[Illustration: Sir Henry Morgan--Buccaneer. ]

_Sir Henry Morgan, BUCCANEER_

_A Romance of the Spanish Main_

_BY_

_CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY_

_Author of "For Love of Country, " "For the Freedom of the Sea, " "TheSoutherners, " "Hohenzollern, " "The Quiberon Touch, " "Woven with theShip, " "In the Wasp's Nest, " Etc. _

[Illustration]

_Illustrations by J. N. MARCHAND and WILL CRAWFORD_

G. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY PUBLISHERS NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1903, BYTHE PEARSON PUBLISHING COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1903, BYG. W. DILLINGHAM COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1903, INGREAT BRITAIN

[_All rights reserved_]

_Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer_ _Issued October, 1903_

_TO MY ONLY BROTHER_

COLONEL JASPER EWING BRADY

_LATE U. S. ARMY_

 "Woe to the realms which he coasted! for there Was shedding of blood and rending of hair, Rape of maiden and slaughter of priest, Gathering of ravens and wolves to the feast; When he hoisted his standard black, Before him was battle, behind him wrack, And he burned the churches, that heathen Dane, To light his band to their barks again. "

 SCOTT: "Harold the Dauntless. "

_PREFACE_

In literature there have been romantic pirates, gentlemanly pirates, kind-hearted pirates, even humorous pirates--in fact, all sorts andconditions of pirates. In life there was only one kind. In this bookthat kind appears. Several presentations--in the guise of novels--ofpirates, the like of which never existed on land or sea, have recentlyappeared. A perusal of these interesting romances awoke in me a desireto write a story of a real pirate, a pirate of the genuine species. 

Much research for historical essays, amid ancient records and moldychronicles, put me in possession of a vast amount of informationconcerning the doings of the greatest of all pirates; a man unique amonghis nefarious brethren, in that he played the piratical game sosuccessfully that he received the honor of knighthood from King CharlesII. A belted knight of England, who was also a brutal, rapacious, lustful, murderous villain and robber--and undoubtedly a pirate, although he disguised his piracy under the name of buccaneering--iscertainly a striking and unusual figure. 

Therefore, when I imagined my pirate story I pitched upon Sir HenryMorgan as _the_ character of the romance. It will spare the critic toadmit that the tale hereinafter related is a work of the imagination, and is not an historical romance. According to the latest accounts, SirHenry Morgan, by a singular oversight of Fate, who must have beennodding at the time, died in his bed--not peacefully I trust--and wasburied in consecrated ground. But I do him no injustice, I hasten toassure the reader, in the acts that I have attributed to him, for theyare more than paralleled by the well authenticated deeds of this humanmonster. I did not even invent the blowing up of the English frigate inthe action with the Spanish ships. 

If I have assumed for the nonce the attributes of that unaccountablysomnolent Fate, and brought him to a terrible end, I am sure abundantjustification will be found in the recital of his mythical misdeeds, which, I repeat, were not a circumstance to his real transgressions. Indeed, one has to go back to the most cruel and degenerate of the Romanemperors to parallel the wickednesses of Morgan and his men. It is notpossible to put upon printed pages explicit statements of what they did. The curious reader may find some account of these "Gentlemen of theBlack Flag, " so far as it can be translated into present-day booksintended for popular reading, in my volume of "COLONIAL FIGHTS ANDFIGHTERS. "

The writing of this novel has been by no means an easy task. How toconvey clearly the doings of the buccaneer so there could be nomisapprehension on the part of the reader, and yet to write with duedelicacy and restraint a book for the general public, has been a problemwith which I have wrestled long and arduously. The whole book has beencompletely revised some six times. Each time I have deleted something, which, while it has refined, I trust has not impaired the strength ofthe tale. If the critic still find things to censure, let him pass overcharitably in view of what might have been!

As to the other characters, I have done violence to the name and fame ofno man, for all of those who played any prominent part among thebuccaneers in the story were themselves men scarcely less criminal thanMorgan. Be it known that I have simply appropriated names, not careers. They all had adventures of their own and were not associated with Morganin life. Teach--I have a weakness for that bad young man--is known tohistory as "Blackbeard"--a much worse man than the roaring singer ofthese pages. The delectable Hornigold, the One-Eyed, with the "wildjustice" of his revenge, was another real pirate. So was the faithfulBlack Dog, the maroon. So were Raveneau de Lussan, Rock Braziliano, L'Ollonois, Velsers, Sawkins, and the rest. 

In addition to my desire to write a real story of a real pirate I wasactuated by another intent. There are numberless tales of the brave daysof the Spanish Main, from "Westward Ho!" down. In every one of them, without exception, the hero is a noble, gallant, high-souled, high-spirited, valiant descendant of the Anglo-Saxon race, while thevillain--and such villains they are!--is always a proud and haughtySpaniard, who comes to grief dreadfully in the final trial whichdetermines the issue. My sympathies, from a long course of reading ofsuch romances, have gone out to the under Don. I determined to write astory with a Spanish gentleman for the hero, and a Spanish gentlewomanfor the heroine, and let the position of villain be filled by one of ourown race. Such things were, and here they are. I have dwelt withpleasure on the love affairs of the gallant Alvarado and the beautifulMercedes. 

But, after all, the story is preëminently the story of Morgan. I havestriven to make it a character sketch of that remarkable personality. Iwished to portray his ferocity and cruelty, his brutality andwantonness, his treachery and rapacity; to exhibit, without lightening, the dark shadows of his character, and to depict his inevitable andutter breakdown finally; yet at the same time to bring out his dauntlesscourage, his military ability, his fertility and resourcefulness, hismastery of his men, his capacity as a seaman, which are qualities worthyof admiration. Yet I have not intended to make him an admirable figure. To do that would be to falsify history and disregard the artisticcanons. So I have tried to show him as he was; great and brave, smalland mean, skilful and able, greedy and cruel; and lastly, in his crimesand punishment, a coward. 

And if a mere romance may have a lesson, here in this tale is one of ajust retribution, exhibited in the awful, if adequate, vengeance finallywreaked upon Morgan by those whom he had so fearfully and dreadfullywronged. 

 CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY. 

 BROOKLYN, N. Y. , _December, 1902_. 

 NOTE. --The date of the sack of Panama has been advanced to comply with the demands of this romance. 

_TABLE OF CONTENTS_

BOOK I. 

 HOW SIR HENRY MORGAN IN HIS OLD AGE RESOLVED TO GO A-BUCCANEERING AGAIN. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. --Wherein Sir Henry Morgan made good use of the ten minutes allowed him 25

 II. --How Master Benjamin Hornigold, the One-Eyed, agreed to go with his old Captain 45

 III. --In which Sir Henry Morgan finds himself at the head of a crew once more 65

 IV. --Which tells how the _Mary Rose_, frigate, changed masters and flags 81

BOOK II. 

 THE CRUISE OF THE BUCCANEERS AND WHAT BEFEL THEM ON THE SEAS. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 V. --How the _Mary Rose_ overhauled three Spanish treasure ships 97

 VI. --In which is related the strange expedient of the Captain and how they took the great galleon 115

 VII. --Wherein Bartholomew Sawkins mutinied against his Captain and what befel him on that account 128

 VIII. --How they strove to club-haul the galleon and failed to save her on the coast of Caracas 145

BOOK III. 

 WHICH TREATS OF THE TANGLED LOVE AFFAIRS OF THE PEARL OF CARACAS. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 IX. --Discloses the hopeless passion between Donna Mercedes de Lara and Captain Dominique Alvarado, the Commandante of La Guayra 161

 X. --How Donna Mercedes tempted her lover and how he strove valiantly to resist her appeals 174

 XI. --Wherein Captain Alvarado pledges his word to the Viceroy of Venezuela, the Count Alvaro de Lara, and to Don Felipe de Tobar, his friend 190

 XII. --Shows how Donna Mercedes chose death rather than give up Captain Alvarado, and what befel them on the road over the mountains 200

 XIII. --In which Captain Alvarado is forsworn and with Donna Mercedes in his arms breaks his plighted word 218

BOOK IV. 

 IN WHICH IS RELATED AN ACCOUNT OF THE TAKING OF LA GUAYRA BY THE BUCCANEERS AND THE DREADFUL PERILS OF DONNA MERCEDES DE LARA AND CAPTAIN ALVARADO IN THAT CITY. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 XIV. --Wherein the crew of the galleon intercepts the two lovers by the way 231

 XV. --Tells how Mercedes de Lara returned the unsought caress of Sir Henry Morgan and the means by which the buccaneers surmounted the walls 248

 XVI. --In which Benjamin Hornigold recognizes a cross and Captain Alvarado finds and loses a mother on the strand 265

 XVII. --Which describes an audience with Sir Henry Morgan and the treachery by which Captain Alvarado benefited 283

BOOK V. 

 HOW THE SPANIARDS RE-TOOK LA GUAYRA AND HOW CAPTAIN ALVARADO FOUND A NAME AND SOMETHING DEARER STILL IN THE CITY. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 XVIII. --Discloses the way in which Mercedes de Lara fought with woman's cunning against Captain Henry Morgan 301

 XIX. --How Captain Alvarado crossed the mountains, found the Viceroy, and placed his life in his master's hands 326

 XX. --Wherein Master Teach, the pirate, dies better than he lived 347

 XXI. --The recital of how Captain Alvarado and Don Felipe de Tobar came to the rescue in the nick of time 354

 XXII. --In which Sir Henry Morgan sees a cross, cherishes a hope, and makes a claim 370

 XXIII. --How the good priest, Fra Antonio de Las Casas, told the truth, to the great relief of Captain Alvarado and Donna Mercedes, and the discomfiture of Master Benjamin Hornigold and Sir Henry Morgan 385

 XXIV. --In which Sir Henry Morgan appeals unavailingly alike to the pity of woman, the forgiveness of priest, the friendship of comrade, and the hatred of men 402

BOOK VI. 

 IN WHICH THE CAREER OF SIR HENRY MORGAN IS ENDED ON ISLA DE LA TORTUGA, TO THE GREAT DELECTATION OF MASTER BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD, HIS SOMETIME FRIEND. 

 CHAPTER PAGE

 XXV. --And last. Wherein is seen how the judgment of God came upon the buccaneers in the end 421

_ILLUSTRATIONS_

BY J. N. MARCHAND

 Sir Henry Morgan--Buccaneer _Frontispiece_

 PAGE

 With the point of his own sword pressed against the back of his neck, he repeated the message which Morgan had given him (_see page 39_) 41

 Their blades crossed in an instant . .. There was a roar from Carib's pistol, and the old man fell (_see page 87_) 89

 Morgan instantly snatched a pistol from de Lussan's hand and shot the man dead (_see page 138_) 139

 Alvarado threw his right arm around her, and with a force superhuman dragged her from the saddle (_see page 217_) 215

 The moonlight shone full upon her face, and as he stooped over he scanned it with his one eye (_see page 267_) 269

 . .. He reached the summit--breathless, exhausted, unhelmed, weaponless, coatless, in rags; torn, bruised, bleeding, but unharmed (_see page 332_) 333

 . .. He threw the contents at the feet of the buccaneer, and there rolled before him the severed head of . .. His solitary friend (_see page 412_) 413

 Hell had no terror like to this, which he, living, suffered (_see page 443_) 441

BY WILL CRAWFORD

 PAGE

 "To our next meeting, Mr. Bradley" (_see page 44_) 25

 There was one man . .. Who did not join in the singing (_see page 49_) 45

 Carlingford had risen in his boat . .. And with dauntless courage he shook his bared sword (_see page 91_) 81

 The high poop and rail of the Spaniard was black with iron-capped men (_see page 121_) 115

 "Wilt obey me in the future?" cried the captain (_see page 143_) 128

 "Are you in a state for a return journey at once, señor?" he asked of the young officer (_see page 173_) 161

 "The fault is mine, " said Alvarado (_see page 183_) 174

 Early as it was, the Viceroy and his officers . .. Bid the travelers Godspeed (_see page 200_) 200

 During the intervals of repose the young man allowed his party, the two lovers were constantly together (_see page 224_) 218

 But de Lussan shot him dead, and before the others could make a move, Morgan stepped safely on the sand (_see page 239_) 241

 "Slay them, O God! Strike and spare not!" (_see page 281_) 265

 "What would you do for him?" "My life for his, " she answered bravely (_see page 289_) 283

 "Hast another weapon in thy bodice?" (_see page 319_) 321

 Quite the best of the pirates, he! (_see page 351_) 347

 By an impulse . .. She slipped her arms around his neck . .. And kissed him (_see page 366_) 354

 "Treachery? My lord, his was the first" (_see page 378_) 370

 "'Tis a certificate of marriage of----" (_see page 400_) 385

 "God help me!" cried Alvarado, throwing aside the poniard, "I cannot" (_see page 386_) 387

 "I wanted to let you know there was water here. .. . There is not enough for both of us. Who will get it? I; look!" (_see page 436_) 437

 "Harry Morgan's way to lead--old Ben Hornigold's to follow--ha, ha! ho, ho!" He waded out into the water . .. (_see page 444_) 445

BOOK I

HOW SIR HENRY MORGAN IN HIS OLD AGE RESOLVED TO GO A-BUCCANEERING AGAIN

_SIR HENRY MORGAN, BUCCANEER_

CHAPTER I

WHEREIN SIR HENRY MORGAN MADE GOOD USE OF THE TEN MINUTES ALLOWED HIM

His Gracious Majesty, King Charles II. Of England, in sportive--andacquisitive--mood, had made him a knight; but, as that merry monarchhimself had said of another unworthy subject whom he had ennobled--hisson, by the left hand--"God Almighty could not make him a gentleman!"

[Illustration]

Yet, to the casual inspection, little or nothing appeared to be lackingto entitle him to all the consideration attendant upon that ancientdegree. His attire, for instance, might be a year or two behind thefashion of England and still further away from that of France, then, asnow, the standard maker in dress, yet it represented the extreme of themode in His Majesty's fair island of Jamaica. That it was a trifle toovivid in its colors, and too striking in its contrasts for the besttaste at home, possibly might be condoned by the richness of thematerial used and the prodigality of trimming which decorated it. Silkand satin from the Orient, lace from Flanders, leather from Spain, withjewels from everywhere, marked him as a person entitled to someconsideration, at least. Even more compulsory of attention, if not ofrespect, were his haughty, overbearing, satisfied manner, his look ofcommand, the expression of authority in action he bore. 

Quite in keeping with his gorgeous appearance was the richly furnishedroom in which he sat in autocratic isolation, plumed hat on head, quaffing, as became a former brother-of-the-coast and sometimebuccaneer, amazing draughts of the fiery spirits of the island of whichhe happened to be, _ad interim_, the Royal Authority. 

But it was his face which attested the acuteness of the sneeringobservation of the unworthy giver of the royal accolade. No gentlemanever bore face like that. Framed in long, thin, gray curls which fellupon his shoulders after the fashion of the time, it was as cruel, asevil, as sensuous, as ruthless, as powerful an old face as had everlooked over a bulwark at a sinking ship, or viewed with indifference theravaging of a devoted town. Courage there was, capacity in largemeasure, but not one trace of human kindness. Thin, lean, hawk-like, ruthless, cunning, weather-beaten, it was sadly out of place in itsbrave attire in that vaulted chamber. It was the face of a man who ruledby terror; who commanded by might. It was the face of an adventurer, too, one never sure of his position, but always ready to fight for it, and able to fight well. There was a watchful, alert, inquiring look inthe fierce blue eyes, an intent, expectant expression in the craggycountenance, that told of the uncertainties of his assumptions; yet thelack of assurance was compensated for by the firm, resolute line of themouth under the trifling upturned mustache, with its lips at the sametime thin and sensual. To be fat and sensual is to appear to mitigatethe latter evil with at least a pretence at good humor; to be thin andsensual is to be a devil. This man was evil, not with the grossness of adebauchee but with the thinness of the devotee. And he was an old man, too. Sixty odd years of vicious life, glossed over in the last twodecades by an assumption of respectability, had swept over the grayhairs, which evoked no reverence. 

There was a heavy frown on his face on that summer evening in the yearof our Lord, 1685. The childless wife whom he had taken for hisbetterment and her worsening, some ten years since--in succession toSatan only knew how many nameless, unrecognized precursors--had died afew moments before, in the chamber above his head. Fairly bought from aneedy father, she had been a cloak to lend him a certain respectabilitywhen he settled down, red with the blood of thousands whom he had slainand rich with the treasure of cities that he had wasted, to enjoy theevening of his life. Like all who are used for such purposes, she knew, after a little space, the man over whom the mantle of her reputation hadbeen flung. She had rejoiced at the near approach of that death forwhich she had been longing almost since her wedding day. That she hadshrunk from him in the very articles of dissolution when he stood by herbedside, indicated the character of the relationship. 

To witness death and to cause it had been the habit of this man. Hemarked it in her case, as in others, with absolute indifference--hecared so little for her that he did not even feel relief at hergoing--yet because he was the Governor of Jamaica (really he was onlythe Vice-Governor, but between the departure of the Royal Governor andthe arrival of another he held supreme power) he had been forced to keephimself close on the day his wife died, by that public opinion to whichhe was indifferent but which he could not entirely defy. Consequently hehad not been on the strand at Port Royal when the _Mary Rose_, frigate, fresh from England, had dropped anchor in the harbor after her wearyvoyage across the great sea. He did not even yet know of her arrival, and therefore the incoming Governor had not been welcomed by the man whosat temporarily, as he had in several preceding interregnums, in theseats of the mighty. 

However, everybody else on the island had welcomed him with joy, for ofall men who had ever held office in Jamaica Sir Henry Morgan, sometimethe chief devil of those nefarious bands who disguised their piracyunder the specious title of buccaneering, was the most detested. Butbecause of the fortunate demise of Lady Morgan, as it turned out, SirHenry was not present to greet My Lord Carlingford, who was to supersedehim--and more. 

The deep potations the old buccaneer had indulged in to all outwardintent passed harmlessly down his lean and craggy throat. He drankalone--the more solitary the drinker the more dangerous the man--yetthe room had another occupant, a tall, brawny, brown-hued, grim-facedsavage, whose gaudy livery ill accorded with his stern and ruthlessvisage. He stood by the Vice-Governor, watchful, attentive, and silent, imperturbably filling again and again the goblet from which he drank. 

"More rum, " said the master, at last breaking the silence while liftinghis tall glass toward the man. "Scuttle me, Black Dog, " he added, smiling sardonically at the silent maroon who poured again with steadyhand, "you are the only soul on this island who doesn't fear me. Thatwoman above yonder, curse her, shuddered away from me as I looked at herdying. But your hand is steady. You and old Ben Hornigold are the onlyones who don't shrink back, hey, Carib? Is it love or hate?" he mused, as the man made no answer. "More, " he cried, again lifting the glasswhich he had instantly drained. 

But the maroon, instead of pouring, bent his head toward the window, listened a moment, and then turned and lifted a warning hand. The softbreeze of the evening, laden with the fragrance of the tropics, swept upfrom the river and wafted to the Vice-Governor's ears the sound of hoofbeats on the hard, dry road. With senses keenly alert, he, also, listened. There were a number of them, a troop possibly. They weredrawing nearer; they were coming toward his house, the slimmer housenear Spanish Town, far up on the mountain side, where he sought relieffrom the enervating heats of the lower land. 

"Horsemen!" he cried. "Coming to the house! Many of them! Ah, theydismount. Go to the door, Carib. "

But before the maroon could obey they heard steps on the porch. Some oneentered the hall. The door of the drawing-room was abruptly thrown open, and two men in the uniform of the English army, with the distinguishingmarks of the Governor's Guard at Jamaica, unceremoniously entered theroom. They were fully armed. One of them, the second, had drawn hissword and held a cocked pistol in the other hand. The first, whoseweapons were still in their sheaths, carried a long official paper witha portentous seal dangling from it. Both were booted and spurred anddusty from riding, and both, contrary to the custom and etiquette of theisland, kept their plumed hats on their heads. 

"Sir Henry Morgan----" began the bearer of the paper. 

"By your leave, gentlemen, " interrupted Morgan, with an imperious waveof his hand, "Lieutenant Hawxherst and Ensign Bradley of my guard, Ibelieve. You will uncover at once and apologize for having entered sounceremoniously. "

As he spoke, the Governor rose to his feet and stood by the table, hisright hand unconsciously resting upon the heavy glass flagon of rum. Hetowered above the other two men as he stood there transfixing them withhis resentful glance, his brow heavy with threat and anger. But the twosoldiers made no movement toward complying with the admonition of theirsometime superior. 

"D'ye hear me?" he cried, stepping forward, reddening with rage at theirapparent contumacy. "And bethink ye, sirs, had best address me, whostand in the place of the King's Majesty, as 'Your Excellency, ' or I'llhave you broke, knaves. "

"We need no lessons in manners from you, Sir Henry Morgan, " criedHawxherst, angry in turn to be so browbeaten, though yesterday he wouldhave taken it mildly enough. "And know by this, sir, " lifting the paper, "that you are no longer Governor of this island, and can claim respectfrom no one. "

"What do you mean?"

"The _Mary Rose_ frigate arrived this morning, bringing Lord Carlingfordas His Majesty's new Governor, and this order of arrest. "

"Arrest? For whom?"

"For one Sir Henry Morgan. "

"For what, pray?"

"Well, sir, for murder, theft, treason--the catalogue fills the paper. You are to be despatched to England to await the King's pleasure. I amsent by Lord Carlingford to fetch you to the jail at Port Royal. "

"You seem to find it a pleasant task. "

"By heaven, I do, sir!" cried the soldier fiercely. "I am a gentlemanborn, of the proudest family in the Old Dominion, and have been forcedto bow and scrape and endure your insults and commands, you bloodyvillain, but now----"

"'Tis no part of a soldier's duty, sir, to insult a prisoner, "interrupted Morgan, not without a certain dignity. He was striving togain time to digest this surprising piece of news and thinking deeplywhat was to be done in this entirely unexpected crisis. 

"Curse it all, Hawxherst!" Ensign Bradley burst out, pulling at thesleeve of his superior. "You go too far, man; this is unseemly. "

Hawxherst passed his hand across his brow and by an effort somewhatregained his self-control. 

"Natheless 'tis in this paper writ that you are to go to England aprisoner on the _Mary Rose_, to await the King's pleasure, " he added, savagely. 

"His Gracious Majesty hath laid his sword upon my shoulder. I am aknight of his English court, one who has served him well upon the seas. His coffers have I enriched by--but let that pass. I do not believe thatKing Charles, God bless him----"

"Stop! The _Mary Rose_ brings the news that King Charles II. Is dead, and there reigns in his stead His Gracious Majesty King James. "

"God rest the soul of the King!" cried Morgan, lifting his hat from hishead. "He was a merry and a gallant gentleman. I know not this James. How if I do not go with you?"

"You have ten minutes in which to decide, sir, " answered Hawxherst. 

"And then?"

"Then if I don't bring you forth, the men of yonder troop will come inwithout further order. Eh, Bradley?"

"Quite so, Sir Henry, " answered the younger man. "And every avenue ofescape is guarded. Yield you, sir; believe me, there's naught else. "

"I have ten minutes then, " said the old man reflectively, "ten minutes!Hum!"

"You may have, " answered the captain curtly, "if you choose to take solong. And I warn you, " he added, "that you'd best make use of that timeto bid farewell to Lady Morgan or give other order for the charge ofyour affairs, for 'twill be a long time, I take it, before you are backhere again. "

"Lady Morgan is dead, gentlemen, in the room above. "

At this young Bradley removed his hat, an example which Hawxherstfollowed a moment after. They had always felt sorry for the unfortunatewife of the buccaneer. 

"As for my affairs, they can wait, " continued Morgan slowly. "The gameis not played out yet, and perchance I shall have another opportunity toarrange them. Meanwhile, fetch glasses, Carib, from yonder buffet. "

He nodded toward a huge sideboard which stood against the wallimmediately in the rear of Ensign Bradley, and at the same time shot aswift, meaning glance at the maroon, which was not lost upon him as hemoved rapidly and noiselessly in obedience. 

"Gentlemen, will you drink with me to our next merry meeting?" hecontinued, turning to them. 

"We're honest soldiers, honorable gentlemen, and we'll drink with nomurderer, no traitor!" cried Hawxherst promptly. 

"So?" answered Morgan, his eye sparkling with baleful light, although heremained otherwise entirely unmoved. 

"And let me remind you, " continued the soldier, "that your time ispassing. "

"Well, keep fast the glasses, Carib, the gentlemen have no fancy fordrinking. I suppose, sirs, that I must fain yield me, but first let melook at your order ere I surrender myself peaceably to you, " said thedeposed Governor, with surprising meekness. 

"Indeed, sir----"

"'Tis my right. "

"Well, perchance it may be. There can be no harm in it, I think; eh, Bradley?" queried the captain, catching for the moment his subaltern'seye. 

Then, as the latter nodded his head, the former extended the paper toMorgan. At that instant the old buccaneer shot one desperate glance atthe maroon, who stood back of the shoulder of the officer with the drawnsword and pistol. As Hawxherst extended the paper, Morgan, with thequickness of an albatross, grasped his wrist with his left hand, jerkedhim violently forward, and struck him a vicious blow on the temple withthe heavy glass decanter, which shivered in his hand. Hawxherst pitcheddown at the Governor's feet, covered with blood and rum. So powerful hadbeen Morgan's blow that the brains of the man had almost been beatenout. He lay shuddering and quivering on the floor. Quickly as Morganstruck, however, Carib had been quicker. As the glass crashed againstthe temple of the senior, the maroon had wrenched the pistol from thejunior soldier's hand, and before he realized what had happened a coldmuzzle was pressed against his forehead. 

"Drop that sword!" cried Morgan instantly, and as the weapon fell uponthe floor, he continued, smiling: "That was well done, Black Dog. Quitelike old times, eh?"

"Shall I fire?" asked Carib, curling his lips over his teeth in whatpassed with him for a smile. 

"Not yet. "

"Your Excellency, " gasped poor Bradley, "I didn't want to come. Iremonstrated with him a moment since. For God's sake----"

"Silence, sirrah! And how much time have I now, I wonder?" He looked athis watch as he asked the question. "Three minutes! Three minutesbetween you and instant death, Ensign Bradley, for should one of yourmen enter the room now you see what you would have to expect, sir. "

"Oh, sir, have mercy----"

"Unless you do exactly what I say you will be lying there with thatcarrion, " cried Morgan, kicking the prostrate body savagely with hisjewelled shoes. 

"What do you want me to do? For God's sake be quick, Your Excellency. Time is almost up. I hear the men move. "

"You are afraid, sir. There still want two minutes----"

"Yes, yes, but----"

"Go to the window yonder, " cried the old man contemptuously--whatever hewas he was not afraid--"and speak to them. Do you, Carib, stand behind, by the window, well concealed. If he hesitate, if he falter, kill himinstantly. "

"Pistol or knife?"

"The knife, it makes less noise, " cried the buccaneer, chuckling withdevilish glee. "Only one minute and a half now, eh, Mr. Bradley?"

"They're coming, they're coming!" whispered Bradley, gasping for breath. "Oh, sir----"

"We still have a minute, " answered Morgan coolly. "Now, stop them. "

"But how?"

"Tell them that you have captured me; that my wife is dead; that you andLieutenant Hawxherst will spend the night here and fetch me down to PortRoyal in the morning; that I have yielded myself a prisoner. Bid themstay where they are and drink to your health in bottles of rum, whichshall be sent out to them, and then to go back to Port Royal and tellthe new Governor. And see that your voice does not tremble, sir!"

There was a sudden movement outside. 

"If they get in here, " added Morgan quickly, "you are a dead man. "

Bradley, with the negro clutching his arm, ran to the window. With thepoint of his own sword pressed against the back of his neck he repeatedthe message which Morgan had given him, which was received by the littlesquadron with shouts of approbation. He turned from the window, pale andtrembling. Moistening his lips he whispered:

"I stopped them just in time. "

"Well for you that you did, " said Morgan grimly. "Come hither! Face thatwall! Now stand there! Move but a hair's-breadth, turn your head thethousandth part of a degree, and I run you through, " he added, baringhis sword. "Rum for the men without, Carib, " he added, "and then tell mewhen they are gone. "

While the two were left alone in the room, Morgan amused himself bypricking the unfortunate officer with the point of the weapon, at thesame time enforcing immobility and silence by the most ferocious threatsof a speedy and cruel death. The men outside drank noisily and presentlydeparted, and the half-breed came back. 

"Bind this fool, " Morgan commanded briefly. "Then bid the slaves keepclose in their cabins on pain of my displeasure--they know what it is. Then fetch the fastest horse in the stable to the front door. Get myriding-boots and cloak, and before you go hand me that little deskyonder. Be quick about it, too, for time presses, although I have moreof it than these gentlemen would have allowed me. "

As the maroon, after carefully lashing the officer with a seaman'sexpertness, rushed out to busy himself in carrying out these commands, Morgan opened the desk which he had handed to him and took from itseveral rouleaux of gold and a little bag filled with the rarest ofprecious stones; then he made a careful examination of the body on thefloor. 

"Not quite dead yet, " he murmured, "but there is no use wasting shot orthrust upon him, he won't survive that blow. As for you, sir, " lookingat the paralyzed ensign, lying bound upon the floor, "you thought youcould outwit the old buccaneer, eh? You shall see. I dealt with men whenyou were a babe in arms, and a babe in arms you are still. Ho! Ho!"

He laughed long and loudly, though there was neither mirth nor merrimentin his sinister tones. The blood of the poor listener froze in his veinsat the sound of it. 

The brief preparations which Morgan had indicated as necessary for thejourney were soon made. 

[Illustration: With the point of his own sword pressed against the backof his neck, he repeated the message which Morgan had given him. ] Hewas always promptly obeyed by his own people; the slaves fled hispresence when they could as if he had been a pestilence. At a sign fromhis taciturn body-servant at the open door that the horse was ready, herose to his feet. 

"Shall I kill this one now?" asked the maroon. 

Morgan looked at the young man reflectively. The tongue of the ensignclave to the roof of his mouth; the sweat stood out on his forehead; hecould not utter a word from fright. He was bound and trussed so tightlythat he could not make a move, either. His eyes, however, spoke volumes. 

"Well, " said Sir Henry deliberately, "it would be a pity to kill him--"he paused; "in a hurry, " he added. 

"Dead men tell no tales. "

"Eh, well, we can take care of that. Just lay him near his friend, lockthe doors when I am gone and set the place on fire. The people are allout of the house. See they remain away. 'Twill make a hot, gloriousblaze. You know the landing opposite Port Royal?"

The half-breed nodded. 

"Meet me there as quick as you can. Lose no time. "

"Aye, aye, sah, " answered the Carib. "And Lady Morgan, sah?"

"Let her burn with the other two. She is so saintly she may like thefire, for I am afraid there will be none where she has gone. Good-by, Master Bradley. You allowed me ten minutes. I take it that this housewill burn slowly at first, so perhaps you may count upon--let ussay--half an hour. I'm generous, you see. Harry Morgan's way! 'Tis apity you can't live to take my message to Lord Carlingford. The nexttime he sends any one for me let him send men, not fools and--cowards. "

"You villain! You cursed, murdering villain!" gasped Bradley at last. 

"To our next meeting, Mr. Bradley, and may it be in a cooler place thanyou will be in half an hour!"

CHAPTER II

HOW MASTER BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD, THE ONE-EYED, AGREED TO GO WITH HIS OLDCAPTAIN

Close under the towering walls of the old Spanish fort, now for aquarter of a century dominated by the English flag, as if seekingprotection from its frowning battlements with their tiers ofold-fashioned guns, stood the Blue Anchor tavern. It had been a famousresort for the bold spirits of the evil sort who had made Port Royal thebase of their operations in many a desperate sea venture in piracy inthe two decades that had just passed; but times had changed, even if menhad not changed in them. 

[Illustration]

The buccaneer had been banished from the Caribbean. Whereupon, with acircumspect prudence, he had extended his operations into the SouthSeas, where he was farther from civilization, consequently harder to getat, and, naturally, more difficult to control. Since the sack of Panama, twenty-five years before, his fortunes had been rapidly declining. Oneof the principal agents in promoting his downfall had been the mostfamous rover of them all. After robbing his companions of most of theirlegitimate proportion of the spoils of Panama, Sir Henry had bought hisknighthood at the hands of the venal Charles, paying for it in treasure, into the origin of which, with his usual careless insouciance, hiseasy-going majesty had not inquired any too carefully. And the oldpirate had settled down, if not to live cleanly at least to keep withinthe strict letter of the law. There was thereafter nothing he abhorredso thoroughly as buccaneering and the buccaneer--ostensibly, that is. 

Like many a reformed rake this gentle child of hell, when theopportunity came to him with the position of Vice-Governor, endeavoredto show the sincerity of his reformation by his zealous persecution. Hehanged without mercy such of his old companions in crime as fell intohis clutches. They had already vowed vengeance upon him, these sometimebrethren of the coast, for his betrayal of their confidence at Panama;they had further resented his honor of knighthood, his cloak ofrespectability, his assumption of gentility, and now that he hanged andpunished right and left without mercy, their anger and animosity wereraised to the point of fury, and many of them swore deeply with bitteroaths that if they ever caught him defenceless they would make him paydearly in torture and torment for these various offences. He knew themwell enough to realize their feelings toward him, and blind fateaffording him the opportunity of the upper hand he made them rue morebitterly than ever their wild threats against him. 

He had, moreover, so conducted himself in his official position thateverybody, good, bad, and indifferent, on the island hated him. Why hehad not been assassinated long since was a mystery. But he was adangerous man to attack. Absolutely fearless, prompt, decisive, resourceful, and with the powers and privileges of the office he heldbesides, he had so far escaped all the dangers and difficulties of hissituation. Charles had constantly befriended him and had refused to giveear either to the reiterated pleas of the islanders for his removal, orto the emphatic representations of the Spanish court, which, in bitterrecollection of what he had done--and no more cruel or more successfulpirate had ever swept the Caribbean and ravaged the Spanish Main--werepersistently urged upon his notice. But with the accession of James thesituation was immediately altered. The new monarch had at once accededto the demand of the Spanish Ambassador, presented anew at thisopportune time, and a new Governor of Jamaica was despatched over thesea with orders to arrest Morgan and send him to England. Hawxherst, who, in common with all the officers of the insular army, hated thebloodstained villain whom fortune had placed over them, had solicitedLord Carlingford to allow him to execute the order, with what success wehave seen. 

The news of the long-wished-for downfall of the tyrant had been spreadabroad and formed the one topic of conversation in Port Royal and thevicinity that day. Now the work of the day was over and, as usual, theBlue Anchor tavern was crowded with men from the frigate and othershipping in the harbor, mingling with others from the purlieus of thetown. Fumes of rum and spirits pervaded the tobacco-smoked barroom whichserved as the main parlor of the inn. It was yet early in the evening, but the crowd, inflamed with liquor, was already in uproarious mood. Over in the corner a young Englishman was singing in a rich, deep voicea new song by a famous poet of London town:

 "Let us sing and be merry, dance, joke and rejoice, With claret and sherry, theorbo and voice! The changeable world to our joy is unjust, All treasure's uncertain, Then down with your dust; In frolics dispose your pounds, shillings and pence, For we shall be nothing a hundred years hence. 

 We'll sport and be free, with Frank, Betty and Dolly, Have lobsters and oysters to cure melancholy; Fish dinners will make a man spring like a flea, Dame Venus, love's lady, Was born of the sea; With her and with Bacchus we'll tickle the sense. For we shall be past it a hundred years hence. "

It was a popular song, evidently, for the whole assembly joined in thechorus--

 "In frolics dispose your pounds, shillings and pence, For we shall be nothing a hundred years hence. "

They roared it out in the deep bass voices of the sea, marking the timeby hammering in unison upon the oaken tables with their pewter mugs andflagons. The sentiment seemed to suit the company, if the zest withwhich they sang be any criterion. Care was taken to insure a sufficientpause, too, after the chorus between each of the verses, to permit thedrinking, after all the essential part of the evening's entertainment, to be performed without hindrance. 

There was one man, however, from the post of honor which he occupied atthe head of the table evidently held in high consideration among thehabitués of the inn, who did not join in the singing. He was a littleman, who made up for his shortness of stature by breadth of shoulder andlength of arm. There was an ugly black patch over his left eye; no onehad ever seen him without that patch since the day of the assault on thefort at Chagres; an Indian arrow had pierced his eye on that eventfulday. Men told how he had gone to the surgeon requesting him to pull itout, and when the young doctor, who had been but a short time with thebuccaneers, shrank from jerking the barb out in view of the awful painwhich would attend his action, had hesitated, reluctant, the wounded manhad deliberately torn out the arrow, and with oaths and curses for theother's cowardice had bound up the wound himself with strips torn fromhis shirt and resumed the fighting. His courage there, and before andafter, although he was an illiterate person and could neither read norwrite, had caused him to be appointed boatswain of the ship that hadcarried Morgan's flag, and he had followed his leader for many yearswith a blind devotion that risked all and stuck at nothing to be ofservice to him. 

It had been many years since Master Benjamin Hornigold, coming down frombleak New England because he found his natural bent of mind out ofharmony with the habits and customs of his Puritan ancestors, haddrifted into buccaneering under the flag of his chief. He was an oldman now, but those who felt the force of his mighty arms were convincedthat age had not withered him to any appreciable degree. 

Aside from Morgan, Hornigold had loved but one human creature, hisyounger brother, a man of somewhat different stamp, who had beengraduated from Harvard College but, impelled by some wild strain in hisblood and by the example of his brother, had joined the buccaneers. 

There were many men of gentle blood who were well acquainted with thepolite learning of the day among these sea rovers from time to time, andit is related that on that same Panama excursion when "from the silentpeak in Darien" they beheld for the first time after their tremendousmarch the glittering expanse of the South Seas, with white Panama in itsgreen trees before them, the old cry of the famous Ten Thousand, "Thalatta! Thalatta! The sea! The sea!" had burst from many lips. 

All his learning and refinement of manner had not prevented youngEbenezer Hornigold from being as bad at heart as his brother, which issaying a great deal, and because he was younger, more reckless, lessprudent, than he of riper years, he had incautiously put himself in thepower of Morgan and had been hanged with short shrift. Benjamin, standing upon the outskirts of the crowd jesting and roaring around thefoot of the gibbet, with a grief and rage in his heart at his impotency, presently found himself hating his old captain with a fiercenessproportioned to his devotion in the past. For he had appealed for mercypersonally to Morgan by the memory of his former services and had beensternly repulsed and coldly dismissed with a warning that he should lookto his own future conduct lest, following in the course of his brother, he should find himself with his neck in the noose. 

Morgan, colossal in his conceit and careless in his courage, thought notto inquire, or, if he gave the subject any consideration at all, dismissed it from his mind as of little moment, as to what was thesubsequent state of Hornigold's feelings. Hornigold could have killedMorgan on numberless occasions, but a consuming desire for a moreadequate revenge than mere death had taken hold of him, and he deferredaction until he could contrive some means by which to strike him in away that he conceived would glut his obsession of inexpiable hatred. 

Hornigold had reformed, outwardly that is, and was now engaged in theuseful and innocent business of piloting ships into the harbor, alsosteering their crews, after the anchors were down, into the Blue Anchortavern, in which place his voice and will were supreme. He had heard, for Lord Carlingford had made no secret of his orders, that his oldmaster was to be arrested and sent back to England. The news which wouldhave brought joy to a lesser villain, in that it meant punishment, filled him with dismay, for such was the peculiarity of his hatred thathe wanted the punishment to come directly from him--through his agency, that is. He desired it to be of such character that it should be neitherspeedy nor easy, and he lusted most of all that Morgan should know inhis last hours--which Hornigold prayed Satan might be long ones--to whomhe was indebted for it all. 

And, strange as it may seem, there was still a certain loyalty of adistorted, perverted kind, in the man's breast. No matter what Morganhad done, no one else should punish him but himself. He would even havefought for his sometime chief, were it necessary, against the King orhis law, if need be. He was therefore very much disturbed over what heheard. Had it been possible he would have warned Morgan immediately ofhis purposed arrest, but he had been detained on the frigate bynecessary duties from which he could find no means of escape until toolate. He had, however, a high sense of Sir Henry's courage and address. He hoped and believed that he would not be taken by such men asHawxherst and Bradley; but if he were, Hornigold made up his mind torescue him. 

There was a little islet in the Caribbean just below Hispaniola, inwhose wooded interior still lurked some of the old-time buccaneers, proscribed men, who, from time to time, did pirating in a small way ontheir own account; just enough to keep their hands in. If the worstcame, Hornigold, who with his little pinnace had kept in touch with themsecretly, could assemble them for the rescue of their old captain. Thenthe former Governor, in his power and in their possession, could bedisposed of at their leisure and pleasure. All these things had busiedthe man during the evening, and he sat even now in the midst of therevelry about him, plunged in profound thought. 

Unobserved himself, he had taken account of every man who was present. He knew all the habitués of the port, and enjoyed a wide acquaintanceamong the seamen whose vessels frequented the harbor. He decided therewere then in that room perhaps twenty men upon whom he could depend, proper inducement being offered, for almost any sort of service. Amongthese were five or six superior spirits whom he knew to be tried andtrue. There was young Teach, the singer of the evening, a drunken, dissolute vagabond, who had been discharged from his last ship forinsubordination and a quarrelsome attack upon one of his officers, forwhich he had narrowly escaped hanging as a mutineer. The man was as boldas a lion, though; he could be trusted. There, too, was Rock Braziliano, a Portuguese half-breed, and hobnobbing with him was Raveneau de Lussan, a Frenchman--prime seamen and bold fellows both. Further down the table, the huge Dutchman, Velsers, was nodding stupidly over his rum. 

These men and a few others were veterans like Hornigold himself. Theywere the best of the lot, but for the most part the assemblage was madeup of the sweepings of the town, men who had the willingness to doanything no matter how nefarious it might be, their only deterrent beinglack of courage. Hornigold's single eye swept over them with a fiercegleam of contempt, yet these were they with whom he must work in case ofnecessity. 

One or two others in whom he reposed confidence, men who composed thecrew of his own pinnace, he had sent off early in the evening to SpanishTown to gather what news they could. One of them came in and reportedthat the squadron of horse which had gone up with the officers to bringback Morgan had come back without him and without the officers. Thespy's insignificance prevented him from learning why this was, but hopeinstantly sprang up in Hornigold's breast upon receipt of this news. Knowing Morgan as he did, he was convinced that he had found some meansto dispose of the two officers and send away the cavalry. 

He was not unprepared, therefore, when he saw the tall form of themaroon appearing in the doorway through the smoke. No one else noticedthe silent Carib's entry, and he stood motionless until Hornigold's eyefastened upon him. Then by an imperceptible move of his head heindicated a desire to speak with him without the room. The one-eyednodded slightly in token that he understood, and the maroon vanished assilently as he had come. Waiting a few moments, Hornigold rose from hisseat and began threading his way through the boisterous crowd toward thedoor. Thrusting aside detaining hands and answering rude queries with anold sailor's ready banter, bidding them on no account to cease thefestivities because of his departure, and in fact ordering a new draughtof rum for all hands, he succeeded in breaking away under cover of thecheers which greeted this announcement. 

It was pitch dark outside and he stopped a moment, hesitating as to whathe should do. He had no doubt but that the maroon had a message for himfrom his master. But a second had elapsed when he felt a light touch onhis shoulder. His hand went instantly to the seaman's hanger at his sideand he faced about promptly. A ready man was Master Hornigold. 

"It's I, bo's'n, " whispered a familiar voice. 

"You, Black Dog? Where's your master?"

"Yonder. "

"Let me see him. "

A tall, slender figure muffled in a heavy riding-coat sat in the sternsheets of a small boat in the deepest shadow of one of the silent anddeserted piers. 

