"I thought about it all last night," said Kate, "and this is what I will
do. I will go to the Governor; I will tell him all about my father. I do
not think it will be wrong even to tell him why I think his mind has
become unsettled, for if that woman in Bridgetown has behaved wickedly,
her wickedness should be known. Then I will ask him to give me written
authority to take my father wherever I may find him, and to bring him
here, where it shall be decided what shall be done with him; and I am
sure the decision will be that he must be treated as a man whose mind is
not right, and who should be put somewhere where he can have nothing to
do with ships."

This was all quite childish to Mr. Delaplaine, but for Kate's dear sake
he treated her scheme seriously.

"But tell me, my dear," said he, "how are you going to find your father,
and in what way can you bring him back here with you?"

"The first thing to do," said Kate, "is to hire a ship; I know that my
little property will yield me money enough for that. As for bringing him
back, that's for me to do. With my arms around his neck he cannot be a
pirate captain. And think of it, uncle! If my arms are not soon around
his neck, it may be the hangman's rope which will be there. That is, if
he is not killed by that revengeful Captain Vince."

Mr. Delaplaine was troubled far more than he had yet been. His sorrowing
niece believed that there was something which might be done for her
father, but he, her practical uncle, did not believe that anything could
be done. And, even if this were possible, he did not wish to do it. If,
by some unheard-of miracle, his niece should be enabled to carry out her
scheme, she could not go alone, and thoughts of sailing upon the sea,
and the dangers from pirates, storms, and wrecks, were very terrible to
the quiet merchant. He could not encourage this night-born scheme of his
niece.

"But there is one thing I can do," cried Kate, "and I must do it this
very day. I must go to the Governor's house, and I pray you, uncle, that
you will go with me. I must tell him about my father. I must make him do
something which shall keep that Captain Vince from sailing after him
and killing him. How I wish I had thought of all this before. But it did
not come to me."

It was not half an hour after that when Kate and her uncle entered the
grounds of the Governor's mansion.




CHAPTER XV

THE GOVERNOR OF JAMAICA


The Governor of Jamaica was much interested in the visit of Kate Bonnet,
whom he saw alone in a room adjoining the public apartments. He had met
her two or three times before, and had been forced to admit that the
young girls of Barbadoes must be pretty and piquant in an extraordinary
degree, and he had not wondered that his friend, Captain Vince, should
have spoken of her in such an enthusiastic manner.

But now she was different. Her sorrow had given her dignity and had
added to her beauty. She quickly told her tale, and he started upright
in his chair as he heard it.

"Do you mean," he exclaimed, "that that pirate, after whom I sent the
Badger, is your father? It amazes me! The similarity of names did not
strike me; I never imagined any connection between you and the captain
of that pirate ship."

"That's what Captain Vince said when I last saw him," remarked Kate.

"It must have astounded him to know it," exclaimed the Governor, "and I
wonder, knowing it, that he consented to obey my orders; and had I been
in his place I would have preferred to be dismissed from the service
rather than to sail after your father and to destroy him. If I had known
what I know now, my orders to Captain Vince would have been very
different from what they were. I would have told him to capture your
father, and to bring him here to me. It cannot be that he is in his
right mind!"

Now Kate was weeping; the terrible words "destroy him," and the
assurance that if she had thought sooner of appealing to the Governor,
much misery, or at least the thought of misery, might have been spared
her, so affected her that she could not control herself.

The Governor did not attempt to console her. Her sorrow was natural, and
it was her right.

When she looked up again she spoke about what she had come to ask him
for; the authority to bring back her father wherever she might find him,
and to defend him from the attacks of all persons, whoever they might
be, until she reached Jamaica. And then she told him how she would seek
for her father on every sea.

The Governor sat and pondered. The father of such a girl should be saved
from the terrible fate awaiting him, if the thing could possibly be
done. And yet, what a difficult, almost hopeless thing it was to do. To
find a pirate, a fierce and bloody pirate, and bring him back unharmed
to his daughter's arms and to reasonable restraint.

He spoke earnestly. "What you propose," he said, "you cannot do. It
would be impossible for you to find your father; and if you did, no
matter who might be with you, and no matter how successful you might be
with him, his crew would not let him go. But there is one thing which
might be done. The Badger will report at different stations, and her
course and present cruising ground might be discovered. Thus I might
send a despatch to Captain Vince, ordering him not to harm your father,
but to take him prisoner, and to bring him here to be dealt with."

Kate sprang to her feet.

"An order to Captain Vince!" she exclaimed, "an order to withhold his
hand from my father? Ah, sir, your goodness is great, this is far more
than I had dared to expect! When I last saw Captain Vince he left me in
a great rage, but, knowing that he would respect your order, I would
dare his rage. If his revengeful hand should be withheld from my father
I would fear nothing."

"I beg you to be seated," said the Governor, "and let me assure you,
that in offering to send this order to Captain Vince I do not in the
least expect you to take it. But there is one thing I do not
understand. Why should the captain have left you in a great rage?
Perhaps I have not a right to ask this, but it seems to me to have some
bearing upon his alacrity in setting forth in pursuit of the Revenge."

"I fear," said Kate, "that this may be true; I do not deem it improper
for me to say to you, sir, that Captain Vince made me an offer of
marriage, and that in order to induce me to accept it he offered, should
he come up with the Revenge, to spare my father and to let him go free,
visiting the punishment he was sent to inflict upon the rest of the
people in the ship."

