come, get the men promptly to work,” rejoined the captain. . The men did get promptly to. work, and in five minutes the smart, blood-thirsty looking little gun- brig was changed, to all outer appearance, into a harmless merchant craft, No culyerin muzzles now frowned along her sides, for the ports had all been closed, while the pans on her deck were covered. by bundles of oose sail-cloth or heaps of seeming merchandise. Her yards, too, seemed to be swingirg about anyhow, and some of the less important ropes had been cut, and now waved in the breeze, while such of the sailors as had been suffered to remain on deck lay about in strange and listless attitudes as though ill or dying. r Yet, in spite of this, a close observer might have seen crouched under the lofty bulwarks of her main deck scores of flerce and blood-thirsty buc- Pee i all armed to the teeth and ready for ac- ion. And now a puff of white smoke rises from her bows, followed by the roar of a culverin. *Tis the distress gun. ¥ The buccaneers fire it every minute to attract the attention of the Spaniard. Ah! at last she hears them; she alters her course; she bears up to\vards them. A suppressed cheer breaks from the buccaneer’s decks, but is quickly quelled. On comes the stately Don. She is a three-master—a very large ship, The great white sails belly out before the breeze, and the yellow banner of Spain floats proudly from the peak. Nearer and nearer still; but when about half a quarter of a mile from the buccancer she backs her foreyard, and floats motionless on the water like a graceful swan. f What can be the cause of this? Does she suspect the ruse? No; the lookout in the maintop has sighted the buccaneers, who lie about the deck of the Pestilence. He has reported what he beholds. to his officers, who are assembled ga the’ poop, and the captain, fearing that he may be bearing down. upon a feyer-stricken, or eyena piacieunty , thus. hauls off. But the vessels are now within hailing dis- — tance. ‘inspecting the amount of Rupert Russel guesses what causes the Spanish - Roe : | oR ¢
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FY 8 vessel to hold aloof; and seizing a speaking- trumpet, he bellows through it: ** Aid us, or we perish !” 3 “What ship is yours, and what are you afflicted “with?” was the response of the captain of the galleon, «This is the English ship Bull Dog, trading from Boston to the Cape,” cried Rupert Russel again. ‘We are perishing for the want of water. Our casks were all washed overboard a week ago in a heavy gale.” “4 “Then you have no infectious complaint on board—no fever, no plague?” *“No; we have none of those things—we are only dying with thirst,” replied Rupert Russel. ‘We will soon terminate your torments, m friends,” replied the Spanish captain, still throug his speaking-trumpet. ‘‘ We will range up along- side and give you a dozen casks; we can well spare them.” A gleam of flerce triumph crossed Rupert Rus- sel’s pallid brow. The low chuckling of the buc- caneers was audible as they heard the reply of the Spanish captain, and swords and daggers were loosened in their sheaths to cut the throats of those who were intent on rendering them a kindness, ‘On came the Spanish ship, careering over the sunny, dark-blue wayes—nearer and nearer yet, until on the tranquil bosom of the great deep she Jay right alongside of the treacherous buc- caneer, Then Rupert Russel drew his sword, and hailed ’ in a voice of thunder— ** Hix grappling-irons! Boarders, to your feet! Battle-ax men, in front—swordsmen in the center—pikes in the. rear—arquebusiers and cross-bowmen, to the tops and castles with you, to cover our advance, and see that you aim quickly and aim sure. Now, my mon, I will lead you, let the Pestilence strike!” He was in his element now, that tall, pale, black-velvet clad cavalier, with his small white hand grasping his sword-hilt, with his fingers all earn with diamonds and amethysts and rubies. The Spaniards. saw the deadly snare into which they had fallen, and essayed to escape therefrom, but in vain. Before they could glide away from |» the buccaneer’s side, the grappling-irons had been fixed and bolted, holding both vessels to- gother in their terrible embrace. The next instant Rupert Russel, with his sword between ‘his teeth, and a long-barreled pistol in his right hand, clambered over the enemy’s tow- ering bulwarks and gained her deck. _ Apike point was at his throat, but he shot the bearer down. Two more were raised at his chin, but he severed their heads with ono slashing cut of his terrible sword, and the next instant he had stretched the bearers thereof also dead at his feet. By this time dozens of his boarders had sprun over the Spaniard’s bulwarks after him, and stil they continued to arrive until at least a hun- tak blood-thirsty demons stood on the yessel’s decks. But the Spaniards, though only merchantmen, were not going to yield without striking a blow. Had they notin them the blood of Columbus, of Pizarro, of Cortez, of Ruy Diaz the Cid? and would they dishonor such illustrious ancestors in an hour like this? Never! Merchant sailors in those days knew well how to wield pike, brandish sword, and level guns, for often, when pirates infested every sea, the were called upon to protect their cargoes wit their livés. Around each of the Santa Catharina’s three ‘great masts were ranged stands of pikes and swords, and these her seamen eagerly seized, and turned like a pack of fierce hounds upon the in- truding wolf. Their captain, a man of giant stature and no- ble bearing, placed himself at their head, exhort- ing them by every saint in the calendar to defend their lives and their ship to the last gasp, for that no merey was to be expected from their blood-thirsty foes if they once overcame them. “You say truly, vaunting Spaniard,” shouted Rupert Russel, who had overheard the conclud- ing remark; ‘‘ we buccaneers entertain not such pitiful sentiments, and. yet in one sense we do, and loving kindness to boot, for do we not en- deavor to send ye as speedily as possible to that heayen which your cunning priests tell you ex- pat oe the tomb? If ’tis so, then are we not INQ Pesan he a Eee Poon I will send thee straightway to that nethérmost pit which our priests also tell us awaits such as you beyond the tomb, Reviler, mocker, infidel—have at thee !’” As he spoke, the Spanish captain sprang at Russel with the fury of a tiger. ite “Spanish dog, haye at thee in turn!” cried the Eels captain, crossing blades with the giant, ' . KING MORGAN. and with such energy that sparks of fire flew from the clanging weapons, “Now, my lads, stand back!” he exclaimed to two or three buccaneers who seemed anxious to help him to overcome the Spanish captain with. their pikes. ‘There is plenty of food for your vengeance elsewhere; this little job I have cut out for myself,and no one else must haye a finger in the pie. Away!” Thus adjured, his men left him to fight his own battles, and presently both buccaneers and Span- jards, as if by common consent, leant upon their arms and gazed with strange interest at the per- sonal combat. r ; The Spanish captain was a master of fence, and he held his own for a long time; but Rupert Russel’s cool, nonchalant manner of attack and defense, accompanied all the time by a running fire of biting sarcasm, taunt, and reviling, at length caused him to lose his temper, From that instant his fate was sealed—the buecaneer captain guarded or avoided all his euts, thrusts, and slashes with consummate ability and coolness, and when the Spaniard began to feel tired and exhausted, he began in turn to adopt the offensive. Like quivering streaks of forked lightning were his thrusts, and in a few minutes the life- blood of the Spanish captain streamed from half a dozen deep wounds; but he still fought on, protecting head and heart if he could do nothing more. 4 But Rupert Russel pressed him home—pres- ently his sight grew dim—he reeled—the sword see from his relaxed grasp—he fell to the deck faint from loss of blood. ‘ “Do you beseech me for life?” asked Rupert Russel, placing his foot on his chest. “T scorn to beseech anything from my fellow- man, and yet the errand of mercy on which we approached your ship ought to insure it, as well as the lives of my unfortunate crew, without the asking, ” was the reply of the Spanish captain. “Tt was a meritorious and kind-hearted action,” murmured the buccaneer, “Then in consideration thereof how do you mean to treat us?” asked the Spaniard. “Inthe most considerate, kind, and thought- ful manner,” was the ENE “How so?” demanded the Spanish captain, his oa for an instant lighting up ~with a grateful smilo, « By slaying you one and all,” was the laughing retort. ‘* When is a man so fit to die as just after he has performed a kind and meritorious action, especially if *tis towards his enernies? That is the instant for a true friend to strike home in order to send him straight to the paradise of the blessed, without the intervention of tropical and sulphurous. purgatory, I am that. true friend.” As he spoke he thrust his sword with sayago glee in the Spanish captain’s heart, and with such orce that its point stuek deep into the deck beneath. The Spaniard expired without a groan. But this act of Russel’s aroused the fury of the Spanish sailors to the utmost pitch. - They had furthermore heard him declare that no mercy would be shown them if they yielded, and so the best way was to fight till the last man fell dead upon the vessel’s decks he guarded. They did fight well and bravely, but though in numbers they were nearly equal to the buccaneer erew, they had never made fighting a profession, and s0 they were at a great disadvantage. ; Every buccaneer was a consummate swords- man, and understood the handling of bill, axe, ike, and arquebuse as well as a reaper knows ow to handle a sickle. The consequence was,*the ‘Spaniards. were slaughtered like sheep, and at last, with the ex- ception of some half dozen officers, they were all overcome and remorselessly Slain. “Why are we spared, since our captain and all the rest of the crew have been so barbarously murdered?” asked the principal of these as he turned indignantly upon Rupert Russel. “To help us discover your hidden treasure if there be any,” was the reply. j “Think ycu we would do so even if such were the case?” asked the young Spaniard. “May be so, may be not,” laughed the bucca- neer captain. ‘‘I am not a wizard, to foretell roblematical events. But we have tortures that ave wrung many a confession from at first un- willing lips.” The ship was then searched, and ten thousand pieces of eight, een with five thousand golden doubloons, were found on board of her, in addi- tion toa general cargo of cocoa, coffee, sugar, rice, ete. : No jewels or precious stones were to be discov- ered anywhere; and Captain Russel, Ay con- vinced that they were somewhere safely hidden away, and that some of the officers above would’ assuredly know where they were 80 concealed, again ascended to the deck. | ‘We have not fonnd that which we chiefly sought for,” he said, addressing those unhappy men. ‘‘ Where are coneealed the diamonds and other precious stones that form part of your cargo?’ ; i Every one of the six officers declared his utter ignorance of any gems being on board. “You cannot so persuade me,” said Captain Russel, with a bitter smile. I have put the ‘question ordinary,’ I must put the ‘question ex- traordinary.’ Ho, there! are the galley fires lighted?” An answer was returned in the affirmative, “Thrust in more fuel,” shouted Russel, “and some of you lead these fellows forward, the air grows chilly, perchance they feel cold.” To resist was useless, so the Spaniards with ealm dignity rose to their feet and marched, guarded on each side by the buccaneers, down off the lofty poop and on to the main deck, The galley was soon reached—its top was of gleaming copper—an immense fire burnt within. Captain Russel placed his open palm within a few inches of the gleaming surface, and hastily withdrew it, for the heat was intense, The top of this galley stove was date enough to admit of six nen lying across it side by side, and then their legs would drop oyer in the front from the knee downwards, Captain Russel saw this at a glance, but it was all the better suited for his purpose. “Strip,” he roared to the prisoners, ‘‘ your bed is ready for you. Behold!” 3 The prisoners bowed, but they made no com- mencement at undressing themselves, “Ah! ITsee ye haye been delicately nurtured and are accustomed to valets. Well, here are dozens‘at hand, clumsy perhaps but willing; lend a hand, my boys,” said the buccaneer, | * At the word half a dozen men sprang on each of the Spaniards and quickly disrobed them, pull- ing every particle of clothing from off their bodies, cutting with their daggers when any resisting button interfered, “Now put them to-bed; they won’t’ require tucking up, for they will not find it cold,” con- tinued Russel. . Scarcely were the words out of his mouth ere the six naked Spaniards were hurled down upon their backs across the bright copper top of the galley stove. Thoy writhed, they struggled, they growled hoarse anathemas, and then’ shrieked shrill ones; but all to no purpose, fortwo brawny ruffians held each of them down on his burning bed by his shoulders, and two more by his knees. “Now, then, will ye confess where the diamonds and other precious stones are secreted?” asked Russel. ; “We know not, we know not,” was the re- sponse of one and all the prisoners, ~ p _ Ah, still contumacious |” hissed the buccancer captain. ‘Perhaps their feet are too cold, my men; make them bend those stubborn knees, and strap down tho soles of their feet against the red- hot bars. It will draw down the blood from their heads, and perhaps restore their reasoning powers.” y A With bursts of laughter and applause the buc- caneers obeyed this behest. The shrieks of the tortured men now became terrible. Still, how- ever, they professed to know nothing of secreted hia : 5 ‘Bah! we are deceived after all!” exclaimed Rupert Russel, when the smeil of the burning flesh had become almost intolerable. “There can be no jewels in the ship, or this ordeal ‘would have wrung the confession from these fellows’ lips before now. ‘Take them away and pitch them to the fishes, who, perhaps, like their food cooked as well as Christians, or—or buccaneers.” The six poor wretches, still alive; were then tugged off the stove, carried to the ship’s side, and hurled over it into the sea, which immedi- ately wrapped them in its watery shroud, “Now, my hearties, make sail on the two ships and let us bear away, for I perceive a storm com- ingon. Ah, ah! the rain will wash our decks, and the wind will blow away the smell of blood. By Jove! the Pestilence has stricken sore.” And with these words Captain Rupert Russel clambered back into his own ship, and retired to his cabin to wash his hands and polish up the brilliafit rings that adorned them. CHAPTER VII. IN WHICH OUR HERO ENTERS THE SPANISH S@RY- ICE AND REPAIRS TO CHARGRES. : Let us return to tbe fortunes of our hero, Harry Seaborne. ‘ : Se : Baffled in not being able to discover the en- trance to the buccaneers’ cave, he had felt, not- withstanding his recent rescue from a terrible
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KING MORGAN. — t vO donth, disaprointed and vexed, until Don Guzman ; had offered him an a .pointment in the Spanish navy, thereby, in ull probability, affording him an opportunity, and at no distant period either, of crossing swords with the redoutable and terrible Morgan, He felt no scruples at thus thwarting the deeper hatre1 of vengeance of Waltor Evandale, who, it will ba remembered, had made Hurry his confi- dant during their Just interview in the Cave of Despair; for though the buccaneer lieutenant, it is true, had preserved his life on board the Bull Dog. yet hid he—or 80 at least our hero thought —left him to his terrible doom without sufficient- ly ondeavoring to save him therefrom. “He seemed to take my fateas a matter of course, and penrcely made any effort to avert it,” muttered Harry to himself. ‘I would have shed a, last drop of heart's blood in his defense, for I love him as a brother; but that is no reason RY I should forget my just vengeance upon organ. I have as much right to strike the caitiff dead as he has,” He ‘had, therefore, accepted Don Guzman’s promered appointment with joy, and high were is spirits and bold his thoughts when, proceed- ing once moro to their boat, the Spaniards betook thomselves to their oars, and rowed down the beautiful bay towards the heads. He could not but admire the tall and stately warriors among whom he sat, with their dark, olive faces, clearly-cut features, brilliant eyes, and glossy black mustaches, Their garb was rich in the extreme, : Their helmets and cuirasses bright as mirrors of steel. 7 And they were well armed with sword, dagger and pistol, ~ He thought of Columbus, Pizarro, Cortez, Vasco di Gama, and Ruy Diaz di Bivar—heroes who had made fag famous above all the nations of the earth; but then his mind wandered to one Cap- tain Drake, who, with a few small vessels, but manned by Englishmen, had scattered and de- foxtod the largest and Bdge tte fleet Spain had ever fitted out, even their Invincible Armada, and his pulse beat quickly at the thought that he apes sn to the nation that had won this great glory. Slowly, for the tide was against them, thoy, neared the towering leads that from the sea con- cealed the entrance to the beautiful bay they were about to quit, At last, however, they were passed, and now the boat skirted the shore of the fair island until after above half an hour’s further row they entered a little creek, where Iay a small war vessel, or guarda costa, at anchor, A minute later they were alongside; steps were lowered, and they ascended them on to her decks. Though, as we havo said before, asmall vessel, his quarda costa, our hero discovered to be crowned with armed men. D n-Guzman had brought them over from Onba, determined to dispossess by force tho buccaneers of the island, whose Exlstetive and locality he had only discovered a few days pre- viously. 5 : Harry Seaborne came to the conclusion that perhaps it was quite as well that Don Guzman did not find Morgan and his friends at home, or thourh the little vessel was 80 strongly manned, Morgan's forces would yet have outnumbered them considerably, and fighting with cords axound their throats, they would have conse- quently fought desperately, and no doubt haye won a thorough victory over their foes, f course cur hero did not express these opinions to the Spaniards, for he knew that they were as vain as they were brave, and might pos- sibly therefore have resented them. A, few’ minutes later ‘the little vessel weighed anchor, set the white sails to the breeze, and stood out to sea, her captain assuring Don Guz- | man that they would make Havana by sundown, He was wrong in his e*ieulations, however, for the same storm that had almost invested with the darkness of night the conclusion of the dreadful oombnt between the Dewh Cloud and the Holy Trénity, and which had shrouded in similar gloom the Pestilence and La Santa @1tharine, {ub as by Rupert Russel’s command the six half-roasted bodies of the Spanish officers were being hurled ovor the bulwarks of the latter vessel into the sea, also beset the course of the guarda costa, La Tup- w40, compelling the gallant captain to reef all hor white canvas and to seud under bare poles. The clouds, none of which had been visible tho short space of half an hour ago, had risen from different points of the horizon with wondrous rapidity, and, swelling as they converged towards each other into the most ntie proportions, had, in a very short space of time, covered the ee hat - he low sound of distant thunder was dis- tinctly heard, and sudden gleams of lightning _ Suddenly they heard a terrible roar, traversed the black clouds that every moment hung in lowerand gloomier folds over the edge of the waters, r The gentle and hitherto imperceptible heaving of the ocean gave way to long und regular swells, denoting afar off the war of angr: elements, and tho guarda costa began to pite violently, The topmasts were struek, the topsails and staysail close reefed, and everything mude as snug as possible, as the clouds came careering on, driven before the invisible and as yet unfelt Se The sailors stood at the several parts where the coming danger might most require their presence, conversing in low tones with each oth- er, now watching anxiously the gathering storm which momentarily threatened to burst upon their little vessel, or now, with an inquiring gaze, marking the face of their captain. Large, heavy drops of rain then soon began to fall, and present! flashed like a glittering serpent through the murky atmosphere, and the air was rent with a report s0 loud that every startled seaman placed nig hands suddenly before his eyes or to his tem- ples. The soldiers and men-at-arms were now sont below, and the hatches battened down upon them, In a time like this they were useless—nay, worse than useless, for they might interfere with the proper working of the ship. hen 2 line stretching. along the horizon wus plainly visible. It was of white foam. “Stand firm and ready all. Here it comes,” shouted the Spanish captain, through his trum- pet. Tho heavy ground-swell pitched the guarda costa broadside on to the path of the coming tem- pest, but the helm was jambed hard-a-weather and she was brought up readily. Tho gray-bearded, steel-capped, corsletted helmsman grasped the spokes of the wheel firmly with his great horny hands and with calm, un- blenching eye watched the approaching hurri- cane. Onward it came, plowing up the sea, which boiled, roared, and foamed before it. : On it swept, with lightning velocity, a moving wall of surge. The lightning flashed fast and fierce out from the black clouds, which seemed suspended from close above their heads, and ran like veins of gold along the heayens, The thunder came, peal after peal, like reports of artillery, rattling along the skies and reverber- ating around the horizon, till it died away in the distance in low, indistinct mutterings. The glossy waves between the vessel and tho rapidly-careering tempest. began to heaye, and while every man held in his breath with expecta- tion, the guarda costa rolled heavily, and « min- ute later, with aloud roar, the storm of wind and wave burst upon her. The wild water swept across her bow-waist, filling her main deck with water, and even leapt upon her towering fore and after-castles with the noise and body of a cataract. The terrible storm-wayve swept by as speedily as 4 CREE but it left a scene of wild sublimity lind, The heavens were pitchy black, and over them the lightnings plave in streams of fire. The thunder rolled continually in one prolonged and incessant reverberation. ‘ The sea was illumined by phosphorescent light, and raging with a loud roar, while vast masses of witer rising from its bosom on every side would swell into gigantic hollows, and then burst into beads of glittering foam. The guarda costa plunged heavily into the yawning ocean-furrows that opened on every side, theatenIng to entomb her. The whole scene that met the eye was one of sublime desolation. ; This state of things continued for hours, the gale neither increasing or decreasing in intensity. Tho guarda costa could scarcely hold her own, but struggled like a stout-hearted swimmer to keop afloat, and succeeded, though nobody could say how long she would continue todoso, ~ She was laying to under bare poles, but the waves had long ago washed everything from off her decks. And now the rattle of her pumps, as the crew essayod to prevent the dopth of water in her hold from rising higher, could be clearly heard in the occasional lulls of the tempest. ; Harry Seaborne had for the past hour been standing on the after-castle, beside Don Guzman, both holding on by the same life-line, both anx- jonsly —but in silence—regarding the ree ike the a vivid streak of lightning sudden rush of wind and waves into some vast hollow cavity. : So loud was it that the reverberating thunder erash seemed to sink into insignificance, Then by a lightning flash even more vivid than anything that had preceded it they saw the hult of a monstrous ship reel and stagger for a mos ment within a cable’s length of them, and then plunge, bow foremost, intu the angry waters, and disappear from sight. The guarda costa spun round like a teetotum, the revolving spokes of the wheel knocking down the helmsmau. Then she sprang forward like a dog when ho leaps from a steep bank into the river, and fora minute seemed as though she would plunge headlong into the great hollow, funnel-liko vacuum in the ocean, caused*by the sudden foundering of the big ship. : But this vacuum filled up again almost as rap- idly as it had been hollowed out, so that instead of driving again, the guarda costa spun fou this time the reverse way, and finully settled, wi her bow pointing as it had done before. The helmsman picked himself up, and resumed his grasp of the spokes with a sad} puried ex- ression, for ho had seen nothing of the founder- ng of the strange ship, and wus at a loss to ae- count for the cecentric conduet of the tittle eraft he had sailed in for so many years. But Don Guzman and our hero looked sadly and inquiringly into each other’s faces for a min- ute or two, and then the former remarked: “That unhappy ship was a Spanish galleon 0} the largest sizo, I would that I could have dig: . tinguished her name, but she foundered too cee permit of my doing S80. I noticed, how- ever, the figure of a saint carved in silver between her two stern galleries, together with her thrap great battle-lanterns that rose above her after castle. Now may Heaven receive her ill-fated crew |” ; “ Amen,” echoed our hero, reverentially doffin his plumed cap. ‘They number many 4 scorg,. That. dreadful roaring noise we heard must haya been occasioned by the waters rushing into’ her,, and causing the pent-up air in ber cabins to ex— plode liketheroarofahundred cannou. Inoticedt that she was dismasted, and a perfect wreck; but yee ¥ wonder that we see no bodies floating: about.” Sx “They have all, undoubtedly, gone down with her,” responded Don Guzman, EO Ue ye “That were to suppose that they were all below at the time she foundered ; but surely some of ths erew were on deck, and, if so, they would searce- ly all be sucked down with her, especially as sho was mastless; and even if they were so sucked down, one or two would assuredly rise to the sur- face again.” ‘omg hard to say,” returned Don Guzman, ‘ Ba it as it may, I see no one, and a dark body could easily be distinguished amongst all that white foam, And yet I do see something—there, tuere, yonder, just in that Juminous patel of phosphor escent water! "Tis a man, and he is altve, battling for his life with the waves, and his face whiter than their foam. Ah! how awful it is to diethus and, as it were, within reach of the suceor thal cun never reach him.” “But I think he might be saved, Don Guaman— ne is not a hundred yards distant,” exclaimed our 1eto, “Saved? Impossible! We have not a boat that would live for an instant in such a sea, and there is not a man uboard. I dare swear, that is 80 tired of his own life that he would risk it on the very problematical chance of saving yon stranger,” retored Don Guzman, with a shrug of ! his shoulders. {*T will risk mine on the chance of saving any drowning man!” exclaimed Harry Seaborne, “Do not think of it, my boy; you will sacrifice it fleedlessly.” said the Don. ‘ois, at all events, as noble to die in attempt- ing to save life as in endeavoring to tane it im battle,” replied Harry, all the time hurriedly throwing off his outer garments, Then he cut one of the life-lines, and fastened a coil of it around his waist. He was now ready for his desperate venture, “Don Guzman,’ he exclaimed, ‘if we never meet again, farewell. I mean to swim out to the ‘rescue of yon hapless stranger; whether I am destined to succeed or no is as Providence willa, © | When Ireach him and grasp his smking form I | will send forth a shout that you will hear, IT war ‘rant me; then bid your men haul in the life-line and pull us on board, There’s not an instant to lose. Iam off.” < Without pausing to listen to Don Roane far- | ther objections, and half fearfal that he might put. | forth his hand and detain him by foree, our hero | Sprang overthe battlements of theafter-castleright into the raging waves that dashed against the ves- /.
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10 $el’s sides, twenty feet below, and struck out for the drowning man. ty he Though so young, he was a bold, strong swim- mer, and clelt the waves like a swift-sailing boat. “Keep afloat a minute longer, relief is at hand,” he cried, in a voice that was clearly audible above the roar of the wind and waves, and that voice wus heard by tne drowning man, ' A mizute later our hero reached him, Ho was on the point of sinking, and could not gasp forth a single word; his eyes were open, but xed and glassy; his face and even his lips were deathly white. ) Harry seized him by his long black hair, and, turning round, gaye the shout that he had bidden Don Guzman listen for. - Then he struck out for drowning man after him. ‘His strength,-was, however, failing, for the force of the waves was very terrible; but pres- ently assistance was rendered by the hauling in Qf the life-line, which made it merely incumbent u him to keep himself and his now almost un- nscious companion afloat. x . This he effected by passing his left arm under ‘the right arm of the stranger, and treading water. Presently they were under the guarda costa’s atern. They were now hauled up out 2 the water, and presently were safely on board. “Ab!” suid Don Guzman, slapping our hero on the shoulder, I never dreamed that you would fave succeeded so well. You are a gallant youth, and this action hus endeared yuu to my heart. Spain, I predict, will one day have reason to be Prous of her adopted son. But whom have we ere? Is he unconscious ?” . “Yes,” answered Harry Seaborne, “and had I arrived a minute later he would have been un- “epuscious forever. I was too busy in the effort to preserve both of our lives to look at him whilst we were in the water, and here it is so dark that I can only dimly gee him as ho lies at my feet.” “Drag him within the rays of the binnacle light,” said the Don; “I feel & curiosity concern- ing him.” ; Harry seaborne and the Don effected this be- tween them. The former gazed on the deathly pallid face of the half-drowned man for an instant, and then ex- claimed; a . * Ah! IT know him, but where we have met I cunnot recollect. His face seems to mu as familiar as.my Own when seen in a glass.” “He is no Spaniard,” said Don Guzman. ‘‘ Ho, there | bring lights and a flask of spirits; we must mot let the man perish now he is amongst us. Lights and spirits, I say |” . The tights could not be brought, for the wind persistently blew ther out directly they were raised uboye the hatchway, but the spirits were, and the neck of the flask being got between the stranger’s teeth, a goodly draught was poured down his throat. ‘The effect was instantaneous. eke returned to his until now fixed, glassy orbs. fi ‘ He moved, he gasped, he breathed; at length he exclaimed— * Where am I?” Before any one could reply to him, one of the sailors. cried— i “There is another body alongside, beating against tho hull of the vessel. It can be easily - rescued without any one going into the water,” *Some one take a long-hoat-hook und try to ee the poor fellow ubourd by his clothing,” said on Guzman. ) i _ “He dont seem to have any clothing on, senor, replied two orthree meninabreath. « Well, get him on board, anyhow. If he, is beating against the ship a man cun easily lower himself over the side and get a good grip of. him,” said Don Guzman. ‘Don’t let the poor felfow perish umsided.” Let mo go,” said our hero, preparing again to leap over the side. “That you shall not,” replied Don Guzman, do- taining him with a strong hand. ‘*You have put ue Banieses to shame’ sufficiently for a single night.” : Then raising his yoice and addressing the sail- ors, he continued ’- ; * Get him aboard, orp Oees By Heaven! if he is not laid beside this other rescued man within earache I will bastinade the whole larboard watch.” i ; This threat had the desired effect. . A‘strong, burly Spanish sailor permitted a rope fo be fastened around his waist, and was then jOwered over the side by his companions. 3 /A minute later he was hauled up again, bearing in his arms a naked, lifeless body. > * I think he is dead,” exclaimed this worthy, as _ he gained. the deck. «At uny xate he is precious / the vessel, dragging the Who he is I know not, for. KING MORGAN. heavy. Come, friends, help me to carry him up on the castle and present him in due form,” Three men immediately offerud their services, and raising the body on their shoulders they car- ried their heavy load up the double flight of steps on to the towering poop deck. ‘‘Well, is he alive?” was Don Guzman’s first question, when they gained tne deck. «J fear not, sir,” replied the spokesman of the party, and they laid him aown on the deck be- side the other rescued man, who had relapsed again into unconsciousness, ‘ *‘Why, he is completely naked,” exclaimed Harry Seaborne; “und, oh! what a terrible ex- aks a of agony is writ upon every feature of is countenance. The man is dead, but he has never been drowned.” “ How then, in Heaven’s name, bas he died?” } exclaimed Don Guzman, in horror and sur; rise. “Indeed I cannot guess; but, oh! what is this? Why, his back is a mass of burnt and black- ened flesh, and his feet—why, the bones are pro- truding through the withered up, decorticated skin,” said our hero. ‘This man has died by torture, and that torture shows the handicraft of Morgan and his buccaneers.” The gale had by this time somewhat subsided, and the moon shining out between black and jagged rifts in the clouds ‘had uided the faint | ag ight of the binnacle lamp in enabling our hero to make these terrible discoveries. But the same silvery radiance might enable him to perce the incognita of the man whose life he had himself saved, and whose face bad seemed so strangely familiar to him. He now gazed upon him for the second time and peteotyed that he was a tall and finely-forme cavalier, very richly garbed in a suit of the richest black silk velvet. He was singularly handsome, and of about thirty-five years of age. His hands were small and white, and covered eles rings, some unmistakably of very great value. ‘ His sword hilt was of pure gold. His dress seemed as familiar to Harry Sea- borne as did his face, but even that failed to fix his identity, or to recall to the mind of our hero where they had before met. Suddenly, however, he for a second time re-. covered his intellect and consciousness, and for the second time asked, faintly— ' Where am I?” Then his gaze wandered around and around, being first cast, as a matter of sailor instinct, upon the masts and yards of the vessel; then upon the helmsmen, thirdly upon our hero and Don Guzman, ‘4 1 He stured hard at Harry Seaborne with a look of surprise, not to say horror, then he inyolunta- rily stretched out his left arm, and bis hand came in contact with the naked body of the dead man. He turned round and stared at the agonized upturned face, and then shrieked in terror— “Ah! the very dead haye risen to torment and torture me.” “Heavens! I have saved Rupert Russel, the buccaneer,” exclaimed Harry, at the same mo- ment, CHAPTER VIII. WHICH TELIS OF A VIRTUOUS SENTENCE ONLY HALF CARRIED OUT. DILATED with horror'were the eyes of Captain Rupert Russel when, first opening to conscious- ness, they gazed upon the burnt and- blackened body of the dead sailor, , Fiercely gleamed the eyes or Don Guzman as he listened to the buccaneer’s involuntary con- fession that he had been the torturer. As to our hero, his feelings were mingled ones of anger‘and disgust—anger in that he had risk- ed his life, and at such trouble, saved so worth- less a wretch; and disgust that the villain was one of his own country, claiming a nationality with a Raleigh, a Drake, and a Howard. “Don Guzman,” he explained, ‘‘ let the man of blood recover his strength, and then suffer me to avenge the honor of England that be has sul- lied, upon his vile body. Iwill thus uvenge his tortured victims also.” “Boy, it must not be,” answered Don Guzman. “T cannot permit you to, imperil your life by erossing swords with a man whose blood would pollute even the ax-blade of the common exe- cutioner. For him a very different fate is await- ing than death from the weapon of an honorable and upright gentleman.” A ‘ «And what may that fate be?” demanded Cap- tain Rupert Russel, with a reckless laugh; for he had listened to the colloquy of our hero'and Don Guzman with considerable interest, though he |. had hidden any inner emotions he possessed un- der a punercitlons sneer, that was half-reaf, half- assum ‘ ed, ; ‘*Blood-thirsty pirate, you haye involuntarily betrayed yourself to be torturer and: murderer of this Spanish ‘sailor who is beside you,” said Don Guzman. “How we came to rescue. his dead and your living body is plainly evident; for it was assuredly ’s will thatthe very dead should rise up in judgment against you, and ap- zu with his mute lips for retributive justice. That justice I will assuredly mete out.” “But suppose I had pons to do with this mans death; supposing that all [ have ‘ust said was a mere inccherent raving caused by weak- ess or scarcely recovered reason ?” urged Rus- sel, } “I reject such a supposition; the confession was too clear; your horror at the sudden ay pear- ance of your victim too real and unassumed ; you are the murderer of this man, and I am your judge. Isentence you to be swung one dozen times beneath the vessel’s icéel; und then to be hung in chains from thé foreyard-aim. A’death of greater torture I cannut find it in my heurt to in-| flict even upon you.” “Thanks for your remarkable clemenoy,” re- pues Rupert Russel, witha shrug of the shoul- ers. Then suddenly changing his tone, he exclaim- “Suppose, now, wechange places, and instead of you being my judge I become your execu- tioner. I will show you—thus!” ~ ts Swift asa lightning flash the sword of the pri- vateer captain sprang from its sheath, and with a fierce lunge he thrust full at the exposed throat of Don Guzman. But ere it could take effect a sword just as keen and quite us deftly wielded turned the ruth- less point aside, and the buccaneer found him- self engaged up to the very hilt with no puny antagonist, Tt was Harry Seaborne who had turned his sword aside, and who now cried— - ; “Ah! would’st thou again do murder, villain ? Ihave foiled thy detestavle intention. Beware my lightning blade, or thou diest; better had I left thee to drown like the dog that thou art.” Rupert Russel was a skilled fencer; indeed, ho had n-esteemed the best sword-man in tha pale fleet, but he was now weak and faint with aving battled so long with the fierce waves. The consequence was that Harry Seaborne dis- armed him almost immediately, sending his gold- hilted sword flashing and quivering over the high bulwarks into the sea, { Rupert Russel then folded hir arms on his chest, and said in English, so that the Don Guzman should not understand: © ‘ “ For God’s sake thrust your sword through ay body, and saye me from the terrible fate to which I am decreed by yonder Spaniard.” / Harry Seaborne was about to comply. with this request, for, in spite of Rupert Russel’s rascality, his mind reyolted at the awful doom to which he was sentenced; but just as he was about to sheath his sword in the pirate’s heart, as the only act of merey he could bestow, Don Guzman grasped his arm, and thus preyeuted him from granting it. At the same instant half a dozen Spanish sailors laid hold of Rupert Russel, 1endering him powerless. They d ed him off the lofty poop down into the waist of the ship, ; Then others coming around him, they tore his rings from his fingers and the gold chain from off his neck. } A rope was then slung right under the ship, running in slip gaffs, and to one end, that o ming over the starboard gunwale, the hapless Rupert Russel was bound by the ankles and by the wrists, His body was thus curled up lke a ring, and, as the reader will already have perceived, the first part of his sentence was. that in this position he~ should be swung from the starboard bulwark, down under the ship’s keel up to the larboard or port bulwark, and vice versa, one dozen times, This was in itself a very terrible punishment, and to one who had already, within the hour, ex- perienced the torture of abelng half-drowned, cal- culated to be even moreso; but it was a punish- ment yery CO mODIy in use in those days; so we must not give Don Guzman the.credit of haying inyented it. y Captain Rupert Russel suffered himself to be bound in silence. . He uttered not one petition for mercy. Perhaps he knew full well that it would be useless. The next instant the boatswain’shorn rang out, - and over he went as the rope a heerty splash into the water. A minute later, all pale, ghastly, and panting for breath, he was hauled up on the larboard 4 4 was paid out, with
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\ “KING MORGAN. % aN a a a a a a ee Se ‘side, suffered to remain for a few seconds above water, und then down he went again, and the starbourd hands began to haul in instead of pay- ing out, and so he was drawn backwards under the ship’s keel. But all of a sudden the six men who had hold of the rope fell backwards in a confused heap on the deck, with only a portion of the rove in their hands, It had been severed—clean cut through. At the same moment the larboard mer also drew in the roe on the other side. That end also had been cut through, Rupert Russel was gone! A score —aye, for that matter, a hundred dark, angry faces were at ouce peering over the vessel's sidy, but no Rupert Russel appeared. A boat was lowered, for the sea was now com- paratively calm, but though it was pulled around and about the ship for very nearly half an hour, the body of the buccaneur. captain, neither alive nor dead, floated into sight, and so at length the boat came back, and was hoisted aboard again, The guard costa then once more spread all her white sails to the breeze, and shaped her course towards Chagres, which her commander seemed in some hurry to reach. Many and: various were the suppositions to account for the fractnre of the rope whereto the bucenneer captain had been bound. \ Some supposed that it had jacked against, and been cut through, by the vessel’s keel. Others, that a passing swordfish had effected it, whilst some—but these formed a very small mi- nority—expressed an opines that Rupert Russel might in some manner have contrived to draw a knife from his pocket and cut the rope himself, thereby effecting an escape. The almost sheer impossibility of effecting such a feat caused the supporters of this theory to be intensely laughed. at. , But, then, what hud become of the body? - Tied up as it was, most probably it had sunkat ones, like a stone, to the bottom of the sea, This was avery reasonable conclusion, and ft was rerys readily accepted as the probable solu- tion of the mystery. CHAPTER IX, WHEREIN OUR HERO OBTAINS THE COMMAND OF A SHIP. _ Twenty-Four hours later the guarda costa ar- rived at Chagres, and the officers al once landed eu repaired to tue fortalice of the captain-gen~ eral. Chagres was a splondid city and very strong] fortified. 3 Hf fo ' ae Harry Seaborne knew that against it Morgan was about to wage a warfare to the knife, as he wishod to make it his point of ’vantage in his meditated attack upon Panama, which he had Sworn to capture and pillage, Harry Seaborne -hoped very much that he would permitted to join the land forces here, so that on the landing of the great buccaneer chief he might have an opportunity of crossing swords with, and probably of ridding the world of Such 2 monster; but he was disappointed in this, though, at the sumo time, pleasurably surprised in that he was appointed to the command of a swilt-sailing guarda costa, called the Jsolo cl? Oro (he, lately a meré midshipman in the British service, and still later” prisoner and companion of pirates), with orders to cruise about, ascertain the approach of the famous buccaneer, and ther ‘at once to run back and report thereon. : “T have ascertained from the questions I have put to you, and which you have answered, that you area thorough sailor, and fully understand the handling of a ship,” said the Spanish admiral, , to whom our hero had been introduced. ‘ Be- sides, my frierid, the captain-general of New Spain speaks'very highly of you, and has as good as asked me to give you this appointment.” Of course Harry Seaborne was gratified beyond measuro, and made abundant promises that the Isolo @ Oro should cover herself with glory, if he had the opportunity of patting her alongside any buceaneer that sailed the sea, even were she twice as farge ‘and twree as strongly-manned, But the Spanish admiral assured him that this Was not required of him, and that at present he must confine himself to merely watching the proceedings of the enemy, and not on any ac- count to engage in conflict. with him. selon au later Harry Seaborne was on board his He was hizhly pleased with her, for she was evidently a fast-sailing craft, though she was not one which resembled the sharp-prowed luteen- sailed guarda costas that fn this our present century hover like snowy-sailed seagulls around Gibraltar, to pounce down upon and destroy the smuggling craft from Ceuta and Morocco, who are forever striving to escape them, and run their cargo to the Rock. Though bluff in the bows above the water- line, she was sharp as a lance below it. Straight between poop and forecastle, clean in the counter, and boited with copper, great care and much money had evidently been bestowed upon her build. HKlaborate carving and gorgeous gilding com- pletely covered her hull above the water-line, and amid this flashed the mouths of the twenty-four brass culverins and falconets, tier above tier. The port lids were painted of the brightest crimson, and over her towering poop rose three gigantic lanterns, with tops of polished brass. round the butt of each mast, which was com- posed of one entire pirce of wood, stood a rack of spears and arequebuses, and into the tube of en of the latter was inserted the haft ofa board- ng ax. he vessel was square-rigged, and at each of her tops were clumsy und basket-like inclosures, surrounded by little embrasures, from whence the crossbowmen’ and arquebusiers could gall the enemy in security, Rabe, a her mizzen-peak floated the castel standard of Spain. Harry Seaborne was, of course, delighted with his ship, and lost no time in getting to sea. By nightfall the town and clifis of Chagres were sunk beloay the horizon, CHAPTER X. MORGAN HEARS BAD NEWS, BUT MAKES THE BEST OF IT—A STRANGE SAIL, Ler us now return to Morgan and his followers in tho great ship Dealh Cloud, . After sinking the Spanish galleon they sailed in a sou’-sou’-wester- ly direction, still hoping to sight the headlands around Chagres on the following day.’ But the hearts both of the officers and sailors were very ill at ease. , The galleon had been attacked because the pirates knew’ she was gold-laden, and witha sufficient quantity of the precious ore to make every man of their erew rich for life. When, therefore, they were obliged to run into her and sink her in self-defense, the shrill cheer of triumph was soon hushed at the thought that the object of that triumph was lost. The prize for which they had shed their own and their foemen’s blood was sunk beneath the waves, and slipped forever from their grasp. And yet at such a sacrifice they had saved their own lives, their own ship, for in another five minutes the superior weight of the- Spaniard’s metal would huve hurled them where the skill of their commander had elected to send in. prefer- ence their foe. Nevertheless, the loss of so much wealth was most tantalizing, and,.us we said before, the officers and men of the Death Qloud were alike moody and given to grumbling. Yet two amongst that ship’s company seemed neither to grieve nor suffer annoyance. These immaculate two were Lieutenant Walter Evandale and the black woman, Zoabinda. The. former, when interrogated by Morgan as to his imperturbable indifference, replied: “My captain, ’tis useless to grumble at the for- tune of war. So that Iam at your sidein life and in death I will strive to be content. Nay, I will not only strive, I will be.” And Zoubinda, the beautiful black woman, had replied in somewhat a similar manner— : “Morgan, my beloved, blessed with thy love, what are riches? If you could deck my armsand neck with a million diamonds, your love would outweigh them all.” : Stra: that two human beings should so have attached themselves to one man; the one from ardent love, the other from equally ardent and intense hatred. A mine full of diamonds would have bribed neither to leave him. ; $ * * * * * ¥ Early on the following morning the headlands around Chagres were distinctly visible. Scaward the hull and masts of the Pestilence sere also observable, Rapidly she approached the larger vessel, which had hove to. When she was within half a mile, Morgan sig- naled for her to follow his:example, and for Cap- tain Rupert Russel to come aboard and report. A boat wus immediately lowered from the Pesti- lence, and rapidly it approached the Death Cloud, but as it drew near Morgan observed that no Cap- tain Rupert Russel was aboard. Presently the boat hove alongside, a young offi- cer ascended the side of the Death Cloud and mounted on to the summit of the towering poop. “Fas Captain Russel risen so high in his own estimation that he must needs send a subordinate officer in his pluce to confer with me?” demunded Morgan. ‘‘Cuptain Russel, I fear, we shall never see again, sir,” said the young officer, bowing. ‘1 am at present the chief officer of the Pestilence.” ** What hus become of him; tell me what has become of him?”.cried Morgan, showing far more feeling than he wus wont to exhibit on such oveasions. The first lieutenant of the Pestilence, Henry Conyers by name, then described the duel of the preceding day, in which his vessel had conquer- ed and taken ession of a Spaniard nearly twice its size, and narrated how at the close of the Beh a gale ban sprung up, and the gal- leon having sprung a leak, and being partly un- manageable, Captain Russel had gone on board and taken command of her, as she was too rich a prize to be lost through any carelessness. —~ “* Shortly after he had thus boarded the Spanish galleon a mist had sprung up, but through it the erew of the Pestilence had fancied they perceived the Spaniard suddenly disappear beneath the foaming and tumultuous billows, “They had cruised about, but never again managed to catch sight of her. : “This confirmed their worst suspicions, whilst directly morning dawned, as though no doubt should remain about the matter, they had seen portions of wreck floating about the ocean, and amongst them part of a poop, bearing the name of the ill-fated gulleon.” ; Such was the licutenant’s short, unyarnished ele and at its close Morgan gaye vent to a deep sigh. 5 rae a rieve’ more for tho loss of poor Russel than for that of the ship, freighted with gold though it was,” suid he. “The fates huve given me many braye heurts and ready hands, but very few men possessed with sufficient brains ever to become a commander,” Henry Conyers was then invited by Morgan to descend into his cabin, and there to partake of refreshments—an invitation that was too great a compliment to be rejected. Zoabinda was also sorry for the loss of the brave and courtly Captain Russel, but in her heart was a great deal more grieved at the foundering of this second treasure ship. CHAPTER XI. THE DEATH CLOUD SIGHTS THE ISLE D’ORO, TE very fates seemed to be against the suc- cess of their enterprise; yet Zoabinda was all kindness and attention, and helped the young lieutenant with her own fair,-or rather dark hands, to wine, cake, and fruit, and all the other luxuries of the cabin table. * Harry Conyers was even more struck by her beauty than by the favors that she hezped upon him, and really there was very much to admire in thissable Venus. - Her bright, laughing face, black as polished ebony, her aquiline, beautifully ehiselled fea- tures, rosy lips, magnificent eyes, and, aboye all, the exquisite proportions of her form, constituted sufficient charms to win any one’s admiration. One did not kaow whether to pay the most at- tention to her face or to Ler colossal and majestic neck, her full and splendidly-rounded bosom, and the statuesque arms, than which a sculptor | could not have chiselled more beautiful from black marble. She was a queenly woman; and Henry Con- yers could not help pondering, whilst he gazed upon her, at the depth of woman’s love that leads her to brave all perils beside the companion of her choice, rather than to enjoy the greatest com- forts away from him. He knew that this black woman had thrice sayed Morgan’s life at the hazard of her.own; he knew also that she bore the marks -of three wounds upon her comely person, and that in nearly every fight, on board or ashore, she com- batted by Morgan’s side. , So closely did she take up his attention that he searcely noticed the proceedings of Morgan, whe was engaged in appointing a new captain to the Pestilence. “Come, Evandale,” said he, ‘you refused the bonnie craft once, but perhaps since then you have thought better of it. Ifso, the chance oc- eurs once more.” ‘ ‘As before, I reject the appointment, Captain Morgan,” said Evandale. ‘My right place is by our side, and I will not leave you until Ilay you in the temb.” > Re tw “How know you that you will survive me?” asked Morgan, considerably startled; .-. > “By adream. Nay, captain, start not, for I be- lieve in dreams,” answered Walter Pvandale. “Ah! well, I do not, But yet, most, probably you will outlive me, for you'ara ter younger and far more absteminous than Iam. Nevertheless;