"Captain Morgan?" whispered Hornigold softly, as followed by the maroonhe descended the landing stairs leading toward the boat. 

"'Tis you, Master Hornigold, " answered the man, with an accent of reliefin his voice, thrusting the pistol back into his belt as he spoke. He, too, was a ready man with his weapons and one not to be caught nappingin any emergency. 

"Me it is, sir, " answered the boatswain, "and ready to serve my oldcaptain. "

"You heard the news?"

"I heard it on the frigate this afternoon. "

"Why did you not send me warning?"

"I had no chance. I'd 'a' done it, sir, if I could have fetched away. "

"Well, all's one. I've laid those two landlubbers by the heels. Eh, Carib?"

"Where are they, sir?"

"I might make a guess, for I left them bound and the house blazing. "

"'Tis like old times!"

"Ay! I've not forgot the old tricks. "

"No, sir. And what's to do now?"

"Why, the old game once more. "

"What? You don't mean----"

"I do. What else is there left for me? Scuttle me, if I don't take itout of the Dons! It's their doing. They've had a rest for nigh twentyyears. We'll let it slip out quietly among the islands that HarryMorgan's afloat once more and there's pickings to be had on the SpanishMain--wine and women and pieces of eight. Art with me?"

"Ay, of course. But we lack a ship. "

"There's one yonder, man, " cried Morgan, pointing up the harbor, wherethe lights of the _Mary Rose_ twinkled in the blackness. 

"To be sure the ship is there, but----"

"But what?"

"We've no force. The old men are gone. "

"I am here, " answered Morgan, "and you and Black Dog. And there are afew others left. Teach is new, but will serve; I heard his bull voiceroaring out from the tavern. And de Lussan and Velsers, and the rest. I've kept sight of ye. Curse it all, I let you live when I might havehanged you. "

"You did, captain, you did. You didn't hang everybody--but you didn'tspare, either. "

It would have been better for the captain if it had been lighter and hecould have seen the sudden and sharp set of Master Hornigold's jaws, which, coupled with the fierceness which flamed into his one eye as hehissed out that last sentence, might have warned him that it would besafer to thrust his head into the lion's mouth than altogether to trusthimself to his whilom follower. But this escaped him in the darkness. 

"Listen, " he said quickly. "This is my plan. In the morning whenHawxherst and Bradley do not appear, the new Governor will send moremen. They will find the house burned down. No one saw us come hither. There will be in the ruins the remains of three bodies. "

"Three?"

"Yes. My Lady Morgan's. "

"Did you kill her?"

"I didn't have to. They'll think that one of them is mine. No hue or crywill be raised and no search made for me. Do you arrange that the crewof the _Mary Rose_ be given liberty for the evening yonder at the BlueAnchor. They've not been ashore yet, I take it?"

"No, but they will go to-morrow. "

"That's well. Meanwhile gather together the bold fellows who havestomach for a cruise and are willing to put their heads through thehalter provided there are pieces of eight on the other side, and thenwe'll take the frigate to-morrow night and away for the Spanish Main. That will give us a start. We'll pick up what we can along the coastfirst, then scuttle the ship, cross the Isthmus, seize another and havethe whole South Seas before us--Peru, Manila, wherever we will. "

"The King has a long arm. "

"Yes, and other kings have had long arms too, I take it, but they havenot caught Harry Morgan, nor ever shall. Come, man, wilt go with me?"

"Never fear, " answered Hornigold promptly. "I've been itching for achance to cut somebody's throat. "

He did not say it was Morgan's throat, but the truth and sincerity inhis voice carried conviction to the listening captain. 

"Thou bloody butcher!" he laughed grimly. "There will be plenty of itanon. "

"Where will you lay hid, " asked the boatswain, "until to-morrow night?"

"I have thought of that, " said Morgan promptly. "I think the best placewill be the cabin of your pinnace. I'll just get aboard, Black Dog hereand I, and put to sea. To-morrow night at this hour we'll come back hereagain and you will find us here at the wharf. "

"A good plan, Master Morgan, " cried Hornigold, forgetting the title asthe scheme unfolded itself to him. "What's o'clock, I wonder?"

As he spoke the sound of a bell tapped softly came floating over thequiet water from the _Mary Rose_. 

"Four bells, " answered Morgan listening; "at ten of the clock, then, Ishall be here. "

"Leave the rest to me, sir, " answered Hornigold. 

"I shall. That will be your boat yonder?"

"Ay. Just beyond the point. "

"Is anybody aboard of her?"

"No one. "

"Is there rum and water enough for one day?"

"Plenty. In the locker in the cuddy. "

"Good! Come, Carib. Until to-morrow night, then!"

"Ay, ay, sir, " said Hornigold, leaning over the pier and watching theboat fade into a black blur on the water as it drew away toward thepinnace. 

"He's mine, by heaven, he's mine!" he whispered under his breath as heturned and walked slowly up to the house. 

Yet Master Hornigold meant to keep faith with his old captain. He wassick and tired of assumed respectability, of honest piloting of ships tothe harbor, of drinking with worthy merchantmen or the King's sailors. The itch for the old buccaneering game was hard upon him. To hear thefire crackle and roar through a doomed ship, to lord it over shiploadsof terrified men and screaming women, to be sated with carnage and drunkwith liquor, to dress in satins and velvets and laces, to let the broadpieces of eight run through his grimy fingers, to throw off restraintand be a free sailor, a gentleman rover, to return to the habits of hisearlier days and revel in crime and sin--it was for all this that hissoul lusted again. 

He would betray Morgan, yet a flash of his old admiration for the mancame into his mind as he licked his lips like a wolf and thought of thedays of rapine. There never was such a leader. He had indeed been theterror of the seas. Under no one else would there be such prospects forsuccessful piracy. Yes, he would do all for him faithfully, up to thepoint of revenge. Morgan's plan was simple and practicable. De Lussan, Teach, Velsers and the rest would fall in with it gladly. There wouldbe enough rakehelly, degraded specimens of humanity, hungry andthirsty, lustful and covetous, in Port Royal--which was the wickedestand most flourishing city on the American hemisphere at the time--toaccompany them and insure success, provided only there would be rewardin women and liquor and treasure. He would do it. They would all goa-cruising once more, and then--they would see. 

He stayed a long time on the wharf, looking out over the water, arranging the details of the scheme outlined by Morgan so brilliantly, and it was late when he returned to the parlor of the Blue Anchor Inn. Half the company were drunk on the floor under the tables. The rest weresinging, or shouting, or cursing, in accordance with their severalmoods. Above the confusion Hornigold could hear Teach's giant voicestill roaring out his reckless refrain; bitter commentary on theirindifference it was, too--

 "Though life now is pleasant and sweet to the sense, We'll be damnably moldy a hundred years hence. "

"Ay, " thought the old buccaneer, pausing in the entrance, for theappositeness of the verses impressed even his unreflective soul, "itwill be all the same in a hundred years, but we'll have one more goodcruise before we are piped down for the long watch in. "

He chuckled softly and hideously to himself at the fatalistic idea. 

By his orders, enforced by the vigorous use of seamen's colts, the innservants at once cleared the room of the vainly protesting revellers. Those whose appearance indicated a degree of respectability whichpromised payment for their accommodation, were put to bed; the commonsort were bundled unceremoniously out on the strand before the door andleft to sober up as best they might in the soft tropic night. Teach, Raveneau, and the Brazilian were detained for conference with theboatswain. To these worthies, therefore, Hornigold unfolded Morgan'splan, which they embraced with alacrity, promising each to do his share. Velsers was too stupidly drunk to be told anything, but they knew theycould count upon him without fail. 

CHAPTER III

IN WHICH SIR HENRY MORGAN FINDS HIMSELF AT THE HEAD OF A CREW ONCE MORE

The next morning, after waiting a reasonable time for a message from thetwo soldiers at Spanish Town, Lord Carlingford, the new Governor, whohad taken up his residence temporarily at Port Royal, summoned hisattendants, and himself repaired to the seat of Government to ascertainwhy no further report had been received from his officers. Great was hisastonishment when he found that the residence of the Vice-Governor hadbeen destroyed by fire during the night. The frightened slaves couldtell nothing. Morgan and Carib had taken care that no one had markedtheir departure. Consequently when the search of the ruins revealed theremains of three bodies, so badly charred as to be unrecognizable, itwas naturally inferred at first that they were those of the buccaneerand the two unfortunate officers. It was known among the people of theplace, however, that Lady Morgan had been seriously ill, so ill thatshe could not have been removed, and there were some who suspected thatone of the bodies was hers and that the arch-fiend himself had by somemeans disposed of the officers and escaped. Therefore a hue and cry wasraised for him and a strict search instituted by order of the Governor, who, after setting affairs in motion, returned to Port Royal. 

Troops were accordingly ordered out, and even details of surly seamen, growling at being deprived of their accustomed shore liberty, weredetailed from the frigate, which happened to be the only war vessel incommission in the harbor. Hornigold, Raveneau, and one or two of theothers known to be former companions of the buccaneer, were closelyinterrogated, but they stoutly declared they did not know hiswhereabouts and had seen nothing of him. Later in the afternoon it wasobserved that Hornigold's pinnace was not in the harbor. Indeed, withcunning adroitness that master mariner himself called attention to thefact, cursing the while his old commander for his alleged theft of theboat, and declaring his willingness to join in the search for him. Itwas known to the authorities that the execution of the boatswain'sbrother by Morgan had shattered the old intimacy which subsisted betweenthem; consequently his protestations were given credence and suspicionof collusion was diverted from him. 

Lord Carlingford finally determined to send the _Mary Rose_ to sea in anendeavor to overhaul the pinnace, in the hope that the formerVice-Governor might be found on her, although the chances of successwere but faint. The frigate, however, was not provisioned or watered fora cruise, after her long voyage from England. There had beenconsiderable scurvy and other sickness on the ship and she was in nocondition to weigh anchor immediately; she would have to be re-suppliedand the sick men in her crew replaced by drafts from the shore. Besides, in accordance with the invariable custom, the great majority of the menhad been given shore leave for that afternoon and evening, and those fewwho were not on duty were carousing at the Blue Anchor Inn and similartaverns and would be utterly unable to work the ship, should they becalled upon to do so, without being given a chance to sober up. Thiswould take time, and Lord Carlingford upon the representations of hissea officers decided to wait until the morrow before commencing work. One secret of Morgan's success was the promptness with which he struck. Nobler and better men could have learned a lesson from this oldbuccaneer, notably the Governor. 

As he could do so, not only personally but through his ablelieutenants, Hornigold busied himself during the day and the precedingnight in enlisting as vicious a gang of depraved ruffians as could begathered together in what was perhaps the wickedest city in the world. It had been decided after conference between the leaders that there wasno place within the confines of Port Royal itself where so many mencould meet without exciting suspicion. He had accordingly appointed arendezvous for the night across the narrow entrance to the harbor, opposite the fort, under the trees which overshadowed the strand, somedistance back from high-water mark. Singly or in groups of two or three, the men had gone across in boats after sunset, successfully eludingobservation, for the night was moonless and very dark. 

There was no room, indeed, for suspicion on the part of the authorities, save in the bare fact of the possible escape of Morgan; but it had beentwenty years since that worthy had gone buccaneering, and, except in theminds of his former companions and participants, much of the characterof his exploits had passed out of mind. No special watch was kept, therefore, in fort or town or on the ship. Morgan was gone certainly, but nothing was feared from a single proscribed man. 

There was rum in plenty under the trees on the point, but care was takenby Rock Braziliano, Raveneau, and the others, even including Velsers, that no one should drink enough to lose entire control of his facultiesor to become obstreperous. Just enough was given to make the timid bold, and the hardy reckless. They knew the value of, and on occasion couldpractise, abstinence, those old buccaneers, and they were determined tokeep their men well in hand. No fires were lighted, no smokingpermitted. Strict silence was enjoined and enforced. It was perhaps teno'clock before all were assembled. 

When morning had cleared their brains of the rum they had taken, therehad been ferocious opposition on the part of the older men. Not thatthey objected to buccaneering. They were eager for the chance once more, but the memory of Morgan's betrayals of his old comrades rankled deep. There were many beside Hornigold who had promised themselves the luxuryof vengeance upon their old commander. There were none, however, who hadso dwelt upon it as the boatswain, nor were there any whose animosityand determination compared to his fierce hatred. He was therefore able, at last, to persuade them into a surly willingness to accept Morgan astheir captain in this new enterprise. Indeed, without him they could donothing, for there was no one who possessed the ability or experience tolead them save he. The best men of the old stamp were now in the SouthSeas and far away; they had been driven from the Caribbean. It was notdifficult for Hornigold to show them that it must be Morgan or no one. 

Their feelings of animosity were, perforce, sunk beneath the surface, although they smouldered still within their breasts. They would go withhim, they said. But let him look to himself, they swore threateningly. If he betrayed them again, there were men among them who would kill himas remorselessly as they would stamp on a centipede. If he behavedhimself and the expedition on which he was to lead them provedsuccessful, they might forgive him--all but old Hornigold. Truth totell, there was no one among them who felt himself so wronged or sobadly treated as the one-eyed envenomed sailor. 

The bulk of the party, which numbered perhaps one hundred men, weresimply plain, ordinary thieves, cut-throats, broken-down seamen, landsharks and rascals. Not much was to be expected of them. They were notof the stuff of which the old-time buccaneers had been made, but theywere the best to be obtained at that time in Port Royal. Even they wouldnot have been so easily assembled had they realized quite what wasexpected of them. They knew, of course, that they were committingthemselves to some nefarious undertaking, but to each recruit had beenvouchsafed only enough information to get him to come to therendezvous--no more. They were a careless, drunken, dissolute lot. 

By Hornigold's orders they were told off in five parties of about twentyeach, commanded respectively by himself, Velsers, Raveneau, theBrazilian, and the last by Teach, who, though the youngest of theleaders, had a character for daring wickedness that would stop atnothing. With much difficulty the boatswain had succeeded in obtainingfive boats, each capable of carrying one band. Every one brought his ownarms, and in general these men did not lack a sufficiency of weapons. Those who were deficient, however, were supplied from a scanty stockwhich the leaders had managed to procure. 

All was in readiness, when one of the men who had been stationed on theextreme edge of the beach toward the channel reported the approach of asmall boat looking like the pinnace. 

The wind, fortunately for the enterprise, happened to be blowing freshout of the harbor and it was necessary for the pinnace to beat up towardthe entrance. She showed no lights, but, as she tacked in close to theshore, between the watcher and the lights of the town, he observed her. The boat was handled with consummate skill; she dropped anchor andhauled down her sails noiselessly just abreast the pier which had beenappointed the rendezvous by the two men on the night before. As soon asHornigold learned of the approach he took a small boat, leaving Velsersin command of the band on shore, and repaired with the other leaders tothe wharf on the other side. As the boat approached the wharf it washailed in a sharp whisper. 

"Who comes?" cried the voice on shore. 

"Hornigold!" answered the boatswain in a low tone, as the boat sweptalongside. 

"So, 'tis you, is it?" cried Morgan, attended by the maroon as usual, again putting his pistol back into his belt. "Seeing so many of you inthe skiff, I feared a trap until you gave the word. "

"I've brought along Raveneau, the Brazilian, and young Teach, " said theboatswain. 

"Welcome, my hearties, all!" said the Vice-Governor softly. "We're offto the Spanish Main with a good ship, plenty of liquor beneath thehatches, brave hearts to run her. There will be plenty of pickings meetfor any man. Are you with me?"

"Ay, ay, sir!"

"We are, " answered one and another. 

The place where they stood was lonely and deserted at that time ofnight, but Hornigold suggested that they immediately repair to the otherside, there to perfect their further plans. Indeed, they had no plansas yet. There was not head enough among them to concoct the details ofthe scheme, although no better instruments for an expedition than thechief and those assembled under him could be gathered together. They hadwaited for Morgan. 

"You speak well, " answered the captain. "Are all preparations made?"

"All we could make without you, captain, " replied Hornigold as the partyre-entered the boat. 

"How many men have you gathered?"

"About five score. "

"Boats?"

"Five. "

"Will they carry all?"

"With a little crowding. "

"Who leads each boat?"

"I, one, sir, with your permission; Raveneau here, another; theBrazilian, the third; young Teach, a fourth, and Velsers----"

"Where is he?"

"With the rest of the men--the fifth. "

"Good! Are they all armed?"

"Every man has a sword and a pistol at least. "

"What of the men?"

"A poor lot, " answered Teach, recklessly. "A dastardly crew. "

"Will they fight, think ye?"

"Curse me, they'll have to fight; we'll make them!" said Hornigold. 

"Do they know what's up?"

"Not exactly, " answered Raveneau, the Frenchman, a man of good birth andgentle manners, but as cruel and ruthless a villain as any that ever cuta throat or scuttled a ship. "Have no fear, captain, " he continuedsmoothly. "Once we start them, they will have to fight. "

"Did you ever know me to show fear, de Lussan?" cried the captainbending forward and staring at the Frenchman, his eyes glittering in thedarkness like those of a wildcat. 

"No, captain. "

"No, nor did any other man, " answered Morgan, and from where he satHornigold marked the little dialogue and swore in his heart that thisman who boasted so should beg for his life at his hand, with all thebeseeching pity of the veriest craven, before he finished with him. Butfor the present he said nothing. After a short pause, Morgan resumed:

"Have they suspected my escape?"

"They have, " answered the boatswain. "They found the remains of thethree bodies in the burned house this morning. At first they thought oneof them was yours, but they decided after a while that one was a woman, and they guessed that you had made away with the officers and escaped. I told them you had stolen my pinnace and got away. "

"You did, eh?"

"Yes. "

"And he swore and cursed you roundly, captain, " interposed the Brazilianchuckling maliciously. "Aye, sir, he swore if he got hands on you hewould give you up. "

Morgan turned this time to Hornigold. He was by no means sure of hisposition. He knew the enmity of these men, and he did not know how fartheir cupidity or their desire to take up the old life once more undersuch fortunate auspices as would be afforded under his command wouldrestrain them. 

"Master Ben Hornigold, said ye that?" he queried. "Would ye betray me?"

His hand stole to his waist and his fingers closed around his pistolgrip. 

"No fear, captain, " answered that worthy composedly, sustaining thecaptain's searching gaze. A braver man never stepped a deck than he. "Idid it to divert their attention. You see, they fancied at first that weold sea-dogs might have something to do with your escape, but Iundeceived them. They reckoned that you had been hard on us and that wemight be hard on ye----"

"No more of this, gentlemen, the past is gone. We begin again, " criedMorgan fiercely. "And mark me, the man who betrays Harry Morgan will notlive many minutes to boast of it! I'd kill him if he sat on the steps ofa throne. Easy there!" he called out to the oarsmen, assuming thecommand as by right, while the boat's keel grated on the shingle. "Allout now and lead the way. Nay, gentlemen, you shall all precede me. Carib, here, will bring up the rear. And it may be well for you to keepyour weapons in your belts. "

Much impressed, the little party disembarked and walked rapidly towardthe place of assemblage, under the trees. Morgan and the maroon camelast, each of them with a bared sword and cocked pistol. 

"Lads, " said Hornigold, as they approached the men, "here's yourcaptain, Sir Henry Morgan. "

"The Governor!" cried one and another, in surprise and alarm. The manhad been a terror to evildoers too poor to bribe. 

"Nay, men, Governor no more, " Morgan answered promptly. "A free sailorwho takes the sea against the Spanish Dons. We'll go buccaneering as inthe old days. These men here, " pointing to the group of officers, "cantell you what it means. You have heard tales of the jolly roving life ofthe brethren-of-the-coast. We'll do a little picking in the Caribbean, then over the Isthmus, and then down into the South Seas. There's wineand women and treasure to be had for the taking. The Spaniards arecowards. Let them hear that Harry Morgan is once more on the sea underthe Jolly Roger and they will tremble from Darien down to the Straits ofMagellan. It will be fair play and the old shares. Who's with me?"

"I!" "I!" "I!" broke from the bolder spirits of the crowd, and the rest, catching the contagion, finally joined in the acclaim. 

"Easy, " said the captain, "lest we be heard. Hornigold, is thereliquor?"

"Plenty, sir. "

"Let each man have a noble draught, then to the boats. "

"But, captain, " spoke up Sawkins, one of the boldest recruits, who wasnot in the secret, "be ye goin' buccaneerin' in boats? Whar's the ship?"

"I have a ship in the harbor, " cried Morgan, "well found and provided. "

"Ay, but what ship?"

"Confusion, sir!" shouted Morgan. "Begin ye by questioning me? Into theboat with your comrades! Velsers, de Lussan, Rock see that the men getinto the boats as soon as they have their dram. And hark ye, gentlemen, a word with ye!" calling them apart while the rest were being served. "Put the boldest men in the stern sheets with yourselves, the rest atthe oars, and do you have your weapons ready. The _Mary Rose_ lies justwithin the bar. You, Velsers and Rock, gain the fo'c'sl from larboardand starboard. You, Teach and Raveneau, board at the different gangways. Hornigold, I'll go in your boat and we'll attend to the cabin. Let allbe done without noise. No pistols, use the blade. Take no prisoners andwaste no time. If we gain the deck without difficulty, and I think wecan, clap to the hatch covers and we'll cut cable and get under way atonce. "

The men had been embarking in the boats rather reluctantly as he spoke, but presently all was ready. Finally Hornigold and then Morgan with themaroon stepped into the last boat, first making sure there were nostragglers left behind, and Morgan gave the command:

"Shove off!"

Sawkins, the bold spirit who had spoken before, presumed, in spite ofthe commander's threat, to open his mouth again as the boats slowly leftthe beach, rowing through the passage and up the harbor against the ebbjust beginning; he pulled the stroke oar in Hornigold's boat. 

"Before I go further, " he cried, "I want to know what ship we're goin'aboard of. "

"Ay!" came in a subdued roar from the men behind him, who only needed aleader to back out of the enterprise, which, as it threatened to involvefighting, began to seem not quite so much to their taste. "What ship?"

"The frigate, " answered Hornigold shortly. 

"What! The _Mary Rose_! The King's ship!" cried the men, ceasing to row. In an instant Morgan's pistol was out. His motion was followed byHornigold and the maroon. 

"Row, you dogs!" he cried fiercely. 

The stroke oarsman hesitated, although the others tried to pick up thestroke. 

"I give you one minute, then I blow out your brains, pull out the plugin this boat, and we'll all go to hell together, " said Morgantruculently to the recalcitrant men. 

"Row, for your life's sake!" cried the man behind Sawkins, hitting himin the back with the haft of the oar. 

"It's the King's ship!"

"What do we care for the King?" said Morgan. "He is the law, and none ofus love the law. Two-thirds of her crew are drunk, t'other third areashore or sick. They are unprepared, asleep. There'll be naught but theanchor watch. One sharp blow, and we have the frigate--then away. Whatfear ye, lads?"

By such words as these, but more by the threatening appearance of theweapons pointed from the stern sheets, Morgan inspirited his men; and bysimilar language and threats, the men in the other boats did the same. After rowing a short distance the flotilla separated. Those approachingfrom the farther side of the ship necessarily made a wide détour, forwhich the others waited, so they would all arrive simultaneously. Aftera suitable time the order was passed softly to give way again. Inperfect silence, broken only by the "cheep" of the oars in the locks, the five boats swept down on the doomed frigate. 

CHAPTER IV

WHICH TELLS HOW THE "MARY ROSE" FRIGATE CHANGED MASTERS AND FLAGS

[Illustration]

The _Mary Rose_ was a ship with a history. The battle roster of theEnglish navy had borne many of her name. In each instance she had beenfound in the thickest of the fighting. The present vessel was an oldship, having been built some thirty years before, but she was stillstanch and of a model which combined strength with speed. The mostconspicuous expedition she had participated in had been a desperatedefence of a convoy in the Mediterranean against seven Sallee rovers, inwhich, after a hard engagement lasting four hours, the _Mary Rose_triumphed decisively without losing a single sail of her convoy. A rudesong was made about the action, and the two lines of the ballad, summingup the results, were painted around the wheel:

 "Two we burnt, and two we sank, and two did run away, And one we carried to Leghorn Roads, to show we'd won the day. "

The commander of the ship on this memorable and heroic occasion had beenknighted on his return to England, and on the accession of James hadbeen sent to Jamaica with Lord Carlingford as Vice-Governor, to takecommand of the naval station and supersede Morgan. Admiral Sir JohnKempthorne was an elderly man at this time, but his spirit was the samethat had enabled him to withstand so successfully the overwhelmingonslaught of the Algerine pirate ships. 

The English navy, however, was then in a state of painful decay. Thefamous Test Act, which excluded James from the naval service while hewas Duke of York, because he was a Roman Catholic, had deprived the navyof its most influential and able friend. The greedy rapacity with whichCharles II. Had devoted the money assigned by the Commons for thesupport of the fleet to his own lustful and extravagant purposes, thefavoritism and venality which he allowed in the administration of theAdmiralty, and the neglect with which he viewed the representations ofPepys and others as to the condition of his fleets, had reduced thenavy of England, which had won such immortal glory under Blake, to thevery lowest depth it ever reached. The ships were in bad repair andcommanded by landsmen who shirked going to sea; they were ill-found, thewages of the seamen not paid--in short, they presented pictures ofdemoralization as painful as they were unusual. 

Kempthorne, having been a tried and a successful naval commander in hisyounger days, had striven, with some success so far as his own ship wasconcerned, to stem the prevailing tide of ruin, and the _Mary Rose_ wasperhaps one of the best frigates in the service, which, however, was notsaying a great deal. He could not, of course, better the character ofthe crew which had been provided for him, nor could he entirelyre-supply the ship, or make good her faulty and deficient equipment, buthe did the best he could. Under ordinary circumstances he could havegiven a good account of himself if engaged with even the perfectlyappointed ships of the Dutch Republic, or of the Grand Monarch himself. Indeed, in spite of the horrible degeneracy, the prestige of victory wasstill, as it has ever been, with England. King James, a successful, evenbrilliant naval commander in his youth, had decided to rehabilitate thenavy with a view to putting it on its old footing, and with that objectin view he had sent one of his best admirals across the sea to theimportant island of Jamaica, then the headquarters of the West IndiaSquadron. 

Kempthorne had welcomed the duty, and had determined that so far as thestation at Port Royal was concerned he would make it the model one ofthe colonies, of the kingdom itself for that matter, provided he weresustained by the King as had been promised. Lord Carlingford, with thezeal of a new appointee, had promised his coöperation. 

The admiral was seated in the cabin of the frigate that night cogitatingupon his plans, when his thoughts were interrupted by the rattle ofoars, indicating the arrival of a boat. The sound of the approachingboat came faintly through the open stern windows of the cabin under thehigh poop-deck. 

The ship was more or less deserted. The sick men had been put ashore;most of the crew, and the officers as well, had followed them. Theywould not be back until the morrow, when Sir John had orders to get awayin pursuit of Hornigold's pinnace. With the captain in the cabin, however, was the old master of the ship, a man who had been promoted tothat rank after the famous fight with the Algerines because of hisgallantry in that action. Kempthorne was consulting with him about thenecessary arrangements before sailing the next day. 

As the admiral heard the noise made by the oars in the oarlocks heraised his voice, and calling a sentry, for there was half a platoon ofsoldiers on board who had not yet been allowed liberty (the beginningsof the Royal Marine of England, by the way), he bade him ascertain ifthe approaching boat was that containing the Governor. It was stillearly evening, and Lord Carlingford had announced his intention ofsleeping in the ship, for the weather was intensely warm and he thoughtit might be cooler in the harbor than in the crowded low-lying town ofPort Royal. 

At the same time the admiral arose, buckled on his sword, and made readyto go on deck to meet Lord Carlingford, should it prove to be hisexpected visitor. Pausing a moment to say a final word to the master, hewas conscious of something striking the ship. Before he could formulatethe idea that a boat must have been hit in the bends, there were severalsimilar shocks. The old master, who happened to be unarmed, steppedforward. 

"That will be a boat, sir, " he said quickly, "striking against the sideof the ship. There's another, and another!"

His voice indicated surprise and some apprehension. What could it be?

"Let us go on deck at once, " said Kempthorne, stepping forward. As hedid so the silence was broken by a wild, terrified cry. A moment after, the sentry on the quarter-deck outside the entrance to the poop cabinfired his piece. The shot was followed by the sound of a fierce blow, and then a heavy fall. A sharp, imperious voice cried quickly:

"The ship is ours! Waste no time! Overboard with him! Clap to the hatchcovers!"

The necessity for concealment outside was apparently at an end. Theheavy covers were flung down upon the hatches and secured. The ship wasfilled with a confused babel of many voices and trampling feet. At thesound of the shot, the admiral and the master sprang to the door, butbefore they could pass the entrance it was flung violently open, and aman richly dressed after the fashion of Jamaica, followed by a tall, savage-looking half-breed, a compound of negro and Indian, clad in agorgeous livery, each with pistol and sword, sprang into the room andforced the two men back. As soon as he could recover himself Kempthornewhipped out his sword. He found himself covered, however, as did themaster, with a pistol. 

"Throw down your sword!" cried Morgan fiercely, "and yield yourselveswithout quarter. "

"Who are you that ask?"

"Sir Henry Morgan. "

"You bloody villain!" cried Kempthorne. "Dare you attempt to take theKing's ship?"

"That for the King!" answered Morgan, waving his sword. "Who are you?"

"Sir John Kempthorne, Admiral and Vice-Governor of Jamaica. "

"You would fain fill my station, would you, sir?"

"I would not descend to the station of a pirate, a robber, a murderer, a----"

"S'death, silence!" roared Morgan furiously. "The ship is ours! I've amessage for the King. Wilt carry it?"

"I would not insult my royal master by carrying a message from such asyou. "

"You will have it!" shouted Morgan, white with rage, lunging forward athim. 

Their blades crossed in an instant, and at the same moment the oldmaster, reckless of what happened, flung himself between the two. Therewas a roar from Carib's pistol, and the old man fell. As Kempthornerelaxed his guard slightly in the confusion Morgan ran him through. Theadmiral fell so suddenly that he jerked the blade, buried in his breast, out of the buccaneer's hand. 

"God--" he gasped, as he lay upon the body of the old sailor, "God--savethe--King. "

"Would'st sit in my place, eh?" cried Morgan, laughing truculently ashe turned on his heel and left the cabin. 

Beneath the hatches, the platoon of soldiers and the men thereimprisoned were yelling and making a tremendous racket. They werehelpless, however, and could do nothing. The men of the boarding partieswere clustered in groups forward and aft and around the closedpassageways into the interior of the ship, waiting for the next order. 

The noise and confusion which had followed the sentry's bold shot hadawakened the attention of the people of the town. Lights twinkled on theramparts of the fort, and the long roll of a drum could be heard comingfaintly up the harbor against the wind. Lord Carlingford had justentered his boat to board the ship. There was not a moment to lose. 

"Hornigold, go forward with your men to the forecastle. Velsers, comeyou hither with yours for the after guard. Teach, to the fore; Raveneau, to the main; and Rock, to the mizzenmast. Loose sail. Lively now. Wemust get out of this before the fort's awake, " cried Morgan. 

[Illustration: Their blades crossed in an instant. .. . There was a roarfrom Carib's pistol, and the old man fell. ]

Instantly the shrouds were covered with nimble forms making their wayaloft where the wide yard-arms stretched far over the sea. The men werein good spirits. The capture of the ship had been so easy; there hadbeen only the anchor watch and the sentry on deck to deal with, andthey had been murdered unsuspecting, although the cabin sentry hadkilled one of the attacking party and wounded another before he wentdown. They jumped with alacrity, therefore, to obey their captain'scommands. As the ponderous sheets of canvas fell from the yards, the menlay down from aloft, and sheets and halyards were manned, the cable thatmoored the vessel to the anchor was cut, the ship swung to starboard, the yards were braced in, and she began to slip through the water towardthe narrow mouth of the harbor. There were other war vessels in theharbor, but they were all dismantled and laid up in ordinary, so thebuccaneers had no pursuit to fear. 

The guns of the fort commanded the harbor mouth, and under ordinarycircumstances would have made it impossible for a ship to enter or leavewithout permission. The mouth was narrow and dangerous, but the bestpilot in the West Indies stood forward leaning over the knightheads, conning the ship. Raveneau and Velsers, than whom no better seamen everheld a spoke, by Morgan's orders were stationed at the wheel to steerthe frigate. Rock and Teach distributed the best of the men among theguns of the spar-deck battery on the port side. As was usual, the gunswere already charged. There were no loggerheads available, no matcheswith which to fire them, but Morgan instructed those who seemed to havesome skill in gunnery, whom he placed in temporary charge of the cannon, how to fire them by snapping their pistols at the touch-holes, whichwere primed from a powder horn that had been brought by the pirates. 

The land breeze was fresh and strong, and the _Mary Rose_ vindicated herclaim to be considered a fast sailer. She fairly ripped down the harbor, threading her way through the channel under Hornigold's nice pilotageuntil she came near to the narrow entrance. By Morgan's orders each manremained motionless at the place where he had been stationed, and theship, so far as human noise was concerned, was as still as death. Eventhe soldiers below, finding no attention paid to their cries, hadsubsided into comparative quiet. The silence was broken only by thecreaking of cordage, the dashing of water against the bows, and thegroaning of the timbers. Ever and anon Hornigold's deep voice, crying"Larboard" or "Starboard" as the case might be, rolled along the deck tothe watchful men gripping the wheel. Suddenly the old buccaneer criedout sharply:

"There's a boat right ahead, sir. "

"Run her down!" answered Morgan instantly. 

"Ay, ay! Starboard! Starboard again! Let her go off another half-point. Steady! Very well dyce. Now! Meet her! Meet her!"

The ship swept around slightly and rushed directly at the boat. It wasthe boat of the Governor. Instantly wild cries arose from the men on thethwarts. They were stopped by a stern voice. 

"Ahoy, the _Mary Rose_!"

Silence. 

"Ahoy, the frigate! What are you doing? Where is Admiral Kempthorne?"

At that instant the soldiers beneath the hatches suddenly resumed theircommotion, thus apprising the men in the boat that something was sadlywrong. 

"Larboard your helm!" cried a voice from the boat, "or you'll be on us. Who's in command? What are you about?"

"Sir Harry Morgan!" shouted a voice out of the darkness. "And we mean torun you down. "

"Back water, for God's sake! Stern, all!" cried Lord Carlingford to theparalyzed rowers; but before they could move the looming bow of thefrigate was upon them. Carlingford had risen in his boat before thecollision, and with dauntless courage he shook his bared sword in thedarkness toward the ship. 

"The King will triumph!" he cried. 

"You can go to hell!" shouted Morgan, "with Hawxherst and Bradley andKempthorne and all who oppose me. "

A terrible, smashing crash cut short his words, and, amid the ripping, tearing sound of the parting timbers of the overridden boat, and shouts, cries, and appeals for mercy, the _Mary Rose_ swept on. One or twobeneath her forefoot leaped frantically at the bobstays, but they weredriven from their holds by savage pike thrusts from Hornigold's men. 

A wild yell of elation broke from the pirates. They were completelypossessed by their success now, but Morgan stopped the noise in aninstant. 

"Silence!" roared the captain. "We are not yet free. Back to yourstations! Stand by the larboard battery!"

At that time the entrance to the harbor was very narrow, and the channelswept close under the Port Royal shore. Everybody in the town knew thatsomething had happened on the frigate. The garrison of the fort was outand the guns were loaded and bore fair upon the channel. Softly, forthey were within earshot distance of the fort, Morgan passed the word totrain the guns of the battery on the parapet of the fort. He also toldoff all the men with small arms to line the side, with instructions forthem to fire at the port-holes of the fort as they passed, and hecharged every one, under pain of death, to keep all fast until he gavethe word. Hornigold bent all his mind to getting the ship safely out ofthe harbor. Two or three reliable men were stationed in the gangway, whose sole business it was to repeat his commands without fail duringthe confusion, no matter what happened. They were right in the entrancenow, and coming opposite the fort. The men below were still keeping up agreat noise, but a hail which came across the water from the rampart wasentirely audible, the distance not being more than half pistol shot. 

"Hello, the _Mary Rose_! Hello, the frigate!"

"Ay, ay! What is it?"

"Where are you going? Where's Lord Carlingford?"

There was no answer. The rapidly moving ship was fairly abreast the fortnow. In thirty seconds she would be beyond it. 

"We have killed the Governor and Kempthorne, and this is the ship of SirHenry Morgan, bound for the Spanish Main on a buccaneering cruise. Fire!"

A perfect hail of shot at point blank range belched forth from thetwenty-four guns of the larboard battery of the onrushing ship. In thesurprise and confusion caused by this murderous discharge at shortrange, the frigate slipped by, and although every gun in the fort, whether it bore or not, was finally discharged by the infuriatedsoldiery, no serious damage was done to the ship. Here and there a manfell. The starboard main topsail sheet was cut, a few ropes parted, butthat was all. Pouring a perfect hail of musketry and pistol fire uponthe surprised garrison, which did execution, the frigate slipped throughthe channel. Before the cannon could be reloaded they were out of range. There before them lay the open sea, bounded to the southward by the richand unprotected cities of the Spanish Main. 

"We're out of the harbor, sir, " cried Hornigold, coming aft to whereMorgan stood triumphant on the poop. 

"That's well!" said the commander. "Secure the guns and muster the crew. We'll divide into watches and bear away to the southward. "

"Long live Sir Henry Morgan, King of the Buccaneers!" cried a voice outof the darkness, and amid a tremendous roar of cheers the vessel sweptaway, leaving the lights of Port Royal twinkling faintly in the distancefar behind them. 

BOOK II

THE CRUISE OF THE BUCCANEERS AND WHAT BEFEL THEM ON THE SEAS

CHAPTER V

HOW THE "MARY ROSE" OVERHAULED THREE SPANISH TREASURE SHIPS

Ten days after her departure from Port Royal the _Mary Rose_ wastumbling southward before a gentle breeze through the blue and languidseas. Much had happened in the interval. In the first place, Morgan hadorganized and drilled the ship's crew relentlessly. With the aid of thefive principal adventurers, whom he had constituted his lieutenants, hehad brought the motley crowd which he had shipped into a state ofcomparative efficiency and of entire subjection to his iron will. Yearsof quasi-respectability, of financial position, of autocratic power asVice-Governor had modified the ideas of the old buccaneer, and theco-operative principle which had been the mainspring of action as wellas tie which produced unity among the brethren-of-the-coast had ceasedto be regarded, so far as he was concerned. He took care, however, to beupon fairly amicable terms with the officers in command and theveterans, though he treated the rest of the riff-raff like the dogs theywere. They murmured and raged but did not revolt, although it was quitepossible that if he pushed them too far, and they found a leader, theymight make trouble. 

In accordance with Hornigold's advice, after deliberation between Morganand the leaders, the _Mary Rose_ had first run up to La Vaca Island, south of Hispaniola, and the number of original marauders had beenincreased by fifty volunteers, all those, indeed, who could be reached, from the small pirates who made that delectable spot their rendezvous. In addition to those, the crew had also been reënforced largely fromthose of the unpaid and discontented seamen and soldiers of the frigatewho had happened to be under hatches the night of the capture. Presentedwith the choice of instant death or adherence to the band, most of themhad accepted the latter alternative, although, to their great credit beit said, not until one or two of the loyal veterans, who had hotlyrefused to have anything to do with their ruffianly captors, had beenforced to walk the plank as an example to the rest should they proverecalcitrant. Partly through terror, partly through discontent, partlyon account of promises of the great reward awaiting them, speciouslyurged by Morgan himself, for he could talk as well as he could fight, and, most of all, because even at that date it was considered ameritorious act to attack a Spaniard or a Papist under any circumstancesor conditions, especially by persons as ignorant as the class inquestion, some seventy cast in their lot with the rest. 

Among the two hundred and twenty members of the heterogeneous crew soconstituted, were to be found natives of almost every race under thesun, even including one or two Spanish renegados, and it would be safeto say that the lowest and meanest representatives of the several raceswere assembled on that very ship. The officers and men who had beenrecruited from Isla La Vaca, as well as the older original members ofthe crew of the _Mary Rose_, together with a select few of theremainder, were men of approved courage. The officers, indeed, borereputations for hardihood and daring not to be surpassed. Most of therest, however, were arrant cowards. As a body the band could notcompare, except in leadership, with the former bands of buccaneers whohad made themselves and their names a terror to Latin civilization inthe New World. 

Morgan himself, however, almost made up for all deficiencies. Age hadnot quenched his ardor, diminished his courage, or deprived him of thatmagnetic quality which had made him an unquestioned leader of men. Hiseye was as keen, his hand as steady, his soul as reckless, and hisskill as high as when he had led the greatest buccaneer fleet that hadever assembled, on the famous Panama expedition. Everybody on the shiphated him except young Teach and the faithful Black Dog; the oldbuccaneers because he had betrayed them, the soldiers and sailors of thecrew because he had captured their ship and forced them to become hisallies, the mean and lowly body of rascals because he kept themruthlessly under hand. But they all feared him as much as they hated himand they admired him as much as they feared him. 

So far as he was concerned discipline was absolute. He still seemed tofancy himself the Vice-Governor and the representative of that Kingagainst whom he had taken up arms. He demanded to be treatedaccordingly. No admiral of the fleet was ever served more promptly andrespectfully than he. Even his nearest associates were treated with acertain haughtiness, which they bitterly resented and which they wouldhave called in question had the situation been other than it was. Truthto tell, influenced by Hornigold, they had embarked upon a madenterprise, and they needed Morgan to bring it to a successfulconclusion. Without him the slender coherence which already existedwould fail, and anarchy would be the state upon the ship. There wouldbe nothing left to them but to scatter if they could make an unheededlanding at some convenient place, or be captured, if they could not, with a certainty of being hung forthwith. So long as they remainedtogether, it was certain that Morgan would lead them on some successfulenterprise and they might get some reward for their risks and crimes. Inhis safety lay their safety. 

The buccaneer was entirely aware of this, and therefore counted freelyupon the backing of the veterans among the officers and crew. He wouldtake care of the rest. 

The ship, however, was a floating colony of suspicion, treachery, andhatred. Morgan himself never appeared without being loaded with weapons, not for bravado but for use should occasion rise, and his back wasalways protected by the silent and gigantic maroon, whom the sailors, catching the title from those who had known him of old, referred to withmalignant hatred as "Black Dog. " That was a name, indeed, which thetaciturn half-breed rather rejoiced in than resented. Morgan had beenable to awaken love in no hearts except those of young Teach, whosefeeling was admiration rather than affection, and this half-breedmaroon. Whether it was from his black African mother or from his fiercered Carib father he inherited the quality of devotion was not apparent. Devoted he had been and devoted he remained. 

Close association in the narrow confines of the ship with the man whohad, as he believed, wronged him, had but intensified Hornigold'shatred. The One-Eyed found it difficult to dissemble, and took refuge ina reticence which was foreign to his original frank and open character. Morgan half suspected the state of affairs in his old boatswain's moiledand evil soul, and he watched him on account of it more closely than theothers, but with no great disquiet in his heart. Truth to tell, the oldpirate was never so happy as in the midst of dangers, imminent andthreatening, which would have broken the spirit of a less resolute man. There was one among the officers he was sure of and upon whom he coulddepend in an emergency, and that was young Teach. He had flattered himby unusual marks of kindness, and alone among the officers this fellowdid not seem to cherish the rancor and suspicion of the others. He wastoo young to have experienced a betrayal as had the rest; this was hisfirst venture in actual piracy and he found it marvelously pleasant. 

The officers, too, were all suspicious of one another. As each onenursed his own private designs he suspected the others of doinglikewise--and with reason. But there was as yet little outward frictionamong them. Raveneau, for instance, was most scrupulously polite to thecaptain and his associates. Velsers was too stupid in his cups--and hewas generally in them--to do more than growl, and the Brazilian had allthe capacities of his race for subtle concealment. 