"I am surprised," said the Governor, "to hear you say that; such an
action would have been direct disobedience to his orders. It would have
been disloyalty, which not even the possession of your fair hand could
justify. And you refused his offer?"

"That did I," said Kate, her face flushing at the recollection of the
unpleasant interview with the captain; "I cared not for him, and even
had I, I would not have consented to wed a man who offered me his
dishonour as a bribe for doing so. Not even for my father's life would I
become the bride of such a one!"

"Well spoken, Mistress Bonnet," exclaimed the Governor, "your heart,
though a tender, is a stout one. But this you tell me of Captain Vince
is very bad; he is a vindictive man and will have what he wants, even
without regard to the means by which he may get it. I am glad to know
what you have told me, Mistress Bonnet, and if I had known it betimes I
would not have sent, in pursuit of your father, a man whose anger had
been excited against his daughter. But now I shall despatch orders to
Captain Vince which shall be very exact and peremptory. After he has
received them he will not dare to harm your father, and would cause him
to be brought here as I command."

"From my heart I thank you, sir," cried Kate, "give me the orders and I
will take them, or I will--"

"Nay, nay," said the Governor, "such offices are not for you, but I will
give the matter my present attention. On any day a vessel may enter the
port with news of the Badger, and on any day a vessel may clear from
Kingston, possibly for Bridgetown, where I imagine the Badger will first
touch. Rely upon me, my dear young lady, my order shall go to Captain
Vince by the very earliest opportunity."

Kate rose and thanked him warmly. "This is much to do, your Excellency,
for one poor girl," she said.

"It is but little to do," said the Governor, "and that girl be
yourself."

With that he rose, offered Kate his arm, and conducted her to her uncle.

When Mr. Delaplaine was made acquainted with the result of the
interview, both his gratitude and surprise were great. He comprehended
far better than Kate could the extent of the favour which the Governor
had offered to bestow. It was, indeed, extraordinary to commute what was
really a sentence of death against a notorious and dangerous pirate for
the sake of a beautiful and pleading woman. An ambitious idea shot
through the merchant's brain. The Governor was a widower; he had met
Kate before. Was there any other lady on the island better fitted to
preside over the gubernatorial household? But, although a man of high
position could not wed the daughter of a pirate, a pirate, evidently of
an unsound mind, could be adjudged demented, as he truly was, and thus
the shadow of his crime be lifted from him. This was a great deal to
think in a very short time, but the good merchant did it, and the
fervour of his thankfulness was greatly increased by his rapid
reflections.

As they were on their way home Kate's eyes were bright, and her step
lighter than it had been of late. "Now, uncle," said she, "you know we
shall not wait for any chance ship which may take the Governor's
despatch. We shall engage a swift vessel ourselves, by which the orders
may be carried. And, uncle, when that ship sails I must go in her."

"You!" cried Mr. Delaplaine, "you go in search of the Badger and Captain
Vince? That can never--"

"But remember, uncle," cried Kate, "it is just as likely that I shall
meet my father's ship as any other, and then we can snap our fingers at
all orders and all captains. My father shall be brought here and the
good Governor will make him safe, and free him, as he best knows how,
from the terrible straits into which his disturbed reason has led him."

Her uncle would not darken Kate's bright hopes, ill-founded though he
thought them. To look into those sparkling eyes again was a joy of which
he would not deprive himself, if he could help it.

"Suppose he should capture our vessel," she exclaimed; "what a grand
thing it would be for him, all unknowing, to spring upon our deck and
instantly be captured by me. After that, there would be no more pirate's
life for him!"

When Dame Charter heard what had happened at the Governor's house and
had listened to the recital of Kate's glowing schemes, her eyes did not
immediately glisten with joy.

"If you go, Mistress Kate," said she, "in search of your father or that
wicked Captain Vince, I go with you, but I cannot go without my Dickory.
It is full time to expect his return, although, as he was to depend upon
so many chances before he could come back, his absence may, with good
reason, continue longer, and I could not have him come back and find
his mother gone, no man knows where. For in such a quest, what man
could know?"

"Oh, Dickory will be here soon!" cried Kate; "any ship which comes
sailing towards the harbour may bring him."

The Governor of Jamaica was a man of great experience, and with a fairly
clear insight into the ways of the wicked. When Kate and her uncle had
left him and he paced the floor, with the memory of the beautiful eyes
of the pirate's daughter as they had been uplifted to his own, he felt
assured that he could see rightly into the designs of the unscrupulous
Captain Vince. Of what avail would it be for him to kill the father of
the girl who had rejected him? It would be an atrocious but temporary
triumph scarcely to be considered. But to capture that father; to
disregard the laws of the service and the orders of his superiors, which
he had already proposed to do; to communicate with Kate and to hold up
before her terror-stricken eyes the life of her father, to be ended in
horror or enjoyed in peace as she might decide--that would be Vince, as
the Governor knew him.

The Governor knew well his man, and those were the designs and
intentions of Captain Christopher Vince of his Majesty's corvette the
Badger.




CHAPTER XVI

A QUESTION OF ETIQUETTE


Proudly sailed the Revenge and her attendant bark into the waters of
Honduras Gulf, and proudly stood Captain Stede Bonnet upon his
quarter-deck, dressed in a handsome uniform which might have been that
of a captain or admiral in the royal navy; one hand caressed his ornate
sword-hilt, while the other was thrust into the bosom of his
gilt-embroidered coat. A newly fashioned Jolly Roger, in which the
background was very black and the skull and cross-bones ghastly white,
flew from his masthead.