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AZ f KING MORGAN. if you do, don’t give your dream the credit of it. Well, I will appoint some one else in your place, and, depend upon it, you shall not lose by your dovotion to me.” A “T feel convinced that I shall not,” answered Walter Evandale, while his eyes flashed. * Go on deck, then, my friend, and send down the Dutchman, old Peter Mansvelt.” Evandale departed on his mission. A minute later Mansvelt entered the cabin. “ Captain of the Pestilence, I salute you,” said Morgan, with a laugh. , “Ah! you jest, Mynheer Captain,” exclaimed the Dutchman, sorely puzzled. “Nay, Ido not jest—on my sou! Tf do not, I will appoint you captain of the Pestilence.” ‘““And Rupert Russel, what has become of him?’ asked the Dutchman. In a few words Morgan told him how that, in all probability, he was no more, 6, it must be remembered, knew not, as does the reader; how Rupert Russel was saved by Harry Seaborne, and tiken on board Don Guz- man’s guarda costa, nor of his subsequent fate; and as for our hero himself, if he thought of him at all, it was to picture him by this time a corpse, his body buried perpendicularly in the sand, its head rendered fleshless by the jackal and the vulture lolling above the surface, its back to- wards ‘Tortugo, its empty eye-sockets glaring souward. “Ah, ah! Captain Morgan, that samo Harry Seaborne has escaped, unknown to thee, from his living grave;and is now searching for thee on the high seas, that he muy return the sorry compliment you paid him with a few inches ot cold steel or u leaden bullet. Peter Mansvelt expressed no great concern at the -presumed fate of his predecessor, Captain Rupert Russel, but showed unqualified joy at being appoimted commander of the Pestilence in his head, and great impatience to enter upon his new duties. “You will go on board at once,” said Morgan, “and when there promptly inspect. all stores, and get your guns in good order, for to-night I mean to blockade and bombard Chargres. Aud here is your lieutenant; take nim with you} he is a very promising young man.” Morgan pointed towards Henry Conyers, who, recalled from his study of Zoabinda to the realities of his life and calling, rose, and respect- fully saluted his new commander, ‘ All three then descended to the quarter-deck, * ah] what means this?” suddenly exclaimed Captain Morgan. ‘Yonder comes a vessel from the east-south-east, bearing at her peak the banner of the buccaneers waving. triumphantly above the three-castled starpdard of Spain. By Heaven! that must be the captured galleon ya all deemed at the bottom of the seu, Lieutenant Conyers, with my brave Rupert Russel at the fore. My dear Mansvolt, I fear I have been a little too precipiiate in your appointment.” Peter Mansvelt bowed, and inwardly cursed the distaut ship and all aboard of her, It would have been well for himself, for Cap- tain Morgan, and for all the buccaneer crew could that curse have had its desired effect, Presently Henry Conyers, who had been re- garding the strange and distant sail carefully, said; “That is not our eS of yesterday. She is a much smaller craft—a mere guarda costa, I should imagine, looking vut for such small fry as smugglers,” “Thon why does she bear our banner ?” ex- claimed Morgan, fiercely. ‘‘ Captain Peter Mans- velt, get thee on board thy vessel, and capture or sink yondor vessel, I care not which, If thou failest [ will disgrace thee by appointing L’Olo- nois in thy place,” “J will do my best, and no man can do more,” said Mansvelt. ‘“ Lieutenant, is our boat alongside? Ifso, let us now go swiftly aboard the Pestilence.” 3 “And see -that you make that same Pestilence strike so sorely us did your predecessor in office, and in as short a time, too,” was Morgan’s parting salute, ; “T will do my best, and no man,can do mre reiterated Mansvell, as ha went over tho sido, Morgan watched the boat as it sped through the water, and at last reached the Vestilence ; he watched her crew ascend’ the vessel’s sides, the boat hoisted aboard, and every sail crowded on tke mast until the vessel looked like a snowy- plumaged swan, . ; Then he saw her glide gracefully away to give the stranger battle. : But the stranger was not to be caught as oasily as old Peter Mansvelt anticipated and Morgan hoped. : he enticed the Pestilence further and further away from her consort, then gave her the slip ! altogether, t2cked, and bore down upon Morgan's own ship, ‘ “By the devil, the dainty gallant is about to attack us!” exclaimed Morgan, filled with as in- tense a surprise as a lion might be supposed to feel were he to see a mouse rushing forward to assailbim. ‘‘He is coming down straight upon us, Beat to quarters.” i The kettle-drum rolled and the trumpet was blown; in three minutes tho ports of the Deah Cloud were opened, the sails reduced by the watch, the magazine opened by the gumners, while the arquebusiers hastened to man the top and’poops, and five hundred seamen, grasping the rammers and sponges, the linstocks and tackle of the cannon, stood in fighting order on her decks. ‘Can’st mako out her namo?” asked Morgan presently of his lieutenant. “Searcely yet, I can distinguish an ‘I’ and an ‘O,’ that’s all,” answered Evandale. Morgan shrugged his shoulders and impatient- ly. paced the quurter-deck. -“ AbIT have it now,” said Evandale, after the lapse of a few minutes, during which his eyes had never been removed from the name on the broad, glaring bows of the stranger. ‘She is ealled the Jsole d'Oro, which in English would mean the Isle of Gold.” CHAPTER XII. WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK, THEN COMES THE TUG OF WAR Now, in spite of the Spanish admiral’s injunc- tions to the contrary, no sooner did our hero, from the lofty poop of his new guarda costa, sight the two piratical craft, whose outline and trim he knew so well, than he longed to attack them, and, at last, desire got the better of prudence, and he determined to do so, 3 Well he anew that if he succeeded in capturing, or even inflicting material damage on either of the buccaneer vessels, he would not only escape reproof, but actually receive commendation for disobeying general orders, and that he could fail in anything he undertook, Harry Seaborne did not for an instant believe, ; ; As the reader has been told in a preceding chapter, he, by a clever*ruse, drew the Pestilence away from her consort as far as he could, and then, evading her, bore down on the Death Cloud, hoping to be able to capture her before her con- sort could return to her assistance. In spite of the fact that the buccanee was twico ag large as. their own craft, the Spanish officers and sailors were almost as anxious for the combat as our hero, The officers stood grouped in all their steel harness upon the lofty poop, while the yeomen of the braces hoisted powder up from the magazine ; the boatswain and his mates prepared all the cul- verins on the big and clumsy sNdes then in use, the arquebusiers put fresh matches to the serpen- tine cocks of their firearms, filled their priming- horns and buckled on their bullet-bags, which were hung at their sides. j The boarders were also on deck, accoutred in nearly a similar manner, and armed with axes, hand guns, and boarding pikes, that they had taken from their frames around the masts and the bulwarks of the poop. g They were all noisy, loquacious, and enthusi- astic for the coming struggle. “Rig a guy on the spinker boom, sheet home the mizen staysail, an anes the cross-jack- yard,” cried our hero, ‘* By Heaven! if we do not carry the Death Cloud before her consort comes up our chances of success are small.” - For a moment the staysails began to quiver, and bellied out again, and, like a mettled race- horse, the Isolo 7 Oro swept towards bor gigan- tic adversary. Suddenly a red flash from the light forecastle of the Death Oloud was followed by a gush of pale blue smoke, and then the iron ball of a car- thoun howled through tho rigging of the guatda costa and plunged into the water far off. Harry Seaborne was much annoyed that the enomy had obtained the first shot, but raising his silver whistle to his tips he blew it shrilly. It was the signal for battle. ’ “Lot fly at her top hamper!” he oried the next minute, as the line of lighted matches glittered along the guarda costa’s gun-deck. ‘‘ Let us see daylight through hor sails; cut her cordage and disable her.” A flood of red fire and white smoke burst from he Jsolo d’Oro’s bow waist and towering fore and aftercastle, and a storm of missiles were hurled at the immense hull and at the masts, sails and standing rigging of the monstrous and terrible ehezsonist which fairly reeled under tho stone and iron hail. . . The great stone balls from the Jsolo’ d’Oro’s demj-carthouns knocked great white splinters from the bluck bull and carved galleries of the Death Cloud, killing and wounding, many of her men. Neither her masts, spars, nor cordage seemed, however, to be injured, Our hero bit his lips with vexation. ‘Bout ship!” he cried; ‘helm hard go and haul!” Round swung the 4 aceful guarda costa like a sea-gull on the wing by this rapid maneuver, es- caping almost entirely the thundering broadside of stone and iron balls with which the Death Cloud had intended to annihilate her, only three of which happily reached the goal. Then while loose shot and everything else rolled to leew ard as she stood off on the opposite tack, the increasing breeze filled her canvas and carried her gracefully over the bright moonlight en which her bows cleft as an arrow cleaves the air. . The buccaneers deemed that she was flying, and their loud cheers and mocking laughter rang over tho sea und reached Harry Seaborneand his Spanish officers on their own quarter-deck, “Henry Morgan is but a sorry fool after all, or he would guess that I was only tacking to get the wind of him in order the better to cross his bows. and rake him,” said our hero, with a laugh. “Ha! the buceaneer is giving us chase; they are shooting home the falcons on the forecastle,” exclaimed the first lieutenant of the Jsolo d’ Oro. ‘*The gunners are about to apply the matches. May St. Ebro spoil their aim !” Three puffs of blue smoke, three flashes of red flre, and three iron bulls whistling high overhead, and pitching into the water far over the guarda coast’s quarter. That was all that resulted. “Steady, helmisman, steady! To your quarters, tenders of the sheets and braces, Yo, ho! boat- swain; take in all the small sails and prepare to wear,” shouted Henry Seaborne again through his trumpet. A minute later he gave the signal, and once more round swung the guards costa. Morgan now perceived the object of the ruse om the part of his Pee Ae to be the English youth whom he had so bar- barously consigned:to death. He accordingly lay to and began to open fire upon the Jsolo d’Oro, seomingly, however, with but little effect. : Then down went the decoy signals, the black buceaneer flag, from the peak of the guarda costa, and the golden castles of sunny Spain alone fluttered to the ambient breeze of the Gulf of Mexico. i _Only for a moment, however, for quick as lightning up went the fifty heraldic pennons of the half hundred gentlemen wno served aboard the Jsolo d’Oro for glory and honor rather than for pay, and they fluttered right gaily from mast and bow and sparin the bright sunlight, “Gentlemen,” said Harry Scaborne, ‘t on board yonder ship, rightly surnamed the Death Cloud, are the robber horde who for years have been the terror of your peaceful coasts—men who have waged war upon you with fire and sword, and who, when victorious, have slain and tortured your men, violated your women, burnt your beautiful cities, and pillaged your palaces: and ehurehes. I am about to lay his Ma loetes guarda. costa, the Isolo d'Oro, alongside of that ship in order that you may avenge all these outrages,” A deafening cheer from the Spanish officers. greeted this spirited speech. “ By thohelp of God and our swords, we will ayengo them |” they all cried. “Now then, every man to his station,” resumed our hero, advancing to the quarter-rail and ad- dressing the crew—‘ Churge home, cannoneers, —crosshowmen to the tops, pikes and two-hand- ed swords to the forerooms—down with the bulk- heads, up with the screens, reeve tackle and run heme. Viva!” i : A loud and prolonged cheer was the response. The poops, tops and forecastles almost instantly bristled with cuirassed and helmeted men, the yeomen of the sheets and braces stood by their stations, the gunners by their guns, and all were: armed to the teeth with swords and daggers, pikes, axes, and other arms ~ ( The stn was clear and the sky brilliant, the wayes rolled like crystals in long glassy swells. —the bellying canvas gleamed white as snow and the gaudy pennons waved from mast-head and yard-arm like long ribbons of many-colored silk on the gentle morning breeze. : And thus this beautiful Spanish vessel bore down upon her monstrous: antagonist, whose towering poops and ponderous quarter galleries were gay with carving and gilding, but at the same time grim with the flashing of sharp wea- pons, and the brass-mouthed tiers of her shotted cannon, which were all reflected in the clear a-leo. Lat. whom he little guessed |
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“i KING MORGAN. 13 : 1 ‘waves as they rolled past in the slow heaving ridges that glistened in the sun. Then tnose terrible guns commenced firing, and the balls whistled through the rigging of the Jsolo d'Oro as she closed up without replying, though, breathless and impatient, her crew were jonging for the signal. One ball splintered the mast, anotaer killed three Spanish officers. But when his ship was within musket range of the Death Cloud, Harry Seuborne did blow his silver whistle, and at the longer peried signal the Spanish guns promptly opened fire. arda costa’s mizen- A broadside of carthouns, r. opened upon the buccaneers bowen and arquebusiers aloft their missiles as fast as they could cast their weapons about. : But two could play at this game, and the Death Cloud promptly replied; the hourser boom of her heavier metal sounding like the deep bay of a great mastiff answering the shrill bark of an audacious terrier. 3 Still Harry Seaborne, by judicious and skillful seamanship, contrived to keep the weather- gauge of his foe, the well-trained Spanish gun- ners cut up the rigging and battered the gay bul- warks of the Death VUloud, whilst the arquebusiers and cross-bowmen, from their eleva’ position in the tops and fore and aftercastles, shot down 60 great a number of her men that her scuppers soon ran with blood. ~ “Tack !? cried Harry Beaborne suddenly, us the cannon were charged for the fourth time. “Tack again; we must range up on her weather quarter, give hera raking fire, and then board,” The maneuver was well executed. As she passed the towering stern of the Death cloud within half-musket range, she poured in a broad- aide that almost blew the buccaneers’ poop into Pieces. 5 “Now, then, close in and grapple,” roared Harry, in a voice clearly audible above the noise of the firing. ; The. J/svlo d’Oro instantly shortened sail, the helm was jammed hard home, and there was a frightful rasping as the two vessels closed in muzzle to muzzle with their yardarms; tearing each other’s canvas to pieces—while a multitude of lesser Spars ou bourd both ships snapped asunder like willow wands. ; “Senor Don Alonzo, you will take charge of the ship, and I will head the boarders,” exclaimed Harry Seaborne, in accents of strong excite- ment. Now, my men, follow mé to death or ers, and serpentines while the cross- and below fired tory.” As he spoke, abullet tore the crest from off his helmet. é é ‘“‘ Better there than three inches lower,” he ex- claimed, gaily. ‘* Now, then—on!”" Then such a cheer ascended to the cloudless heavens as for a moment completely to drown even the booming of the cannon. : Short ladders were brought and placed against the Death Cloud's great black bull, that rose high above their own decks, and the pikemen, €nd those who wielded great two-handed swords pressed behind our hero to scale the floating ram- art, regarding the crossbow bolts and arque- use bullets that were rained down upon them from the Death Qloud’s tops and castles no more than if they had been thistledown or feath- ers. ‘But scarcely had our hero placed a foot on the first rung of one of the ladders than a wild shriek of rage and horror from his crew caused him to glance hastily round. Mi Asight met his eyés calculated to strike the stoutest heart with dismay and horror. Another vessel was bearing down under a& eloud of canvas upon the Jsolo d'Oro, loom- ing like the shadow of dvath between them and the glowing southern sun. '& dead silence ensued, They could hear the blocks creak, the cordage whistlé, the sails flap heavily and fill again on board the approaching vessel us she bore down upon them. There was no time to fill the yards and forge ahead nor to break stern foremast from their ow position; the glaring bow of the Pesti- “nov already threw {ts shadow across the guard acosta's deck, from which a hundred mingled eries of rage, wonder and defiance arose. Our hero caught sight of old Peter Mansvelt on the poop; he heard him shont, “ Yeomen of the braces and bowliness let go! slack off your Sheets and tacks—yare, my lads—yare and square tho yards.” Then he heard the shock as . she came thundering down with her iron back upon his bonnie guarda costa, striking her right amidships as she lay in the deep valley formed by the long swelling waves. The wild shriek of rage. horror and despair that .rose from the crowded decks of the Jsolo ad Oro was mingled with the wild shout of triumph from the jubilant buccaneers. The Pestilence rode over the bow waist. of the Spaniard, and crashed through her-torn rigging, her foreyard being flung aback and helm put about in time to prevent doitig any injury to her consort, ; The lofty poop and forecastle of the guarda costa floated away in different directions as her hull was cloyen in two. A- minute or two later the forecastle sank for ever in the brilliant blue sea, carrying two hun- dred brave men down with it. Those on the aftercastle had time to lower two boats, crowd into them, and push off before that part of the ill-fated ship sank and sucked them down into the vortex with ft. . These boats were filled, one almost entirely with officers—the other almost wholly with sea- men. : They hoisted sails as speedily as possible, and glided away in the direction of Chagres, pursued by the shot of the buccaneer ships, and our hero prayed that one of them might strike him, for if ever he reached Chargres, what could he expect but death for haying acted against orders, and with such a resylt, too? OHAPTER XII. AN UNCOURTEOUS RECEPTION—CONSIGNED TO A “DUNGEON. Sore and heavy was the heart of our hero as, rowing for their very lives, the survivors of the erew of the ill-fated solo d’ Oro stretched to their oars and strained every nerve to escape from the buccaneers. The boat was very full, so full that there was imminent danger of a capsize, and so heavy to propel did this render her, that the long oars kent like willow wands at each desperate pune And sore need had they for pulling, for the Death Cloud and the Pestilence, though not con- descending to follow pursuit, yet from their bow- chasers did they belch forth such leaded stone and iron as would infallibly have sunk the frail craft had one of them touched her. But she was low down in the water, and the hopeless fugitives aboard crouched down as much as they could, and so the death-fraught messen- gers sped over and past them without doing them any damage. Some, however, would ricochet along the waves so closely that at a single plunge they would send a cataract of water over the already drenched Spaniards, whilst others with a sullen boom would speed by so close overhead as to takeaway the breath of those they passed near. | The brows of the Spaniards were black and gloomy; they gazed upon our hero with no friendly eyes, for was he notanalien? Had he not been promoted tothe command of a 8} anish guarda costa over the heads of deserving Spanish officers? and had he not lost that guarda costa foolishly, recklessly? Harry Seaborne noticed the glances of clearly- expressed hostility that were bent npon him, and knew that one and all these men would testify against him at the court-martial which would as- suredly be held to try him’ for the loss of his bonnie ship, to judge him for disobeying orders. He little cared whut became of himself, his doom was sealed. What mattered it whethera eannon-ball from the Death Clouc or the Pestilence terminated his existence, or whether a few hours or a few days later a file of Spanish soldiers dis- ‘patched him with a score of Lullets? Of the two alternatives, would not immediate death be preferable? Aye, in every way, for thereby the disgrace of a trial, the ignominy of a public execution would be avoided. arry Seaborne thought so, and on that ac- count he was the only, man in the boat who was self-possessed and calm, fhe only man who re- fused to salute with a lowly bow the passing eannon-balls of the buccaneers, — Pale as death, but yet collected as though no missiles of death were speeding around him, he grasped the helm, and with a firm hand guided the frail craftthrough the troubled waters. ’ Often by a quick turn of the helm, thus throw- ing the boat out of the line of fire, he saved her from destruction and her inmates fronra terrible doom; but they seemed unaware of this, for they had not learned sea-craft in the same service asa Drake, a Raleigh, or a Frobisher. : At last, after a thousand hairbreadth escapes, the boat Bok beyond range of the two buccaneer ships, and then the little mast was stepped and the sail set thereon. The boat then sped gaily over the seas, but the heart of our hero grew gloomier and sadder than ever, for the death he had courted had been denied to him. In another hour the Drath Cloud and the Pestilence were both hull down on the horizon— an hour later still the battlements of the two ° ‘ castles that guarded the port of Chagres rose to view. : Onwards gaily sped the boat, and ere the sun had set behind the green mountains of New Estremadura she had passed the two castles be- fore mentioned and tairly run into the port of Chagres. yi "T'was the fashionable hour of evening promen- ade, and the bright-eyed donnas and senoritus of New Spain were promenading the Alamada with their muantillas and their fans, thoi pet dogs and their chosen cuvaliers, all glittering in gold lace velvets und cloth of gold. The rounds of sweet music swelled upon the breeze, and ever and unon came ths cadence of sweeter laughter. On the parade there was danc- ing too, and from thence came the clash of the castanet, the sweet melody of the guitar, the still softer cadence of the harp. Ha! how different the sounds that will pervade that gay city but twenty-fours hence, when the boom of the cannon, the sharp fusilade of the musketry, the clash of the steel, shall be succeed- ed by the roar of the flames in her gorgeous pal- aces aud churches, the groans of dying aud tor- tured men, the shrieks of violated and agonized beauty, mingled with the shrill treble of crucified and buyonetted children. Laugh on gay city nips thou mayest; to-mor- row thou shalt weep tears of blood. Up to the steps of the lunga larus, a vern- ment quay, Harry Seaborne steered the bout. The next minute ’twas secured by a bolt ring. , Then its inmates mounted the steps one by one ‘on to the quay, our hero being the last to ascend them—sad, moody, and silent. He had anticipated the worst, and the worst came. Almost the first person that his eyes fell upon. was the Spanish admiral who had appointed to the guarda costa. He was recognized in an instant. , ; The admiral started as he beheld our hero and his boat’s crew of haggard, pale, bloodstained- apparelled men, and bringing them to a halt ex- claimed : “Ha, sir, what means this? Your ship, where is it? There has been sword-drawing und blood- letting, I see; but where are the rest of your com- rades? where is the Isolo @ Oro?” Lying many fathoms deep beneath the blue waves of the Caribbean Sea, our comrades with her,” answered Harry Seaborne, sadly. ‘‘ We alone have eseaped to tell the tale, and ‘tis a sad one.” “Not if you bring me news that the two buc-! caneer ships who have dared to threaten our shores lie beside her,” said the admiral, bending a keen, searching glance on the young English- man’s face. “Alas! I bring no such intelligence. Both the buceaneer vessels are still aflout, and bearing up for the city, of which Morgan hussworn not to leave one stone standing upon another,” ‘*Ah! what is this I hear?” exclaimed the ad- miral, his swarthy countenance growing white with rage. “The Jsolo d'Oro sunk, and no vic- tory gained to eompensate for such a calamity? By Heaven! Don Harry Seaborne, I fear that you have acted the part either of a knave or a fool?” ‘The Englishman ran ug into a complete trap, your exceliency, and, in my opinion, ; urposely, A more stupid maneuver was never executed, for he laid the Jsolo d’Oro right between the bueca- neer ships, and suffered one of them to eut us clean in two,” growled the first lieutenant, who was one of the saved. This was the man who had expected tho com- mand of the guarda costa himself. Hence a: deadly enmity towards our hero had grown up in his heart. He was resolved now to obtain revenge. He glanced round upon his companions in mute Rtinaat for them to back up his assertions. They also detested the young Englishman, and were nowise unwilling to bear evidence against him, The consequence was that his accusers were many, and the admiral only seemed too ready te place credence in them. i t But suddenly a champion sprang up from: whence he had least expected it. Anoble-looking young Spanish officer, no other than the third lieutenantof the foundered guarda costa. Btepped torward, and, facing the admiral, said, boldly: I, for one, entirely disagree with the repre- sentations that my brother officers seem only too anxious te make against their late commander, I uphold, and I will do 80, if needs be, at the sword’s point, that he acted the part of a skillful and brave commander in the late disastrous en- gagement. : “As junior lieutenant nee will act wisely in. holding your tongue,” said the admiral, tartly. >)
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/ | 14 KING MORGAN. “J will remain silent now, but when before a lawfully constituted tribunal my testimony will be of some real yalue; it will be quite at my captain’s service,” was the proud reply. arry Seaborne grasped the young officer’s hand and wrung it warmly. . “Thanks,” he said. “One stanch friend in such a cuse is indeed invaluable.” “However the matter may stand concerning the fight itself,’ resumed the admiral, “one thing is clear, Captuin Harry Seaborne namely, that ou have acted contrary to orders. For that you aye to stand yvur trial by court-martial, and, if found guilty, your doom will be death. ’Tis too late to-day to hold the court; you will, therefure, haye to remain in prison until to-morrow.” “ Under the circumstances you will surely give me parole?” exclaimed our hero, indignantly. “Under the circumstances, no,” replied the admiral, sternly. Then, addressing the others, he continued: “Lieutenauts Burmez and Alonzo, guard, with your eight rowers, Captain Seaborne, your late commander, to the Castle of St. Angelo, Let him occupy one of the casemated cells on the north Bide.” “Tarewell, my brave commander,” said the young third lieutenant, as he was being led away. ‘JT will not desert youif the rest do, In Don Diego Lancia de Luzman you will ever finda champion and friend.” Hury Seaborne was then led away, his own first und second lieutenants, with their swords drawn, closing up on his left and his right, and the res crew surrounding them aguin in a dense circle, Along the Prado, where the dancers stopped foran instunt their joyous carnival to look at them, down the whole length of the Alamacla, where the castunets were stilled, and the harp and guitar silenved, in order that eager multi- tudes might rush forward and gaze upon the prisoner, they slowly passed, Harry Seaborne cold, stern, dignified, and silent. He knew thatin his mad eagerness to meet Morgan and avenge upon him a hundred insults ho had disobeyed orders. A brilliant success would have atoned for this, but in lieu of that he had made a most disastrous failure, aud that failure would cost him his life, Well, he had played fora large stake and lost it; he was ready to abide the issue: At last the prison was reached, - Séntinels presented arms, huge bunches of keys rattled at the waistbelts of gigantic warders, ponderous gates and doors were flung open in succession, and the ‘‘ tramp, tramp, tramp,” of his guard sounded hollowly along paved subter- ranean passages, until at last an iron-studded postern door was reached. This being fluny open,’a wretched cell was dis- closed within, having one tiny grated window, high up in the -wall beyond reach, and two monstrous: pillars, from which, at intervals, de- pended many rusty iron rings. Harry Seaborne was ‘pushed into the cell, and, to his great indignation, was also chained to one of the pillars, : His guards then left him to his own dreary and sad reflections. As he heard their receding steps gradually grow fainter and fainter in the distance, a kind of lethargic despuir fell upon him. Ho felt as though he were going mad. : Twenty-four hours ago how bright was his future ! Honor, power, glory, all seemed waiting to obéy his mere nod. ‘ Now disgrace and dishonor were alone left him. ‘Perhaps alsoa dreadful death on the’morrow. And all this because he had been a little too bravo, a little too reckless. Ah! but ere to-morrow the Spaniards might be werless to judge him; their city might bo in 6 hands of the buccaneers, who would stamp out Spanish rule in blood-and rapine. But even then he would not be better off, for the buccaneers, many of whom must have recog- nized him in the recent terrible sea battle, would as assuredly slay him as would the Spaniards; but they would torttire him first, that would be the sole difference, : q ‘ Yet the buceaneers might not trouble to search those underground dungeons, and then he would escape both Spaniards ana pirates, but only by accepting starvation as an alternative. _ Ab! his position was very terrible, no matter in what light he looked at it. ¢ . ‘He presently ceased to ‘contemplate it alto- ther, and to yaze upon his dungeon surround- 23 z _ They were not many, and the li ht was toodim even to note them’ distinctly. : ‘The two great pillars, the damp, moss-covered walls, the rusty chains, the small’ iron-barred i fe, 9 ® / a vo windows—theso were all that for several minutes “met his gaze, But presently, his sight becoming habituated to the darkness, he noticed something unnatur- ally white gleaming against the pillar directly | opposite him. @ strained his vision to the utmost. Heavens! he was confronted by a hideous skeleton. CHAPTER YVIV. REINFORCEMENTS TO A BAD CAUSE. Let us now return to the Death Cloud and the Prstilence, who directly they found that the boats containing the survivors of the Jsola d’Ovo had got out of range, hauled up to the wind and lay too, as they did not wish to apprach any nearer unto Chugres until after nightfall. No trouble took they to rescue the drowning Spanish sailors, who for a brief while struggled with the waves on the breaking up and founder- ing of the ill-fated guardu costa, t was wonderful that they were meroiful enough to suffer the Spaniards merely to drown, Within a few moments ull traces of the guarda costa and her crew had disappeared. Scarcely had they done so, the ports been triced up, the dead thrown overboard, and the blood swabbed off the decks, than three strange sails were sighted in the distance. Lieutenant Walter Evandale had first observed them from the towering forecastle, He quickly conveyed the intelligence to his commander-in-chief, Morgan, who was com- mending old Peter Mansyelt, who had just come aboard, upon the brilliant manner in which ho had turned the fortunes of the day by his bring- ing the Pestilence upon the Isvlo d’Vro’s broad- side. : ‘oTwas that gained the victory,” ho was say- ing. ‘‘I scarcely thought that the conception of such a brilliant maneuver was within your hoary old head.” “Three strange ships are bearing towards us undor easy sail,” said Evandule, at this moment. “Where away?” aeked Morgan, in tones of sur- prise not unmixed with chagrin, “On our weather bow,” answered Evandale, with a profound salute, “Do they seem to be Spaniards?” again de- manded Morgan, : . “They have not the rig or the build of Spanish ships,” retorted Evandale: ‘If they happen to be so, then are they prizes captured from other ‘nations; but I take them to be pirates,” - “Ah! indeed,” snorted Morgun, ‘TI trust that it may be so, for we will enlist them in tho same cause, At another time we would drive away any brother wolves who snarled at the same prey, but on the present occasion the prey is stronger than ourselves, and brother wolves may make the conquest of it more sure; therefore they are wolcome.” Closer and closer drew the strange ships, and they proved to be at last what Walter Evaudale had surmised, namely, three piratical craft, filled with armed men. ‘They were the War, Famine, and Devastation, under the general Gommand of the notorious Captain Kydd, who, happéning to hear of Mor- giin’s hostile demonstration against Chagres, had determined to join him, making sure that his assistance would be welcome. 4 And it was welcome, for this sudden access to their forces was locked upon by the buccaneers as almost miraculous, and Morgan’s crew were commensurately exhilarated. The great buccaneer leader was now in com- mand Of a fleet of five sail, the whole containing four hundred and sixty well-trained and resolute men, Morgan called his captains together, and held a great council of war. He quietly told the new allies that he meant to attack and suck Chagres that very night. : An enterprise so very daring surprised and for a fow moments appalled even the notorious Kydd, but he met all counter demonstration by pictur ing the rich plunder of the churches, and the countless treasyres of the beautiful city, It was then decided into what proportions the lunder was to he divided, and a code of laws was ‘ormed for extra compensation to those who were injured in the struggle. — Thus, it was decided that a right arm or a left leg, if lost; would entitle the sufferer to £150 ster- ling, or flve shares. , ‘ For a left arm or log, £125, or four shares. An vye, £25, or one share. ¥! A finger was valued at the same price as an eye, and other bodily parts in proportion with this scale, ; Say: \ CHAPTER XY. THE FIRST CANNON SHOT—THE ATTACK ON THE FORTS—THE OUTPOSTS WON, Aut this smart money, urranged to be paid to their wounded comrades by the piratical horde: from the booty derived by the sacking of Cha- gres, was over and above the proportion of the shares of the wounded, and was to be. puid be- fore a dividend was made of the general stock. When the tinve for division arrived, each person. was to make publicly a solemn oath that he had concealed nothing, and this asseyeration was to be: Sec upon as true, irectly the sun had set and night had drawn her veil over land and sea, the five ships stood in towards the land, the great Death Cloud leading the wy, with the Pestilence a little abaft her beam, and the War, the Famine, and the Devasta- tion gallantly bringing up the rear, » After about three hours’ sail they saw two. round, massive objects looming before them from out the darkness, Morgan ‘knew that a were the two forts guarding the entrance to the great harbor. i He hoped to be. able to pass them by in the ark, SO and silently the ships fall into line, the Death Cloud sfill leading the van. The gentle ripple of the water against the bows, and the occasional creak of the cordage,. were the only sounds that attended that silent, stealthy passage. ; As much sail as possible had been taken in, so that the snowy expanse of canvas should not be noticed by the sentinels who paced the ram- parts, and whose heavy steps, and the clatter of whose arms, could sometimes be heard from the déck of the commodore’s ship. Morgan had begun to congratulate himself that the passage between the two forts would be suc- cessfully accomplished, when one of the cus6- mented batteries of St. Angelo was suddenly illuminated by a flash of blood-red flame, fol- lowed by a fleecy cloud of white smoke; and ere the momentary glare had died away the crash of falling timber told him that one of his masts was carried away, whilo loudly rang out the Spanish battle-ery of - “‘Viva Alonzo nostra, muerta a ladrones! Viva viva!” Morgan stood as one spell-bound, not on ac- count of his stricken must, not on account of the Spanish’ battery, but because the momentary flash of the cannon had revealed to him a face peering out of a narrow, grated window in the wall cf the fort far below—a face which he knew to be that of Harry Seaborne. Morgun had soon, however, other matters to pay attention to than the face of Hurry Seaborne, ate his boy prisoner on the Isle of Tortugo, The attempt of his ships to pass the forts un- perceived had evidently been discovered, and it was not altegethor unlikely but that it might be frustrated. — - The crippled topmast had brought the Death Cloud to for a moment, so that she very narrowly escaped being run into by her own consort. Old Mansyelt avoided the catastrophe, how- ever, by jambing his helm hard up and backing his. fore yardarm ;) but now overy casement in the two forts was lighted up, and stone bullets and iron balls began to rain around the vessels. . Both the Death Cloud and the Pestilence returned the flre, and continued to torge ay ahead} hop- ing to escape before much damage had been ef- fected, and the War, Famine, and Devastation hastened to follow their example, Harry Seaborne, from his dungeon cell, could seo the whole of this, ' The chains which bound him to the pillar had been Jong enough’ to permit of his reaching the wall of his prison which contained the window. Up to the narrow aperture he had, with some difficulty, climbed, and peering through he could seo clearly the buccaneer war vessols, This was because the window through which he looked was more on a level with their hulls than. were the battlements high above, He had be n terribly afraid that the sentinels who paced tho battlements would not discover the ships running by in the dark. ‘ The first cannon-shot had soon, however, solved this query. : Others quickly followed, He could see them hurtling through the air: he could hear them 1s with a dull thud they plunged into the wood-work of the ships, or, - with a crash, knocked great splinters of stone from the fort. g ‘ #3 But the aim of the Spanish artillerymen was not 80 good as it might have been, for had it been so thé ships must all have been sunk in attempting the passage, whereas not one out of nine balls > took effect 3 Morgan at Jast perceived this, and determined }
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to subdue the forts themselves before he proceeded any further. . y First of all he signaled to the two command- ants to surrender, Such a summons was, of course, treated with contempt. . The fury of the fire from the forts, indeed, greatly increased, as though they were anxicns to prove that they were able to blow him and _ his five ships out of the water, and would d® so unless he sheered quickly off. No doubt they were willing; but, alas! they were not able. The more rapidly they fired the less correct was their aim, whereas the guns from all five pirate shi ps were most accurate in their fire. The blood quickly ran out of the casemented batteries, and the dead could easily be perceived lying around their pieces within them But fresh gunners took the places of those slain, and the battle still raged. Morgan therefore determined to land a body of troops, and, under cover of the darkness, to make an attempt upon one of the forts from the rear, : If they carried it they could direct its cannon against its opposite neighbor, when its Bubjec- tion would be remarkably easy. Morgan himself determined to lead the assault, Hé desired Walter Evandale to remain, and take charge of the ship. But Evandale entreated to be allowed to accom- _ pany the expedition. bait 7 His only wish was to fight, and, if needs be, to die beside Morgan. The buvcaneer captain was pleased at such generous devotion. “ Byer the sime,” he said, with a smile; ‘ever my buekler and my barrier.” ‘T have sworn to be by you living, I have sworn to be by you dying,” was the reply. Thon he muttered to himself “ Aye, and thou wilt not not thank me then,” The preparations for disembarking the men did not take long. Four boats were lowered, and the buecaneers crowded into them, The rowers stretched 1o their oars, and away they swept shorewards. But the cannon-balls all the while fell thickly around them. One of those heavy missiles would be quite suf- ficient to sink a boat, But they all escaped, and at length reached the shore in safety. Here they were drawn up, and leit in charge of & slonder guard. The main body then pushed on towards the rear of tho fort. ; Morgan and Eyandale marched at their head. hey hoped to find the rear of the fort indif- ferently guarded. : Surely it had never been built to stand a siego shorewards, And yet when they came near unto it, it looked 80. The walls were of immense height and thick- ness. : True, no guns frowned forth from them in this direction, But, then, how were the walls themselves to be scaled - j : _And no doubt when the top was won then their diMoulties would only just have begun. ; Doubtless the Spani.rds still alive in the fort outnumbered them considerably. gs, eee that was the contingency that least alarmed mm. : At last they came to the very wall itself. Steel caps and halberds* were now seen to ‘glitter on the summit, They had no scaling laddors. j To reich the top seemed an impossible feat. But) Morgan, with ‘all the assurance possible, made his'trumpeter sound a parley, and. then hailing the commandant of the fortress, who ap- proached and looked over the battlement, he ordered him to surrender, or threatened, with an oath, that he and evéry soldier under his com- mund should be put to the sword. Scarcely, however, had the words escaped from the buccaneer’s lips than the clatter of hoof strokes was clearly audible, and a party of cavalry the next instant debouched from the shelter of a 8rove of trees ‘close by, and made 4 furious attack on his band of warriors. 80 sudden was it that the buccaneers recoiled before them, and fell into.considerable disorder; but the stentorian voiee of Morgan quickly rallied them, and a most desperate conflict ensued. _ The Spanish horsemen outnumbered the buc- caneers, but the latter fought with'such desperate energy that they beat them off again and again, thongh some of their party would-sometimes get \ cut off and wicrounaed: It was upon one of these occasions that Walter KING MORGAN. Evandale suddenly missed Morgan; but he had seen him but a moment before in a particular direetion, so he started in search. i He was uot long in finding him, He was not a moment too soon, The redoubtable freebooter was down on his back, his broken sword lying under him, and three Spanish soldiers had their sword-points at his throat. _ Hold!” shouted Evandale; ‘the first man who strikes, dies. What, threo to one, and he disarmed and prostrate | Sname on ye, fur Span- ish poltroons,’ His long, straight, double-edged sword covered ‘his leader’s body, his dark eagle eyes measured the three soldiers as keenly as did his good weapon, und in his rich raiment, and with his plume floating in the air, he looked a right noble cavalier The three Spaniards wero for a moment cowed by his resolute keuring, and in the interval Mor- gan recovered his feet, and had picked up his own broken weapon. This he hurled in the face of one Spaniard, and so heavily that the fellow fell insensible to the |, ground, whilst at the same time Eyandale slew another. t The third turned to flee, but ereshe could escape, Evandale’s sword was plunged into his back up to the very hilt, and he fell dead over the bodies of his companions, “You arrived just in time, my friend,” said Morgan. “A minute later, and I should have forfeited my pledged word,” replied Evandale, «7 will not thank you, because I can only do so in the same strain.” Tt matters not; one day you will requite me for all,” answered Evandale. “Aye, with a dukedom, if I ever live to be a reigning sovereign.” Walter Evandale smiled a smile of strange por- tent, but said— **Comv, Morgan, pick up one of the dead Span- jard’s swords in lieu of thine own broken weapon, and return to the glorious fight, for our frieids may have need of us. Yet, what do I see? By every saint in Heaven the Spaniards are flying.” "Twas indeed the case; they were, and in a wild stampede too. The horsemen striking home with their spurs far more zealously than afew minutes before ey had done with their swords, and those who had been dismounted, and they were many, relying on their heels. The buccaneers did not trouble to pursue them —they had a more pressing matter on hand—the subjugation of the fort. \ But suddenly a terrible explosion filled the air, clouds of sulphurons smoke, beneath which mil- lions of lambent tongues of flame wreathed and uivereti, seemed to roll and spout upwards to the very star-spangled heavens. f When it cleared away the Fort of 8t. Angelo was a pile of ruins; A red-hot ball from the Death Cloud had pene- | trated the magazine. i That had been the cause of the explosion. Several of Morgan’s purty wereslain by the fall- ing débris, which continued to rain downwards for several seconds, mingled with dead bodies and fragments of heads and limbs. When this ceased they indulged in a tremen- dous cheer, and, rushing forward, scrambled like tiger cats to the summit of the ruin, and there raised aloft the buccaneer flag, which was no sooner beheld from the shipping than the cheers of their comrades afloat mingled with their own peueY must have been heard even in Chagres self, The buccaneers then swarmed all overthe fort, searching amidst the ruins for entrances into any of the few remaining casements, to see whether any cannon yet remained intact and fit to be used against the opposite fort. Walter Evandule was not less active in this in- vestigation than the rest, and atlast he discovered a narrow passage not quite blocked up by fallen masonry. He penetrated it sufficiently to discover that it was not a gun-chamber, but.a prison, and pres- ently he saw an indistinct form, and heard the elank of cha ns. : “Whom have we here?” he exclaimed. “A prisoner, it would seem.” “Yes, 1 prisoner, and one doomed to death,” was the reply. “Ah! that voice,” cried Evandale; “ why, as I live, ’tis familiar to me,” ““He who owns it has no reason to be ashamed of hisname ’tis Harry Seaborne,” ; “Harry Seaborne! Why, 1 am Walter Evan- dale. I thought I knew thee, my boy.” Thetwo friends were the next moment shaking hands warmly. s ‘ . “How comes it that these rascally Dons have dared'to imprison thee?” asked Eyandale, at | ; 15. length. ‘I fancied good graces.” : ; ‘I am imprisoned here, and was to haye un- dergone a trial by court-martial to-morrow, for that you were high in their .| losing my ship, the solo d’ Oro.” 1 “By Heaven! *tis a miracle we did not lose ours. The Dealh Cloud was neyer more abaraly handled than by that little hornet that you ha the command of. I knew that there must be an Englishman at the helm, for no Spanish captain would have fought her as you did; and when I recognized you as her commander—you whom I had left buried in the hot sands of 7 Vortugo—I could scarcely believe my senses.” “Hal to-day is an unlucky one for me; I ex- ected to win so much glory and honor, and, bey. haye attained only to disgrace and ignd- miny.” > s Push, my lad; your future is neither mado nor marred by such an event. As for the court- martial affair, that ordeal, at all events, you will not have to go through, for to-morrow there will be no Spaniards ieft in Chagres to hold one on you. Morgan will be its ruler by that time,” “A far less merciful one, I fear, even than the Spaniards,” said Harry. “Tf he caught you he would no doubt be,” re- sponded Eyandale; ‘but you must not let him eatchyou. Nordo I think that there is any need that he should. At present our men swarm all over the fort, but the entrance to this cell is very nearly concealed, and no one else will probably find it, whilst, if they did, in the darkness you might elude them.” “But these accursed chains; they clank at every move,” said our hero, - ; } - “Vet us get rid of them, then,” laughed Evan- dale. ‘I will show you a trick I learncd of tle Antilleros—a way to pick a lock without the in- tervention of a key.” s As he spoke he drew his sword, and inse. the point between the pudlock heft and wrist manacle, he gave it a dexterous twist, and Harry Seaborne was relleygd from his fetters. “Now, said Walter Evandale, ‘Jie here until our troops have moved ‘up to beleaguer the city, until the sun now rising in the east has again sunk behind the western meuntains, then steal forth, avoid our outposts, and heaven prospér ou.’ r “Oh! ah friend, how can I express my thanks ? This isthe second time that you hays suved my life—aye! and you would have done it a third, had I allowed you.” ! “Perhaps the third time may come yet, Hi or, instead of that, you may be able to eanc the debt by twice saving mine, But now I must be off, or Morgan will wonder where Iam, and be sending his followers in every direction in quest of me,” Farewells were spoken and Evandale then quitted the prison chamber. iain When Walter Evandale reached the summit of the ruined fort, and there recognized Morgan,.Ho found that the opposite fortress had eapitulated. A white flag waved trom its summit, ; The buccaneers were already marching in to take porsession, ; Thither he and Morgan immediately Tepeineds and the Jatter, being strongly possessed with h bloody fatalism, placed every man found in ihe fortress in one room, fired the powder magazi and blew at onee the castle and all the Spaniards that it contained to atoms, The historian records that the noise of these double explosions was an awful announcement } the wrretalied inhabitants of the town of the hor- rors that awaited them, ; They began to cast. their jewels and money into wells, cisterns, and every place ofsecrecy that ob- curred to them. ‘ ; But the buccaneers had but yet begon thelr dreadful labors. ‘ They marched at once towards the town, and reached it by eight in the morning. , The ships remained opposite the ruined farts, in the chargo of only afew men. ; Directly the town was reached, a strong party was detached to the monasteries and nunnories, who seized all the priests and nuns and put thieh to the torture to reveal where they had concealed their altar plate and other treasure. . The governor of the city was not only a man of courage, but one also of talent; and after some ineffectual endeavors to rally the townsmen to defend the town, he retired with the bravest of the inhabitants and all the military into the strongest of the remaining castles, and from, thence opened un incessant and destrnctive fixe upon the inyaders, ’ } tr, But this fire did not in the least intimidate them, for drawing as near to the embrasures as possible, every gun that the Spaniards fired upon their foes below cost them two or. three men, 60 excellent were the pirates as marksmen. Fike This sanguinary battle raged till noon, the