Although the necessary orders for working the ship were obeyed andMorgan personally imposed implicit obedience and respect for hiscommands, no duties other than those required were performed by the men. During the day when not at work or at drill, they drank, smoked, gambled, and fought at pleasure, although, as the captain mercilesslyexercised them during long hours at the great guns and with small arms, they did not have any too much leisure for play. During the night theykept watch and watch, of course, but in it all they took no care of theship, and filth and dirt abounded. If they had anticipated a long cruisethings would necessarily have been different, but as they had gone farto the southward now, and might make a landfall at any moment there wasno necessity for bothering about mere cleanliness, which, as it issupposed to be next to godliness, was naturally far removed from thisband of cut-throats. Morgan had not communicated his ultimate purposesto his men as yet, but as he was the only navigator on the ship he was, perforce, allowed to have his own way. 

Breakfast had been served--a meagre breakfast it was, too, for all handswere on short allowance of everything but spirits, on account of theunprovided state of the ship. Fortunately for their contentment, therewas plenty of rum on board. The men were congregated forward on theforecastle or in the waist, wrangling and arguing as usual. The officersgathered on the quarter-deck, and Morgan paced the high raised poopalone, overlooking them, when the lookout suddenly reported three sailin sight. The half-drunken sailor who had been sent aloft at daybreakhad kept negligent watch, for almost as soon as he had made his reportthe ships were observed from the deck of the frigate. 

The _Mary Rose_ had the wind on her quarter, her best point of sailing, and she was covered with canvas from her trucks to her decks, from herspritsail yard to her huge mizzen crossjack, a lateen sail. The wind waslight, but she was making rapid progress toward the approachingstrangers, who, with their larboard tacks aboard, were beating up towardthe English. 

Attended by the maroon, Morgan, pistol in hand, went forward to theforecastle, kicking his way clear through the sullen, black-browed massof sailors. He ran a short distance up the weather fore-shrouds andtook a long look at the strangers. They all flew the yellow flag ofSpain. One was a huge galleon, the other two smaller ships, thoughlarger in each instance than the _Mary Rose_, and all heavily armed. 

One of the plate ships from Porto Bello was due in this latitude aboutthis time, and Morgan instantly surmised that the galleon was she, andthat the two others were Spanish frigates to give her safe convoy acrossthe ocean. Spain was at peace with all the world at that time, and thetwo frigates would have been ample to ward off the attack of any of thesmall piratical craft which had succeeded the buccaneer ships of theCaribbean. The Spaniards had no idea that such a vulture as Morgan wasafloat; therefore, although they had sighted the _Mary Rose_ long beforeshe had seen them because they kept better watch, they came onfearlessly and without hesitation. It was evident to the experiencedofficers among them that the vessel was an English frigate, and asEngland was a country with which there was profound peace at the timethey apprehended nothing. 

The position of the approaching ships with reference to one another wassomewhat peculiar. The first and smallest frigate was perhaps half amile ahead of her consorts, who were sailing side by side, a cable'slength apart. Morgan at once determined to attack them. He knew that hepossessed the handiest ship, and he believed that he had discovered away to master the other three. The two frigates were the most dangerousantagonists. If he could dispose of them the galleon would be at hismercy. He did not hesitate to encounter such odds, and even in the mindsof the craven part of the crew one English ship was thought to be goodfor any three Spaniards that ever floated. 

The interest of the crew had been excited by the approaching strangers, which were rapidly drawing nearer. They ceased their arguments andstrife, therefore, and crowded forward, looking alternately from theforeign ships to their own leader, lightly poised on the sheer-polesscanning the enemy. There were plenty of men of sufficient experienceamong them to pronounce them Spanish ships immediately, and theytherefore anticipated that work lay before them that morning. PresentlyMorgan sprang down upon the forecastle and faced his men. 

"Lads, " he said, "those are Spanish ships. "

"Ay, ay, sir, " came from one another as he paused a moment to let thesignificance of his announcement sink in. 

"And, " he continued, raising his voice so that it was audible throughoutthe ship, "the great one will be one of the plate ships homewardbound--but she'll never get there--from Porto Bello!"

A perfect yell of delight drowned his further remarks. The men shriekedand shouted and hurrahed at the joyous announcement, as if all they hadto do was to go aboard and take the ships. When the hullabaloo hadsubsided, Morgan continued:

"I'm glad to see you take it so bravely, for while there is treasureenough under her hatches to make us all rich, yet we'll not get itwithout a fight, for yonder are two heavily armed frigates. We'll haveto dispose of them before we get at the galleon. But, hearts of oak, Inever saw the buccaneer who wasn't worth three or a dozen of the Dons, and with a stout ship like this one under my feet and a band of bravehearts like you I wouldn't hesitate to tackle the whole Spanish navy. Itmeans a little fighting, but think of the prize!" he cried, playingskilfully upon the cupidity of his men. "Some of us will lose the numberof our messes, perhaps, before nightfall; but, " he continued, making amost singular and effective appeal, "there will be more to divide foreach man that is left alive. Are you with me?"

"To the death!" cried young Teach, who had come forward and mingled withthe crowd, lifting a naked cutlass as he spoke. His cry was taken up andrepeated, first by one and then another until the whole body wasyelling frantically to be given a chance to fight the Spanish ships. 

"That's well, " said Morgan grimly. "Master Teach, here, will commandforward on the fo'c'sl. Raveneau and Velsers shall attend to thebatteries in the waist. I appoint you, Hornigold, to look after themovements of the ship. See that the best hands are at the wheel and havesail trimmers ready. My Portuguese friend, you may look to the afterguns. Now to your stations. Cast loose and provide! Man the larboardbattery! See every thing is ready, but hold your fire and keep silenceunder pain of death! Yon frigate over there, we'll strike first. She'llbe unprepared and unsuspecting. One good blow ought to dispose of her. "

As he spoke, the men hurried to their stations. There was no lack ofskill on the frigate, and now was seen the value of Morgan's constantdrilling. The cannon of the ship were cast loose and loaded, loggerheadsand matches lighted, small arms distributed and primed, pikes wereserved out, cutlasses loosened in their sheaths, and such as had armor, still worn in greater or less degree even in that day, donned it, andthe ship was full of busy preparation. 

"We've no flag flying, sir, " said Hornigold as the men settled down totheir stations, grim and ready. 

"Ay, " said Morgan, "show the English flag. We'll make as much troublefor his gracious majesty, King James, as possible. "

In a short time the glorious colors of England, which had never wavedover so despicable a crew before, rippled out in the freshening breeze. As they were rapidly approaching the Spanish ship now, Morgan descendedfrom the poop-deck to make a personal inspection of his frigate beforebeginning action. He found everything to his taste, and passed along thelines of silent men congregated around the guns with words of sternappreciation. 

The crews of the guns had been constituted with great care. The guncaptains in each instance were tried and proved seamen, men as fearlessas they were capable. The weaker and the more wretched portion of theband had been so placed that opportunity for showing cowardice would begreatly circumscribed, and the stern command of the captain that theofficers and petty officers should instantly shoot any man who flinchedfrom duty was not without effect. He did not hesitate to remind the men, either, that they fought with halters around their necks. As even thecraven becomes dangerous when pushed to the wall, he felt they wouldgive a good account of themselves. 

"Hornigold, " said Morgan, as he stepped up on the quarter-deck again, "I want the frigate to pass as close to windward of that Spanish ship asyou can bring her without touching. Let her not suspect our desire, butwhirl into her as we get abreast. Don't fall foul of her as you valueyour life!"

"Ay, ay, sir, " answered that veteran, squinting forward along thejib-boom with his one eye as if measuring the distance, "I'll bring herclose enough for you to leap aboard and yet never touch a rope yarn onher. "

He spoke with the consciousness and pride of his skill. 

"Now, lads, " cried Morgan, "have everything ready, and when I give theword pour it in on yonder ship. I want to settle her with one broadside. It'll be touch and go, for we've got to dispose of her in an instant. Stand by for the word! Now, lie down, all, behind the bulwarks andrails. Let us make no show of force as we come up. We must not arousesuspicion. "

The two ships, the _Mary Rose_ going free, the Spanish frigate closehauled on the port tack, were now within hailing distance. As theyapproached each other the buccaneer could see that the other ship wascrowded with men. Among her people the flash of sunlight upon iron helmsdenoted that she carried a company of soldiers. The Spaniards wereentirely unsuspecting. The men had not gone to their quarters, the gunswere still secured; in short, save for the military trappings of thesoldiers on board and the tompioned muzzles of her cannon, she was inappearance as peaceful a vessel as sailed the seas. 

The two ships were near enough now to make conversation possible, andthe _Mary Rose_ was hailed by a tall, richly dressed officer inglistening breastplate and polished steel cap, standing on theforecastle of the other ship. 

"What ship is that?" he cried in broken English. 

"This is the frigate _Mary Rose_. " The usual answer to such a hail wouldhave been: "This is His Britannic Majesty's frigate _Mary Rose_, " butthe Spaniards suspected nothing as Morgan continued, "carrying Sir HenryMorgan, sometime Vice-Governor of the Island of Jamaica. "

"I have the honor to wish the Vice-Governor a very good morning, "answered the Spaniard, courteously waving his hand in salutation. 

"Now, Hornigold, now!" said Morgan in a fierce whisper. 

The old boatswain sprang himself to the wheel. With his powerful handshe revolved it quickly until it was hard up. The frigate answered itinstantly. She swung away toward the Spaniard to leeward of her with asuddenness that surprised even her steersman. 

"And I salute the Vice-Governor, " continued the Spanish captain, just asthe English ship swept down upon him; and then he cried in sudden alarmand excitement:

"Have a care, señor! What mean you? You will be aboard of us! Hard upwith the helm!"

As soon as the _Mary Rose_ had begun to fall off, ay, even before hermotion had been perceptible, Hornigold had reversed the helm. 

"Flow the head sheets there, " he cried, shoving the wheel over spoke byspoke with all the force of his arms. "Flatten in aft a little, here!Steady! Very well dyce. We're right abreast now, Captain, " he said. 

Almost as quickly as she had fallen off the nimble frigate, beautifullyhandled, came to the wind again. She was now almost in touch with theother ship. Hornigold's seamanship and skill had been magnificent. Hehad done all that was asked of him and all that he had promised. 

"Ay, ay, " answered Morgan in triumphant commendation. "Handsomely done. I could leap aboard!"

The Spanish ship was filled with confusion. The captain, with his faceblack with rage, stood on the forecastle shaking his fist. 

"This is outrageous, sir!" he shouted. "You have nearly run us down!What do you want?"

"I want to return your salute, " answered Morgan suavely. "Up, lads!" hecried. As the men sprang to their feet, he roared out fiercely: "Standby! Fire! Pour it into them!"

The _Mary Rose_ was almost in contact with the Spanish ship, when aperfect tornado of fire burst from her side. Every gun in her broadside, and she was a forty-eight gun frigate, was discharged point-blank at theastonished enemy. Not waiting to reload the guns, the crew seized thesmall arms ready charged to hand, and as they slowly swept by poured awithering fire upon the Spaniard's crowded decks. Out of the flame andsmoke the _Mary Rose_ burst upon the astounded eyes of the officers andmen of the two remaining ships. The first frigate was a wreck on thewater. Some of the pirate guns had been depressed, great holes had beenopened by the shot, the masts had been carried away, and the devotedship was sinking, her decks covered with dead and dying. 

"We wish you the compliments of the morning, señor, " roared Morgan, facing aft toward the battered and ruined frigate. "How like you oursalute?"

But the captain of the Spanish vessel lay dead upon his bloody deck, andif any answered the jeering taunt it was drowned by the laughter andcheering of the English crew. They had eliminated the first ship fromthe game. They had diminished their enemies by a third, and full ofconfidence they swept down upon the other two. 

CHAPTER VI

IN WHICH IS RELATED THE STRANGE EXPEDIENT OF THE CAPTAIN AND HOW THEYTOOK THE GREAT GALLEON

Although they could not comprehend the reason for the vicious attackupon their consort by a ship of a supposedly friendly power, it wasevident to the Spaniards in the two remaining ships that the Englishfrigate was approaching them with the most sinister and malevolentpurpose. One glance at the sinking remains of their ruined and batteredconsort established that fact in the most obtuse mind. Consequently theexultant men on the _Mary Rose_ could hear the shrill notes of thetrumpeters on the two other ships calling their men to arms. 

[Illustration]

With a confidence born of success, however, Morgan resolutely bore downupon the enemy. Even the dastards in his crew had been excited by theease and success of the first treacherous blow and plucked up courage, believing that their captain's invincible skill, address, and seamanshipwould carry them safely through the next encounter. 

The Spanish had little warning after all, for the breeze was rapidlyfreshening, and in what seemed an incredibly short time the Englishfrigate was close at hand. Though they worked with a desperate energythey had not entirely completed those preparations required by the shockof battle. As usual, Morgan was determined to lose no time. If he couldhave thrown his vessel upon them out of the fire and smoke of the firstbroadside he would have gained the victory with scarcely less difficultythan he had seized the first advantage, but that was not to be, and itwas with considerable anxiety that he surveyed the crowded decks of thetwo remaining ships. 

He had no fear of the armament of either one, but if those Spanishsoldiers ever got a footing upon his own deck it was probable they couldnot be dislodged without a tremendous sacrifice of life; and as he gazedover his motley crew he even questioned their ability to contendsuccessfully with such a mass of veterans. He had hoped that theremaining frigate would detach herself from the galleon, in which eventthe superior handiness and mobility of his own ship, to say nothing ofhis probable advantage in the way in which his batteries would befought, would enable him to dispose of her without too much difficulty. Then he could with ease place the huge and unwieldy galleon at hismercy. But the two Spanish ships stuck close together, too close indeed, Morgan thought, for their own safety. They were both on the wind withtheir larboard tacks aboard, the frigate slightly ahead of and towindward of the galleon, on the side, that is, whence the _Mary Rose_was approaching. So far as he could divine it, the Spanish plan, if theyhad formulated any in their hurry, appeared to be for the frigate toengage the _Mary Rose_, and while she had the latter ship under herbattery, the galleon would tack across the English vessel's bows, orstern as might be, rake her, get her between the two ships, run heraboard, and thus effect her ruin. The plan was simple, practicable, andpromised easy success, provided the Englishman did what was expected ofhim. 

Morgan was not to be caught napping that way. As he rushed down uponthem there came into his head one of the most daring ideas that has everflashed across a seaman's brain. Hastily summoning Braziliano he badehim take a dozen of his men, descend to the after magazine, procure twoor three barrels of powder from the gunner, and stow them in the cabinunder the poop-deck. He charged him to do it as quietly as possible andtake only men for the purpose upon whom he could depend. While this wasbeing done young Teach was also summoned from the forecastle, his placebeing taken by old Velsers, whose division in the battery was placedunder the command of Raveneau. There was a whispered colloquy betweenthe chieftain and his young subordinate, after which the latter noddedhis head, ran below, and concealed himself in one of the stateroomsunder the quarter-deck. In a little space the Portuguese reappeared withhis men and announced that they had completed their task; whereupon theywere directed to return to their stations. 

Meanwhile the crew had been recharging the battery and reloading thesmall arms. Morgan addressed to them a few words of hearty approval oftheir previous actions and predicted an easy victory over the two ships. The Spanish captain naturally supposed--and indeed the courses uponwhich the three ships were sailing if persisted in would have broughtabout the result--that the _Mary Rose_ would pass along his larboardside, and the two vessels would engage in the formal manner of theperiod, yard-arm to yard-arm, until the galleon could get into actionand so settle it in the purposed way. He intended, of course, if itcould be brought about, to throw the masses of soldiers he wastransporting home upon the English decks, and carry the frigate byboarding. 

Again Morgan put Hornigold in charge of the manoeuvering of the ship, and again that old worthy chose to handle the spokes himself. There wasa brief conversation between them, and then the English captain ranforward on the forecastle. The ships were very near now. In a moment ortwo they would pass each other in parallel courses, though in oppositedirection, and their broadsides would bear; but when the _Mary Rose_ wasabout a cable's length from the Spanish frigate something happened. 

The astonished Don heard a sharp command ring out from the approachingEnglish ship, after which she made a wide sweep and came drivingstraight at him at a furious speed. The English captain intended to runhim down! Here was to be no passage along his broadside. The other wasupon him! The cutwater of the onrushing ship loomed up before himtremendously. Instantly all was confusion on the Spanish ship! Thesteersman lost his head, and without orders put his helm up sharply;some one cut the sheet of the after-sail on the huge lateen yard, andthe frigate went whirling around on her heel like a top, in a violentand fatal, as well as vain, effort to get out of the road. 

It was a most foolish manoeuvre, for close at hand on the lee side ofher the galleon came lumbering along. Her captain, too, had seen theperil, and had elected to meet it by tacking under his consort's stern. But he was too near, and the other ship fell off and was swept toleeward too rapidly. His own ship, cumbersome and unwieldy, as theyalways were, was slow in answering the helm. The frigate and galleoncame together with a terrific crash. The shock carried away theforetopmast of the frigate, which fell across the head yards of thegalleon. The two ships were instantly locked together. They swungdrifting and helpless in the tossing waters. 

Morgan had counted upon this very catastrophe. A twist of the helm, atouch of the braces, and the prow of the _Mary Rose_ swung to windward. As her batteries bore she hurled their messengers of death into thecrowded masses on the Spanish ships. Although dismayed by the collision, the gunners on the frigate made a spirited reply with a discharge whichat such close range did much execution. 

Unfortunately for her, the _Mary Rose_ had rushed so close to the twoentangled ships that it was impossible for her to escape hitting them. The English captain would have given anything if he could have gonefree of the mass, for he could have passed under the stern of the twohelpless ships, raked them, and probably would have had them at hismercy; but his dash at them had been an earnest one, and in order tocarry out his plan successfully he had been forced to throw his shipright upon them. Therefore, though the helm was shifted and the braceshauled in an effort to get clear, and though the ship under Morgan'sconning and Hornigold's steering was handled as few ships have ever beenhandled, and though it was one of the speediest and most weatherly ofvessels, they could not entirely swing her clear. The stern of thefrigate crashed against the stern of the nearest Spanish ship driftingfrantically to leeward. 

The Spanish captain, mortified and humiliated beyond expression by themishap, instantly realized that this contact presented them with apossibility of retrieving themselves. Before the ships could beseparated, grappling irons were thrown, and in a second the three werelocked in a close embrace. Morgan had anticipated this situation also, although he had hoped to avoid it, and had prepared for it. As the twoships became fast the high poop and rail of the Spaniard were black withiron-capped men. They swarmed over on the lower poop and quarter-deck ofthe _Mary Rose_ in a dense mass. Fortunately, the small arms on bothsides had been discharged a moment before and there had been no time toreload. The remainder of the engagement to all intents and purposeswould be fought with the cold steel. 

Morgan had gained an advantage in throwing the two ships into collision, but he appeared to have lost it again because he had been unable toclear the wrecks himself. The advantage was now with the Spaniards, whose force outnumbered his own two or three to one. Surprising as itwas to the old buccaneers and the bolder spirits among his crew, whoseblood was up sufficiently to enable them to long for the onset, Morganhad run to the waist of the ship when he saw the inevitable collisionand had called all hands from the poop and quarter. The _Mary Rose_ wasprovided with an elevated quarter-deck and above that a high poop. Massing his men in the gangways just forward of the mainmast and on theforecastle itself, with the hardiest spirits in the front line andMorgan himself in advance of all sword in hand, the two partiescontemplated each other for a little space before joining in the onset. 

The poop and quarter-deck were crowded so thick with Spanish soldiersand sailors that room could scarcely be found for the increasingprocession, for, anxious to be in at the death, the men of the galleonclinging to the frigate ran across and joined their comrades. Here weretrained and veteran soldiers in overwhelming numbers, with the advantageof position in that they fought from above down, to oppose which Morganhad his motley crew behind him. 

"Yield, you dastardly villain!" shouted the captain of the Spanishfrigate, who was in the fore of his men. 

"Shall I have good quarter?" cried Morgan. 

A low growl ran through the ranks of the buccaneers at this question. Yet the rapscallions among the crew back of him instantly took up thecry. 

"Quarter! Quarter! We surrender! We strike! For heaven's sake----"

"Silence!" roared Morgan--an order which was enforced by the officersand veterans by fierce blows with pistol butts, hilts of swords, andeven naked fists. "I would hear the answer of the Spanish captain. "

"We give no quarter to pirates and murderers, " the other shouted. 

"That's what I thought, " said Morgan triumphantly, and as he spoke hedrew from his pocket a silver whistle like a boatswain's call. He blewit shrilly before the wondering men. 

At that instant Teach, followed by the few men who had remained below inthe powder division, came running up to Morgan from the hatchwaybetween the two forces. 

"Is't done?" cried the captain. 

"Ay, sir. In another----"

"Forward, gentlemen!" shouted the Spanish captain, dropping from thequarter-deck to the main-deck. "God and St. Jago! Have at them!"

Before he had taken two steps the terrific roar of a deafening explosioncame to the startled buccaneers out of the blast of flame and smoke, inthe midst of which could be heard shrieks and groans of the mostterrible anguish. Teach had connected the powder with the fuse, and whenhe had heard the sound of Morgan's whistle, the agreed signal, he hadignited it and blown up the stern of the frigate. 

The Spaniards were hurled in every direction. So powerful was theconcussion that the front ranks of the buccaneers were also thrown downby it. Morgan happened to fall by the side of the Spanish captain, andthe latter, though badly wounded, with determined and heroic valorraised himself on his arm and strove to kill the buccaneer. But thefaithful Carib, who had reserved one charged pistol by his master'scommand for such an emergency, shot him dead. 

Morgan struggled to his feet and looked at the scene. Some of his mendid not rise with the others, for they had been killed by the fallingsplinters and bits of iron. The whole stern of the _Mary Rose_ was gone. There wasn't a Spaniard left before them. A few figures shrieking vainlyfor help, clutching at floating pieces of timber, might be seenstruggling in the sea. The Spanish frigate had a great hole in the portside of her after-works. She was on fire. The three ships were rockingas if in a hurricane. 

Panic filled the minds of the greater part of the buccaneers at thistremendous catastrophe. Had Morgan to save himself ruined his own ship?They were appalled by the terrific expedient of their captain. Wildcries and imprecations burst forth. 

"The ship is sinking!"

"We are lost!"

"Silence!" shouted Morgan, again and again. "The ship is sinking, butour ship is there. Let those who love life follow me. "

He sprang at the burning rail of the Spanish frigate. Black Dog was athis heels, Ben Hornigold followed hard upon, Teach was on the otherside. From the waist Raveneau and the Brazilian strove to inspire themen. Old Velsers from the forecastle drove them forward as quickly as hecould. Presently they recovered their courage in some measure, for thefighting force of the enemy had disappeared. They had lost a ship, butthere were two other ships before them. They swarmed over the rail withcheers and cries. There was little or no resistance. The men of thefrigate were stunned into helplessness by the explosion, although thecaptain of the galleon rallied a few men and fought until they were allcut down, and the two ships were taken by storm. 

They had scarcely gained the deck of the galleon before the remains ofthe _Mary Rose_ sank beneath the sea, the wounded upon the decks vainlycrying for succor. 

By this time the weather side of the remaining Spanish ship was a massof flame and there was imminent danger that the fire would becommunicated to the galleon. Giving his men time for nothing, Morgan setto work furiously to extricate himself. Axes and hatchets were plied andall the skill and seamanship of the conquerors brought into play. Finally they succeeded in getting clear and working away from theburning frigate. Morgan at once put the galleon before the wind, andwhen he had drawn away a short distance, hove to the ship to takeaccount of the damage before determining his future course. 

Far back on the ocean and low in the water drifted the sinking remainsof the first Spanish frigate. Near at hand was the hulk of the secondship, now a blazing furnace. The first was filled with living men, manyof them desperately wounded. No attention was paid to them by thebuccaneers. They cried for mercy unheeded. Anyway their suspense wouldsoon be over. Indeed, the first ship sank and the second blew up with afearful explosion a short time after they got away. A brief inspectionshowed that the galleon had suffered little or no damage that could notbe repaired easily at sea. Taking account of his men, Morgan found thatabout twenty were missing. Taking no care for them nor for the two shipshe had fought so splendidly, pirate though he was, he clapped sail onthe galleon and bore away to the southward. 

CHAPTER VII

WHEREIN BARTHOLOMEW SAWKINS MUTINIED AGAINST HIS CAPTAIN AND WHAT BEFELHIM ON THAT ACCOUNT

[Illustration]

The _Almirante Recalde_, for such was the name of the galleon, waseasily and speedily repaired by the skilled seamen of the _Mary Rose_under such leadership and direction as the experience of Morgan and theofficers afforded. By the beginning of the first dog-watch even acritical inspection would scarcely have shown that she had been inaction. With the wise forethought of a seaman, Morgan had subordinatedevery other duty to the task of making the vessel fit for any danger ofthe sea, and he had deferred any careful examination of her cargo untileverything had been put shipshape again; although by his hurriedquestioning of the surviving officers he had learned that the_Almirante Recalde_ was indeed loaded with treasure of Peru, which hadbeen received by her _via_ the Isthmus of Panama for transportation toSpain. On board her were several priests returning to Spain headed byone Fra Antonio de Las Casas, together with a band of nuns under thedirection of an aged abbess, Sister Maria Christina. 

In the indiscriminate fury of the assault one or two of the priests hadbeen killed, but so soon as the ship had been fully taken possession ofthe lives of the surviving clerics and the lives of the good sisters hadbeen spared by Morgan's express command. These unfortunate women hadbeen forced into the great cabin, where they were guarded by men in whomconfidence could be placed. The priests were allowed to minister totheir dying compatriots so long as they kept out of the way of thesailors. No feeling of pity or compassion induced Morgan to withhold thewomen from his crew. He was a man of prudent foresight and he preservedthem for a purpose, a purpose in which the priests were included. 

In the hold of the ship nearly one hundred and fifty wretched prisonerswere discovered. They were the crew of the buccaneer ship _Daring_, which had been commanded by a famous adventurer named Ringrose, who hadbeen captured by a Spanish squadron after a desperate defense off theport of Callao, Peru. They were being transported to Spain, where theyhad expected summary punishment for their iniquities. No attentionwhatever had been paid to their protests that they were Englishmen, andindeed the statement was hardly true for at least half of them belongedto other nations. In the long passage from Callao to the Isthmus andthence through the Caribbean they had been kept rigorously underhatches. Close confinement for many days and enforced subsistence upon ascanty and inadequate diet had caused many to die and impaired thehealth of the survivors. When the hatch covers were opened, the chainsunshackled and the miserable wretches brought on deck, their conditionmoved even some of the buccaneers to pity. The galleon was generouslyprovided for her long cruise across the ocean, and the releasedprisoners, by Morgan's orders, were liberally treated. No work wasrequired of them; they were allowed to wander about the decks atpleasure, refreshed by the open air, the first good meal they hadenjoyed in several months, and by a generous allowance of spirits. Assoon as they learned the object of the cruise, without exception theyindicated their desire to place themselves under the command of Morgan. Ringrose, their captain, had been killed, and they were without aleader, which was fortunate in that it avoided the complications ofdivided command. Fortunate, that is, for Ringrose, for Morgan would havebrooked no rival on such an expedition. 

As soon as it could be done, a more careful inspection and calculationsatisfied the buccaneer of the immense value of his prize. The lading ofthe galleon, consisting principally of silver bullion, was probablyworth not far from a million Spanish dollars--pieces of eight! Thisdivided among the one hundred and eighty survivors of the original crewmeant affluence for even the meanest cabin boy. It was wealth such asthey had not even dreamed of. It was a prize the value of which hadscarcely ever been paralleled. 

They were assembled forward of the quarter-deck when the announcementwas made. When they understood the news the men became drunk with joy. It would seem as if they had been suddenly stricken mad. Some of themstared in paralyzed silence, others broke into frantic cheers and yells, some reeled and shuddered like drunken men. The one person who preservedhis imperturbable calmness was Morgan himself. The gratitude of thesemen toward him was overwhelming. Even those who had good cause to hatehim forgot for the time being their animosity--all except Hornigold, whose hatred was beyond all price. Under his leadership they hadachieved such a triumph as had scarcely ever befallen them in thepalmiest days of their career, and with little or no loss they had beenput in possession of a prodigious treasure. They crowded about himpresently with enthusiastic cheers of affection and extravagant vows ofloving service. All, that is, except Hornigold, whose sense of injury, whose thirst for vengeance, was so deep that all the treasure of Potosiitself would not have abated one jot or one tittle of it. 

The general joy, however, was not shared by the rescued buccaneers. Although they had but a few hours before despaired of life in theloathsome depths of the vile hold, and they had been properly gratefulfor the sudden and unexpected release which had given them their libertyand saved them from the gibbet, yet it was not in any human man, especially a buccaneer, to view with equanimity the distribution--or theproposed distribution--of so vast a treasure and feel that he could notshare in it. The fresh air and the food and drink had already done muchfor those hardy ruffians. They were beginning to regain, if not alltheir strength, at least some of their courage and assurance. Theycongregated in little groups here and there among Morgan's original menand stared with lowering brows and flushed faces at the frantic revel inwhich they could not participate. Not even the cask of rum which Morganordered broached to celebrate the capture, and of which all handspartook with indiscriminate voracity, could bring joy to their hearts. After matters had quieted down somewhat--and during this time thegalleon had been mainly left to navigate herself--Morgan deemed it asuitable occasion to announce his ultimate designs to the men. 

"Gentlemen, shipmates, and bold hearts all, " he cried, waving his handfor silence, "we have captured the richest prize probably that floats onthe ocean. There are pieces of eight and silver bullion enough beneaththe hatches, as I have told you, to make us rich for life, to saynothing of the gold, jewels, spices, and whatnot, besides----"

He was interrupted by another yell of appreciation. 

"But, men, " he continued, "I hardly know what to do with it. "

"Give it to us, " roared a voice, which was greeted with uproariouslaughter, "we'll make away with it. "

Morgan marked down with his eye the man who had spoken and went on. 

"The ports of His Majesty, the King of England, will be closed to us sosoon as our capture of the _Mary Rose_ is noted. England is at peacewith the world. There is not a French or Spanish port that would give usa haven. If we appeared anywhere in European waters with this galleonwe would be taken and hanged. Now, what's to be done?"

"Run the ship ashore on the New England coast, " cried the man who hadspoken before. "Divide the treasure. Burn the ship and scatter. Letevery man look to his own share and his own neck. "

"A plan, a plan!"

"Ay, that'll be the way of it!"

"Sawkins is right!"

"To the New England shore! Ben Hornigold will pilot the ship!" burst inconfused clamor from the crew to whom the plan appealed. 

"By heaven, no!" shouted Morgan. "That's well enough for you, not forme. I'm a marked man. You can disappear. I should be taken, andHornigold and Raveneau and the rest. It won't do. We must stay by theship. "

"And what then?"

"Keep to the original plan. We'll sail this ship down to the SpanishMain and capture a town, divide our treasure, make our way overland tothe Pacific, where we'll find another ship, and then away to the SouthSeas! Great as is our booty, there is still more to be had there for thetaking. We'll be free to go where we please with the whole SouthAmerican coast at hand. There are islands, tropic islands, there, whereit's always summer. They are ours for the choosing. We can establishourselves there. We'll found a community, with every man a law forhimself. We'll----"

But the recital of this Utopian dream was rudely interrupted. 

"Nay, Master, " cried Sawkins, who had done most of the talking fromamong the crew, "we go no farther. "

He was confident that he had the backing of the men, and in thatconfidence grew bold with reckless temerity. Flushed by the victory ofthe morning, the rum he had imbibed, intoxicated by the thought of thetreasure which was to be shared, the man went on impudently:

"No, Sir Harry Morgan, we've decided to follow our latest plan. We'llwork this ship up to the New England coast and wreck her there. Thereare plenty of spots where she can be cast away safely and none to knowit. We'll obey you there and no further. We've got enough treasure underhatches to satisfy any reasonable man. We're not afeared o' the King ifyou are. "

"You fool!" thundered Morgan. "You will be hanged as soon as your partin the adventure is known. "

"And who is to make it known, pray? As you said, we are poor ignorantmen. It's nothing to us if you are marked, and you, and you, " hecontinued, stepping forward and pointing successively at Morgan and thelittle band of officers who surrounded him. "A bird in the hand is worthtwo in the bush, we'd have you understand, and we're content with whatwe've got. We don't take no stock in them islands of yours. We can getall the women we want, and of our own kind without crossing the Isthmus. We don't want no further cruisin'. There's no need for us to land on theSpanish Main. We've made up our minds to 'bout ship and bear away to thenorthward. Am I right, mates?"

"Ay, ay, right you are!" roared the men surging aft. 

"You mutinous hound!" yelled Morgan, leaning forward in a perfect furyof rage, and his passion was something appalling to look upon. 

Hornigold clutched at the helm, which had been deserted by the seamendetailed to it during the course of the hot debate. The old man cast onelong, anxious glance to windward where a black squall was apparentlybrewing. But he said nothing. The argument was between Morgan and hiscrew, there was no need for him to interfere. Teach, Raveneau, Velsers, and the officers drew their pistols and bared their swords, but most ofthe crew were also armed, and if it came to a trial of strength thecabin gang was so overwhelmingly outnumbered that it would have beenfutile to inaugurate a contest. 

Morgan, however, was frantic with rage. To be braved by a member of hiscrew, to have his plans balked by any man, and to be openly insulted inthis manner! He did not hesitate a second. He rushed at MasterBartholomew Sawkins, and, brave man as that sailor was, he fairlyquailed before the terrific incarnation of passionate fury his captainpresented. The rest of the crew gave back before the furious onset ofSir Henry. 

"You dog!" he screamed, and before the other realized his intention hestruck him a fearful blow in the face with his naked fist. Always a manof unusual strength, his rage had bestowed upon him a Herculean force. He seized the dazed man by the throat and waist belt ere he fell to thedeck from the force of the blow, and lifting him up literally pitchedhim overboard. Before the crew had recovered from their astonishment andterror at this bold action, the buccaneer officers closed behind theircaptain, each covering the front ranks of the men with a pistol. At thesame instant the other men, Ringrose's crew, came shoving through thecrowd, snatching such arms as they could in the passage, although mostof them had to be satisfied with belaying pins. 

"We're with you, Captain Morgan, " cried one of their number. "We've hadno treasure, and it seems we're not to have a share in this either. We've been in the South Seas, " continued the speaker, a man namedL'Ollonois, noted for his cruelty, rapacity, and success, "and thecaptain speaks truly. There are all that can delight brave men and arace of cowards to defend them. What's this treasure? It is great, butthere are other things we want--wine and women!"

The man who had been thrown overboard had shrieked for help as he fell. The splash he had made as he struck the water had been followed byanother. A Spanish priest standing by the rail had seized a grating andthrown it to the man. Morgan took in the situation in a glance. 

"Who threw that grating?" he cried. 

"I, señor, " composedly answered the priest, who understood English. 

Morgan instantly snatched a pistol from de Lussan's hand and shot theman dead. 

"I allow no one, " he shouted, "to interfere between me and thediscipline of my men! You speak well, L'Ollonois. And for you, hounds!"he roared, clubbing the smoking pistol and stepping toward the huddled, frightened men, "get back to your duties unless you wish instant death!Scuttle me, if I don't blow up the galleon unless you immediately obey!Bear a hand there! If you hesitate--Fire on them!" he cried to hisofficers, but the men in the front did not linger. They broke away fromhis presence so vehemently that they fell over one another in thegangways. 

[Illustration: Morgan instantly snatched a pistol from de Lussan's handand shot the man dead. ]

"Don't fire!" they cried in terror. "We'll go back to duty. "

Morgan was completely master of the situation. 

"I am to be obeyed, " he cried, "implicitly, without question, withouthesitation!"

"Ay, ay!"

"We will, we will!"

"That's well. Heave that carrion overboard, " kicking the body of thepriest. "Now we'll go back and pick up Sawkins, " he continued. "Readyabout, station for stays!"

"Look you, Captain Morgan, " cried Hornigold, pointing to leeward. "Thesquall! 'Twill be soon on us. We'd best reduce sail and run for it. "

"Nay, " said Morgan, "I'll allow not even a storm to interfere with myplans. Flow the head sheets there! Hard down with the helm! Aft, heresome of you, and man the quarter boat. I said I'd pick him up, andpicked up he shall be, in spite of hell!"

The ship, like all Spanish ships, was unhandy and a poor sailor. Morgan, however, got all out of her that mortal man could get. With niceseamanship he threw her up into the wind, hove her to, and dropped aboat overboard. Teach had volunteered for the perilous command of herand the best men on the ship were at the oars. Sawkins had managed tocatch the grating and was clinging feebly when the boat swept down uponhim. They dragged him aboard and then turned to the ship. The sinistersquall was rushing down upon them from the black horizon with terrificvelocity. The men bent their backs and strained at the oars as neverbefore. It did not seem possible that they could beat the wind. The menon the ship beseeched Morgan to fill away and abandon their comrades. 

"No!" he cried. "I sent them there and I'll wait for them if I sink theship!"

Urged by young Teach to exertion superhuman, the boat actually shotunder the quarter of the galleon before the squall broke. The tackleswere hooked on and she was run up to the davits with all her crewaboard. 

"Up with the helm!" cried Morgan the instant the boat was alongside. "Swing the mainyard and get the canvas off her. Aloft, topmen, settleaway the halliards! Clew down! Lively, now!"

And as the ship slowly paid off and gathered away the white squall brokeupon them. The sea was a-smother with mist and rain. The wind whippedthrough the shrouds and rigging, but everything held. Taking a greatbone in her teeth the old _Almirante Recalde_ heeled far over to leewardand ripped through the water to the southward at such a pace as she hadnever made before. On the quarter-deck a drenched, shivering, andsobbing figure knelt at Morgan's feet and kissed his hand. 

"Wilt obey me in the future?" cried the captain to the repentant man. 

"'Fore God, I will, sir, " answered Sawkins. 

"That's well, " said the old buccaneer. "Take him forward, men, and lethim have all the rum he wants to take off the chill of his wetting. "

"You stood by me that time, Sir Henry, " cried young Teach, who had beentold of Morgan's refusal to fill away, "and, by heaven, I'll stand byyou in your need!"

"Good. I'll remember that, " answered Morgan, glad to have made at leastone friend among all he commanded. 

"What's our course now, captain?" asked Hornigold as soon as theincident was over. 

"Sou'west by west-half-west, " answered Morgan, who had taken anobservation that noon, glancing in the binnacle as he spoke. 

"And that will fetch us where?" asked the old man, who was charged withthe duty of the practical sailing of the ship. 

"To La Guayra and Venezuela. "

"Oho!" said the old boatswain, "St. Jago de Leon, Caracas, t'other sideof the mountains will be our prize?"

"Ay, " answered Morgan. "'Tis a rich place and has been unpillaged for ahundred years. "

He turned on his heel and walked away. He vouchsafed no furtherinformation and there was no way for Master Ben Hornigold to learn thatthe object that drew Morgan to La Guayra and St. Jago was not plunderbut the Pearl of Caracas. 

CHAPTER VIII

HOW THEY STROVE TO CLUB-HAUL THE GALLEON AND FAILED TO SAVE HER ON THECOAST OF CARACAS

Two days later they made a landfall off the terrific coast of Caracas, where the tree-clad mountains soar into the clouds abruptly from thelevel of the sea, where the surf beats without intermission even in themost peaceful weather upon the narrow strip of white sand whichseparates the blue waters of the Caribbean from the massive cliffs thattower above them. 

In the intervening time the South Sea buccaneers had picked upwonderfully. These men, allured by the hope of further plunder under acaptain who had been so signally successful in the past and in thepresent, constituted a most formidable auxiliary to Morgan's originalcrew. Indeed, with the exception of the old hands they were the best ofthe lot. L'Ollonois had been admitted among the officers on a suitablefooting, and there was little or no friction among the crews. They weregetting hammered into shape, too, under Morgan's hard drilling, and itwas a vastly more dangerous body of men than the drunken gang who hadsailed away from Jamaica. Though not the equal of the formerbuccaneering bands who had performed in their nefarious careers unheardof prodigies of valor and courage, they were still not to be despised. Had it been known on the Spanish Main that such a body was afloat therewould have been a thrill of terror throughout the South Americancontinent, for there were many who could remember with the vividness ofeye-witnesses and participants the career of crime and horror which theold buccaneers had inaugurated. 

Like a politic captain, Morgan had done his best to get the men whom hehad subdued by his intrepid courage and consummate address into goodhumor. Rum and spirits were served liberally, work was light, in factnone except the necessary seaman's duties were required of the men, although an hour or two every day was employed in hard drill withswords, small arms, and great guns. In martial exercises the veteranswere perfect, and they assiduously endeavored to impart their knowledgeto the rest. 

It was Morgan's plan to run boldly into La Guayra under the Spanishflag. No one could possibly take the _Almirante Recalde_ for anythingbut a Spanish ship. There was no reason for suspecting the presence ofan enemy, for Spain had none in these seas. If there were other ships inthe roadstead, for the harbor of La Guayra was really nothing more thanan open road, the buccaneer could easily dispose of them in theirunprepared condition. Indeed, Morgan rather hoped that there might beothers, for, after he captured them, he would have a greater force ofguns to train upon the forts of the town, which he expected to takewithout much difficulty, and then be governed in his manoeuvres towardCaracas by circumstances as they arose. 

Two days after the capture of the galleon, then, with the wind freshfrom the northeast, on a gray, threatening, stormy morning, she wasrunning to the westward along the shore. A few hours at their presentspeed would bring them opposite La Guayra, whose location at the foot ofthe mighty La Silla of Caracas was even then discernible. Morgan couldsee that there were two or three other vessels opposite the townstraining at their anchors in the heavy sea. Every preparation foraction had been made in good time and the guns had been loaded. The sealashings had been cast off, although the gun-tackles were carefullysecured, for the wind was blowing fresher and the sea running heavierevery hour. 

The men were armed to the teeth. There happened to be a goodly supplyof arms on the Spanish ship in addition to those the buccaneers hadbrought with them, which were all distributed. Many a steel cap destinedfor some proud Spanish hidalgo's head now covered the cranium of somerude ruffian whom the former would have despised as beneath his feet. 

Everything was propitious for their enterprise but the weather. Theveterans who were familiar with local conditions in the Caribbeanstudied the northeastern skies with gloomy dissatisfaction. The wind wasblowing dead inshore, and as the struck bells denoted the passing hours, with each half-hourly period it grew appreciably stronger. If itcontinued to blow, or if, as it was almost certain, the strength of thewind increased, it would be impossible without jeopardizing the ship tocome to anchor in the exposed roadstead. They would have to run for it. Nay, more, they would have to beat out to sea against it, for thecoast-line beyond La Guayra turned rapidly to the northward. 

Morgan was a bold and skilful mariner, and he held his course parallelto the land much longer than was prudent. He was loath, indeed, toabandon even temporarily a design upon which he had determined, and ashe had rapidly run down his southing in this brief cruise hisdetermination had been quickened by the thought of his growing nearnessto the Pearl of Caracas, until for the moment love--or what he calledlove--had almost made him forget the treasure in the ship beneath hisfeet. For the Pearl of Caracas was a woman. 