As night came on there could be seen, twinkling far away upon the
horizon, a beacon light, which in those days was kept burning for the
benefit of the piratical craft which made a rendezvous of the waters off
Belize, then the commercial centre for the vessels of the "free
companions." Having supposed, in his unnautical mind, that his entrance
into the Gulf of Honduras meant the end of his present voyage, and not
wishing to lower his own feeling of importance by asking too many
questions of his inferiors, Captain Bonnet had bedecked himself a day
too soon, and there were some jeers and sneers among his crew when he
descended to his cabin to take off his fine clothes. But his
self-complacency was well armoured, and he did not hear the jokes of
which he was the subject, especially by the little clique of which Black
Paul was the centre. But the sailing-master knew his business, and the
Revenge was safely, though slowly, sailed among the coral-reefs and
islands until she dropped anchor off Belize. Early in the morning the
now dignified and pompous Captain Bonnet, of that terror of the seas,
the pirate craft Revenge, again arrayed himself in a manner befitting
his position, and stationed himself on the quarter-deck, where he might
be seen by the eyes of all the crews of the other pirate vessels
anchored about them and by the glasses of their officers.

Apart from a general desire to show himself in the ranks of his
fellow-pirates and to receive from them the respect which was due to a
man of his capabilities and general merits, Stede Bonnet had a
particular reason for his visit to this port and for surrounding himself
with all the pomp and circumstance of high piratical rank. He had been
informed that a great man, a hero and chief among his fellows--in fact,
the dean of the piratical faculty, and known as "Blackbeard," the most
desperate and reckless of all the pirates of the day--was now here.

To meet this most important sea-robber and to receive from him the hand
of fellowship had been Bonnet's desire and ambition since he had heard
that it was possible.

The morning was advanced and the Revenge was rolling easily at her
anchorage, but Bonnet was somewhat uncertain as to the next step he
ought to take. He wanted to see Blackbeard as soon as possible, but it
would certainly be a breach of etiquette entirely inconsistent with his
present position for him to go to see him. He was the latest comer, and
thought it was the part of Blackbeard to make the first visit.

Paul Bittern now came aft. "The men are getting very restless," he said;
"they want to go on shore. They'd all go if I'd let 'em."

Captain Bonnet gave his sailing-master a lofty glare.

"If I should let them, you mean, sir. I am sorry I cannot break you of
the habit of forgetting that I command this ship. Well, sir, you may
tell them that they cannot go. I am expecting a visit from the renowned
Blackbeard, now in this port, and I wish to welcome him with all respect
and a full crew."

Black Paul smiled disagreeably. "I will tell you, sir, that you cannot
keep these men on board much longer with the town of Belize within a
row of half a mile. They've been at sea too long for that. There'll be
a mutiny, sir, if I go forward with that message of yours. It will be
prudent to let some of them go ashore now and others later in the day. I
will go in the first boat and see to it that the men come back with me.
And, by the way, it would not be a bad thing if I touch at Blackbeard's
vessel and inform him that you are here; I don't suppose he knows the
Revenge, nor her captain neither."

"I doubt that, Bittern," said Bonnet, "I doubt it very much. I assure
you that I am known from one end of this coast to the other, and Captain
Blackbeard is not an ignorant man. So you can go ashore and take some of
the men, stopping at Blackbeard's ship. And, by the way, I want you to
go by that bark of ours and give her the old black Roger I used to fly.
I forgot to send it to her, and a man might as well not own and command
two vessels if he get not the credit of it."

When Black Paul had gone to execute his orders, Ben Greenway heaved a
heavy sigh. "Now I begin to fear, Master Bonnet, that the day o' your
salvation has really gone by. When ye not only murder an' rob upon the
high seas, but keep consort with other murderers an' robbers, then I
fear ye are indeed lost. But I shall stand by ye, Master Bonnet, I shall
stand by ye; an' if, ever I find there is the least bit o' ye to be
snatched from the flames, I'll snatch it!"

"I don't like that sort of talk, Ben Greenway," cried Bonnet,
"especially at this time when my soul swells with content at the success
which has crowned my undertakings. This Blackbeard is a valiant man and
a great one, but it is my belief that when we have sat down to compare
our notes, it will be found that I have captured as many cargoes, burned
as many ships, and marooned as many people in my last cruise as he has."

"So I suppose," said Ben, "that ye think ye hae achieved the right to
sink deeper into hell than he can ever hope to do?"

Bonnet made no answer, but turned away. The Scotchman was becoming more
and more odious to him every day, but he would not quarrel on this most
auspicious morning. He must keep his mind unruffled and his head high.
He had his own plans about Greenway: he was not far from Barbadoes, and
when he left the harbour of Belize it would be of advantage to his peace
of mind as well as to the comfort of a faithful old servant if he should
anchor for a little while in the river below the town and put Ben
Greenway on shore.

Ben gave no further reason for quarrelling. He was greatly dejected, but
he had sworn to himself to stand by his old master, no matter what might
happen, and when he took an oath he meant what he swore.

Dickory Charter was in much worse case than Ben Greenway. He was not
much of a geographical scholar, but he knew that the Gulf of Honduras
was not really very far from the Island of Jamaica, where dwelt, waited,
and watched Mistress Kate Bonnet and his mother. If he had known that
during the voyage down from the Atlantic coast the Revenge had sailed
through the Windward Passage, running in some of her long tacks within
less than a day's sail of Jamaica, he would have chafed, fumed, and
fretted even more than he did now.