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16 J yurious castles’ thundering forth their artillery, Shaking the houses and tearing up the streets with their heavy ordnance, which was. unceas- ingly replied to by the rattling of the musketry and the wild shouts of the buccaneers. °- Morgan, always under cover, act seeming to be present everywhere, attended by a chosen body of guards commanded by Zoubinda, his beautiful black mistress, and which might be looked upon’ as’ a reserve, calmly directed the whole of the operations, attending to the various dotuils with the collectedness of one playing a Game of chess. And a most difficult gamo it proved to.be. It was now full noon, and no apparent impres- sion had beén made upon the castles, and that one defended by the governor was doing dread- ful exveution upon the assaulters. It was in eatn that the pirates endeavored to burn the doors of the fortress with combustibles, for the Spaniards showered upon their heads all manner of engines of destruction. - Evon Morgan began to wayer, and deem his position no longer tenable. Longer to fight seemed but to bea more eperay. means for the total destruction of all his force; fo fly would be equally disastrous, and to remain whore they were impossible but as dead bodies. He got his men under cover, however, and the firing ceased for awhile. Z But the buccaneers were by no means idle. They employed their time by co structing in all haste twelve ladders, so broad that four men could mount them abreast, When this was effected, Morgan mustered all the priests, the nuns, and the wives and daughters of the iets inhabitants, and placing them be- fore his men, he compelled them by blows and fe points of pikes to carry the ladders towards he strongest castle, which the governor still held and so ably defended. We might exhaust pages in the description of this heart-rending scene, but we have so much of Atrong fact to recite thnt we have but little space for amplification. The governor, before the assault commenced, was again summoned, but he replied that whilst he lived there should be no surrender, Tho ‘priests and women advanced up to the mouths of the guns—pushed forward by the pikes Of tho buccaneors, and were mercilessly slaught- rod. Iu vain was tho governor abjured by all the holy hosts of heaven by the priests, in vain ‘were the hands of wives and daughters uplifted. ‘ Tho greator part of the supplicants were mown down before even six ladders could be placed. ‘Up these six tho pirates then rushed with ruth- less fury, bearing with them fire-pots and hand Ee ead which, 50 soon as they had attained the p of the wall, they fired and flung down among the Spaniards below, and then immediately fol- lowed the slaughter and confusion that they had Gecasioned, ho resistance after this was but feeble. First the Spaniards threw down their arms by wos and threes, and then they all submitted, with © exception of the brave governor. Ho was determinod to die then and there, and plow some of the pirates when they were in the dot of offering him quarter, and some of his own vidiors for advising him to take it. To allapplications and entreaties he replied that he preferred dying with his arms in his hands ike a soldier, to being hung as a traitor and a Gowird. — While thus ho raved and fought, a piercing Cy was hourd, and his wife and daughter, wit stronming hair and bitter sobs, flung themselves On their knvcs before him, to spare their lives and his own. This only seemed the more to exasperate him, and they narrowly escaped death at his hands, “At last his enemies were forced to dispatch him, and he received his mortal wound over the | ag heads of his own family, and died in their arms, roving that the chivalry of Spain was not ex- ct. After this the other defenses submitted, and fhe buccaneers saw themselves the undisputed masters of the place and all it contained. Ohagres had fallen, the keystone co the con- ¢quest of the New World had been carried, and that night great was the feasting and revelry thxt commemorated the évent. by In the hall of the Lavi a sumptuous feast had been prepured, and Morgan and his officers gat down to it with high hearts, for great was their joy at having conquered the place so eat quaffed the red wine out of goblets‘of solid many of them set with gems. ‘These were the altar cups and other sacred ' yessols that had been pillaged from the temples of God < From many of them the stains of blood had mot yet been washed off, the blood of KING MORGAN. slaughtered priests, murdered on the very steps of the altar. ; But what recked the flerce buccaneers of this? They would have drank the blood of their foes had it then been the fashion to do 80, as it had been a thousand years before with their predecessors, the fierce sea kings of Scandinavia. Morgan was, of course, at the head of the board. On his right sat his beautlrul mistress, the negress Zoabinda, her naked arms and legs and neck covered with ornaments of solid gold; brighter than any of which glistened the rows of ivory teeth every moment revealed by the enrap- ay eee with which she greeted her conquer- in ord, n his left sat old Peter Mansvelt, a bloody banduge swathing half his head as well as half his dexter eye, for a Spanish ax had nearly cleft his head open. The other officers occupied places according to their rank, but amongst them might be missed the stately form and face of Walter Evandale, the ferocious countenance of L’Olonios, and the sa- turnine yet excessively handsome one of Rupert Russel. Our readers doubtless imagine that Rupert Russel lies low down in ocean depths. Whether they are right or not in their conjectures it is not our proyince at present to inform them; but as L Olon?fs is a character of subordinate interest, we may state at onco and for all that he was slain in scaling the ramparts of the great castle just an hour previously; and as for Walter Evandale, he, haying more qualms of mercy than of appe- tite, had absented himself from the feast, on the plea of a headache, and was doing what he could to quell the rapine in the city. : Let us follow him aad see what good he was able to effect. Chagres was in flames in a hundred different places, and so it needed not the light of the sickly oil lamps, that were dispersed here and there along the streets to guide his Wey He entered the great gate of Don Carlos, and walked down the Puerto del Principe. Throughout its whole length there existed a complete pandemonium, " The buccaneers were beating in doors and win- dows with the butt ends of their pikes and lances, and dragging tle terrified citizens forth into the street. Here they would force them down upon their knees, and prick them with the points of their swords and daggers until they confessed where they had concealed their riches, - f ven beautiful young girls were pe ea to this brutal trealment—young girls, with skins whiter than the snows of winter. The brutal buccaneers would laugh as they drew back their heads by their long black hair and pierced their tender flesh, causing the crim- son blood to spout forth on their lovely necks and bosoms, In thé churches hundreds of the populace had taken refuge, but Hit had afforded them but a meuger shelter; great battering rams in the shape of beams of wood had been brought to bear upon the doors, and these had soon been broken in, Tho buccaneers then made short work of the terrified wretches inside. No quarter was givon, though in many in- stances it was piteously prayed for. Shrieks of agony, curses, and tho crash of arms were heard where twenty-four hours ago the strains of the vesper hymn had risen melodi- ously te Heaven, and writhing limbs, distorted faces, and gushed bodies covered the floors of naves and aisles, and side chapels—aye ! even the very altar steps. alter Evandale’s efforts to stop the carnage that was still going on were as ineffectual as would be an outstretched oar blade to check the roaring St. Lawrence as it dashes over the wild Falls of Niagara, then never beheld saye by say- Tn vain he commanded, expostulated, petition- ed; the men would ‘not listen to him. Inflamed by wine and. ardent spirits, their naturally blood- thirsty dispositions would have vent, and it seemed as if they would not be satisfied until every Spaniard was slain. At last, as Eyandale was ae his way back towards the castle, very sad at all the scenes he had witnessed, in passing the corner of a street some one clutched convulsively at his cloak, CHAPTER XVI. A GALLANT RESCUE. Li£UTENANT EVANDALE turned round and per- ceived that the person who had clutched him was a young and beautiful girl. ; jhe was on her knees, and a stalwart buccaneer grasped the luxuriant hair with his left hand, whilst the brandished sword in his right hand showed that he was about to slay her. : Ere it could descend Walter Evandale’s sword- blade was interposed, upon which the rufilan’s steel clashed until sparks of fire sparkled trom the rasping steel. ‘‘ Off with you, she is mine!” roared the buo- caneer, glaring upon Evandale with the fury of a baffled wolf, while he glided his sword-blade up towards his adversary s hilt. “Release her, or you die!” cried Evandale. “Tam your officer, and I command you.” “Command be hanged !” was the courteous re- tort. ‘The battle over, discipline is relaxed among us jovial buccaneers, We know no officers then, slit my ears if wedo.” ; “You shall know your master anyhow, and have your ears slit into the bargain if you do not release your grasp on the young lady’s hair, and suffer her to depart with me unmolested,” replied Evandale, and his eyes flushed like those of a baffled tiger. aa The man saw the look, and cowered before it more than at the threat, but he was too stubborn to give ground, so he quickly disengaged and at- tacked Evyandale with great fury. —_ Walter had to protect both his own person and that of the young girl writhing at his feet, yet in less than flve seconds he shred off the buccaneer’s left ear. “J’vo kept a third of my promise; by taking to your heels you may save me performing the re- mainder,” laughed Walter Evanduale, bitterly. “Run from thee! bah, never!’ replied the man. ‘Ill have ear for ear, and wound for wound yet, and the girl shall die into the bar- gain;” and he fought with renewed dotermina- tion, “As you will,” answered Evandale; and even while he spoke off was flashed the remaining ear of his ruffian antagonist, who gave a howl of minyled rage and pain, ‘ “Now uway with thee, for the next thing I will deprive theo of is th life. By Heaven. wero we not so short of men [ would not file thee a chance of preverene it now,” cried Walter. With lightning eran ad he came to the disen- pac, and then with a swiftness of feint and unge impossible to be excelléd, he touched the buceaneer thrice in different parts of his body in less than two seconds of time, thus proving ‘that he had held his life all the time in his hands.” Tho buccaneer was cowed. ' Olashing his sharp sword back into its sheath he withdrew his hand as gently from the maid- én’s hairas a mother could do froin the head of her first-born, and with a sullen how of un- conscious respect to Evandule turned round and walked away. “My poor little girl, I hope he has not hurt ou?” suid Walter, tenderly raising from her nees the damsel whose life he had saved, and gazing into her face. ; A very beautiful face itwas to gaze into, with its dark violet, appealing eyes, half hidden by long fringed lashes, and a pure, transparent sipin, white as mountain snow, framed and Set forth: by the long, glossy, raven tresses that draped her slender form, even to the waist, : “No, I am not much hurt; but oh! Iam ter- rifled and frightened nearly unto death,” replied the lovely girl. “‘And my Peek father, what will he think has become of me?” “Who is thy father, fair maiden?” asked Wal- ter Evandale. “Don Pedro de Guzman, Captain-General of Now Spain,” was the reply. «Then if I cannot give thy father news of thy’ safety I can give thee intelligence of his. Heisa prisoner, it is true, b-t not doomed to death. His ransom has been set at seven thousand pieces of eight. But come, we must not stay hore, or [ may have to fighta hundred battles in thy de- re I must try to bear thee toa place of safety.” ~ : “Oh. bear me to the presence of my futher!” cried the beautiful girl, “T dare not, for he lies ina dungeon of the cas- tle securely guarded. Did I bear theo thither those guards would pounce upon thee, and carry thee straightway to fhe presence of Morgan, one of whose objects in landing here is to secure thy person.” ; , “ My erson—oh, what good should I be to him ?” she asked, innocently. ‘On some former pillaging expedition to these shores he saw thee and learned to love thee. have heard him mention thy name in his dreams: Perchance he would marry thee.” “Marry me?—oh! that would be too dreadfnl.. Oh! preserye me from him at any cost.” “‘T will,” answered .Evandale. ‘And yet only in one place art thou safe, and that'is inside the castle where at this very moment Morgan holds high carnival with all his officers,”
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} | | | vd KING MORGAN. AT, “Never mind; I will not be afraid whilst thy true heart and strong arm are by to protect me,” shé ‘said, looking up trustingly in his face. Walter. Evandale could not reply, the tears sprang to his eyes, and a choking sensation came into his throat at-the beautiful donna’s words— words of trust and confidence from the lips of innocence. He had not listened to such for years; he felt them keenly now. - From that moment Walter Evandale’s very life was at that young girl’s service. : He raised her in his arms, for the trembling limbs refused her all power of walking. She was very light. He carried her as easily as though she had been a child. Half conceald by his cloak he might bear her to the castle without interruption. Along the fire-illumined streets, along the blood-stained pavement, gliding on in the shades where darkness dwelt, and with more hurried strides crossing such squares and thoroughfares as were all red light from the glare of burning buildings, Evandale bore her, Entirely on one arm, too, for he dared not re- linquish his sword from his strong right hand, as he knew not for an instant when’his path would be barred. At last it was barred by a tipsy roisterer, who brandished a halberd in his face. With one slash the head of the weapon was cleft from the staff, with one thrust its bearer fll clattering amongst the blood and dust of the gutter, and Walter strode over his corpse. But three shortly usurped the place of one, They’ were encountered in a narrow street, a Anes Stretched themselves across it, sword in and. “Here is a comrade sneaking away with a pretty lass,” sang out one. _ “Let him stand and deliver up. Knows he not that all protty lasses are common property in this good city of Chagres?—aye! and ugly ones, too, or that matteer.” , ‘* Well spoken, mon comrade. So stop, sirrah, in the blue and silver, and Jet us share thy spoil, or, by my good sword, ’twill be a case of thirds instead of fourths, for our swords shall be as busy Neer thee as spits in the king’s kitchen,” eried the a x Walter Evandale came to a halt, but it was the halt ofa fierce wolf at bay. GEN, - Back!” he cried hoarsely; “back if ye value our lives. Ihave had to shred off two ears in his young lady’s defence, and, by Heaven! I will quickly slit three tongues unless they cease their ribaldry within her hearing. As for your toasting-forks, I prithee’ put them up, unless ye would never wield them more, or would lose them over the housetops,” “Ah, ah! who is the gay cock who crows so loudly?”-bawled one in response. “Evandale of the lightning blade, the best Swordsman in the buccaneer army,” replied Walter, with ascornful laugh. “Now will ye bar his passage?” No sooner had he announced his name than the three men sheathed their weapons, and shrink- ing back into ‘a deep, arched doorway, suffered him to pass, “Oh! my brave champion and preserver, when shall we be safe?” sobbed the poor girl. “Ina few minutes, my child,” answered Evan- dale. “Yonder is the castle,” / They met with no further opposition until they ‘reached it, By which time Walter Eyandale was so ex- hausted that he had to set his beautiful young charge on her feot. The warders at the entrance demanded the pass-word and counter-sign, which were readil given, and then Walter was allowed to enter wit the pretty donna leaning on hisiarm. The place was dimly lighted within, and they attracted little attention as they glided along the deserted passages and corridors, where all was Silent but for an occasional burst of rude merri- ment from the banqueting-hall, or the clatter of arms and the gruff spoken pass-word as the eae were relieved at different parts of the vast ng. “If we but reach my suite of rooms in the southern wing unperceived, I can there offer thee shelter and protection, my poor child,” said Wal- ter Evandale. ‘There will be none of thine own Sex to tend thee; merely the kindly offices of a rough soldier.” Of a brave soldier, but. certainly not a rough one. From what I know of thee, my preserver, I will trust myself with thee as if thou wert my brother,’ was the sweet res onse. But before Walter Evandale could make any reply to this sweet assuranco, a door, just in ad- yance of them, was thrown Suddenly opened and forth there issued into the corridor preceded by torch-bearers, Morgan and all his followers, Most of them walked unsteadily; and were flushed with wine; but for all that there was no chance of eluding their observation. Morgan himself was the first to perceive them and bring them to a halt. : “Ah, my sick lieutenant and right trusty friend, has been seeking a female physician to cure thine ailment? By Heayen, were such always near at hand who would not be ill? Let me look upon the beauty’s face,” he cried. ‘ As he spoke he advanced and touched Evan- dale on the arm. “Pardon me, captain, replied the latter, ~vith a laugh, “but in this case this is not the physician butthe patient. A peasant’s pretty daughter whom I saved from having her throat cut, and 1o whom Iam going to give shelter till the reign of blood is over.” “Ah, ah! and by whom. thou expectest to be well repaid for thy kindness.” ‘Her gratitude will amply repay me for so tri- fling a kindness,” replied Evandale, his cheek gua hing redly with anger at Morgan’s insinua- ons, { “ Gratitude—ha, ha! That virtue is rare amongst buccaneers. But thou callest her a peasant. Certes! dost think me drunk, or that peasants wear kirtles of silk, and golden fringe and point lace? Bah! thou artdeceiving me. I will see the jade’s countenance.” Morgan essayed to raise from her face Eyandale’s sheltering cloak. : “Captain Morgan, I have five times saved th life, and haye never yet accepted of thee a favor. Look not upon this young girl’s face, and suffer. mo to bear her hence, and we will cry quits,” cried Walter, trying to restrain his passion. But he spoke too late, for Morgan had already raised the cloak, and caught sight of the fair and loyely countenance it had hitherto hidden. “Donna Teresa de Guzman, by every saint in heaven!” he ejaculated, He turned pale as death, and staggered back against a pillar for support. In an instant, however, he had recovered his composure, for he caught the black, glittering eyes of Zoabinda regarding him like a lynx. “Lieutenant Walter Evyandale,” said Morgan, “your prisoner is the daughter of the Captain- General of New Spain, and as such must be placed under safe keeping. I shall set her ran- 80m down at five thousand pieces of eight, and she must be imprisoned in that portion of the castle I.myself inhabit, because it is the most secure, and yet at the same time the most com- fortable.” ; “She shall inhabit the room next to that which I occupy myself,” said Zoabinda, ste ing for- ward. “I will at once conduct her thither; no doubt she will be happier with one of her own sex than with rough men.” Phe poor girl, the object of this very equivocal consideration, glanced at the beautiful but yet terrible-looking Amazon, and then up at the face of Walter Evandale, as if she were yery unwilling to exchange the one protector for the other. But Eyandale merely smiled kindly upon her, and bid her go and be of good courage; for what objection could be made to such an arrangement? What objection, even though he saw hatred, malice—aye! murder, as clearly writ in the neptoHs, tawny eyes as they could haye been printed in a book? : Morgan looked as ill-pleased at Zoabinda’s offi- cious interference as did Walter Evandale, but he also remained silent, and the next instant all their thoughts were turned into another channe] by the sudden apparition in their midst of a stern, ghastly, death-white figure, clad infuneral black, in whom they all recognized either Rupert Russel or his ghost, _ . OHAPTER XVII. WHICH TREATS OF THE ADVENTURES OF HARRY ; SEABORNE. Let us new return to the fortunes of our hero, whom we left amid the ruins of Fort St. Angelo waiting for the arrival of night, in order to effect his escape therefrom unperceived. At last it came, and directly it was quite dark he stole forth through the friendly aperture the lieutenant had made’ in his dungeon wall, and gained the exterior of the fort. Even then he had a difficult and a dangerous task in the darkness to ereep down over the masses of loose stones that in the morning had been a superb fortification, and gained the level country below, for there was no moon, and even the stars were clouded, Sometimes a glare of light from the distant city, as some fresh building was given to the flumes, shed a momentary radiance around, but the fort was too remote therefrom for the lurid glow to linger long around its piles of ruined masonry. of them—assumed a menacin But brief as were these flashes, they on two occasions saved Harry from a terrible death by~ falling over some precipitous and still-staring es-- carpment upon the rocks below. : f autiously he picked his way downwards by~ feeling more than by sight, often pausing to dis-- cover with his foot whether the next step would be upon a loose stone or a firm one. : On some occasions he could not ascertain this - with any certainty, and that which he had taken to be stable matter would roll away from under’ his feet, and down he would fall amid a chaos of © smaller stones, sometimes for several yards, Bruised and shaken, he would then scramble~ to his feet again, and the wole thing would ‘be« repeated with slight variations, too immaterial to need description. F At last terra firma was reached, if a damp;-. marshy plain can deserve such a title, and Harry stopped to gather breath and, in some degree, to’ recover his strength and vigor. What to do next wasthe question, and he found. it a remarkably difficult one to answer. He could not flee to the distant city, becauseit was inthe hands of Morgan and his lawless crew, who would assuredly torture and slay him: His uniform as a Spanish naval officer would, on the other hand, procure him a certainty of ar- rest, imprisonment, court-martial and very prob- ably death, did he dare to show himself in any town or village in New Spain. His position was precarious in the extreme, yet something must be done. . On his left ley the still, glassy waters of the river, in which the lighted battle-lanterns of the buceaneer ships reflected their massive hulls and tapering masts and spars, On his right, about seven miles distant, was. Chagres, weltering in its flame and its blood, and from thence a great babel of mingled sound still cotinued to roll. Behind him rose the ruined fort, from which he had just effected his escape, and in front stretched the swampy plains, before mentioned, he knew notwhither. — * Rejecting the river, the town, and areturn into the fort, he determined upon crossing these plains, feeling a sort of dismal comfort at the thought that they were so long that he would haye ample time whilst traversing them to deter- mine what he would do when he reached the ‘other side. He was never destined to reach the other side, however, for scarcely had he got half a mile away from the ruined fort when a host of spectral fig~ ures rose up in a body around him. Yet they were not exactly specters either, for they were a company of Spanish soldiers who had escaped from Chagres after some hard fighting, and who, neatly. worn out and exhausted, hat thrown themselves down on the bare, damp plain to obtain some rest and wait-for daybreak to re- sume their march. Harry Seaborne was surrounded in an instant, and eager questions were asked as to who he was and from whence he came, queries which he found it by no means pleasant to have to answer. He did answer them, however, straightforward- ly and truthfully, for he knew that if he did not tell his name his foreign accent would. make his captors take him to be a buccaneer. n that case they would, of course, kill him without mercy, but did they know who he really was, though they might treat him with seant courtesy, yet they would not surely slay him. Of two eyils, *tis always best to choose the least, and Harry Seaborne did it. Having done it, however, he scareely knew whether it was the least, for the Spaniards—and there certainly were not less than half a hundred attitude. Swords were drawn, pikes brandished, and a, million invectives hurled at his head. f Invectives, even in modern times, do not hurt s0 much as brickbats, only, unhappily, they are sometimes the antecedents thereto, and so Harry Seaborne came to the conclusion that the oppro- brious epithets, and the brandishing of weapons, would soon be followed by the su saelte applica- tion of the latter to his head or yas He put on a bold front, however, and unarme though he was, confronted his accusers as un- dauntedly as though he had been at the head of a legion, and they were a vile rabble fleeing be- fore it. é ‘‘Whereof do you accuse me? Why do you howl’ around me like «a pack of ravenous. wolves?” “Say rather, why do the pack of hounds bay at the wolf that they have hunted \down? We know you, Captain Harry Seaborne, atid we know the crime wherewith you are charged. What say you that we should not execute a righteous judg- ment on you with our own hands?” ES aaua ta So exclaimed an officer richly uniformed, and - who seemed to be the chief in command.” ;
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as KING MORGAN. Se ee ee a eee eee eee ee a ONL TPE SS SN SE OP SOE POT CART STO | eee TT a0 _ Harry Seaborne merely replied: «Tam in your power. You can do with me as zyou please.’ § “Mon capitan, he speaks well,” exclaimed a ‘junior officer. ‘He has been approved a traitor, ‘and he should meot a traitor’s doom. Yonder stands a tree, and it has tough boughs.” +©And Pedro has a rope, and can reeye a Noose zs well as any man,” cried another. * Hero is a throat ready, then,” said Harry Sea- porne, casting aside his collar, and looking calm, pale and determined. ‘ Be sure that the hempen collar fits as neatly as the lace one.” This cool hardihood had its due effect; the brave always win respect. The Spaniards hesitated, and our hero took prompt advantage of their hesitation. ; “ear me fora minute, my friends,” he said, «for presently I shall be unable to address you. I am innocent of the cnetee laid against me. With my little guarda costa I engaged two pirati- eul vessels, the one double, the other treble her sizo, and inflicted such damage on the latter, the ship of this obnoxious Morgan, that had not her consort, by a clever maneuver, borne down upon me unpercoived amidst the smoke, and literally cut my little craft in two, I should infallibly have sunk her; and this demon Morgan, instead of be- ing, as at present, in Geet would have been Jying fathoms deep in the bed of the ocean.” He paused for an instant. ‘The Spaniards were listening to him attentively. ‘Well, was I traitor for acting thus?” he con- tinued. ‘I might have been incautious, reckless, ‘put untrue to Spain I was not; and at this very moment, if you will Rees my hanging for a couple of hours, I will lead you on a venture in ‘which you may cover yourselves with glory, and make for youa name inthe pages of history.” “Speak, speak—what is it?” cried a score of eager voices, and Harry Seaborne, instead of ‘standing before them condemned to death, stood ‘the hero of the hour. Even the officers joined inthe enthusiasm, and beg, zed him to propound his scheme. “Mis a simple one,” rejoined Harry, ‘ You see ene just to the left of the fort, five lights. ell, they are battle-lanterns' on the port side of Morgan’s five pirate vessels. They are riding at ‘their anchors within a quarter of a mile from the shore, a very slender complement of men in each. Follow me, comrades, and we will capture those vessels.” The daring nature of the scheme struck the ‘Spaniards with astonishment. Their minds could scarcely grasp an under- taking of such magnitude, But aS) Seaborne so lucidly explained to them the feasibility of the plot that they at last fully entered into it, and became almost frantic in their excitement. He was now a hero, almost a demi-gou, in their opinion. They clamored for him to lead them on, * We was in no ways loath to do so. *Twas pleasanter far to conduct them on a gallant and what promised to be a glorious ex- Jois than for them to conduct him to the gal- WS. - He enjoined ypot them the necessity of silence and caution, and at their hoad marched back over the bare, swampy plain, in the direction from whence he had so short a time ago come. - How different were his emotions now! Pride, hope, and military ardor again filled his breast. Here was a chance of retrieving his lost honor, and tegaining, porters: his high appointment. On through the slush and through the dark- ness they marched, and at last the old fort was reached, and crouching behind they obtained a mearer view of the shipping. : The battle-lanterns rendered them distinctly wisible, and revealed, in part, the narrow strip of lack water that intervened between them and the nearer shore. The question now was how that narrow strip of svater was to be crossed, “ Had the Spanish soldiers been English sail- ors thething would have been easy enough. The swim would haye been child’s play, and the Jack-tars would have been swarming up ’ the black hulls of the pirate vessels within a ~ quarter of an hour, like flies up a window-pane. But very few of the Spanish soldiers knew how to swim, and so for them the narrow strip of river seemed to form as impenetrable a barrier as the Atlantic Ocean.could have done. Ms Harry Seaborne was very much puzzled how, after all, to carry his scheme out, And yet it must be carried out, for his reputa- fion, perhaps his life, were on the stake. ‘ Suddenly it occurred to him’ that amidst the ruins of the fort there must be a quantity of shattered: timber, much of which, if carried to the river and launched thereon, would be well calculated to bear towards the ships such men as could not swim. 3 Those who could swim could guide the un- couth craft containing those who couldn’t, Arrived at the vessels’ sides, the ascent to their decks would be easy, for Harry could see by the rays of the battle-lanterns that were fixed directly above, that the’ steps, or, as we should call them now, the companion-ladder, which had been lowered to admit of the buccaneers’ disem- barking, had never since been raised. ! At Harry’s command the soldiery scattered themselves over the fort in every direction, and presently quite enough wood was procured to ut his :project into execution, in the shape of eams and rafters and great doors. Some of these were of such heavy wood that they would not float, but there was ample that would, and all this was borne down to the water’s edge, and launched. The night was so dark that there was no chance of their movements being perceived by the buccaneers on board either of the vessels. On the other hand, owing to the glaring of the great battle-lanterns, every mast, spar, and rope in the five ships were distinctly visible. Kt last the Spanish soldiers were all got afloat, a dozen, perhaps, astride on a single beam, half a dozen more este gingerly on a door, there a score astride a long, square rafter, and go on, the swimmers of the party pushing them behind in the proper direction. Harry Seaborne determined to make the great ship, the Death Cloud, the first object of attack, and he swam at the head of his little band of vol- unteers toward her, Avoiding the line of light cast upon the water from her port lanetrn, they slowly neared her, and at last, beam and door and rafter, and rafter and door and beam, drifted under her black hull. Harry Seaborne was the first to put foot on the companion-ladder. In a crouching attitude he crept up afew steps, and then waited for more to join him, The two Bpetish officers quickly did so, and then a few of the men, until at last a good dozen of them stood grouped together on the compan- |. ion-ladder. The command was then passed down for the others to follow as quickly as they could. Harry Seaborne drew his sword, and signaled to those immediately behind to follow him. A second later he was upon the deck. It seemed deserted; but no, a sailor was al- most touching him, lying across a carronade, either drunk or asleep, Harry Seaborne, without a moment’s’ hesita- tion, plunged his sword into his heart. The man opened his eyes, and for an instant perce stonily at the densely clouded, obscured eavens; then the lids again closed over them, and he lay still in death. Aare our hero glanced around. Ah! there was a man at the helm and another keeping watch at the bow—if it can bo called keeping watch when a man is sitting nodding under the lea of the bulwarks far more asleep than awake, “Mhere is work’ for Spanish steel,” whispered Harry. ‘I will dispose of the helmsman.” He and his foliowers were all barefooted. One of them crept stealthily towards the man who should hayo been on the look-out and was not, whilst Harry glided towards the helmsman. This latter was wide awake, but he had not seen the Spaniards come aboard in the low, deep waist of the ship,which was completely below his line of vision. Harry Seaborne had, however, to ascend the steps on to the high poop, and to traverse its entire len, before he could reach him. e could not hope to do this unperceived. Our hero could see that he was a gigantic and brawny ruffian, and that a sword hung on one side of his belt, and a long dagger at the other. He sprang up the ladder, however, and ad- vanced upon him at a run, his sword shortened for a thrust that should at once run him through and hurl him overboard. But the giant perceived him, and with a howl of astonishment relinquished the spokes in favor of his sword-hilt, and the weapon flashed in the light of the binnacle lamp. fi arry Seaborne rushed upon him with mad 'impetuosity, with which, however, there was a certain degree of prudence mixed, but the: giant was firm of blade and strong of arm, and our hero’s onslaught and rush were of no avail. CHAPTER XVIII. HOW HARRY SEABORNE WON A THREE-DECKER AND BECAME ITS COMMANDER, Anp yet Harry Seaborne was destined to win the victory, for by a rapid feint and thrust he, a \ i minute later, pierced the buccaneer’s throat, and he fell to the deck weltering in his gore. The noise of the clashing blades had, however, aroused such of the buccaneers as had been carousing between decks, and they now rushed up to see what was the matter. / The Spaniards, however, quietly felled each man as he gained the deck, and then they were bound and thrown overboard as a propitiatory offering to the fishes. “Now,” exclaimed Harry Seaborne, in clear, exultant tones, “if I have lost his Majesty the © King of Spats a guarda costa, I have won him a three-decker. Aye! and by Heaven! I will blow for him a whole pirate fleet out of the water.” Officers and men came forward to congratulate — him on the victory. ‘But you have still to hang me,” he said, with alaugh. ‘‘ Well, there is a foreyard arm for you, the roper gallows for a sailor who has failed in is duty.” , . Officers and men stood abashed; they knew | not how to answer him. | - He quietly put an end to their confusion by shouting out: ‘Whoever amongst ye knows how to load, point, and flre a cannon, step forward.” To his great joy and intense surprise all the men held up their hands. ; “What! ye belong to the land artillery, and I thought ye were mere musketeers,” he cried. “hen, by Heaven! I can keep my word hand- somely. Man every gunin the ship,” he cried, excitedly, a minute later, ‘Iwill tuke the helm, and cause our Die to swing round so that she shall have the Pestilence and the Famine on her port side, and the War and Devastation on her starboard. How astonished will be the four scourges of New Spain when a hurricane ofstone and lead is poured into their quivering sides from the ports of their own commodore |” ; The men rushed to the guns with joyous, on- thusiasm, \ Berry Seaborne sheathed his sword and rasped the spokes of the wheel with a firm, ron clutch, Slowly the head of the Death Cloud swung round towards the shore. At last it remained steady, “Ready, all ready,” was passed up from below. “Tire, then, in Heaven’s name—two broadsides at once, every gun that can bear!” Then there ensued a roar that seemed to shake earth and sky; clouds of white smoke, from ‘which lambent tongues and flashes of flame quivered, hid the black hull from sight, the ship trembled with the terrible vibration, and when the smoke-wreaths cleared away, great was the havoc which her leaden messengers had effected amongst her consorts. Great holes had been knocked in their hulls, masts had been shivered, and spars shot clean away; they were almost wrecks. The few men on board each vessel had rushed to their respective decks, at a perfect loss to ac- count for this strange conduct on the part of their admiral’s rhip; but Harry Seaborne had by this time, alone and unaided, hauled down the bucca- neer’s flag, the grim death’s-head and cross- bones, and run up the royal standard ef Spain in its Ee ' alf an hour later he had literally performed his promise; the War, Famine, Devastation, and Pestilence had been blown out of the water; the Death Cloud alone rode the waves, but she had changed hands, and been given a new name—the Avenger of Spain, j CHAPTER XIX. HARRY SEABORNE BLOCKADES MORGAN IN HIS OAPTURED CIT¥—A PLOT. A moRE successful venture was never planned and ¢arried through than that of Harry Seaborne, described in our last chapter. The Death Oloud had been converted into a Spanish frigate, and all the rest of the pirate fleet sunk beneath the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea within the space of an hour, Harry Seaborne felt very Ansa at the success of his exploit, and his heart swelled high as the received the encomiums and congratulations of the officers and men who had followed and sup- ported him in the daring enterprise. He had other ede however, maturing in his brain, projects that would not admit of his resting on his laurels. The dead were accordingly promptly thrown overboard, the wounded carried to the sick-bay, the decks swabbed clear of blood, and everything Be as taut, and trim, and neat as before the action. { “Who is there present who understands the navigation of this river?” cried our hero, when all this was accomplished, -
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’ | F KING MORGAN. 19 There was no reply. What could soldiers be expected to know about such matters? , “Has any one seen a ship as large as this lying pele gun range of the city?” was the next ques- on. “T have seen the Marie Magdalena, the flag- ship of Admiral La Hacha, lying a mile hi her up the river, swinging at her anchor, and within half-gun range of the city,” replied a Spanish officer. confidently, ‘ : ‘“‘Ha, good!” exclaimed our hero, stamping heayily on the deck in the height of his exulta- tion. ‘Then we will go up and occupy the same position, and with his own ship blockade Morgan in ‘a foreign port.” It was a, delicate and a perilous operation, tak- ing so large a vessel as the Death Cloud up a river unmarked by buoys, and the channel whereof was unknown to a single soul on board, Our hero saw the impracticability of the meas- twe almost as soon as he had conceived it, but he was not one to be daunted by difficulties, and So he dispatched half a dozen soldiers ashore in one of the ship’s boats, to scour the country in all directions, and bring back as many Spanish Sailors and fishermen as they could find, and, if poceible, amongst them a pilot, or some one at east Who well understood the navigation of the river, The party took their departure, but were not gone more than a couple of hours when they re- turned, bringing with them all that was required, namely, a river pilot and a dozen strong, active sailors, \ On questioning the former as to how near the Death Cloud could safely lay up towards the town, Seaborne heard that she ould! go up the river to within a quarter. of a mile of the city, where she could take up a position that would cover with her guns the principal buildings in Chagres, the cas- tle, and the magazine. This was all he desired to know. The pilot was put in charge of the wheel, two or three suilors were placed in the bows to heave the lead, and a few of the higher sails were cast loose to the wind. ; ‘ Slowly the gallant ship glided up the stream; once she scraped a rock, for she was very deep in the water, but nevertheless her progféss was in no degree stayed, ‘ At length a bend in the river was rounded, and then Chagres lay right before them, the whole city extending along the shore for at least a mile —a city, as could beseen at that distance, of ruin and desolation. ‘ : The ship’s head was now allowed to swing round until she was broadside on to the town, when anchors,were cast from her fore and after castles, 86 as to hold her immovable in that posi- on, Chagres was undor the dominion of her guns; Morgan was blockaded in his conquered city. * * * * * * Let us now return to that worthy and to his bloodthirsty and hellicant crow. We left them just at the period when the beautiful Spanish donna was borne off to her chamber by tho malignant and zealous Amazon, Zoabinda, and when the sudden reappearance of Captain Rupert Russel, whom every one had thought to be long since dead, had so astonished the buccaneers, ‘ . ‘Mother of God! is it you, Rupert Russel, or is | it your ghost?” sthmmered Morgan. * By the token that ghosts neither hunger nor thirst, and I at present could eata raw rhinoceros, and quaff a whole cask of canary, I presume it is myself,” was the curt, satirical reply. On hearing this highly satisfactory explana- tion, Morgan grasped his old companion warmly by the hand, and said— “Welcome back, my gallant Russel; and though we cannot oblige you with a raw rhino- Ceros, we can with canary, ad libitum. In the banqueting hall are the remains of a feast, suffi- cient for a score of famished men, and wine enough to float our whole fleet were they laden above the water-line with Spanish doubles.” The other buceaneer chiefs imitated their leader’s example in welcoming back the comrade they had deemed lost to them forever, and then they all returned in his company to the room they had just quitted, Rupert Russel was, indeed, half-famished. He ate as though he had not eaten for a month, and now more clearly than in the dimly- lighted passage his friends could see how pale and haggard he was. Z He was still attired from head to heel insomber black, but the rich materials were worn and rusty, and discolored With salt water. The magnificent diamond aigrette was gone from his hat, too, and with it the splendid plume it had fastened. | The hat itself seemed, indeed, to be a different one, though a cocked beaver of the same shape. . But his hands were small, white, and delicate as ever, and diamond rings glittered on almost every finger, There was no Russel until he ha hunger, , Then he leant back in his chair and indulged in a sigh cf content and relief. i “ Having satisfied the inner man, perhaps you will now satisfy us how you have so strangely returned to find us here, and what you have been doing since we last sat together?” said Morgan, ; “Not _to-night—I cannot, I cannot!” replied Rupert Russel, while his keen, dark eyes seemed to flast fire. ‘I haye endured the torments of op and this is not the time or place to picture nem,” At these words some of the buccaneers recoiled from him aghast, deeming that he had indeed returned from the other world; but he laughed at their fears, and assured them that he had only been speaking figuratively. _ But his laughter was hollow and harsh, and very little restored their fears. Presently Morgan intimated that fhe would wish to be left alone with Rupert Russel, Walter Evandale, Peter Mansyelt, and Captain Kydd, his very good frionds and allies, to discuss impor- tant affairs, ae half-uttered wish was instantly complied with. ' The other buccaneers arose and withdrew. “ My friends,” said Morgan, when the lesser chiefs and leaders had taken their departure, ‘we have this day won a most glorious victory. It is the first of many that must secure our do- minion in the new world.” “Has, then, this enterprise a further object than the plunder of coast cities?” asked Kydd. “Yes, redoubtable captain and world-famed pirate,” answered Morgan, exultingly. ‘I have obtained this small holding on the Spanish Main in order to form a new empire in the new world. I can defend what I haye won and extend it, too; yes, from shore to shore, and from north to south.” The four listeners were perfectly carried away by his enthusiasm. : _ Their Med flashed, their hands played convul- sively with their sword-hilts, as though they longed to be up and doing again. *“ What is the next moye in the expedition? I am with you hand and glove,” said Captain Kydd. ‘My next design is on Panama,” replied Mor- gan, bringing his clenched fist down with a crash on the table, that made goblets and drinking-cups, platters and silver trays, clatter and dance again. “On Panama?” responded Kydd, starting with astonishment. ‘‘Can our ships navigate the air, or are you so mad as to think that any vessel built by man could double the Horn, that grim Cape of Storms?” “Neither; and yet, trust me, I know a way to get to Panama for all that,” replied Morgan. “ But consider the number of places to be re- duced en route, the length of hostile and unknown country to be traversed, and the impossibility of conveying artillery such a distance,” put in Wal- ter Evandale, “ And the general unhealthiness of the climate, that will destroy three men for every one slain by the sword,” added Rupert Russel, with a shrug of the shoulders, But Morgan, with his specious power of argu- ment, at length bore down all opposition, and brought all four subordinate chieftains over to his ay of thinking, though not without much trou- e. “T know the expedition will destroy, just as nearly as I can calculate, seven-eighths of our lads, but what a Predigions booty will remain for the survivors—if they get it,” he said. Goblets were then refilled, and success quaffed to the expedition. Day had now begun to dawn in the east; the leaden hues ot morning increased apace. Suddenly pe AS looked forth from the win- dow of what might now more appropriately have been called a hall of carousal than a banqueting- hall. fe He had no sooner done so than he started buck getting a word from Rupert fully satisfied his thirst and hast. ee Saints of Heaven !” he ejaculated, ‘the Death Cloud is coming up the river towards the city. Now, what may that portend? The few men in charge of her had instructions to let her lie quiet- ly at her anchors at the mouth. By the giants of Teaver ! they are warping her broadside on tothe stream.” 5 ' “By the Saints of Heaven you may well say, Captain Morgan!” exclaimed Rupert Russol, fiercely; ‘‘for if yonder flag lies not, the Death Cioud is no longer ours. See, the three golden castles of Spain float above the death’s-headt and cross-bones of the buccaneer. While you have been tuking their city the Spaniards have been © capturing yourships. Take my word for it, such are the facts of the case.” , “¥ do not see how it can be so,” stammered Morgan. ‘The ships were left in mid-streans under competent charge. We have scoured the country and cleared it of every foe. Who cam have taken them?” The buccaneers shrugged their shoulders, It was a query very difficult to answer. Walter Evandale had, however, answered it quite satisfactory to himself, though he spoke not his convictions aloud. - He felt convinced that Harry Seaborne was at the bottom of it all, and as the reader is aware he. was right. Had a hundred-ton bombshell fallen at their feet, the other buccaneer chiefs could not, how-- ever, have been more astounded than at the ap-- pearance of the Death Cloud flaunting the gor-- geous banner of Spain. And now signal flags began to flutter from her’ mizzen mast and the ends of her spars. “For God's sake tell me what the fellow sa roared Morgan, addressing Walter Evandale,,. “for my rage and chagrin are too great to permit: of my thinking of what he is talking about by means of his accursed flags.” Eyandale peered earnestly toward the distant ship, and presently made reply as follows: “The vessel is commanded by one Don Harry Seaborne, Captain Morgan.” : “What! by that young limb of Satan whom we left buried in the sands of Tortugo?” “ By the same; but, as you are aware, we have met him since then,” “Yes, when with his cockle-shell of a guards. costa he attacked the Death Cloud and engaged her so hotly, that had not the Pestilence come up he had to a surety carried her,” growled Morgan, between his teeth. ° “He is a noble and gallant youth,” said Walter Evandale, musingly, ‘“‘a yery noble and a yery gallant youth.” “T wish the noble and gallant youth were at the bottom of the sea!” retorted Morgan, flercely- “T believe that.that boy was born to be my evil enius, I believe that I shall meet my death at is hands.” “You will not meet your death at his hands, Captain Morgan; of that never fear,” was Evan- dale’s reply. A reply so fiercely, s0 vehemently spoken, that every one regarded the handsome young lieufén— ant with surprise. ¥ None more so than did Morgan, who seemedi suddenly to quail before his curling lipand flash— ing eyes. “How know you that?” he asked. .‘‘By St. Christopher! you speak with the air of a prophet,. or seer of old.” “Neyer mind how I know ; perhaps I am a seer;. perhaps a fatalist, perhaps merely a believer in: dreams and visions. Be that asit may, this is no- time for discussing the matter. Let us interpret. those flaunting signals.” “Ah, the signals, the signals! what does the: Pee Oe EUs dog dare to demand of us?” cried organ. : ‘He demands that we send every Spaniard of entle blood, both male and female, whom we old as prisoners, at once on board the Death. Cloud, safe, uninjured, and without ransom.” , “A moderate request, truly; and what more does he require?” sneered Morgan. ° “ He offers a reward of ten thousand pieces of eight for your head, and refuses to treat save with myself.” ; “Ha, ha! this presumption pleases me,” laugie- ed Morgan. “What else is he pleased to com- municate?” é “He states that he has the exact range both of this castle and of the powder magazine, and that if his commands are not complied with within half an hour, he will send every buccaneer in Chagres nearer to Heaven than he would ever have a chance of getting but for his amiable in- tervention in their behalf.” ‘‘Lieutenant Eyaudale, you are pleased to be loquacious,” said Morgan, bitterly. “Such rig- marole as that could not be communicated by signal, Tell us what he really says and no more?” “JT was merely putting the message into as soft and courteous tones as possible,” laughed Evan-— pr dale. ‘In plain Anglo-Saxon, he says that if we obey not his demands he will blow us into. the clouds.” Hi “Tet him dare--let him do his worst; but two can play atthat game. We have the shore batteriess inourhands. Letthembemanred. We willsink him and our poor Death Cloud together.” ; us Captain organ, this Don Harry Seaborne, as he designates himselt, has so artfully moored his: ship that not a single gun from the forts or bat- teries could be trained on her,” said Mansyelt. \