Mercedes de Lara, daughter of the Viceroy of Venezuela, on her way homefrom Spain where she had been at school, to join her father, the CountAlvaro de Lara in the Vice-regal Palace at St. Jago de Leon, sometimescalled the City of Caracas, in the fair valley on the farther side ofthose towering tree-clad mountains--the Cordilleras of the shore--hadtouched at Jamaica. There she had been received with due honor, asbecame the daughter of so prominent a personage, by the Vice-Governorand his wretched wife. Morgan's heart had been inflamed by the dark, passionate beauty of the Spanish maiden. It was only by a severerestraint enjoined upon himself by his position that he had refrainedfrom abusing the hospitality he extended, by seizing her in the oldbuccaneer fashion. The impression she had made upon him had beenlasting, and when he found himself alone, an outlaw, all his dreams ofthe future centered about his woman. 

He would carry out the plans which he had outlined to his men, but thePearl of Caracas, for so Donna Mercedes was called, must accompany himto the South Seas to be the Island Queen of that Buccaneer Empire ofwhich he was to be the founder. That Donna Mercedes might object to thisproposition; that she might love another man, might even be married bythis time, counted for nothing in Morgan's plans. He had taken what hewanted by dint of his iron will and the strength of his right arm in thepast and he should continue the process in the future. If the hand ofman could not turn him, certainly the appeal of woman would availnothing. 

Consequently he was most reluctant that morning, for his passion hadincreased with each o'er-run league of sea, to bear away from La Guayra, which was the port of entry for Caracas; but even his ardent spirit wasat last convinced of the necessity. It was blowing a gale now and theywere so near the shore, although some distance to the eastward of thetown, that they could see the surf breaking with tremendous force uponthe strip of sand. The officers and older men had observed the course ofthe ship with growing concern, but no one had ventured to remonstratewith Morgan until old Ben Hornigold as a privileged character finallysummoned his courage and approached him. 

"Mark yon shore, Captain Morgan, " he said, and when he made up his mindhe spoke boldly. "The wind freshens. We're frightfully near. Should itcome on to blow we could not save the ship. You know how unseamanlythese Spanish hulks are. "

"Right you are, Hornigold, " answered Morgan, yet frowning heavily. "Curse this wind! We must claw off, I suppose. "

"Ay, and at once, " cried Hornigold. "See, the wind shifts already! Itblows straight from the north now. "

"Hands by the braces there!" shouted Morgan, following with apprehensionthe outstretched finger of the old boatswain. "Ease down the helm. Braceup. Lively, lads!"

In a few moments the great ship, her yards braced sharply up, was headedout to seaward on the starboard tack. The wind was now blowing a wholegale and the masts of the ship were bending like whips. 

"We'll have to get sail off her, I'm thinking, Hornigold, " said Morgan. 

"Ay, ay, sir, and quick!"

"Aloft!" yelled Morgan, "and take in the to'gallant s'l's. Close reefthe tops'l's and double reef the courses then. "

The shaking shrouds were soon covered with masses of men, and as theship was exceedingly well handled the canvas was promptly snugged downby the eager crew. Hornigold with young Teach to assist him went to thehelm. Morgan gave his personal attention to the manoeuvering of theship, and the other officers stationed themselves where they could bestpromote and direct the efforts of the seamen. 

Thus during the long morning they endeavored to claw off the lee shore. Morgan luffed the ship through the heavy squalls which rose to theviolence of a hurricane, with consummate skill. Absolutely fearless, amaster of his profession, he did all with that ship that mortal mancould have done, yet their situation became more and more precarious. They had long since passed La Guayra. They had had a fleeting glimpse ofthe shipping in the harbor driving helplessly on shore as they dashed byunder the gray clouds which had overspread the sea. That town was nowhidden from them by a bend of the coast, and they found themselves in acurious bight of land, extending far into the ocean in front of them. The mountains here did not so nearly approach the water-line, and fromthe look of the place there appeared to be a shoal projecting somedistance into the ocean from the point ahead. Some of the buccaneers whoknew these waters confirmed the indications by asserting the existenceof the shoal. 

In spite of all that Morgan could do it was quite evident that theycould not weather the shoal on their present tack. There was notsea-room to wear and bear up on the other tack. The vessel, in fact, like all ships in those days and especially Spanish galleons, had atendency to go to leeward like a barrel, and only Morgan's resourcefulseamanship had saved them from the fatal embraces of the shore longsince. The canvas she was carrying was more than she could legitimatelybear in such a hurricane. If there had been sea-room Morgan would havestripped her to bare poles long since, but under the circumstances itwas necessary for him to retain full control and direction of the ship;so, although he reduced sail to the lowest point, he still spread alittle canvas. 

The men were filled with apprehension, not only for their lives but, such was their covetousness, for the treasure they had captured, forthey stood about a hundred chances to one of losing the ship. Eachsquall that swept down upon them was harder than the one before. Eachtime the vessel almost went over on her beam ends, for Morgan would notluff until the last moment, since each time that he did so and lost waytemporarily he found himself driven bodily nearer the land. The menwould have mutinied had it not been patent to the most stupid mind thattheir only salvation lay in Morgan. Never had that despicable villainappeared to better advantage than when he stood on the weather quarteroverlooking the ship, his long gray hair blown out in the wind, fighting against a foe whose strength was not to be measured by the mindof man, for his life and his ship. 

Hornigold and Teach, grasping the wheel assisted by two of the ablestseamen, were steering the ship with exquisite precision. Sweat pouredfrom their brows at the violence of the labor required to control themassive helm. The men lay to windward on the deck, or grouped inclusters around the masts, or hung to the life lines which had beenpassed in every direction. At Morgan's side stood Velsers and Raveneau, prime seamen both. 

"What think ye, gentlemen?" asked Morgan, at last pointing to the pointlooming fearfully close ahead of them. "Can we weather it?"

"Never!" answered de Lussan, shaking his head. "Well, it has been ashort cruise and a merry one. Pity to lose our freightage and lives. "

"And you, Velsers?"

"No, " said the German, "it can't be done. Why did we ever come to thiscursed coast?"

"Avast that!" cried Morgan, thinking quickly. "Gentlemen, we'llclub-haul the ship. "

"The water's too deep, my captain, to give holding ground to theanchor, " urged Raveneau shrugging his shoulders. 

"It shoals yonder, I think, " answered Morgan. "We'll hold on until thelast minute and then try. "

"'Tis wasted labor, " growled Velsers. 

"And certain death to hold on, " added the Frenchman. 

"Have you anything else to propose, sirs?" asked Morgan sharply. "Wecan't tack ship against this wind and sea. There's no room to wear. What's to do?"

The men made no answer. 

"Forward there!" cried the old buccaneer, and it was astonishing theforce and power with which he made himself heard in spite of the roar ofthe wind and the smash of the sea. "Get the lee anchor off the bowsthere! L'Ollonois?"

"Ay, ay. "

"Run a hawser from the anchor in aft here on the quarter. We'llclub-haul the ship. See the cable clear for running. "

"Very good, sir, " cried the Frenchman, summoning the hardiest hands andthe most skilful to carry out his commander's orders. 

"Ready it is, sir, " answered Hornigold, tightening his grasp on thespokes and nodding his head to his superior. 

"To the braces, lads! Obey orders sharply. It's our last chance. "

The water was roaring and smashing against the shore not a cable'slength away. Usually in those latitudes it deepened tremendously a shortdistance from the low water mark, and there was a grave question whetheror not the anchor, with the scope they could give it, would reachbottom. At any rate it must be tried, and tried now. Morgan had held onas long as he dared. Another minute and they would strike. 

"Down helm!" he shouted. "Flow the head sheets! Round in on the forebraces, there! Show that canvas aft!"

The lateen sail on the crossjack yard had been furled, and Morgan, toforce her head around, directed the after guard to spring into themizzen-rigging with a bit of tarpaulin and by exposing it and theirbodies to the wind to act as a sail in assisting her to head away fromthe shore. 

"Helm-a-lee! Hard-a-lee!" cried Hornigold, who with his men was graspingthe spokes like a giant. 

Slowly the old galleon swung up into the wind, the waves beating uponher bows with a noise like crashes of thunder. A moment she hung. Shecould go no farther. 

"She's in irons! Swing that yard!" roared Morgan. "Cut and veer awayforward!"

There was a splash as the anchor dropped overboard. 

"Hands on that hawser!" he shouted. "Everybody walk away with it!"

The whole crew apparently piled on to the anchor hawser in the hope ofpulling the ship's stern around so that the wind would take her on theother bow. She was still hanging in the wind and driving straight onshore. 

"Haul away, for God's sake!" cried Morgan; but the hawser came in boardthrough their hands with a readiness and ease that showed the anchor hadnot taken the ground. The drag of the cable to the anchor, however, andthe still unspent impetus of the first swing, turned the galleon's sternslightly to windward. Her head began slowly to fall off. 

"She stays! She makes it!" cried the captain. "Meet her with the helm!Let go and haul! Cut away the hawser!"

It had been a tremendous feat of seamanship and bade fair to besuccessful. It was yet touch and go, however, and the breakers wereperilously near. They were writhing around her forefoot now, yet thewind was at last coming in over the other bow. 

"We're safe!" cried Morgan. "Flatten in forward! Haul aft the sheets andbraces!"

At that instant there was a terrific crash heard above the roar of thetempest. The foretopmast of the _Almirante Recalde_ carried sharply offat the hounds. Relieved of the pressure, she shot up into the wind oncemore and drove straight into the seething seas. They were lost withtheir treasure, their hopes, and their crimes! At the mercy of wind andwave!

The men were as quick to see the danger as was Morgan. They came rushingaft baring their weapons, pouring curses and imprecations upon him. Hestood with folded arms, a scornful smile on his old face, looking uponthem, Carib watching and ready by his side. In another second, with aconcussion which threw them all to the deck, the doomed ship struckheavily upon the sands. 

BOOK III

WHICH TREATS OF THE TANGLED LOVE AFFAIRS OF THE PEARL OF CARACAS

CHAPTER IX

DISCLOSES THE HOPELESS PASSION BETWEEN DONNA MERCEDES DE LARA ANDCAPTAIN DOMINIQUE ALVARADO, THE COMMANDANTE OF LA GUAYRA

Captain Dominique Alvarado stood alone on the plaza of the ancientcastle which for over a century had been the home of the governors of LaGuayra. He was gazing listlessly down over the parapet which borderedthe bare sheer precipice towering above the seaport town. There wasnothing in his eyes, but a great deal in his heavy heart. 

[Illustration]

Captain Alvarado, who filled the honorable station of commandante of theport, was a soldier of proven courage. The _protégé_ and favoriteofficer of his serene highness the Count Alvaro de Lara, Grandee ofSpain and Viceroy of Venezuela, he had been honored with greatresponsibilities, which he had discharged to the satisfaction of hismaster. From a military point of view the office of Governor of LaGuayra, which he then filled, was of sufficient importance to entitlehim to high position and much consideration in the vice-regal court ofCaracas. 

Of unknown parentage, Alvarado had been received into the family of theviceroy when an infant. He had been carefully reared, almost as he hadbeen de Lara's son, and had been given abundant opportunity todistinguish himself. In the course of his short life he had managed toamass a modest fortune by honorable means. He was young and handsome; hehad been instructed, for the viceroy had early shown partiality for him, in the best schools in the New World. His education had been ripened andpolished by a sojourn of several years in Europe, not only at the courtof Madrid but also at that of Versailles, where the Count de Lara hadbeen sent as ambassador to the Grand Monarch during a period in which, for the sake of supervising the education of his only daughter, he hadtemporarily absented himself from his beloved Venezuela. That an unknownman should have been given such opportunities, should have been treatedwith so much consideration, was sufficient commentary on theunprecedented kindness of heart of the old Hidalgo who represented thefailing power of His Most Catholic Majesty of Spain, Carlos II. , theBewitched, in the new world. Whatever his origin, therefore, he had beenbrought up as a Spanish soldier and gentleman, and the old count wasopenly proud of him. 

With assured station, ample means, increasing reputation; with youth, health, and personal good looks, the young Governor should have been ahappy man. But it was easy to see from the heavy frown upon his sunnyface--for he was that rare thing in Spain, a blue-eyed blond who atfirst sight might have been mistaken for an Englishman--that his soulwas filled with melancholy. And well it might be, for Alvarado was thevictim of a hopeless passion for Mercedes de Lara, the Viceroy'sdaughter, known from one end of the Caribbean to the other, from herbeauty and her father's station, as the Pearl of Caracas. 

Nor was his present sadness due to unrequited passion, for he wasconfident that the adoration of his heart was met with an adequateresponse from its object. Indeed, it was no secret to him that Mercedesloved him with a devotion which matched his own. It was not that; buther father had announced his intention to betroth the girl to Don Felipede Tobar y Bobadilla, a young gentleman of ancient lineage and vastwealth, who had been born in America and was the reputed head in theWestern Hemisphere of the famous family whose name he bore. 

The consent of Donna Mercedes to the betrothal had not been asked. Thatwas a detail which was not considered necessary by parents in the yearof grace 1685, and especially by Spanish parents. That she should objectto the engagement, or refuse to carry out her father's plan nevercrossed the Viceroy's imagination. That she might love another, was anidea to which he never gave a thought. It was the business of awell-brought-up Spanish maiden to be a passive instrument in thecarrying out of her father's views, especially in things matrimonial, inwhich, indeed, love found little room for entrance. But Donna Mercedesloved Captain Alvarado and she cared nothing for Don Felipe. Not thatDon Felipe was disagreeable to her, or to any one. He was a Spanishgentleman in every sense of the word, handsome, distinguished, proud, and gallant--but she did not, could not, love him. To complicate mattersstill further de Tobar was Captain Alvarado's cherished companion andmost intimate friend. 

The progress of the love affair between Alvarado and Donna Mercedes hadbeen subjective rather than objective. They had enjoyed some unusualopportunities for meeting on account of the station the former filled inthe Viceroy's household and the place he held in his heart, yet theopportunities for extended freedom of intercourse between young men andwomen of the gentler class in those days, and especially among Spaniardsof high rank, were extremely limited. The old count took care to seethat his daughter was carefully watched and shielded; not because hesuspected her of anything, for he did not, but because it was a habit ofhis people and his ancestry. The busy life that he led, the manyemployments which were thrust upon him, his military duties, had keptthe days of the young soldier very full, and under the most favorablecircumstances he would have had little time for love making. Fortunatelymuch time is not required to develop a love affair, especially in NewSpain and near to the equator. 

But though they had enjoyed brief opportunity for personal intercourse, the very impossibilities of free communication, the difficulties ofmeeting, had but added fuel and fire to their affection. Love had flamedinto these two hearts with all the intensity of their tropic blood andtropic land. Alvarado's passion could feed for days and grow large uponthe remembrance of the fragrance of her hand when he kissed it last informal salutation. Mercedes' soul could enfold itself in therecollection of the too ardent pressure of his lips, the burning yetrespectful glance he had shot at her, by others unperceived, when hesaid farewell. The memory of each sigh the tropic breeze had wafted toher ears as he walked in attendance upon her at some formal function ofthe court was as much to her as the flower which she had artfullydropped at his feet and which had withered over his heart ever since, was to him. 

The difficulties in the way of the exchange of those sweet nothings thatlovers love to dwell upon and the impossibility of any hoped for end totheir love making intensified their passion. Little or nothing had beenspoken between them, but each knew the other loved. For the first momentthe knowledge of that glorious fact had sufficed them--but afterwardsthey wanted more. Having tasted, they would fain quaff deeply. But theycould see no way by which to manage the realization of their dreams. 

The situation was complicated in every possible way for Alvarado. Had hebeen a man of family like his friend, de Tobar, he would have goneboldly to the Viceroy and asked for the hand of his daughter, in whichcase he thought he would have met with no refusal; but, being ignorantof his birth, having not even a legal right to the name he bore, he knewthat the proud old Hidalgo would rather see his daughter dead thanwedded to him. Of all the ancient splendors of the Spanish people therewas left them but one thing of which they could be proud--their ancientname. De Lara, who belonged to one of the noblest and most distinguishedfamilies of the Iberian Peninsula, would never consent to degrade hisline by allying his only daughter to a nobody, however worthy in otherrespects the suitor might prove to be. 

Again, had Mercedes' father been any other than the life-long patron andfriend to whom he literally owed everything that he possessed, such wasthe impetuosity of Alvarado's disposition that, at every hazard, hewould have taken the girl by stealth or force from her father'sprotection, made her his wife, and sought an asylum in England orFrance, or wherever he could. So desperate was his state of mind, sooverwhelming his love that he would have shrunk from nothing to win her. Yet just because the Viceroy had been a father to him, just because hehad loved him, had been unexampled in his kindness and consideration tohim, just because he reposed such absolutely unlimited confidence inhim, the young man felt bound in honor by fetters that he could notbreak. 

And there was his friendship for de Tobar. There were many younggallants about the vice-regal court who, jealous of Alvarado's favor andenvious of his merits, had not scrupled in the face of his unknownorigin to sneer, to mock, or to slight--so far as it was safe to doeither of these things to so brave and able a soldier. Amid these gildedyouths de Tobar with noble magnanimity and affection had proved himselfAlvarado's staunchest friend. A romantic attachment had sprung upbetween the two young men, and the first confidant of de Tobar's loveaffairs had been Alvarado himself. To betray his friend was almost asbad as to betray his patron. It was not to be thought of. 

Yet how could he, a man in whose blood--though it may have been ignoblefor aught he knew--ran all the passions of his race with the fervor andfire of the best, a man who loved, as he did, the ground upon which theSeñorita de Lara walked, stand by tamely and see her given to another, no matter who he might be? He would have given the fortune which he hadamassed by honorable toil, the fame he had acquired by brilliantexploits, the power he enjoyed through the position he had achieved, theweight which he bore in the councils of New Spain, every prospect thatlife held dear to him to solve the dilemma and win the woman he lovedfor his wife. 

He passed hours in weary isolation on the plaza of the great castleoverlooking the stretched-out town upon the narrow strand with theceaseless waves beating ever upon the shore from the heavenly turquoiseblue of the Caribbean wavering far into the distant horizon before him. He spent days and nights, thinking, dreaming, agonizing, while hewrestled vainly with the problem. Sometimes he strove to call to hismind those stern resolutions of duty which he had laid before himself atthe beginning of his career, and to which he had steadfastly adhered inthe pursuit of his fortunes; and he swore that he would be true to hisideals, that the trust reposed in him by the Viceroy should not bebetrayed, that the friendship in which he was held by de Tobar shouldnever be broken, that he would tear out of his heart the image of thewoman he loved. And then, again, he knew that so long as that heart keptup its beating she would be there, and to rob him of her image meant totake away his life. If there had been a war, if some opportunity hadbeen vouchsafed him to pour out, in battle against the enemy, some ofthe ardor that consumed him, the situation would have been ameliorated;but the times were those of profound peace. There was nothing to occupyhis mind except the routine duties of the garrison. 

Spain, under the last poor, crazed, bewitched, degenerate descendant ofthe once formidable Hapsburgs, had reached the lowest depths of ignominyand decay. Alone, almost, under her flag Venezuela was wellgoverned--from the Spanish standpoint, that is; from the nativeAmerican point of view the rule of even the gentlest of Spaniards hadmade a hell on earth of the fairest countries of the new continent. Ofall the cities and garrisons which were under the sway of the Viceroy deLara, La Guayra was the best appointed and cared for. But it did notrequire a great deal of the time or attention from so skilled acommander as Alvarado to keep things in proper shape. Time, therefore, hung heavily on his hands. There were few women of rank in the town, which was simply the port of entry for St. Jago de Leon across themountains which rose in tree-clad slopes diversified by bold precipicesfor ten thousand feet back of the palace, and from the commoner sort ofwomen the young captain held himself proudly aloof, while his lovesafeguarded him from the allurement of the evil and the shameless whoflaunted their iniquity in every seaport on the Caribbean. 

On the other side of the mountain range after a descent of severalthousand feet to a beautiful verdant valley whose altitude tempered thetropic heat of the low latitude into a salubrious and delightfulclimate, lay the palace of the Viceroy and the city which surrounded it, St. Jago, or Santiago de Leon, commonly called the City of Caracas. 

Many a day had Alvarado turned backward from the white-walled, red-roofed town spread out at his feet, baking under the palms, seething in the fierce heat, as if striving to pierce with his gaze thegreat cordilleras, on the farther side of which in the cool white palacebeneath the gigantic ceibas the queen of his heart made her home. Hepictured her at all hours of the day; he dwelt upon her image, goingover again in his mind each detail of her face and figure. The perfumeof her hand was still fragrant upon his lips; the sound of her voice, the soft musical voice of Andalusia, still vibrated in his ear; herburning glance pierced him even in his dreams like a sword. 

He was mad, mad with love for her, crazed with hopeless passion. Thereseemed to be no way out of his misery but for him to pass his own swordthrough his heart, or to throw himself from the precipice, or to plungeinto the hot, cruel blue of the enveloping Caribbean--the color of thesea changed in his eye with his temper, like a woman's mood. Yet he wasyoung, he hoped in spite of himself. He prayed--for he was not oldenough to have lost faith--and he planned. Besides, he was too brave asoldier to kill himself, and she was not yet married. She was notformally betrothed, even; although it was well known that her fatherlooked favorably upon de Tobar's suit, no formal announcement had beenmade of it as yet. So in spite of his judgment he dreamed--the thoughtsof youth and love are long, long thoughts, indeed. 

That morning the young captain, engrossed in his emotions, was not awareof the approach of a messenger, until the clank of the man's sword uponthe stone flags of the plaza caused him to lift his head. He was asoldier, an officer of the bodyguard of the Viceroy, and he bore in hishand a letter sealed with the de Lara coat of arms. The messengersaluted and handed the packet to the captain. 

"Yesterday evening, His Excellency, the Viceroy, charged me to deliverthis letter to you to-day. "

"Fadrique, " called Alvarado, to a servitor, "a flagon of wine for thecavalier. By your leave, sir, " he continued with formal politeness, opening the packet and reading the message:

 "TO THE CAPTAIN ALVARADO, COMMANDANTE OF LA GUAYRA. 

 GREETING:

 As one faithful to the fortunes of our family we would crave your honorable presence at our palace in Santiago to-morrow evening. In view of your service and devotion, we have done you the honor to appoint you as one of the witnesses to the formal betrothal of our daughter, Donna Mercedes, to your friend, Don Felipe de Tobar. After that, as we have received appeals for help from the Orinoco country, we propose to lead His Most Catholic Majesty's Imperial troops thither in person to overawe the natives; and, reposing full trust in your fidelity and honor, we deign to commit the Donna Mercedes to your safe keeping in our city of La Guayra, until we return. Therefore make your preparations accordingly. 

 Given under our hand and seal, DE LARA, _Viceroy_. "

It had come! The old man, as a last token of his respect, had nominatedhim as a witness to the contract which robbed him forever of hope andhappiness. The young man went white before the keen eye of themessenger, who, in common with other officers of the Viceroy's court, suspected what was, indeed, concealed from no one save the father andlover. The world swam before his vision. The blue sea seemed to rise upand meet the green hills until he could not distinguish the one from theother. His heart almost stopped its beating, yet summoning hisresolution he recovered himself by an effort that left him trembling, the sweat beading his forehead. 

"Are you in a state for a return journey at once, señor?" he asked ofthe young officer. 

"At your service, captain. "

"That's well. Say to His Excellency, the Viceroy, that I thank him forthe honor he does me. I shall wait upon him to-morrow and obey hiscommands. "

CHAPTER X

HOW DONNA MERCEDES TEMPTED HER LOVER AND HOW HE STROVE VALIANTLY TORESIST HER APPEALS

Alvarado was alone in the cabinet of the Viceroy, to which his rank andthe favor in which His Excellency held him gave him access at all times. 

[Illustration]

He had ridden all day over the rough road that winds over the mountainsfrom La Guayra to Caracas. The storm which had rushed down themountain-side all afternoon matched the tumult in his soul, and thesheets of rain blown upon him by the fierce wind had not cooled thefever of his agitation. The unusual tempest was one of the most terrificthat had swept over the coast in years. He had marked as he rode a hugeship far to seaward, staggering along under shortened canvas andlaboring tremendously in the heavy seas. But his thoughts were socentered upon the situation in which he found himself that he had notparticularly noticed the vessel, although passing ships were infrequentsights off the port of La Guayra. Pale, haggard, and distraught from hismental struggle he had crossed the pass at the summit of the mountainand descended into the fertile valley now adrip with rain and lookingalmost cold under the gray sky, and had presented himself at the palaceof the Viceroy. 

He had changed his apparel after his reception and his old sergeant hadpolished his breastplate until it fairly blazed with light, for thoughthe occasion was one of peace he had felt that he could better sustainhis part in the military uniform in which he had won his only title toconsideration. He schooled himself to go through that part with theresolution of a Spanish gentleman. Although there was no evidence ofgentle blood save such as was presented by his actions, he had alwayscherished the hope that could the secret of his birth be revealed hewould not be found unfit for the honors that he had won and theambitions that he cherished. Consequently his appearance in thebrilliantly lighted hall of the palace among the gay courtiersresplendent in magnificent attire, blazing with jewels, threw a sombernote over the proceedings. 

It was as a soldier he had won fame and the consideration of theViceroy; in no other capacity, so far as any man knew, had he the rightto enter that assemblage of the rich and well born. It was as a soldierhe would perform that hardest of all duties which had ever been laidupon him by his friend and patron, the Governor. 

Pale, stern, composed, he stood an iron figure of repression. So severewas the constraint that he put upon himself that he had given no sign ofhis emotion, even at the near approach of Donna Mercedes, and the handwhich signed his name beneath her father's as the principal witness wasas steady as if it held merely the sword in some deadly combat. Heendured passively the affectionate greetings of the happy de Tobar, whowas intoxicated at the assurance afforded by the betrothal of the comingrealization of all his hopes. He sustained with firmness the confidenceof the Viceroy and the admissions de Lara made to him in private, of hispleasure in the suitable and fortunate marriage which was therearranged. He even bore without breaking one long, piteous appeal whichhad been shot at him from the black eyes of the unhappy Mercedes. 

To her he seemed preternaturally cold and indifferent. He was so strong, so brave, so successful. She had counted upon some interposition fromhim, but the snow-capped Andes were no colder than he appeared, theirgranite sides no more rigid and unsympathetic. It was with a feelingalmost of anger and resentment at last that she had signed the betrothalcontract. 

But the restraint on the man was more than he could bear. The cumulativeforce of the reproach of the woman he loved, the confidence of theViceroy, the rapturous happiness of his best friend, was not to beendured longer. Pleading indisposition, he early begged leave towithdraw from the festivities which succeeded the completion of thebetrothal ceremony and the retirement of the ladies. At the suggestionof the Viceroy, who said he desired to consult with him later in theevening, he went into the deserted cabinet of the latter. 

The palace was built in the form of a quadrangle around an open patio. Abalcony ran along the second story passing the Viceroy's cabinet, beyondwhich was his bedroom and beyond that the apartments of his daughter. The rain had ceased and the storm had spent itself. It was a calm andbeautiful night, the moon shining with tropic splendor through the openwindow dispensed with the necessity of lights. There was no one in thecabinet when he entered, and he felt at last able to give way to hisemotion; Mercedes though she was not married was now lost to him beyondrecourse. After the women withdrew from the hall with Donna Mercedesthere was no restraint put upon the young nobles, and from the otherside of the patio came the sound of uproarious revelry and feasting--hisfriends and comrades with generous cheer felicitating the happybridegroom that was to be. Alvarado was alone, undisturbed, forgotten, and likely to remain so. He put his head upon his hands and groaned inanguish. 

"Why should it not have been I?" he murmured. "Is he stronger, braver, abetter soldier? Does he love her more? O Mother of God! Riches? Can Inot acquire them? Fame? Have I not a large measure? Birth? Ah, that isit! My father! my mother! If I could only know! How she looked at me!What piteous appeal in her eyes! What reproach when I stood passivecased in iron, with a breaking heart. O my God! My God! Mercedes!Mercedes!"

In his anguish he called the name aloud. So absorbed and preoccupied inhis grief had he been that he was not aware of a figure softly movingalong the balcony in the shadow. He did not hear a footfall comingthrough the open window that gave into the room. He did not realize thathe had an auditor to his words, a witness to his grief, until a touchsoft as a snowflake fell upon his fair head and a voice for which helanguished whispered in his ear:

"You called me; I am come. "

"Señorita Mercedes!" he cried, lifting his head and gazing upon her instartled surprise. "How came you here?" he added brusquely, catching herhands with a fierce grasp in the intensity of his emotion as he spoke. 

"Is this my greeting?" she answered, surprised in turn that he had notinstantly swept her to his heart. 

She strove to draw herself away, and when he perceived her intent heopened his hands and allowed her arms to fall by her side. 

"I have been mistaken, " she went on piteously, "I am not wanted. "

She turned away and stood full in the silver bar of the moonlightstreaming through the casement. Her white face shone in the lightagainst the dark background of the huge empty room--that face with itsaureole of soft dark hair, the face of a saint, pale yet notpassionless, of the heaven heavenly, yet with just enough of earthlyfeeling in her eyes to attest that she was a very woman after all. 

"Go not, " he cried, catching her again and drawing her back. 

Gone were his resolutions, shattered was his determination, broken washis resistance. She was here before him, at all hazards he would detainher. They were alone together, almost for the first time in their lives. It was night, the balmy wind blew softly, the moonlight enveloped them. Such an opportunity would never come again. It was madness. It wasfatal. No matter. She should not go now. 

"I heard you, " she murmured, swaying toward him. "I heard--you seemed tobe--suffering. I do not know why--something drew me on. Youwhispered--you were speaking--I--listened. I came nearer. Was your heartbreaking, too? Despise me!"

She put her face in her hands. It was a confession she made. A wave ofshame swept over her. 

"Despise you? Ah, God help me, I love you!"

And this time he gathered her in his arms, and drew her back into thedeeper shadow. 

"And you were so cold, " she whispered. "I looked at you. I begged youwith all my soul before I signed. You did nothing, nothing! O Mother ofGod, is there no help?"

"Dost love me?"

"With all my soul, " she answered. 

"Poor----"

"Nay----"

"Obscure----"

"Nay----"

"Lowly--perhaps ignobly born----"

"Nay, love, these are mere words to me. Rich or poor, high or low, nobleor ignoble, thou only hast my heart. It beats and throbs only for thee. I have thought upon thee, dreamed upon thee, loved thee. I can not marryDon Felipe. I, too, have the pride of the de Lara's. My father shallfind it. I signed that contract under duress. You would do nothing. Oh, Alvarado, Alvarado, wilt thou stand by and let me be taken into the armsof another? But no, I shall die before that happens. "

"Donna Mercedes, " cried the unhappy young man, "I love thee, I adorethee, I worship thee with all my heart and soul! Were it not a coward'sact I would have plunged my dagger into my breast ere I witnessed thatbetrothal to-night. "

"Thou shouldst first have sheathed it in mine, " she whispered. "Butcould'st find no better use for thy weapon than that?"

"Would you have me kill Don Felipe?"

"No, no, but defend me with it. There are hidden recesses in themountains. Your soldiers worship you. Take me away, away into theundiscovered countries to the southward. A continent is before you. Wewill find a new Mexico, carve out a new Peru with your sword, though Iwant nothing but to be with you, alone with you, my soldier, my lover, my king!"

"But your plighted word?"

"'Tis nothing. My heart was plighted to you. That is enough. Let us go, we may never have the chance again, " she urged, clinging to him. 

A fearful struggle was going on in Alvarado's breast. What she proposedwas the very thing he would have attempted were the circumstances otherthan they were. But his patron, his friend, his military duty, his honoras a soldier--the sweat beaded his forehead again. He had made up hismind at the betrothal to give her up. He had abandoned hope; he had putaside possibilities, for he could see none. But here she was in hisarms, a living, breathing, vital, passionate figure, her heart beatingagainst his own, pleading with him to take her away. Here was love withall its witchery, with all its magic, with all its power, attacking thedefenses of his heart; and the woman whom he adored as his very life, with all the passion in his being, was urging, imploring, begging him totake her away. He was weakening, wavering, and the woman who watched himrealized it and added fuel to the flame. 

"The love I bear your father!" he gasped. 

"Should it bind where mine breaks? I am his daughter. "

"And Don Felipe is my personal friend. "

"And my betrothed, but I hesitate not. "

"My oath as a soldier----"

"And mine as a woman. "

"Gratitude--duty----"

"Oh, Alvarado, you love me not!" she cried. "These are the strongest. Ihave dreamed a dream. Lend me your dagger. There shall be no awakening. Without you I can not bear----"

As she spoke she plucked the dagger from the belt of the young soldier, lifted the point gleaming in the moonlight and raised it to her heart. He caught it instantly. 

"No, no!" he cried. "Give back the weapon. "

The poniard fell from her hand. 

"Thou hast taken me, I thank thee, " she murmured, thinking the battlewon as he swept her once more in his arms. This time he bent his head toher upturned face and pressed kiss after kiss upon the trembling lips. It was the first time, and they abandoned themselves to their transportswith all the fire of their long restrained passion. 

"And is this the honor of Captain Alvarado?" cried a stern voice as theViceroy entered the room. "My officer in whom I trusted? Death and fury!Donna Mercedes, what do you here?"

"The fault is mine, " said Alvarado, stepping between the woman he lovedand her infuriated father. "I found Donna Mercedes in the cabinet when Icame in. She strove to fly. I detained her--by force. I poured into herear a tale of my guilty passion. Mine is the fault. She repulsed me. Shedrove me off. "

"The dagger at your feet?"

"She snatched it from me and swore to bury it in her heart unless I lefther. I alone am guilty. "

He lied instantly and nobly to save the woman's honor. 

"Thou villain, thou false friend!" shouted the Viceroy, whipping out hissword. 

He was beside himself with fury, but there was a characteristic touch ofmagnanimity about his next action; so handsome, so splendid, so noble, in spite of his degrading confession, did the young man look, that hegave him a chance. 

"Draw your sword, Captain Alvarado, for as I live I shall run youthrough!"

Alvarado's hand went to his belt, he unclasped it and threw it aside. 

"There lies my sword. I am dishonored, " he cried. "Strike, and end itall. "

"Not so, for Christ's sake!" screamed Mercedes, who had heard as if in adaze. "He hath not told the truth. He hath lied for me. I alone amguilty. I heard him praying here in the still night and I came in, nothe. I threw myself into his arms. I begged him to take me away. He spokeof his love and friendship for you, for Don Felipe, his honor, his duty. I did indeed seize the dagger, but because though he loved me he wouldstill be true. On my head be the shame. Honor this gentleman, my father, as I--love him. "

She flung herself at her father's feet and caught his hand. 

"I love him, " she sobbed, "I love him. With all the power, all theintensity, all the pride of the greatest of the de Laras I love him. "

"Is this true, Captain Alvarado?"

"Would God she had not said so, " answered the young man gloomily. 

"Is it true?"

"I can not deny it, my lord, and yet I am the guilty one. I was on thepoint of yielding. Had you not come in we should have gone away. "

"Yet you had refused?"

"I--I--hesitated. "

"Refused my daughter! My God!" whispered the old man. "And you, shameless girl, you forced yourself upon him? Threw yourself into hisarms?"

"Yes. I loved him. Did'st never love in thine own day, my father? Did'stnever feel that life itself were as nothing compared to what beats andthrobs here?"

"But Don Felipe?"

"He is a gallant gentleman. I love him not. Oh, sir, for God's sake----"

"Press your daughter no further, Don Alvaro, she is beside herself, "gasped out Alvarado hoarsely. "'Tis all my fault. I loved her so deeplythat she caught the feeling in her own heart. When I am gone she willforget me. You have raised me from obscurity, you have loaded me withhonor, you have given me every opportunity--I will be true. I will befaithful to you. 'Twill be death, but I hope it may come quickly. Misjudge me not, sweet lady. Happiness smiles not upon my passion, sadness marks me for her own. I pray God 'twill be but for a littlespace. Give me some work to do that I may kill sorrow by losing my life, my lord. And thou, Donna Mercedes, forget me and be happy with DonFelipe. "

"Never, never!" cried the girl. 

She rose to her feet and came nearer to him. Her father stood by as ifstunned. She laid her arms around Alvarado's neck. She looked into herlover's eyes. 

"You love me and I love you. What matters anything else?"

"Oh, my lord, my lord!" cried Alvarado, staring at the Viceroy, "killme, I pray, and end it all!"

"Thou must first kill me, " cried Mercedes, extending her arms across herlover's breast. 

"Donna Mercedes, " said her father, "thou hast put such shame upon thename and fame of de Lara as it hath never borne in five hundred years. Thou hast been betrothed to an honorable gentleman. It is my will thatthe compact be carried out. "

"O my God! my God!" cried the unhappy girl, sinking into a chair. "WiltThou permit such things to be?"

"And, Alvarado, " went on the old man, not heeding his daughter's piteousprayer. "I know not thy parentage nor to what station thou wert born, but I have marked you from that day when, after Panama, they brought youa baby into my house. I have watched you with pride and joy. Whateverresponsibility I have placed before you, you have met it. Whateverdemand that hard circumstances have made upon you, you have overcome it. For every test there counts a victory. You have done the State and megreat service, none greater than to-night. With such a temptation beforethee, that few men that I have come in contact with in my long lifecould have resisted, you have thrown it aside. You and your honor havebeen tried and not found wanting. Whatever you may have been I know younow to be the finest thing on God's earth, a Spanish gentleman! Nay, with such evidence of your character I could, were it possible, have setaside the claims of birth and station----"

"Oh, my father, my father!" interrupted the girl joyously. 

"And have given you Donna Mercedes to wife. "

"Your Excellency----"

"But 'tis too late. The betrothal has been made; the contract signed; myword is passed. In solemn attestation before our Holy Church I havepromised to give my daughter to Don Felipe de Tobar. Nothing can beurged against the match----"

"But love, " interjected Mercedes; "that is wanting. "

"It seems so, " returned the Viceroy. "And yet, where duty and honordemand, love is nothing. Donna Mercedes, thou hast broken my heart. Thata Spanish gentlewoman should have shown herself so bold! I could punishthee, but thou art mine all. I am an old man. Perhaps there is someexcuse in love. I will say no more. I will e'en forgive thee, but I musthave your words, both of you, that there shall be no more of this; thatno other word of affection for the other shall pass either lip, forever, and that you will be forever silent about the events of this night. "

"Speak thou first, Captain Alvarado, " said the girl. 

"You have loved me, " cried the young man, turning toward Donna Mercedes, "and you have trusted me, " bowing to the old man. "Here are two appeals. God help me, I can not hesitate. Thou shalt have my word. Would thiswere the last from my lips. "

"And he could promise; he could say it!" wailed the broken-heartedwoman. "O my father, he loves me not! I have been blind! I promise thee, on the honor of a de Lara! I have leaned upon a broken reed. "

"Never, " cried the old man, "hath he loved thee so truly and so grandlyas at this moment. "

"It may be, it may be, " sobbed the girl, reeling as she spoke. "Take meaway. 'Tis more than I can bear. "

Then she sank prostrate, senseless between the two men who loved her. 

CHAPTER XI

WHEREIN CAPTAIN ALVARADO PLEDGES HIS WORD TO THE VICEROY OF VENEZUELA, THE COUNT ALVARO DE LARA, AND TO DON FELIPE DE TOBAR, HIS FRIEND

"We must have assistance, " cried the Viceroy in dismay. "Alvarado, doyou go and summon----"

"Into the women's apartments, my lord?"

"Nay, I will go. Watch you here. I trust you, you see, " answered the oldman, promptly running through the window and out on the balcony towardthe apartments of his daughter. He went quickly but making no noise, forhe did not wish the events of the evening to become public. 

Left to himself, Alvarado, resisting the temptation to take theprostrate form of his love in his arms and cover her cold face withkisses, knelt down by her side and began chafing her hands. He thoughtit no breach of propriety to murmur her name. Indeed he could not keepthe words from his lips. Almost instantly the Viceroy departed there wasa commotion in the outer hall. There was a knock on the door, repeatedonce and again, and before Alvarado could determine upon a course ofaction, Don Felipe burst into the room followed by Señora Agapida, theduenna of Donna Mercedes. 

"Your Excellency----" cried the old woman in agitation, "I missed theSeñorita. I have searched----"

"But who is this?" interrupted de Tobar, stepping over to where Alvaradostill knelt by the prostrate girl. "'Tis not the Viceroy!" He laid hishand on the other man's shoulder and recoiled in surprise. 

"Dominique!" he exclaimed. "What do you here and who----"

"Mother of God!" shrieked the duenna. "There lies the Donna Mercedes!"

"She is hurt?" asked Felipe, for the moment his surprise at the presenceof Alvarado lost in his anxiety for his betrothal. 

"I know not, " answered the distracted old woman. 

"She lives, " said Alvarado, rising to his feet and facing his friend. "She hath but fainted. "

"Water!" said Señora Agapida. 

Both men started instantly to hand her the carafe that stood on a tablenear by. Don Felipe was nearer and got it first. 

Señora Agapida loosened the dress of the young woman and sprinkled herface and hands with the water, laying her head back upon the floor asshe did so and in a moment the girl opened her eyes. In the darkness ofthe room, for no lamp had as yet been lighted, she had not recognized inher bewilderment who was bending over her, for Alvarado had forcedhimself to draw back, yielding his place to de Tobar as if by right. 

"Alvarado!" she murmured. 

"She lives, " said Don Felipe, with relief and jealousy mingled in hisvoice, and then he turned and faced the other. 

"And now, Señor Alvarado, perhaps you will be able to explain how youcame to be here alone, at this hour of night, with my betrothed, and whyshe calls thy name! By St. Jago, sir, have you dared to offer violenceto this lady?"

His hand went to his sword. To draw it was the work of a moment. Hemenaced the young soldier with the point. 

"I could kill you as you stand there!" he cried in growing rage. "Butthe memory of our ancient friendship stays my hand. You shall have achance. Where is your weapon!"

"Strike, if it please you. I want nothing but death, " answered Alvarado, making no effort whatever to defend himself. 

"Hast deserved it at my hands, then?" exclaimed the now infuriated deTobar. 

"Stay!" interrupted the Viceroy re-entering the room. "What means thisassault upon my captain? Donna Mercedes?"

"She revives, " said the duenna. 

"Is it thou, Señora?" said the Viceroy. "I sought thee unavailingly. "

"Your Highness, " said the old woman, "I missed the señorita and foundher here. "

"And how came you unbidden into my private cabinet, Don Felipe?"

"Your Excellency, Señora Agapida found me in the corridor. She wasdistraught over her lady's absence. We knocked. There was no answer. Weentered. I crave your pardon, but it was well I came, for I found mybetrothed and my best friend alone, together, here, " he pointedgloomily. "A Spanish gentleman alone at this hour of the night with----"

"Silence!" thundered the Viceroy. "Would'st asperse my daughter's name?Darest thou--By heaven, you hold a weapon in your hand. I am oldbut--Guard thyself!" he called, whipping out his sword with astonishingagility. 

"I can not fight with you, " said de Tobar lowering his point, "but forGod's sake, explain!"

"The Donna Mercedes is as pure as heaven, " asserted Alvarado. 

"Then why did you bid me strike and stand defenseless a moment since?"

"Because I love her and she is yours. "

"Death!" shouted de Tobar. "Take up thy sword!"

"Stay, " broke in the old Viceroy quickly, "keep silent, Alvarado, let metell it all. I am her father. I would consult with the captain upon thejourney of the morrow and other matters of state. With us here was mydaughter. Is there aught to provoke thy jealousy or rage in this?Overcome by--er--the events of the day she fainted. One of us had to gofor aid. 'Twas not meet that the young man should go to the women'sapartments, I left them together. "

"Alone?" queried de Tobar. 

"Ay, alone. One was my daughter, a de Lara, and she was senseless. Theother was almost my son, I knew him. He had proved himself. I couldtrust him. "

"Your Excellency, I thank you, " cried Alvarado, seizing the hand of theold nobleman and carrying it to his lips. 