"Captain Bonnet," he cried, "if you could but let me go on shore, I
might surely find some vessel bound to Kingston, or to any place upon
the Island of Jamaica, from which spot I could make my way on foot, even
if it were on the opposite end. Thus I could take messages and letters
from you to your daughter and Mr. Delaplaine, and ease the minds both of
them and my mother, all of whom must now be in most doleful plight, not
knowing anything about you or hearing anything from me, and this for so
long a time; then you could remain here with no feelings of haste until
you had disposed of your cargoes and had finished your business."

Captain Bonnet stood loftily with a smile of benignity upon his face.
"It is a clever plan," said he, "and you are a good fellow, Dickory, but
your scheme, though well intentioned, is unsound. I have too much regard
for you to trust you in any vessel sailing from Belize to Kingston,
where there are often naval vessels. Going from this port, you would be
as likely to be strung up to the yard-arm as to be allowed to go ashore.
Be patient then, my good fellow; when my affairs are settled here, the
Revenge may run up to the coast of Jamaica, where you may be put off at
some quiet spot, and all may happen as you have planned, my good
Dickory. Even now I am writing a letter, hoping for some such
opportunity of sending it to my daughter."

Dickory sighed in despair. It might take a month or more before Kate's
father could settle his affairs, and how long, how long it had been
since his soul had been reaching itself out towards Kate and his mother!

When the sailing-master set out in the long-boat, crowded with men, he
stopped at the bark but did not go too near for fear that some of the
crew might jump into his already overloaded boat.

"You are to run up this rag," cried Black Paul to Clip, the fellow in
command; and so saying, he handed up the old Jolly Roger on the blade of
an oar. "Our noble admiral fears that if you do not that you may be
captured by some of these good vessels lying hereabout."

Clip roared out with a laugh: "I will attend to the capture as soon as I
get out of reach of his guns, which he will not dare to use here, I take
it. But I want you to know and him to know that we're not goin' to stay
on board and in sight of the town. If you go ashore, so go we."

"Stay where ye are till orders come to ye," shouted Black Paul, "if ye
want to keep the cat off your backs!" And as he rowed away the men on
the bark gave him a cheer and proceeded to lower two boats.

From nearly every pirate ship in the anchorage the proceedings of the
newly arrived vessels had been watched. No one wanted to board them or
in any way to interfere with them until it was found out what they
intended to do. The Revenge was a stranger in that harbour, although her
fame was known on not a few pirate decks; but if she came to Belize to
fraternize with the other pirate vessels there gathered together, why
didn't she do it? No idea of importance and dignity, which his position
imposed upon Captain Stede Bonnet, entered their piratical minds. When
the long-boat put forth from the Revenge, a good deal of interest was
excited in the anchored vessels. The great Blackbeard himself stood high
upon his deck and surveyed the strangers through a glass.

The men in the sailing-master's boat rowed steadily towards Blackbeard's
vessel. Bittern knew it well, for he had seen it before, and had even
had the honour, so to speak, of having served for a short time under the
master pirate of that day.

As soon as the boat was near enough Blackbeard hailed it in a
tremendous voice and ordered the stranger to pull up and make fast. This
being done, a rope ladder was lowered and Bittern mounted to the deck,
being assisted in his passage over the side by a tremendous pull given
by Blackbeard.

The great pirate seemed to be in high good spirits, and very glad to see
his visitor. Blackbeard was a large man, wide and heavy, and the first
impression conveyed by his personality was that of hair and swarthiness.
An untrimmed black beard lay upon his chest, and his long hair hung in
masses from under his slouched hat; his eyes were dark and sparkling,
and gleamed like beacon lights from out a midnight sky; the sleeves of
his shirt were rolled up, and his arms seemed almost as hairy as his
head; two pairs of pistols were stuck into his belt, and a great cutlass
was conveniently tucked up by his side.

"Ho, ho!" he cried, "Black Paul! And where do you come from, and what
are you doing here? And what is the name of that vessel with the
brand-new Roger? Has she just gone into the business, that she decks
herself out so fine? Come now, sit here and have some brandy and tell me
what is the meaning of these two vessels coming into the harbour, and
what you have to do with them."

Bittern was delighted to know that his old commander remembered him, and
was ready enough to talk with him, for that was the errand he had come
upon.

"But, captain," said he, "I am afraid to wander away from the gunwale,
for if I have not my eye upon them, my men will be rowing to the town
before I know it. They are mad to be on shore."

Blackbeard made no answer; he stepped to the side of the vessel and
looked over. "Let go!" he shouted to the man who held the boat's rope,
"and you rascals row out a dozen strokes from my vessel and keep your
boat there; and if you move an oar towards the town I will sink you!"
With that he ordered two small guns to be trained upon the boat.

The boat's crew did not hesitate one second in obeying these orders.
They knew by whom they were given, and there was no man in the great
body of free companions who would disobey an order given by Blackbeard.
They rowed to the position assigned them and sat quietly looking into
the mouths of the two cannon which were pointed towards them.

"Now then," said Blackbeard, turning to Bittern, "I think they'll stay
there till they get some other order."

Between frequent sips at the cup of brandy Bittern told the story of the
Revenge, and Blackbeard listened with many an oath and many a pound upon
his massive knee by his mighty fist.