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20 KING MORGAN. “The devil he has!” roared Morgan, springing to his feet, and angrily pacing up and down the room, “and what think you of his assertion that he has this castle and the powder magazine within range of his guns?” . «J think the probabilities are that he has,” said Walter Evandale, who was now very grave. You must remember that, doubtless, he knows Chagres well, and that, furthermore, he must have captured the Death Cloud by theassistance of Spanish sol- diers and sailors, who must be many of them good gunners, and well ac juainted with the place.” “Ha!” exclaimed Morgan, “you speak sensibly now, Evandale. Who present knows: anything of this magazine?” “T do, captain,” answered old Peter Mansvelt. «J visited it but two hours since.” “ Well, what sort ofa place is it? What pow- der does it contain? Is it ball proof?” asked Morgan. - “Ts a rum sort of a place, roofed only with sheet lead. It contains a great ‘many tons of gunpowder, I don’t know hew many, but cer- tainly sufficient to sweep every living thing trom -off the earth for a circuit of many miles, and to fhurl every structure to the earth forthe same dis- tance. Added to which a red-hot shot from one of the Death Cloud’s carthouns could reach it with ease, and either penetrate one of its many <asements or aro oe its roof.” «Then we are absolutely at this fellow’s mercy,” groaned Morgan, tearing out his beard by the roots. “Might not the magazine be flooded?” sug- gested Rupert Russel, who had not spoken for some time. Ries “The water would have to be conveyed thither in buckets, which would be a work of great labor, and the leaden roof would have to be rip- ped off to allow of its being poured in in any volume upon the powder. It would take a good nine hours to render the powder innocuous for harm,” replied Peter Mansyelt, in answer to Ru- pert Russel’s suggestion. “ And Don Harry Seaborne only allows us half an hour,” remarked Walter Evandale, quietly. . “By Heavens! lieutenant mine, you seem al- most to sympathize with this daring rascal,” said Morgan, fiercely, ‘whereas I would fain see him boiled in oil, and thereafter grilled upon the devil’s grid-iron.” “T appreciate bravery and valor even in a foo,” answered Evandale, stoutly; “but the signals are still flying, and no more are being hoisted. How do you propose to answer them, Captain Morgan?” d “TY mean to leave them unanswered. Let the Villain do his worst,” answered the buccaneer. * But something must be done,” said Rupert Russel, ‘or we are lost.” » * And something shall be done,” rejoined Mor- an, an idoa seeming See to strike him. ‘The execution thereof I will leave unto Lieu- tenant Evandale and yourself. We have still halt an hour left to act in before the judgment of the avenger can fall upon us, and during that time we can, perchance, prevent its falling at all. ‘Take all the cannon you can, and with relays of fhorses, mules, men, anything you can press into the service, drag them, unperceived by the foo, down to the water's edge, so that the Death Cloud may be the center of a crown of fire directly she dares discharge her first cannon at this our city. Do you comprehend?” “Perfectly,” answered Walter Evandale, bow- ing, and tapping the hilt of his sword significant- y: “And do’ you, Peter Mansvelt, see that the magazine is flooded in as short a time as possi- ble, for even a dozen buckets of water may be of some service. But that is of secondary import- ance, for 1 think our friends Eyandale and Rus- sel will lay a trap from which this Don Harry Scaborne will have enough to do to escape with- out troubling himself any further about us.” ‘And yourself, Captain Morgan, what do you intend doing?” inquired Evandale. - “TJ intend to soothe the fears of a certain fair captive,’ answered the buccaneer chief, with a hideous lear, ‘“‘ who, perchance, will be terrified at the renewed firing of cannon and sounds of desperate conflict.” - Walter Eyandale bit his nether lip till the blood flowed, and his eyes flashed fire as his hand in- voluntarily sought his sword-hilt, but in an in- stant he had recovered his outward equanimity and composure, and was once more himself. = This was not the time to baffle Morgan in his |" NN and to bring him to a deadly reckoning ; he had not yet reached tothe zenith of his power, and not even to save the purity of Donna Guz- man would hoe sacrifice the life of his enemy until that life was to him far more precious than at. present. He, therefore, turned impatiently on his heel, and} followed by Rupert Russel and Captain | Kydd, strode rapidly in one direction, whilst old Peter Mansvelt strolled more leisurely in another. Then Morgan himself quitted the banqueting hall with flushed face and unsteady gait, mutter- ing to himself as he did so: . “She shall be mine, if only for.an hour.’ Have I ventured and dared so much to be bafiled at the last? No, she shall be mine, and this infernal Harry Seaborne may blow all Chagres about our ears five minutes afterif he will. Aye, I will be- take myself to her chamber forthwith.” ? CHAPTER XX. DEAD OR SLEEPING, WHICH® .A NOISY INTER- CEDER—TO ARMS!—TO ARMS! Aone the gloomy corridors, up the wide flights of stone stairs, and along more passages, went Morgan, his long steel spurs ¢clinking as he strode, while his sword scabbard clattered in. harsh unison. 4 He knew the suite of rooms in one of which the zealous Zoabinda had confined her younger and more beautiful rival. Would he be able to find it without arousing Zoabinda herself? This was the ee which he anxiously asked himself, and which he could not very satis- factorily answer, for Zoabinda, even if already asleep, slumbered lightly, and was very easily aroused, Pondering on this, Morgan thought it best to divest himself of his boots and sword, which he accomplished with some difficulty, and, as he was slightly inebriated, not without making consider- able noise. He heard it not, however, and doubtless thought he had accomplished the Craeeen very success- fully, for he proceeded on his way with consider- able assurance and a certain jaunty manner that was highly ludicrous. Atlength he reached the last great turnpike stair that conducted te the suite of rooms that he was in search of, and at their foot he paused for awhile to listen. No sound broke the stillness of oarly morn, save the distant tramp of armed sentries and the wind as it howled fitfully around the towers and turrets of the old Spanish castle. Cautiously he crept up the steep stone steps, and at last he reached the landing. As he did so, the clock of some distant church struck the hour of six. He started at the sound, for he did not imagine it had been so late. In a second, however, he had recovered his presence of mind, and he proceeded on his way, silent, stern, and determined, trying and noise- lessly opening door after door, and peeing, into the interior of the rooms, but withdrawing his head upon finding one after another empty. At last, however, he pav@:d for a moment at one, for there, at full length on a couch, reclined Zoabinda in all her dusky loveliness of perfect form and faultless features, her long black hair streaming over her neck and shoulders in inky ripples, her long, fringed lashes drooping over her rounded cheeks, She was a beautiful sight to gaze upon, and Morgan, though bound on fresh conquests, could not help pausing a minute to gaze upon her. . Then he noiselessly closed that door also, and continued on his tour of discovery. In tho very next room he entered a widely dif- ferent sight presented itself. Through the half-opened door he here gazed upon a vision of loveliness such as, sleeping, he had never beheld before. Upon a couch of the darkest crimson velvet, reclined a fairy-like form of extreme grace and beauty, in all that unconscious abandon which sleep alone could have produced. Hor hair, dishevelled, strayed not like Zoabin- da’s sable tresses, but like rivulets of molten gold over neck and shoulders that might haye been hewn from the purest alabaster, so white were they. . The hue of the rose dwelt, however, on her damask cheeks, and over them drooped her sun- ny lashes, not entirely concealing the orbs of azure hue beneath, which seemed as though open- ing to renewed wakefulness. Morgan crossed the room on tiptoe, and softly approached the object of his adoration. Having reached the sofa, he knelt down beside it, and softly took her hand in his. She resisted not nor awakened even, though Morgan pressed it fervently in his great, coarsé palm. At last he ventured to bend oyer her and to press his lips to hers. 2 The tiny coral bow that his lips had violated returned not the pressure. It was cold. A dread suspicion then seized upon Morgan. He started to his feet. : He gazed anxiously at the face so calmly up- turned towards his own, Then he again bent forward and placed his cheek elpse to the half-parted lips. \ This time only for a moment; he recovered ‘his equilibrium. The expression of dread upon his face had deepened, He was pale as death. He gently raised his left hand and placed his fingers on her pulse. For a moment he retained it in his grasp. hen he let it fall with a groan. “Good Heavens,” he shrieked; she is dead. pe ye er e stood contemplating her for a brief space, with his arms folded on his chest. p Then between his clenched teeth he muttered, “This is Zoabinda’s work. In her jealousy sho hath slain her, Well, one day she will have to give me areckoning for this,” ‘Why not now?” whispered a voice in his ear. He looked round. Zoabinda was by his side, He turned upon her like the tiger upon the hunter who has slain one of his cubs. His clenched fist was raised to strike,-but his wrist was caught in the subtle grasp of the ne- gress, the muscles on whose sable arms swelled out like those of a Roman gladiator as she held it firm. | “Henry Morgan,” sho said, “you haye never until now raised hand against me, Haye you ceased to love me?” In reply he gazed fixedly at the unconscious Spanish girl, and then at Zoabinda, saying; ‘‘ Before I reply to that question I must haye an answer to one,’ Did you do this?” “T did not ey the maiden; whoever accuses me of the crime lies,” was the answer, ‘Ah! say you so; I believe you, Zoabinda, Who, then, has dared to take her life?” A strange smile flitted over Zoubinda’s counte- nance, but erc she could reply a heavy booming roar from the distance was followed by the rattle of falling masonry, and a cannon-ball came rush- ing into the room in which they stood in collo- quy, with the unconscious dead lying beside em, «A leaden pill from one of the Death Cloud's carthouns. By every saint in Heayen! her new eannoniers know their craft, and Don Harry Sea- borne allows us little grace beyond the half hour,” exclaimed Morgan. Zoabinda’s eyes, at the accustomed sounds of battle, began to kindle and flash like those of a lioness, but she could not account for the Death Oloud’s firing at a castle tenanted by her captain, and she asked: : : ‘Are the men left on board the ships mad or drunk, that they fire upon us thus?” “The men we left on board the ships sleep at the bottom of the sea. Whilst we have been con- quering their city the Spaniards have been cap- turing our yessels. What they have done with the other four I know not, but with the Death Cloud Captain Harry Seaborne is blockading us, and has sworn that within the hour he will blow us nearer unto Heaven than we could ever haye attained without his assistance,” “QOrash! bang! rattle !” Another cannon-ball entered the room, and, piercing the wall beyond, dashed into the second apartment, where its force being expended, they could hear it roll along the floor. The wind of the passing ball,had nearly knock- ed Moryan oyer, and a splinter of stone had cut his face. “This is becoming serious!” he exclaimed, as he recovered himself, “we must beat a retreat, and, what is more, carry this poor dead girl with us, that her body may not be violated by shot or splintered stone.” ~ ; Zoabinda smiled grimly, but made no reply. Then Morgan raised the Spanish girl by the shoulders, and the negress by the feet, and they bore her out of the room, and down the turnpike stair without, } | They carried her from thence down to the basement floor of the castle, and laid her on a rich couch in a chamber where there was no dan- - ger of either iron bullet or stone ball coming near her corpse, bap isk “Now for sword and helm!” cried Morgan, “and thou, Zoabinda, get thee thy weapons also, for mayhap this is the last occasion upon which we shall ever fight side by side.” _“Then I trust it will be our fate to fall side by , side,” was the reply of the negress as she grasp- ed his hand. \ ; He returned the pressure, and then they hur-— ried off to attire themselves for the field. They were not long in doing so, for Morgan was quite sober, calm, and collected now. Five minutes after quitting the side of the dead girl they left the castle side by side and gained the | street. et: nie | epee
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Reet the It was full of half-drunken and wholly riotous soldiery, who knew not how to act. - A tall, stately figure approached Morgan and the negress. It was Rupert Russel. “JT bring bad tidings,” he said, gloomily. «‘Byandale has been unable to get these drunken brutes to drag uny cannon down to the water’s edge and open fire upon the Veath Cloud as you Som MHALGe and Peter Mansvelt has given up all hopes of being able to flood the magazine.” “This is sorry news,” replied Morgan; “and these Spanish devils, is their fire telling?” Sf Unhappily they haye just obtained the range of the magazine, and the great stone balls are penetrating it above the powder mark, till its walls begin to show as many holes as could a kitchen cullonder. Ifthey once begin to use red- hot shot, ourselves and Chagres yanish from off the face of the earth together.” “And, by Heayen, they have begun to use them!” cried Morgan, excitedly. “Look at that ruddy globe even now speeding through the heavens, ’tis like a ball of fire. It is aimed at the magazine, by Heaven it is!” “Then ’tis time that we evacuate the city,” ejaculated Rupert Russel, ‘Ah! here come vandale, Kydd, and Mansyelt.” : _ “Tt was indeed, the redoubtable trio who now approached, their faces blackened by powder; terror, rage, and bitter chagrin writ in every feature of their countenances, It was evident they wore in great haste. _ “Morgan,” cried Hyandale, as he drew near, “if we would escape utter annihilation we must leave the city at once behind us. The Death Cloud has the rango of the magazine, and is firing red-hot shot point-blank thereat. ; “Tet us fly—let us fly! To the interior—to the interior!’ cried Captain Kydd. ‘Pray Heayen there be yet time!” “Let trumpets sound, let drums beat. ‘To the western gate—on to Panama!” roared Morgan. “Aye! on to Panama; we must push on now, for we dare not turn back,” cried the negress, in her shrill treble, Five minutes later, above the angry boom of the Death Cloud’s cannon, sounded the gallant blare of the trumpet and the rattle of the drum, calling the buecaneers together for the perform- ance of a feat they had never before attempted— namely, to retreut from a city they only a few hours before had captured and pillaged. They were most of them sober by this time and they fell into rank with that mathematical precision common to all well-drilled troops even in moments of the most imminent danger, They were well laden, those begrimed, blood- stained warriors, for the pockets, of their hose and gaberdines were well filled with golden doubloons and broad pieces of eight, and as they moved or turned tho.r heads more gold pieces would rattle against the interior of their caps of steel or of their glari: g cuirassess. LENE of them also curried in their arms gold and silver plate of great value, fairly staggering under its weight as they moved. This was the spoil of churches, convents, and other religious houses. Such booty was calculated to hinder and im- pede their retreat, but to have endeavored to make them relinquish it would have led to a mutiny, and this Morgan know full well, OHAPTER XXI. HEY FOR PANAMA ! - THE men know well enough by this time the imminency of the danger that threatened them, and they were as agile and active as they could be, weighted as they were. *‘Now,. then—march!” cried Morgan. “‘Stan- . dard bearer, fall in the rear; think-you the skull and cross-bones are aS anxious to be in the van during a retreat as during an advance? And yet on second thoughts stay where you are, for we do not retreat, we are advancing on Panama.” “Panama! Panama! shouted Evandale, Russel, Kydd, and Mansvelt. They did so to encourage their followers, but the feeble cheer that followed was not exactly Such as they could have wished. ; : It betokened that the men were not in much eart for such an enterprise. Bu: tho flags were sloped, the words of com- mand given, and again the trumptets blared and the little brass drums rolled as the buccaneers got into motion and began their march, \ They bent their steps toward the great western gate, and as they passed down the wide, well-laid- out streets, still cumbered with the dead slain in the preceding night’s contest, the cannon-balls of Death: Cloud hurtled over their heads, all Speeding towards the awful porgen reservoir, which, if one of them plunged into, Onward to Panama!” |. city and buc- KING MORGAN. : caneers would be swept instantly from the face of the earth together. Morgan,and Zoabinda marched at the rear of the pirate host, The former ever insisted upon occupying the supreme point of danger as his peculiar prybeges and Zoabinda quite as strongly persisted in shar- ine he peril with him. ers was indeed u faithful, loving, and tender heart—but to him alone. “Tramp, tramp, tramp,” down the empty streets, with scowling brows and sullen mien swept the mighty buccaneers, many with bare blades in their hands, so that they might: vent their ill-will and find some satisfaction in pierce- ing now and then the dead bodies of their yester- night foes as they strode across them. Sometimes, too, one or the other would draw a pistol from his belt and discharge it at some pale and ghastly face that peered at them from be- hind a window ora half-open door, and then a loud, reckless laugh would echo through the de- serted streets as a groan or sound of a heavy fall would proclain that the marksman had made good his aim and the world had been rid of yet another Spaniard, Ah! They were stony-hearted men, those gal- lant buceanéers, but their very trade was blood. They thought no more of shooting down a Spaniard—man, woman, or child—than do our modern sportsmen of shooting a hunderd pigeons or slaughtering game wholesale in a batlue. At last the suburbs of the city were reached, aad the great western gate rose darkly before em, They gréeted it with a cheer, Once outside the ity their garines would not be so imminent, There would be no danger then of gigantic buildings toppling over on them and burying them beneath their ruins, or of their being torn to pieses by flying stones and particles of ma- sonry. ; The gate was reached, they defiled through it, and left Chagres in their rear, ; Then a cheer broke from their ranks, and they marched more blithely forward. Danger was in their rear, conquest, glory, and pillage in their van. Hoey for Panama! —— CHAPTER XXIT. WHEREIN HARRY SHABORNE HALT" FALLS IN LOVE, Let us now return.to our friends on board the Death Cloud, and follow their adventures, The trained gunners facting under Don Harry Sea- borne’s command could have exploded the maga- zine, had he willed it so, with ease; but our hero did not so will it. His only wish was to drive the buccaneers out of Chagres as quickly as possibie, in order that they should no longer be able to torture and plunder the wretched inhabitants. This he could only do by intimidation; and the threat he had used had answered ag salsA Dy: Thus his gunners kept throwing red-hot shot as close to the magazine as possibly they could without exploding it, for uhey knew that if they did this Hay. thousands of the citizens—men, women, and children—would be inyolyed in the common destruction, From the topmasts of the frigate the look-outs could see Morgan’s force leaving the city, and directly the last stragglers passed through tho Beatin gate Harry was duly informed of the event. The firing, however, at the magazine, was still kept up for an hour or more, for our hero rightly guessed that the buccaneers would not pause un- til they had put themselves out of danger as long as the firing was maintained, but if it ceased they amiga immediately halt. 6 did not desire them to halt within some miles of the city, for while they were in close proximity it would not be wise of him to land his men to see to the wants of the wretched inhab- itants, a mission of mercy he was most anxious to engago in as soon as possible, At last, however, the buccaneers were distin- guishable as they crossed a spur of the mountains many miles away, and then the command was quickly given to disembark, and. the whole DET with the exception of abont a dozen men left in charge of tho ship, landed, and headed by Et Seaborne, made their way into the city. sights met their eyes at every step—pillaged churches, desecrated houses, sacked and plun- dered warehouses and shops, with hundreds of dead bodies, many of them powder-scorched or flre-blackened, lying in all directions; old age and youth; manhod in its strength, womanhood in its beauty, childhood in its innocence. Ever and anon one of Don Harry Seaborne’s little band would spring out of the ranks and,. with a cry, run and embrace the dead body of a parent, a wife, ora sweetheart, thereafter return- ing amongst his comrades with a lowering brow 21. and compressed lips, but breathing between them ~ bitter curses on the buccaneers. At last the castle was reached, and this great and gloomy structure Harry commanded to ba closely searched, for he expected to find therein the Spanish captives that had been held up to ransom, The greatest dignitaries of the state, with their wives and daughters; generals, admirals, gover- nors, churchmen of the highest grade—they were undoubtedly there; but would he find them alive or dead? janes Might not the buccaneers, forced to leave the city, have murdered them ere they did so? ~ They were quite capable of such. a villainy. Harry knew that very well. : The interior of the yast fortalice reached, the soldiers scattered themselves in different direc- tions to commence their search, and our hero; consequently, found hiiself alone, He did not mind this, however, for he knew that a blast on the little horn that he carried at his belt would assemble them around him again in the space of a very few seconds. He strolled on through room after room on the basement floor, glancing from right to left and left to right, expecting every moment to behold some horrible sight, though he knew not what. At last he entered a chamber richly furnished, and started with surprise on beholding, reclining on a sofa, almost in its center, a young and yery beautiful girl. z He advanced on tip-toe towards the couch, and bent over it.. ; Oh! how sound she seemed to sleep, Her snowy chest never heaved; her beautiful bosom never throbbed; her long-fringed’ eyelids never quivered. » ~He bent overher.. From her lips, half-parted, no breath seemed to issue. He knelt by her side; he gazed into a face of almost more than earthly beauty. Could she be dead? ; He took her. little hand in his, and hi8 fingors glided up until they reached her pulse, He uttered a ery of horror, dismay, and agony, ' for it had ceased to beat, Then he laid his hand upon her heart. It was as still as her pulse, “Dead, dead, dead!’ he sobbed. ‘The only girl I have ever beheld whom I could have loved 1” He bent his head over her, and with lingering fondness, and yet with due reverence and respect, he kissed her cherry lips and her little white hands, \ Then he rose to his feet. “Would that I knew thy name,” he muttered “and thy destroyers, in order that I might avenge thee.” He had scarcely spoken when a terrible crash was audible in the room immediately above. So loud and metallic was it that even Harry started like a frightened steed and laid his hand on his sword. But the next instant he uttered a cry not of ter- ror, but of astonishment and delight, for surely the beautiful being whom he had deemed dead had made an almost imperceptible movement. He sprang to the side of the sofa again, again he took her hand and laid a finger on her pulso, It beat now, and with sharp, irregular throbs. Harry uttered a cry of joy. ra Then, with caresses and terms of endearment, he strove to recall her to herself, : Presently her beautiful chest heayed—her breath returned; he felt the fragrant yapor on his cheek. Then her eyes opened, and she gazed upon him with a. mingled glance of terror and curiosity. “Morgan,” she exclaimed faintly, ‘Oh! then the negress has betrayed me after all!” “You are not betrayed, beautiful lady,” replied our hero. “I am not Morgan, but Harry Sea- borne, an English officer in the service of New porns Morgan and his followers have left the e y.? “Don Harry Seaborne! I have heard my father speak of thee,” said the beautiful Spaniard. “Who is thy father, lovely maiden?” asked our hero, with considerable interest. “Don Pedro de Guzman, Captain-General of New Spain,” was the reply. “ Ah! say you so, lady? Well, your father saved my life. I was buried alive in the burning sands of Tortugo, and he rescued me from my terrible fate. Since then that life has been devoted to him and to Spain. ‘Tell me where he is now, in order that mine may be the pleasurable office of return- ing to him his child.” — ii aaa “T believe he is a prisoner in this very castle,” said the fair girl. ‘Let us at once go to him,” . She essayed to rise, but her strength was not equal to the task, and she sank back again upon _ the couch. “The opiate must baye been a strong one,” a
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‘ 22 she said, faintly. “It has entirely bereft me of strength.” © “What opiate?” asked our hero, puzzled at paises ess 3; “your words bewilder me, dear r {3 7 in vain, ; At last, however, they ON they had found one, but it was commanded by the guns of a _ neighboring fortress, whose towers rose not a ‘quartar of a mile distant. KING MORGAN. The garrison had evidently guessed Morgan’s followers to be foes, though he had hoped that they would have passed musteras Spaniards, a corps of irregular, free companions, : But this hope proved delusive, for the guns of the fortress opened upon them, and had it not been for the inaccuracy of the aim of the Spanish gunners the ford would have been im- practicable. Morgan determined to attempt it, however, and was about to spur his horse into the stream, for he was ever the first to risk his life when necessity or expediency called for it, when a large’ flat-bottomed. boat, or rather barge, was found concealed beneath the bushes on the near bank of the river. It was capable of holding three or four horse- men at a time, and so Morgan, Walter Evan- dale, and Rupert Russel rode boldly into it, and a dozen sturdy buccaneers, with the long poles that they found lying in the bottom of the barge, pushed them across the stream. Before, however, they had got to the middle thereof the cannon opened upon them with re- newed energy, and a moment later they stuck hard and fast upon a mud-flat. Their position now was most precarious. The gunners were getting a better range at every discharge, whilst escape from their pres- ent dilemma seemed impossible, for the long poles when thrust in the mud found no bottom, clearly proving that if they sprang overboard, either mounted or on foot, they would sink and quickly disappear therein, a death to which an- nihilation by a cannon-ball was a hundred times preferable. In yain the buccaneers strove to get the clumsy eraft off the mud-flat, all their efforts were un- availing, and at last they desisted therefrom in sheer despair. ; But Captain Kydd and Captain Peter Mansvelt saw their dilemma, and saw also that they-could only be extricated therefrom by the guns of the castle being silenced. — The only feasible way to effect this was to take the castle itself by a coup de main. Captain Kydd, as Mts by tacit consent, as- sumed the chief command of the expedition. He addressed a few spirit-stirring words to the buccaneers, who responded with a_ genuine English cheer, and with a sword in one hand and flre-balls in the other, they advanced close up to the palisades under a tremendous fire from the Spanish soldiers on the ramparts. | But though they made several attempts to climb the palisades they were much too lofty to be sealed, and, after much loss and fatigue, they were forced to retreat, or, rather, were fairly beaten back. But Morgan, from the boat in the center of the river, signaled to them not to be discouraged, but to renew the assault, for again the Spanish gunners had begun to fire upon him and his com- panions. In obedience to his mute signal, once more the buccaneers pressed forward, and while some labored to pull down the palisades the others flred into the loop-holes and embrasures of the fortress, and cone plewee amongst these was Zoabinda, the beautiful negress. She regarded the arrows and bullets thatrained around her no more than if they had been descending hailstones or snowflakes, but at length she’ eerea with a sudden gasp for breath, reeled, and would have fallen had she not staggered against a tree-trunk, An arrow had passed right through her body, and the point of the weapon appeared some jnches through her back, having entered between ler breasts. Notwithstanding this she, with great coolness, drew the arrow forward right through herself, and, in order to make it-fill up the bore of her musket, she wound a good. portion of cotton around the feathered part of it, and then thrust it do‘vn upon the powder, and discharged it back into the fort. Tho powder fired the cotton, and the arrow, sticking in the dried palm-leaves with which one of the houses in the fortress was thatohed, a violent conflagration immediately ensued. Poor Zoabinda had the satisfaction of seeing the Spanish stronghold one universal blaze when she fell back into the arms of Captain Kydd in a dead faint from loss of blood. The next instant the powder magazine blew up with a loud erash. This threw the garrison into a great conster- nation; but they busied themselves to the utmost in endeavoring to extinguish the flames, which, however, in spite of all their efforts, continued rapidly to gain upon them, from the want of a sufficient supply of water. Whilst their attention was thus diverted, the assaulters contrived to fire the palisades, and thus the Spaniards were still more terrified as they saw the flames, not only in their own uarter, but gradually spreading all around. e m. _As the wood-work of the palisades was con- sumed, the earth that was contained between them fell into the ditch, which became so much filled in in many places as to form over it a prac- tical eons Of this the buccaneers eagerly availed them- relyes, and thus they were soon hand to hand. with the Spaniards in the first inclosure of the: fortress. : The struggle was desperate. For long neither party thought of giving or re-- cove quarter, 2 ’ re man stood and fought until ono or both ell. The inveterate spirit of slaughter was fired in every breast. They no longer fought for honor or for victory, but to glut their savage thirst for blood. In this terrible conflict the buccaneers had an immeasurable advantage, for there was no one amongst them who was not an old and experi- enced swordsman who knew every ward and feint, and where to direct the thrust most fatally. This fearful! struggle took place partly in the half-filled ditch, partly on the platform on which the burning houses, and stores of the fortress were situated. SS The red glare of the conflagration made every- thing look terribly visible. On those of the assaulters who still remained below in tho ditch, flaming pots of combustibles that emitted the most suffocating stenches were poured down copiously, and these proved to be the most destructive weapons. Notwithstanding the resolute resistance of the Spaniards, within an hour the whole of the pali- sides were burned, and the ditch completely filled, rendering the ground nearly level up to the castle walls, which remained as yet com- pletely unharmed. But the flames of the burning stores behind the castle threw its embrasures into strong relief, so. that every Spaniard who showed the least part of his person on the wall was immediately struck down by the unerring shot of the besiegers, who, creeping on theirhands and knees, placed them- selves close under the fortifications and even in contact with tho walls, which they were endeay~ oring to take. In this way the fight continued in a succession of single combats, and indiscriminate death from the aim of the musketeers was fast and fre- quent; but when another hour had passed away the buccaneers discovered that they had still a very difficult work to perform before they could make themselves masters of the place. The flames had extended to the interior of the castle itself, and was slowly feeding upon all that was combustible; but the governor had re- moved all his cannon to those parts which com- manded the passes over the ditch, and he strictly enjoined every man ‘to die at his post. he beautiful negress, Zoabinda, having recoy- ered from her fainting fit, and again engaged in the deadly strife, had by this time received three more very severe wounds, one by a shot from an arquebus, and two from arrows. z eing thus completely disabled, she was borne from spot to spot on the shoulders of two brawny eerste whereyer peril appeared to be the east. . Captain Kydd, however, was the real director of the siege, but how to carry the castle he was still sorely puzzled to determine, for he had noth- ing wherewith to breach it, and the gates were found to be much too strongly constructed to ad- mit of their being forced. Seeing this, and being determined that himself and his men should rather die under the walls than be repulsed therefrom, he divided his forces into two parts; the one he employed to mark down every Spaniard that should show himself or attempt to load the cannon on the walls, and the other to collect all manner of timber frag- ments of tho half-burnt palisades and earth, wherewith to make a mound against the lowest pane of the fort, and where the Spanish governor ad placed himself with a score of his best men. ébout noon, after five hours of hardly-con- tested and uninterrupted battle, the buccaneers rushed up this heap of rubbish and met the Spaniards on the walls. Though many acts of valor had already been achieved, it was here that the most wonderful deeds were performed. Notwithstanding that every Spaniard died where he had been stationed by his chief, the English found their way over their bodies, and gained the interior of the place. ‘ Those of the Spaniards who were denied the honor of paving the blood-red’ way with their corpses, with the little remaining strength their wounds had left them, dragged themselves tothe
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KING MORGAN. 238 opposite side of the castle, and, leaping from its walls, their bodies bounded from point to point down the dreadful precipice until they were xecalved upon the points of the sharp palisades below. The commander himself retreated with the corps de garde within the castle keep, before which he had placed two cannon with the intention of prolonging the struggle to the utmost, and of making his enemies dearly rue their conquest. ‘ He answered every offer of quarter by frantic efforts to slay. At length he was shot through the brain with a musket ball, and then all further resistance suddenly ceased, The conquerors had now some leisure to look arcund and view the desolation they had caused. The fort, with the exception of the guard- house, was one mass of blackened and blood- Stained ruins, Out of the fhree hundred and twenty-three soldiers who four hours before were in vigorous health, laughing to scorn their enemies, only thirty were found alive, and only eight un- wounded. The buccaneers had lost in the desperate at- tack one hundred and nineteen killed outright, including one captain and one lieutenant, and seventy-six wounded, of whom, besides poor Zoa- binda, were two lieutenants; but few indeeed of these wounded survived many days in that fell climate. Directly the castle was carried the buccaneers had time to think of Morgan, Evandale, and Ru- ert Russel, who, in compan with the free- Postees they had taken to row their clumsy craft, had for more than four hours beon stuck in the middle of the river, unable to assist their friends in the slightest degree. : Morgan kad beheld Zoabinda receive her first wound: ; he had seen the long, barbed shaft ierce her tender form and penetrate through Be back, and his heart had bled as much as her ody. Ho had seen her thereafter twice lead the stormers, and though he had longed to be at her side to protect her with his own life, he was as powerless to aid her as if he had been a thou- sand miles away. Terribly long seemed the four hours of savage attack and stubborn defence, but when he beheld tho fortress carried and the buccaneor flag flying from the highest tower thereof, great was his pride and satisfaction, A pride and satisfaction in which Evandale and Rupert Russel heartily shared. Then a score of sturdy buccaneers swam off towards the stranded craft, and by their united strength pushed*her off the mud-bank and pro- Pelled her towards the shore. It was not long before they reached it, and Morgan was the first to spriny to land. His one thought was of Zoabinda. He sought her everywhere, but for some time in vain. : At last he found her, eas In an instant he was kneeling by her. side. : “My own, my dearest girl!” he cried; “and zeutaye suffered all this for the love you boar 3 (3) > . “TI stood in your place, Henry,” she replied SN “You would not have had me disgrace ou ?” “No, Zoabinda; but I would have had you pro- tect the form I love with greater care.” f “What matters it. If scars are honorable in 4 man, are they.jess so in a woman?” A “My own dearest one, I will not chide thee, ‘was the reply; ‘you brayed all for my sake—for my safety, for my honor; but methinks I would trees have died than haye seen theo suffering us, “The wounds will heal, my beloved ; bye Ithey will heal faster than the one you yourself inflicted on me but a few hours ago,” answered the ne- gress, bending upon him a look of deep atfection. “T inflicted a wound on thee?” ejaculated Mor- gan, “Why, I never lifted hand against thee in my life.” y ‘You did not wound me in the body, but in the eart, Henry,” said Zoabinda, sorrowfully. “Ah! you mean the Spanish girl, Donna The- resa de Guzman,” replied Morgan, a frown crossing his brow. ‘- You had best not have men- tioned that matter, Zoabinda, for you avenged, yourself too hastily.” . “Nay, Henry Morgan, I served my rival better than you give me credit for. I did not kill her.” “Did not kill hor? Who did kill her, then? Did I not myself gaze upon her corpse?” “No, for she was living all the whilo, and has doubtless by this time awakened from her eager t 1 Wh i “Her trance at, was she only in a trance «all the while?” : sf ] “A trance that saved her honor and thine too. So that I have done her little ill.” J The fierce buecaneer stood for a moment gnawing his wiry mustache, a host of conflicting emotions warring beneath his breast. Then he threw his arms around Zoabinda, and exclaimed passionately : “Oh! Zoabinda, can you for once forgive mé my unjust suspicions?” “When a brave warrior can ask forgiveness of a weak woman, hard-hearted must she be if she does not grant his request,” replied the negress embraging him in turn. n that HAP E ut short-lived state of recon- ciliation we will leave them, to return to the ad- ventures of the other characters of our tale, in whom our readers must by no means feel a subordinate in terest. CHAPTER XXIV, THE ABDUCTION OF DONNA THERESA—HARRY SHA- BORNE TO THE RESCUE. WHEN Don Pedro de Guzman, Captain-General of New Spain, in Ce ey: with Harry Seaborne, entered the apartment in which only a few min- utes previously our hero had left the beautiful Donna Theresa, in confident anticipation that presently she would be clasped in the enibrace of a father, to their alarm and surprise they found it empty. They both called her name aloud. There was no response, save the echo of their Own voices. A door at the further end of the vast and gloomy chamber was open. =. ; It had not been so when Harry quitted it. He fancied he recollected having examined it, and. found it secured by a heavy and ponderous ock, He advanced now to inspect it. Scarcely had he done so closely when he utter- ed a cry of surprise. The lock had been blown to fragments either with a pistol or an arquebus bullet. ue examined the flooring of the corridor be- yond, On the soft pistachio wood were the imprints of nailed boots. The Spaniards wore none such, ‘ They were, therefore, the footprints of a buc- caneer, ; He passed down the passage, and when he had nearly reached its rurther extremity he pa up a delicate pink scarf, such as he remembered not halfan hour ago hal circled Donna Theresa’s slender waist, Close beside it something glittered in the gloom of the dimly-lighted passage. | He stooped to inspect it more closely. *Twas a dagger, but one of English make, and this confirmed all his prior suspicions, He at once returned, and rejoined Don Pedro ‘| de Guzman. _ ‘She has been abducted, carried off by some lingering buccaneer!” he cried, fiercely. ‘We must at once take horse, and start in pursuit. He cannot yet have left the city far behind him.” The Cee guataL was mad with mingled fury and despair. “Start—yes, start at once!” he exclaimed. ‘But to think that I dare not accompany yon, which is the case, for I have promised to lose nu time in raising an army that may hover on the rear of the buccaneer force, and harass its ad- vance, or cut off its retreat, whichever circum- stances may require,” “Mourn not at your inability to accompany me,” said our hero, laying ois hand on his sword- hilt. ‘‘ Those who occupy so high a position in the state as yourself must sacrifice much for the sake of their country. With me it is different; my sword and my life are at your daughter’s ser- vice.” “Noble, generous youth!” exclaimed the cap- tain-general, grasping our hero’s hand, ‘I trust you ea aN 0, and may Heaven prosper ou! If you recover my daughter from these loodthirsty monsters, notwithstanding her rank, she is yours, if you can win her affection. Be this your reward.” ««\ reward more valued by me than would be a wagon-load of diamonds of the first water,” cried Harry Seaborne, warmly. “I am off on the wings of the wind. Within a month I hope to claim the fulfillment of your promise.” He left the room as hespoke. Five minutes later he was searching the stable for a horse. J He had some difficulty in finding one, as every available beast in the city had been seized upon by the buccaneers to carry their munition, stores, and the yast amount of their pillage. At last, however, he discoyered a wretched Spanish mustang, and, mounted on this sorry brute, he was fain to set out upon the track of the abducted Spanish girl. He had scarcely gained the street, however, when three young Spanish officers beset him with earnest petitions that they might be allowed toaccompany him on his venture. i They had heard of the abduction of Donna Theresa, and of our hero’s being about to sét out to rescue her. Fora minute Harry felt annoyed at their im- portunity. He wished to effect the beautiful Spanish girl’s rescue alone, in order that he solely might-be the recipient of her gratitude, eventually, he hoped, of her love; but there were others who wished to share the honors with him, perhaps all of them, and, if so, one of these others, for all he knew to tne contrary, might win a larger abun- dance both of gratitude and love than himself, Such were the selfish and unworthy thoughts that for a minute or two coursed through Harry Seaborne’s brain. Then his better nature prevailed, for he re- flected that with three others to aid him the fair Donna’s deliverance was far more likely to be effected than by his single arm; sohe held out his hand to one and all, exclaiming in his usual frank andshearty manner— E “ Byery additional sword is welcome, but for all that we are Srey for the task. Let us set out at once. But what will you do for borses? Thad a great difficulty in finding even this mis- erable brute.” “Oh, we know where three are concealed, and they are in good condition for a journey to boot.” «Well, then, find and mount them as soon as possible, and rejoin me here!” cried Harry, im- patiently. They promptly departed at hiscommand, for he had been tacitly recognized as the leader of the expedition, n a short space of time the three Spaniards re- turned, all mounted on good and mettled steeds, Harry felt chagrined at the sorry condition of his own nag, but he refrained from comment. Perchance on the road he might have an oppor- tunity of changing it for a better, The route by which the buccaneers had quitted the city was well known to them, They pursued it, for naturally the freebooter who ieee abducted Donna Theresa would follow the track of his comrades, The silent, dead-strewn streets were traversed, the horses gingerly stepping across the many corpses that strewed the payment. A few minutes later the four horsemen were galloping across the open country beyond. The duy was cloudy, raw, and cold, with a southerly wind blowing that betokened a storm. Such weather was rare in such a latitude, The Spanish officers regretted they had left their espotes behind them. ut Harry Seaborne, who had heen reared in the bracing airs of Britain, felt not the damp, hu- mid cold; on the contrary, his blood was at fever heat, and his brain seemed to be on fire. Unknown even to himself he had fallen in loye with Donna Theresa at first sight. It was love which jyas now urging him on the trail; he thought it was merely friendship and pity. He heard not the dead leaves which foll in showers from the trees, and crumbled and rattled under the hoofs of the horses. He heard not the conversation of his compan- ions. His mind was full of one thought. They were following a south-westerly direction, bending their course towards Piqua, a town some twenty-five miles from Ohagres, for thitherward the tracks of the buccaneer army led. For several: hours they pursued their journey ~ without any occurrence worthy of note, when one! of the three Spaniards reined up his horse and held his finger to his lips in token of silence. “What is it?? demanded Harry, in a low, guarded tone, motioning his friends to halt, “ Methought I heard the rumble of a wagon in the distance,” was the reply. “Aye! and I hear it now distinctly.” They all listened, and they all agreed that it was the rumble of a wagon, and in their rear, too. “JT imagine that some of Morgan’s luggage wagons must have followed a different route, and thet we are between them and the buccaneer army,” observed our hero, after a few minutes’ ause. “Tt would seem like it,” answered one of the Spanish officers. ‘‘ And yet I cannot guess how.” “Some of the wagons may be trayeling by way of Mimia and Carnale,” suggested his ecémpanion, “and that being a longer round, our having got ahead of them ceases to be extraordinary.” This supposition of the facts of the case was very natural, and was accepted as the true one-