"You said you loved her, " said de Tobar turning to Alvarado. 

"And so I do, " answered Alvarado, "but who could help it? It is aninfection I have caught from my friend. "

"Have you spoken words of love to her? Have you pleaded with her? Didyou meet here by appoint?"

"Don Felipe, " cried Donna Mercedes, who had kept silent at first hardlycomprehending and then holding her breath at the dénouement. "Hear me. Captain Alvarado's manner to me has been coldness itself. Nay, hescarcely manifested the emotion of a friend. "

She spoke with a bitterness and resentment painfully apparent toAlvarado, but which in his bewilderment Don Felipe did not discover. 

"I swear to you, señor, " she went on cunningly, "until this hour I neverheard him say those words, 'I love you. ' But this scene is too much forme, I can not bear it. Help me hence. Nay, neither of you gentlemen. With Señora Agapida's aid I can manage. Farewell. When you wish to claimme, Don Felipe, the betrothal shall be carried out and I shall be yours. Good-night. "

De Tobar sprang after her and caught her hand, raising it respectfullyto his lips. 

"Now, señor, " he cried turning back, "we can discuss this questionunhindered by the presence of the lady. You said you loved her. How dareyou, a man of no birth, whose very name is an assumption, lift youreyes so high?"

"This from you, my friend, " cried Alvarado, turning whiter than ever atthis insult. 

"Sir, " interposed the voice of the Viceroy, "restrain yourself. 'Tistrue we know not the birth or name of this young man whom I have honoredwith my confidence, upon whom you have bestowed your friendship. Perchance it may be nobler than thine, or mine, perchance not so, but hehath ever shown himself--and I have watched him from his youth--agentleman, a Spanish gentleman whom all might emulate. You wrong himdeeply----"

"But he loved her. "

"What of that?" answered the Viceroy. 

"Ay, " cried Alvarado. "I do love her, and that I make no secret of itfrom you proves the sincerity of my soul. Who could help loving her, andmuch less a man in my position, for, in so far as was proper in amaiden, she has been kind to me since I was a boy. I cherish no hopes, no dreams, no ambitions. I locked my passion within my breast anddetermined to keep it there though it killed me. To-night, with herhelpless at my feet, thrown on my pity, it was wrung from me; but Iswear to you by my knightly honor, by that friendship that hathsubsisted between us of old, that from this hour those words shallnever pass my lips again; that from this hour I shall be as silent asbefore. Oh, trust me! I am sadly torn. Thou hast all, I nothing! If thoucanst not trust me--I bade you strike before, strike now and end it all. What supports life when love is denied? Friendship and duty. If these betaken from me, I am poor indeed, and I'd liefer die than live in shame. Your Excellency, bid him strike. "

"Thy life is not thine, " answered the older man, "it belongs to Spain. We have fallen on evil times and thy country needs thine arm. Thou hastsaid aright. Señor de Tobar, " he cried, "he is thy friend. Take him backto thy affection. I am an old man and a father, but were I young and oneso beautiful crossed my path as Donna Mercedes--by Our Lady he hathexcuse for anything! He speaks the truth, though it be to his own hurt. Canst stand unmoved, señor, in thy happiness before such misery asthat?"

"Dominique, forgive me!" cried de Tobar, "I was wrong. I am ashamed. Thou couldst not help it. I forgive thee. I love thee still. "

He made as if to embrace his friend, but Alvarado held him off. 

"Wilt trust me fully, absolutely, entirely?"

"With all my life, " answered de Tobar. 

"Thou shalt be tried, " said the Viceroy. "We march toward the Orinoco inthree days. I had proposed to establish Donna Mercedes at La Guayraunder care of Alvarado. "

"Not now, your Excellency, " cried the young man. 

"Nay, I shall, provided de Tobar is willing. "

"A test, a test!" answered that young man. "Gladly do I welcome it. Asthou lovest me, and as I love thee, guard thou my betrothed. "

"Your Excellency, take me with you to the Orinoco, and let Don Felipestay at home with Donna Mercedes in La Guayra. "

"I am no experienced soldier to command a town, " protested de Tobar. 

"Nay, " said the Viceroy, "it shall be as we have said. Wilt take thecharge?"

"Ay, and defend it with all my soul!" answered Alvarado firmly. 

"Señor Alvarado and Don Felipe, you have shown yourselves true Spanishgentlemen this night, hidalgos of whom Spain may well be proud, " criedthe Viceroy in pleased and proud content. "To you, de Tobar, I shallgive my daughter with assurance and pride, and were there another tobear my name I could wish no better husband for her than you, my poorfriend. Now, the hour is late, I have much to say to Alvarado. DonFelipe, you will pardon me? Good-night. "

"Good-night, your Excellency, " promptly returned de Tobar. "I shall seeyou in the morning, Dominique, ere you set forth for La Guayra. I lovethee and trust thee, my friend. "

CHAPTER XII

SHOWS HOW DONNA MERCEDES CHOSE DEATH RATHER THAN GIVE UP CAPTAINALVARADO, AND WHAT BEFEL THEM ON THE ROAD OVER THE MOUNTAINS

They set forth early in the morning. There was a cool freshness in theair from the storm of the day before and if they wished to avoid thenecessity of traveling in the heat of the day early departure wasnecessary. Although the season was summer in a tropic land not far fromthe equator, the altitude of Caracas lowered the ordinary temperature toan agreeable degree, but after they crossed the pass of La Veta andbegan the descent toward La Guayra they would be within the confines ofone of the hottest localities on the face of the globe. 

[Illustration]

Early as it was, the Viceroy and his officers, including, of course, deTobar, were assembled in the patio to bid the travelers godspeed. Whilede Lara gave a few parting directions to Alvarado, Don Felipe tookadvantage of the opportunity and of his position as the publiclyaffianced of Donna Mercedes to address her a few words in farewell, which she received with listless indifference that did not bode well forthe future happiness of either of them. The final preparations were soonover. Don Felipe lifted Donna Mercedes to the saddle of her Spanishjennet; some of the other gentlemen assisted the Señora Agapida to theback of the sure-footed mule which she had elected as her mount;Alvarado saluted and sprang to the back of his mettlesome barb, and, followed by a half-dozen troopers who constituted the escort, the rearbeing brought up by servants with pack mules carrying the personalbaggage of the two ladies, the little cavalcade moved off, the gentlemenin the Viceroy's suite standing bareheaded in the doorway as theydisappeared under the trees and began the ascent toward the pass. 

With the whispered assurance of his friend, "I trust you, " still ringingin his ear, with the sound of the Viceroy's stern voice, "I know notwhat danger could befall my child in this peaceful time, but I have apremonition that something threatens, and I charge you to guard herwelfare and happiness with your life, " still fresh in his mind, Alvarado, whose white, haggard face showed that he had passed asleepless night, rode at the head of the column. Some distance in frontof him rode a trooper, for there were even then thieves, wandering bandsof masterless men who levied bloody toll on travelers from the capitolwhenever they got opportunity. Next to the captain came the sergeant ofthe little guard, then the two women, followed closely by two more ofthe soldiers, after that the little pack train, which he had ordered toclose up and keep in touch after they left the city, and, last of all, the two remaining soldiers to bring up the rear. 

The soldiers, servants, and muleteers were in high spirits. There waslittle danger to be apprehended, for the party was too strong to fearattack from any of the brigand bodies, and the military order of marchwas taken more as a matter of habit than from any special need. The daywas pleasant, the scenery, though familiar, was at the same time grandand beautiful, and they were happy--all, that is, except Donna Mercedes, the duenna, and Alvarado. 

The worthy Señora Agapida with womanly shrewdness more than suspectedthe true state of affairs. Indeed, Mercedes, who loved the old woman, who had been as a mother to her, her own mother having died when she wasa mere child, had scarcely taken the trouble to conceal her misery, andthe old woman's heart was wrung whenever she looked at the droopingfigure at her side. She would fain have brought the flush of happinessto the face of the girl she loved, by throwing her into the arms ofAlvarado; but, as a distant connection of the de Laras herself, theworthy dame had her own notions of pride, and her honor would not permither to do anything for which the Viceroy could properly fault her. Theancient duenna was an indifferent horsewoman, too, and although she hadthe easiest and surest footed beast of the party she journeyed with manysighs and groans of dissatisfaction. She bravely made an effort at firstto cheer up her charge, but soon perceived that the task was beyond herpowers, so she rode along in a silence unbroken save by her frequentejaculations. 

When Mercedes had met Alvarado early in the morning she had acknowledgedhis profound salutation with the curtest and coldest of nods. She wasfuriously and bitterly angry with him; for, between duty, honor, friendship, and her love, he had not chosen her. She knew that he lovedher. She had known it a long time, and, if she had the slightest doubt, the sincerity with which he had spoken the night before, the fierce, passionate fervor of the kisses that he had pressed upon her lips, hisutter abandonment to his passion, had more than satisfied her. Yet, when she had offered to throw everything to the winds--love, duty, obedience, if he would only take her away--he had hesitated. With her, awoman who had all Venezuela at her feet, held in his arms, he hadrepulsed her, refused her! He had heard the open confession of heroverwhelming love for him, and he had resisted her! With the feel of herheart beating against his own, he had strained her to his breast andprated of honor and duty!

She was mad with anger and disappointment. She loathed him; she hatedhim; she raged against him in her heart. Why had he not killed de Tobarwhere he stood, seized her in his arms, braved the anger of her father, and galloped away--anywhere out into the mysterious southland where theycould be together? Well and good, she would marry Don Felipe. She wouldassume a happiness that she could not feel and kill him with the sightof it. He had disdained her; he should suffer, suffer in proportion tohis love, such torments as he had made her suffer last night--shame, disappointment, indignation. 

She had not slept the entire night, either, thinking these things, yetit had not all been pain. How nobly he had lied to save her! He, to whoma lie was worse than death. He had tried to assume dishonor for hersake. He loved her; yes, there was no doubt of it. She closed her eyeswith the thought and her whole being was filled with exquisite anguish. He loved her, he was made for her, yet when he might have taken her herefused. De Tobar was indeed a brave and gallant gentleman, but hisqualities were as moonlight to the sunlight compared to those ofAlvarado. In spite of herself, though the mere suggestion of it angeredher, she found herself obliged to grant that there was something noblein that position he had assumed which so filled her with fury. It wasnot, with him, a question of loving duty and honor more than herself, but it was a question of doing duty and preserving honor, though theheart broke and the soul was rent in the effort. 

Because he had the strength to do these things, not to betray hisfriend, not to return ingratitude to her father, who had been a fatherto him too, not to be false to his military honor; because he had thestrength to control himself, she felt dimly how strong his passion mightbe. In spite of her careful avoidance of his eyes, her cold demeanor, that morning, she had marked the haggard, pale face of the young soldierto whom she had given her heart, which showed that he, too, hadsuffered. She watched him as he rode, superb horseman that he was, atthe head of the little cavalcade. Tall, straight, erect, graceful, shewas glad that he rode in advance with his back to her, so that she mightfollow him with her eyes, her gaze unheeded by any but Señora Agapida, and for her she did not care. 

As he turned at intervals to survey his charges, to see that all werekeeping closed up and in order, by furtive glances she could mark withexultation the pallor that had taken the place of the ruddy hue on thefair cheek of her lover. She could even note the black circles under theblue eyes beneath the sunny hair, so different from her own midnightcrown. 

How this man loved her! She could see, and know, and feel. Great as washer own passion, it did not outweigh his feeling. A tempest was ragingin his bosom. The girl who watched him could mark the progress of thestorm in the deeps of his soul, for his face told the tale of it. 

And, indeed, his thoughts were bitter. What must she think of him? Hehad been a fool. Happiness had been his for the taking, and he hadthrown it away. Why had he not brushed de Tobar out of his path, silenced the Viceroy--no, not by death, but by binding him fast, andthen taken the woman he loved and who loved him, for she had proved itby her utter abandonment of herself to him? Those old soldiers who hadserved him for many years would have followed him wherever he led. TheViceroy's arm was long, but they could have found a haven where theycould have been together. God had made them for each other and he hadrefused. He had thrust her aside. He had pushed the cup of happinessfrom his own lips with his own hand. 

Honor was a name, duty an abstraction, gratitude a folly. What must shethink of him? There had been no reservation in her declaration ofaffection. For him she was willing to give up all, and though he hadvowed and protested in his heart that there was nothing she could ask ofhim that he would not grant her, he had been able to do nothing afterall. 

He wished it was all to do over again. Now it was too late. To thechains of duty, honor, gratitude, had been added that of his plightedword. Knowing his love, de Tobar, his friend, had trusted him. Knowinghis daughter's love, the Viceroy had also trusted him. He was lockedwith fetters, bound and sealed, helpless. And yet the temptation grewwith each hour. He had suspected, he had dreamed, he had hoped, thatMercedes loved him, now he was sure of it. Oh, what happiness might havebeen his!

What was this mystery about his birth? He had been picked up a baby in adeserted village outside of Panama. He had been found by the young Countde Lara, who had led his troops to the succor of that doomed town, which, unfortunately, he had only reached after the buccaneers haddeparted. Search had been made for his parents but without success. TheViceroy finding none to claim the bright-faced baby, had given him aname and had caused him to be brought up in his own household. There wasnothing in his apparel to distinguish him save the exquisite finenessand richness of the material. Thrown around his neck had been acuriously wrought silver crucifix on a silver chain, and that crucifixhe had worn ever since. It lay upon his breast beneath his clothing now. It was the sole object which connected him with his past. 

Who had been his father, his mother? How had a baby so richly dressedcome to be abandoned in a small obscure village outside the walls ofPanama, which would have escaped the ravages of the buccaneers onaccount of its insignificance, had it not lain directly in theirbackward path. They had destroyed it out of mere wantonness. 

And there was another thought which often came to him and caused hischeeks to burn with horror. If, as his clothing had indicated, he hadbeen the child of wealth, did not his obscure position indicate that hewas at the same time the child of shame?

Since he had reached man's estate he had thought of these things oftenand had prayed that in some way, at some time, the mystery might besolved, for the suspense was worse than any assurance, howeverdreadful. He had often thought with longing upon his father, his mother. This morning in the bitterness of his heart he cursed them for thesituation in which he found himself. He despaired at last of everfinding out anything. What mattered it now? He might be of the proudestand most honorable lineage in New Spain, a Soto-Mayor, a Bobadilla, evena de Guzman. It would advantage him nothing since he had lost Mercedes. In spite of himself he groaned aloud, and the girl riding a littledistance behind him heard the sound of anguish in his voice. 

Her heart, which had been yearning toward him with increasing force, wasstirred within her bosom. 

"Ride thou here, " she said suddenly to Señora Agapida, "I go forward tospeak with Captain Alvarado. "

"But, señorita, thy father----"

"Is it not permitted that I speak with the captain of the soldiery whoescort me?"

"Certainly, if I am by. "

"I do not choose to have it so, " replied Mercedes, with all thehaughtiness of her father. "Remain here. I will return presently. "

Brushing her aside with an imperious wave of her hand and a threateningglance before which the poor duenna quailed, for her charge had nevershown such spirit before, Mercedes struck her Spanish jennet with thewhip she carried, passed around the intervening soldier, who courteouslygave way to her, and reined in her steed by Alvarado's horse. So close, indeed, was she to the captain that she almost touched him. It was goodto see the light leap in his eyes, the flush come into his pale cheek ashe became aware of her presence. 

"Donna Mercedes!" he cried in surprise. "Is anything wrong? Where is theSeñora Agapida?"

"Nothing is wrong. I left her there. "

"Shall I summon her?"

"Art afraid to speak to me, to a woman, alone, sir captain?"

"Nay, señorita, but 'tis unseemly----"

"Wouldst thou lesson me in manners, master soldier?" cried the girlhaughtily. 

"God forbid, lady, but thy father----"

"He laid no injunction upon me that I should not speak to you, sir. Isthat forbidden?"

"Of course not, but----"

"But what, sir? It is your own weakness you fear? You were strong enoughlast night. Have you, by chance--repented?"

There was such a passionate eagerness in her voice, and such a leapinghope for an affirmative answer in the glance she bent upon him, that hecould scarce sustain the shock of it. His whole soul had risen to meethers, coming as she came. He trembled at her propinquity. The voice ofthe girl thrilled him as never before. 

The sergeant who followed them, out of respect for their confidenceschecked the pace of his troop horse somewhat and the two advanced somedistance from him out of earshot. The unhappy duenna watched them withanxious eyes, but hesitated to attempt to join them. Indeed, the way wasblocked for such an indifferent horsewoman as she by the adroitmanoeuvres of the sergeant. He was devoted to his young commander and hehad surmised the state of affairs also. He would have had no scrupleswhatever in facilitating a meeting, even an elopement. The two lovers, therefore, could speak unobserved, or at least unheard by any stranger. 

"Lady, " said Alvarado at last, "I am indeed afraid. You make the strong, weak. Your beauty--forgive me--masters me. For God's sake, for Christ, His Mother, tempt me not! I can stand no more--" he burst forth withvehemence. 

"What troubles thee, Alvarado?" she said softly. 

"Thou--and my plighted word. "

"You chose honor and duty last night when you might have had me. Artstill in the same mind?"

"Señorita, this subject is forbidden. "

"Stop!" cried the girl, "I absolve you from all injunctions of silence. I, too, am a de Lara, and in my father's absence the head of the house. The duty thou hast sworn to him thou owest me. Art still in the samemind as last night, I say?"

"Last night I was a fool!"

"And this morning?"

"I am a slave. "

"A slave to what? To whom?"

"Donna Mercedes, " he cried, turning an imploring glance upon her, "pressme no further. Indeed, the burden is greater than I can bear. "

"A slave to whom?" she went on insistently, seeing an advantage andpressing it hard. She was determined that she would have an answer. Noconviction of duty or feeling of filial regard was strong enough tooverwhelm love in this woman's heart. As she spoke she flashed upon himher most brilliant glance and by a deft movement of her bridle handswerved the jennet in closer to his barb. She laid her hand upon hisstrong arm and bent her head close toward him. They were far from theothers now and the turns of the winding road concealed them. 

"A slave to whom? Perhaps to--me?" she whispered. 

"Have mercy on me!" he cried. "To you? Yes. But honor, duty----"

"Again those hateful words!" she interrupted, her dark face flushingwith anger. "Were I a man, loved I a woman who loved me as I--as I--asone you know, I would have seized her in spite of all the world! Onceshe had fled to the shelter of my arms, while life beat in my heart noneshould tear her thence. "

"Thy father----"

"He thinks not of my happiness. "

"Say not so, Donna Mercedes. "

"'Tis true. It is a matter of convenient arrangement. Two ancient names, two great fortunes cry aloud for union and they drown the voice of theheart. I am bestowed like a chattel. "

"Don Felipe----"

"Is an honorable gentleman, a brave one. He needs no defense at myhands. That much, at least, my father did. There is no objection to mysuitor save that I do not love him. "

"In time--in time you may, " gasped Alvarado. 

"Dost thou look within thine own heart and see a fancy so evanescentthat thou speakest thus to me?"

"Nay, not so. "

"I believe thee, and were a thousand years to roll over my head thineimage would still be found here. "

She laid her tiny gloved hand upon her breast as she spoke in a lowvoice, and this time she looked away from him. He would have givenheaven and earth to have caught her yielding figure in his arms. Shedrooped in the saddle beside him in a pose which was a confession ofwomanly weakness and she swayed toward him as if the heart in her bodycried out to that which beat in his own breast. 

"Mercedes! Mercedes!" he said, "you torture me beyond endurance! Go backto your duenna, to Señora Agapida, I beg of you! I can stand no more! Idid promise and vow in my heart--my honor--my duty----"

"Ay, with men it is different, " said the girl, and the sound of a sob inher voice cut him to the heart, "and these things are above love, aboveeverything. I do not--I can not understand. I can not comprehend. Youhave rejected me--I have offered myself to you a second time--after therefusal of last night. Where is my Spanish pride? Where is my maidenlymodesty? That reserve that should be the better part of woman is gone. Iknow not honor--duty--I only know that though you reject me, I am yours. I, too, am a slave. I love you. Nay, I can not marry Don Felipe deTobar. 'Twere to make a sacrilege of a sacrament. "

[Illustration: Alvarado threw his right arm around her, and with a forcesuperhuman dragged her from the saddle. ]

"Thy father----"

"I have done my best to obey him. I can no more. "

"What wilt thou do?"

"This!" cried the girl desperately. 

The road at the point they had arrived wound sharply around the spur ofthe mountain which rose above them thousands of feet on one side andfell abruptly away in a terrific precipice upon the other. As she spokeshe struck her horse again with the whip. At the same time by a violentwrench on the bridle rein she turned him swiftly toward the open cliff. Quick as she had been, however, Alvarado's own movement was quicker. Hestruck spur into his powerful barb and with a single bound was by herside, in the very nick of time. Her horse's forefeet were slipping amongthe loose stones on the edge. In another second they would both be over. Alvarado threw his right arm around her and with a force superhumandragged her from the saddle, at the same time forcing his own horseviolently backward with his bridle hand. His instant promptness hadsaved her, for the frightened horse she rode, unable to control himself, plunged down the cliff and was crushed to death a thousand feet below. 

CHAPTER XIII

IN WHICH CAPTAIN ALVARADO IS FORSWORN AND WITH DONNA MERCEDES IN HISARMS BREAKS HIS PLIGHTED WORD

"My God!" cried the young soldier hoarsely, straining her to his breast, while endeavoring to calm his nervous and excited horse. "What would youhave done?"

[Illustration]

"Why didn't you let me go?" she asked, struggling feebly in his arms. "It would all have been over then. "

"I could not, I love you. "

The words were wrung from him in spite of himself by her deadly peril, by her desperate design which he had only frustrated by superhumanquickness and strength. He was pale, shaking, trembling, unnerved, forher. He scarce knew what he said or did, so little command had he overhimself. 

As he spoke those words "I love you, " so blissful for her to hear, sheslipped her arm around his neck. It was not in mortal man to resistunder such circumstances. He forgot everything--honor, duty, his word, everything he threw to the winds. Before the passion which sought deathwhen denied him his own powers of resistance vanished. He strained herto his breast and bent his head to kiss her. Again and again he drank atthe upturned fountain of affection, her lips. The shock had been toomuch for him. Greater for him than for her. He had seen her upon theverge of eternity. She thought nothing of that in her present joy. Sheonly realized that she was in his arms again, that he had kissed her, and between the kisses he poured out words that were even greatercaresses. 

The others were far behind. They were alone upon the mountain-side withthe rocks behind and the great sapphire sea of the Caribbean beforethem. He held her close to his breast and they forgot everything butlove as they gently pricked along the road. It was near noon now, and asthe road a furlong farther debouched into an open plateau shaded bytrees and watered by a running brook which purled down the mountain-sidefrom some inaccessible cloud-swept height it was a fitting place to makecamp, where the whole party, tired by a long morning's travel, couldrepose themselves until the breeze of afternoon tempered the heat of theday. Here he dismounted, lifted her from horse, and they stood together, side by side. 

"You have saved me, " she whispered, "you have drawn me back from thedeath that I sought. God has given me to you. We shall never be parted. "

"I am a false friend, an ungrateful servitor, a forsworn man, a perjuredsoldier!" he groaned, passing his hand over his pale brow as if to brushaway the idea consequent upon his words. 

"But thou hast my love, " she whispered tenderly, swaying toward himagain. 

"Yes--yes. Would that it could crown something else than my dishonor. "

"Say not so. "

She kissed him again, fain to dispel the shadow that darkened his face. 

"I had been faithful, " he went on, as if in justification, "had I notseen thee on the brink of that cliff, and then thou wert in my arms--Iwas lost----"

"And I was found. I leaped to death. I shut my eyes as I drove the horsetoward the cliff, and I awakened to find myself in your arms--in heaven!Let nothing take me hence. "

"It can not be, " he said, "I must go to the Viceroy when he returnsfrom the Orinoco war, and tell him that I have betrayed him. "

"I will tell him, " she answered, "or wilt thou tell him what I tellthee?" she went on. 

"Surely. "

"Then say to him that I sought death rather than be given to Don Felipeor to any one else. Tell him you saved me on the very brink of thecliff, and that never soldier made a better fight for field or flag thanthou didst make for thy honor and duty, but that I broke thee down. Ihad the power, and I used it. The story is as old as Eden--the womantempted--"

"I should have been stronger--I should not have weakened. But I shallfight no more--it is all over. "

"Ah, thou canst not, " she whispered, nestling closer to him. "And tellmy father that should harm come to thee, if, in their anger, he or deTobar lay hand upon thee, it will not advantage their plans, for Iswear, if there be no other way, I will starve myself to death to followthee!"

"I can not shelter myself behind a woman. "

"Then I will tell them both myself, " she cried. "You shall know, theyshall know, how a Spanish woman can love. "

"And thou shalt know, too, " answered Alvarado firmly, "that though Ibreak my heart, I, an unknown, can expatiate his guilt with all thepride of most ancient lineage and birth highest of them all. "

It was a brave speech, but he did not release his hold upon Mercedes andin spite of his words when, confident that whatever he might say, however he might struggle, he was hers at last, she smiled up at himagain, he kissed her. 

"When go you to my father, Señor Alvarado?" she asked. 

"When he returns from the Orinoco. "

"And that will not be until----"

"Perhaps a month. "

"Wilt love me until then?"

"I shall love thee forever. "

"Nay, but wilt thou tell me so, with every day, every week, every hour, every moment, with kisses like to these?"

"Oh, tempt me not!" he whispered; but he returned again and again hercaresses. 

"Ah, my Alvarado, if you have once fallen, what then? Is not one kiss asbad as a thousand?"

"Be it so; we will be happy until that time. "

"One month, one month of heaven, my love, after that let come what may, "she answered, her cheeks and eyes aflame, her heart throbbing withexquisite pain in her breast. They would enjoy the day, the future couldtake care of itself. 

"Some one approaches!" he said at last, and at the same moment the restof the party came around the bend of the road. The poor duenna wasconsumed with anxiety and remorse. 

"Bernardo, " said Alvarado to the sergeant, "we will take our siestahere. Unsaddle the horses and prepare the noon-day meal under the trees. Send one of the troopers ahead to bid Fadrique stop on the road until werejoin him, keeping good guard. Señora Agapida, you must be tired fromthe long ride. Let me assist you to dismount. "

"The Señorita Mercedes!" she asked, as he lifted her to the ground. "Where is her horse?"

"He slipped and fell, " answered the girl promptly. 

"Fell? Madre de Dios!"

"Yes, over the cliff. Captain Alvarado lifted me from the saddle just intime. "

"I shall make a novena of devotion to St. Jago for thy preservation, sweet Mercedes, " cried the duenna, "and you, young sir, must have astrong arm----"

"It is ever at your service, " answered Alvarado gravely, bowing beforeher. 

The old woman's heart went out to the gallant young man, so handsome, sobrave, so strong, so distinguished looking. 

"Why, " she mused under her breath, "could he not have been the one?"

By this time the little place was filled with soldiers, attendants, andmuleteers. Some kindled fires, others unpacked hampers loaded withprovisions, others prepared a place where the party might rest, and as, to restore order out of this confusion, Alvarado turned hither andthither he was followed in all his movements by the lovely eyes of thewoman who had broken him, and who had won him. 

During the interval of repose the young man allowed his party the twolovers were constantly together. Alvarado had made a faint effort to goapart and leave Mercedes to herself, but with passionate determinationshe had refused to allow it. She had thrown prudence to the winds. Careless of whoever might see, of whoever might comment, heedless of thereproving duenna, indifferent to ancient practice, reckless of curiousglances, she had insisted upon accompanying the captain and he hadyielded. He was doomed in his own soul to death. He intended to tell theViceroy and de Tobar everything, and he had no doubt that one or theother would instantly kill him. It was a fate to which he would make noresistance. Meanwhile he would enjoy the day. There was a melancholypleasure, too, in the thought, for this morning had assured him of it, that whatever awaited him Mercedes would belong to no one else. If theykilled him she had sworn that she would not survive him. If they stroveto force her into the arms of another, she had declared she would dierather than comply, and he believed her. 

Other women in like circumstances might have resorted to a convent, butMercedes was not of the temperament which makes that calm harbor aninviting refuge. If she could not have Alvarado, she would simplydie--that was all. Under the circumstances, therefore, as he had alreadyforfeited his own esteem, he hesitated no more. Indeed, before thepassion of the woman he loved, who loved him, it was not possible. Inher presence he could do nothing else. They abandoned themselves withall the fervor of youth and passion to their transports of affection. They wandered away from the others and by the side of the brook beneaththe shelter of the trees remained together and whispered all the lovethat beat within their freed breasts. They might die to-morrow, to-daythey lived and loved. Fain would they have prolonged the Elysian dreamforever, but the descending sun of the afternoon at last warnedAlvarado, if they would reach La Guayra that night, that they mustresume their journey. Reluctantly he gave the order to mount. 

This time, utterly indifferent to the Señora Agapida, Mercedes, mountedon one of the led horses, rode openly by Alvarado's side. Sustained byhis presence, constantly in touch with him, she made the way down thedifficult wanderings of the rocky mountain trail. They watched the sunset in all its glory over the tropic sea. The evening breeze blew softlyabout them riding side by side. Then the night fell upon them. Over themblazed the glorious canopy of the tropic stars, chief among them thefiery Southern Cross, emblem of the faith they cherished, the mostmarvelous diadem in the heavens. There below them twinkled the lights ofLa Guayra. The road grew broader and smoother now. It was almost at thelevel of the beach. They would have to pass through the town presently, and thence up a steep rocky road which wound around the mountain untilthey surmounted the cliff back of the city and arrived at the palace ofthe Governor upon the hillside, where Mercedes was to lodge. An hour, atleast, would bring them to their destination now. There was nothing toapprehend. The brigands in the fastnesses of the mountains or thesavages, who sometimes strayed along the road, never ventured so nearthe town. 

Fadrique, by Alvarado's orders, had fallen back nearer the main body soas to be within call. 

"We shall be there in a little while. See yonder, the lights of thetown, " said the captain. 

"While thou art with me, " said the girl, "it matters little where weare. There are but two places in the world now----"

"And those are----?"

"Where thou art and where thou art not. If I may only be with thee, ifwe may be together, I want nothing else. "

She had scarcely spoken before the sound of a cry followed by a shotbroke on the night. 

BOOK IV

IN WHICH IS RELATED AN ACCOUNT OF THE TAKING OF LA GUAYRA BY THEBUCCANEERS AND THE DREADFUL PERILS OF DONNA MERCEDES DE LARA AND CAPTAINALVARADO IN THAT CITY

CHAPTER XIV

WHEREIN THE CREW OF THE GALLEON INTERCEPTS THE TWO LOVERS BY THE WAY

The terrific impact of the huge ship on the sand among the breakerswhich thundered and beat upon her sides with overwhelming force camejust in the nick of time for Morgan. Had the disaster been delayed asecond longer the furious buccaneers would have cut him down where hestood. Even the officers were angered beyond measure at him for theirpresent situation, which threatened the loss of the vast treasurealready gained in the ship, although they had consented to Morgan'sproposition to attack La Guayra and Caracas, and the captain was in noway responsible for the storm and the wreck which jeoparded their bootyand their future. Therefore it is probable that none of them, unless itwere Teach, would have interfered to save Morgan, and he would have beenswept from his feet by the savage men and instantly killed, in spite ofall that he, or Carib, or any one else could have done. But theviolence of the shock when the ship took ground threw them to the deck, and they forgot for the instant their bloody purpose of vengeance in theinevitableness of their approaching danger; they were checked in theirmad anger for a few seconds and given a moment for reflection, thatmoment convinced them that they could not yet dispense with the servicesof their captain. With black rage and white fear striving for mastery intheir hearts, they rose to their feet and faced him with menacing facesand threatening gestures. 

"What's to be done now?" questioned one bolder than the rest. 

"Now's the time, " roared the undaunted Morgan, striving to make himselfheard by all above the thundering seas, "to show your courage, lads!"

He had quickly observed that the force with which she had been driven onthe shoals had shoved the galleon's nose firmly in the sand. She hadbeen caught just before she took ground by a tremendous roller and hadbeen lifted up and hurled far over to starboard. Although almost on herbeam ends, her decks inclining landward, the strongly-built ship heldsteady in spite of the tremendous onslaughts of the seas along herbilge. 

"Take heart, men!" he cried. "Observe. She lies still and secure. 'Tis astout hulk and will take a tremendous battering before she breaks. Wemay yet save ourselves. "

"And the treasure?" roared one. 

"Ay, and the treasure. "

"I think the storm has about blown itself out, " interposed oldHornigold, shouting out at this instant. "Look you, mates, " he cried, pointing to westward, "it clears! The sun'll set fair to-night. "

"The bo's'n is right, " cried Morgan. "But first of all we must take nochances with our lives. Even though we lose the ship we can seizeanother. The world is full of treasure and we can find it. Now I wantsome one to carry a line ashore through the breakers. Who willvolunteer?"

"I, " said Carib instantly. 

"I need you here, " answered Morgan, who did not purpose to be deprivedof that bodyguard upon whose watchfulness his life had so oftendepended. 

"I'll go, " exclaimed young Teach, breaking through the crowd. 

"That's a brave heart!" said Morgan. "A line here!"

Instantly a light line was forthcoming. Teach tore off his jacket, laidaside his weapons, kicked off his shoes, took a turn of the line aroundhis waist, made it fast, wrung Morgan's hand, watched his chance, leapedoverboard, was caught by an onrushing wave and carried far toward theshore. The ebb of the roller carried him back seaward some distance, buthe swam forward madly, and the next wave brought him a little nearer thebeach. He was driven backward and forward, but each time managed to geta little nearer the shore line. 

The whole ship's company stared after him, spontaneously cheering andyelling cries of encouragement in spite of the fact that he could nothear a single sound in the roaring, raging seas. Morgan himself tendedthe line, skilfully paying it out when necessary. In a few moments, although the time seemed hours to the watchers, the feet of Teachtouched the shore, and although the terrific undertow of the wave thathad dropped him there almost bore him back again, yet by a superhumanexertion he managed to stagger forward, and the next moment they saw himfall prostrate on the sand. 

Had he fainted or given way? They looked at him with bated breath butafter a little space they saw him rise slowly to his feet and staggerinland toward a low point where a lofty palm tree was writhing andtwisting in the fierce wind. He was too good a seaman not instantly tosee what was required of him, for, waving his hand toward the ship he atonce began to haul in the line. Ready hands had bent a larger rope toit, which was succeeded by a third, strong enough to bear a man'sweight. The buccaneer hauled this last in with great difficulty, for thedistance was far and the wet rope was heavy. He climbed up and made itfast to the tree and then waited. As soon as he had done so there was arush on the ship for the line which had been made fast inboardtemporarily. Morgan, however, interposed between the crew and thecoveted way to safety. 

"Back!" he shouted. "One at a time, and the order as I appoint! You, L'Ollonois, and you, and you, " he cried, indicating certain men uponwhom he could depend. "Go in succession. Then haul a heavier ropeashore. We'll put a traveler with a bo's'n's chair on it, and sendthese nuns and the priests first of all. "

"Do we have to wait for a lot of wimmin and papists?" growled one manamong the frightened rascals. 

"You have to wait until the ship breaks up beneath your feet, if it ismy pleasure, " said Morgan, coolly, and they slunk back again, cowed. Hewas master of the situation once more. 

There was something about that man that enforced obedience, whether theywould or no. His orders were promptly obeyed and intelligently carriedout by L'Ollonois and his men, who first went ashore. A heavy hawserwas dragged through the surf and made fast high up on the sturdy palmtree. On it they rigged a traveler and the chair, and then thefrightened nuns were brought forward from the cabin. 

The women were sick with apprehension. They knew, of course, that theship had struck, and they had been expecting instant death. Theirprayers had been rudely interrupted by Morgan's messenger, and when theycame out on deck in that stern tempest, amid that body of wild, ruthlessmen, their hearts sank within them. At the sight of those human fiendsthey would fain have welcomed that watery grave from which they had justbeen imploring God to save them. When they discovered that their onlymeans of safety lay in making that perilous passage through the waterswhich overwhelmed the bight of rope in which hung the boatswain's chair, they counted themselves as dead. Indeed, they would have refused to gohad it not been for the calm and heroic resolution of the abbess, theirleader, Sister Maria Christina, who strove to assuage their fears. 

"Hornigold, " said Morgan, "are you still faithful to me in this crisis?"

"I shall obey you in all things--now, " answered the boatswain. 

"Swear it. "

"By the old buccaneer faith, " said the One-Eyed, again adding thesignificant adverb, "now. "

For a wonder, the captain paid no attention to the emphasis on the word, "now. "

"Can you keep your pistols dry?"

"I can wrap them in oilskin and thrust them in my jacket. "

"Go to the shore, then, " said Morgan, "and receive these women. Marchthem away from the men to yonder clump of palms, and guard them as youwould your life. If any man approach you or them for any purpose, shoothim dead without a word. I'll see that the others have no weapons. D'yeunderstand?"

"Ay, and shall obey. "

"Go!"

The boatswain swung himself into the chair and the men on the other endof the traveler pulled him to the other shore, none the worse for hiswetting. He opened his jacket, found the weapons dry, and waved his handas a sign to Morgan that he was all right. 

"Which of you women will go first?" asked Morgan. 

He turned instinctively to the tall abbess, towering among her shrinkingsisters. She indicated first one and then another among the poorcaptives, and as they refused, she turned to Morgan and, with a gravedignity, said in Spanish, of which he was a master, that she would gofirst to show the way, and then the others would be in better heart tofollow. She sat down on the boatswain's chair--which, was simply a bitof wood held like the seat of a swing in a triangle of rope--made thesign of the cross, and waved her hand. She was hauled ashore in aninstant with nothing worse to complain of than a drenching by the waves. By Hornigold's direction she walked past him toward the clump of palmswhich Morgan had indicated. 

One after another of the women were sent forward until the whole partywas ashore. Then the Spanish priests took their turn, and after thesereached the sand the rest of the crew were sent ashore. Morgan wascareful to indicate each one's turn, so that he preserved a balancebetween the more reputable and the more degraded members of the crew, both on ship and shore. Among the last to go were the maroon and deLussan, each armed as Hornigold had been. They had both receivedinstructions, one to station himself at the palm tree, the other tocover the hawser where it ran along the shore before it entered thewater. These precautionary orders which he had given were necessary, for when the last man had been hauled ashore and Morgan stepped into thechair for his turn, one of the infuriated buccaneers, watching hischance, seized his jack-knife, the only weapon that he had, for Morganhad been careful to make the men leave their arms on the ship, and madea rush for the rope to cut it and leave the captain to his fate. But deLussan shot him dead, and before the others could make a move Morganstepped safely on the sand. 

"That was well done, " he cried, turning to the Frenchman. 

"Ah, mon capitaine, " answered the other, "it was not from affection, butbecause you are necessary to us. "

"Whatever it may be, " returned the old man, "I owe much to you andscuttle me, I'll not forget it. "

The Frenchman, indifferent to Morgan's expressions of gratitude, shrugged his shoulders, turned away, and made no reply. 

The transportation of so many people across the slender line had taken along time. The sun, just beginning to break through the riven clouds, was near its setting; night would soon be upon them. They must hurrywith what was yet to be done. Morgan sent Teach and the Brazilian backto the ship with instructions to gather up enough weapons to arm thecrew and to send them ashore. This was promptly done. Indeed, communication was not difficult now that the force of the gale wasabating. The ship had been badly battered but still held together, andwould hold unless the storm came up again. As the arms came ashoreMorgan served them out to those men whom he considered most reliable;and, after throwing out a strong guard around the band, the rest soughtshelter around huge driftwood fires which had been kindled by the use offlint and steel. There was hardly a possibility they would be observedin that deserted land, but still it was wise to take precaution. 

Morgan ordered the women and priests to be double-guarded by thetrustiest, and it was well that he did so. He gave old Hornigoldparticular charge of them. The buccaneers were hungry and thirsty, butthey were forced to do without everything until morning when they couldget all they wanted from the ship. So they tightened their belts anddisposed themselves about the fires as best they could to get what restthey might. 

[Illustration: But de Lussan shot him dead, and before the others couldmake a move, Morgan stepped safely on the sand. ]

Morgan and the officers drew apart and consulted long and earnestly overthe situation. They could never make the ship seaworthy again. To builda smaller one out of her timbers would be the work of months and when itwas finished it could not possibly carry the whole crew. To marchwestward toward the Isthmus meant to encounter terrific hardships fordays; their presence would speedily become known, and they would beconstantly menaced or attacked by troops from the heavily garrisonedplaces like Porto Bello and Carthagena. Back of them a short distanceaway lay La Guayra. It could be taken by surprise, Morgan urged, andeasily captured. If they started to march westward the Indians wouldapprise the Spaniards of their presence, and they would have to fighttheir way to the Pacific. If they took La Guayra, then the Viceroy, withthe treasure of his palace and the opulent city of Caracas would be attheir mercy. They could ravage the two towns, seize the first ship thatcame to the roadstead, and make their way to the Isthmus safely andspeedily. As to the treasure on the galleon, the buccaneer captainproposed to unload it and bury it in the sand, and after they hadcaptured La Guayra it would be easy to get it back again. 

Morgan's counsel prevailed, and his was the resolution to which theycame. The council of war broke up thereafter, and those not told off towatch with the guards went to sleep near the fires. Morgan, under theguardianship of the faithful Black Dog, threw himself upon the ground tocatch a few hours' rest. 

The next morning the wind had died away and the sea was fairly calm. The men swam out to the galleon, found her still intact though badlystrained, and by means of boats and rafts, working with persistentenergy, succeeded in landing and burying the treasure under the verypalm tree which held the rope that had given them salvation. 

Morgan's plan was an excellent one, the best that could be suggested inthe straits they then were, and it received the hearty assent of all themen. It took them all day to land the treasure and make their otherpreparations, which included the manufacture of several rude scalingladders, pieces of timber with cross pieces nailed upon them, whichcould be used in surmounting the walls of the town. In the evening theorder of march was arranged and their departure set for the morrow. Theyhad saved their treasure, they had food in plenty now, and with dryclothes and much rum they began to take a more cheerful view of life. They were fairly content once more. 

The next day, in the afternoon, for he desired to approach the town atnightfall, Morgan gave the order to advance. He was as much of a soldieras a sailor and sent ahead a party of choice spirits under Teach, whilethe main body followed some distance behind. As the shades of eveningdescended a messenger from the advance guard came back with the newsthat a party of travelers had been seen coming down the mountain; thatthey comprised a half-dozen troopers, a number of slaves, a heavilyladen pack train, and two women. 

Teach had stationed his men under the trees at a bend of the road aroundwhich the travelers had to pass, and he awaited Morgan's orders. Takinga detachment of the most reliable men with Velsers and Hornigold, andbidding the other officers and men to stand where they were until hesent word, Morgan and those with him ran rapidly forward until they cameto the ambuscade which young Teach had artfully prepared. He and his hadscarcely time to dispose themselves for concealment before a soldiercame riding carelessly down the road. Waiting until the man had passedhim a short distance and until the other unsuspicious travelers werefairly abreast the liers-in-wait, whom he had charged on no account tomove until he gave the word, Morgan stepped out into the open andcalled. The buccaneers instantly followed him. 

As the soldier saw these fierce looking men spring before him out of thedarkness, he cried aloud. The next moment he was shot dead by Morganhimself. At the same instant a volley rang out at contact range, andevery man in the party fell to the ground. Some were killed, others onlywounded; all of them except Alvarado were injured in some way. Hestruck spurs into his horse when he heard the cry of Fadrique and theshot. The surprised barb plunged forward, was hit by half a dozenbullets, fell to the ground in a heap, and threw his rider over hishead. The Spaniard scrambled to his feet, whipped out his sword, lungedforward and drove his blade into the breast of old Velsers. The nextinstant a dozen weapons flashed over his head. One rang upon his steelcasque, another crashed against the polished breastplate that he wore. He cut out again in the darkness, and once more fleshed his weapon. 