"Oh, I have heard of him," he cried, "I have heard of him! He has
played the devil along the Atlantic coast. He must he a great fellow
this--what did you say his name was?"

"Bonnet," said the other.

Blackbeard laughed. "That suits him well; he must have clapped his name
over the eyes of many a merchant captain! Where did he sail before he
hoisted the Jolly Roger?"

At this Bittern laughed. "He never sailed anywhere, he is no seaman; and
if he were not rich enough to pay others to do his navigatin' for him he
would have run his vessel upon the first sand-bar on his way from
Bridgetown to the sea. But he pays some good mariner to sail his
Revenge, and he now pays me. I am, in fact, the captain of his vessel."

"You mean," cried Blackbeard, "that he knows nothing of navigation?"

"Not a whit," replied the other; "he doesn't know the backstays from the
taffrail. It was only yesterday that he thought he was already in the
port of Belize, and dressed himself up like a fighting-cock to meet
you."

"To meet me?" roared Blackbeard; "what does he want to meet me for, and
why don't he come and do it instead of sending you?"

"Not he," said Bittern. "He is a great man, if not a sailor; he knows
what is politeness on shipboard, and as he is the last comer you must be
the first caller. He is all dressed up now, hoping that you will row
over to the Revenge as soon as you know that he is its commander."

The hairy pirate leaned back and laughed in loud explosions.

"He is a rare man, truly," he exclaimed, "this Captain Nightcap of
yours--"

"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern.

"Well, one is as good as the other," cried Blackbeard, "and he be well
clothed if it be of the right colour. And you started out with him to
sail his ship, you rascal? That's a piece of impudence almost as great
as his own."

Bittern did not much like this speech, and wanted to explain that since
he had served under Blackbeard he had commanded vessels himself, but he
restrained himself and told how Sam Loftus had been tumbled overboard
for running afoul his captain, and how he had been appointed to his
place.

Now Blackbeard laughed again, with a great pound upon his knee. "He is a
man after my own heart," he shouted, "be he sailor or no sailor, this
nightcap commander of yours. I know I shall love him!" And springing to
his feet and uttering a resounding oath, he swore that he would visit
his new brother that afternoon.

"Now, away with you!" cried Blackbeard, "and tell Sir Nightcap--"

"Bonnet," interrupted Bittern.

"Well, Bonnet, or Cap, it matters not to me. Row straight back to your
ship, and let him know that I shall be there and shall expect to be
received with admiral's honours."

Bittern looked somewhat embarrassed. "But, captain," he said, "my men
are on their way to the town, and I fear me they will rebel if I tell
them they cannot now go there."

In saying this the sailing-master spoke not only for his men, but for
himself. He was very anxious to go ashore; he had business there; he
wanted to see who were in the place, and what was going on before Bonnet
should go to the town.

"What!" cried Blackbeard, putting his head down like a charging bull. "I
order you to row back to your vessel and take my message; and if you do
it not I will sink you all in a bunch! Into your boat, sir, and waste
not another minute. If you are not able to command your men, I will keep
you here and give them a coxswain who can."

Without another word, Bittern scuffled over the side, and, his boat
being brought up, he dropped into it.

"Now, men," he said, "I have a message from Captain Blackbeard to the
Revenge; bend to it as I steer that way."

"Give my pious regards to your Sir Nightcap," shouted Blackbeard. And
then, in a still higher tone, he yelled to them that if they disobeyed
their coxswain and turned their bow shoreward he would sink them all to
the unsounded depths of Hades. Without a protest the men pulled
vigorously towards the Revenge, while Black Paul, considering it a new
affront to be called "coxswain" when he was in reality captain,
earnestly sent Blackbeard to the same regions to which he had just
referred.




CHAPTER XVII

AN ORNAMENTED BEARD


It was about the middle of the afternoon when a large boat, well filled,
was seen approaching the Revenge from Blackbeard's vessel. As soon as it
had become known that this chief of all pirates of that day, this Edward
Thatch of England, was really coming on board the Revenge, not one word
was uttered among the crew on the subject of going ashore, although they
had been long at sea. The shore could wait when Blackbeard was coming.
Even to look upon this doughty desperado would be an honour and a joy to
the brawny scoundrels who made up the crew of the Revenge.

It might have been supposed that everything upon Captain Bonnet's vessel
had been made ready for the expected advent of Blackbeard, but nothing
seemed good enough, nothing seemed as effectively placed and arranged as
it might have been; and with execrations and commands, Bonnet hurried
here and there, making everything, if possible, more ship-shape than it
had been before.

"Stay you two in the background," he said to Ben Greenway and Dickory;
"you are both landsmen, and you don't count in a ceremony such as this
is going to be. Station your men as I told you, Bittern, and man the
yards when it is time."

Captain Bonnet, in his brave uniform and wearing a cocked hat with a
feather, his hand upon his sword-hilt, stood up tall and stately. When
the boat was made fast and the great pirate's head appeared above the
rail, six cannon roared a welcome and Bonnet stepped forward, hand
extended and hat uplifted.

The instant Blackbeard's feet touched the deck he drew from their
holsters a pair of pistols and fired them in the air.

"Now then," he shouted, "we are even, salute for salute, for my pistols
are more than equal to the cannon of any other man. How goes it with
you, Sir Nightcap--Bonnet, I mean?" And with that he clasped the hand
reached out to him in a bone-crushing grasp.