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- 24 KING MORGAN. ——— eee Oooo mm” ooo Ss eo SS SSeS S CHAPTER XXY. ON THE TRAIL—CAPTURING A TREASURE-BOX AND PUTTING IT TO A NEW USE, Ir ’tis a wagon in our rear, for Heaven’s sake let us lie in ambush until if eomes up, so that I may have a chance of exchanging this wretched mustang for a beast that will carry me properly,” said Harry. This was agreed to, and the whole ceeded to plant themselves in ambush. st This was easily done, as beside the road on éither side grew immense trees and a dense undergrowth. - ‘They dismounted and led their horses some way into the wood, so that neither neigh nor whinney might be heard by the drivers or guard of the approaching wagon, which, doubtless, was crammed with the pillage of Chargres, tor in that case they might have created an alarm and de- feated all their plans. They then crouched down behind the bushes that fringed the road, and looked to the loading of their pistols and musqueteons, shaking the priming into the pans and lighting their slow matches. Then they waited patiently for the approach of the wagon, Fortunate was it that they had patience, or they would have been wearied out, for nearly half.an hour passed before the renewed rumble of the wheels proclaimed thatit was yet approach- ing. The sound during that period must have been intercepted by intervening hills. However, there it was again now distinct enough, and near by too, for the hoof strokes of the horses could be heard. N But with the suddenness peculiar to tropical Climates day had by this time changed into night —a night as hot and sultry as the day had been - cold, damp, and disagreeable. “The heavens had been’ suddenly overcast, the. rumble of thunder was presently audible, «By the blessed saints we shall not sight them as they pass; we shall not be’ able to take aim,” growled one of the Spanish officers. ‘ I cannot see the muzzle of my musquetoon as I hold it to my shoulder,” SSN OPEL a eeuees “Nor I,” exclaimed his companions, as they tested the experiment. «Then here comes. the lightning to cried Harry Seaborne, exultingly. Twas even as he said. At first two blue, livid forked flashes quivered out between two sat Ua of jagged thunder- cloud, and close upon them broke forth blinding flashes that rendered the whole scene as clearly distinguishable as it could have been at noon- day. : At this very juncture an enormous wagon was ‘ observable coming around a turn in the road not a hundred yards above the point where Harry and his companions lay concealed. It was of clumsy build, and was roofed over. Alarge aw was affixed to the front, and re- yealed a portion of the interior, where two or three armed figures were indistinctly visible. ~ It was drawn by four gray horses, and was ap- proaching at rapid speed. The near wheeler and the near leader were both mounted, and the cracking of the whips rang out like pistol shots, “ Fire at the horses just as they are well abreast of us,” whispered Harry Seaborne, hoarsely. “Even if we only bring down one the onward course of the wagon will be arrested, and its oc- cupiers brought to bay.” is proposition was received with a murmur of approval by his companions. On came the rumbling, bumping, springless vehicle, its occupants and post-riders little anti- cipating the warm greeting with which they were presently to be received. Thon in an instant the clear, manly voice of Harry Seaborne was heard to cry ‘‘Hire!” and four flashes simultaneously broke from the bushes on the right. Down went the near leader, and down went its rider, the latter shot through the leg, the former through the body. ' The man uttered a groan of pain and a fearful anathema. The horse gave vent to a piercing shriek, for horses can shriek when suffering font intense terror or agony, and the poor animal had receiv- ed its death-wound. | i Before the remaining post-rider or the freeboot- ers inside the wagon, which had been brought to an abrupt stop by the fall of its near leader and _ its rider, could recover from their surprise and dismay, Harry Seaborne and his three compan- jons had spiung from out the bushes and cover- ed them with their musquetoons, party pro- aid us,” There was no asking for nor offering of quarter. The man on the near wheeler was shot down in an instant by our hero, whilst the three Span- iards fired haphazard into the interior of the wagon. ; Their shots evidently told, for one or two heavy falls, and more than that number of groans, were heard within the cumbrous vehicle, aud then a sound as of men jumping to the ground from behind. Harry and one of the Spaniards dashed to the ieee in time to prevent the escape of these wor- thies, They found themselyes opposed to three stal- wart buccaneers, scaled like armadilloes. Yet the rascals were panic-stricken, and would have flown, three to two though they were. But Harry and his companion barred the way, sword in hand. There was no eyading them, so the buccaneers perceived that they must fight. They engaged clumisly, two attacking our hero and one the Spaniard. Within an instant one of the former had been run through the midriff, and laid bleeding on the earth by Harry’s invincible sword, and then his companion looked again for a loophole to escape. But none presented itself, for Harry dodged around him, threatening him with point and slash, in such rapid circles that to have evaded him would have been impossible. The fellow, therefore, fought doggedly and sul- lenly on—fought with clenched-teeth, flashing eyes, and bey hand, keenly seeking for an opportunity to thrust over his adversary’s guard, But no such opportunity offered, for Harry was as cautious and self-possessed as though ‘it had been merely a fencing-bout, and presently, with a rapid feint and thrust, he eluded his adversary’s guard, and thrust his sword through his brawny throat, up to the very hilt. With a sobbing gasp the buccaneer sank back- wards, the sword-blade slipping out of the ghastly orifice as he fell to the ground, Before he touched it life had departed. Harry very coolly wiped his sword in a tuft of long, rank grass, and then turned to see how his companion fared with his single opponent, It was well that he did so, for had he not, the young Spanish officer would assuredly have been slain, for the giganie freebooter he had been con- tending with had beaten him to his knee, and broken his sword, the fragment of which he was holding up to guard his head from the descending sword-blade of the buccaneer just as Harry Sea- borne beheld his position, and hurried to his succor. That broken sword-blade would have been but a feeble guard against the trenchant steel of the burly Englishman; but before that steel could perform its fell mission the wielder thereof relin- quished it witha shriek of pain and horror, for Harry’s sword had sank age into his body, be- tween his fourth and fifth ribs. It was a death-wound, The giant buceancer fell to the ground, and thereaiter neither spoke, groaned nor stirred. Our hero assisted the discomfited Spaniard to his feet. ‘Are you wounded?” he asked, noticing that he was yery pale.” “No, not a scratch; but what a demon of strength and skill that giant was!” “Tsoon managed to topple him over,” said Harry, witha slight shrug of his shoulders. The little ASAD op we have described did not take five minutes in its performance and accom- plishment and now the other Spaniards were eard calling them by their names. They bad been busy throwing the bodies of the two dead post-riders amongst the bushes, and harnessing one of their own horses to the wagon in the place of the late near leader. They bad not noticed the absence of their com- panions until now, far less did they guess that they had been engaged in a desperate and un- equal contest within a few yards of them. Great was their surprise, therefore, presently to discover them covered, not with their pinbat with their foemen’s blood, and three dead bodies lying at their feet. BA it ; Explanations, howeyer, were Breve given and comprehended, and then the only difficulty that required solving was— ay ef What was next to be done? This did not take long to determine. It was decided that the pursuit should be fol- lowed up in the wagon, and the little band of ad- venturers should discard their own attire for that of four of the slaughtered buccaneers. They would thus be enabled to follow in the rear of Morgan’s army without notice, and even if needs be to penetrate his camp of a night with- out any suspicion attaching to them. Thus facilities would be offered to them of effecting the release of Donna Theresa if she } were, as they had’ every reason to pn poes by this time, a prisoner in the midst of the buc- caneer army, Harry Seuborne was delighted with the plot, which was really suggested by two ofhis Spanish allies, and no time was lost in once more getting under weigh. The dead horse was dragged out of the track of the wagon by their united efforts, and two of the Spanish officers mounting respectively the near leader and the near wheeler, as the buccaneers had done before them, the other officer and Harry clambered into the interior, and after throwing out the bodies of two dead buccaneers which they found there, they gave the signal for the ‘start, their two spare horses having been previously linked on behind, as they might yet be useful in ease of an emergency. Away they dashed at a gallop over the flinty stones, the path being made quite easy to follow owing to the almost continuous glare of the sum- mer lightning, | Away, with the speed ofthe wind, fortheir great object was to come up with the buccaneer army during the dark hours of the night. ; EON they passed the smoldering ruins. of the castle which Morgan’s army had captured and subdued not many hours previously; but they halted not here, but still pushed on on the left bank of the river, for they easily ascertained that the buccaneers had not crossed it, until, an hour or so before daybreak, numerous camp fires. gleaming in the midst of a little plain convinced them that they had really come up with the buc- caneer host. ; CHAPTER XXVI, THE CAMP OF THE BUOCANBERS—IN THE TOILS, Wuuitst Morgan and Zoabinda were exchang- ing sympathetic endearments, as recorded in our last chapter but one, even whilst the negress lay , writhing with the tortures of her ill-dressed wounds, the buccaneers committed the usual ex- cesses and barbarities, which had become, as con- querors, a part of their natures, _ ; They made the few Buryividg prisoners cast the dead of their own party headlong into the deep moat which surrounded three sides of the castle, and to bury their own slain in a more decorous. manner. ‘ : They shut up all the wounded, with the excep- tion of the officers, in the chapel of the castle, thus making of the sacred edifice at once a hos- pital and a common gaol, where the shrieks of the wounded and the wail of the dying were horribly mingled with the blasphemies of lust and the riot of drunken debauchery. © However, eventually few of these wretches es- caped the vengeance of a dire retribution. They took away everything that could be used as food for man to the extent of leaving the place completely bare, so that there remained not sub- sistence even for a dog, and no course remained for the wounded and the prisoners but to die a lingering death of starvation. : Morgan ordered the castle to be destroyed with the exception of the tall keep tower, into which all the wonnded and the prisoners were thrust. All the ordnance was spiked and thrown into the moat, and then the noble buccaneers took their departure, once more heading towards Panama, A Sree vista On, on, on, in the burning heat of midday ; on, on, on, in the cooler hours of evening, until at last night came on, end it was time to think about camping. See ee The army had" by this time reached a small lateau or plain, quite large enough to accommo- Rate their whole force. I They lighted their camp fires and prepared their evening meal, arranging the spoil-laden wagons around the whole camp, thus forming a barrier against surprise either from Spanish or Indian foes, cither of which might attack them at any moment. tt was towards this encircling barrier that the wagon, containing our little body of four adven- turers was deftly steered by the Spanish officers who acted'as post-boys, not at too rapid a pace, for that would have attracted suspicion, but ata steady methodical trot, Gj At last the cumbrous vehicle was ranged along- side the others,’ the horses» unharnessed “and turned loose, having been first shoe-hobbled to peur their straying far away a matter of impos- sibility. : No one would have known the four adven- turers from real buccaneers, unless, possibly, the swarthy ‘visages and coal-black mustaches of the Bpeainrda had betrayed them. : , “Tet us now saunter into the camp,” said Harry Seaborne; ‘we need not approach too near unto any of the fires, and thus we shall not attract undue attention.” ; ‘
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KING MORGAN. . The proposition was agreed to, and the quar- tette set out on their voyage of discovery. ; Pho thunderstorm had by this time ceased, but the heavens were still very murky, so that not one ray of moonlight was visible. The campfires alone shed a lurid glare over the scene, dimly revealing tne forms of the buc- eaneers who held revelry around them. They were carding and dicing and smoking tobacco, then a comparatively new luxury, in long clay pipes, uttering anathemas or ribald jokes between each puff. Sometimes a quarrel would arise, one bucca- neér accusing another of haying cheated, and re- ceiving the “lie” in return, when daggers would be promptly drawn, and if the others did not in- terfere and se arate the angry disputants they would hack and slash at each other until a wound was given, when they would surlily sit down again. 3 ’ It was very amusing to watch these petty and short continued feuds,showing the innate savagery of human nature in its worst form, and yet not altogether divested of its ludicrous aspect; but Harry Seaborie and his companions were too in- tent on the fulfillment of their mission to pay much heed to them, fur less to take an interest in their details. At length, however, tholr attention was attracted and riveted by a scene yery similar to the many they had already witnessed, but yet differing therofrom, t ; Two buccaneers were flercely contending with their great proadswords, making the whole camp ring with the din of thoir clashing blades. They were evidently quarreling and fighting about a girl who lay bound and helpless at their feet, hor pale, white face upturned to the murky heavens. f Neither of the four adventurers were near enough to seo her distinctly, for her face was only visible by the uncertain and flickering flashes of the fire, and its lambent tongues of flame darted quiveringly upwards at uncertain intervals, but they all came to the conclusion that sho was young and beautiful. : It was sod to see two great, brawny ruffians cutting each other's throats to determine who should possess a helpless girl who never wronged either of them; but these were noble buccaneers, she was their lawful prize, but the enjoyment of her could not be for long, and her after-doom must be death, for Morgan allowed no woman in his baggage-train. The vingular duel that was being waged was, however, put an abrupt stay to by the sudden and startling appearance of a third person upon the scene. f This third person, though not very tall, was evidently « man of immense bu.k and strength. Unhesitatingly he stepped almost between the two combatants, and with a long, heavy, straight sword that he held firmly grasped in his right hand, struck down their opposing blades. With such foreo did he strike that one fellow dropped his sword with a howl of astonishment and rage, and the point’ of the other’s sword touched the earth before he could recoyer his guard, “What! are there not enough Spanish throats to out that ye must needs be slashing away at each other’s?” cried the new comer, in stentorian tones. ‘By Heaven! our force is already so smull that every man is worth his weight in gold dust—uye! almost in diamonds. Tell mo, what is it ye quarrel over, for all the world like two dogs about a bone?” Sisal “Nis a girl, your excelloncy. I captured her in Chagres after the army had taken its depar- ture, for you must know that I had tiuken too much wine, and going to sleep in a cellar of the castle, heard nov drum beat or trumpet blare. Well, when IL woke UP, I found this bonnie lass, and stealing a horse, bore her before me on the crupper to the camp, and now this rascal wants to deprive mo of her.” exclaimed one rufflan, **‘T found ber lying by the watch-fire alone, not an hour ago,” growled the other, “ and I took pos- Seszion of her as my lawful prize. I don’t believe _ & word of this fellow’s story.” , “‘T only left her for a few minutes to endeavor to procure hersome food,” said the first speaker. Ovase this unseemly brawling!” cried the man Who, unsolicited, had made himself the arbitrator of their dispute, und in whom Henry Seaborno at this moment recognized Morgan himself. “Or, stay ! I will put an end to it by passing my sword through her, and then you can divide the corpse between you.” = The men offered no opposition to this pro- osul, but fell back, one on one side, one on the othor to lot him pass, ; ae a eoupla of strides ho stood over thie unhappy g 28 She had fainted. Ho raised hus great sword to strike, but ere it could descend, with a cry of astonishment und joy, he dashed it to the earth, and, stooping, raised thé sylpn-like form of the young girl in his arms, As he did so Harry Seaborne sobbed forth, with a sort of gasp: “Good Heavens! ’tis Theresa de Guzman !” Stand back, my men, I will not slay this girl; after all, I recognize in her one whom I havesworn to befriend and protect, and will ransom her from you at a thousand dollars each |” cried Mor- gan. “ Hurrah for the noble captain!” cried the two ruffians, highly pleased ut the barter of a mere dainty piece of flesh for what was very much more in their line. “Shall we help you to carry her, captain?” “No, she is a mere feather-weight,” replied Morgan. ‘In my tent she will be sufe from ull harm. Yes,” he muttered to himself, ‘‘ from all harm, for Zoabinda will not be able to leaye her couch for a week. His stalwart form was soon lost in the dark- ness, for Harry Seaborne did not care to follow him too closely. : He knew that there would be no difficulty at any time in discovering the tent of Morgan, and for the present it was best to leave well alone, CHAPTER XXYII. AN ATTEMPTED RESCUE—ITS FAILURE—THE CAMP ALARMED. HARRY SEABORNE was of opinion that enough hud been done for that night, as it would be a matter of the greutest difficulty to discover Mor- gan’s tent in the darkness, though with the first break of duwn it would be easy enough. He and his three companions retired, therefore, to their wagon, and composed themselves to sleep therein. They found, however, that their bed was a herd one—aye, hurd as a bed of flint could haye en. ‘ They felt some curiosity to know the cause thereof, und taking up the few sacks that were spread carelessly on the top, they discovered that the wagon was laden with dollars and broad pieces of eight. A fine booty, if they could escape with it as well as with the pretty Spanish senorita, Harry thought very litule of the gold, however, for his mind was bent upon Donna Theresa. As for courting slumber, that he might do, but ie attaining of it was a feai of sheer impossi- ility. His companions were equally unsuccessful in wooing the drowsy god, as he could tell by their resUlessness. 4st length tho silence of the seeping camp was disturbed by the renewed rumbling of the thunder, and soon after by the downfall of a sees, tropical shower, with a noise almost deaf- ening. Tho rain soon penetraied the cover of the wagon. and drenched our adyenturers to the skin. . Of course after that both sleep and comfort were entirdly out of the question, “Oomrades,” said Harry Seaborne, ‘‘an idea has just struck me—namely, that it is a most Pionins hour for attempting the rescue of onna Theresa. This dreadful weather will keep the buccaneers inside their tents, and the ver guards will get under cover, for discipline is bad, and the officers are as bad as the men. Well, under such circumstances, if we can but discover the tent in which the donna is imprisoned we may be able to carry her off with impunity.” “4 good idev. and I second it,” exclaimed Don Pero, the youngest of the cavaliers, “And I, and 11!” ejaculated the other two, rising from their superincumbent attitudes. ‘Tt will not do for us all to go,” said Harry Seaborne, “for if we are all captured, Donna Theresa will be left without protection. Don Pero and myself will undertake the emprise. Should we fail, or meet captivity or death, two champions will still remain, Do I not speak wisely, my friends?” His words met with unanimous approval, alt was arranged that he and Pero should go alone, They started at once, having first looked to thes: arms, stepping cautiously over the dead eaves. | Harry led the way, and charged Pero to ex- pres great caution, and not to make the least noise. . \ By the aid of the still. smoldering watch-fires they could plainly perceive the tents and mia- mins of the buceaneers scattered over the little plain, and occasionally a dusky figure stalking } mS , about in the uncertain light, which, together with the neighiug and whinnying of the restiess horses that were exposed to all the viralence of the tempest, convinced them that their enter- prise was eyen more hazardous than they had imagined, . Nevertheless, as Hurry Seaborne had predicted, the weather had the effect of keeping must of the buceuneers closely housed, or rather tented ; whilst the roaring of the thunder and the sigh- ing and moaning of the wind prevented any ordi- nary seund from being heard, or if heard, proved a ready means of accounting for it without creut- ing suspicion or alarm, and so the two adventur- ers proceeded with a certain amount of contfi- dence. ; At this juncture the storm came on with roe- newed fury, and the rain again poured down in torrents, completely dreuching our hero ‘and his companon, and this time altogether extinguishing the camp fires. At the same time it became suddenly so cold that the drops began to freeze as they fell, form- ing a kind of sleet, which the wind drove with such fury ugainst their faces, hands, and necks as would have rendered their situation almost too uncomfortable to be borne, had not their spirits been cheered by the reflection that the sume peltings would drive their enemies under cover, und, consequently, lessen the danger of detection. **Tiverything, so far, favors our enterprise,” whispered Hurry. ‘‘ Let us on,” Slowly and cautiously they moved about be- tween the tents and mia-mias, pedal nearing the center of the camp, where three or four teuts, larger than the rest, proclaimed them to ‘be thuse of Morgan and bis principal officers. ; Most of the tents were dark inside, but occa. sionally a ray of light gleamed out through the crevices made by the swaying to and fro of the canvas which was hung across the doors to pro- tect the inmates from the inclemenucy of the weather, ‘ Wherever a light of this kind could be been, Harry or his companion would apprvach the tent, and, cautiously raising the canyus, peer inside, and they would generally perceive a few bucea- neers either lounging about in cureless uttitudes, stretched out at full Jength ableep on the bare earth, or sitting, near the light, engaged in pipe- cluying their belts, polishing their armor, or sharpening their weapons, " The interior of some eight or ten of these tents had been examined in this manner without the occurrence of any incident worthy of note when, jnst as Harry Seaborne approached another, a stalwart buecaneer suddenly pushed aside the canvas, and issued forth. ¢ Our hero suddenly drew back and stood still, and the buccuneer passed close by without per- eeiving him. Harry then softly advanced to the rear of the tent, where he reiained in deep shadow till the buccaneer re-entered, when he heard him com- ment with many others upon the rough state of the weather. : Then he drew a long breath of relief, for he had been in great fear lest his companion, Don Pero, should be disgovered; but, fortunately, the latter had seen the buccaneer ulso, and had exer-ised sufficient presence of mind to throw himself on the ground, and lie motionless as a log until the danger was pust. 4 Some three or four more tents were now exam~ ined in the same manner as those described, which brought our adventurers almost to the center of the encampment, but still no traces of the beautiful Spanish girl could be found, and they had begun to debate whether it was best for them to look further that night or retrace their steps to the wagon, and wait until daylight, when, a cry.and along, deep moan, followed by a sharp reproof, proceeding from a darkened tent close by, reached their ears. One voice was the shrill treble of a woman, the other the gruff voice of a man; and the former, in the breast of Harry Seaborne ut least, excited emotions both strange and indescribable. Without spoakinga word, and scarcely ventur- ing a natural respiration, our two spies, acting in concert, slowly and silently drew near the tent whence the sounds proceeded, —_~ EN listened, but for some moments all was still. Then several low moans succeeded, and another yey and angry reproof was given, which evi- dently came from the vicious lips of a hulf-tipsy buceaneer, and from the tenor of the language, left no donbt.in the minds of our two friends that it was addressed to a female captive. ; i Oh, how wildly beat the heart of Harry Sea- borne, and what strange, almost unfcecountable feelings were excited in his breast as the follow- ing threat reached his ears: **You Ke down, nor dare to make a noise, or I f 7
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. painful to Harry Seaborne that he h j 25 “KING MORGAN. will brain you with the butt end of my musquo- toon.’ . What would he not have given to know to whom those words were addressed? Could it be that he was so near to the beautiful donna, and that it was her groans, wrung from an agonized soul, that had sounded in his ears, and caused those harsh threatenings in return? Oh! if such were the case, how gladly would he now take her place and enduro all the horrors of imprisonment, if by this means she could be. restored to liberty and happiness. CHAPTER XXVIII. A FRIDND IN NEED, AFTER MANY PERILS—CON- CEALED IN A CAVEBN, Farry Seasorne loved, and loved truly, and | there was no sucxifice too great for him to make for the object of his affections. : All within had once more become still, but without the storm was raging as fiercely us ever, and the wind moaned, and whistled among the tents; und flapped the canvas and drove the r in and sleet against them with a loud pattering sound, : Taking Don Pero aside, Harry Seabore, in low hurried tones, informed him that he had resolved pon the bold experimentof entering the tent and endeavoring to ascertain whether the prisoner confined therein was the young lady of whom they were in search. “It isa great risk, and I fear that very little good will come of it,” said Don-Pero, “At all events, I can ascertain whether my hopes have any foundation,” answered Harry. “And if they have, what will we do then?” queried Don Pero, F ‘Why, rescue the captive, though a hundred buccaneers barred the way,” responded Harry. “‘One, if he is wide awake, will be enough to alarm the camp, and in five minutes we shall have a pretty swarm of hornets around our ears, through which it will be impossible to escape.” “T hope your courage does not fail you, Don Pero,” said Harry Beaborne, rather bitterly. “No; but I have thrown my prudence into the opposite scale, and the balance is ut par.” “Notwithstanding which, I will reseue Donna Theresa at all risks, or die trying. I know that it is shea who is a captive in this tent, for [am cer- tain that I recognize her voice,’ “Then you are determined upon the desperate expodient of entering, even though the guard is awake?” “Tam; for doubtless the sentinels have the strictest injunctions not to slumber, Once get hor outside, and in this murky gloom our retreat will be easy, and we shall stand every chance of escaping detection,” urged our hero. “JT fallin with your view on condicion that ‘ou allow me instead of yourself to enter the nt,” said Don Pero. “Ahl why that strange request? I had thou,zht you half s coward, and now —” i “And now you find out your mistake,” said Don Pero finishing the sentence for him. ‘“ Well, I would euter the tent, since it must be done, instead of you, because the guard must be dis- posed of silently before he can utter an alarm, and I flatter myself that a Spaniard knows how to handle a poniard better than un Englishman.” * Go, then, in Heaven’s nume! My mind re- volts at the deed; but better that than fail in our enterprise.” “Stand still and don’t move, then,” said Don Pero, putting his mouth close to Harry Sea- borne’s ear, and speaking in a whisper; “Ill just slip round the tent’ and seo if there’s any other opening.” The next moment his dusky figure was lost in the darkness. : Something like a minute elasped, when he again made his dum) on the opposite side of the tent, and added— “It’s all right; bé careful and keep your pow- der dry. I’m going to enter now.” With these words ho cropped quietly to the earth, extended himself at full length on the wet ground, and cautiously raising tho flap of the tent, po his head under, aud slowly and silently drew is body after him. The moment of Don Pero’s final disappearance was one of the most mentally and physically over ex- periencod. ; It seemed to him/as if his blood had all rushed to his heart, and his heart to his throat, produc- ing a strange species of suffocution and strangu- ation. i For some moments, as hestood and listened, hi could not breathe, and then, with a degree of pain that almost foreed bim to ery aloud, his heart seemed to leap back to its proper place, and be- gan 2 series\of palpitations that to him really ap- ] AM peared audible, and threatened to force a passage through his breast. Gradually he grew calmer, and then he ap- proached the tent, so as to place his ear against the canvas, and listened with every faculty of Se exerted to the lust degree his will could give i ; For a time, however, all remained still within, and nosound, suve that caused by toe driving -torm without, was heurd, Suddenly, however, a quick, sharp cry, fol- lowed by astifled groan, smote upon his eur, and then he could distinguish sounds indicatlng a struggle where one is endeavoring to strangle another. Next he heard a voice, that sent a thrill of oy and fear through every fiber of his frame, ex- claim— “Oh! Heaven, he will be slain, and my cords prevent me offering the least aid to my chivalrous preserver.” This was ‘said in Spanish, and not only did Harry Seuborne gather from it that the speaker was, indeed, Donna Theresa de Guzman, but also that his comrade, Don Pero, was in imminent dunger of his life. Without pausing to roflect he at once bounded We A tent, his pistol firmly clutched in his and. Don Pero was struggling desperately with a burly buceaneer, into whose mouth he had thrust the pommel of his poniard up to the hi:t, smash- ing in his teeth, and rendering him incapable of utterir g a sound. But forall that the burly rufflan had got the upper hand of the young Spaniard, and having come to the ground together, he had seized his bare throat with both hands, and was rapidly and surely strangling him. Harry Seaborne saw that not a moment was to be lost if he would save the young don’s life. Grasping the barrel of his pistol he swung the stock round with all his strength until it camein contact with the buccaneer’s heud, who had luckily lost his steel cap in the struggle. _ The next instant his fingers had relaxed their clutch on the young don’s throat, and he had rolled off his body on to the ground stunned, and to all appearance lifeless. ; Not staying to satisfy himself which was the case, Harry Seaborne cut loose Donna Theresa’s bonds, raised her in his arms, and made towards the door of the tent, bidding Don Pero to follow. “Stay, sty !” cried the latter, “ really I——” The sentences, if finished, was drowned by deaf- ening cries, und Harry Seaborne, who had just gained the outside of the tent, with ‘Donna Theresa in his arms, was laid senseless upon the earth by a blow from a clubbed arquebuse, At tha same instant three or four buccaneers, one of them bearing a lighted torch, sprang over his body, and bursting into the tent, secured Don Pero also a prisoner. CHAPTER XXIX. PRISONERS—A FRIEND IN DISGUISE, Ir is, of course, impossible for us to convey anything more than a general idea of the rage and indignation excited throughout the buccaneer army by the daring attempt of our hero and Don Pero to rescue a prisoner, To suck a degree of vindictive fury were the possions of the mighty buccaneers excited, that ora time it seemed probable that the two prison- ers would be torn to pieces in spite of the efforts of a more Calculating few to reserve them for an- other fate. But at last, by entreaty and menace, their guards succeeded in restraining the mob from present violence, and then gradually the tumult subsided. Our horo and his companion were conducted to a large tent, bound hand and foot, and put under a strong guard, to await Morgan’s will concern- ing them, which could not be learnt until the fol- lowing day. Order at length being restored, the recently- alarmed and exasperated buccaneers quietly withdrew to their tents, all more or Jess elated at the prospect of shortly being both spectators and actors in the amusement of human torture.” Silence, as concerning the hurhan storm of passion, again reigned throughout the camp, but the storm of the elements still raged as flercely as ever, and the wind sighed, and moaned, and whistled aniongst the tents, and the rain and hail pattered on the tightly-drawn canvas as before, rendering the night pitchy dark and gloomy. + oon And doubly gloomy was it to our two friends, whose last hopes had expired, and who could look forward to nothing better than a horrible death on the morrow. As for Harry Seaborne, on first coming to him- / self, and perceiving at a glance what had tran- spired, his anguish of soul knew no bounds; and he repeatedly groaned aloud, and rolled to and fro in his fetters as one in mortal agony, | On the point of liberating her he loved, he had been struck down, she had been torn from him and now there was little hope that he would éver behold her sweet face again. ‘ And more than this, he had involved another in his ruin, and brought upon him a doom of ray he shuddered and grew sick at heart to ink, Oh! ho thought, if he could but die alone, and thus atone for his incautious act, how gladly would he do so! Butas this could not be, the chivalrous young Spaniard would also be a victim, and perhaps also the other two who had so nobly consented to risk their lives to rescue the girl so dear to him would be discovered, and receive the sume horrible torture and death, And then, alas! what would become of poor Theresa, without a single protector left? The prisoners, though near euch other through- out the night, were not permitted to speak, and as the day dawned on a cold, disugreeable, drizzly morning, and the dull rays of light penetrated the wet canvas of the tent, and spread a gray or leaden hue over each object, it revealed the pale, anxious countenances of the prisoners, with their bloodshot eyes, and clearly showed that the night had been passed in intense, restless, men- tul agony, devoid of all hope. ; The positions of Harry Seaborne and Don Pero were such that, though tightly bound and ex- tended at full length on the. co'd, damp ground, they could Jook into each other’s face; and as they did so they could almost read each other’s thoughts, Don Pero was unhurt, but Harry’s head was somew hat ahs from the wound he had recetved at the time of his capture, but the contusion was nota dangerous one, and he experienced very little pain. ) About duwn the guard oyer the captives wae changed, but nothing else worthy of note took lace until a short time after, to our hero’s joy, alter Evandale entered th tent. ee But his first emotions ‘of pleasure soon van- ished, for Evandale glanced his keen, dark eyes coldly, almost savagely, upon him and his fellow- captive, without the least sign of recognition, ~ 6 was splendidly appareled, and’ the plume in his bat wus fastened by an immensé ruby. Previous to his appearance there had been a faint hope in thé mind of our hero that the brave buccaneer lieutenant, who had befriended him on s0 many former occasions, might, in some un» known and unexpected way, ussist them in their present difficulties, but the moment he looked upon Evandalo that hope fled, and he closed his eyes and shuddered. j , All this the buccaneer lieutenant evidently noticed, as his keen black eyes glanced from one to another, and when he had finished his surve asmile, which seemed one of fiendish triump and delight, rested’ on his handsome counte- nance, ' He had read Harry’s thoughts, and they seemed to give him intense inward satisfaction. “ Dog of a spy!” he said, addressing, himself to our hero, “ your time and that of your companion has coms, Ere the sun has risen you will be condemned; ere he has set you will be tortured and executed.”, ¢ ; “Begone!” exclaimed Harry, vehemently, his indignation raised to a pitch he could not. con- trol. ‘‘ Begone, false friend and atrocious buo- caneer, and may my blagd be upon your heud |” “Ha, hal I can but Jaugh at you, and I will laugh at the stake as I invent tortures wherewith to make you groun anew. Let me tell you one of those tortures now that you may Jaugh too- let me whisper in your ear;? nnd he bent down his head apparently for the purpose, but instead of the language Harry was expecting to hear, the following words sent a mad revulsion of feeling to his heart— ' “Courage! Iam true, but Morgan suspects me, ard I mustplay a part, Outwardly 1 am your bitterest foe, inweay, your stanchest Triond. Aid yon I can and will, but not yet.” Then he added, aloud— . “Ha, ha, ba! how like you the invention? That,methinks, will put your bravado and cour- age tothe test;” and turningabruptly on his heel, he strode to the door of the tent, exchanged at few words with the guard, and exhorting them to the greatest vigilance, disappeared, : Abouta quarter of an hour later several of the leading buccaneer officers made their appearance, and after walking around the prisoners and ex- amining them, and occasionally turning them over with their feet in a careless manner, they | gathered themselves together in a group near the ent door, and a very animated discussion took _ 4
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KING MORGAN. lace, of the nature of which both Harry Sca- farite and Don Pero were ignorant, the conver- sation being carried on in @ tone too low to reach their ears. Presently, ‘however, their voices assumed a somewhat higher pitoh, and then Harry Seaborne athered enough of it to know that his own oom, a8 well as that of his companion, was soaled. . Then a handsome young buccaneer from the party near the door came up to them, and pro- coedad to cut their bonds. Whon this had beén effected, he told the two captives to get up and follow him. fter repeated trials, during which the bucca- noor exhibited his haste and°a small portion of his hatred by repeated kicks on their bodies, Harry Sexborne and Don Pero succeeded in re- gaining their feet. Harry was the last to rise, and when he finally did Boe was only by a great effort he could stand. Ho felt stiff, numb, and weak, with oceasional- y sharp, darting. pains through his body, and a slight dizziness in his head; but then their bonds had been very tight, and they had not tusted food for many hours; ; “ Cheer up, comrade; all may yet be well,” he, however, managed to say to Don Pero. They were the first words he had ventured to address to him since being taken prisoner, and hoe was now warned against repeating the offense by receiving a back-handed blow across the face from a buceaneer, which caused blood to flow profusely from his mouth apd nostrils. Our hero started, his eyes flashed, and he in- stinctiyely placed his right hand to his left side as if to draw his sword, but instantly recollect- ing that it was gone, his countenance fell, an turning a hopeless, mournful-look upon the oung Spaniard, he bowed his head upon his Lowen and quietly walked out alongside the young buccaneer who had him in charge. As they emerged from the tent and gazed around, Harry Seaborne and Don Pero beheld a sight that made them shudder, and invcluntarily recoil, but we must descriLe what it is in another chapter. CHAPTER XXX, RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. THE morning was cold and disagreeablo—a rare thing in such a latitude; but then it was the depth - of winter, if such a term may be applied toa country all but tropical. It had ceased raining, but heavy, dreary-look- ing clouds were floating through o pim Os PASE, and the ground was covered with a kind o that made it very slippery. The two prisoners remarked all this, but only in relation to the chances which were offered for an escape from death, just as the sailor scruti- nizes each object on the coast against which ho knows his véssel is about to strike. Tho nature of their initiatory punishment was Bre at a glance, _Thoy were to be made to run the gauntlet, and Bulan preparations had already been made there- or. About a dozen or twenty yards distant from the tent in which they had been confined, and ex- tending down nearly to the bank of a small river that formed the northern boundary of the camp, thus forming two parallel lines of something like & quarter of a milo in length, were drawn up at least a third ofthe mighty buecaneer army, armed with musquetoons, bill-hooks, pikes, daggers, and rulberds. They were indiscriminately mixed, as regarded age, regiment, and size, but the lines wore very straight, the distance between them being about ten feot. Ths moment Harry Seaborne and Don Pero neared this terrible assemblage, accompunied b their savage guard, who by this tire number at least half a dozen men, they were greeted with ono universal yell of ferocious delight, and as they were led down the lines several buc- caneors came up to them and indignantly salu- ted them with fonl epithets, pinshing them with their finyers, striking them with their hands and fists, and somotimes with the weapons they car- ried, 80 that long sre they reacheds the other end they were considerably bruised and injured, though providentially no bones were broken, Hurry knew that there existed a great uncer- tainty that either would ba/able to run the gaunt- let successfully ; indeed, he felt that the chances were zroutly aginst either being able to do so. ° “This is terrible!” exclaimed Dén Pero. ‘Oh! that I had diad upon the fleld of battle.” “Oh! could I but see Theresa de Guzman in safety, how willingly would I purchase the boon, even by dying in this manner,” sighed our hero, sleet ‘ f \ i Crd, for even at that moment he thought not of himself but of her he loved. Harry was the first selected to make the trial, and as he prepared to sturt he turned his eyes for a moment upon Don Pero, and breathed an half- uttered fareweii. We have suid that when brought to the ground he was very weak and exhausted, but looking upon him now it seemed as if his strength had been suddenly reserved to nerve him for the dreadful task before him, and when at Jength he suddenly bounded forward, it was with such swiftness that fora time he fairly escaped the blows pied at him on both sides. But he had not run more than twenty yards when a stroke on the head from a halberd in the hands, luckily, of a mere drummer-bey, made him reel and almost fall to the ground. He recovered himself, however, and again re- doubled his efforts; but the blows now, unfortu- nately, fell thick, fast and heavy, and he was on the point of sinking under them when he heard a voice shout— “Break the lines!—break the lines!—and es- cape outside, That is buccaneer law !” Jarry could have sworn, thuugh the voice sounded like an assumed one, that it was in reali- ty Walter Evandale’s, and he determined to take advuntage of the counsel thus offered. Turning suddenly upon the right line, there- fore, he exerted his remaining strength, and burst through. He now knew that if he could only reach the flagstaff that formed the center of the encamp- ment he would, by buecaneer law for the time be safe; but this required another almost super- human. effort, for a hundred savage yells and shouts in his rear assured him he was followed, while the way before him was blocked up bya Jarge crowd of freabooters, who had forsaken the lines to bar his prognes. With no time for thought, but acting rather by instinct or impulse, he unded away to take a circuit, while the most active of his enemies darted forward to intercept him. By this means his chances of escape were re- duced to the very smallest number,-and already looking upon himself as lost he was on the point of yielding to their sooty whena guardian Proyi- dence again interposed in his favor, for Don Pero, ven the lines broken, thoughtit a favora- ble moment for himself to gain the place of refuge or buccaneer sanctuary and immediately set out to do so. The cry that the other prisoner was escaping drew down the whole assemblage upon the lat- ter, and left our hero’s course unobstructed, who, inetantly profiting by his good fortuue, reached the flagstaff, but so exhausted that di- rectly he had touched it he fell down overcome beside it. As to Don Pero, for some time he bid fair to outrun his pursuers, but chancing at lust to slip on the sleety grass, he was struck on the head with an ax, and instantly killed, much to the regret of the buccaneers, who mourned the loss of unother victim to the stake. The running of the gauntlet over, our hero was again bound, but this time with his hands at liberty. : He was then offered food, which he eagerly de- voured, after which water was given him, and he was informed that his trial would immediately take place. 4 — CHAPTER XXXI. . THE TRIAL—THE SENTENCE TO DIE AT TH STAKE, Aw hour later Harry Seaborne was marched, his hands bound securely to his sides, to the tent of Morgan, where his trial, and, as a matter of course, his condemnation, were to take place, Scarcely had he reached it when two. bueca- neers, who had evidently beén sent out as scouts, came in, and reparted something in a very low tone to the great buccaneer chief. . On hearing it he seemed to question them with a great degree of interest, and to receive their re- plies with satisfaction, Presently ho nodded his head in token of ap- proyal, and then dismissed them from his pres- ence. There was a pause of several minutes’ dura- tion, and just as Harry had beguu to wonder why it was that his trial was not. proceeded with, the two buccaneers re-entered the tent, dragging be- tween them the young Spaniards whom our hero and Don Pero had, a few hours previously, léft in the baggage wagon. x At this sight the young Englishman felt the icy chill of despair enter his heart, not on his own ac- count,but on that of her he loved, for there was now no champion Jeft either to save or to avenge her. There were about a dozen ofthe buccaneer ehiefs prosent. / The handsome Walter Evandale sitting next to Morgan, us was his wont; fhe cynical Rupert Russel, clad us usual in black velvet; the tuci- turn, one-eyed Dutchman, Peter Mansyelt: and the brutal-looking Captain Kydd, heing the most conspicuous of the number. A large crowd, howeyer, had surrounded the tent on the outside, all eager to hear the sentence. For some moments a deep and solemn silence: prevailed, during which the eyes of the bucca- neers were fixed with savage sternness upon the captives, while here and thore a sudden givam of vindictive malice, which some of the judges. could not wholly restrain, warned the latter that all hopes of mercy must be abandoned, : At length’ Morgan arose, und after looking upon the prisoners for a short time, during which. his. keen, malignant eyes seemed to burn with a deep- seated, unconqueruble hatred, he slowly turned towards his officers, and raising his right hand, delivered an oration. y Of course all that he said was strongly against the prisoners, and when he had ceased and sat down, several speeches were made in quick suc- cession by the other chiefs and warriors, but all in the same strain. All voted for the death of the prisoners, all were for having them burnt at the stake, Walter Evandale spoke last, but he spoke more bitterly, more resentfully than any. As he finished speaking a fierce, universal yell of delight from those around, and also from the listeners without, uttested the popularity or his language, and the great power he had of work- ing up the feelings of his auditory to the highest degree. Morgan even lost his habitnal taciturnity, and grasped him warmly by the hand. The time was now come tor deciding the fate of the prisoners by vote. . ’Tivas done in the following manner:— Whoever was in favor of putting the prison- ers to death held his drawnsword aloft; whoever was opposed to the measure plunged its point nto the ground. The motion was carried with only one dis- sentient vote. A short discussion now followed in regard to the time and locale for the execution of the horri- bla sentence, which was finally settled to take place on the following day at sunrise, on an open pieces of ground just below the southern limit of the camp. ; ; ! The council then broke up, and the hands of ae prisoners were bound, and a guard set over em. : They had just fifteen hours to prepare for death, the terrible death of the stake. But the night thut was shortly to ensue was to be one of strange, startling, and thrilling events, which will be narrated:in our next two chapters. t / —'__ CHAPTER XXXII. 4 CLEVER RUSE—HOPE OF ESCAPE. Four buccaneers, selected for their keen watch- fulness and tried courage, were set as guard over the prisoners doomed to die on the morrow. They were armed with daggers, swords, and musquetoons, and were so placed that the slight- est movement of either of the captives could be seen. : But this last precaution seemed unnecessary, for the latter were so tightly and securely bound that to move at all was next to an impossibility. They were placed separately in a row, and every man was bound hand and foot with a strong ligament around his neck, and attached to a stake near his head. Two torches stuck in the ground on eitherside cast a ruddy gleam ovor their dark figures, and showed the helmeted, cuirassed, aud gaudily- attired guard standing over them with untiring vigilance. i It was, perhaps, two hours from the time of their first entering this, their last prison-house, that a noise outside attracted the attention of the ruard, gi ‘As the noise was close to the entrance of the tent one of the guards leveled his piece and challenged. But at the same moment the door cf the tent was pushed rudely aside, and a burly buccaneer staggered into the interior, holding in one hand a huge leather bottle, which he seemedjin yain to be trying to get to his lips, with a drunken grevity truly ludicrous. ae buecanéer who had pointed his musque- toon at the intruder now elevated the muzzle, and indulged in a silent laugh, a proceeding in which his compinions also joined. : The drunken buccanecer, apparently not aware where he was, but, winkir-z visibly from the effect of the light on his eyes, continued to i) 27