Women's screams rose above the tumult. Beating back the swords whichmenaced him, although he was reeling from the blows which he hadreceived, Alvarado strove to make his way toward Donna Mercedes, when hewas seized in the darkness from behind. 

"Kill him!" cried a voice in English, which Alvarado and Mercedes bothunderstood perfectly. "He's the only one alive. "

"Nay, " cried another voice, stronger and sterner, "save him; we'llquestion him later. Did any escape?"

"Not one. "

"Are there any horses alive?"

"Two or three. "

"Bring them hither. Now back to the rest. Then we can show a light andsee what we have captured. Teach, lead on. Let no harm come to thewomen. "

"Ay, ay, " answered another voice out of the darkness, and a third voicegrowled out:

"Hadn't we better make sure that none are alive to tell the tale?"

"Of course; a knife for the wounded, " answered the stern voice, "andbear a hand. "

Greatly surprised and unable to comprehend anything but that his men hadbeen slaughtered and no harm had as yet befallen his charges, Alvarado, whose arms had been bound to his side, found himself dragged along inthe wake of his captors, one or two of whom mounted on the unwoundedhorses, with the two women between them, rode rapidly down the road. 

CHAPTER XV

TELLS HOW MERCEDES DE LARA RETURNED THE UNSOUGHT CARESS OF SIR HENRYMORGAN, AND THE MEANS BY WHICH THE BUCCANEERS SURMOUNTED THE WALLS

One hundred yards or so beyond the place of the ambush the road droppedsharply over the last low cliff to the narrow strand which led to thewest wall of La Guayra, distant a half a mile away. They had all beenunder the deep shadow of the thick trees overhanging the way until thisinstant, but in the faint light cast by the moon just risen, Alvaradocould see that a great body of people were congregated before him on theroad. Who they were and what they were he could not surmise. He was notlong left in doubt, however, for the same voice whose commanding toneshad caused his life to be spared, now called for lights. The demand wasobeyed with a promptness that bespoke fear indeed, or discipline of thesternest, and soon the captives found themselves in a circle of luridlight sent forth by a number of blazing torches. 

The illumination revealed to Alvarado as villainous andterrible-looking a body of men as he had ever seen. The first glanceconvinced him that they were not Spanish brigands or robbers. He was tooyoung to have had dealings with the buccaneers of the past generation, but he realized that if any such remained on this side of the earth, they must be like these men who surrounded him. He wasted no time insurmises, however, for after the first swift comprehensive glance hiseyes sought Mercedes. She sat her horse free and uninjured apparently, for which he thanked God. She was leaning forward over her saddle andstaring in bewilderment and surprise at the scene and confusion beforeher. 

"Donna Mercedes, " cried Alvarado, turning himself about, in spite of hisbonds and the restraint his immediate captors endeavored to put uponhim, "are you safe--unhurt?"

"Safe, " answered the girl, "and thou?"

"Well, but for these bonds. "

"God be thanked! Who are these men?"

"I know not, but----"

"Oh, sir, " interrupted Señora Agapida, recovering her voice at the soundof the Spanish tongue, "for Christ's sake, what does this mean? Saveus!"

"Señora, " said that same sharp voice, but this time speaking in theSpanish tongue, as a tall man, hat in hand, urged his horse forward, "fear nothing, you shall be protected. And you, señorita. Do I not havethe honor of addressing Donna Mercedes de Lara?"

"That is my name, " answered the girl, haughtily. "Who are you? Why haveyou shot my people and seized me prisoner?"

"For love of you, Mistress Mercedes. "

"Just heaven! Who are you, I say!" cried the girl at this startlinganswer, turning in surprise and terror to look upon his countenance. 

There was something familiar in the man's face that called up a vaguerecollection which she strove to master. 

"Who are you?" she cried again. 

"Sir Harry Morgan!" answered the horseman, bowing low over the saddle, "a free sailor at your service, ma'am. "

"My God!" cried Alvarado, who had listened attentively, "the buccaneer?"

"The same, " answered Morgan turning to him. 

"Sir Harry Morgan! Were you not Governor of Jamaica last year?" askedMercedes in astonishment. 

"I had that honor, lady. "

"Why are you now in arms against us?"

"A new king, Mistress de Lara, sits the English throne. He likes me not. I and these gallant seamen are going to establish a kingdom in somesweet island in the South Seas, with our good swords. I would fain havea woman to bear me company on the throne. Since I saw you in Jamaicalast year, I have designed you for the honor----"

"Monster!" screamed the girl, appalled by the hideous leer whichaccompanied his words. "Rather anything----"

"Sir, " interrupted Alvarado, "you are an Englishman. Your past rankshould warrant you a gentleman, but for this. There is no war betweenEngland and Spain. What is the meaning of this outrage? This lady is thedaughter of the Viceroy of Venezuela. I am his captain and thecommandante of yonder city of La Guayra. You have waylaid us, taken usat a disadvantage. My men are killed. For this assault His Excellencywill exact bloody reparation. Meanwhile give order that we be unbound, and let us pass. "

"Ho, ho!" laughed the buccaneer. "Think you I fear the Viceroy? Nay, notHis Majesty of Spain himself! I came here with set purpose to take LaGuayra and then Caracas, and to bear away with me this pretty lady uponwhom, I repeat, I design to bestow the honor of my name. "

As he spoke he leaned toward Mercedes, threw his arm around her waist, and before she was even aware of her intention, kissed her roughly onthe cheek. 

"Lads, " he cried, "three cheers for the future Lady Morgan!"

The proud Spanish girl turned white as death under this insult. Her eyesflashed like coals of fire. Morgan was close beside her. She was withoutweapon save a jeweled whip that hung at her wrist. Before the first noteof a cheer could break from the lips of the men she lifted it and struckhim violently again and again full in the face. 

"Thou devil!" cried the captain in fury, whipping out his sword andmenacing her with it. 

"Strike!" cried Mercedes bravely, "and let my blood wash out the insultthat you have put upon my cheek. "

She raised her whip once more, but this time young Teach, coming on theother side, caught her hand, wrested the jeweled toy from her, and brokeit in the struggle. 

"Thou shalt pay dearly for those stripes, lady!" roared Morgan, swervingcloser to her. "And not now in honorable wedlock----"

"I will die first!" returned Mercedes. 

Alvarado, meanwhile, had been struggling desperately to free himself. Bythe exercise of superhuman strength, just as Morgan again menaced thewoman he loved, he succeeded in freeing himself from his loosely-tiedbonds. His guards for the moment had their attention distracted from himby the group on horseback. He wrenched a sword from the hand of one, striking him a blow with his naked fist that sent him reeling as he didso, and then flung out his other arm so that the heavy pommel of thesword struck the second guard in the face, and the way was clear for themoment. He sprang forward instantly, seized Morgan's horse, forced himaway from Mercedes by a wrench of his powerful arm, and stood at bay infront of the woman he loved. He said no word but stood with his sword upon guard, panting heavily from his fierce exertions. 

"Alvarado, you will be killed!" screamed the girl, seeing the othersmake for him. 

"Here we have it, " sneered Morgan. "This is the secret of your refusal. He is your lover. "

"Seize him!" cried Teach, raising his sword, as followed by the othershe made at Alvarado, who awaited them undaunted. 

"Stay!" shouted de Lussan, "there is a better way. "

Rudely shoving Señora Agapida aside, he seized Mercedes from behind. 

"Do not move, mademoiselle, " he said in French, in his excitement, whichfortunately she understood. 

"That's well done!" cried Morgan, "Captain Alvarado, if that be yourname, throw down your sword if you would save the lady's life. "

"Mind me not, Alvarado, " cried Mercedes, but Alvarado, perceiving thesituation, instantly dropped his weapon. 

"Now seize him and bind him again! And you, dogs!" Morgan added, turningto the men who had allowed the prisoner to slip before, "if he escapeyou again you shall be hanged to the nearest tree!"

"Hadst not better bind the woman, too?" queried the Frenchman gently, still holding her fast in his fierce grasp. 

"Ay, the wench as well. Oh, I'll break your spirit, my pretty one, "answered Morgan savagely, flipping the young woman's cheek. "Wilt pay meblows for kisses? Scuttle me, you shall crawl at my feet before I'vefinished with you!"

"Why not kill this caballero out of hand, captain?" asked Hornigold, savage from a slight wound, as he limped up to Morgan. 

"No, I have use for him. Are the rest silent?"

"They will tell no tales, " laughed L'Ollonois grimly. 

"Did none escape back up the road?"

"None, Sir Henry, " answered the other. "My men closed in after them anddrove them forward. They are all gone. "

"That's well. Now, for La Guayra. What force is there, Señor Capitan?"

Alvarado remained obstinately silent. He did not speak even when Morganruthlessly cut him across the cheek with his dagger. He did not utter asound, although Mercedes groaned in anguish at the sight of his torture. 

"You'd best kill him, captain, " said L'Ollonois. 

"No, I have need for him, I say, " answered Morgan, giving over theattempt to make him speak. "Is any one here who has been at La Guayrarecently?" he asked of the others. 

"I was there last year on a trading ship of France, " answered Sawkins. 

"What garrison then?"

"About two hundred and fifty. "

"Was it well fortified?"

"As of old, sir, by the forts on either side and a rampart along the seawall. "

"Were the forts in good repair?"

"Well kept indeed, but most of the guns bore seaward. "

"Have you the ladders ready?" cried Morgan to Braziliano, who had beencharged to convey the rude scaling ladders by which they hoped to getover the walls. 

"All ready, captain, " answered that worthy. 

"Let us go forward then. We'll halt just out of musket-shot and concertour further plans. We have the Governor in our hands, lads. The restwill be easy. There is plenty of plunder in La Guayra, and when we havemade it our own we'll over the mountains and into Caracas. Hornigold, you are lame from a wound, look to the prisoners. "

"To La Guayra! To La Guayra!" enthusiastically shouted the men, takingup the line of march. 

The rising moon flooding the white strand made the scene as light asday. They kept good watch on the walls of La Guayra, for the sound ofthe shots in the night air had been heard by some keen-eared sentry, andas a result the garrison had been called to arms. The firing had beentoo heavy to be accounted for by any ordinary circumstances, andofficers and soldiers had been at a loss to understand it. However, totake precautions were wise, and every preparation was made as if againstan immediate attack. The drums were beaten; the ramparts were manned;the guns were primed, and such of the townspeople as were not too timidto bear arms were assembled under their militia officers. 

The watchers on the west wall of the fort were soon aware of theapproach of the buccaneers. Indeed, they made no concealment whateverabout their motions. Who they were and what they were the garrison hadnot discovered and could not imagine. A prompt and well-aimed volley, however, as soon as the buccaneers came within range apprised them thatthey were dealing with enemies, and determined enemies at that. Undercover of the confusion caused by this unexpected discharge, Morgandeployed his men. 

"Lads, " he said, "we'll board yon fort with a rush and a cheer. Theladders will be placed on the walls, and under cover of a heavy firefrom our musketry we'll go over them. Use only the cutlass when you gainthe parapet and ply like men. Remember what's on the other side!"

"Ay, but who'll plant the ladders?" asked one. 

"The priests and women, " said Morgan grimly. "I saved them for that. "

A roar of laughter and cheers broke from the ruffianly gang as theyappreciated the neatness of the old buccaneer's scheme. 

"'Tis an old trick, " he continued; "we did the same thing thirty yearssince at Porto Bello. Eh, Hornigold? How's that leg of yours?"

"Stiff and sore. "

"Bide here then with the musketeers. Teach, you shall take the wallsunder the cliff yonder. L'Ollonois, lead your men straight at the fort. De Lussan, let the curtain between be your point. I shall be with thefirst to get over. Now, charge your pieces all, and Hornigold, after wehave started, by slow and careful fire do you keep the Spaniards downuntil you hear us cheer. After that, hold your fire. "

"But I should like to be in the first rank myself, master, " growled theold boatswain. 

"Ha, ha!" laughed Morgan, "that's a right spirit, lad, but that cut legholds you back, for which you have to thank this gentleman, " bowingtoward Alvarado with a hideous countenance. "You can be of service here. Watch the musketeers. We would have no firing into our backs. Now bringup the women and priests. And, Hornigold, watch Señorita de Lara. Seethat she does not escape. On your life, man; I'd rather hold her safe, "he muttered under his breath, "than take the whole city of Caracas. "

With shouts of fiendish glee the buccaneers drove the hapless nuns andpriests, who had been dragged along in the rear, to the front. TheSpaniards were firing at them now, but with no effect so far. Thedistance was great and the moonlight made aim uncertain, and every timea head showed itself over the battlement it became a target for thefire of the musketeers, who, by Hornigold's orders, ran forward underthe black shadow cast by the high cliff, where they could not be seen, and from this point of concealment, taking deliberate aim, made havocamong the defenders. 

"Now, good fathers and sisters, " began Morgan, "you have doubtless beencurious to know why you were not put to death. I saved you--not becauseI loved you, but because I needed you. I had a purpose in view; thatpurpose is now apparent. "

"What would you with us, señor?" asked Sister Maria Christina, theabbess, stepping out in front of her sisters. 

"A little service, my sister. Bring up the ladders, men. See, there areseven all told. That will be four ladies apiece to four ladders; andhere are seven priests, which allows two to each of the three remainingladders, with one priest and one sister over for good measure, and totake the place of any that may be struck down. "

"And what are we to do with them, señor?" asked Fra Antonio de LasCasas, drawing nearer to the captain. 

"You are to carry them to yonder wall and place them against it. "

"You do not mean, " burst out Alvarado painfully, for he could scarcelyspeak from his wounded cheek, "to make these holy women bear the bruntof that fire from the fort, and the good priests as well?"

"Do I value the lives of women and priests, accursed Spaniard, more thanour own?" questioned the captain, and the congenial sentiment wasreceived by a yell of approval from the men. "But if you aretender-hearted, I'll give the defenders a chance. Will you advise themto yield and thus spare these women?"

"I can not do that, " answered Alvarado sadly. "'Tis their duty to defendthe town. There are twenty women here, there are five hundred there. "

"D'ye hear that, mates?" cried Morgan. "Up with the ladders!"

"But what if we refuse?" cried the abbess. 

"You shall be given over to the men, " answered Morgan, ferociously, "whereas, if you do as I order, you may go free; those who are leftalive after the storm. Do ye hear, men? We'll let them go after theyhave served us, " continued the chief turning to his men. "Swear that youwill let them go! There are others in La Guayra. "

"We swear, we swear!" shouted one after another, lifting their hands andbrandishing their weapons. 

"You hear!" cried Morgan. "Pick up the ladders!"

"For God's sake, sir----" began Maria Christina. 

"I know no God, " interrupted Morgan. 

"You had a mother--a wife once--perhaps children, Señor Capitan. Unsayyour words! We can not place the ladders which will give you access toyonder helpless town. "

"Then to the men you go!" cried Morgan ruthlessly. "Forward here, two orthree of you, take this woman! She chooses----"

"Death----" cried the abbess, snatching a dagger from the nearest handand driving it into her breast, "rather than dishonor!"

She held herself proudly erect for a moment, swayed back and forth, andthen fell prostrate upon the sand, the blood staining her white robeabout the hilt of the poniard. She writhed and shuddered in agony whereshe lay, striving to say something. Fra Antonio sprang to her side, andbefore any one could interfere knelt down. 

"I--I--I have sinned, " she gasped. "Mercy, mercy!"

"Thou hast done well, I absolve thee!" cried the priest, making the signof the cross upon her forehead. 

"Death and fury!" shouted Morgan, livid with rage. "Let her dieunshriven! Shall I be balked thus?"

He sprang toward the old man stooping over the woman, and struck himacross his shaven crown with the blade of his sword. The priest pitcheddown instantly upon the body of the abbess, a long shudder runningthrough him. Then he lay still. 

"Harry Morgan's way!" cried the buccaneer, recovering his blade. "Andyou?" turning toward the other women. "Have you had lesson enough? Pickup those ladders, or by hell----"

"Mercy, mercy!" screamed the frightened nuns. 

"Not another word! Drive them forward, men!"

The buccaneers sprang at the terrified women and priests, some withweapons out, others with leers and outstretched arms. First one and thenanother gave way. The only leadership among the sisters and priests layupon the sand there. What could they do? They picked up the ladders and, urged forward by threats and shouts of the buccaneers under cover of afurious discharge from Hornigold's musketeers, they ran to the wallsimploring the Spaniards not to fire upon them. 

When the Spanish commander perceived who were approaching, with amistaken impulse of mercy he ordered his men to fire over their heads, and so did little danger to the approaching buccaneers. A few of themfell, but the rest dashed into the smoke. There was no time for anotherdischarge. The ladders were placed against the walls, and priests andnuns were ruthlessly cast aside and trampled down. In a little space themarauders were upon the ramparts fighting like demons. Morgan, coveredby Black Dog, with Teach, de Lussan, and L'Ollonois, was in the lead. Truth to tell, the captain was never backward when fighting was goingon. The desperate onslaught of their overwhelming numbers, once they hadgained a foothold, swept the defenders before them like chaff. Waitingfor nothing, they sprang down from the fort and raced madly through thenarrow streets of the town. They brushed opposition away as leaves aredriven aside by a winter storm. Ere the defenders on the east fortscould realize their presence, they were upon them, also. 

In half an hour every man bearing a weapon had been cut down. The townwas at the mercy of this horde of human tigers. They broke open winecellars; they pillaged the provision shops; they tortured without mercythe merchants and inhabitants to force them to discover their treasures, and they insulted and outraged the helpless women. They were completelybeyond control now; drunk with slaughter, intoxicated with liquor, madwith lust, they ravaged and plundered. To add to the confusion, fireburst forth here and there, and before the morning dawned half of thecity was in ashes. 

The pale moon looked down upon a scene of horror such as it had neverbefore shone upon, even in the palmiest days of the buccaneers. 

CHAPTER XVI

IN WHICH BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD RECOGNIZES A CROSS, AND CAPTAIN ALVARADOFINDS AND LOSES A MOTHER ON THE STRAND

The musketeers under Hornigold, chosen for their mastery with theweapon, had played their parts with cunning skill. 

[Illustration]

Concealed from observation by the deep shadow of the cliffs, andtherefore immune from the enemy's fire, they had made targets of theSpaniards on the walls, and by a close, rapid, and well-directeddischarge, had kept down the return of the garrison until the verymoment of the assault. Hornigold was able to keep them in hand for alittle space after the capture of the town, but the thought of thepleasure being enjoyed by their comrades was too much for them. Anxiousto take a hand in the hideous fray, they stole away one by one, slinking under the cliff until they were beyond the reach of theboatswain, then boldly rushing for the town in the open, until the oldsailor was left with only a half-dozen of the most dependablesurrounding himself and prisoners. 

The rest would not have got away from him so easily had he not been sointensely occupied that at first he had taken little note of what wasgoing on. 

Mercedes and Alvarado had only opportunity to exchange a word now andthen, for extended conversation was prevented by the guards. Alvaradostrove to cheer the woman he loved, and she promised him she wouldchoose instant death rather than dishonor. He could give her littleencouragement of rescue, for unless word of their plight were carried tothe Viceroy immediately, he would be far on the way to the Orinococountry before any tidings could reach him, and by the time he returnedit would be too late. 

Again and again Alvarado strove to break his bonds, in impotent andhelpless fury, but this time he was securely bound and his captors onlylaughed at his struggles. In the midst of their grief and despair theyboth took notice of the poor abbess. Fra Antonio had not moved sinceMorgan had stricken him down, but there was life still in the woman, for, from where they stood, some distance back, the two lovers eachmarked her convulsive trembling. The sight appealed profoundly to themin spite of their perilous situation. 

"The brave sister lives, " whispered Mercedes. 

"'Tis so, " answered Alvarado. "Señor, " he called, "the sister yonder isalive. Wilt not allow us to minister to her?"

"Nay, " said Hornigold brusquely, "I will go myself. Back, all of ye!" headded. "She may wish to confess to me in default of the worthy father. "

He leered hideously as he spoke. 

"Coward!" cried Alvarado, but his words affected Hornigold not at all. 

Before he could say another word the guards forced him rudely back withthe two women. The worthy Señora Agapida by this time was in a state ofcomplete and total collapse, but Mercedes bore herself--her lover markedwith pleasure--as proudly and as resolutely as if she still stood withinher father's palace surrounded by men who loved her and who would diefor her. 

Rolling the body of the prostrate old man aside, Hornigold knelt down onthe white sand by the form of the sister. The moonlight shone full uponher face, and as he stooped over he scanned it with his one eye. Asudden flash of recognition came to him. With a muttered oath ofsurprise he looked again. 

"It can't be!" he exclaimed, "and yet----"

After Fra Antonio's brave attempt at absolution, the woman had fainted. Now she opened her eyes, although she was not yet fully conscious. 

"Water!" she gasped feebly, and as it chanced the boatswain had a smallbottle of the precious fluid hanging from a strap over his shoulder. There was no pity in the heart of the pirate, he would have allowed thewoman to die gasping for water without giving her a second thought, butwhen he recognized her--or thought he did--there instantly sprang intohis mind a desire to make sure. If she were the person he thought hershe might have information of value. Unslinging the bottle and pullingout the cork, he placed it to her lips. 

"I--die, " she murmured in a stronger voice. "A priest. "

"There is none here, " answered the boatswain. "Fra Antonio--he absolvedyou. "

"Where is he?"

"Dead, yonder. "

"But I must confess. "

"Confess to me, " chuckled the old man in ghastly mockery. "Many a womanhas done so and----"

"Art in Holy Orders, señor?" muttered the woman. 

[Illustration: The moonlight shone full upon her face, and as he stoopedover he scanned it with his one eye. ]

"Holy enough for you. Say on. "

"Fra Antonio, now, " she continued, vacantly lapsing into semi-delirium, "he married us--'twas a secret--his rank was so great. He was rich, Ipoor--humble. The marriage lines--in the cross. There was a--What'sthat? A shot? The buccaneers. They are coming! Go not, Francisco!"

Hornigold, bending an attentive ear to these broken sentences lost not aword. 

"Go not, " she whispered, striving to lift an arm, "they will kill thee!Thou shalt not leave me alone, my Francisco--The boy--in Panama----"

It was evident to the sailor that the poor woman's mind had gone back tothe dreadful days of the sack of Panama. He was right then, it was she. 

"The boy--save him, save him!" she cried suddenly with astonishingvigor. The sound of her own voice seemed to recall her to herself. Shestopped, her eyes lost their wild glare and fixed themselves upon theman above her, his own face in the shadow as hers was in the light. 

"Is it Panama?" she asked. "Those screams--the shots--" She turned herhead toward the city. "The flames--is it Panama?"

"Nay, " answered the one-eyed fiercely. "'Tis twenty-five years sincethen, and more. Yonder city is La Guayra. This is the coast ofVenezuela. "

"Oh--the doomed town--I remember--now--I stabbed myself ratherthan--place the ladders. Who art thou, señor?"

"Benjamin Hornigold!" cried the man fiercely, bending his face to hers. 

For a second the woman stared at him. Then, recognizing him, shescreamed horribly, raising herself upon her arm. 

"Hornigold!" she cried. "What have you done with the child?"

"I left him at Cuchillo, outside the walls, " answered the man. 

"And the cross?"

"On his breast. The Captain----"

"The marriage lines were there. You betrayed me. May God's curse--nay, Idie. For Christ's sake--I forgive--Francisco, Francisco. "

She fell back gasping on the sand. He tore the enclosing coif from herface. In a vain effort to hold back death's hand for another second, Hornigold snatched a spirit flask from his belt and strove to force adrop between her lips. It was too late. She was gone. He knew the signstoo well. He laid her back on the sand, exclaiming:

"Curse her! Why couldn't she have lived a moment longer? The Captain'sbrat--and she might have told me. Bring up the prisoners!" he cried tothe guards, who had moved them out of earshot of this strangeconversation. 

"The cross, " he muttered, "the marriage lines therein. The only clew. And yet she cried 'Francisco. ' That was the name. Who is he? If I couldfind that cross. I'd know it among a thousand. Hither, " he called to theprisoners slowly approaching. 

"The good sister?" queried Alvarado. 

"Dead. "

As the young soldier, with an ejaculation of pity, bent forward in themoonlight to look upon the face of the dead woman, from his torn doubleta silver crucifix suddenly swung before the eyes of the old buccaneer. 

"By heaven!" he cried. "'Tis the cross. "

He stepped nearer to Alvarado, seized the carven crucifix, and lifted itto the light. 

"I could swear it was the same, " he muttered. "Señor, your name andrank?"

"I can not conceive that either concerns a bloodthirsty ruffianlike----"

"Stop! Perhaps there is more in this than thou thinkest, " said Mercedes. "Tell him, Alvarado. It can do no harm. Oh, señor, have pity on us!Unbind me, " she added, "I give you my word. I wish but to pay my respectto the woman yonder. "

"She gives good counsel, soldier, " answered the boatswain. "Cut herlashing, " he said to the sailor who guarded them. 

As the buccaneer did so, Mercedes sank on her knees by the side of thedead woman. 

"Now, sir, your name?" asked Hornigold again. 

"Alvarado. "

"Where got you that name?"

"It was given me by His Excellency, the Viceroy. "

"And wherefore?"

There was something so tremendous in Hornigold's interest that in spiteof himself the young man felt compelled to answer. 

"It was his pleasure. "

"Had you not a name of your own?"

"None that I know of. "

"What mean you?"

"I was found, a baby, outside the walls of Panama in a little village. The Viceroy adopted me and brought me up. That is all. "

"When was this?" asked Hornigold. 

"After the sack of Panama. And the name of the village was----"

"Cuchillo----" interrupted Hornigold triumphantly. 

"My God, señor, how know you that?"

"I was there. "

"You were there?" cried the young man. 

"Ay. "

"For love of heaven, can you tell me who I am, what I am?"

"In good time, young sir, and for a price. At present I know but onething. "

"That is----"

"There lies your mother, " answered the buccaneer slowly, pointing to thewhite figure on the sand. 

"My mother! Madre de Dios!" cried Alvarado, stepping forward and lookingdown upon the upturned face with its closely cut white hair, showingbeautiful in the moonlight. "God rest her soul, she hath a lovely faceand died in defence of her honor like the gentlewoman she should be. Mymother--how know you this?"

"In the sack of Panama a woman gave me a male child, and for money Iagreed to take it and leave it in a safe and secluded spot outside thecity walls. I carried it at the hazard of my life as far as Cuchillo andthere left it. "

"But how know you that the child you left is I?"

"Around the baby's neck the mother, ere she gave him to me, placed thiscurious cross you wear. 'Tis of such cunning workmanship that there isnaught like it under the sun that ever I have seen. I knew it even inthe faint light when my eyes fell upon it. I left the child with apeasant woman to take him where I had been directed. I believed himsafe. On leaving Panama that village lay in our backward path. We burnedit down. I saw the baby again. Because I had been well paid I saved himfrom instant death at the hands of the buccaneers, who would have tossedhim in the air on the point of their spears. I shoved the crucifix, which would have tempted them because it was silver, underneath thedress and left the child. He was alive when we departed. "

"And the day after, " cried Alvarado, "de Lara's troops came through thatvillage and found me still wearing that cross. My mother! Loving God, can it be? But my father----"

"What shall I have if I tell you?"

"Riches, wealth, all--Set us free and----"

"Not now. I can not now. Wait. "

"At least, Donna Mercedes. "

"Man, 'twould be my life that would pay; but I'll keep careful watchover her. I have yet some influence with the Captain. To-morrow I'llfind a way to free you--you must do the rest. "

"Mercedes, " said Alvarado, "heardst thou all?"

"But little, " answered the girl. 

"That lady--is believed to have been my mother!"

"Gentle or simple, " said the girl, "she died in defence of her honor, like the noblest, the best. This for thee, good sister, " she whispered, bending down and kissing the pale forehead. "And may I do the like whenmy time comes. Thou shouldst be proud of her, my Alvarado, " she said, looking up at him. "See!" she cried suddenly as the resemblance, whichwas indeed strong between them, struck her. "Thou hast her face. Herwhite hair was once golden like thine. He tells the truth. Oh, sir, forChrist's sake, have pity upon us!"

A messenger came staggering toward them across the woods. 

"Master Hornigold, " he cried. 

"Ay, ay. "

"We've taken the town. The Captain wants you and your prisoners. You'llfind him in the guard room. Oh, ho, there's merry times to-night in LaGuayra! All hell's let loose, and we are devils. " He laughedboisterously and drunkenly as he spoke and lurched backward over thesands. 

"We must be gone, " said Hornigold. "Rise, mistress. Come, sir. "

"But this lady, " urged Alvarado--his lips could scarcely form theunfamiliar word "mother"--"and the good priest? You will not leave themhere?"

"The rising tide will bear them out to sea. "

"A moment--by your leave, " said Alvarado, stepping toward the dead. Assisted by Mercedes, for he was still bound, he stooped down andtouched his lips to those of the dead woman, whispering a prayer as hedid so. Rising to his feet he cried:

"But my father--who is he--who was he?"

"We shall find that out. "

"But his name?"

"I'm not sure, I can not tell now, " answered Hornigold evasively; "butwith this clew the rest should be easy. Trust me, and when we candiscuss this matter undisturbed----"

"But I would know now!"

"You forget, young sir, that you are a prisoner, and must suit your willto my pleasure. Forward!"

But the soul of the old buccaneer was filled with fierce joy. He thoughthe knew the secret of the crucifix now. The Spanish captain's mother laydead upon the sands, but his father lived. He was sure of it. He wouldfree Alvarado and bring him down upon Morgan. He chuckled with fiendishdelight as he limped along. He had his revenge now; it lay in the hollowof his hand, and 'twas a rare one indeed. Mercedes being bound again, the little party marched across the beach and the bodies of the priestand the nun were left alone while the night tide came rippling up thestrand. 

Scarcely had the party disappeared within the gate of the fort when thepriest slowly and painfully lifted himself on his hands and crawledtoward the woman. While the buccaneer had talked with the abbess he hadreturned to consciousness and had listened. Bit by bit he gathered thedetails of her story, and in truth he knew it of old. By turning hishead he had seen the crucifix on the young man's breast and he also hadrecognized it. He lay still and silent, however, feigning death, for tohave discovered himself would have resulted in his instant despatch. When they had gone he painfully crawled over to the body of the poornun. 

"Isabella, " he murmured, giving her her birth name, "thou didst suffer. Thou tookest thine own life, but the loving God will forgive thee. I amglad that I had strength and courage to absolve thee before I fell. AndI did not know thee. 'Tis so many years since. Thy son, that brave youngcaptain--I will see thee righted. I wonder----"

He moved nearer to her, scrutinizing her carefully, and then, with anapology even to the dead, the old man opened the front of her gown. 

"Ay, ay, I thought so, " he said, as his eye caught a glimpse of a goldchain against her white neck. Gently he lifted it, unclasped it, drew itforth. There was a locket upon it. Jewels sparkled upon its surface. Shehad worn it all these years. 

"_O, vanitas vanitatum!_" murmured the priest, yet compassionately. "What is it that passes the love of woman?"

He slipped it quietly within the breast of his habit and then fellprostrate on the sand, faint from pain and loss of blood. Long the twofigures lay there in the moonlight while the rising tide lipped theshining sands. The cool water at last restored consciousness to one ofthe still forms, but though they laved the beautiful face of the otherwith tender caresses they could not call back the troubled life that hadpassed into peaceful eternity. Painfully the old priest raised himselfupon his hands and looked about him. 

"O God!" he murmured, "give me strength to live until I can tell thestory. Sister Maria Christina--Isabella that was--thou were brave andthou wert beautiful; thou hast served our Holy Church long and well. IfI could only lay thee in some consecrated ground--but soul like to thinemakes holy e'en the sea which shall bear thee away. Shriven thou wert, buried thou shalt be. "

The man struggled to his knees, clasped his hands before him, and beganthe burial service of his ancient Church. 

"We therefore commit her body into the great deep, " he said, "lookingfor the general resurrection in the last day, and the life of the worldto come----"

The water was washing around him ere he finished his mournful task, andwith one long look of benison and farewell he rose to his feet andstaggered along the road down the beach. Slowly he went, but presentlyhe reached the turn where began the ascent of the mountain. Before heproceeded he halted and looked long toward the flaming, shrieking, ruined town. The flooding tide was in now and the breakers were beatingand thundering far across the sands. The body of the abbess was gone. 

The old man drew himself up, lifted his trembling hands and prayed; heprayed again for the soul of the woman; he prayed for the young man, that he might learn the truth; he prayed for the beautiful damsel wholoved him; he prayed for the people, the hapless people of the doomedtown, the helpless, outraged women, the bereft mothers, the torturedmen, the murdered children, and as he prayed he called down the curse ofGod upon those who had wrought such ruin. 

"Slay them, O God! Strike and spare not! Cut them off root and branchwho have despoiled thy people Israel. They have taken the sword and maythey perish by it as was promised of old!"

A gray, grim, gaunt figure, bloodstained, pale, he stood there in thatghastly light, invoking the judgment of God upon Morgan and his men erehe turned away and was lost in the darkness of the mountain. 

CHAPTER XVII

WHICH DESCRIBES AN AUDIENCE WITH SIR HENRY MORGAN AND THE TREACHERY BYWHICH CAPTAIN ALVARADO IS BENEFITED

[Illustration]

The clock on the wall was striking eleven as Hornigold forced hisprisoners into the guardroom of the first fort that had been captured, which, as it was the larger of the two, Morgan had selected as his headquarters. Mercedes' soul had turned to stone at the sights and soundswhich met her as she passed through the town where the hellish revelrywas now in full blast. The things she witnessed and heard were enough toappall the stoutest heart that ever beat within the rudest breast. Sheforgot her own danger in her sympathy for the suffering inhabitants ofthe devoted town. Ghastly pale and sick with horror, she tottered andstaggered as she entered the room. As for the Señora Agapida, she hadcollapsed long since, and for the last one hundred yards of the journeyhad been dragged helplessly along by two of her captors, who threw herin a senseless heap on the stone flagging of the great vaulted chamber. 

The agony and suffering, the torture and death, the shame and dishonorof his people affected Alvarado differently. His soul flamed within hisbreast with pity for the one, rage for the other. He lusted and thirstedto break away and single-handed rush upon the human wolves and tigers, who were despoiling women, torturing men, murdering children, as if theyhad been devils. The desire mastered him, and he writhed and struggledin his bonds, but unavailingly. 

It was a haggard, distracted pair, therefore, which was brought beforethe chief buccaneer. Morgan sat at the head of the guardroom, on aplatform, a table before him strewn with reckless prodigality withvessels of gold and silver stolen from altar and sideboardindifferently, some piled high with food, others brimming with a varietyof liquors, from the rich old wines of Xeres to the fiery native rum. Onone side of the captain was a woman. Pale as a ghost, the young andbeautiful widow of a slaughtered officer, in her disordered array sheshrank terrified beneath his hand. L'Ollonois, Teach and de Lussan werealso in the room. By each one cowered another woman prisoner. Teach wasroaring out a song, that song of London town, with its rollickingchorus:

 "Though life now is pleasant and sweet to the sense, We'll be damnably moldy a hundred years hence. "

The room was full of plunder of one sort and another, and the buccaneerswere being served by frightened negro slaves, their footsteps quickenedand their obedience enforced by the sight of a dead black in one corner, whom de Lussan had knifed a short time since because he had been slow incoming to his call. The smell of spilled liquor, of burnt powder, and ofblood, indescribable and sickening, hung in the close, hot air. Lampsand candles were flaring and spluttering in the room but the greaterillumination came through the open casements from the roaring fires ofburning houses outside. The temptation to join in the sack of the townhad been too much for Hornigold's remaining men, consequently he andthose conveying Señora Agapida alone attended the prisoners. These last, after throwing the duenna recklessly upon the floor, hurried out afterthe rest, leaving the officers and women alone. 

"Silence!" roared Morgan, as his eye fell upon the group entering thelower end of the great hall. "Pipe down, thou bellowing bull!" heshouted, throwing a silver cup that Cellini might have chased, at thehead of the half drunken Teach. "Who's there? Scuttle me, 'tis ourspitfire and the gallant captain, with that worthy seaman Hornigold!Advance, friends. Thou art welcome to our cheer. Drive them forward, Hornigold, " he cried, as he saw Mercedes and Alvarado made no attempt tomove. 

"Advance quickly, " whispered Hornigold to Alvarado; "to cross him nowwere death. "

Seizing them with a great show of force he shoved them down the hall tothe foot of the platform, in front of the revellers. 

"I welcome thee to our court, fair lady, and you, brave sir. What sayye, gentles all? Rum for the noble captain, here, and wine for thelady, " called out Morgan, bowing over the table in malicious mockery. 

"I drink with no murderer, " said Alvarado firmly, thrusting the negro, who proffered him a glass, violently aside with his shoulder, causinghim to topple over, drenching himself with the liquor. 

"Ha! Is it so?" laughed Morgan in a terrible manner. "Hark'ee, my youngcock, thou shalt crave and beg and pray for another drink at my handpresently--and get it not. But there is another cup thou shalt drink, ay, and that to the dregs. Back, you! I would speak with the lady. Well, Donna Mercedes, " he continued, "art still in that prideful mood?"

Silence. The girl stood erect, disdainfully looking him full in theface. 

"I shall break thee yet, proud wench!" he shouted. 

"Perhaps the demoiselle is jealous of thy present companion, SirCaptain, " sneered de Lussan smoothly in his courtliest manner. 

"Scuttle me! That's well thought on, " laughed Morgan. "And I'll add fuelto the fire. "

As he spoke he clasped the terrified woman on his right around thewaist, and though she struggled and drew away from him in horror anddisgust, he kissed her full upon the lips. The woman shudderedloathingly when he released her, put her face down in her hands andsobbed low and bitterly. 

"What sayest thou to that, sweet Mercedes?"

"I say may God have mercy on the soul of yon poor woman, " answeredMercedes disdainfully. 

"Best pray for thine own soul, madam, " he roared. "Come hither! What, you move not? Black Dog, Black Dog, I say!"

The huge maroon lurched from behind his master's chair, where he hadlain half-drunken. 

"Fetch me that woman!"

Mercedes was bound and could not at first release her hands, but as themaroon shambled toward her she sprang back struggling. 

"Alvarado, Alvarado!" she screamed. "Help me, save me!"

Like a maddened bull, though his hands were bound also, Alvarado threwhimself upon the negro. The force with which he struck him hurled himbackward and the two fell to the floor, the maroon beneath. His headstruck a corner of the step with a force that would have killed a whiteman. In an instant, however, the unbound negro was on his feet. Hewhipped out his dagger and would have plunged it into the breast of theprostrate Spaniard had not Mercedes, lightly bound, for being a womanthey thought it not necessary to be unusually severe in her lashings, wrenched free her hands and caught the half-breed's upraised arm. 

"Mercy!" she screamed, while struggling to divert the blow, lookingtoward Morgan. 

"Hold your hand, Black Dog, " answered that worthy. "Leave the man andcome hither. This is thy first appeal, lady. You know my power at last, eh? Down on your knees and beg for his life!"

Instantly Mercedes sank to her knees and stretched out her hands, apiteous, appealing, lovely figure. 

"Spare him, spare him!" she cried. 

"What would you do for him?"

"My life for his, " she answered bravely. 

"Nay, Mercedes, " interposed Alvarado, "let him work his will on me. "

"There are worse places, thou seest, lady, than by my side, " sneeredMorgan. "By heaven, 'twas a pretty play, was it not, mates? I spare him, but remember, 'tis for you. Harry Morgan's way. Now reward me. Hither, Isay! Go, you woman!" he struck the woman he had kissed a fierce blowwith his naked fist--"Away from me! Your place is needed for yourbetters. Here lady----"

"Captain Morgan, " cried Hornigold, suddenly interrupting him. "I bethinkme you should send men to seize the mountain pass that leads to Caracasat once, else we may have troops upon us in the morning. "

It was a bold diversion and yet it succeeded. There could be no safefeasting in La Guayra with that open road. Morgan had overlooked it, butthe boatswain's words recalled it to him; for the moment he forgot theprisoners and the women. Safety was a paramount consideration. 

"I forgot it, " he answered. "Curse me, how can I? The villains are toodrunk with rum and blood and fury to be despatched. "

"A force must be assembled at once, " urged Hornigold, insistently, "lestsome have escaped who would bring word to the Viceroy. He would be uponus in a day with an army too great for resistance. If you intend not torot here in La Guayra, or be caught in a death trap, we must be up tothe mountain top beforehand. Once they seize the pass, we are helpless. "

"That's well said, Hornigold, " cried Morgan, who was not so drunk thathe could not realize the practical value of Hornigold's suggestion andthe great danger of disregarding his advice. "The pass must be seized atall hazard. With that in our possession we may bide our time. I thoughtto wait until to-morrow, but you're right. We've feasted and drunkenough for the night. To-morrow Donna de Lara! Guards for the passnow--But how to get them?"

He rose to his feet as he spoke and came down the hall. 

"Teach and L'Ollonois, follow me!" he cried. "Gather up fifty of thesoberest men and lead them up the mountain road till you reach the pass, and then hold it till I come. Nay, no hesitation, " he roared. "Canstnot see the necessity? Unless we are masters of that pass we are caughtlike rats in a trap here in La Guayra. To-morrow or the next day weshall march up toward Caracas. Your share of the treasure and your womenshall be held safe. You shall have first consideration on the other sideof the mountains. Nay, I will have it so!" He stamped his foot infurious rage. "We've all had too much drink already, " he continued, "nowwe must make things secure. Hornigold, take charge of this fort. I leavethe prisoners with you. Guard them well. Treat the lady well also. Dowhat you like with the other, only keep him alive. One of you sendBraziliano to me. He shall have the other fort. And you and I, Monsieurde Lussan, will take account of the men here in the town and bring theminto such order as we can. "

Although Teach and L'Ollonois had no mind to leave the pleasures open tothem in La Guayra, yet they were both men of intelligence and couldeasily see the absolute necessity for the precaution suggested byHornigold and accepted by their captain. If they held the passage overthe mountains, and fifty men could hold it against a thousand, noSpaniard could come at them. So the little group, leaving the wretchedwomen, the two prisoners, and Hornigold, sallied out into the infernalnight. It was a difficult thing for them to find a sufficient number ofsober pirates, but by persuading, threatening, and compelling they atlast gathered a force of the least drunken knaves, with which they setforth on the road. 

The fires which had been wantonly kindled in different places by thebuccaneers were making such headway that Morgan instantly saw thatespecial efforts would be needed to prevent the complete destruction ofthe town. He wanted La Guayra for his base of supplies for the present, and with tremendous energy, seconded by de Lussan and some of thesoberer men, he routed out the buccaneers and set them to work. 

"You have saved me for the moment, " said Mercedes, gratefully, turningto Hornigold as he led her away from the hall. 

"'Twas not for care of you, " hissed out the old man, malevolently, "butthat I'd fain balk him in every desire he cherishes, even of possessingyou. "

"Whatever it was, I am thankful, señor. You have my prayers----"

"Prayers, " laughed the old sailor, "it hath been sixty years since Iheard those canting Puritans, my mother and father, pray. I want noprayers. But come, I must put you in ward. There should be strong-roomsin this castle. "

He summoned a slave and found what he wanted. Mercedes, and SeñoraAgapida, who was fetched by other slaves, were locked in one room, Alvarado was thrust into another. As soon as he could do so, aftermaking some provision for the comfort of the woman, Hornigold came downto him. 