His fingers aching and his brain astonished, Bonnet could not comprehend
what sort of a man it was who stood before him. With hair purposely
dishevelled; with his hat more slouched than usual; with his beard
divided into tails, each tied with a different-coloured ribbon; with
half a dozen pistols strung across his breast; with other pistols and a
knife or two stuck into his belt; with his great sword by his side, and
his eyes gleaming brighter than ever and a general expression, both in
face and figure, of an aggressive impudence, Blackbeard stood on his
stout legs, clothed in rough red stockings, and gazed about him. But the
captain of the Revenge did not forget his manners. He welcomed
Blackbeard with all courtesy and besought him to enter his poor cabin.

Blackbeard laughed. "Poor cabin, say you? But I'll tell you this one
thing, my valiant Captain Cap; you have not a poor vessel, not a poor
vessel, I swear that to you, my brave captain, I swear that!"

Then, with no attention to Bonnet's invitation, Captain Blackbeard
strolled about the deck, examining everything, cursing this and praising
that, and followed by Captain Bonnet, Black Paul, and a crowd of
admiring pirates.

Ben Greenway bowed his head and groaned. "I doubt if Master Bonnet will
ever go to the de'il as I feared he would, for now has the de'il come to
him. Oh, Dickory, Dickory! this master o' mine was a worthy mon an' a
good ane when I first came to him, an' a' that I hae I owe to him, for I
was in sad case, Dickory, very sad case; but now that he has Apollyon
for his teacher, he'll cease to know righteousness altogither."

Dickory was angry and out of spirits. "He is a vile poltroon, this
master of yours," said he, "consorting with these bloody pirates and
leaving his daughter to pine away her days and nights within a little
sail of him, while he struts about at the heel of a dirty freebooter
dressed like a monkey! He doesn't deserve the daughter he possesses. Oh,
that I could find a ship that would take me back to Jamaica! And I would
take you too, Ben Greenway, for it is a foul shame that a good man
should spend his days in such vile company."

Ben shook his head. "I'll stand by Master Bonnet," he said, "until the
day comes when I shall bid him fareweel at the door o' hell. I can go no
farther than that, Dickory, no farther than that!"

From forecastle to quarter-deck, from bowsprit to taffrail, Blackbeard
scrutinized the Revenge.

"What mean you, dog?" he said to Bittern, Bonnet being at a little
distance; "you tell me he is no mariner. This is a brave ship and well
appointed."

"Ay, ay," said the sailing-master, "it has the neatness of his kitchen
or his storehouses; but if his cables were coiled on his yard-arms or
his anchor hung up to dry upon the main shrouds, he would not know that
anything was wrong. It was Big Sam Loftus who fitted out the Revenge,
and I myself have kept everything in good order and ship-shape ever
since I took command."

"Command!" growled Blackbeard. "For a charge of powder I would knock in
the side of your head for speaking with such disrespect of the brave Sir
Nightcap."

The supper in the cabin of the Revenge was a better meal than the
voracious Blackbeard had partaken of for many a year, if indeed he had
ever sat down to such a sumptuous repast. Before him was food and drink
fit for a stout and hungry sea-faring man, and there were wines and
dainties which would have had fit place upon the table of a gentleman.

Blackbeard was in high spirits and tossed off cup after cup and glass
after glass of the choicest wine and the most fiery spirits. He clapped
his well-mannered host upon the back as he shouted some fragment of a
wild sea-song.

"And who is this?" he cried, as they rose from the table and he first
caught sight of Ben Greenway. "Is this your chaplain? He looks as
sanctimonious as an empty rum cask. And that baby boy there, what do you
keep him for? Are they for sale? I would like to buy the boy and let him
keep my accounts. I warrant he has enough arithmetic in his head to
divide the prize-moneys among the men."

"He is no slave," said Bonnet; "he came to this vessel to bring me a
message from my daughter, but he is an ill-bred stripling, and can
neither read nor write."

"Then let's kill him!" cried Blackbeard, and drawing his pistol he sent
a bullet about two inches above Dickory's head.

At this the men who had gathered themselves at every available point set
up a cheer. Never before had they beheld such a magnificent and reckless
miscreant.

Dickory did not start or move, but he turned very pale, and then he
reddened and his eyes flashed. Blackbeard swore at him a great
approbative oath. "A brave boy!" he cried, "and fit to carry messages if
for nothing else. And what is this nonsense about a daughter?" said he
to Bonnet. "We abide no such creatures in the ranks of the free
companions; we drown them like kittens before we hoist the Jolly Roger."

When Blackbeard's boat left the ship's side the departing chieftain
fired his pistols in the air as long as their charges lasted, while the
motley desperadoes of the Revenge gave him many a parting yell. Then all
the boats of the Revenge were lowered, and every man who could crowd
into them left their ship for the shore. Black Paul tried to restrain
them, for he feared to leave the Revenge too weakly manned, she having
such a valuable cargo; but his orders and shouts were of no avail, and
despairing of stopping them the sailing-master went with them; and as
they pulled wildly towards the town the men of one boat shouted to
another, and that one to another, "Hurrah for our captain, the brave Sir
Nightcap! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"

"The dirty Satan!" exclaimed Dickory, as he gazed after Blackbeard's
boat. "I would kill him if I could."