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28 KING MORGAN. stagger forward, still trying to bring the bottle to his lips, but from the unsteadiness of hand and body not being able to succeed in his purpose. At length be caine to sudden halt-—that is to say, a drunken man’s halt, and, balancing him- self ug-best he could, stared curiously upon the guard, whom he now seemingly beheld for the tirst time. “What are you doing here?” he exclrimed, ac- eompanying his romurks with. the usual number of hiccups, and flourishing his leather bottle with the comical gesture of un intoxicated min endeavoring to nppeur very wise afd dignified. “I say, what are you doing here, all drunk as beasts? Go home and get sober, and take a sensible friend’s advice, and don’t ever taste liquor again.” ? Again the guard laughed, and one of them said: “What huve you got in that bottle, jovial com- rade?” * Poison |” answered the other, fumbling about his dross for a place to hido it, as if afraid it would be tuken from him. “ Yes, poison,” he repeated, beginning to stagger back, as if with the intention of making his escape. ‘“* Yes, yes, it wouldnt be good for you, it would make you sick, and so I will take it instead.” “Tet us try if it will make us sick,” laughed one of the guard, approaching the drunken man, and extending his hand as if to seize it. “No, no, no!” returned the drunken buccaneer, with yreat eagerness, fumbling more than ever for a sufficiently ecupacious pocket in his gar- ments, and retroating all the while toward the door of the tent. ““No, no, nol” he repeated, dropping tho leather bottle to the ground, and appurently. un- conscious of the fact, continuing his retreat with quickened but still unsteady rats “Tt isn’t good for ye, it’s poison, it would kill ye.” And as the last words were uttered he made a sudden lurch towards the door, missed it, and ‘fell sprawling on the earth, where he lay as if stunned, The buccaneers laughed heartily as they passed the leather bottle round, euch taking some threv or four deep draughts, and smacking their lips with true relish, for the poison was unmistakably rum. This emptied the bottle, which they then shied at the head of its inebriated owner with good- humored derision, and then resumed their guard over the persons of their prisoners. Then {t was that a near observer might have seen inthe dirk eyes of the apparently-intoxi- cuted man, as he still lay extended where ho fell, a gleam of intelugence, of malicious triumph, Buch as the eyes of no really drunken man could by any possibility send forth. : The meaning of this peculiar look was soon ap- arent, for after the lapse of a few minutes the euds of the zuards, in spite of their efforts to the contrary, began to nod and droop, and in the course of five minutes more they, themselves, dropped down in their places, unconscious of everything around them. ‘The moment he perceived this he sprang to his feet, and, gliding forward with the stealthy tread of a panther, he approached the prostrate Buecaneers, and, bending over them, examined euch closely, and then carefully deprived him of his weapon, ; All this, or as much as their peculiar positions would allow, was witnessed by Harry Seaborne and his fellow cuptives, witnessed with emotions of hope and joy impossible to be described, but with a cautious silence that spoke volumes in fa- vor of their presence of mind. The hope of liberty und the fear of failure caused the blood to alternate between the head and heart, and they experienced an acute sense of suffocation, so intense were their feelings. The Instant the friendly buccaneer satisfled himself that the guard were safe and deprived of all their weapons, he drew his dagger, and with a rapidity that threatened injury to the captives, severed their bonds, Now, then, up and follow me,” he whispered, “but if you speak or make the least noise all will be lost., I will go before and lead the way, but the moment I halt let all sink to the earth and remiin so until they hear my signal.” The foros of his words was felt, but, unfortu- nately, if wus impossible to comply with his re- uest, owing to a want of circulation of blood in their limbs, particularly their legs, from being so tightly corded. © t y quick and vigorous rubbings, however. urged with the desperation of men straining every nerve for life, our friends soon hud the satisfuc- / Hor ot finding themselves able to stund and eyen Walk, The arms of the guard were then distributed -among them,and extinguishing the torches the whole party followed their deliverer out through the door ofthe tent, and a minute later once more " re breathed the open air of freedom, though sur- rounded by dangers the most imminent, — With a quick but steaithy step their guide led the way through the least frequented and most thinly-settled portion of the camp. For something like ten minutes they carefully threaded their way among the clustering tents, which could just be discerned in time to be avoided, and then with a degree of joy amounting alinost to wilduess, but which they wore forced to restrain, the prisoners found them- se!ves on the outskirts of the camp and on the borders of a mighty forest. The guide still continued, with stealthy tread and ‘guarded silence, to pick his way umong the trees us he had done among the tents, and as’ well as they could they followed his moye- ments, ; It was of course impossible to prevent their feet from causing the dead leaves to rattle, while here and there the sharp snapping of a dry twig made their hearts beat. For several minutes all went well, and the prisoners were just congratulating themselves mentaily upon haying passed all immediate dan- ger, when the guide suddenly stopped, and in the lowest possible whisper said ; “ Hist |” ; So low indeed that it had to be repoated half- way down the file to make the last one hear it. As soon as the guide had uttered his warning exclamation he dropped upon his knees, applied his ear to the ground, and listened. Then rising to his feet, he mado signs to the One nearest to him, which happened to be Harry Seaborne, not to speak nor stir, and he communi- cated it to the two Spaniards, The guide then strode forward, and a single moment sufficed to lose his friends in the pitchy darkness; but the unavoidable crushing of the dry leaves could be heard some time longer, in- dicating the course he had taken, At last all became still, und a short but painful Suspense ensued, Suddenty all were startled by an exclamation like the challenge of a sentinel. There was a reply in another voice, and then a conversation in low toues followed. This lasted only for a few seconds, and was appurently broken off by the commission of some deed of violence, for a sentence seemingly only half completed was ended by a sharp grown, and then was heard a dull sound as of the fall of some heavy body. Then a voice close to them briefly, and in hollow tones, ejacalated one word: “Follow |” It wus the voice of their liberator, and it in a great Measure reussured them. They asked no questions of their guide, and no explanations were made by him, but they all continued to move forward in Indian file, silently und steadily. At length they came to a small stream, one of the tributaries of the Garona, which the guide entered, followed in turn by Harry Seaborne and the two Spaniards, ; The streim was not deep but rapid, and it was with no little difficulty that they succeeded in maintaining a foothold on the slippery stones that formed its. bed. The water, too, was so cold us to be painful, and the crossing was thus a feat of a severe nature. ; After continuing up the stream for some forty or fifty yards the guide then came out of the wa- ter, and held the same course on the land fora similar distance, when he suddenly came to un abrupt halt. . The clish of steel was heard within the woods, the guide parted the branches of the under- growth, and he and our three friends peered through them upon a strange and interesting scene. , In a little open glade a mortal combat was be- waged between two swordsmen. i single glance revealed the fact that the com- batants were Rupert Russel and Peter Mansyelt. In his right hand each duclist graspoda sword, in his left a dagger, : Each duelist had a second, who stood behind his principal with sword drawn ready 1¢ inter- pose his blade in cuse any unfairness was ob- seryed On the part of the principals. in, CHAPTER XXXII. A PERILOUS ADVENTURE—THE ESCAPE. Looxtnc calmly upon this strange scene stood two other men, The ona of gigantia stature was unmistakably Oaptain Kvdd. The other was at- tired as a monk. and his cowl was drawn so far over his face that nota single feature was dis- tinguishable. so that his identity could not even be guessed at. : } The scene was illumined by the rays of half a dozen flickering lanterns, that were hung trom the tree branches, and shed adubious and uncer- tain light upon the conflict. i Aided by this light, Harry-Seaborne and his coy panions turned instinctively te gaze upon the countenance of their deliverer, for our hero pos- aed a vague idea that he wus not unknown to Wikre Judge of his astonishment, therefore, when, upon glancing round, hé perceived that the great red nose, the shaggy eyebrows, and blotched face that had distinguished: the roystering buecaneer who had entered the tent to effect their rescue half an hour previously, had all vanished, leavin, in their place the handsome countenance o Walter Evandale. . Just, however, as our hero was about to.grasp his hand and tender his heartfelt and hearty thanks for all he had done for him and his com- panions, a sharp cry from one.of the combatants distracted his attention, and Peter Munsyelt was observed to fall, with Rupert Russel’s sword thrust through his body Upto the hilt. At the same moment the lamps were all ex- tinguished, and a rush as of many feet seemed to be coming cee towards them. Evandale clutched our hero’s arm, and drew him hastily on through the bushes. He again entered the stream, and, facing about, retraced his steps, Harry and the two Spaniards following, and the latter grealdy wondering what would be the result of this aj‘parent change of papoee on the part of their guide, they not hay- ng had enough experience in buccaneer cunning to know that the olgject of their conductor was to break the trail, and, if possible, thereby to baf- fle any parties that might be sent out ia pursuit of them. « Continuing now adown the bed of the stream, Evyanduale passed the place where they had at first entered the water, and as the creek ran close to ~ the northern extremity of the camp, the tents were presently again in sight. Me y do we return, my kind and generous atten asked Harry Seaborne of Evandale pres- ently. “Hueh ! do not speak,” per. ‘A sentry should and can’t be fur oft.” Again a long silence followed, during which nothing could be heard but the rippling murmur of the stream as it dashed along Hts rocky bed with occasionally a splash as now and then a foot slipped in the water, and which slips were ren- dered more Ae ss in consequence of their feet being benumbed with cold, At last they came directly opposite the camp again, and the stream, which thus far had run es and shallow, now began to grow deep and still. Evandale came to a halt, and merely whisper- ing: ‘Not a sound now, as you yalue your lives !” he continued to meve forward some eight or ten yards, in which distance the water deep- pened from eight inches to three feet. Approaching the bank farthest from the camp, he then unioosened three long, narrow boats, shaped like canoes, and waded back, drawing them after him. These boats were securely lashed together, side by side, with strips of deer-skin, and, in conse- was the warning whis- be posted hereabouts, quence of this, were rendered almost secure Stale upsetting, even in a rapid and serpentine current. Evandale now informed Harry and his two friends that they must enter these bonts, and in no case allow the slightest exclamation to escape them, no matter what might happen, nor how severely they might be tried by perceptible dan- gers. . Seating one of the adventurers in each of the boats, he ertered the center one, which held Harry Seaborne, and standing crect in the bow, with a paddle in his band, made a few vigorous but silent sweeps, and then allowed his singular craft to float quietly down the stream, For a time all went smoothly, safely, and silent- ly, and the camp was safely passed, when tho musical sound of. running water began to be andi- ble, gradually growing louder, till presently all became aware that they were approaching either a cascade or furious rapids. Had there been light sufficient for the there might have been seen many a brow and compressed lip in that ACIP barge, as it slowly but surely floated down towards the urpose, rushing waters, whose first low distant murmurs © were now changed to a solemn, heavy rear, ~ ‘Hist !” whispered Evandale: and his words were uttered with that fearful distinctness which more than louder tones impress one with some- thing awful and mysterious, ‘Hist! don’t move a hair’s breadth now.” Scarcely was the warning given when a slight shock was felt underneath, and the boats were ‘ rowning °
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KING MORGAN. 29 sent forward with a velocity that showed they had struck the rapids, Now to this side, now to that, were they sud- denly shifted by the winding current, dipping here and dipping there, and jerkin, and rocking, and obeying every undulation and impulse of the water, but still foating onward as airy and buoy- ant us a feather or cork, Swifter and more swift now speed the boats, and louder and more loud comes up the roar of the foaming waves from below, giving one the impression of a fearful chasm, adown which one is about to plunge, and be forever engulfed in a whirling pool, ; On, on speed the boats, and every breath is held, and every heart has ceused to beat in fear- ful expectation. ; Now the last dread moment has come, The boats are suddenly'lifted as prea hands, and flung forward into the boiling, hissing, foam- lng surge. Round, round, round, here and there, right and left, up and down, they go, and the flashing of the furious element and its thundering roar are all that can be seen and heard by their helpless in- mates, as they cling tenaciously to their frail sides, and breathlessly await the event. Suddenly a moro fearful shock is felt, a down- ward lightning plunge is given. and now, just at the moment when all hope seems lost, the. boats glide off into stil water, and the roar of the rapids is heard benind. ~ “Thank God the danger is past!” said Evan- dale, drawing a long breath of relief, and with his single oarhe gave the bouts a vigorous shove, which sent them farther from the hissing waters. se Noe we are safo if we make not too much noise.” And still skillfully using his paddle on either sido, he kept the boats in mption. Presently a slight grating underneath, and the stoppage of the boats, together with a dark mass of something looming up above them, as- sured the still trembling captives that they had gained land at last. FEvandale now bade them remain quiet where thev were, and stepping ashore, he made the Lo. ts fast, and strode away along the beach and besids the rocky oliff that rose almost perpendicu- larly upwards to the height of filty feet. Suddenly he disappeared in a narrow fissure of the rocks, and was absent some five or ten min- utes, when ho re-appeared, and again approached our friends. “Tollow me once more,” he said, in a low, guarded tone. Pak And immediately retracing his steps he led his wondering followers in between gigantic rocks, where all was total darkness. The changoin the air, and the narrow, covered passage, convinced our hero that they were en- tering acavern; while the twe Spaniards, com- pletely bewildered with their already strange ad- vontures, hardly knew whether tho things around them were real or whether gy were being made tha sport of some wild, fantastic dream. At length, after following their guide for a con- siderable distance through a winding, zi passage, which wpparently had no outlet or ter- mination, they wore agreeably surprised to find themselves entering a large, dry cave, in tho central part of which was burning a fire, whose ruddy blaze formed a choerful contrast to the cold, dreary night without. Near the fire wore several large pitch-pine knots to serve them both for fuel and light, and Eyan- dale showed them a quantity of hominy and Indian corn, which had xupparently been con- veyed thither expressly for their use in the event of their being obliged to remain there for any length of time. Our herd would fain now have inundated his brave and generous buccaneer friend with thanks for all he had done for him and his companions, but Evandale nipped the demonstration in the ul, Nor would he stop to converse, save to warn Harry Seaborne and his companions that they must on no account leave tho cavern for four-and- twenty hours, by which time the buceaneer army would be far on its march to Panama, Giving them some other advice, unnecessary for us to ropeat, he then left thom to themselves, and re-threaded his way through the narrow pas- sage leading to the water’s edge. On reaching the canoes ho cut the thongs that bound them together, and proceeded to secrete two of them within the mouth of the cave. This done, he jinpee into the third, and with several strokes of his paddlesent it floating down the stream. ; For a moment or two bis dark figure, standing erect, in the boat, could be faintly traced in the dim light, and then it blended with the gloom, and was presently lost in the darkness. ‘ CHAPTER XXXIY. ANOTHER ESCAPE—THE FLIGHT ON HORSEBACK— THE SPANISH CAVALRY, Ir was long Yat midnight. and silence reigned profound in the bucoaneer camp. Chief, cap- tains, soldiers—all, save the sentries, were locked in deep repose. Even these kept loose watch. The buccaneers had sunk to sleep, looking forward to the morrow as a day of fiendish amusement and savage delight, for they none ot them knew that the objects of their hatred had escaped. ‘ In one of the largest tents Donna Theresa de Guzman was confined as un honorary prisoner. A hideous old hag, the only female, with the ex- ception of Zoubinda, in camp, had been placed to keep wateh over her, and she had received strict injunctions not to let her eyes close in sleep for the whole night. This old woman, with a warm skin thrown over her shoulders and wrapped round her scraggy percns was squatted upon the bare earth near he doer of the tent. Outside was audible the tramp of a sentry. The night was cold, and still cloudy and dark; but the delicately-nurtured Spanish girl had no other bed than the damp ground, and naught to cover her but the thin raiment in which she had been clad when abducted from the city, a low- necked, short-sleeved, evening dress, that showed her superb beauty of form to-advantage. Hour after hour the old woman set to watch over her smoked her short, black pipe, and mut- tered strange things; but at last she became silent, and began to doze and nod. Suffice it to say that half an hour later from nodding and dozing in a dreamy state sho glided into the utter forgetfulness of heavy sleep; whilst even Donna Theresu, with all the painful incidents of the past day fresh in her memory, and with all the horrors of the coming day staring her in the face, began to doze also; for such is poor, weak human naturs, that long fatigue and excitement will cause us to sleap upon the very brink of death —the awful threshold of eternity. No sooner had the lovely Spanish donna fallen into that state which can neither properly be called sleeping nor waking, but which partakes very strongly of both, when an object, which might well have been taken, in the dim and uncertain light, for a log of wood, a stone, a slight elevation of the ground, or anything, in short, but what it rea ly was, might have been observable just inside the tent, : But had elther Donna Theresa or the old hag. her guard, been capable of watching it closely for a few minutes, they would have been undeceived us to its being a collection of mere inanimate mat- ter, for though they might not have seen or heard it move, they could not have failed to become aware that its length gradually shortened, as if it were being drawn into the tent. y Three minutes later they would have found it had entirely vatished, without being much the wiser as to what it really was. In another five minutes, had they waited patiently, they might haye seen the same object reappear, but much quicker than it had dis- appeared, and by its suddenly rising to an erect sition would have pronounced it a human ing. ‘ Yes, it was a human being—a man; and if not a buccaneer, it at least bud all the appearance of one, even to the gorgeous armor and the super- abundance of gems and jewelry. As this mysterious, nocturnal visitant rose to h's feet, he moyed softly around the tent, and at the point opposite to that where the old woman lay crouched in sleep, with her black pipe still clutched between her teeth, he began to cut away the canvas, as if to effect another entrance, In this proceeding he was not long engaged, and then he glided to the side of Donna Theresa and touched her. : She awoke, and was about to scream, but he made a sign of silonce by placing his finger upon his lips, and warned her of the danger of dis- covery by rapidly going through a series of pan- tomimic gestures, ‘ “Tam a friend,” he said. “Get up quickly and follow me.” : He then glided away in the darkness, apparent- ly without touching the earth; and Donna The- resa, acting more in obedience to instinct than following the dictates of reason, got up, and followed him in the same stealthy manner. Gliding between the tents they soon reached the confines of the camp, but bad hardly done so when drums began to rattle and trumpets to blare, making it very evident that some kind of alarm had been given. But by this time they ee close upon an in- poe which contained some of the baggage orses. ‘ : 7 Seeing that the beautiful girl clung in alarm ae terror to his cloak, her deliverer said, K1nd y— “Tear not, madam, I am a friend of tho chil- valrous young Englishman Harry Seaborne, and though by calling a bueccancer Iam not all bad. I will save you from Morgan and h.syile crew or perish in theattempt.”’ As he spoke he entered tho inclosure, leading Donna Theresa by the hand, More than a dozen horses were grazing therein. From one of the pickets near the hastily con- structed gateway he took down «a halter, and eatehing the nearest horse he threw it over its head and led it forth. : There was a fire in the ous of the proud animal as he arched his neck, champed his teeth and pawed the earth, that seemed to bespeak safety from all pursgit, provided his riders could fhan- age him without saddle and with no other guide but the halter, Which was all they would have to depend Neve f ivundule—for our readers will already have. guessed that he it was who had set himself the task of delivering Donna Theresa, even as he had done Harry Seaborne and his companions—lifted the beautiful Spanish ginl upon the horse and then sprang on its broad back behind her, f He did not immediately urge his steed out of the inclosure, however, but making it gallop ina mad circle around it drove the other horses cut first, so that the buceaneers should find noe: whereon to pursue them. A minute later the snorting, whinnying, pranc- ing, aud running of the half-tamed beasts created a nvise that was almost deufening, and the horse whereon Eyandale and his fair companion were. mounted, seeing its pony nmantns loose, became impatient to join them in their frolic, and reared and plunged and pulled upon its halter, becoming for the time whol x unmanageable, Suddenly a shrill cheer came borne upon the still night air, making the heart of the chivalrous. Tyvandale bound with apprehension, and that of the beauteous Spanish donna sink with fear. This was immediately succeeded by the desul- tory discharge of urquebuses and musquetoons, and then by a succession of whoops and hulloes from different parts of the camp, betokeniny that tie alarm had spread. i Evandale drew his dagger from its sheath and plunged its point into his horse’s flank. Directly the animal felt the stab he made a spring from the earth, newrly throwing both his riders, and finding himself free at last, dashed auway like 2 meteor boaring directly back for the camp, in spite of all Walter Evandale s efforts to change his course, Already the first two or threo tents on the outskirts of the camp wre passed with a velocity that left its rides no imo for other reflection than that they were being borne with lightning speed into the very hands of their enemies, whose yells and shouts of fury made a horrible din in their ears. : But presently the horse ofits own accord turned off to the feft, and a few minutes later it again became answerable to the rein, Eyendale now guided itin a course that lay over an undulating country, partially cleared and in some places very stony, and tho line of flight, if not deviated from, he knew would strike the river about half a mile abe ve the camp, at a point. where the hill forming the eastern bank of the stroim sloped down into the water. As they neared this place, however, a succes- sion of shouts, oaths, and exécrations, apparently from a party of buccaneers at no great Aiapnie: led Evandule to believe that they were hotly pur- sued by mounted foes who had anticipated their purpose, and coming directly up the bynk of the river from the camp were striving to cut them off or engage them in doadly strife. And the supposition was correct; for presentl at least a score of hostile riders, all armed and ferociously eager to overtake the fugitives, were observable in the rear. Knowing that flight alone wonld save them, Evandale goaded his flery steed with his dagger into a state of perfect fury, and it sped on with frightful velocity. Yet us they gained the sloping bank they espied anumbler of dark, moving objects away fo their left, and it scarcely needed the furious yells which came borne to their ears to inform them that these moving bodies were ulso so many mounted and ferocious enemies. Down the bank, howeyoer, they plunged, and the next moment the cold water splashing in their faces. and over their persons told them that their gallant steed was straggling across the river, swimming sturdily against the current, A brief and vigorons floundering in the watery element, which occasionally dashed pies horse and riders, and they gained the opposite bank, up whioh Evandale urged the now panting and foam-
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30 ing beast with many probes of the long Spanish dagger, nt ere they gained the summit of the bank, and disap Baureee in the undergrowth, which here and there came down to. the water’s edge, loud yells and splashes behind warned them of the Still close proximity of their enemies, and that they had still desperate efforts to muke to render thoir escape possible. Up the acclivity theyZpressed, and soon the height was gained, when they found themselves upon a smull, level opening, across which they urged their’steed with the speed of fear and des- peration. — ; They had searcely ridden fifty yards, however, and begun to emerge from the thick copse fring- ing the plain, when Evandale thought he heard” the gallop of horses far ahead. They had no choice but to proceesh. 80 again the dagger was bad recourse to in lieu of spurs, und onwards once more dashed the swift-footed animai down into a deep dingle, through a small patch of wood, through a dense copse, over a rough stony opening, and still Walter Evandale maintained an erect position on its back, grasping the single rein of the halter in one hand, and with the other arm thrown around the slender form of his beautiful compan- on. : j Presently, however, they discovered, to their ie horror, by the yells of the buccaneers both n front and rear, that they were surrounded by the foe. : Certain destruction seemed inevitable. What was to be done?” Set off in what direction he might, the result was almost certain to be the sane—death, or, what was even more to be dreaded, captivity and torture. Oh! it was an agonizing reflection, and Walter Evandale shuddered and grew sick at heart, whilst beads of cold perspiration, wrung forth by mental anguish, stood upon his pallid faatures, not at the dangers that threatened himself, but &t those which surrounded his beautiful compan- jon, wtose heart was throbbing so wildly against his breast. But while there was life he knew there was hope; and again urging the horse forward, he sought not to guide him, but, offering up a shot rayor for deliverance, consigned himself and is companion to the will of Providence. The horse, finding itself at liberty to choose his own course, no longer followed the one he had been pursuing, but, turning more to the left, bore straight down towards a distant bend of the river and soon gained its bank. A party of buccaneers had already passed this place, as could be seen by the many hoof-prints in tue soft turt, and their shouts of fury and de- moniac yells gradually growing less and less dis- tinct relieved Evandale of any apprehension con- cerning them; but, unfortunately for them, there was still another party thundering close in their rear, whose wild, discordant cries, together with the loud clatter of their horses’ hoofs, and the Snorting of the spirited animals, put poor Donna Theresa in mortal terror. True, she could not see them, owing to an in- tervening ridge, but she felt that they were close upon them, and that the chances of escape wore now reduced to thé very smallest number, more especially as their steed, eager to rejoin his com- anions, began to evince a strong inclination to wheel round and bear them amongst the ranks of their enemies. — In vain Evandale tried to check him or change his course; every moment he was becoming more completely unmanageable, and he was ‘about, as, a last resource, in company with his eompanion, to fling himself off its back, when ‘suddenly, as if they had touched enchanted ground, a troop of horsemen broke through the cover in their van and bore down upon them, while a loud voice shouted — “Amigos ou inarnigos? Are you friends or foes?” i “Thank God we are saved!” cried Donna Theresa, in an ecstasy of joy, as she half-sprang -out of Walter Evandale’s embrace. ‘These are Spanish troops, and it is my father’s voice who is addressing us.” ees Her own yoies was now recognized in turn, ‘and a moment later they were surrounded by Spanish horsemen, while the leader, springing to his feet, revealed himself as no other than me Pedro de Guzman, Captain-General of New ‘Sprin. “Who is this cavalier who. accompanies you?” asked Don Pedro de Guzman of his daughter. ‘*He is one who has saved me from captivity and worse 'Therosa. “Then he must look upon us as friends, even 4 \ v ‘than death,” answored Donna. KING MOAGAN. { though he is in the uniform of our foes,” said the Gapluin-yeneral, Walter Evandale grasped the hand that was so frankly extended to him, but said: “We ‘have little time for exchanging eourte-. sigs or congratulations, for the buccaneers are close at our heels, and in less than five minutes your men will have plenty of work cut out for them.’ > At that moment the blast of a trumpet went echoing through the surrounding forest. } Then a confused mob of buceaneers burst through the copse into the opening, to the num- ber of a hundred or more, but their yells of fero- cious delight were suddenly changed to terror and dismay when all unexpectedly they found themselves confronted by a body of horsemen, who, instead of flying from, greeted them with yolls us appalling as their own, at the same time pouring in upon them a murderous fire, and churging with the whole line. Down went some four or five horses, twice the number of riders fell to rise no more, while of those who turned to fly only about a score es- Sates without injury. ild were the yells of terror of those who had | so late been pursuérs, but who were now in turn pursuad, as they rushed down the bank of the river and sought to avoid their foes, who with Spanish ‘‘ rivas /’ pressed close upon their heels, and slew without morcy all the buecancers who wero 50 unfortunate as to be overtaken. Maddened with the desire for blood and yenge- ance, and smarting under the disgrace which the defeat at Chagres had so recently brought upon them, the Spanish horsemen, once let loose upon the flying foe, could not be restrained by the trumpet blust of their commander, but giving rein to their worst passions, as well as to their steeds, they pushed pell-mell across the ford, up the opposite slope, and down along the stream towards the camp, vowing to wash out the stain of ignominy that was upon them in the life-blood of their ent mies, 4 But the buccaneers were by this time prepared to receive them, for a party of moun free- booters, who had been following in the rear of those closest in pursuit of Evandale and Donna ‘Theresa, and who had just reached the ford as the affray began on the opposite side, had hur- riedly returned to the camp and reported that a large body of Spaniards had killed their friends and were fast coming down upon the camp. Great was the alarm and confusion this intelli- gence created, and amidst the universal and appalling ery of ‘*The Spaniards are upon us!” the freebooters rallied, and inspired with renewed confidence by Morgan, formed an ambuscade just above the camp, at a point where it was most likely the attack would be made. Into this ambuseade the foremost of the daring Spanish cavalry directly ran, but the hot valor of those behind suddenly cooling at this unlooked- for reception, they were wise enough to show the buceanesrs the tails of their horses, and make the heels of the latter save them. Fast as they had ridden towards the camp, they now rode as fast away from it, and it was not until the river rolled betweenthem and their foes | that they began to feel their safety regained and : their courage revived, The loud blast of a trumpet now summoned them around their commander, who, with most of his officers aud a prudent few of the cavalry, to- gether with a regiment of fo-t soldiers, had not been rash enough to follow them, The eaptain-general therefore gave them such & severe reprimand for their disobedience and fool-hardiness that the most forgetful one amongst them remembered it to the day of, his death. - “And now, Don Eyandale,” said the ca;tain- general, turning to the handsome lieutenant. “with the hope that you buccaneers and myself together have succeeded in beating a little hard sense into heads where it recently was so sadly wanting, I must, I suppose, permit you to return to your comrades,” . ; “Don Pedro de Guzman,” said Walter Evandale, ‘it, ig many years since I drew my sword on the side of justice and right, and I have a strong in- clination to do so to-day. Let me fight on your side, therefore.” “Your proffered sword is accepted as frankly as itis given,” exclaimed the captain-general, as he ane the buccaneer lieutenant warmly by the and. (3 A CHAPTER XXXY. DISAPPEARANCE OF THE DONNA— MYSTERIOUS f DON GUZMAN’S ALARM, “AND now, my men,” Don Pedro de Guzman continued, raising his voice, and addressing the diseomfited cavalry, “you see what a calamity your rashness has brought upon us. Henceforth you must obey mo, and tho first who disobeys I Will bring beiore u court-martial, Come, wé must be on the move, or morning will break ere our purpose be accomplished.” The horse and foot aguin got into motion, and | moyed slowly down the western bank of the river, or that co poste the buccunver camp, Eyan- dule riding beside the captuin-general. A Spanish hat had supplied the place of his own, ae Duccenees uniform was couceuled by a red cloak, The buccaneers, however, were notto be caught napping. ; The Spanish infantry made the firstattack, but before the impetuous assuult of the buccuneers they gave way, and rushéd back upon their sup- ports, throwing the Spanish front into a state of disorder from nea it could not be recover- iat a the buccaneers followed close upou their heels. : They were, however, checked for a short time by the fire of the first line, but immediately a very heavy fire was commenced on that lune, und in wu few minutes it was extended to the second, In euch case the great weight of the flre was directed to the Spanish center, where five light tield-pieces had by this time been wheeled up, from which the men were repeatedly driven back with great slaughter, ; In that emergency resort was had to the pike, and Don Alberto Burmuez was ordered to make the charge with a part of the second line, which order was executed with great spirit. The buecaneers instantly gave way, and were driven back several hundred yards, but for want of a sufficient number of arquebusiers to preserve the advantage gained, the freebooters soon re- newed theit attack, and the Spanish troops in turn were forced to give way. At that instant a party of buccaneers, under Rupert Russel, attacked the Spanish forces on the. left, and forced back the troops stationed at that point. Another charge was then ordered and made, but with a very heuyy loss of ‘men, and particu- larly officers. . In this charge tne colonel of the first regiment fell with a bullet through his body. The artillery being by this time silenced, and all the officers belonging to it killed, half the army fell back, and tried to reguin the road, and if possible, make a retreat. ‘or that purpose a successful eharge was made on the buccaneers by the Spanish horse, as if to turn their right flank, but, in reality, to gain the roud, which was effected. But as it is not with the general feature of the battle we have espécially to do, but father with a certain train of incidents arisiug therefrom, we shall leave the former in the bands of tho histor- ians, while we proceed to narrate the latter in the best manner consonant with our humble abilities. It was, then, while the battle was raging at its greatest height, and on all sides the dead and dying were mingled in bloody confusion, and heaped one upon another, over which the living forces were trampling as they alternately rushed to nnd fro in their advance and retreat, thata tall veteran officer was conspicuous riding up and down the lines and encouraging his men by look, gesture, speech, and action, to press on the foe and sell their lives us dearly as possible. It was Don Pedro Guzman, the Cuptain-Gen- eral of New Spain, mounted on a coal black charger, and sitting erect, with his head bared to the breeze, and his long iron-gray hair streaming out behind, : In one hand he held a bloody sword, the point of which was broken, showing that its owner had been no idle spectator, and as he swung it to and fro and shouted words of encouragement to his men, his lips compressed and his dark eyes flashed a fire that would bave become one of half his years. , f Wherever the battle raged flercest, and the danger was mostimminent, there this gallant man could be seen doing his duty like a true hero. So conspicuous a mark could not cf course escape the quick eyes of the buccaneers, and | more than a hundred freebooters made him a tar- get. i But in vain they burnt their powder and spent their bullets. All failed to bring down their intended victim, or oven check the progress of his flery charger. Yet they did not all shoot wide of the mark. More than twenty balls passed through his clothes, as many more penetrated the saddle on which he rode, and one eyen cut a lock of hair from his right temple, yet still he remained un- harmed. C i Surely a watchful Providence preserved him for another destiny. ' So for more than an hour he remained in the thick of the fight, encouraging his men, now re- ’
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duced to a small number, to hold out to the last, and die like Spartans, when Walter Evandale, still wearing tre Spanish beaver and scarlet cloak, came dashing up to him on 2 horse as flery as his own, and cried out— “ For Heaven’s sake save yourself, Don Pedro, whilst there is yet time. Already ycur men are fying in every direction, and you will soon be surrounded and cut off.” The captain-general reined his horses directly in front of the speaker, and eyed him with almost Savage sternuess, while his immediate followers, cutching the word retreat, and seving their com- rades flying, turned and rushed after them, leav- {ng him and Eyandale for a moment alone. * What’s this?” shouted the saptain-general, as s00n as his astonishment would permit him to speak, s Re Retreat, say you?” The young buceaneer lieutenant made no reply, but with a gesture of impatience and alatm he euught the bit of Don Pedro de Guzman’s horse with one band, struck the animal on the flank with the sword he carried in the other, and at the Sane time buried the rowels in the sides of his own gallant charger. 4 Both horses reared and plunged, and the next moment were rushing away with the speed of the wind, guided by the strong, bold arm of the young and daring Evandale. At first the captain-general was so astonished that he offered no resistance, and it was well he did not, for a large party of buceaneers hud nearly surrounded them, and another moment's delay would have been fatal to their escupe. As it ‘was, they had burely time to dart through the nearly closed circle; aud munya crossbow bolt'and arquebuse ball came whizzing past them, too close for safety, though fortunately both re- mained unharmed, “This is shver cowardice!” cried the captain- general at length, tightening his grasp upon the rein und making an effort to check his horse. *Romember dale, in reply. “True; but is she not in safety?” “Nothing is safe here, Don Pedro de Guzman; but I trust she will escape, for directly’ I found the tide of war setting against your troops I sent her with an escort back toward Chiagres.” “We must overtake them, then, with all speed,” said Don Guzman, now really anxious. “So I thought, and so ventured upon doing what I did.” SOS “You did right, my friend, and I was at fault; but stil. [cannot but think itis’ cowardly to fly and leave these poor wretches here to the mere ‘of the buccaneers. Oh, woeful day! How will it sound at home in Spain to say that a few hundred buccaneers dofeated tivo thousand of her regular troopsin a pitched battle, and that, too, one of her own seeking?” Bvandale could offerno consolation in this sora straight, aud so he remained silent, / “Look!” continued the — captain - general, ‘* Behold the poor wretches lying on every side of us, and some of them entreating us with looks, gestures, and supplications to save them. Oh, it is heartrending, and were it not for my daugh- ter I would dismount and die with them, for the shame of this day is worsé than death.” Such were the remarks of Don Pedro de Guz- man, as side by side he and Walter Evandale dashed along the roud, past the dead and dying, and wounded, and parties of flying fugitives, who were straining every nerve to escape the horrible fate that awaited them if overtaken by the pursuing buccaneers, Parties on foot and on horseback all doing their utmost to escape, and all alike regardless of every life but their own, were alternately passed ‘by the unusually swift-footed steeds of the cap- tain-general and Evandale, But though our friends passed many, the road ahead was lined with fugitives, and the shrieks and fierce English oaths behind proclaimed that the terrible work of human butchery was still going fearfully on in their rear. “ Oh, woeful day! Oh, woeful day!” groaned the ocaptain-general. “That I should live to witness such a terrible defeat as this. Ah! I should haye died on the fleld of battle along with my poor soldiers.” ; . Then what might have become of her who so much néeds your protection?” asked Evandale. «True, true—my dear little daughter. But oh, where can she be?” “T still think that she may be ahead of us,” said Evandale. “You think. her?” “Do not say that, Don Pedro. It makes moe shudder,” said the young buccaneer, turning deadly pale. : “You sent But suppose we have passed her with an escort, you say?” your daughter!” shouted Evan-. ‘KING MORGAN. “T did, and the escort consisted of six well- mounted men.” ““Where did you direct them ““Nowhere short of Chagres,’ ; “That was right. God grant they muy have escaped,” said Don Pedro, fervently. ‘“‘Amen! I trust we shall soon’ overtake them. Remember they have had half an hour the start.” “Spur on, then, our poor beasts must do their duty now,’ replied the captain-generul. For some twenty minutes later Don Pedro de Guzman and his strange ally rode as fast as their gallant steeds would eurry them, by which time they had pussed all the fugitives on foot and nearly ul that were mounted, , Not less than flve or six miles now interposed between them and the buattle-ground, and yet they had not overtaken those for whom they were in search. “This is strange,” observed the captain- general, reining in his fouming and panting steed, and looking eagerly around on every side. “ Brave friend, they have either escaped fuster than I should deem it poss:ble for them to do, or something serious, if not alarming, has happened to them,” “*God forbid the latter!” cried Walter Evan- dale, turning deathly pale, and reining in his horse so fiercely as almost to throw him on his haunches. ‘“ It does seem strange, Don Pedro, I udmit. And yet it cannot be possible that we have uawittingly passed them if they have kept the road; but then they may have turned off it to take a shorter or a safeg course. Ah! what is that yonder?” “Where, where?” eagerly demanded the captain-general. ““Yonder—ahead - beside the road! As 1 live! 1 do believe it is a dead soldier, and if my eyes do not deceive me—oh! the thought is too horrible!” Burying his spurs’in his horse's sides as he spoke, Walter Evandale sped away like a meteor neste instantly by the now really alarmed ather. : A ride of less than a minute brought the buc- caneer lieutenant to the object he had espied, and again reining his horse to a halt, he uttered a ery of horror, placed both his hands before his eyes, and bowed his head in silence towards the saddle- bow, while his whole frame shook with heart- rending emotion, : ‘* What is it, my friend, what is it?” eried the captain-general, riding up to his side. * ; alter Evandale raised his head slowly, with- drew his hands from a face of the ghastly hue of death, and pointing to the awfulscene before him, at length gasped forth : “ Behold!” “T see, I see!” returned Don Pedro de Guzman, quickly. *‘Six soldiers all dead—well?” “They are the escort!” again fuintly gasped Walter Evandale, ** Merciful Heaven! the escort?” groaned the captain-general, “Then my daughter is lost.” “Lost!” echoed the other, in a hollow tone. They both remained silent for a moment, gaz- ing shudderingly upon the bloody ecene, and both experienced such feelings as alone could be felt by a father and’a true man in such a case, “My daughter, my dear little daughter !—death and defeat. Oh, it is too much!” groaned the cap- tain-general. At this moment several horsemen passed our triends, they merely glanced at the two officers pill inquiring looks, and rode eu without speak- ng. ‘‘Hal the sergeant; see, he moves!” cried Evandale, and instantly dismounting he sprang to the poor fellow’s aid and raised him in his arms, In doing this he exposed a deep wound in his to stop?” ‘left side, some two inches below the heart, from which the blood was slowly oozing. He had been lying on his face, and was helpless, and apparently nigh unto death, but changing his position seemed to revive him, and opening his parched and livid lips, he gasped faintly: ** Water, water—oh, give me water!” By this time the cay tain-general was dismount- ed and standing by his side. ““We must save him if possible,’ said the lat- ter. “There is a small stream about a mile ahead, and we must place him on one of our horses and bear him to it with all speed.” As Don Pedro de Guzman spoke, he tore off the scarf which he wore around his waist, and bound it about the wounded man, in order to stanch the blood. Then, placing him upon his own horse, both he and Evandale remounted, and set off.at as fast a pace as was deemed prudent for one to be car- ried in a.situation so critical. ‘ In a short time the party gained the stream, and having bathed the brow and temples of the Sergeant, they scooped up water with their hands 31 and placed it to his lips, which he drank eagerly, and soon revived, s0 as to be able to open his eyes, look around, and speax distinetly. ‘* Who are you?” was his first question, “and why am I here? Ah! I remember now. These are the captain-general und the strange officer in the scarlet cloak who ordered me to carry the oung lady to Chagres in safety. Ah! do not ane me, noble signor, I did my best to save er.” “And what has happened to her? Where is she now?” cried the two officers in a breath. ‘Heaven knows! I cannot answer either of your questions, Oh! my side pains so.” “ Be thankful for that, for it shows that your wound is not mortal,” rejoined Walter Evandale, “But now tell us all you know about this affair With as little delay as possible.” “Give me more water. There, I thank you. Ah! I feel somewhat revived aguin.” ‘Would that we had a surgeon here,” said Walter Evandule, pu.ting his hand upon the sergeaunt’s side, and finding that it still continued to bleed profusely. ““A surgeon would de me very little good,” muttered the wounded man, ‘for I am dy- ng.” “ Tell me, befure you become too weak to do so, what has become of my daughter?’ exclaimed Don Guzman. “All I know, sir, is that we were oyertuken and set upon by about twenty mounted bucca- neers, and were dispatched as fast as musqueé- toons, swords, and daggers could do it. 1 saw two or three of the enemy fall before I fell my- self, and I saw the young lady hurried away, and that’s all I know of it.” . “Then we must ride on in search of her, and rescue her at all hazards,” said Walter Byan- dale. y “T think sir,” said the wounded man, “ it will be useless to search for her now. She is un- doubtedly a prisoner, end her recovery will not be «n eusy matter. If you attempt anything rashly you will be likely to lose your own lives, without rendering the young lady any service whatever.” “Alas! I fear that he speaks the truth,” said the heart-broken father. ‘* We must wait for a Hfappier moment.” _ “* At all events we must be off at once,” re- turned Walter Evandale, “for the infantry are coming up rapidly, :md the Lucc.neers may be close behind. We must take care of our own lives now in crder one day to save her who is very dear to us both. We cun manugé to take the sergeant with us.” + “ Right, my friend, right. Let us mount and away,’ echoed the captain-general, A minute or two later Don Pedro de Guzman and Wulter Evandale were dashing down the road, bearing the sergeant across the front of the latter's saddle, while hundreds belind in wild disorder came Penees after, straining every nerve to eseape the horrors they had so recently witnessed. : CHAPTER XXXVI. WHICH TREATS OF THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF OUR HERO AND HIS COMPANIONS, 7 Scarcery had our hero and his two Spanish allies laid concealed in the eavern, whither they had been conducted and hidaen by Walter Evun- dale, more than a couple of hours, when strange sounds reached their ears. The noise of a battle, evidently, for they could hear the rattle of musketry, the deeper boom of cannon, the clash of steel on steel, and the flerce cries of the combatants uttered in English and in Spon pia “ The captain-general, at the head of an army, has overtaken Morgan and his robber horde, aud is giving him battle,” he eried, in wild excite- ment. ‘* Wé must issue forth, my boys, and take part in the play.” The two young Spaniards were by no means .oath to fall into his views. In fact, they ardently seconded them, and voted for quitting the cave that very moment. **Come, then,” cried our hero. ‘It is hardly probable'that Evandale took with him tothe other sido of the river all three of the canoes in which he brought us hither, and if not, two, or even one, will suffice for us.” They hastened towards the mouth of the cave, through the narrow, tortuous passage, and at length reached it. A brief search proved the correctness of Harry Seaborne’s conjectures. Two of the canoes were gone, but the thir was found, and drawn forth from its hiding- place. j i It was then launched into the whiter, and the three adventurers seated themselves in it i