"Señor, " he said, "the band is drunk and helpless. One hundred resolutemen could master them. Morgan means to march to Caracas to-morrow. Hecan not get his men in shape to do so as long as liquor flows in LaGuayra. If I set you free, what can you do?"

"There is a way over the mountains, " answered Alvarado. "A secret way, known only to the Indians. "

"Know you this path?"

"It has been pointed out to me. "

"Is it a practicable way?"

"It has been abandoned for fifty years, but I could follow it toCaracas. "

"And once there, what then?"

"There, if the Viceroy be not gone, and I do not believe he has yetdeparted, are one thousand soldiers to re-take the city. "

"And if they be gone?"

"I'll raise the citizens, the household guards, the savages, and theslaves!"

"Can you do it?"

"Free me and see, " answered Alvarado, with such resolution that heconvinced the sailor. "The men of Caracas love the daughter of theViceroy. They are not inexperienced in arms. I will lead them. Theadvantage of numbers will be with us. If you free me, I take it we willhave a friend within the walls. Success is certain. We have too much torevenge, " he added, his face flushing with rage at the thought of itall. 

"That's well, " answered Hornigold. "If I free you what reward shall Ihave?"

"I will cover you with treasure. "

"And guarantee my life and liberty?"

"They shall be held inviolate. "

"We captured the Porto Bello plate ship, and were wrecked two days ago aleague or so to the westward----"

"I saw the ship the day of the storm, but marked it not, " interruptedthe officer. 

"Ay. We buried the treasure. Shall I have my share?"

"All that thou canst take, if the honor of the lady be preserved. Ianswer for the Viceroy. "

"Will you swear it?"

"Yes. "

"By your mother's cross?"

"By my mother's cross, I swear. I will keep my faith with you, so helpme God!"

"I believe in no God, but you do, and that suffices. You shall go, "cried the buccaneer, all his objections satisfied. "But as you love thewoman, lose no time. I'll be at the west gate under the rocks at teno'clock to-morrow night. You know it?"

"Yes, go on. "

"I'll open the gate for you and leave the rest to you. You must be therewith your force. Now, go. "

"I shall be there. But I can not leave without Donna Mercedes. "

"And you can't go with her. Think! Could she make her way over themountains?"

"No, no, but----"

"I'll watch over her with my life, " urged the One-Eyed. "My share of thetreasure depends upon her safety, you said. "

"But Morgan----"

"I hate him with a hatred greater than thine. "

"He is thy captain. "

"He betrayed me, and I swore to take such vengeance as was never heardbefore, to make him suffer such torments by my hand as were never feltoutside of hell. "

"You would betray him?"

"It was for that I came with him! for that I live. He craves and covetsthe Donna Mercedes. He shall not have her. Trust me to interpose at thelast moment. "

"Is this true? Can I believe you?"

"Else why should I jeopard my life by freeing you? I hate him, I tellyou. Remember! The west gate! There are not three hundred men here. Thebest fifty have gone with Teach and L'Ollonois, the rest are drunken andcowards. Here are weapons. Wrap yourself in this cloak, and come. Say noword to any one on the way. By Satan, as you love the wench, lose notime!"

As he spoke, the old man cut the bonds of Alvarado, belted upon himdagger and sword, thrust a charged pistol in his hand, covered his headwith a steel cap, and threw a long cloak around him. The two then wentforth into the night. Avoiding the notice of others, they hastened alongthe deserted parapet, for there were none to keep watch or guard, untilthey came to one of the ladders by which the buccaneers had entered thetown. Down it Alvarado, first swearing again on the cross, on his honor, to respect his agreement with Hornigold and again receiving the man'sassurance, dropped hastily to the ground. 

There was no one to look, and he dashed recklessly across the narrowstrip of sand to the shadow of the cliffs, along which he ran until hecame opposite the place of his mother's death. The white water wasrolling and crashing on the beach, and the body was gone. With a hastypetition for the repose of her soul, he ran on until he reached the turnof the road. There, like the priest, he made another prayer, and it wasa prayer not different from that which had been voiced so short a timebefore. 

But his petitions were soon over. It was a time for work, not prayer. Nomoment could be lost. He girded up his loins and turned away on the run. Unlike the priest, however, he did not pursue the mountain road, but, after going a short distance, he left the way and plunged to the rightthrough the trees directly up the side of the hill. 

His face was cut and slashed by Morgan's dagger; his soul had beenracked and torn by the scenes he had gone through; the plight ofMercedes stirred him to the very depths; his heart yearned over theslaughtered garrison, the ruined town, but with a strength superhuman heplunged at the hill, in spite of the forest, groping about in thedarkness with frantic energy until he found the traces of a slender, rocky path which led over the mountains. 

BOOK V

HOW THE SPANIARDS RE-TOOK LA GUAYRA AND HOW CAPTAIN ALVARADO FOUND ANAME AND SOMETHING DEARER STILL IN THE CITY

CHAPTER XVIII

DISCLOSES THE WAY IN WHICH MERCEDES DE LARA FOUGHT WITH WOMAN'S CUNNINGAGAINST CAPTAIN HENRY MORGAN

The day after the sack of the town had been a busy one for thebuccaneers. First of all, Morgan had striven, and with some success, torestore some sort of order within the walls. By the aid of his officersand some of the soberest men he had confiscated all of the liquor thathe could come at, and had stored it under a strong guard in the westfort, which he selected as his headquarters. The Governor's palace onthe hill above was a more fitting and luxurious residence and it hadbeen promptly seized, the few defenders having fled, in the morning; butfor the present Morgan deemed it best to remain in the city and in closetouch with his men. 

The Spanish soldiery had been cut down to a man the night before, andthe majority of the hapless citizens had been killed, wounded ortortured. The unfortunates who were yet alive were driven into thechurch of San Lorenzo, where they were kept without food, water, orattention. 

There were some children, also, who had survived the night, for thebuccaneers, frenzied with slaughter and inflamed with rum, had tossedmany of them on their sword-points when they came across them in thestreets. By Morgan's orders the living were collected in the store-houseand barracks of the Guinea Trading Company, a corporation which suppliedslaves to the South American countries, and which had branches in everycity on the Caribbean. He did order food and water to be given thesehelpless unfortunates, so their condition was not quite so deplorable asthat of the rest. It was bad enough, however, and the old barracks whichhad echoed with the sound of many a bitter cry from the forlorn lips ofwretched slaves, now resounded with the wailing of these terrifiedlittle ones. 

The condition of the women of the city was beyond description. They, too, were herded together in another building, an ancient convent, butwere plentifully supplied with every necessary they could ask for. Death, in lieu of the fate that had come upon them, would have beenwelcomed by many a high-born dame and her humbler sister as well, butthey were all carefully searched and deprived of everything that mightserve as a weapon. They were crowded together indiscriminately, highand low, rich and poor, black or white or red, in all states ofdisorder and disarray, just as they had been seized the night before, some of them having been dragged from their very beds by the brutalruffians. 

Some of the women, maddened to frenzy by the treatment they hadreceived, screamed and raved; but most of them were filled with stillmisery, overwhelmed by silent despair--waiting hopelessly for they knewnot what bitter, degrading end. One night had changed them from happywives, honored mothers, light-hearted, innocent girls, to wrecks ofwomanhood. The light of life was dead in them. They were dumb andunprotesting. The worst had come upon them; there was nothing of sorrowand shame they had not tasted. What mattered anything else? Theirhusbands, fathers, children, lovers had gone. Homes were broken up;their property was wasted, and not even honor was left. They prayed todie. It was all that was left to them. 

The gates of the town and forts were closed and some slight attempt wasmade to institute a patrol of the walls, although the guard that waskept was negligent to the point of contempt. As no enemy was apprehendedMorgan did not rigorously insist upon strict watch. Many of thebuccaneers were still sodden with liquor and could be of no serviceuntil they were sobered. They were dragged to the barracks, drenchedwith water, and left to recover as best they could. 

Fortune favored them in one other matter, too, in that late in theafternoon a handsome frigate bringing despatches from Carthagena, ran inand anchored in the roadstead. Her officers at once came ashore to paytheir respects to the Commandante of the port and forward their papersto the Viceroy. Before they suspected anything, they were seized andruthlessly murdered. To take possession of the frigate thereafter was awork of no special difficulty. The crew were disposed of as theirofficers had been, and the buccaneers rejoiced greatly at the good luckthat had brought them so fine a ship. On the next morning Morganintended to march toward Caracas, whence, after plundering that town andexacting a huge ransom for the lives of those he spared, he would leadhis band back to La Guayra, embark on the frigate, and then bear awayfor the Isthmus. 

During the day, Hornigold, whose wound incapacitated him from activemovement, remained in command of the fort with special instructions tolook after Mercedes. By Morgan's orders she and her companion wereremoved to the best room in the fort and luxuriously provided for. Hehad not discovered the escape of Alvarado, partly because he took nomanner of interest in that young man and only kept him alive toinfluence the girl, and partly because Hornigold had assured him thatthe prisoner was taking his confinement very hardly, that he was madwith anger, in a raging fever of disappointment and anxiety, and wasconstantly begging to see the captain. The boatswain cunningly suggestedthat it would be just as well to let Alvarado remain in solitude, without food or water until the next day, by which time, the boatswainargued, he would be reduced to a proper condition of humility andservitude. Morgan found this advice good. It was quite in consonancewith his desires and his practices. He would have killed Alvarado out ofhand had he not considered him the most favorable card with which toplay the game he was waging with Mercedes for her consent to marry him. 

So far as he was capable of a genuine affection, he loved the proudSpanish maiden. He would fain persuade her willingly to come to his armsrather than enforce her consent or overcome her scruples by brutestrength. There would be something of a triumph in winning her, and thisvain, bloodstained old brute fancied that he had sufficientattractiveness for the opposite sex to render him invincible if he setabout his wooing in the right way. He thought he knew the way, too. Atany rate he was disposed to try it. Here again Hornigold, upon whom inthe absence of Teach he depended more and more, and in whom he confidedas of old, advised him. 

"I know women, " said that worthy, and indeed no man had more knowledgeof the class which stood for women in his mind than he, "and all youwant is to give her time. Wait until she knows what's happened to therest of them, and sees only you have power to protect her, and she willcome to heel right enough. Besides, you haven't given her half a chance. She's only seen you weapon in hand. She doesn't know what a man you are, Captain. Sink me, if I'd your looks instead of this old, scarred, one-eyed face, there'd be no man I'd give way to and no woman I'd notwin! Steer her along gently with an easy helm. Don't jam her up into thewind all of a sudden. Women have to be coaxed. Leave the girl alone awatch. Don't go near her; let her think what she pleases. Don't letanybody go near her unless it's me, and she won't get anything out ofme, you can depend upon that! She'll be so anxious to talk to you in themorning that you can make her do anything. Then if you can starve thatSpanish dog and break his spirit, so that she'll see him crawling atyour feet, she'll sicken of him and turn to a man. "

"Scuttle me, " laughed Morgan, "your advice is good! I didn't know youknew so much about the sex. "

"I've mixed up considerable with them in sixty years, Captain, " leeredthe old man. "What I don't know about them ain't worth knowing. "

"It seems so. Well, I'll stay away from her till the morning. I shall bebusy anyway trying to straighten out these drunken sots, and do you putthe screws on that captain and leave the lady alone--but see that shelacks nothing. "

"Ay, ay, trust me for them both. "

Hornigold found means during the day--and it was a matter of no littledifficulty to elude the guards he himself had placed there--to informMercedes of the escape of Alvarado, and to advise her that he expectedthe return of that young man with the troops of the Viceroy at teno'clock that night. He bade her be of good cheer, that he did not thinkit likely that Morgan would think of calling upon her or of sending forher until morning, when it would be too late. He promised that he wouldwatch over her and do what he could to protect her; that he would neverleave the fort except for a few moments before ten that night, when hewent to admit Alvarado. What was better earnest of his purpose was thathe furnished her with a keen dagger, small enough to conceal in thebosom of her dress, and advised her if worst came to worst, and therewas no other way, to use it. He impressed on her that on no account wasshe to allow Morgan to get the slightest inkling of his communication toher, for if the chief buccaneer found this out Hornigold's life wouldnot be worth a moment's thought, and Alvarado would be balked in hisplans of rescue. 

Mercedes most thankfully received the weapon and promised to respect theconfidence. She was grateful beyond measure, and he found it necessaryharshly to admonish her that he only assisted her because he hadpromised Alvarado that she should receive no harm, and that his ownsafety depended upon hers. He did not say so, but under othercircumstances he would have as ruthlessly appropriated her for himselfas Morgan intended to do, and without the shadow of a scruple. 

As far as creature comforts were concerned the two women fared well. Indeed, they were sumptuously, lavishly, prodigally provided for. SeñoraAgapida was still in a state of complete prostration. She lay helplesson a couch in the apartment and ministering to her distracted the poorgirl's mind, yet such a day as Mercedes de Lara passed she prayed shemight never again experience. The town was filled with the shouts andcries of the buccaneers wandering to and fro, singing drunken choruses, now and again routing out hidden fugitives from places of fanciedsecurity and torturing them with ready ingenuity whenever they weretaken. The confusion was increased and the noise diversified by theshrieks and groans of these miserable wretches. Sometimes the voicesthat came through the high windows were those of women, and the sound oftheir screams made the heart of the brave girl sink like lead in herbreast. 

For the rest, she did not understand Hornigold's position. She did notknow whether to believe him or not, but of one thing was she certain. Whereas she had been defenceless now she had a weapon, and she could useit if necessary. With that in hand she was mistress at least of her ownfate. 

As evening drew on, every thing having been attended to, Morgan began totire of his isolation, and time hung heavy on his hands. He was weary ofthe women whom he had hitherto consorted with; the other officers, between whom and himself there was no sort of friendship, were busy withtheir own nefarious wickednesses in the different parts of the fort ortown, and he sat a long time alone in the guardroom, drinking, BlackDog, as usual, pouring at his side. The liquor inflamed his imaginationand he craved companionship. Summoning Hornigold at last, he bade himbring Donna Mercedes before him. The old man attempted to expostulate, but Morgan's mood had changed and he brooked no hesitation in obeyingany order given by him. There was nothing for the boatswain to do but tocomply. 

Once more Mercedes, therefore, found herself in the guardroom of thefort in the presence of the man she loathed and feared above all othersin creation. Her situation, however, was vastly different from what ithad been. On the first occasion there had appeared no hope. Now Alvaradowas free and she had a weapon. She glanced at the clock, a recentimportation from Spain hanging upon the wall, as she entered, and sawthat it was half-after nine. Ten was the hour Hornigold had appointed tomeet Alvarado at the gate. She hoped that he would be early rather thanlate; and, if she could withstand the buccaneer by persuasion, seemingcompliance, or by force, for a short space, all would be well. For shenever doubted that her lover would come for her. Even if he had to comesingle-handed and alone to fight for her, she knew he would be there. Therefore, with every nerve strained almost to the breaking point toward off his advances and to delay any action he might contemplate, shefaced the buccaneer. 

He was dressed with barbaric magnificence in the riches and plunder hehad appropriated, and he had adorned his person with a profusion ofsilver and gold, and stolen gems. He had been seated at the table whileserved by the maroon, but, as she entered, with unusual complaisance hearose and bowed to her with something of the grace of a gentleman. 

"Madam, " he said, endeavoring to make soft and agreeable his harshvoice, "I trust you have been well treated since in my charge. "

He had been drinking heavily she saw, but as he spoke her fair she wouldanswer him accordingly. To treat him well, to temporize, and not toinflame his latent passion by unnecessarily crossing him, would be herbest policy, she instantly divined, although she hated and despised himnone the less. On his part, he had determined to try the gentler arts ofpersuasion, and though his face still bore the welts made by her ridingwhip the night before he strove to forget it and play the gentleman. Hehad some qualities, as a buccaneer, that might entitle him to a certainrespect, but when he essayed the gentleman his performance was so futilethat had it not been so terrible it would have been ludicrous. Sheanswered his question calmly without exhibiting resentment or annoyance. 

"We have been comfortably lodged and provided with food and drink insufficiency, señor. "

"And what more would you have, Donna Mercedes?"

"Liberty, sir!"

"That shall be yours. Saving only my will, when you are married to me, you shall be as free as air. A free sailor and his free wife, lady. Butwill you not sit down?"

In compliance with his request, she seated herself on a chair whichhappened to be near where she stood; she noted with relief that thetable was between them. 

"Nay, not there, " said the Captain instantly. "Here, madam, here, at myside. "

"Not yet, señor capitan; it were not fit that a prisoner should occupyso high a seat of honor. Wait until----"

"Until what, pray?" he cried, leaning forward. 

"Until that--until I--until we----"

In spite of her efforts she could not force her lips to admit thepossibility of the realization of his desire. 

"Until you are Lady Morgan?" he cried, his face flaming. 

She buried her face in her hands at his suggestion, for she feared herhorror in the thought would show too plainly there; and then because shedare not lose sight of him, she constrained herself to look at him oncemore. Her cheeks were burning with shame, her eyes flashing withindignation, though she forced her lips into the semblance of a smile. 

"That surprises you, does it?" continued the man with boastingcondescension. "You did not think I designed so to honor you after lastnight, madam? Scuttle me, these"--pointing to his face--"are fierce lovetaps, but I fancy a strong will--when I can break it to mine own, " hemuttered, "and I have yet to see that in man or woman that could resistmine. "

She noted with painful fascination the powerful movements of his leanfingers as he spoke, for his sinewy right hand, wrinkled and hideous, lay stretched out on the table before him, and he clasped and unclaspedit unconsciously as he made his threat. 

"I like you none the less for your spirit, ma'am. 'Fore God, it runswith your beauty. You are silent, " he continued, staring at her withred-eyed, drunken suspicion. "You do not answer?"

"My lord, " cried Mercedes, "I know not what to say. "

"Say, 'Harry Morgan, I love you and I am yours. '"

"There is another present, señor. "

"Where? Another? Who has dared--" roared the buccaneer glaring abouthim. 

"Thy servant--the negro. "

"Oh, " he laughed, "he is nothing. Black Dog, we call him. He is myslave, my shadow, my protection. He is always by. "

An idea had swiftly flashed into the young girl's mind. If she could getrid of the slave she could deal more easily with the master. She wastall, strong, and Morgan, it appeared, was not in full possession of hisfaculties or his strength from the liquor he had imbibed. 

"Still, " she urged, "I do not like to be wooed in the presence ofanother, even though he be a slave. 'Tis not a Spanish maiden's way, sir. "

"Your will now, lady, " said the buccaneer, with a hideous attempt atgallantry, "is my law. Afterwards--'twill be another matter. Out, Carib, but be within call. Now, madam, we are alone. Speak you the Englishtongue?"

The conversation had been carried on in Spanish heretofore. 

"Indifferently, señor. "

"Well, I'll teach it you. The lesson may as well begin now. Say afterme, 'Harry'--I permit that though I am a belted knight of England, madeso by His Merry Majesty, King Charles, God rest him. Drink to the reposeof the king!" he cried, shoving a cup across the table toward her. 

Resisting a powerful temptation to throw it at him, and divining thatthe stimulant might be of assistance to her in the trying crisis inwhich she found herself, the girl lifted the cup to her lips, bowed tohim, and swallowed a portion of the contents. 

"Give it back to me!" he shouted. "You have tasted it, I drain it. Nowthe lesson. Say after me, 'Harry Morgan'----"

"Harry Morgan, " gasped the girl. 

"'I love thee. '"

With a swift inward prayer she uttered the lying words. 

"You have learned well, and art an apt pupil indeed, " he cried, leeringupon her in approbation and lustful desire--- his very gaze waspollution to her. "D'ye know there are few women who can resist me whenI try to be agreeable? Harry Morgan's way!" he laughed again. "There besome that I have won and many I have forced. None like you. So you loveme? Scuttle me, I thought so. Ben Hornigold was right. Woo a woman, lether be clipped willingly in arms--yet there's a pleasure in breaking inthe jades, after all. Still, I'm glad that you are in a better mood andhave forgot that cursed Spaniard rotting in the dungeons below, in favorof a better man, Harry--no, I'll say, Sir Henry--Morgan--on thisoccasion, at your service, " he cried, rising again and bowing to her asbefore. 

She looked desperately at the clock. The hour was close at hand. Sogreat was the strain under which she was laboring that she felt shecould not continue five minutes longer. Would Alvarado never come? Wouldanybody come? She sat motionless and white as marble, while thechieftain stared at her in the pauses of his monologue. 

"Now, madam, since you have spoke the words perhaps you will furtherwipe out the recollection of this caress--" he pointed to his cheekagain. "Curse me!" he cried in sudden heat, "you are the only humanbeing that ever struck Harry Morgan on the face and lived to see themark. I'd thought to wait until to-morrow and fetch some starvelingpriest to play his mummery, but why do so? We are alone here--together. There is none to disturb us. Black Dog watches. You love me, do younot?"

"I--I--" she gasped out, brokenly praying for strength, and fighting fortime. 

"You said it once, that's enough. Come, lady, let's have happiness whilewe may. Seal the bargain and kiss away the blows. "

He came around the table and approached her. Notwithstanding thequantity of liquor he had taken he was physically master of himself, shenoticed with a sinking heart. As he drew near, she sprang to her feetalso and backed away from him, throwing out her left hand to ward himoff, at the same time thrusting her right hand into her bosom. 

"Not now, " she cried, finding voice and word in the imminence of theperil. "Oh, for God's sake----"

"Tis useless to call on God in Harry Morgan's presence, mistress, for heis the only God that hears. Come and kiss me, thou black beauty--andthen--"

"To-morrow, for Christ's sake!" cried the girl. "I am a Christian--Imust have a priest--not now--to-morrow!"

She was backed against the wall and could go no further. 

"To-night, " chuckled the buccaneer. 

He was right upon her now. She thrust him, unsuspicious and unprepared, violently from her, whipped out the dagger that Hornigold had given her, and faced him boldly. 

It was ten o'clock and no one had yet appeared. The struck hourreverberated through the empty room. Would Alvarado never come? Had itnot been that she hoped for him she would have driven the tiny weaponinto her heart at once, but for his sake she would wait a little longer. 

"Nay, come no nearer!" she cried resolutely. "If you do, you will takea dead woman in your arms. Back, I say!" menacing herself with thepoint. 

And the man noted that the hand holding the weapon did not tremble inthe least. 

"Thinkest thou that I could love such a man as thou?" she retorted, trembling with indignation, all the loathing and contempt she hadstriven to repress finding vent in her voice. "I'd rather be torn limbfrom limb than feel even the touch of thy polluting hand!"

"Death and fury!" shouted Morgan, struggling between rage andmortification, "thou hast lied to me then?"

"A thousand times--yes! Had I a whip I'd mark you again. Come withinreach and I will drive the weapon home!"

She lifted it high in the air and shook it in defiance as she spoke. 

It was a frightful imprudence, for which she paid dearly, however, forthe hangings parted and Carib, who had heard what had gone on, enteredthe room--indeed, the voices of the man and woman filled with passionfairly rang through the hall. His quick eye took in the situation atonce. He carried at his belt a long, heavy knife. Without saying a word, he pulled it out and threw it with a skill born of long practice, whichmade him a master at the game, fairly at the woman's uplifted hand. Before either Morgan or Mercedes were aware of his presence they heardthe whistle of the heavy blade through the air. At the same moment themissile struck the blade of the dagger close to the palm of the womanand dashed it from her hand. Both weapons rebounded from the wall fromthe violence of the blow and fell at Morgan's feet. 

Mercedes was helpless. 

"Well done, Carib!" cried Morgan exultantly. "Never has that old trickof thine served me better. Now, you she-devil--I have you in my power. Didst prefer death to Harry Morgan? Thou shalt have it, and thy lover, too. I'll tear him limb from limb and in thy presence, too, but notuntil after----"

"Oh, God! oh, God!" shrieked Mercedes, flattening herself against thewall, shrinking from him with wide outstretched arms as he approachedher. "Mercy!"

"I know not that word. Wouldst cozen me? Hast another weapon in thybodice? I'll look. "

Before she could prevent him he seized her dress at the collar with bothhands and, in spite of her efforts, by a violent wrench tore it open. 

"No weapon there, " he cried. "Ha! That brings at last the color to yourpale cheek!" he added, as the rich red crimsoned the ivory of her neckand cheek at this outrage. 

"Help, help!" she screamed. Her voice rang high through the apartmentwith indignant and terrified appeal. 

"Call again, " laughed Morgan. 

"Kill me, kill me!" she begged. 

"Nay, you must live to love me! Ho! ho!" he answered, taking her in hisarms. 

"Mercy! Help!" she cried in frenzy, all the woman in her in arms againstthe outrage, though she knew her appeal was vain, when, wonder ofwonders----

"I heard a lady's voice, " broke upon her ears from the other end of theroom. 

"De Lussan!" roared Morgan, releasing her and turning toward theintruder. "Here's no place for you. How came you here? I'd chosen thisroom for myself, I wish to be private. Out of it, and thank me for yourlife!"

"I know not why you should have Donna de Lara against her will, and whenbetter men are here, " answered the Frenchman, staring with bold, cruelglances at her, beautiful in her disarray, "and if you keep her you mustfight for her. Mademoiselle, " he continued, baring his swordgracefully and saluting her, "will you have me for your champion?"

[Illustration: "Hast another weapon in thy bodice?"]

His air was as gallant as if he had been a gentleman and bound in honorto rescue a lady in dire peril of life and honor, instead of anotherruffian inflamed by her beauty and desirous to possess her himself. 

"Save me! Save me, " she cried, "from this man!"

She did not realize the meaning of de Lussan's words, she only saw adeliverer for the present. It was ten minutes past the hour now. Shewelcomed any respite; her lover might come at any moment. 

"I will fight the both of you for her, " cried the Frenchman; "you, BlackDog, and you, Master Morgan. Draw, unless you are a coward. "

"I ought to have you hanged, you mutinous hound!" shouted Morgan, "andhanged you shall be, but not until I have proved myself your master withthe sword, as in all other things. Watch the woman, Carib, and keep outof this fray. Lay hand on her at your peril! Remember, she is mine. "

"Or it may be mine, " answered de Lussan, as Morgan dashed at him. 

They engaged without hesitation and the room was filled with the soundof ringing, grating steel. First pulling the pins from her glorioushair, Mercedes shook it down around her bare shoulders, and then stood, fascinated, watching the fencers. She could make no movement from thewall as the negro stood at her arm. For a space neither of the fightershad any advantage. De Lussan's skill was marvelous, but the chiefbuccaneer was more than his match. Presently the strength and capacityof the older and more experienced swordsman began to give him a slightadvantage. Hard pressed, the Frenchman, still keeping an inexorableguard, slowly retreated up the room. 

Both men had been so intensely occupied with the fierce play that theyhad not heard the sound of many feet outside, a sudden tumult in thestreet. The keen ear of the half-breed, however, detected that somethingwas wrong. 

"Master, " he cried, "some one comes. I hear shouts in the night air. Ashot! Shrieks--groans! There! The clash of arms! Lower your weapons, sirs!" he cried again, as Spanish war cries filled the air. "We arebetrayed; the enemy is on us!"

Instantly Morgan and de Lussan broke away from each other. 

"To-morrow, " cried the buccaneer captain. 

"As you will, " returned the other. 

But now, Mercedes, staking all upon her hope, lifted her voice, andwith tremendous power begot by fear and hope sent ringing through theair that name which to her meant salvation--

"Alvarado! Alvarado!"

CHAPTER XIX

HOW CAPTAIN ALVARADO CROSSED THE MOUNTAINS, FOUND THE VICEROY, ANDPLACED HIS LIFE IN HIS MASTER'S HANDS

The highway between La Guayra and Venezuela was exceedingly rough anddifficult, and at best barely practicable for the stoutest wagons. Theroad wound around the mountains for a distance of perhaps twenty-fivemiles, although as the crow flies it was not more than five milesbetween the two cities. Between them, however, the tremendous ridge ofmountains rose to a height of nearly ten thousand feet. Starting fromthe very level of the sea, the road crossed the divide through adepression at an altitude of about six thousand feet and descendedthence some three thousand feet to the valley in which lay Caracas. 

This was the road over which Alvarado and Mercedes had come and on thelower end of which they had been captured. It was now barred for theyoung soldier by the detachment of buccaneers under young Teach andL'Ollonois, who were instructed to hold the pass where the road crossedthrough, or over, the mountains. Owing to the configuration of the pass, that fifty could hold it against a thousand. It was not probable thatnews of the sack of La Guayra would reach Caracas before Morgandescended upon it, but to prevent the possibility, or to check anymovement of troops toward the shore, it was necessary to hold that road. The man who held it was in position to protect or strike either city atwill. It was, in fact, the key to the position. 

Morgan, of course, counted upon surprising the unfortified capital as hehad the seaport town. It was the boast of the Spaniards that they neededno walls about Caracas, since nature had provided them with the mightyrampart of the mountain range, which could not be surmounted save inthat one place. With that one place in the buccaneer's possession, Caracas could only rely upon the number and valor of her defenders. ToMorgan's onslaught could only be opposed a rampart of blades and hearts. Had there been a state of war in existence it is probable that theViceroy would have fortified and garrisoned the pass, but under presentconditions nothing had been done. As soon as a messenger from Teachinformed Morgan that the pass had been occupied and that all seemedquiet in Caracas, a fact which had been learned by some bold scoutingon the farther side of the mountain, he was perfectly easy as to thework of the morrow. He would fall upon the unwalled town at night andcarry everything by a _coup de main_. 

Fortunately for the Spaniards in this instance, it happened that therewas another way of access to the valley of Caracas from La Guayra. Directly up and over the mountain there ran a narrow and difficulttrail, known first to the savages and afterwards to wandering smugglersor masterless outlaws. Originally, and until the Spaniards made thewagon road, it had been the only way of communication between the twotowns. But the path was so difficult and so dangerous that it had longsince been abandoned, even by the classes which had first discovered andtraveled it. These vagabonds had formerly kept it in such a state ofrepair that it was fairly passable, but no work had been done on it fornearly one hundred years. Indeed, in some places, the way had beendesignedly obliterated by the Spanish Government about a century since, after one of the most daring exploits that ever took place in the newworld. 

Ninety years before this incursion by the buccaneers, a bold Englishnaval officer, Sir Amyas Preston, after seizing La Guayra, had capturedCaracas by means of this path. The Spaniards, apprised of his descentupon their coasts, had fortified the mountain pass but had neglectedthis mountain trail, as a thing impracticable for any force. Preston, however, adroitly concealing his movements, had actually forced his mento ascend the trail. The ancient chroniclers tell of the terrific natureof the climb, how the exhausted and frightened English sailors droppedupon the rocks, appalled by their dangers and worn out by theirhardships, how Preston and his officers forced them up at the point ofthe sword until finally they gained the crest and descended into thevalley. They found the town unprotected, for all its defenders were inthe pass, seized it, held it for ransom, then, sallying forth, took thesurprised Spanish troops in the pass in the rear and swept them away. 

After this exploit some desultory efforts had been made by the Spaniardsto render the trail still more impracticable with such success as hasbeen stated, and it gradually fell into entire disuse. By nearly all theinhabitants its very existence had been forgotten. 

It was this trail that Alvarado determined to ascend. The difficultiesin his way, even under the most favorable circumstances, might well haveappalled the stoutest-hearted mountaineer. In the darkness they would beincreased a thousand-fold. He had not done a great deal of mountainclimbing, although every one who lived in Venezuela was more or lessfamiliar with the practice; but he was possessed of a cool head, anunshakable nerve, a resolute determination, and unbounded strength, which now stood him in good stead. And he had back of him, to urge him, every incentive in the shape of love and duty that could move humanityto godlike deed. 

Along the base of the mountain the trail was not difficult although itwas pitch-dark under the trees which, except where the mighty cliffsrose sheer in the air like huge buttresses of the range, covered themountains for the whole expanse of their great altitude, therefore hemade his way upward without trouble or accident at first. The moon'srays could not pierce the density of the tropic foliage, of course, butAlvarado was very familiar with this easier portion of the way, for hehad often traversed it on hunting expeditions, and he made good progressfor several hours in spite of the obscurity. 

It had been long past midnight when he started, and it was not untildaybreak that he passed above the familiar and not untrodden way andentered upon the most perilous part of his journey. The gray dawnrevealed to him the appalling dangers he must face. 

Sometimes clinging with iron grasp to pinnacles of rock, he swunghimself along the side of some terrific precipice, where the slightestmisstep meant a rush into eternity upon the rocks a thousand feet below. Sometimes he had to spring far across great gorges in the mountains thathad once been bridged by mighty trunks of trees, long since molderedaway. Sometimes there was nothing for him to do but to scramble down thesteep sides of some dark cañon and force himself through cold torrentialmountain streams that almost swept him from his feet. Again his path layover cliffs green with moss and wet with spray, which afforded mostprecarious support to his grasping hands or slipping feet. Sometimes hehad to force a way through thick tropic undergrowth that tore hisclothing into rags. 

Had he undertaken the ascent in a mere spirit of adventure he would haveturned back long since from the dangers he met and surmounted with suchhardship and difficulty; but he was sustained by the thought of thedreadful peril of the woman he loved, the remembrance of the sufferingsof the hapless townspeople, and a consuming desire for revenge upon theman who had wrought this ruin on the shore. With the pale, beautifulface of Mercedes to lead him, and by contrast the hateful, cruelcountenance of Morgan to force him, ever before his vision, the manplunged upward with unnatural strength, braving dangers, taking chances, doing the impossible--and Providence watched over him. 

It was perhaps nine o'clock in the morning when he reached thesummit--breathless, exhausted, unhelmed, weaponless, coatless, in rags;torn, bruised, bleeding, but unharmed--and looked down on the white cityof Caracas set in its verdant environment like a handful of pearls in agoblet of emerald. He had wondered if he would be in time to interceptthe Viceroy, and his strained heart leaped in his tired breast when hesaw, a few miles beyond the town on the road winding toward the Orinococountry, a body of men. The sunlight blazing from polished helms orpointed lance tips proclaimed that they were soldiers. He would be intime, thank God!

With renewed vigor, he scrambled down the side of the mountain--and thisdescent fortunately happened to be gentle and easy--and running withheadlong speed, he soon drew near the gate of the palace. He dashed intoit with reckless haste, indifferent to the protests of the guard, whodid not at first recognize in the tattered, bloody, wounded, soiledspecimen of humanity his gay and gallant commander. He made himselfknown at once, and was confirmed in his surmise that the Viceroy hadset forth with his troops early in the morning and was still in reachingdistance on the road. 

[Illustration: . .. He reached the summit--breathless, exhausted, unhelmed, weaponless, coatless, in rags; torn, bruised, bleeding, butunharmed. ]

Directing the best horse in the stables to be brought to him, aftersnatching a hasty meal while it was being saddled, and not even takingtime to re-clothe himself, he mounted and galloped after. An hour laterhe burst through the ranks of the little army and reined in his horsebefore the astonished Viceroy, who did not recognize in this sorrycavalier his favorite officer, and stern words of reproof for theunceremonious interruption of the horseman broke from his lips untilthey were checked by the first word from the young captain. 

"The buccaneers have taken La Guayra and sacked it!" gasped Alvaradohoarsely. 

"Alvarado!" cried the Viceroy, recognizing him as he spoke. "Are youmad?"

"Would God I were, my lord. "

"The buccaneers?"

"Morgan--all Spain hates him with reason--led them!"

"Morgan! That accursed scourge again in arms? Impossible! I don'tunderstand!"

"The very same! 'Tis true! 'tis true! Oh, your Excellency----"

"And my daughter----"

"A prisoner! For God's love turn back the men!"

"Instantly!" cried the Viceroy. 

He was burning with anxiety to hear more, but he was too good a soldierto hesitate as to the first thing to be done. Raising himself in hisstirrups he gave a few sharp commands and the little army, which hadhalted when he had, faced about and began the return march to Caracas atfull speed. As soon as their manoeuvres had been completed and theymoved off, the Viceroy, who rode at the head with Alvarado and thegentlemen of his suite, broke into anxious questioning. 

"Now, Captain, but that thou art a skilled soldier I could not believethy tale. "

"My lord, I swear it is true!"

"And you left Donna Mercedes a prisoner?" interrupted de Tobar, who hadbeen consumed with anxiety even greater than that of the Viceroy. 

"Alas, 'tis so. "

"How can that be when you are free, señor?"

"Let me question my own officer, de Tobar, " resumed the Viceroyperemptorily, "and silence, all, else we learn nothing. Now, Alvarado. What is this strange tale of thine?"

"My lord, after we left you yesterday morning we made the passage safelydown the mountain. Toward evening as we approached La Guayra, justbefore the point where the road turns into the strand, we were set uponby men in ambush. The soldiers and attendants were without exceptionslain. Although I fought and beat down one or two of our assailants, they struck me to the earth and took me alive. The two ladies and Ialone escaped. No indignity was offered them. I was bound and we wereled along the road to a camp. There appeared to be some three hundredand fifty men under the leadership of a man who claimed to be Sir HenryMorgan, sometime pirate and robber, later Vice-Governor of Jamaica, now, as I gathered, in rebellion against his king and in arms against us. They captured the plate galleon with lading from Porto Bello and Peru, and were wrecked on this coast to the westward of La Guayra. They haddetermined upon the capture of that town, whence they expected to moveon Caracas. "

"And Mercedes?" again interrupted the impetuous and impassioned deTobar. 

"Let him tell his tale!" commanded the Viceroy, sternly. "It behoovesus, gentlemen, to think first of the cities of our King. "

"They had captured a band of holy nuns and priests. These were forced, especially the women, by threats you can imagine, to plant scalingladders against the walls, and, although the troops made a bravedefense, the buccaneers mastered them. They carried the place by stormand sacked it. When I left it was burning in several places and turnedinto a hell. "

"My God!" ejaculated the old man, amid the cries and oaths of hisfierce, infuriated men. "And now tell me about Mercedes. "

"Morgan--who met her, you remember, when we stopped at Jamaica on ourreturn from Madrid?"

"Yes, yes!"

"He is in love with her. He wanted to make her his wife. Therefore hekept her from the soldiery. "

In his eagerness the Viceroy reined in his horse, and the officers andmen, even the soldiers, stopped also and crowded around the narrator. 

"Did he--did he--O Holy Mother have pity upon me!" groaned the Viceroy. 

"He did her no violence save to kiss her, while I was by. "

"And you suffered it!" shouted de Tobar, beside himself with rage. 

"What did she then?" asked the old man, waving his hand for silence. 

"She struck him in the face again and again with her riding-whip. I wasbound, señors. I broke my bonds, struck down one of the guards, wresteda sword from another, and sprang to defend her. But they overpoweredme. Indeed, they seized the lady and swore to kill her unless I droppedmy weapon. "

"Death, " cried de Lara, "would have been perhaps a fitting end for her. What more?"

"We were conveyed into the city after the sack. He insulted her againwith his compliments and propositions. He sent a slave to fetch her, but, bound as I was, I sprang upon him and beat him down. "

"And then?"

"Then one of his men, an ancient, one-eyed sailor, interfered and badehim look to the town, else it would be burned over his head, and urgedhim to secure the pass. In this exigency the pirate desisted from hisplan against the lady. He sent Donna Mercedes to a dungeon, me toanother. "

"How came you here, sir, and alone?" asked de Tobar, again interrupting, and this time the Viceroy, pitying the agony of the lover, permitted thequestion. "Did you, a Spanish officer, leave the lady defenseless amidthose human tigers?"

"There was nothing else to do, Don Felipe. The sailor who interfered, heset me free. I did refuse to leave without the señorita. He told me Imust go without her or not at all. He promised to protect her honor orto kill her--at least to furnish her with a weapon. To go, to reachyou, your Excellency, was the only chance for her. Going, I might saveher; staying, I could only die. "

"You did rightly. I commend you, " answered the veteran. "Go on. "

"My lord, I thank you. The way over the road was barred by the partythat had seized the pass. "

"And how came you?"

"Straight over the mountain, sir. "

"What! The Indian trail? The English way?"

"The same. "

"What next?"

"At ten to-night, the sailor who released me will open the city gate, the west gate, beneath the shadow of the cliffs--we must be there!"

"But how? Can we take the pass? It is strongly held, you say. "

"My lord, give me fifty brave men who will volunteer to follow me. Iwill lead them back over the trail and we will get to the rear of themen holding the pass. Do you make a feint at engaging them in force infront and when their attention is distracted elsewhere we will fall onand drive them into your arms. By this means we open the way. Then wewill post down the mountains with speed and may arrive in time. Nay, wemust arrive in time! Hornigold, the sailor, would guarantee nothingbeyond to-night. The buccaneers are drunk with liquor; tired out withslaughter. They will suspect nothing. We can master the whole threehundred and fifty of them with five score men. "

"Alvarado, " cried the Viceroy, "thou hast done well. I thank thee. Letus but rescue my daughter and defeat these buccaneers and thou mayestask anything at my hands--saving one thing. Gentlemen and soldiers, youhave heard the plan of the young captain. Who will volunteer to go overthe mountains with him?"

Brandishing their swords and shouting with loud acclaim the great bodyof troopers pressed forward to the service. Alvarado, who knew them all, rapidly selected the requisite number, and they fell in advance of theothers. Over them the young captain placed his friend de Tobar as hissecond in command. 

"'Tis bravely done!" cried the Viceroy. "Now prick forward to the city, all. We'll refresh ourselves in view of the arduous work before us andthen make our further dispositions. "

The streets of Caracas were soon full of armed men preparing for theirventure. As soon as the plight of La Guayra and the Viceroy's daughterbecame known there was scarcely a civilian, even, who did not offerhimself for the rescue. The Viceroy, however, would take only mountedmen, and of these only tried soldiers. Alvarado, whom excitement andemotion kept from realizing his fatigue, was provided with freshapparel, after which he requested a private audience for a moment or twowith the Viceroy, and together they repaired to the little cabinet whichhad been the scene of the happenings the night before. 

"Your Excellency, " began the young man, slowly, painfully, "I could notwait even the hoped-for happy issue of our plans to place my sword andmy life in your hands. "

"What have you done?" asked the old man, instantly perceiving theseriousness of the situation from the anguish in his officer's look andvoice. 

"I have broken my word--forfeited my life. "

"Proceed. "

"I love the Donna Mercedes----"

"You promised to say nothing--to do nothing. "

"That promise I did not keep. "

"Explain. "

"There is nothing to explain. I was weak--it was beyond my strength. Ioffer no excuse. "

"You urge nothing in extenuation?"

"Nothing. "

"'Twas deliberately done?"

"Nay, not that; but I----"

"S'death! What did you?"

"I told her that I loved her, again----"

"Shame! Shame!"

"I took her into my arms once more----"

"Thou double traitor! And she----"

"My lord, condemn her not. She is young--a woman. "

"I do not consider Captain Alvarado, a dishonored soldier, my propermentor. I shall know how to treat my daughter. What more?"

"Nothing more. We abandoned ourselves to our dream, and at the firstpossible moment I am come to tell you all--to submit----"

"Hast no plea to urge?" persisted the old man. 

"None. "

"But your reason? By God's death, why do you tell me these things? Ifthou art base enough to fall, why not base enough to conceal?"

"I could not do so, your Excellency. I am not master of myself when sheis by--'tis only when away from her I see things in their proper light. She blinds me. No, sir, " cried the unhappy Alvarado, seeing a look ofcontempt on the grim face of the old general, "I do not urge this indefense, but you wanted explanation. "

"Nothing can explain the falsehood of a gentleman, the betrayal of afriend, the treachery of a soldier. "

"Nothing--hence I am here. "

"Perhaps I have estimated you too highly, " went on the old man musingly. "I had hoped you were gentle--but base blood must run in your veins. "

"It may be, " answered the young man brokenly, and then he added, as onedetail not yet told, "I have found my mother, sir. "

"Thy mother? What is her condition?" cried the Viceroy, in curious andinterested surprise that made him forget his wrath and contempt for themoment. 