"Say not so, Dickory," said Captain Bonnet, speaking gravely. "That
great pirate is not a man of breeding, and he speaks with disesteem
alike of friend and enemy, but he is the famous Blackbeard, and we must
treat him with honour although he pays us none."

"I had deemed," said Greenway calmly, "that ye were goin' to be the
maist unholy sinner that ever blackened this fair earth; but not only
did ye tell a pious lie for the sake o' good Dickory, but, compared wi'
that monstrosity, ye are a saint graved in marble, Master Bonnet, a
white and shapely saint."

       *       *       *       *       *

Blackbeard's boat was not rowed to his vessel, but his men pulled
steadily shoreward.

With the wild crew of the Revenge, fresh from sea and their appetites
whetted for jovial riot, and with Blackbeard, his war-paint on, to lead
them into every turbulent excess, there were wild times in the town of
Belize that night.




CHAPTER XVIII

I HAVE NO RIGHT; I AM A PIRATE


As has been made plain, Captain Bonnet of the Revenge was a punctilious
man when the rules of society were concerned, be that society official,
high-toned, or piratical. Thus it was a positive duty, in his mind, to
return Blackbeard's visit on the next day, but until afternoon he was
not able to do so on account of the difficulty of getting a sober and
decently behaved boat's crew who should row him over.

Black Paul, the sailing-master, had returned to his vessel early in the
morning, feeling the necessity of keeping watch over the cargo, but most
of the men came over much later, while some of them did not come at all.

Bonnet was greatly inclined to punish with an unwonted severity this
breach of rules, but Black Paul assured him that it was always the
custom for the crew of a newly arrived vessel to go ashore and have a
good time, and that if they were denied this privilege they would be
sure to mutiny, and he might be left without any crew at all. Bonnet
grumbled and swore, but, as he was aware there were several things
concerning a nautical life with which he was not familiar, he determined
to let pass this trespass.

Dressed in his finest clothes, and even better than the day before, he
was followed into the boat by Ben Greenway, who vowed his captain should
never travel without his chaplain, who, if his words were considered,
would be the most valuable officer on the vessel.

"Come, then, Greenway," said Bonnet; "you have troubled me so much on my
own vessel that now, perchance, you may be able to do me some service on
that of another. Anyway, I should like to have at least one decent
person in my train, who, an you come not, will be wholly missing. And
Dickory may come too, if he like it."

But Dickory did not like it. He hated the big black pirate, and cared
not if he should never see him again, so he stayed behind.

When Bonnet mounted to the deck of Blackbeard's vessel he found there a
very different pirate captain from the one who had called upon him the
day before. There were no tails to the great black beard, there were few
pistols visible, and Captain Bonnet's host received him with a certain
salt-soaked, sun-browned, hairy, and brawny hospitality which did not
sit badly upon him. There was meat, there was drink, and then the two
captains and Greenway walked gravely over the vessel, followed by a
hundred eyes, and before long by many a coarse and jeering laugh which
Bonnet supposed were directed at sturdy Ben Greenway, deeming it quite
natural, though improper, that the derision of these rough fellows
should be excited by the appearance among them of a prim and sedate
Scotch Presbyterian.

But that crew of miscreants had all heard of the derisive title which
had been given to Bonnet, and now they saw without the slightest
difficulty how little he knew of the various nautical points to which
Blackbeard continually called his attention.

The vessel was dirty, it was ill-appointed; there was an air of reckless
disorder which showed itself everywhere; but, apart from his evident
distaste for dirt and griminess, the captain of the Revenge seemed to be
very well satisfied with everything he saw. When he passed a small gun
pointed across the deck, and with a nightcap hung upon a capstan bar
thrust into its muzzle, there was such a great laugh that Bonnet looked
around to see what the imprudent Greenway might be doing.

Many were the nautical points to which Blackbeard called his guest's
attention and many the questions the grim pirate asked, but in almost
all cases of the kind the tall gentleman with the cocked hat replied
that he generally left those things to his sailing-master, being so
much occupied with matters of more import.

Although he found no fault and made no criticisms, Bonnet was very much
disgusted. Such a disorderly vessel, such an apparently lawless crew,
excited his most severe mental strictures; and, although the great
Blackbeard was to-day a very well-behaved person, Bonnet could not
understand how a famous and successful captain should permit his vessel
and his crew to get into such an unseamanlike and disgraceful condition.
On board the Revenge, as his sailing-master had remarked, there was the
neatness of his kitchen and his store-houses; and, although he did not
always know what to do with the nautical appliances which surrounded
him, he knew how to make them look in good order. But he made few
remarks, favourable or otherwise, and held himself loftier than before,
with an air as if he might have been an admiral entire instead of
resembling one only in clothes, and with ceremonious and even
condescending politeness followed his host wherever he was led, above
decks or below.

Ben Greenway had gone with his master about the ship with much of the
air of one who accompanies a good friend to the place of execution.
Regardless of gibes or insults, whether they were directed at Bonnet or
himself, he turned his face neither to the right nor to the left, and
apparently regarded nothing that he heard. But while endeavouring to
listen as little as possible to what was going on around him, he heard a
great deal; but, strange to say, the railing and scurrility of the
pirates did not appear to have a depressing influence upon his mind. In
fact, he seemed in somewhat better spirits than when he came on board.

"Whatever he may do, whatever he may say, an' whatever he may swear,"
said the Scotchman to himself, "he is no' like ane of these. Try as he
may, he canna descend so low into the blackness o' evil as these sons o'
perdition. Although he has done evil beyond a poor mortal's computation,
he walks like a king amang them. Even that Blackbeard, striving to be
decent for an hour or two, knows a superior when he meets him."