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P32 KING MORGAN. An unexpected difficulty now, however, arose. There was no paddle, for Evandale had to take away with him the only one wherewith he had guidedand propelled the boat hither. This threw a heuvy damper on the spirits that had alreddy begun to feel compuratively buoyant; but as there was nothing to be done but to make the best of their circumstances, the canoe was pushed frora the shore, and allowed to float down the current, with no other guide and propelling power than tho hands of its crew, Fortunately the bend of the river was such as to drift thom towards the western shors, but the stream ran so slowly thatthe best part of an hour was consumed ere the canoe tourhed land, which it finally did at the first projecting point in the river above the falls. As the canoe touched the shore, Harry Sea- borne bade his companions not to speak or move until he had first gone ashore alone and discoy- ered that no foes were lurking in ambush in the vicinity, ; 1 It did not take him long to satisfy himselt on this point, and he then quickly returned to the waters side, But to his surprise and dismay the canoe no longer lay alongside the bank. Its inmates hud puddled it a little way off the hore. [t had been caught in a rapid, and was now drifting broadside on toward the falls, Without oar or paddle the fate of its Inmates was sealed. t . They would bo carried over the falls, and dashed to pieces on tho scattered and foaming waters at its base. ; Harry ran alongside tho river’s bank to see the cxatastrophe, too awe-struck to speak or halloa, 5 The ground grow steep. Tho level shore changed into cliffs, . He presently stood on tha summit of one, and ie river glided by at least a hundred feet below im. He could still see the boat. It was close to the falls, and its inmates seemed ty be too much overcome by horror and dismay to make any attempt to avold the dread outustro, he, ‘ Aud yet, though his every faculty was riveted upon thom, und the destruction that was so soon to overwhelm them, his attention was in an instant distracted from them altogethor, ; A terrible cry, ovide tly that of a brute, not of a human being, issued from the dark woods in his reur, and was succeeded by angry growls. The tramp of hurrying feet, and the crack- ling and snapping of parting underwood fol- lowed, and a minute later a magnificent stay catieck close by Harry, closely pursued by two urs. Almost as svon as our hero beheld them the stag had, in its wild terror, leaped over the cliff into the river that flowed so tranquilly a hundred feet below, and the foremost beur, unable to check its onward course in time, weut over after it, fall- ing like a vast lump of lond, and roaching tho water first. The second bear, however, brought himself toa halt on the very edgo of the cliff, und aftersavage- ly contemplating for a» m nute or tio the fato of his companion, and of their intended victim, ho turned round, and then first catching sight of Harry, he seemed to think that there might yet bea supper in store for him. Our here, in contemplating his own danger, forgot all about that of his late comrades,. He turned and ran, upon’ seeing which tlio bear anlgkened his pace, and started in pursutt of m. Harry ran quickly, but the bear ran quicker, and he would infallibly have been caught and de- youred had he not unexpectedly encountered a horse that was pickvted to a tree stump, It was with the greatest difficulty that he suc- eeeded in unfastening and mounting the animal, and when he had done so he found that he had no control over him whatever. Fortunately, however, the flery animal sighted the approaching bear, and had senso sv filcient to run from instead of towards the great ungainly brute, It dashel across a narrow stream, up a small hill, and then across a plain. - : Suddénly, however, the horse gave a start, and apringing to the right, throw Harry from off its back, who, on letting go his hold. had the fore- thought to grasp the halter with both hands, and by this means, although swung to a considerable distance, alighted on his feet without Injury. The impatient animal once clear of its rider, now sought to be free from all incumbranca, and in its efforts to get away he dragged Harry sev- eral yards through bushes and over stones, which tore his clothes and skin, and bruised him not a ittle, } . But, with the tenacity of a drowning manto a rops, he olung to the halter-rein, and at last had the good fortune to find his beast approachable. It was ner fortunate that he did so, for the hear was approuching too, : ' When he had succeeded in mounting him, how- ever, he found to his horror, by yells and cries, that seemed to come from every direction at ones, that he was surrounded by buccaneers, Their yells had one good effect, however, for they frightened away the bear. What was to be done? : . Set off in what direction he might the result was almost certain to be the same—death, or what was even more to be dreaded, captivity and torture. , He shuddered at the thought, and grew sick at heart; and beads of cold perspiration, wrung by mental anguish, stood upon his pallid features: “But while there is life there is hope,” he argued, ‘So he again urged the horse onward. But now his. steed, hearing the neighs, the whinnyings, and the hoof-strokes of other horses, became eager to join its companions, and present- ly wheeling suddenly, plunged forward up a gen- tle acelivity, Harry knew that it was now bearing him right into the hands of his foes. In vain he tried to check him or to change his course, He was completely unmanageable, beyond all control; and reckless offwhat might be the conse- quences, since he now believed himself irreyoca- bly doomed, ho leaped® from his back, and was thrown violently upon the rough ground and ren- dered almost senseless by the shock. The next moment the riderless steed, still rnsh- ing forward, came in fearful collision with the foremost one of the pppnenonag party, and both horses went down as if struck by a cannon. ball, crushing in his fall the leg of the stalwart bucea- neer who bestrode one of them, who, uttering one \loud yell of agony, called piteously upon his frionds for help. Great was the confusion this accidont occasion= ed, for several of the buccaneers instantly stop- d their horses, and epringing to the ground, ran orwurd to ascertain what had happened. But as soon as tho truth was known the major- ity mounted and rode on, so accustomed wero they to and unconcerned at wounds, bloodshed, or death, Some threo or four, h»wever, remained to assist their injured companion, and getting him from under ono animal they carefully placed him on the back of another. Thon one mounting behind to return with him to the camp, rode slowly away in that direction, while the others prepared to continuo their course in pursuit of the discomflted Spaniards, Allthis was witnessed by our hero, who, not more than six paces distant, still remained onthe ground exactly where ho had fallen, scarcely dar- ing to breathe, lest he should bo discovered, Ho was already congratulating himself upon his fortunate but very narrow escape, when a loud ejaculation, as if tho speaker had suddonly mado some now and important discovery, caused @ thrill of terror to run through Lis whole system. And Harry had good reason to tremble at that ejaculation, for an important discovery had been made, and one which would have transpired much sooner had tho buccaneers been a little mere observing, The presence of the horse at such a time and place did not excite suspicion, for there were many riderless and ownerless horses running about in every direction; but when by tho merest aecident the truth was discovered that on this steed wasa halter, they immediately remembered that Donna Theresa de Guzman had boon carried aivay on « horse thus scantily harnessed, and that one of their own horses too, 7 A hurried consultation ensued, for might not the liberator and tho liberated be even now skulk- ing amongst the undergrowth close by? Such was the opinion of the groater part of thom, and they presently commenced heating around the bushes in every direction. Searcely hnd threo minutes elapsed after tho search began ere one of the party approached so close to Harry that he felt certain exposure must follow; and, resolyed to make one more desper- ate effort for his life, he firmly grasped the hilt of his daggor, that dagger given him by Evandalo, and springing suddenly to his feet buried it to the hilt in the breast of the astonished buccaneer, who, in the very act of utteringa ory of surprise, quickly changed it to a shriek of agony, and sank own at his foot. There wad no time to be Jost now, and leaping over the prostrate body, Harry made for tho nexrest horse, ; ; Ho reache! the animal a few feet in advance of the other buccaneers, who, hearing the ery of neck of the sinking their companion, and at once divining the cause, bounded after him, making the woods ring with their yells of fury, Catching the bridle in his hand, Harry vaulted’ upon the back of the animal, and'struck him a madyblow with the end of the reins. : With a fearful plunge forward, away rushed the furious quadruped, and in less time than it tukes us to tell it some twenty yards intervened between our hero and his pursuers. ; But short space had our hero for congratula- tion, for the next moment, as it were, the agile buccaneers were themselyes mounted and thun- dering after him, uttering. the most terrible eries and yells. ¥ As if Fortune, too, had determined to see how long she could toss him about between life and death, the horse he bestrode now shaped his course toward the buecaneer camp again, and in spite of all he ceuld do to turn him aside, for the animal had got its bit between its teeth, the will- ful beast still held on, bearing him with frightful velocity right into the very hands of his enemies, who, afoot and on horseback, were swarming about in every direction like bees when their hive is improperly disturbed. On he dashed, however, lashing his horse, since he could not control him, in unutterable fury, and on came his bloodthirsty pursuers, still elling as wildly as ever, but unable to gain upon im a foot. : “Oh!” thought Harry, ‘if this was not such a hard-mouthed brute, and if he had not got that infernal bit between his teeth, I might even yet escape.” But the horse was too headstrong to ohey any- thing but his own will, and the consequence was that our hero was borne right in among the yell- ing and howling crew of sick, wounded, and camp followers, who wero all wide uwuke and anxious te gather the earliest news conneeted with the battle just fought. Suddenly these sighted him, and more thana hundred sprang forward to intercept him, Knowing his doom would be death in its most terrible form if taken prisoner again, Harry, with not a single hope beyond that of provoking by his daring a Speedy termination to his life, sti)l lashed bis horse furiously forward, reckless of the blows, aimed at his person on all sides, and actually rode down several of his opposers. But this triumph over numbers was necessarily of short duration, and the grasping of tho halter by a tremendous buecaneer, who immediately raised his sword for the purpose of sevoring with it the head of our hero, seomed likely to put an end to all further strife, But hore again capricious fortune changod in Harry’s favor, for the horse, mistaking the inten- tion of the bueceneer, and thinking the blow was meant for him, reared and wheeled 60 suddenly as to loose the hold of tho freebooter just as the sword was brandished to cutits ridor down, which thereby missed its aim by a bare inch, By this sudden turn of the horse its head was. breught in the direction of the miami, distant not more than eight orton rods; and thothoughtsud- donly occurred to Harry of making his last des- erate effort for speedy death or speedy libcra- ion, forcing the maddened beast to loap tho steep cliff which overhung the dark waters rolling slowly and quiotly along, sonio fifty foot betow. For this purposo he gave him seversl rapid blows with tho slack of the reins, and the next moment the bank was gained, but the animal re- coiled with a snort of horror, and at the samo in- stant a bullet pierced his brain, and he fell dead in his tracks. As he went down Harry gathered all his ro- maining strength, placed his hands upon tho t, and vaulted clean ovor its head. } For a single instant ho remained suspended’ sbove the cliff, " The report of a dozen musquetoons and arquo- buses was heard, a dozen balls wont whizzing through the afr, as many daggers and knives. were seen faintly glaring in the dim light, and thon down, down went our hero, and a single sullen splash was all that was heard as the cold, dark waters opened to receive him, and thon closed: over his head, Rushing to the brink of the eliff several of the buccaneers now threw themselvos flat upon the earth, and, placing their ears over tho edgo ot the precipice, listened for any sound that would in- dicate human life below. But no such sound was heard. All was as still-as the grave, save the solemn roar of the: rapids a short distance down tho stream, and of the falls, over which Harry’s. friends had long sinee been swept Springing to their feet, the buecineers uttered loud yells of disappointment at the second loss of one they had counted on so surely as 2 victim at the stake, and then another short silence follow-
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KING | MORGAN. 33 ed, during which several prepared to descend to. the water at points both above and below the steep cliff where Harry went down, in order to |’ make sure that he might not escape alive. But not one amongst the bravest dared to try the venturesome leap after him. . Their plan of search was, however, frustrated by the blare of trumpets and the rattle of drums. It was the signal for the march; the camp was being broken up. Once again it was— “On for Panama!’ CHAPTER XXXVII. HARRY SEABORNE. AGAIN AMONGST FRIENDS, AurnouGsH the living target at which a dozen ‘musquetoons and arquebuses were discharged, and as many daggers and knives thrown, Hany Seaborne providentially escaped them all, thou more than one of them rent his clothes, and he went down his long leap feet foremost, unin- jured, and suddenly found himself buried far elow the placid surface of the dark, rolling river. Being an excellent swimmer, and having great resence of mind, he soon rose to the air, and Fant perfectly quiet, floating along .on the slow- moving current, well knowing that any sound in- dicating an attempt to escape would be heard by his enemies above, and bring down a hundred of them, all fierce and eager for his capture; while he had a faint hope, ‘if they heard nothing, that they would believe he had perished, and give up the search. Ho heard their yells of disappointment at his loss, and his heart began to beat with renewed hope. ‘There was still a chance of escape where a few minutes before he had looked for none, and so from himself his thoughts’ now reverted to his friends—the hapless déath of Don Pero, the sad fate of the other two young Spaniards, and as to whether Donna Theresa had been delivered by Evandale or still remained a captive. To preserve his own existence without effecting her release was nothing in his view, for it was to ‘rescue her that he had imperiled his life, and not to succeed was to render that life valueless, ** Ah!” he said, mentally, as all these thoughts rapidly floated through his brain; ‘‘since I have ~ ‘been unable to accomplish anything, may I not as well dio where I am, and put an end to this feverish, unquiet existence, so full of vexations, disappointments, and heart-rending woe?” : But though Harry reasoned thus with himself, nature pave no sanction to the false logic, but still urged him to live on and hope on, by causing a eold shudder to pass through his frame at the very thought of approaching the confines of that mysterious ‘‘ beyond ” by his own act and with all his senses in full and actual play. At length the shouts and cries of the bucca- neers ceased to be audible, and presently he felt his hand touch the trunk of’a drift tree, one end of which was embedded in the sands of the shore, He grasped it with a firmness and listened with an eagerness that ill-befited one who, tired of life, was about to throw off his mortal coil, and pass the dread portals of eternity. The fact is, the feelings of our hero, by the uniting of these two eyents, experienced’ a won- derful change, and he was now as anxious to live as at any moment of his eventful existence. Chilled tothe very bone with his rather long im- mersion in the water, and in consequence hard! able'to use his limbs, he now made vigorous ef- forts to reach the shore by dragging himself along . the trunk of the prostrate tree. He at length succeeded, but on touching land found it almost impossible for him to stand, and when the thought flashed across his mind that his only chance of avoiding his enemies was by again taking to tho river, his heart sank, and for a timo hope again gave way to despair. ; Then the thought occurred to him that he might ereep on under the shadow of the tall bank till he found a ford. 4 But even then was it not likely that his trail would be discovered when the morning would break, and that, weak and faint, he would then fallan easy prey to his blood-thirsty foes, from whom he could never hope to make a third es- , Cape. ut, notwithstanding all objections to the course he intended to pursue, one thing was certain, namely, that to remain where he was would not better his condition. é So he set off up the stream, keeping along the edge of the water. few steps brought him to the base of the cliff from which he had made his leap. He found it too precipitous to permit of a foot- hold, and was therefore forced to return. Ho now attempted to go down the stream, but some twenty yards below, where he had, first merged from the water, he again found his prog- y j ‘ Sr o { ress checked, and thistime bythe rapids already more than once referred to. The bank here was sleep but not precipitate, down which the water dashed with force and fury, and with a much heavier body than usual, owing to recent rains. To think of crossing this at the point where he now was was wholly out of the question; for no foot, however sure, could stand a single instant in such a current. To ascend the steep bank to where a’acrossing could be made was, our hero conceived, a pro- ceeding eyen more rash and dangereus, as he would thus, he imagined, be certain te reveal himself to his enemies (he knew not that they were already on the march), whilst to remain in- active, with the hope of freedom before him, was, in his view, little short of madness. Thus, hemmed in as he was on every side, there was no alternative, and his only means of escape seemed to be to betake himself once more to the water, and either swim around the rapids and come out below them, or to cross the river to the shore he was so anxious to reach. For several reasons he decided on the latter course, and so he dropped quietly into the river at the foot of the rapids and was quickly borne out upon its bosom some eight or ten yards, until the rushing force of the smaller stream was lost in the stillness of the greater. ° Then, nerving “himself for the tedious task, Harry struck boldly out for the pene shore. What was his surprise when he had swam only some ten or a dozen yards to see a bold cliff ris- ing high above him, and almost at the same mo- ment feel his hands touch land. As ‘he crawled out upon’ the narrow beach di- viding the base of the steep cliff from the water, his first impression was that his head had some- how become turned in swimming, and that he had actually swam back to the bank from whence he had started. . Buta little reflection and observation put him right in this particular, and he then came to the rightful conclusion that he touched upon a small island. ya 9 This proved a source of much gratification to him, as it would form a resting point on his short yoyage and enable him to gain the western bank with greater eae, and ease. ' But that he might be ready to set forth again ere too chilled and benumbed by the cold, he be- gan to move aleng the bank in search of the point projecting farther westward, so as tosayeas much swimming as possible. He had’not gone many steps, keeping close under the cliff, when his foot, poling @ stone, caused him to’ stumble towards the rock. He threw out his hands to prevent his head from striking, but to his surprise they touched nothing, and the next moment he found himself prostrated within a deep and narrow fissure. Feeling carefully around in the dark as he at- tempted to rise, that he might make no false mis- take—as, for all he knew. to the contrary, there might be a yawning chasm on one ‘side or the other—his hand encountered something smooth and soft, in what appeared to be a small recess to the rights ' A Judge of his surprise and delight on examining it with the sense of touch to find it to be a re- gularly-constructed canoe of the largest class. “Surely,” thought Harry, as he drew it forth from its hiding-place—“ surely I am a lucky dog in all things.” : Even while he indulged in this reflection there eame to his ear a low, faint, almost inaudible murmur, like the sound of distant human voices or of far-off running water, He listened, and still the faint murmur con- tinued, and, under the impression that it could be traced to the latter cause, he was about to turn away for the purpose of embarking in his canoe when the sound ceased, and whilo-he was still listening began again. “Surely,” thought he, “if it were water, as I supposed, there would be no cessation. No! it must be made by human tongues; aye, more than one, forit varies, and is not monotonous. Ha! it stops again, and is now again renewed.” A sudden idea now flashed through the brain of our hero, and, springirf¥ to his feet, he men- tally exclaimed— “Oh! if only my surmises prove correct.” Then he disappeared into the dark opening of the rocks, Slowly ‘and cautiously he threaded his way along the narrow, winding, zigzag passage, and at length arrived at its farther terminus, or where it enlarged into a spacious cavern. For tho last few yards a faint, soft, lurid light shone into the dark passage, and enabled him to pick his way with greater ease, and as he turned the last’ sharp angle the bright light of a blazing fire flashed full in his face, and revealed to him ten Spanish soldiers seated around it. ° \ 4 For a few moments Hi stood and gazed, whilst his heart beat wildly. with many and varied emotions, 3 + Then he bounded forward, exclaiming: —- “Amongst friends at last!) I am Don Harry Seaborne, a Spanish subject.” 3 Great was the scene of confusion and excite- ment which followed, but a hearty welcome was given him, and a thousand questions were asked on either side, to more than half of which no an- swers were given. , ; Our hero learnt that the ten Spaniards were pee from the battle that had just been fought. ‘ ral oy told him how that the buccaneers had been the conquerors therein, a fact untilthen un- known to him. : Then they all lay down and composed them- selves to Bleep: while the fire burning near threw a lurid, flickering light over their reeumbent forms, penetrating far into the gloomy recesses of the cavern, and casting strange, fantastic, dancing shadows upon the ground, upon the walls, and upon the ceiling. There we will leave our hero, and follow for a while the moyements of the buccaneer army, CHAPTER XXXVIII, THE MARCH TO PANAMA—A BATTLE AND AN AS- SAULT—THE CITY WON. THE buccaneer army re-commenced their march in high spirits,‘a little eager for glory, and very much for plunder, rapine, and their numer- ous etceteras. * . During the next twelve hours’ they made only six leagues, and arrived at a place called Da Evo Bracos; where they expected to have found hos- tile forces to dispute their further advance, for Morgan had received intelligence that. they were to haye been impeded here by barricades and arquebuses, t 7 f they found no enemy, neither did they find any provisions, arties of troops, however, scoured the planta- tions around in the hope of procuring some re-" freshment, but all in vain. { Morgan, depending upon the fertile district for the subsistence of his little army, had neglected to furnish them with provisions, so that the next day they were very nearly starved, haying noth- ing to satisfy a buecaneer’s appetite but water and tobacco, either smoked or masticated. All the next day they continued their march, miserably famished, and, as night fell, arrived ata village called Cruz de Juan Gallags, but found it deserted and quite void of provisions, On thé next day, receiving the assurance of two guide prisoners that two leagues in advance they would find the country more practicable for rapid marching, Morgan gave a spirited address to his followers, and at its close enjoined them to bear their hunger as well as they conld, and to make their small stock of food last to the utmost, in order that they might all live to reach the land of milk and honey awaiting them. _ But when, a few hours later, the army turned into the woods, they found the ground soswam py gud miry, and the jungle so thick, that Morgan elieved. he should make more progress if he transported a part of his army in some roughly made canoes up a river which happened to be convenient, . The canoes were made in a day, and by their means, in three trips, with those who forced their way through the bush at nightfall, the whole army found themselves as far as Oedro Bueno, As the little provisions that they had hitherto possessed were now completely exhausted, tho army had to. undergo another access of hunger, or rather an increase of the same famine that they had now so long endured. : They scoured the country as far as they dared, but could meet with neither Spaniard nor Indian, ~ but were obliged to venture upon devouring herbs, leaves, and berries, the very nature of which were unknown to them. On the fourth day of their advance they again fell in with the river, and seized some very slight Indian canoes, into which they placed as many men as they could float with, whilst the rear of the army advanced along the shore by land. Proceeding in this manner, under the direction of careful guides, both ashore and on the river, about noon they arrived at a port called Perna Cavallos. : Here one of the guides announced an ambus- cade, to the great joy of the buccanfers, who looked upon it as announcing a dinner. ' But bitter was their disappointment when the found the place deserted, and nothing left behin' but a number of leather-bags, all empty, and a few crumbs of bread scattered on the ground. ~ Notwithstanding the violence of their anger, and the bitterness of their disappointment, they
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s -evor, have been untanned hide, a ver _the night, 34 _ KING MORGAN. \ He, the best they could in their famishing ¢on- ition. They pulled down the houses and turned them into fuel, scaked and well boiled the bags, throw- ing into their kettles as many vegetable matters as appeared edible, and with this mess would haye made a yery comfortable meal had itmnot been forthe dreadful quarrels that ensued about the division of it. Morgan ‘and_his officers’ affirmed that the men, 80 rayenous did they then appear, had they caught either Spaniard or Indian, would .as- suredly have cooked and-eaten him, After this repast they’ advanced to another Bese called Torna Munin, where the Spaniards ad also formed an ambuscade, but their hearts failed them, guessing, as we suppose, the state of their owners’ stomachs. This strong post was deserted and foodless. Happy now was he who had’ secreted a small piece of leather for his supper. We will now quote the words of one of the suf- ferers: : “Some persons,” says he, ‘who were never out of their mothers’ kitchens may ask how these pirates could eat, swallow, and digest those pieges of leather so hard and dry. Unto which would answer, that could they experience what hunger or famine is, they wound certainly find the manner by their own necessity, as we did. First we took the leather and sliced into parts, then beat it between two stones and rubbed it, after dipping itin the water.of the river to render it by these means supple and tender.’ Lastly, .We scraped off the hair, and then roasted it, or broiled it on the fire. And being thus cooked, we cut it into small morsels and ate it, helping it down with frequent gulps of water.” What our authority calls ‘leather ” must, how- nutritious substance, if one'can only persuade the digestive organs to assimilate it. m the fifth day of the march the army arrived at Barbacoa, Here were also the traces of an encampment, but nothing to eat, not even a leathern bag. The case had become desperate, so the strongest of the troops were dispatched in all directions in search of food, and it would almost seem that this enterprise was under the special protection of Providence, for by the merest accident, whilst de- “spair was staring every man inthe face, two sacks of meal were discovered, various kinds of provi- sions, two great jars of wine, and several bunches of that nutritious and cooling fruit called plant- ains, A strong guard was immediately placed over this treasure, and refreshment given to those who had nearly fallen victims to famine, When this was done there still remained enough to give every man a slight meal, and then placing the weakest in the canoes, and the whole being much refreshed, they started forward with re- newed spirits, and in the full confidence of ulti- mate success. he At night they arrived at a very extensive planta- tion, which offered them every accommodation but supper. f The place had been swept clean for them—of vituals, : § A little after sunset a body of two hundred Span- iards appeared in Morgan’s front, and commenced ‘shouting, but at too great a distance to be under- stood. On pressing forward to overtake these yocifer- ous warriors, the steeples of Panama burst upon their sight, and the whole army halted with one accord, : Then ensued the most extrayagant demonstra- ‘tions of joy. : Hats flew into the air, men leaped and shouted, and a hundred different tunes arose on the in- stant. Then every trumpet brayed forth its loud- est triumphal note, and the drums rolled and thundered in unison, Pes They looked upon the yictory as already won, the city plundered, and the booty shared, i Instead of repressing these undisciplined acts of presumption, Morgan and his officers went from file to file encouraging their enthusiasm, jocularly upbraiding those who had desponded a few days before, and ardently praising those who had never failedjin their courage. ; In this excellent state of mind they halted them - selves before the city, fully intent to attack it early on the following morning. At the noise of the shoutings and of the trum- ¥ pets and drums, fifty well-appointed horsemen came forth from the.city, to reconnoiter the buc- caneers after they had taken up their ground for They came almost within musket-shot, being preceded by a trumpeter, who sounded his in- strument marvelously well.“ Some of these troopers were eyen so boli a8 to t = ‘ . abide within hearing, and then, with horrid grimaces and menacing attitudes, shonted— “ Piratical dogs! we shatl meet you, we shall meet you |” E ‘ After performing this feat, they rode proudly back into the city, leaving eight of, their best mounted companions near the camp, to watch the movements of the buecancers. The two hundred Spaniards, also, whom they had passed on their march, now took ap & posi- tion in their rear, thus threatening to block up the inyaders, whilst the guns from the ramparts of the city opened upon the camp, though luckily without reaching it. All these things gave the buccaneers no con- cern, although the fire from the great guns was kept up all night, ' The freebooters, in answer to this, began to make themselves comfortable, for though they were ac- tually surrounded, they very quietly seated them- selves, each man at his ease, and opening their wallets, drew forth the sonatas pieces of half- roasted beef and mutton, which they had reserved from their noon’s repast, and fell to eating in such a way that no one would have supposed they had so recently dined. *, Having satisfied their appetites, they laid them- selyes down quietly on the grass, notwithstanding the roar of the Spanish guns, and with great sat- isfaction fell into a sound sleep, made the more delicious by dreams, of the plunder, feasting, and lust with which the morrow was to bless them. Early on the morning of the next day ‘‘Gen- eral” Morgan put all his army in motion, and at first marched along the highway, directly upon the town. Then calling to him one of the guides, he took counsel with him, and suddenly broke off to the right, and took to a path thrones the woads, which was much the safer, though the way was tedious and difficult in the extreme. Had he been burdened with horses, baggage, or artillery, he could not have forced the passage. By this detour he escaped a mine and several ambuscades; and the Spaniards were thus com- pelled to leave their batteries and barricades, and so take up a new position in order to face the eet army as it debouched from the wood. Don Balverara, the President of Panama, drew up his army before the lines of the city, consist- ing of two squadrons of horse and four regiments of foot, with several thousands of a novel kind of auxiliary troops, being herds of wild bulls, driven and directed by a sufficient number of Indians and negroes, who were well versed in such matters, The Spaniards consisted of two thousand one hundred foot, and six hundred horse, whilst Morgan could bring into line scarcely one thou- sand men, When Morgan and his army emerged from the wood, which the Spaniards suffered them to do without molestation, in order that their wild cattle and their cavalry might act on thesavanna, the buccaneers, or many of them, suffered a sud- den panic at beholding the numerous forces and the strength of the position bevore them, Again Morgan had occasion to use all his elo- quence; and going from rank to rank he excited inthem a spirit of desperation, and every man pledged himself and his neighbor to death or victory. When: his army was fairly disengaged from tho wood he drew it up in three lines, each line mak- ne division of itself. he van was commanded by Walter Evandale. It consisted only of two hundred men, The main body counted six hundred, and was commanded by.Rupert Russel, and the rear, of two hundred, by Captain Kidd and Morgan’s black mistress, Zoabinda. , Morgan did not choose to leave the brow of the hill, with the wood in his rear, nor would the Spanish leader leave the spacious plain in which he was posted, so favorable for the operations of his cattle and his cavalry. Morgan did all that he could to provoke the enemy to commence the attack by semding for- ward small bodies of marksmen, but these wore never followed in their retreats after haying dis- charged their musquetoons and arquebuses, Seeing this, Morgan began to edge slowly round the wing of the Spaniards, which in modern warfare would be termed outflanking. This the buccaneers were suffered to do for some time unopposed, and. the maneuver gained: them the advantage both of the sun and the wind. At last Don Belverara was obliged to change his front, but his troops, not being used to mili- tary operations on a large scale, got embarrassed with a bog that, before they changed positions, lay in the front between them and the buccaneers, and in which they had hoped to have entangled their enemies, Morgan, secing this partial disorder, advanced a little way into the plain, to: take advantage of it, when the leader of the Spanish) horse, Francisco Delarro, charged the buecaneer yanguard with loud shoutssof ‘* Viva el: Rey!” ; fie) Although Morgan had no pikes in his army, yet the vanguard, under Evyandale, doubling their ranks, andthe first line kneeling with. one knee on the ground, gave the cavalry so slaughtering a volley directly in their, faces that it brought down nearly the whole front file, and the rear turned and fled immediately, It is true they attempted to rally, but were un- able to maké any combined.movement, and the buccaneers brought them down at their ease, and with as much regularity as if they had been firing at. targets in a review, q ; As yetithe van, only of the buccancer. army had. been engaged, and t 10y had completely dispersed the Spanish cavalry, killing their gallant leader, Don irancieco Delarro, : The main body of the Spanish foot now ad- vanced, when the buccaneer van opened in its center to right and left, wheeling backwards, and thus forming, with the. line of the main body, three sides of a hollow square. When the Spanish foot were thus inclosed on three sides their position was much, worse than that of their horse had been. ; They did not atall like it, and after losing a vast number of men, for they fought courageously, eudeq yored by slowly retreating to extricate them- selves. ¢ nyse But whilst they were thus giving ground Mor- gan advanced his rear guard on their left flank, and then the retreat was. changed into a flight, yet still preserving some manner of order. Thus fighting and pursuing the buccaneers were gradually drawn down into the plain, and as their rear was no longer covered by the wood, the Spaniards seized ‘the opportunity to goad upon it their two divisions, each of fifteen hun- dred wild bulls, at its left and right angles. But these clumsy allies rendered the Spaniards small service. They flew about inall directions, being astound- ed by the noise of the battle, and the few that did break through the buccaneer files amused, them- selves by tearing to pieces the colors and tossing sundry drums into tho air. ' When they became very troublesome they were quietly killed. 4 The conflict had now lasted two hours. Nearly all the Spanish horse had been killed, the wild bulls had all disappeared, or had been slaughtered, and the remaining foot, in despair, threw away their arms and fled in tho wildest confusion. j The buccaneers were so dreadfully fatigued. that they found it impossible to pursue them. Many of the runaways not being able to regain the city, hid themselves in bushes or among the rocks down by the seaside, These were found, but received no quarter, as the fury and exasperation of the battle had not yet subsided in the breasts of the buccaneers, By this time Morgan had reorganized his forces, appointed scouts, and was deliberating on the field of battle that he had so gallantly won upon his next proceedings, when eleyen priests and one Spanish captain were brought in prison- ers before him. All Morgan’s hot blood wasin a ferment, and as yet quarter had neither been given nor begged on either side. : The monks fell on their knees before him in their sacerdotal yestments, and with heart-rend- ing cries and lamentations for the love of Jesus, begged their lives. : But Morgan. ordered these prostrate and holy ae to be pistoled slowly, the one. after the other,. : : They were then remorsolessly sacrificed, him- self standing calmly by and beholding the deed. The officer Morgan spared, and from him he learned that the city was placed in a good state of defense, that it was well entrenched, the principal Streets barricaded, and that in several, places strong batteries had been planted. / He ‘also discovered that at the principal en- trance to the city, in the highway, there was a battery mounted with eight heavy brass guns, and manned by fifty men; in fact, that there were altogether two hundred fresh troops in the place, | and thirty-two pieces of heavy ordnance, ° After taking some time to weigh his determina- tion, Morgan ordered that in future the prisoners should be spared, and then he proceeded to re- view his troops. De To his chagrin, he found that his loss had been much more considerable than he had.at first supposed, whilst that on the part of the Span- iards was tremendous. Six hundred and forty-seven of the latter were found dead upon the field, besides. the many wounded, and prisoners were being brought. in. very rapdly. ' Heke ede ry )
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KING MORGAN. 35 7 . Having rested his forces for the space of an ‘hour and a half, Morgan, taking care to ayoid the principal gates, marched towards the city, carrying with him all his prisoners... - ’ With all his precautions, however, his ranks were. compelled to face many defenses, from which the guns discharged upon him showers of Ainonsbale thinning his ranks at every. step. At length, however, the buccaneers penetrated to the very streets, and at last reached the mar- ket-place, and there the conflict was renewed for some time; but after three hours’ hard fighting Morgan obtained” complete possession of. the place, and every Spaniard who daréd show him- self was immediately shot down, Morgan had conquered a realm ; might aking. The reader will perceive that the greatest enemy Morgan had to contend with was famine. On the sixth day the invaders advanced but lit- tle, the weak from hunger in the canoes, the stronger toiling through the woods. i At this part of their way they found the land tolerably rugged, and they were compelled to eat anything vegetable that they could masticate and swallow. _ They must haye returned or died hore had they not about now discovered. a barn full of Indian corn, : _ They rushed upon it like wild beasts and de- youred it dry, beating down the doors and walls. After the first pangs of hunger had been ap- peased order was restored, and the remainder _ of the muze was apportioned through the whole to-morrow he army. ' They then advanced, but they had not pro- ceeded far before they met with an ambuscade of about a hundred Indidns, and then they fool- ishly threw away their means of sustenance, trampling it in the mire, in pursuit of these fleet- footed enemies. CHAPTER XXXIX. THE CITY WON. Arter all this rash precipitance they could only look at their, foes on the other side of a river. Howeyer, some of the buccaneers plunged in and waded and swam to the other side, in the hope of making a single prisoner who might dis- cover where all the food of the country was con- cealed. : But eyen this attempt proved fallacious; it was fatal to three of Morgan’s men, who were killed by the arrows of the retreating Indians, hooting at their Purenere, and crying ouft—_. «To the plain, to the plain,*ye dogs!” After this—the day. being. too ‘advanced to cross the river, which it was necessary for them to do in this place—they biyouacked onits north- ern shore for the night, Here a part of the troops broke out into open mutiny. _ Morgan was bitterly reviled by the starved and worn-out wretches, but, nothing daunted, he, accompanied by Rupert Russel, Walter Eyandale (who had overtuken.and joined the buccaneers), Captain Kidd, and other officers, went from rank to rank, from group to group, endeayoring to re- animate their courage. Bhe task was difficult. They asked for bread, and Morgan gave them fine words. eck Mitt ; The aspect of things grew almost alarming. Thoy began to hustle him and his suite, ex- claiming that they were willing to bo led to die in battle, but not to be staryed like rotten vermin in a wilderness, In this perilous crisis he beat to arms, and]. placing himself where he was conspicuous to and could be heard by all, he addressed them with a very pleasant countenance thus— “My brother warriors! my stout hearts! we are a pack of hungry dogs, of a truth, I calcu- lated: upon the strength of your courage, and forgot the weakness of your stomachs. I was wrong. Let us remedy the matter as well as we can, Let all those who are willing to return file off to the left. Do it merrily, my lads.” About one-third of the host betook them- selves apart, and a very woe-begone group they looked. ; : : “Very well,” resumed Morgan, ‘these are my inched foxes who intend to turn tail. All good ortune go with them, for I shan’t. Now, my brother fire-eaters, who are for crossing the river to-morrow into a land that floweth with milk and honey, and where doubloons are pied up in heaps before the doorways and jewels are meas- ured by the bushel? I won’t say much about the fat oxen, the generous vines, the luscious fruits, or the luscious lips of the sweet senorettas. Hey, my lads, who’s for Panama, with Harry Morgan? Let them stand to the right.” Then a merry set, amounting to about an- other third, hooting, huzzaing, and laughing, stood aside to the right; and there remained an- other third of body-worn, soul-wearied sufferers, with long yisages and feeble frames, in the center. : ‘ “ And what’s to;be done with ye, brothers, who will neither go forward nor go back?” continued Morgan.. ‘‘You look like a set of miserable hang- dogs. -What would ye—to the right or left? Speak, ye wind-filled cravens !” Then a murmur arose among these faint and sick wretches that they wished to lie down and die where they were, for they would not go back for yery shame, and could not go forward for very weakness. They said that there was some religion amongst them, and that! they would administer its last rites to each other, and then expire where they wore, : Though he showed it not, Morgan was much moved to pity by this last division, for they had been subdued by phveieal suffering only, But suppressing all indications of his feelings, he jocularly proposed that, as the party who wished to return and those who wished to remain were about oedual, thoy should draw outin battle array against each other and fight whilst a man on either side remained, as thus they would moet honorable deaths, escape being tortured by the Indians and dying lingeringly under bushes or in holes, insects and reptiles feasting upon them be- fore life was extinct. : fs He promised them, with his merry go-forwards, to keep the ground during the combat, and of- fered to extend his good nature so far as to knock the wounded on either side on the head who seemed likely to die lingeringly. He then dropped his bantering strain and ap- |, pealed to their judgment and better feelings, to his fraternal care of their lives and healths, and, lastly, to the manliness of the English character. To strengthen the effect of his oratory, Morgan then produced one of his guides, who assured them that the worst of their journey was over, and that they should soon revel in abundance of all things. ‘ The mutineers were thereupon ashamed of themselves, but they were at the samé time reas- sured, and testifled by their shouts their return to their duty.and their reliance upon their extra- ordinary commander. : i All the forenoon of the seventh day of their prog- ress théy were busily employed in examining their arms and making themselves ready for any en- counter. é Sleep had somewhat repaired the weakness that want of food had inflicted upon them, and atnoon they, all crossed the river in canoes in very good spirits. 1 When they had come in sight of a_ village called Orux or Cruz, their exultation was great at seeing smoke issuing from all the chimneys. _ They fancied that the Spaniards had put down to roast and boil the excellent dinners that they, the hungered ones, were to eat. . j Full of this delicious idea, they broke their ranks, and set off at full speed; but desolating was theirmisery when they discovered, as they arrived on the spot, panting and perspiring, that the fire was not only in the fire-places, butall over the houses. The Spaniards had anticipated Moscow on a small scale, Every house was consumed, with the exception of the King of Spain’s stables and his storehouse, and nothing eatable save afew cats and dogs were to be found. : These domestic animals were soon cooked and devoured, the fires being ready for them. They had the luck, after this very welcome re- past, to find, concealed in the storehouses, six- teen casks of Peru wine, and, as a natural conse- apenes) nearly every man in camp was drunk that hight. _ Next morning a Jeathern sack of bread was also found, and served out equally without any dis- tinction of rank; and we may suppose with what avidity it was swallowed. _ But for some time the results were most alarm- ing, for almost every man in the army was taken iH, and they all supposed they had been treacher- ously poisoned! ; They did, however, in this instance, their en- emies great injustice, for their illness was produc- ed solely by their long fasting, and the various kinds of unwholesome trash with which they had endeavored to alleviate their famine. Their malady remained upon them so grievous- ly that they were forced to stay upon the spot that whole day, and take up their quarters ea for the second night. f ,RThis village of Vera Cruz was distant about twenty-six leagues from Chagres, and eight from Panama, and was the last place at which the river was navigable, _ -Here, then, was the landing-place of cae the merchandiss transported upon the river, that from Panama being brought hither on the backs of mules, ‘ Consequently at times it contained great riches. In abandoning -Vera Cruz, the Indians and Spaniards retreated no farther’than to the ad- jacent plantations, so itappeared that henceforth they intended to offer more serious resistance. Apprehending this, Morgan gave’ positive or- ders that none of the buccaneers should leave the village in parties of less than one hundred each, But hunger-is not‘obedient; and a small band of freebooters ventured out in search of provi- sions, but) were attacked, beaten baek, and a prisoner snatched up from among them. , On the sixteenth of January, and the eighth / day of the march, Morgan formed a forlorn hope of two hundred men, whom. he dispatched for- ward to discover ithe road to Panama, and to clear it of ambuscades. } , This was very necessary, as the roads were sometimes diminished to the paths and “passes, through which only four persons could march abreast. 3 j As this column proceeded, commanded by Ru- pert Russel, they became aware that they were at- tended both on the right and puts 6 emeny, who, however, only showed themselves at inter- vals, and momentarily. : After marching ten hours they arrived ata place called Quebroda Obscura. Here they were suddenly assailed by a flight of four thousand arrows from unseen hands. This attack proceeded from a high rocky mountain, through which there was an excaya- ae that would only admit of one buccaneer at a ime, , This flight of arrows much alarmed the buc- caneers, but not finding it repeated, they ad- ~ vaneed and entered a wood; where they found the Indians flying before them in great numbers, with the Shae tray design of securing another place of ambush. - But one troop of them remained and disputed the path, and this an yaliantly did until their chieftain fell wounded. He would recéive no quarter, and was there- fore pistoled by a buccaneer against whom he had lifted his azagaya. A great many of the Indians were slain around their leader. f ; In this engagement Rupert Russel lost three men killed and’sevyen wounded. ay - In this and the various skirmishes that ensued almost hourly, the buccaneers vainly endeavored to make a prisoner, the Indians being far too active for them. In the pass which we have just deseribed, had these natives been more cognizant of military matters, all Morgan’s advance guard would have perished. { However, it was won in the manner that we have narrated, and when the buccaneers emerg= ed from the forest a glorious view broke upon them, of rich meadows, gardens, and all manner of beautiful cultivation, which announced’ their a eae to. some large city. t . But there was something not quite so pleasant inthe view of another strong party of Indians posted upon a hill near which they had to pass. A troop of fifty of the fléetest men were selected to pursue them, and, if possible, to make even a, Single prisoner, in order to gain intelligence. ; But all their efforts were in vain, for the In- dians were always too quick for them, fleeing be- fore them, and calling them all manner of oppro- brious names. , By this time the main body under Morgan had closed up with his forlorn hope, and thus all his army pressed forward in one solid mass, yet not without regard to having his front always cleared before aby skirmishers, They shortly came to a plain in which a wood lay before them, and on each side a mountain. Morgan possessed himself of one mountain, while the Indians held the other. The buccaneer chief very naturally feared an ambuscadein the wood, and dispatched two hun- dred men thither to clear it, upon seeing which the Indians descended from their posts, and en- tered the wood before the buccaneers, but neither they nor a large body of Spaniards dared to make a stand, but both fled before Morgan’s advance guard, and disappeared. After fighting and fasting all day, the bueca- neers halted for the night, but their miseries were much increased by the rain fallinz with all the violence usual in a tropical climate. It was in vain that they sought shelter, even for their arms and ammunition, for the Indians had apparently burned every roofed building for miles around. ids * At length three shepherds’ hoyels were discoy- ered, to which the arms of the entire army were removed and the sick and wounded, but all other Z She ; \
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36 KING MORGAN. — persons were exposed during the whole night to e rain. Luckily, the morning broke cloudless, and the drenched army immediately recommenced its march, . After two hours’ progress they discovered a troop of twenty mounted Spaniards, who hovered about them, observing their motions all day; but every euempt to take any one of them a prisoner proved fruitless. They were out of sight in amoment, withdraw- ing themselyes to places where the buccaneers dared not follow them, , Atlength, about noon, in attaining an eminence, ¥o their infinite joy they. obtained a view of the Pacific Ocean. ; E pathey made the hills resound with their acclama- ions, } This was on the seventeenth of January, and the ninth day of their laborious march. From this point they observed that the Spaniards at Panama had already takenthe alarm, for one large ship and several smaller vessels were making sail from the place towards the two islands, Tovago und Toyagilla, All things now wore to them a cheerful aspect. On descending into the vale they found large flocks and herds, and then slaughtering, boiling, and roasting began immediately, and that and ensuing feasting were the principal occupations of the rest of the day. How much they enjoyed this repast may be understood from this evidence of one of the com- pany, who says— _ Thus cutting the flesh of these animals into * convenient pieces or goblets, they threw them into the fire, and half-carbonized or roasted, they devoured them with incredible haste and appetite. For such was their hunger, that they more re- sembled cannibals than Europeans at this ban- uet, the blood many times running down from their beards unto the middle of their bodies.” They ate their meat with the gravy in it, and Africans might have envied them their appetites. Giving his men some hours to enjoy this de- licious repast, alittle before sunset Morgan again pushed forward, sending before him a body of fifty skirmishers with orders to do their utmost to make prisoners. He was now much concerned that in traversing the whole of the isthmus, and during his nine days’ march, he had not been able to meet with a single person from whom to obtain any intelli- ’ gence as to the force and position of the enemy. ' CHAPTER XL. MORGAN ASPIRES TO A CROWN AND MAKES A CON- FIDANT OF EVANDALE, MonrGAN was by no means a mercifulruler, and his troops were not slow to follow his example. Being undisputed owners of Panama by right of conquest, every one took the quarters that best suited him, making the great cathedral of San - Salvador the corps de garde. Then commenced the usual scones of insolent riot, one hundred mounted troopers being dis- patched daily into the country, man and mer- chandise hunting, and daly were many miserable prisoners and much wealth brought in, Torture followed, of course, and by its means much information was gained of buried treasure. This continued three weeks, when Morgan, finding he had amassed considerable booty, and that he was in possession of the heads of more than one hundred of the principal families, turn- ed his attention to other subjects. He was in possession of a splendid state and of a beautiful city. Why should he not ape the mon- arch? Why not proclaim himself king thereof ? Morgan I., King of Panama, would not sound worse than other regal titles. : One evening he called Walter Evandale aside, and inyited him to sup with him. The invitation was readily accepted; the meal was a delicate and recherche one. After it had been discussed, Morgan unfolded tohis faithful lieutenant the plans he had made for the future. ‘ Evandale strongly approved of them, and urged’ Morgan to lose no time in declaring himself king. “My faithful friend, my true and devoted servant, I thank thee for this counsel,” exclaimed the great buceaneer. “Did I not tell thee that I would stand by thea to pty last, Morgan?” responded Evyandale, fer- vently. i] es yes; but don’t talk of ‘tho last,” when I seem to be only coming to the first,” laughed the buccaneer chief. ‘And that reminds me that I have yet another matter to converse with thee on; _. it is theall-important subject of marriage.” “Indeed! Are you then about to make the brave Zoabinda your queen?” asked Hvandale. “No, scarcely that. I fear these proud Sate jards would hardly relish a black queen, a woman ‘said who had oncebeen aslave especially. Besides, I might tire of Zoabinda. She was a very fitting companion for a boisterous buccaneer, but to don the purple, and to sit beside me on the throne. Pshaw ! the idea sickens me.” ‘And yet she has bravely helped you to win that throne, Henry ee said the lieutenant. *T don’t want upbraidings, Evandale; I must teach you to play the courtier better than, that,” organ. ‘ Listen,now. You are doubtless aware that Donna Theresa de Guzmin escaped mysteriousky from my power on the night that we gave the Spaniards sucha drubbing; but perhaps ou have not yet heard that within twenty-four ours after she fell into the toils again, and has been journeying with me ever since as a prisoner. Ah,ah! I kept that little affair very quiet, didn’t 1?” “Indeed, -yes,” answered Evandale, while a strange light flashed in’ his dark eyes; ‘*I won- der you did not tell me of this before.” “T did not tell thee, lieutenant mine, because I shrewdly imagined that thou was hankering after the young lady thyself, and though I have found thee faithful in all things, yet a pair of bright eyes will sometimes tempt any man from his allegiance.” “They would not have kept me long from thy ede answered Eyandale, twirling his long mus- che, ; “Ah! well, there are few like thee,” rejoined Morgan, “and yet, now that I come to think, thou wert away from my tent all that evening, absent from my side, too, in the hour of battle, nor didst thou show thyself until we were at least six leagues on our journey.” “Tndisposition kept me in my own quarters all the eyening. I was from thy side in the hour of battle because a strong arm andasharp sword were more urgently needed elsewhere; and with a score of mounted troopers I pursued the flying Spaniards so far that our horses were dead beat, and it was only with the greatest, difficulty that wecame up with the army again at all,” said Evandale. “Well done, my boy, I am glad to hear this of 'thee, for I have once or twice entertained vague suspicions that you yourself had something to do with the ere abduction. However, she was re- eaptured by Rupert Russel and a score of troop- ers, who cut her escort, composed of six Spanish arquebusiers, to pieces, and brought her back to me safe and uninjured; and i’ faith *twas lucky for her.that it happened so, for through it she will weara crown. I mean towed her, and make her Queen Consort of Panama.” Walter Eyandale’e cheek turned of the ashy hue of marble; he bit his lip and muttered flerce- ly to himself: 5 “Fool! dotard! neither she nor the crown will ever be within thy grasp; the hour of my su- pune vengeance draweth near, and will come efore the regal honors.” ; He concealed the mingled passions, however, which warred within his breast, most completely, and said, with a smilo— “Tt is for you to will, and for your Soest and your prisoners to obey. But what will you do with Zoabinda?” “Poison her,” said Morgan, clutching his arm: “She is of no further use, she must be removed.” Eyandale experienced a feeling of intense hor- ror and disgust at Morgan’s conductin thus treat- ing one who had been so true and faithful to him in everything, for whom he had professed to feel so deep a love and affection, But he still veiled his inner emotions under a smiling exterior, and shortly after the conference ended, Morgan getting Evandale to promise that he himself would put Zoabinda “ out of the way,” and break the intelligence of.his (Morgan’s) aims and aspirations cautiously to the other leaders and to the troopers, and to gather the prevailing sentiment of the army upon the subject. CHAPTER XLI. ON THE EYE OF TRIUMPH. Evrryrnine turned out better than the great bueceaneer chief had anticipated. His assumption of regal power was warmly ad- vocated by his officers and his men, the former looking forwerd to high posts and dignities, the latter © easy quarters, high pay, and a free license for all their evil passions, - Strange to say, and this did take ure by surprise, Donna Theresa de Guzman listened without apparent disgust to his suit, and did not seem at all averse to share his throne and other regal honors with him. He did not know that Walter Evandale had previously gained access to the suite of rooms in which she was im- prisoned, and had counseled her’ to play a part, promising that Morgan should never live to lead her to the alter or to become King of Panama. ; nest Zoabinda, too, disappeared suddenly, and Eivandale told Morgan that he had efféctually *“put her out of the way,” and that “she would never trouble him more,’’ though he would not confess that he had actually slain her, A Morgan, however, understood him to signify ae much, and did not trouble to ask many ques- ons. . Preparations were at onee set on foot for the coronation, whieh was to be a very magnificent affair indeed. A A crown was to be made out of the gold and jewels that had been stolen from the grand altar of the cathedral of San Salvador, there was te be a throne also of pure gold, and Morgan hada portrait painted of himself in coronation robes, whose fate we shall tell of anon. : The great day at length arrived, the streets were decked with triumphal arches, hangings of rich velvet and cloth of gold hung from windows and balconies, a thousand flags flaunted their gorgeous colors to the gentle western wind; the public fountains threw up wine instead of water, and everything wore the ouler aspect of gayety~ and joy. But the Spanish residents kept within doors; they took no part in this vain display. . In the palace of the captain-general, hereafter to be dubbed “royal,” Morgan and his officers held high revel. In an hour ho was to be wedded to the beauti- ful Donna Theresa de Guzman; in two hours the coronation was to take place, Then he would havefgained the acme of his hopes, the height gt his ambition. Oh! he was vory happy. CHAPTER XLM. THE MARRIAGE CEREMONY—MORGAN’S DISCOM- FITURE AND DEATH. Ler us now enter.the prison chamber of the heroine of our tale, Donna Theresa de Guzman. Tho long hours of that morning, the most event- ful one of her iife, had dragged themselves wearily past without a visit from Morgan, though she trembled at every sound’ in the stone corridor without, fearing lest it might portend the approach of the great _buceaneer chief, who had solemnly declared on his last visit that when next he came it would be to lead her to the altar. Pale and agitated, the beauteous girl reclined on a velvet couch near the open’ window, her large, eloyuent brown eyes dim with tears. her little rosy lips tightly compressed, her long bluck tresses floating loosely around her well-formed head and shading her snowy. neck, whilst her eat fingers were slowly telling the beads of a golden rosary which hung from her belt, Suddenly she started, fora hand had been laid on her shoulder. ; as Looking up, she perceived Walter Evandalo. His entrance had been so noiseless that not until he touched her had she been aware of his presence. : “JT did not mean’ to frighten you, Donna Theresa,” he said, kindly. “‘My mission is to bear thee comfort and hope.” : *‘Oh! Heaven bless thee for all thy kindness, Walter,” replied the lovely girl. “*Can you really release me from the power of this cruel’ bucca- neer? Ifso, never shall I be able to repay my deep debt of gratitude.” In her excitement she would have thrown her- self at the handsome lieutenant’s feet, but he gontly prevented her, saying: : “‘Kneel not to me, dear lady. Ican and will release you from Morgan’s power; but not until the last moment will aid and succour be extend- ed to thee, even from the altar itself. Fear not, my child; the schemes of Morgan shall be foiled, When next he seeks thee, receive him boldly. Proeeed to the cathedral without dread, and though the marriage service is well nigh ended, fear not, for thou wilt never be his wife, nor will he livesix hours to exercise his power over you.” “Oh! my kind, my generous friend, thou hast indeed replanted within my breast the seeds of content and hope. I know that thy sympathy is sincere, thy assurance genuine, even though I fail to see how, alone and unaided, thou canst rescue me from Morgan and his myrmidons.” “TJ will soon make it plain to your comprehen- sion, lady. Many of Morgan’s officers and mén, disgusted at his cruelty, and indignant at his con- duct towards Zoabinda whom he has so ‘cruelly used, have broken out into insurrection, and have chosen me their leader. Itis this band who will interrupt the wedding and save thee.” ' * 1% 1 * * * Half an hourafter the handsome Heutenant ~ had taken his departure Donna Theresa was again aroused by footsteps in the corridor with- out. 1 : i
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/ KING MORGAN. 37 The door of the apartment was quickly opened, and Morgan entered the room. He was attired in a beautiful suit of silver mail, his scarf and surcoat blazed with gold and jewels, while a magnificent silver plume drooped over his broad-brimmed cavalier hat. With a bow he advanced towards Donna Theresa, saying— , “Madam, I come to conduct you to the altar. The priests of your church are awaiting us, and the guests are also by this time assembling within the cathedral. Come!”. He offered his arm as he concluded. Theresa for a moment hesitated to accept it, then, recollecting Evandale’s her hand tremblingly within it, and in this man- ner they quitted the apartment. Three tall wax candles stood on each side of the high marble crucifix, and many more glittered as votive offerings before the shrines of Archangel Michael and the Virgin Mary, while above the torches on all sides fluttered banners and ensigns, bannerols, and gorgeous pennons, all of which had been captured in battles. Most conspicuous amongst these was the heavy black banner of the buccaneers, with the skull and cross-bones emblazoned thereon, but above it waved another flag bearing the four golden cas- tles of Spain. , Towards this second flag many an eye was won- deringly raised, for its emblazoned arms were those of their conquered foes, and many there were ready to swear that five minutes previously no such banner was visible. ; y It was too late, however, to pull it down or to _hazard surmises as to who had. placed it there, for now footsteps were heard without, and the next moment Morgan, with Donna Theresa de sett leaning on his arm, entered the cathe- ral. »’ They were preceded by four pages, bearing scented flambeaux, and, advancing before the high altar, they knelt before the officiating priests. ~ Boautifal indeed did our heroine look, flushed with excitement and fear lest the promised rescue should not arrive in time. $ Her dark brown ‘eyes were flashing beneath her long-fringed lashes, her dark tresses forming a@ marked and levely contrast with the snow- white neck and shoulders over which they floated. + She trembled violently as the services com- meneed, and the clear intonation of the priest rang through the cathedral. They, however, had not proceeded far when a Joud crash was heard, and with an involuntary start Morgan glanced round and perceived that the black banner, charged with the flaunting skull and crossbones of the buccaneers, its staff broken in the middle, lay on the floor at his feet, and looking upwards to where it had hung, his gaze rested on the four golden castles standard of Spain, which, as if in triumph, slowly unfolded itself to his gaze. ““Who hung that accursed flag up yonder above the skull and crossbones?” he thundered forth in tones that rang hollowly through the vast cathe- dral, as he glared angrily around on the assem- bled bystanders. No reply was made. Every man looked suspiciously at his compan- ion, who returned his glance with interest. fc. yee inspected the planting of the flags,” at length exclaimed Rupert Russel, stepping for- ward, ‘‘and well I know that the standard’ of Bpata was not anywhere hung up in the cathe- ral.’? Upon receiving this assurance, Morgan af- fected a nonchalance of manner that he was far from feeling, and exclaimed, gaily : “Tt matters not; we will investigate the matter hereafter. Captain Rupert Russel, raise the black flag; it is not wont to lie so low. Sir priest, pro- ceed with the ceremony.” Again all was silence; the intonation of the priest, the clatter of waving censors, and the sputterin; sounds that arose to break the stillness of the scone. — Turning to Morgan the celebrant demanded— , “Henry Morgan, King of Panama, in the name of God and our blessed lady I solemnly ask whether thou art. prepared to take unto thee this maiden as thy wife, forsake all’ others for her sake, and her only to love, honor, and protect during the whole of this life?” In a firm voice Be: answered — “‘ Holy Mary and ull the saints above bear wit- ness to my vow that I will. May the curse of Judas rest upon me if I fail todo so!” and so saying he solemnly kissed the hilt of his sword. promise, she laid }. of pinewood torches, being the only | bl A similar interrogatery was then addressed to Theresa de Guzman. The celebrant waited for a reply, but our hero- ine spoke not. Again was the tinctly. Morgan turned towards his victim in anger and disappointment. She returned his gaze, and answered in an un- quayvering yvoice— “Never!” : The response was spoken in a low tone, and yet so clear and bell-like’ was the yoice that it was clearly audible. 5 For a moment there ensued a dead silence; pare Morgan, turning to the astonished priest, said— “Proceed with the service, sirrah; the lady is evidently subject to occasional attacks of in- sanity—I mean unconsciousness—that is to say, the heat and the excitement have been too much for her. We will excuse her reply to that ques- tion. question put slowly and dis- But I fear that we cannot do so,” began the’ astonished celebrant. “Do you hear what I say, sirrah?” responded Morgan, flercely. ‘‘Proceed at once with the ceremony; or, iene of gown or cord,I will have thee and thy fellow priests scourged through the city, and then thrown into the sea. You Spaniards know very well that I am not’one to threaten in vain.” Terrified at Morgan’s words the priests were about to proceed with the ceremony when a deep voice, apparently from behind the altar, shouted: “‘¥orbear |” and while Morgan in surprise spran; to his feet, and his officers and captains shran back awestruck at the mnvetarious voice, the clatter of steel was heard loudly, and the next moment a brilliantly uniformed cavalier wearing a black half-mask which effectually covered his countenance, his arms folded on his chest, stood, beside the priest inside the altar rails and boldly faced the assembly. - *« Henry Morgan, dastard and villain that thou art, I have arrived in ample time to frustrate thy schemes and rescue this lady from thy power. Tremble, thy last hour has come, Lady, I haye eke my promise.’ . he spoke the cavalier lifted our heroine in te arms and placed her in a chair beside the altar. He then drew his sword from its scabbard, and raising an ivory whistle to his lips blew it. In reply there was a loud cheer, the clattet of steel, the clank of spurs, and quick as lightning at least a hundred men Seat from behind the altar into the body of the cathedral. But quickly Morgan recovered from his dismay at the sudden appearance of this hostile body of men. With a loud, commanding voice he called upon his officers and the grim.and silent arquebusiers to drive the ‘“scurril mob” back to the vaults from. which they had just issued. He stood firmly on guard when the masked cavalier, intent upon revenge and retribution, sprang over the altur-rai® sword in hand, to attack him, and their weapons met with a clash that echoed shrilly/above the roar and din of the surrounding contest, which by this time had» be- come general. 3 For many minutes that fierce duel continued without a decided advantage being gained by either side. ‘The masked cayalier, in whom our readers will have no difficulty in recognizing Walter Evandale, found ample work cut out for him, whilst his hundred followers, fighting with heroic courage against numbers trebling their own, soon found that the chances of their over- coming their foes were very much against them, At length the buccdneer pikemen. contrived to get into line and turn their glittering double line of steel toward their late companions, but now their adversaries. This completed, their phalanx was impenetra- 8. Vainly did the mutineers rush madly on the bloody pikeheads, in vain did sword, axe, and dagger gleam in the ruddy torchlight, and seek to hew a passage through that compactgiving mass of discipline and steady valor. Every time they advanced. upon the serried ranks they appeared to recoil therefrom like an Ocean wave from a rock of granite, and ere iong the pikemen made a terrible onward rush, while the vast cathedral resounded to the heavy tramp of their onward feet, and, still vainly competing to the last, the followers of Evandale were driven back inch by inch to the vaults from which they had only just emerged. [THE END.] Meanwhile Walter Evandale was ina sore strait. He had found Morgan more than a match. A - ringing blow, though turned aside by the cap of steel he wore beneath his broad-brimmed a brero, had made him feel faint and giddy, but he nevertheless fought gallantly on. But Morgan signaled to his assistance two of his followers whe were close at hand, and Wal- ter with his back to the altar-rails, in order te prevent either of them from attacking him in the rear, was bravely defending himself against the three, though evidently getting feebler every in- stant, and without a chance of much longer be- ing able to protect himself from their combined attack. * * * * * * “Dog! villain! infamous wretch! you slew my father on his own doorstep, you crucified my mother on the roof of our once happy hacienda, oe thrust my three infant brothers and sisters. to a heated oven and baked them to death with slow tortures, and then you caused a great hole to be dug, and therein every horse, servant, and slave on the estate were buried alive. Ah, ah! have you forgotten all this?” He had been hacking, hewing, and thrnsting at Morgan all the time he had been speaking, and as he concluded he plurged his sword deep into ere Bure F ond A organ thereupon droppe weapon, an fell heavily backward on the cold, slimy floor of the Spent alter Evandale knelt down with his knee on his foeman’s chest. “T hail thee, great King of Panama, and hus- band of the most beautiful maiden in New Spain!” he exclaimed, derisively. ‘‘ This is a nice bridal bed—this is a fitting throne for a warrior; why a rat would choose a better!” “Evandale,” gasped Morgan, “‘ why have you spared me forso long? Why have you fought by my side, and ofttimes protected my life at the hazard of your own?” ¢ “Because I had to wait until your life was of some value to you. WhenI attached myself to your person first you were reckless of it, and ap- jesse iets it as of little value, so for years I have en helping you to fill up and raise acup of happiness to your lips, not one drop of which I have intended you to drink. Ha, ha! by this time thou wert to have been a happy husband and a glorious king, and yet, instead, thou art dying like a poisoned rat ina drain. At the portals of the earthly heaven you have sighed and sinned for I have avenged father and mother, sister and brothers, by despatching you straight to that nethermost hell which is yawning wide to receive you!” Morgan uttered a deep groan. His eyes -were almost starting out of their sockets with horror. “Ha, ha, ha! this is a rare revenge!” laughed Eyandale. But I have sworn that thy death shall be one of agonized torture. I will hack thee limb from limb, and then leaye thee and suffer thee to bleed to death in thése yaults, surrounded by dead Spaniards whose sons and daughters you haye s0 pitilessly tortured and murdered.” “Oh! spare me, spare me! Mercy, mercy !” cried Morgan. ‘Aye! such mercy as the tiger shows to his prey; such mercy as you have thousands of times eae out to others. Here, then, goes the first im) ” “2? * * * * * * Harry Seaborne commanded that a gibbet should immediately be erected in the great city, and the bodies of Morgan, Rupert Russell and Captain Kydd hung there. 8 This was immediately done, for Panama was ton again in complete possession of the Span- ards. On the chest of Morgan was affixed a placard, whereon was written : “ Justice to Thieves!” and underneath it was pro pied up the full-length portrait he had only a few days previously had painted of himself in his coronation robes, those robes that he was destined never to wear. On this picture some one chalked the word: “Coward,” and the populace hacked and héewed it as it leant against the upright of the gibbet, until it was néarly undistinguishable. And there hung the three atrocious buccancser chiefs above heaps of rare Etruscan vases and shattered statuary, rifled jewel caskets, rich suits of armour, swords and halberds, and robes of velvet and cloth of gold that had been thrown out of the adjoining houses by their riotous fo}- lowers only a few days previously—followers who now lay cold and stiff in shake ;
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7 EX ib: J ames Boys Series of Adventures THE WIDE AWAKE LIE By. the World-renowned Author, D. Ww: STEVENS. Nak? awed Coy 7 COCR INeieaS = “ Every book complete in itself, and full of startling and exciting scenes, Read the following list of the names and numbers of the books already published. For sale by all newsdealers. posi R te é 440, The Train Robbers, A Story of the 490. The James Boys in Mexico.’ James Boys. : 492, The James Boys at Cracker Neck.’ 457. The James Boys as Guerrillas. | 514. The James Boys and Timberlake. 462. The James Boys and the Vigilantes. | 521. The James Boys in Court. 466. The James Boys and the Ku Klux. 527. The James Boys’ Cave, _ 469. The James Boys in California. 531. The James Boys as Bank Robbers. - 474, The James Boys as Train Wreckers. 588. The James Boys’ Brides. 479. The James Boys in Minnesota. _550. The James Boys’ Band. — 482. The James Boys as Highwaymen. 571. The James Boys’ Fate. 488, The James Boys’ Longest Chase. Any of the above books are for.sale by every newsdealer in the United States and'Canada, or they will be gent te -your address, post-paid, on receipt of 5 cents. Address FRANK TOUSEY, ‘Publisher, Box 2730. j 34 and 86 North SORES Street, N. Y, THE JAMES BOYS’ STORIES. PUBLISHED IN THE Boys of Ne ew York Pocket ‘Library. 76. THE LIFE AND Dist OF J ESSE J AMES, a By D. W. Siavons 81. FRANK JAMES THE AVENGER, . By D. W. Stevens. — 05. FRANK JAMES’ SURRENDER, . . By D. W. Stevens. For eat by all newsdealers in the United States and Canada, or sent to your address, postage ee upon receipt of price, 5 cents per copy. Address. att ' FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, | | Box 2730. | +34 and 36 North Moore St., N. Y. / 4 | EN } a, Pts
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Z THE GREAT FIVE-CENT WIDE AWAKE LIBRARY. 1 Tom Brownh’s Schooldays ~ 102 Claude and the Nuns 198 Satan's Tree oa _|.800 Bob Short; or, One of Our Boys— 2 The Pirate 103 Duval in the Cloister’ 199 The School on Wheels comic 3 Robinson Crusoe 104 Claude and the Lady 200 A Lightning Flash 301 Percy of the Strong Arm 4 Jack Sheppard 105 Duval on Hand ; 201 The Mystery of a Minute 802 Jack Manly : & Sinbad, the Sailor’ 5 106 Claude and the Spy 202 Bound to be An Actor ‘ 3803 Freebooters of California ; 6 PeterSimple > 107 Duval in Chains 203 One of the Boys $04 Captain Merritt and His Rangers 7 Pantomime Joe j Me 108 Claude’s Bride "| 204 The Mystery of the Red River 805 Nero, the Hunchback °- we 8 Snarleyow, the Dog Fiend | 109 Duval on the Road 205 The Mashed Messenger 306 Bell-Ringer of Trinity 9 Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp {110 Olaude’s Duel~ 206 ‘The Prairie Phantom: 807 Harry Harley 10 Poor Jack 111 Duval and the Maiden 207 The Young Engineer 808 The Arctic Queen 11 Tommy Bounce—comic 112 Claude in the Toils 208 Fighting Against Odds 809 Harry Fitzroy 12 Shorty ; or, Kicked into Good Luck | 113 Puval and the Casket ‘ 209 Harry Halsey 310-The Heart of Oak eRe '. —comic »« , ae Me EE ane Chum : 210 pote Oe as 811 The School on the Sea hi i's Diamond uval in Per: 211 The Burglars of New York 812 The Golden Island ie Bunny i Luae_eoie Hf alton seb beniienctes | ua amare uval and Luke are Devil Detective 14 The Specter Schoolbo: ue ee the Tia Peddler—comie 118 Death of Claude Duval 214 Game to the Death 315 Headman of Old London Bridge 17 Dick Turpin ; 119 Jack Harkaway and His Son’s Ad- | 215 Kickapoo Jack : : 316 Harold Forrester 18 Gulliver's Travels : ‘Ventures Around the World 216 The Straggle for a Mine 317 Moto? the Mist 19 Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 120 mae ay and His Son Homeward one Sra eee 1 . $18 ene Duke 7 : : oun 218 Stump at School—comic. 319 Mark Bradle: a SRS Oe i es tlie i 121 Jack Rushton 219 Stump at Sea—comic } 320 Driven to Sex 22 Oliver Optic’s Engineer Stories « 122 On and Off the Stage H 220 Stump and Jack Iawser—conuc 821 Routing the Redskins 23 Oliver Twist 123 The Bush Boys 221 Stump’s Racket Below Decks—| 822 Tom Fox 24 The Image of His Father if at ye pone 7 comic 323 GA of a Philadelphia De- 25 Gentleman George AU Ms hk 222 Stump and His Chums Iomeward ective ge Gentleman George and His bale Bas Tar shortyanyon ils /kar—oomta Bouind-comie 395 Mystery ofa Mis-spent Life 27 The Dead Boxer bRot) fa Kind—comic 321 5 4 ie __ | 128 Fred Spangie 223 Three of a K $26 Double-Six au Bes xy He Boys of New York—comic 4 ane Young Tragedian ae ie Mike and Don—comic 327 Dominoes of Death 30 The King of Diamonds arence Rhett bhe Brotherhood of D: 328 Gypsy Bess : Ran TAvas 131 Paddy McGroarty 226 The Brotherhood of Death $29 The Queen of the Highwa y 3 The Pirate Doctor 483 Bian ie prs rom 2a aces the Galles 830 Bagolph the Traitor han Wi Yank, Shank 0. ; : pag A 381 The Boy Cayaliers an a ne 184 Master of Himself 229 Adrift on @ Floating Island 382 Young Captain Kidd 35 The Smuggler of St. Malo 185 JimJams; or, Jack of All Trades— | 230 Fred Hazle 333 The Secret of Wizard Lake 36 Little Mack, the Boy Engineer * comic ae Bhat ip eer 334 ae ee vite ' 87 Josephine ; or, the Maid of the Gulf | 136 The Boy Bohemian 233 Meta, the Girl Crusoe 335 The Hunters of the Silver Trail #8 Seat chap ca’ Tee NOME agp smgeenswoneer | Te Dee corm xartn (at Stree agus Ml 39 Paul Jones 139 *12;') or, Tracked to Death J o3g. Drifting Harry ; 338 Pat O’Oorker ; 40 The Hangman of Newgate 140 The Young Veutriloquist oy Rorvithe Sinestier re eager arenes 41 The Blavk Mask enver Dick 938 An Irish Boy’s Luck a gi . 42 Dot Boy Fritz—comte 142 Dick Daring y 341 The Zulu’s Daughter : 43 Demon of the Deep 143 Gypsy Blanche 239 Behind the Bars ; 842 The Haunted House of Deadman’s 44 Mark Graham 144 The Boy Clown se RoeOY ay ace | Corner de RRrmaEL eae Tenders «|B they Avtager By EP au aun era 46 San Francisco Bo nlucky Tom—comic 243 Jack the Joker 47 Tom. Dick and the —— —comic 147 Lathy—comic ta 845 For the Green Flag of Old Ireland - 48 ‘The'Yankee Privateer 148 'The Sea Fiends it x hadrish RopbEne Apprentice 346 Kathleen O’Shaughnessy | 49 The Rover's Oath * 149 Wnder the Ocean e y $47 Tom, the Midshipman 50 Corkey—comric 160 Andy Handy on Sa eer eM Pea 348 che At pane Cook 51 Dick Lightheart 151 Red Lear 7 = 349 Every Inch a Sailor $2 Dick Lightheat’s Trials 152 Daniel Boone Fr ae eS A ee | 850 Ralph, the Light Dragoon 53 Dick Lightheart’s Triumph 153 Hale and Hearty j aR Dare Dea hs f New York 351 The Brothers in Arms 54 Captain Hawke 164 Tin of the Mail Train cate Cantata Garretate ates 852 Jack of Cheapside 55 The Boss Boy 155 Out with Stanley : potTin Geps Uae 353, The Green Banner,ofJslam 56 Shorty, Jr.; or, the Son of His Dad | 156 Mad Maurice orate hee Me UNA SURE SAEs) 354 The Colonel’s Daughter —comic 157 Shorty and the Count—comic Prat Se SRE: 355 Walter's Secret . : 158 The Wharf Boys 254 Water-Duck Jim 356 The Outlaws of Berkeley Forest othe aaa i Besa ss TN Heaney ements a epee ae Osun : }.256 The Flying Ship ofthe Pacific —"—-|. 358 The House ofa H 59 The Pirates of America 150 Nip and Flip 257 The Adventures of Harry Franco | $59 Oswald, the Tui Terrors 60 The Pirate Cutter 161 The Four Jacks : n e t 258 Cripple Charley 860 Adventures of a Free La: 61 The Black Pirate 162 The Miser of Harlem 259 The Adventures of Two Tramps 861 The Treacherous Kni OTe 62 Captain Kyd; or, the Pirate of Hell | 163 Young Harkaway and the Pirates . : 4 ous Knight Pp 9 OF, 164 Hark ‘ 260 Plucky Jimmy 362 Young Harkaway and His Bo CRS TEE a re 261 ‘The Blacksmith’s Apprentice Tinker y 63 Will Waffles SER SO eee Leo 262 Jumping Joe 363 Tinker’s Man Bogey 64 Three Finger Jack ; TRYARR he aye 263 Jack Gordon pe a 364 Young Harkaway in Spain 5 The Sea Kin am “ 264 Mat McCarthy's Fortun f : 66 Life in the Red Brigade pes 265 London Bob—comic AICTE RAR MRT oat 67 Billy Bo'swain 170 Foeeres ‘the Mawiatae 266 An English Boy in America—comice | 367 Young Harkaway and the Araba n Two Stick: : . thy 267 Scotty, the Terrier > “ 3 ne ae MN a Sticke 171 Reckless Hob - | 968. Philadelphia Dave 868 One Harkaway and the Counter- 70 The Highwayman’s Fate 172 Luke Lander, the Lion Hunter 269 Billy the Boxer 869 Secret of the Traitor’s Gat 71 The Lighthouse Murder th pon oporeite SESH ee “ay Raivolen ttetitg 870 Waif of the Tower erie 3 The Pirate of the Shoals 115 The Gallant Miday 272 High Falutin’ Jim 7 Ralpit Wldhaw ies 74 The Robbers of the Rhine Me ats ni be Aas 273 Charley Lance BrarMarco leave 75 Jack Harkaway’s School Days "8 Harkaw: 274 A Search for a Missing Man 374 Zara, the Gyps 76 Harkaway Afloat hs Hapeaeiy a Ee ere frat is tests MASE) 375 The Seryian che Tar * | 276 Teddy O’Lynn if a CL "i Hiner atecapon Sata 180 Harkaway and the Bush-Rangers | 977 ‘The Shadow Ship Sea TameBel ome 79 Harkaway at Oxford 1 i Hee quand: theeweord 278 Lone Jack 378 Archers of Englewood Saeed 80 Harkaway and the Black Band aa anion acuta harsh, “the rae eos ely . 379 Knight of the Red Cross 82 Harkaway and the Spy 184 Chips and Chin Chin Among the | 951 shoo-Fiy; ot, Nobody's Moke comic] S80 Fack-ov-the;Cudgel ormons—comic 282 Shoo-Fly at & " og ne Kree La $3 Harkaway Trapped) |185 Chips and Chin ‘Chin’s Adventures #2 root nt chou carr 7 382. The Fair Maid of Kent 84 Harkaway and the Italians with Indians—comie 984 Sho at ’ OVE—COMIC 883 Dick, the Brewer 85 Dick Lightheart at Sea 186 Chips and Chin Chin in Omaha— | des snovise. the Gymnast—comic 384 The Oxford and Cambridge Eights eS pick Lightheart Around the World Corie Wout the Young Robber of the! 3g5 The wild neat ick Uehtheart in London 187 Chips and Chin Chin in St. Louis— ; 386 Tom Mansfield, the Smuggler ' 88 Dick Lightheart’s Victory i : 286 Dashing Bob $87 The Sunken Treasure’ - 89 The Island of Mystery ed ddied in Chin in Ni York— | 287 Johnnie Burgoo . | 888 The Slave’s Revenge 90 Detective Dan * 188 Se Medea CHEN says 288 Reliable Gane 889 Cris. Carrol, the Scout 91 Claude Duval V9" 1 289 The Yankee Claude Duval 890 Phil Rayleigh, a London Arab 92 Claude and His Pal 189 Jack Hawley 290 Midshipman Ned 5 891 The Knight of the Iron Hand 93 Duyal and Dick 190 Two Boston Boys 291 The Cruise of the Old Ironsides 392 ‘Tom Lester ‘ 94 Claude in a Fix 191 Frank Martin, the Young Rajah 292 Jack Fenny. 393 Bicycle Bob a payee Betrayed 192 The aoe an 8 eae 4 293 The Young Irish Brigand 394 Mark Darrell . of The Highwayman’s Ride igi The Red Circle | 204 ames, the Lion 306 Tom Oakland. ? ¢ ? i 3 x ‘om Oaklan 98 Claude Duval’s Dead Shot 195 The Nemesis; or, Tracked to Their 208 ene se Ned _. | 897 The Mad Alchemist, 99 Bonnie Black Bess : Doom . | 297 ‘True-Blue; or, Righted at Last 398 Worm, the Pittsburgh Detective 100 Claude in Jail 196 Tom Trump 298 That Boy of Ours—comic 899 Rob Racket jee 101 Duyal’s Life Struggle 197 The Boy, Pilot _ | 299 Tom on His Muscle 400 Gypsy Dick u i “ . You can obtain any of ‘the above books from any newsdealer, or they will be sent to your address, post-paid, by sending the price to Box 2730. . PRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, 84 and 86 North Moore St, N.Y. - . : ‘ ‘ 2 Fost a < hae : aaheales
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THE GREAT 5 CENT. WIDE AWAKE LIBRA Y,, The Largest, Cheapest, Handsomest, and Most Pooular Library. TN TELE: WORIL:D. Containing Tales of the Sea, Indian Stories, Mexican Romances and Adventures in all parts of the World. _ 401 The Red River Pilot 402 Catana ; or, The Robber’s Daughter 403 Detective Sketches 404 The Boy Scouts of the Sierras 405 The Heir of Longworth eee 406 A Ghost.in the Mirror and Other Bari 407 Strange Stories of Maniacs 408 A Skeleton’s Legacy 409 The Pirate’s Son 410 The Young Revenue Detective 411 Little Hal, the Boy Engineer 412 Captain Hurricane; of, The Waif of the Wreck 413 Tow-path Ted 414 Tlie Ghost of Paul Priestly 415 The Cruise of the ‘‘ Beauty ” 416 Joe Jordan 417 Ebenezer Crow—comic 418 Charlie Charlton 419 Gorilla George 420 Stuttering Mose 421 The Kinedom in the Sea, a Sequel to “! Dick Dauntless ” 422 Light-house Lem 423 The Search for the ‘ Midas” 424 The Young Explorers 425 Little Nugget, the Pride of Leadville 426 The Young Aeronaut | 427 The Boy Trapezist 428 Prairie Phil 429 The Green Caps 430 Hollow Roost 431 The Grimsdale Ghost and Other Stories 432 Lost in Africa 433 Denver Dan and His Mystic Band, by,{‘No- 487 name” 434 Shorty in Search of His Dad—comic 435 The Blasted Pine; or, The Three Boy Scouts 436 Denver Dan and the Road Agents, by ‘* No- |'491 name” 437 The Freebooter’s Secret 438 Sawdust Charlie 439 Denver Dan and the Counterfeters, by “«Noname” 440 The Train Robbers; or, A Story of the James Boys 441 Ned Owen; or,The Mystery of a Missing Ship 498 1499 442 Denver Dan Outwitted, by “ Noname? D 443 The Girdle of Gold | : 444 The Treasure Cave 445 Deriver Dan the Sheriff, by ‘ Noname” iM 446 Long Paw ; 447 A Yankee. Boy in Africa 448 Black and Blue 449 Tyan and Ismail 450 Denver Dan’s Peril, by “ Noname” 451 The True Life of Billy the Kad —, 452 The Russian Spy 453 The Creole Brothers 454 The Castaways 455 Denver Dan to the Rescue, by ‘*Noname ” 456 Condemned; or, Number 709 : 457 The Jaines Boys as Guerrillas 458 Billy Bangs’ Schooldays -| 509 459 The Mad Doctor 460 Zola, the Old Trapper’s Daughter 461 The Shortys’ Trip Around the World, by READ THE FOLLOWING LIST OF THE LATEST ISSUES PUBLISHED: — { 515 Fighting Joe 516 Invincible Bill 517 Skeleton Gulch ‘« Peter Pad,” handsomely illustrated By 518 The Irish’ Claude Duval as a Ee Thomas Worth—comic 462 The James Boys and the Vigilantes 463 Buffalo Bill’s Chum: 464 Denver Dan and His Chums, by. ‘‘ No- name” 465 The Old Magician 466 The James Boys and the Ku Klux 467 The Brother’s Crime 468 Molly Bland, the Detective 469 The James Boys in California 470 Tumbling Tim—comic 471 Mat of the Mountain 472 The Picador of Chapultepec 473 The Lost Island 474 The James Boys as Train Wreckers 475 The Maxwell Brothers 476 Stuttering Sam—comic 477 The Mad Hunter 478 Persimmon Bill 479 The James Boys in Minnesota 480 Buck Bidwell 481 Toby the Spy . 482 The James Boys as Highwaymen 483 Denver Dan in New York, by ‘‘Noname ” 484 Tommy Bounce, Jr., a Chip of :the Old Block, by ‘Peter Pad.” Mllustrated— comic 485 Washed Ashore; or, Adventures Strange Land 486 Charlie Chubbs at College The Irish Claude Duval The James Boys’ Longest Chase Fair-Weather Jack; or, Life in the; Arctic ‘Regions The James Boys in Mexico Old Fox; or, The Mystery of a Trunk The James Boys at Cracker Neck Silvershot The Silent Slayer : The Irish Claude Duval as 2 Rebel Astray in the Clouds The Shortys Married and Settled Down— comic The Tree of Death The Twin Detectives; or, True to Each ‘Other - William Tell, the Dead Shot of the West Trapper Duke Leon the Outlaw / Tommy Bounce, Jr. in Collexe—conits Around The World Out, with the Jeannette Captain Tom Drake Fred Ford 3 Billy Bakkus—comic Bow and Arrow Jack 510 Arctic Phil 511 Fred Baxter 2 512, The Brookfield’ Bank Robbers 513 The Border Bandits” 514 The James Boys and Timberlake in a | 488 489 490 492 493 494. 495 496, 497 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 619 The Wolverine 520 Ben Bolt I 521 The James Boys in Court 522 Bob Rollick; or, What Was He Born For? —comic 523 Northwoods Tom 524 Only a Cabin Boy 625 Astray in Africa 526 ‘Tiger Ted 527 Thé James Boys’ Cave 528 The Black Mask 529 Sou’west Fred 580 Bob Rollick, the Yankee Notion Drummer, Illustrated—comic 631 The James Boys as Bank Robbers 632 The Black Hercules 633 Fireman Dick 634 The Shortys out for Fun. Illustrated —comic 535 Red River Bill By Peter Pad, 636 Special Express Ned . 637 The Shortys’ Christmas and New Year at Home. By Peter Pad—comic 538 The James Boys’ Brides 539 The Spies of the Delaware 540 Denver Dan, Jr. 541 The Steam Man of tlie oeDe 542 On Deck 543 rom Pole to Pole . 544 Dick Wright and his Band of Cannibals 545 The Boy. Captain;. or, The Searcb for a Missing Will 546 Pickle and Tickle—comie 647 Fort Hayes 548 Noiseless Nat 549 The Secrets Under the Sea 558 The James Boys’ Band 551 Sam Sharpe at School 652 Privateer Tom 553 Frank Reade and His Steam Horse 554 Billy the Bootblack 555 The Rival Scouts 556 The Coral Cave 557 The Army Scout 658 Missouri Jack and His Band of ‘«7” 559 Lasso Luke 560 Shady Dell School . 561 The Man of Gold had 562 The Mad Man of the North Pole 563 Extree Nick, the New York Newsboy 564 Oath-bound 565 Custer’s Last Shot. - 566 Gassy. Hyde. 667 Fred Fras kd, the Star of the: ‘Clrens 568 Coon-Skin Kit, the Dashing, Government Scout a) Denver Dan, Jr., and the Renegade 570 Billy Badger; or, The Mysterious Unknown - of the Bank-Robbers’ Band 571 The James Boys’ Fate } 572 Mail-Gar Ned; or, Falsely Accused ° _ Do not fail to purchase one from your newsdealers, as they all have them ox nand ; or they will be sent to aL address, postage. free, on receipt of price, 5 cents. Address FRANK TOUSEY, Publisher, — Box 2730. 34. see 36 North Moore Eis New York,