When they had finished the tour of the vessel, Blackbeard conducted his
guest to his own cabin and invited him to be seated by a little table.
Bonnet sat down, placing his high-plumed cocked hat upon the bench
beside him. He did not want anything more to eat or to drink, and he
was, in fact, quite ready to take his leave. The vessel had not pleased
him and had given him an idea of the true pirate's life which he had
never had before. On the Revenge he mingled little with the crew,
scarcely ever below decks, and his own quarters were as neat and
commodious as if they were on a fine vessel carrying distinguished
passengers. Dirt and disorder, if they existed, were at least not
visible to him.

But, although he had no desire ever to make another visit to the ship of
the great Blackbeard, he would remember his position and be polite and
considerate now that he was here. Moreover, the savage desperado of the
day before, dressed like a monkey and howling like an Indian, seemed now
to be endeavouring to soften himself a little and to lay aside some of
his savage eccentricities in honour of the captain of that fine ship,
the Revenge. So, clothed in a calm dignity, Bonnet waited to hear what
his host had further to say.

Blackbeard seated himself on the other side of the table, on which he
rested his massive arms. Behind him Ben Greenway stood in the doorway.
For a few moments Blackbeard sat and gazed at Bonnet, and then he said:
"Look ye, Stede Bonnet, do you know you are now as much out of place as
a red herring would be at the top of the mainmast?"

Bonnet flushed. "I fear, Captain Blackbeard," he said, "I very much fear
me that you are right; this is no place for me. I have paid my respects
to you, and now, if you please, I will take my leave. I have not been
gratified by the conduct of your crew, but I did not expect that their
captain would address me in such discourteous words." And with this he
reached out his hand for his hat.

Blackbeard brought down his hand heavily upon the table.

"Sit where you are!" he exclaimed. "I have that to say to you which you
shall hear whether you like my vessel, my crew, or me. You are no
sailor, Stede Bonnet of Bridgetown, and you don't belong to the free
companions, who are all good men and true and can sail the ships they
command. You are a defrauder and a cheat; you are nothing but a
landsman, a plough-tail sugar-planter!"

At this insult Bonnet rose to his feet and his hand went to his sword.

"Sit down!" roared Blackbeard; "an you do not listen to me, I'll cut off
this parley and your head together. Sit down, sir."

Bonnet sat down, pale now and trembling with rage. He was not a coward,
but on board this ship he must give heed to the words of the desperado
who commanded it.

"You have no right," continued Blackbeard, "to strut about on the
quarter-deck of that fine vessel, the Revenge; you have no right to
hoist above you the Jolly Roger, and you have no right to lie right and
left and tell people you are a pirate. A pirate, forsooth! you are no
pirate. A pirate is a sailor, and you are no sailor! You are no better
than a blind man led by a dog: if the dog breaks away from him he is
lost, and if the sailing-masters you pick up one after another break
away from you, you are lost. It is a cursed shame, Stede Bonnet, and it
shall be no longer. At this moment, by my own right and for the sake of
every man who sails under the Jolly Roger, I take away from you the
command of the Revenge."

Now Bonnet could not refrain from springing to his feet. "Take from me
the Revenge!" he cried, "my own vessel, bought with my own money! And
how say you I am not a pirate? From Massachusetts down the coast into
these very waters I have preyed upon commerce, I have taken prizes, I
have burned ships, I have made my name a terror."

Now his voice grew stronger and his tones more angry.

"Not a pirate!" he cried. "Go ask the galleons and the merchantmen I
have stripped and burned; go ask their crews, now wandering in misery
upon desert shores, if they be not already dead. And by what right, I
ask, do you come to such an one as I am and declare that, having put me
in the position of a prisoner on your ship, you will take away my own?"

Blackbeard gazed at him with half-closed eyes, a malicious smile upon
his face.

"I have no right," he said; "I need no right; _I_ am a pirate!"

At these words Bonnet's legs weakened under him, and he sank down upon
the bench. As he did so he glanced at Ben Greenway as if he were the
only person on earth to whom he could look for help, but to his
amazement he saw before him a face almost jubilant, and beheld the
Scotchman, his eyes uplifted and his hands clasped as if in thankful
prayer.




CHAPTER XIX

THE NEW FIRST LIEUTENANT


When the boat of the Revenge was pulled back to that vessel Bonnet did
not go in it; it was Blackbeard who sat in the stern and held the
tiller, while one of his own men sat by him.

When Blackbeard stepped on deck he announced, much to the delight of the
crew and the consternation of Paul Bittern, that the Revenge now
belonged to him, and that all the crew who were fit to be kept on board
such a fine vessel would be retained, and that he himself, for the
present at least, would take command of the ship, would haul down that
brand-new bit of woman's work at the masthead and fly in its place his
own black, ragged Jolly Roger, dreaded wherever seen upon the sea. At
this a shout went up from the crew; the heart of every scoundrel among
them swelled with joy at the idea of sailing, fighting, and pillaging
under the bloody Blackbeard.

But the sailing-master stood aghast. He had known very well what was
going to happen; he had talked it all over in the town with Blackbeard;
he had drunk in fiery brandy to the success of the scheme, and he had
believed without a doubt that he was to command the Revenge when Bonnet
should be deposed. And now where was he? Where did he stand?