"She was an abbess of our Holy Church. She died upon the sands of LaGuayra by her own hand rather than surrender her honor or lend aid tothe sack of the town. "

"That was noble, " interrupted the old de Lara. "I may be mistaken afterall. Yet 'twere well she died, for she will not see----"

He paused significantly. 

"My shame?" asked Alvarado. 

"Thy death, señor, for what you have done. No other punishment is meet. Did Donna Mercedes send any message to me?"

Alvarado could not trust himself to speak. He bowed deeply. 

"What was it?"

The young man stood silent before him. 

"Well, I will learn from her own lips if she be alive when we come tothe city. I doubt not it will excuse thee. "

"I seek not to shelter myself behind a woman. "

"That's well, " said the old man. "But now, what is to be done withthee?"

"My lord, give me a chance, not to live, but to die honestly. Let meplay my part this day as becomes a man, and when Donna Mercedes isrestored to your arms----"

"Thou wilt plead for life?"

"Nay, as God hears me, I will not live dishonored. Life is naught to mewithout the lady. I swear to thee----"

"You have given me your word before, sir, " said the old man sternly. 

"On this cross--it was my mother's, " he pulled from his doublet thesilver crucifix and held it up. "I will yield my life into your handswithout question then, and acclaim before the world that you arejustified in taking it. Believe me----"

"Thou didst betray me once. "

"But not this time. Before God--by Christ, His Mother, by my own mother, dead upon the sands, by all that I have hoped for, by my salvation, Iswear if I survive the day I will go gladly to my death at yourcommand!"

"I will trust you once more, thus far. Say naught of this to any one. Leave me!"

"Your Excellency, " cried the young man, kneeling before him, "may Godreward you!"

He strove to take the hand of the old man, but the latter drew it away. 

"Even the touch of forsworn lips is degradation. You have your orders. Go!"

Alvarado buried his face in his hands, groaned bitterly, and turned awaywithout another word. 

CHAPTER XX

WHEREIN MASTER TEACH, THE PIRATE, DIES BETTER THAN HE LIVED

[Illustration]

It was nearing eleven o'clock in the morning when, after a hurriedconference in the patio with the Viceroy and the others, Alvarado and deTobar marched out with their fifty men. They had discarded allsuperfluous clothing; they were unarmored and carried no weapons butswords and pistols. In view of the hard climb before them and the hastethat was required, they wished to be burdened as lightly as possible. Their horses were brought along in the train of the Viceroy's partywhich moved out upon the open road to the pass at the same time. Theselast went forward with great ostentation, the forlorn hope secretly, lest some from the buccaneers might be watching. 

The fifty volunteers were to ascend the mountain with all speed, maketheir way along the crest as best they could, until they came withinstriking distance of the camp of the pirates. Then they were to concealthemselves in the woods there and when the Viceroy made a feigned attackwith the main body of his troops from the other side of the mountain, they were to leave their hiding-place and fall furiously upon the rearof the party. Fortunately, they were not required to ascend such a pathas that Alvarado had traversed on the other side, for there were notfifty men in all Venezuela who could have performed that tremendous featof mountaineering. The way to the summit of the range and thence to thepass was difficult, but not impossible, and they succeeded after an houror two of hard climbing in reaching their appointed station, where theyconcealed themselves in the woods, unobserved by Teach's men. 

The Viceroy carried out his part of the programme with the promptness ofa soldier. Alvarado's men had scarcely settled themselves in the thickundergrowth beneath the trees whence they could overlook the buccaneersin camp on the road below them, before a shot from the pirate sentrywho had been posted toward Caracas called the fierce marauders to arms. They ran to the rude barricade they had erected covering the pass andmade preparation for battle. Soon the wood was ringing with shouts andcries and the sound of musketry. 

Although Teach was a natural soldier and L'Ollonois an experienced andprudent commander, they took no precaution whatever to cover their rear, for such a thing as an assault from that direction was not even dreamedof. 

Alvarado and de Tobar, therefore, led their men forward without theslightest opposition. Even the noise they made crashing through theundergrowth was lost in the sound of the battle, and attracted noattention from the enemy. It was not until they burst out into the openroad and charged forward, cheering madly, that the buccaneers realizedtheir danger. Some of them faced about, only to be met by a murderousdischarge from the pistols of the forlorn hope, and the next moment theSpaniards were upon them. The party holding the pass were the pickedmen, veterans, among the marauders. They met the onset with tremendouscourage and crossed blades in the smoke like men, but at the sameinstant the advance guard of the main army sprang at the barricade andassaulted them vigorously from the other side. The odds were too muchfor the buccaneers, and after a wild mêlée in which they lost heavily, the survivors gave ground. 

The road immediately below the pass opened on a little plateau, back ofwhich rose a precipitous wall of rock. Thither such of the buccaneers aswere left alive hastily retreated. There were perhaps a dozen men ableto use their weapons; among them Teach was the only officer. L'Ollonoishad been cut down by de Tobar in the first charge. The Spaniards burstthrough the pass and surrounded the buccaneers. The firearms on bothsides had all been discharged, and in the excitement no one thought ofreloading; indeed, with the cumbersome and complicated weapons then invogue there was no time, and the Spaniards, who had paid dearly fortheir victory, so desperate had been the defence of the pirates, werefain to finish this detachment in short order. 

"Yield!" cried Alvarado, as usual in the front ranks of his own men. "You are hopelessly overmatched, " pointing with dripping blade to hisown and the Viceroy's soldiers as he spoke. 

"Shall we get good quarter?" called out Teach. 

A splendid specimen he looked of an Englishman at bay, in spite of hiswicked calling, standing with his back against the towering rock, hisbare and bloody sword extended menacingly before him, the brightsunlight blazing upon his sunny hair, his blue eyes sparkling withbattle-lust and determined courage. Quite the best of the pirates, he!

"You shall be hung like the dogs you are, " answered Alvarado sternly. 

"We'd rather die sword in hand, eh, lads?"

"Ay, ay. "

"Come on, then, señors, " laughed the Englishman gallantly, saluting withhis sword, "and see how bravely we English can die when the game isplayed and we have lost. "

Though his cause was bad and his life also, his courage was magnificent. Under other circumstances it would have evoked the appreciation ofAlvarado and some consideration at his hands. Possibly he might evenhave granted life to the man, but memory of the sights of the nightbefore in that devastated town six thousand feet below their feet, andthe deadly peril of his sweetheart banished pity from his soul. This manhad been the right hand of Morgan; he was, after the captain, the ablestman among the buccaneers. He must die, and it would be a mercy to killhim out of hand, anyway. 

"Forward, gentlemen!" he cried, and instantly the whole mass closed inon the pirates. Such a fight as Teach and his men made was marvellous. For each life the Spaniards took the pirates exacted a high price, butthe odds were too great for any human valor, however splendid, towithstand, and in a brief space the last of the buccaneers lay dying onthe hill. 

Teach was game to the last. Pierced with a dozen wounds, his swordbroken to pieces, he lifted himself on his elbow, and with a smile ofdefiance gasped out the brave chorus of the song of the poet of Londontown:

 "Though life now is pleasant and sweet to the sense, We'll be damnably mouldy a hundred years hence. "

"Tell Morgan, " he faltered, "we did not betray--faithful to the end----"

And so he died as he had lived. 

"A brave man!" exclaimed de Tobar with some feeling in his voice. 

"But a black-hearted scoundrel, nevertheless, " answered Alvaradosternly. "Had you seen him last night----"

"Ye have been successful, I see, gentlemen, " cried the Viceroy, ridingup with the main body. "Where is Alvarado?"

"I am here, your Excellency. "

"You are yet alive, señor?"

"My work is not yet complete, " answered the soldier, "and I can not dieuntil--I--Donna Mer--"

"Bring up the led horses, " interrupted the Viceroy curtly. "Mount thesegentlemen. Let the chirurgeons look to the Spanish wounded. "

"And if there be any buccaneers yet alive?" asked one of the officers. 

"Toss them over the cliff, " answered the Viceroy; "throw the bodies ofall the carrion over, living or dead. They pollute the air. Form up, gentlemen! We have fully twenty-five miles between us and the town whichwe must reach at ten of the clock. 'Twill be hard riding. Alvarado, assemble your men and you and de Tobar lead the way, I will stay fartherback and keep the main body from scattering. We have struck a brave blowfirst, and may God and St. Jago defend us further. Forward!"

CHAPTER XXI

THE RECITAL OF HOW CAPTAIN ALVARADO AND DON FELIPE DE TOBAR CAME TO THERESCUE IN THE NICK OF TIME

[Illustration]

Old Hornigold had kept his promise, and Alvarado had kept his as well. It was a few minutes before ten when the first Spanish horsemen sprangfrom their jaded steeds at the end of the road. In that wild race downthe mountains, Alvarado had ridden first with de Tobar ever by his side. None had been able to pass these two. The Viceroy had fallen somedistance behind. For one reason, he was an old man, and the pace set bythe lovers was killing. For another and a better, as he had said, hethought it desirable to stay somewhat in the rear to keep the men closedup; but the pace even of the last and slowest had been a tremendousone. Sparing neither themselves nor their horses, they had raced downthe perilous way. Some of them had gone over the cliffs to instantdestruction; others had been heavily thrown by the stumbling horses. Some of the horses had given out under the awful gallop and had fallenexhausted, but when the riders were unhurt they had joined the footsoldiers marching after the troopers as fast they could. 

Alvarado's soldierly instincts had caused him to halt where the roadopened upon the sand, for he and de Tobar and the two or three who keptnear them could do nothing alone. They were forced to wait until asufficient force had assembled to begin the attack. He would have beenthere before the appointed time had it not been for this imperativedelay, which demonstrated his capacity more than almost anything elsecould have done, for he was burning to rush to the rescue of Mercedes. 

Indeed, he had been compelled to restrain by force the impetuous andundisciplined de Tobar, who thought of nothing but the peril of thewoman he adored. There had been a fierce altercation between the twoyoung men before the latter could be persuaded that Alvarado was right. Each moment, however, added to the number of the party. There was nogreat distance between the first and last, and after a wait of perhapsten or fifteen minutes, some one hundred and fifty horsemen wereassembled. The Viceroy had not come up with the rest, but they were surehe would be along presently, and Alvarado would wait no longer. 

Bidding the men dismount lest they should be observed on horseback, andstationing one to acquaint the Viceroy with his plans, he divided histroop into three companies, he and de Tobar taking command of one andchoosing the nearest fort as their objective point. Captain Agramonte, aveteran soldier, was directed to scour the town, and Lieutenant Nuñez, another trusted officer, was ordered to master the eastern fort on theother side. They were directed to kill every man whom they saw at largein the city, shooting or cutting down every man abroad withouthesitation, for Alvarado rightly divined that all the inhabitants wouldbe penned up in some prison or other and that none would be on thestreets except the buccaneers. There were still enough pirates in thecity greatly to outnumber his force, but many of them were drunk and allof them, the Spaniard counted, would be unprepared. The advantage of thesurprise would be with his own men. If he could hold them in play fortwenty minutes the Viceroy with another detachment would arrive, andthereafter the end would be certain. They could take prisoners then andreserve them for torture and death--some meet punishment for theircrimes. 

Those necessary preparations were made with the greatest speed, the menwere told off in their respective companies, and then, keeping closeunder the shadow of the cliff for fear of a possible watcher, theystarted forward. 

Since ten old Ben Hornigold had been hidden in an arched recess of thegateway waiting their arrival. He had thought, as the slow minutesdragged by, that Alvarado had failed, and he began to contrive some wayby which he could account for his escape to Morgan in the morning, whenthe captain would ask to have him produced, but the arrival of theSpaniards relieved his growing anxiety. 

"Donna Mercedes?" asked Alvarado of the old boatswain, as he entered thegate. 

"Safe when I left her in the guardroom with Morgan--and armed. If youwould see her alive----"

"This way----" cried Alvarado, dashing madly along the street toward thefort. 

Every man had his weapons in hand, and the little party had scarcelygone ten steps before they met a buccaneer. He had been asleep when heshould have watched, and had just been awakened by the sound of theirapproach. He opened his mouth to cry out, but Alvarado thrust his swordthrough him before he could utter a sound. The moonlight made the streetas light as day, and before they had gone twenty steps farther, turningthe corner, they came upon a little party of the pirates. An immediatealarm was given by them. The Spaniards brushed them aside by theimpetuosity of their onset, but on this occasion pistols were brought inplay. Screams and cries followed the shots, and calls to arms rangthrough the town. 

But by this time the other companies were in the city, and they weremaking terrible havoc as they ran to their appointed stations. Thebuccaneers came pouring from the houses, most of them arms in hand. Itcould not be denied that they were ready men. But the three attackssimultaneously delivered bewildered them. The streets in all directionsseemed full of foes. The advantage of the surprise was with the Spanish. The pirates were without leadership for the moment and ran aimlessly toand fro, not knowing where to rally; yet little bands did gathertogether instinctively, and these began to make some headway against theSpanish soldiery. Even the cowards fought desperately, for around everyneck was already the feel of a halter. 

Alvarado and de Tobar soon found themselves detached from their company. Indeed, as the time progressed and the buccaneers began to perceive thesituation they put up a more and more stubborn and successfulopposition. They rallied in larger parties and offered a stoutresistance to the Spanish charges. Disregarding their isolation, the twoyoung officers ran to the fort. Fortunately the way in that directionwas not barred. The solitary sentry at the gateway attempted to checkthem, but they cut him down in an instant. As they mounted the stairthey heard, above the shrieks and cries and shots of the tumult thatcame blowing in the casement with the night wind, the sound of a woman'sscreams. 

"Mercedes!" cried de Tobar. "It is she!"

They bounded up the stairs, overthrowing one or two startled men whowould have intercepted them, and darted to the guardroom. They tore theheavy hangings aside and found themselves in a blaze of light in thelong apartment. Two men confronted them. Back of the two, against thewall, in a piteous state of disorder and terror, stood the woman theyboth loved. In front of her, knife in hand, towered the half-breed. 

"Treason, treason!" shouted Morgan furiously. "We are betrayed! At them, de Lussan!"

As he spoke the four men crossed swords. De Tobar was not the master ofthe weapon that the others were. After a few rapid parries and lungesthe Frenchman had the measure of his brave young opponent. Then, with alaugh of evil intent, by a clever play he beat down the Spaniard'sguard, shattering his weapon, and with a thrust as powerful as it wasskilful, he drove the blade up to the hilt in poor de Tobar's bosom. Thegallant but unfortunate gentleman dropped his own sword as he fell, andclasped his hands by a convulsive effort around the blade of de Lussan. Such was the violence of his grasp that he fairly hugged the sword tohis breast, and when he fell backward upon the point the blade snapped. He was done for. 

Morgan and Alvarado, on the other hand, were more equally matched. Neither had gained an advantage, although both fought with energy andfury. Alvarado was silent, but Morgan made the air ring with shouts andcries for his men. As the swords clashed, Carib raised his hand to flinghis knife at Alvarado, but, just as the weapon left his fingers, Mercedes threw herself upon him. The whizzing blade went wild. With asavage oath he seized a pistol and ran toward the Spaniard, who was atlast getting the better of the Captain. A cry from Mercedes warnedAlvarado of this new danger. Disengaging suddenly, he found himself atsword's point with de Lussan, who had withdrawn his broken weapon fromde Tobar's body and was menacing him with it. With three opponentsbefore him he backed up against the wall and at last gave tongue. 

"To me!" he cried loudly, hoping some of his men were within call. "Alvarado!"

As he spoke Morgan closed with him once more, shouting:

"On him, de Lussan! Let him have it, Black Dog! We've disposed of one!"

As the blades crossed again, the desperate Spaniard, who was a swordsmanof swordsmen, put forth all his power. There was a quick interchange ofthrust and parry, and the weapon went whirling from the hand of thechief buccaneer. Quick as thought Alvarado shortened his arm and drovehome the stroke. Morgan's life trembled in the balance. The maroon, however, who had been seeking a chance to fire, threw himself betweenthe two men and received the force of the thrust full in the heart. Hispistol was discharged harmlessly. He fell dead at his master's feetwithout even a groan. No more would Black Dog watch behind the old man'schair. He had been faithful to his hideous leader and his hideous creed. Before Alvarado could recover his guard, de Lussan struck him with hisbroken sword. The blow was parried by arm and dagger, but the force ofit sent the Spaniard reeling against the wall. At the same instantMorgan seized a pistol and snapped it full in his face. The weaponmissed fire, but the buccaneer, clutching the barrel, beat him down witha fierce blow. 

"So much for these two, " he roared. "Let's to the street. "

De Lussan seized Alvarado's sword, throwing away his own. Morgan pickedup his own blade again, and the two ran from the room. 

A stern fight was being waged in the square, whither all the combatantshad congregated, the buccaneers driven there, the Spaniards following. The disciplined valor and determination of the Spanish, however, wereslowly causing the buccaneers to give ground. No Spanish soldiers thatever lived could have defeated the old-time buccaneers, but these weredifferent, and their best men had been killed with Teach and L'Ollonois. The opportune arrival of Morgan and de Lussan, however, put heart intheir men. Under the direction of these two redoubtable champions theybegan to make stouter resistance. 

The battle might have gone in their favor if, in the very nick of time, the Viceroy himself and the remainder of the troops had not come up. They had not thought it necessary to come on foot since the surprise hadbeen effected, and the Viceroy rightly divined they would have moreadvantage if mounted. Choosing the very freshest horses therefore, hehad put fifty of the best soldiers upon them and had led them up on agallop, bidding the others follow on with speed. The fighting hadgradually concentrated before the church and in the eastern fort, whereBraziliano had his headquarters. The arrival of the horsemen decided theday. Morgan and de Lussan, fighting desperately in the front ranks withsplendid courage, were overridden. De Lussan was wounded, fell, and wastrampled to death by the Spanish horsemen, and Morgan was takenprisoner, alive and unharmed. When he saw that all was lost, he hadthrown himself upon the enemy, seeking a death in the fight, which, bythe Viceroy's orders, was denied him. Many of the other buccaneers alsowere captured alive; indeed, the Viceroy desired as many of them savedas possible. He could punish a living man in a way to make him feelsomething of the torture he had inflicted, and for this reason those whosurrendered had been spared for the present. 

Indeed, after the capture of Morgan the remaining buccaneers threw downtheir arms and begged for mercy. They might as well have appealed to astone wall for that as to their Spanish captors. A short shrift and aheavy punishment were promised them in the morning. Meanwhile, after abrief struggle, the east fort was taken by assault, and Braziliano waswounded and captured with most of his men. The town was in thepossession of the Spanish at last. It was all over in a quarter of anhour. 

Instantly the streets were filled with a mob of men, women, andchildren, whose lives had been spared, bewildered by the sudden releasefrom their imminent peril and giving praise to God and the Viceroy andhis men. As soon as he could make himself heard in the confusion de Larainquired for Alvarado. 

"Where is he?" he cried. "And de Tobar?"

"My lord, " answered one of the party, "we were directed to take the westfort and those two cavaliers were in the lead, but the pressure of thepirates was so great that we were stopped and have not seen them since. They were ahead of us. "

"De Cordova, " cried the old man to one of his colonels, "take charge ofthe town. Keep the women and children and inhabitants together wherethey are for the present. Let your soldiery patrol the streets andsearch every house from top to bottom. Let no one of these ruffianlyscoundrels escape. Take them alive. We'll deal with them in the morning. Fetch Morgan to the west fort after us. Come, gentlemen, we shall findour comrades there, and pray God the ladies have not yet--are stillunharmed!"

A noble old soldier was de Lara. He had not sought his daughter until hehad performed his full duty in taking the town. 

The anteroom of the fort they found in a state of wild confusion. Thedead bodies of the sentry and the others the two cavaliers had cut downon the stairs were ruthlessly thrust aside, and the party of gentlemenwith the Viceroy in the lead poured into the guardroom. There, on hisback, was stretched the hideous body of the half-breed where he hadfallen. There, farther away, the unfortunate de Tobar lay, gasping forbreath yet making no outcry. He was leaning on his arm and staringacross the room, with anguish in his face not due to the wound he hadreceived but to a sight which broke his heart. 

"Alas, de Tobar!" cried the Viceroy. "Where is Mercedes?"

He followed the glance of the dying man. There at the other side of theroom lay a prostrate body, and over it bent a moaning, sobbing figure. It was Mercedes. 

"Mercedes!" cried the Viceroy running toward her. "Alvarado!"

"Tell me, " he asked in a heartbreaking voice. "Art thou----"

"Safe yet and--well, " answered the girl; "they came in the very nick oftime. Oh, Alvarado, Alvarado!" she moaned. 

"Señorita, " cried one of the officers, "Don Felipe here is dying. Hewould speak with you. "

Mercedes suffered herself to be led to where de Tobar lay upon thefloor. One of his comrades had taken his head on his knee. The veryseconds of his life were numbered. Lovely in her grief Mercedes knelt athis side, a great pity in her heart. The Viceroy stepped close to him. 

"I thank you, too, " she said. "Poor Don Felipe, he and you saved me, butat the expense of your lives. Would God you could have been spared!"

"Nay, " gasped the dying man, "thou lovest him. I--watched thee. I heardthee call upon his name. Thou wert not for me, and so I die willingly. He is a noble gentleman. Would he might have won thee!"

The man trembled with the violent effort it cost him to speak. He gaspedfaintly and strove to smile. By an impulse for which she was ever aftergrateful, she bent her head, slipped her arm around his neck, lifted himup, and kissed him. In spite of his death agony, at that caress hesmiled up at her. 

"Now, " he murmured, "I die happy--content--youkissed--me--Jesu--Mercedes----"

It was the end of as brave a lover, as true a cavalier as ever drewsword or pledged hand in a woman's cause. 

"He is dead, " said the officer. 

"God rest his soul, a gallant gentleman, " said the Viceroy, taking offhis hat, and his example was followed by every one in the room. 

"And Captain Alvarado?" said Mercedes, rising to her feet and turning tothe other figure. 

"Señorita, " answered another of the officers, "he lives. "

"Oh, God, I thank Thee!"

"See--he moves!"

A little shudder crept through the figure of the prostrate Captain, whohad only been knocked senseless by the fierce blow and was otherwiseunhurt. 

"His eyes are open! Water, quick!"

With skilled fingers begot by long practice the cavalier cut the lacingsof Alvarado's doublet and gave him water, then a little wine. As theyoung Captain returned to consciousness, once more the officers crowdedaround him, the Viceroy in the centre, Mercedes on her knees again. 

"Mercedes, " whispered the young Captain. "Alive--unharmed?"

"Yes, " answered Mercedes brokenly, "thanks to God and thee. "

"And de Tobar, " generously asserted Alvarado. "Where is he?"

"Dead. "

"Oh, brave de Tobar! And the city----"

"Is ours. "

"And Morgan?"

"Here in my hands, " said the Viceroy sternly. 

"Thank God, thank God! And now, your Excellency, my promise. I thoughtas I was stricken down there would be no need for you to----"

"Thou hast earned life, Alvarado, not death, and thou shalt have it. "

"Señors, " said Alvarado, whose faintness was passing from him, "I brokemy plighted word to the Viceroy and Don Felipe de Tobar. I love thislady and was false to my charge. Don Alvaro promised me death forpunishment, and I crave it. I care not for life without----"

"And did he tell thee why he broke his word?" asked Mercedes, taking hishands in her own and looking up at her father. "It was my fault. I madehim. In despair I strove to throw myself over the cliff on yondermountain and he caught me in his arms. With me in his arms--Which ofyou, my lords, " she said, throwing back her head with superb pride, "would not have done the same? Don Felipe de Tobar is dead. He was agallant gentleman, but I loved him not. My father, you will not part usnow?"

"No, " said the old man, "I will not try. I care not now what his birthor lineage, he hath shown himself a man of noblest soul. You heard thewish of de Tobar. It shall be so. This is the betrothal of my daughter, gentlemen. Art satisfied, Captain? She is noble enough, she hath lineageand race enough for both of you. My interest with our royal master willsecure you that patent of nobility you will adorn, for bravely have youwon it. "

CHAPTER XXII

IN WHICH SIR HENRY MORGAN SEES A CROSS, CHERISHES A HOPE, AND MAKES ACLAIM

[Illustration]

These noble and generous words of the Viceroy put such heart into theyoung Spanish soldier that, forgetting his wounds and his weakness, herose to his feet. Indeed, the blow that struck him down had stunned himrather than anything else, and he would not have been put out of thecombat so easily had it not been that he was exhausted by the hardshipsof those two terrible days through which he had just passed. Theterrific mountain climb, the wild ride, the fierce battle, his consuminganxiety for the woman he loved--these things had so wearied him that hehad been unequal to the struggle. The stimulants which had beenadministered to him by his loving friends had been of great service alsoin reviving his strength, and he faced the Viceroy, his hand in that ofMercedes, with a flush of pleasure and pride upon his face. 

Yet, after all, it was the consciousness of having won permission tomarry the woman whom he adored and who loved him with a passion thatwould fain overmatch his own, were that possible, that so quicklyrestored him to strength. With the realization of what he had gainedthere came to him such an access of vigor as amazed those who a fewmoments before had thought him dead or dying. 

"But for these poor people who have so suffered, this, my lord, " heexclaimed with eager gratitude and happiness, "hath been a happy day forme. Last night, sir, on the beach yonder, I found a mother. A goodsister, she, of Holy Church, who, rather than carry the ladders whichgave access to the town, with the fearful alternative of dishonor as apenalty for refusal, killed herself with her own hand. She died not, praise God, before she had received absolution from a brave priest, although the holy father paid for his office with his life, for Morgankilled him. To-night I find, by the blessing of God, the favor of yourExcellency and the kindness of the lady's heart--a wife. "

He dropped upon his knees as he spoke and pressed a long, passionatekiss upon the happy Mercedes' extended hand. 

"Lady, " he said, looking up at her, his soul in his eyes, his heart inhis voice, "I shall strive to make myself noble for thee, and all that Iam, and shall be, shall be laid at thy feet. "

"I want not more than thyself, Señor Alvarado, " answered the girlbravely before them all, her own cheeks aglow with happy color. "Youhave enough honor already. You satisfy me. "

"Long life to Donna de Lara and Captain Alvarado!" cried old Agramonte, lifting up his hand. "The handsomest, the noblest, the bravest pair inNew Spain! May they be the happiest! Give me leave, sir, " added theveteran captain turning to the Viceroy. "You have done well. Say I nottrue, gentlemen? And as for the young captain, as he is fit to standwith the best, it is meet that he should win the heart of the loveliest. His mother he has found. None may know his father----"

"Let me be heard, " growled a deep voice in broken Spanish, as theone-eyed old sailor thrust himself through the crowd. 

"Hornigold, by hell!" screamed the bound buccaneer captain, who had beena silent spectator of events from the background. "I missed you. Haveyou----"

The boatswain, mindful of his safety, for in the hurry and confusion ofthe attack any Spaniard would have cut him down before he could explain, had followed hard upon the heels of Alvarado and de Tobar when theyentered the fort and had concealed himself in one of the inner roomsuntil he saw a convenient opportunity for disclosing himself. He hadbeen a witness to all that had happened in the hall, and he realizedthat the time had now come to strike the first of the blows he hadprepared against his old captain. That in the striking, he wrecked thelife and happiness of those he had assisted for his own selfish purposemattered little to him. He had so long brooded and thought upon oneidea, so planned and schemed to bring about one thing, that a desire forrevenge fairly obsessed him. 

As soon as he appeared from behind the hangings where he had remained inhiding, it was evident to every one that he was a buccaneer. Swords wereout in an instant. 

"What's this?" cried the Viceroy in great surprise. "Another pirate freeand unbound? Seize him!"

Three or four of the men made a rush toward the old buccaneer, but withwonderful agility he avoided them and sprang to the side of Alvarado. 

"Back, señors!" he cried coolly and composedly, facing their upliftedpoints. 

"My lord, " said Alvarado, "bid these gentlemen withdraw their weapons. This man is under my protection. "

"Who is he?"

"He I told you of, sir, who set me free, provided Donna Mercedes with aweapon, opened the gate for us. One Benjamin Hornigold. "

"Thou damned traitor!" yelled that fierce, high voice on the outskirtsof the crowd. 

There was a sudden commotion. A bound man burst through the surprisedcavaliers and threw himself, all fettered though he was, upon thesailor. He was without weapon or use of hand, yet he bit him savagely onthe cheek. 

"Hell!" he cried, as they pulled him away and dragged him to his feet, "had I a free hand for a second you'd pay! As it is, I've marked you, and you'll carry the traitor's brand until you die! Curse you, whateverdoom comes to me, may worse come to you!"

The old buccaneer was an awful figure, as he poured out a horribletorrent of curses and imprecations upon the traitor, grinding his teethbeneath his foam-flecked lips, and even the iron-hearted sailor, striving to staunch the blood, involuntarily shrank back appalled beforehim. 

"Señor, " he cried, appealing to Alvarado, "I was to have protection!"

"You shall have it, " answered the young soldier, himself shrinking awayfrom the traitor, although by his treason he had so greatly benefited. "My lord, had it not been for this man, I'd still be a prisoner, thelady Mercedes like those wretched women weeping in the streets. Ipromised him, in your name, protection, immunity from punishment, andliberty to depart with as much of the treasure of the Porto Bello plategalleon, which was wrecked on the sands a few days ago, of which I toldyou, as he could carry. "

"And you did not exceed your authority, Captain Alvarado. We contemntreason in whatsoever guise it doth appear, and we hate and loathe atraitor, but thy word is passed. It will be held inviolate as our own. You are free, knave. I will appoint soldiers to guard you, for should mymen see you, not knowing this, they would cut you down; and whenoccasion serves you may take passage in the first ship that touches hereand go where you will. Nay, we will be generous, although we like younot. We are much indebted to you. We have profited by what we dodespise. We would reward you. Ask of me something that I may measure myobligation for a daughter's honor saved, if you can realize or feel whatthat may be. "

"My lord, hear me, " said the boatswain quickly. "There be reasons andreasons for betrayals, and I have one. This man was my captain. Iperilled my life a dozen times to save his; I followed him blindly upona hundred terrible ventures; I lived but for his service. My soul--whenI had a soul--was at his command; I loved him. Ay, gentlemen, rough, uncouth, old though I am, I loved this man. He could ask of me anythingthat I could have given him and he would not have been refused. 

"Sirs, there came to me a young brother of mine, not such as I, a rude, unlettered sailor, but a gentleman--and college bred. There arequarterings on my family scutcheon, sirs, back in Merry England, had Ithe wit or care to trace it. He was a reckless youth, chafing under therestraints of that hard religion to which we had been born. The freelife of a brother-of-the-coast attracted him. He became like me, abuccaneer. I strove to dissuade him, but without avail. He was thebravest, the handsomest, the most gallant of us all. He came into my oldheart like a son. We are not all brute, gentlemen. I have waded in bloodand plunder like the rest, but in every heart there is some spot thatbeats for things better. I divided my love between him and my captain. This man"--he pointed to his old master with his blunted finger, drawinghimself up until he looked taller than he was, his one eye flashing withanger and hatred, as with a stern, rude eloquence he recited his wrongs, the grim indictment of a false friend--"this man betrayed us at Panama. With what he had robbed his comrades of he bought immunity, evenknighthood, from the King of England. He was made Vice-Governor ofJamaica and his hand fell heavily upon those who had blindly followedhim in the old days, men who had served him and trusted him, as I--menwhose valor and courage had made him what he was. 

"He took the lad I loved, and because his proud spirit would not breakto his heavy hand and he answered him like the bold, free sailor he was, he hanged him like a dog, sirs! I--I--stooped for his life. I, who carednot for myself, offered to stand in his place upon the gallows platform, though I have no more taste for the rope than any of you, if only hemight go free. He laughed at me! He mocked me! I urged my ancientservice--he drove me from him with curses and threats like a whippeddog. I could have struck him down then, but that I wanted to save himfor a revenge that might measure my hate, slow and long and terrible. Not mere sudden death, that would not suffice. Something more. 

"Treachery? My lord, his was the first. I played his own game and haveovercome it with the same. D'ye blame me now? Take your treasure! I wantnone of it. I want only him and my revenge! Liberty's dear to all of us. I'll give mine up. You may take my life with the rest, but first give methis man. Let me deal with him. I will revenge you all, and when I havefinished with him I will yield myself to you. "

He was a hideous figure of old hate and rancor, of unslaked passion, ofmonstrous possibilities of cruel torture. Hardened as they were by thecustoms of their age to hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, thelisteners turned cold at such an exhibition of malefic passion, ofconsuming hatred. Even Morgan himself, intrepid as he was, shrank fromthe awful menace of the mordant words. 

"My lord!" shouted the unfortunate captain, "give him no heed. He liesin his throat; he lies a thousand times. 'Twas a mutinous dog, thatbrother of his, that I hanged. I am your prisoner. You are a soldier. Ilook for speedy punishment, certain death it may be, but let it not befrom his hand. "

"Think, señors, " urged the boatswain; "you would hang him perhaps. It isthe worst that you could do. Is that punishment meet for him? He hasdespoiled women, bereft children, tortured men, in the streets of LaGuayra. A more fitting punishment should await him. Think of Panama, ofMaracaibo, of Porto Bello! Recall what he did there. Is hanging enough?Give him to me. Let me have my way. You have your daughter, safe, unharmed, within the shelter of her lover's arms. The town is yours. Youhave won the fight. 'Twas I that did it. Without me your wives, yourchildren, your subjects, would have been slaughtered in Caracas and thisdog would have been free to go further afield for prey. He coveted yourdaughter--would fain make her his slave in some desert island. Give himto me!"

"Old man, " said the Viceroy, "I take back my words. You have excuse foryour betrayal, but your request I can not grant. I have promised him toAlvarado. Nay, urge me no further. My word is passed. "

"Thank you, thank you!" cried Morgan, breathing again. 

"Silence, you dog!" said the Viceroy, with a look of contempt on hisface. "But take heart, man, " he added, as he saw the look of rage anddisappointment sweep over the face of the old sailor, "he will notescape lightly. Would God he had blood enough in his body to pay dropby drop for all he hath shed. His death shall be slow, lingering, terrible. You have said it, and you shall see it, too, and you will. Heshall have time to repent and to think upon the past. You may glutyourself with his suffering and feed fat your revenge. 'Twill be a meet, a fitting punishment so far as our poor minds can compass. We havealready planned it. "

"You Spanish hounds!" roared Morgan stoutly, "I am a subject of England. I demand to be sent there for trial. "

"You are an outlaw, sir, a man of no country, a foe to common humanity, and taken in your crimes. Silence, I say!" again cried the old man. "Youpollute the air with your speech. Take him away and hold him safe. To-morrow he shall be punished. "

"Without a trial?" screamed the old buccaneer, struggling forward. 

"Thou art tried already. Thou hast been weighed in the balances andfound wanting. Alvarado, art ready for duty?"

"Ready, your Excellency, " answered the young man, "and for this duty. "

"Take him then, I give him into your hands. You know what is to be done;see you do it well. "

"Ay, my lord. Into the strong-room with him, men!" ordered the youngSpaniard, stepping unsteadily forward. 

As he did so the crucifix he wore, which the disorder in his dressexposed to view, flashed into the light once more. Morgan's eyesfastened upon it for the first time. 

"By heaven, sir!" he shouted. "Where got ye that cross?"

"From his mother, noble captain, " interrupted Hornigold, coming closer. 

He had another card to play. He had waited for this moment, and he threwback his head with a long, bitter laugh. There was such sinister, suchvicious mockery and meaning in his voice, with not the faintest note ofmerriment to relieve it, that his listeners looked aghast upon him. 

"His mother?" cried Morgan. "Then this is----"

He paused. The assembled cavaliers, Mercedes, and Alvarado stood withbated breath waiting for the terrible boatswain's answer. 

"The boy I took into Cuchillo when we were at Panama, " said Hornigold intriumph. 

"And my son!" cried the old buccaneer with malignant joy. 

A great cry of repudiation and horror burst from the lips of Alvarado. The others stared with astonishment and incredulity written on theirfaces. Mercedes moved closer to her lover and strove to take his hand. 

"My lords and gentlemen, hear me, " continued the buccaneer, the wordsrushing from his lips in his excitement, for in the new relationship heso promptly and boldly affirmed, he thought he saw a way of escape fromhis imminent peril. "There lived in Maracaibo a Spanish woman, MariaZerega, who loved me. By her there was a child--mine--a boy. I took themwith me to Panama. The pestilence raged there after the sack. She fellill, and as she lay dying besought me to save the boy. I sent Hornigoldto her with instructions to do her will, and he carried the baby to thevillage of Cuchillo with that cross upon his breast and left him. Welost sight of him. There, the next day, you found him. He has Englishblood in his veins. He is my son, sirs, a noble youth, " sneered the oldman. "Now you have given me to him. 'Tis not meet that the father shouldsuffer at the hands of the son. You shall set me free, " added the man, turning to Alvarado. 

"Rather than that--" cried Hornigold, viciously springing forward knifein hand. 

He was greatly surprised at the bold yet cunning appeal of his formercaptain. 

"Back, man!" interposed the Viceroy. "And were you a thousand times hisfather, were you my brother, my own father, you should, nevertheless, die, as it hath been appointed. "

"Can this be true?" groaned Alvarado, turning savagely to Hornigold. 

"I believe it to be. "

"Why not kill me last night then?"

"I wanted you for this minute. 'Tis a small part of my revenge. To seehim die and by his son's hand--A worthy father, noble son----"

"Silence!" shouted de Lara. "Art thou without bowels of compassion, man!Alvarado, I pity thee, but this makes the promise of the hour void. Nay, my daughter"--as Mercedes came forward to entreat him--"I'd rather slaythee with my own hand than wed thee to the son of such as yon!"

"My lord, 'tis just, " answered Alvarado. His anguish was pitiful tobehold. "I am as innocent of my parentage as any child, yet thesuffering must be mine. The sins of the fathers are visited on thechildren. I did deem it yesterday a coward's act to cut the thread of mylife but now--I cannot survive--I cannot live--and know that in myveins--runs the blood of such a monster. My lord, you have been good tome. Gentlemen, you have honored me. Mercedes, you have loved me--O God!You, infamous man, you have fathered me. May the curse of God, that Godwhom you mock, rest upon you! My mother loved this man once, it seems. Well, nobly did she expiate. I go to join her. Pray for me. Stay not myhand. Farewell!"

He raised his poniard. 

"Let no one stop him, " cried the old Viceroy as Alvarado darted theweapon straight at his own heart. "This were the best end. "

Mercedes had stood dazed during this conversation, but with a shriek ofhorror, as she saw the flash of the blade, she threw herself upon herlover, and strove to wrench the dagger from him. 

"Alvarado!" she cried, "whatever thou art, thou hast my heart! Nay, slayme first, if thou wilt. "

CHAPTER XXIII

HOW THE GOOD PRIEST FRA ANTONIO DE LAS CASAS TOLD THE TRUTH, TO THEGREAT RELIEF OF CAPTAIN ALVARADO AND DONNA MERCEDES, AND THEDISCOMFITURE OF MASTER BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD AND SIR HENRY MORGAN

[Illustration]

"Ay, strike, Alvarado, " cried the Viceroy, filled with shame andsurprise at the sight of his daughter's extraordinary boldness, "forthough I love her, I'd rather see her dead than married to the son ofsuch as he. Drive home your weapon!" he cried in bitter scorn. "Why stayyour hand? Only blood can wash out the shame she hath put upon me beforeyou all this day. Thou hast a dagger. Use it, I say!"

"Do you hear my father's words, Alvarado?" cried Mercedes sinking on herknees and stretching up her hands to him. "'Tis a sharp weapon. Onetouch will end it all, and you can follow. "

"God help me!" cried the unhappy young Captain, throwing aside theponiard and clasping his hands to his eyes. "I cannot! Hath no one herea point for me? If I have deserved well of you or the State, sir, bidthem strike home. "

"Live, young sir, " interrupted Morgan, "there are other women in theworld. Come with me and----"

"If you are my father, you have but little time in this world, "interrupted the Spaniard, turning to Morgan and gnashing his teeth athim. "I doubt not but you were cruel to my mother. I hate you! I loatheyou! I despise you for all your crimes! And most of all for bringing meinto the world. I swear to you, had I the power, I'd not add anothermoment to your life. The world were better rid of you. "

"You have been well trained by your Spanish nurses, " cried Morganresolutely, although with sneering mockery and hate in his voice, "andwell you seem to know the duty owed by son to sire. "

"You have done nothing for me, " returned the young soldier, "youabandoned me. Such as you are you were my father. You cast me away toshift for myself. Had it not been for these friends here----"

"Nay, " said Morgan, "I thought you dead. That cursed one-eyed traitorthere told me so, else I'd sought you out. "

[Illustration: "God help me!" cried Alvarado, throwing aside theponiard, "I cannot!"]

"Glad am I that you did not, for I have passed my life where no child ofyours could hope to be--among honorable men, winning their respect, which I now forfeit because of thee. "

"Alvarado, " said the Viceroy, "this much will I do for thee. He shall beshot like a soldier instead of undergoing the punishment we had designedfor him. This much for his fatherhood. "

"My lord, I ask it not, " answered the young man. 

"Sir, " exclaimed Morgan, a gleam of relief passing across his features, for he knew, of course, that death was his only expectation, and he hadgreatly feared that his taking off would be accompanied by the mosthorrible tortures that could be devised by people who were not the leastexpert in the practice of the unmentionable cruelties of the age, "you, at least, are a father, and I thank you. "

"Yes, I am a father and a most unhappy one, " groaned de Lara, turningtoward Alvarado. "Perhaps it is well you did not accomplish your purposeof self-destruction after all, my poor friend. As I said before, Spainhath need of you. You may go back to the old country beyond the greatsea. All here will keep your secret; my favor will be of service to youeven there. You can make a new career with a new name. "

"And Mercedes?" asked Alvarado. 

"You have no longer any right to question. Ah, well, it is just that youshould hear. The girl goes to a convent; the only cloak for her is inour Holy Religion--and so ends the great race of de Laras!"

"No, no, " pleaded Mercedes, "send me not there! Let me go with him!" Shestepped nearer to him, beautiful and beseeching. "My father, " she urged, "you love me. " She threw her arms around his neck and laid her head uponhis breast. Upon it her father tenderly pressed his hand. "You loved mymother, did you not?" she continued. "Think of her. Condemn me not tothe living death of a convent--away from him. If that man be hisfather--and I can not believe it, there is some mistake, 'tis impossiblethat anything so foul should bring into the world a man so noble--yet Ilove him! You know him. You have tried him a thousand times. He has noqualities of his base ancestry. His mother at least died like a Spanishgentlewoman. My lords, gentlemen, some of you have known me from mychildhood. You have lived in our house and have followed the fortunes ofmy father--you have grown gray in our service. Intercede for me!"

"Your Excellency, " said old Don Cæsar de Agramonte, a man, who, asMercedes had said, had literally grown gray in the service of theViceroy, and who was man of birth scarcely inferior to his own, "thewords of the Lady Mercedes move me profoundly. By your grace's leave, Iventure to say that she hath spoken well and nobly, and that the youngAlvarado, whom we have seen in places that try men's souls to theextreme, hath always comported himself as a Spanish gentleman should. This may be a lie. But if it is true, his old association with you andyours, and some humor of courage and fidelity and gentleness that Idoubt not his mother gave him, have washed out the taint. Will you notreconsider your words? Give the maiden to the man. I am an old soldier, sir, and have done you some service. I would cheerfully stake my life tomaintain his honor and his gentleness at the sword's point. "

"He speaks well, Don Alvaro, " cried Captain Gayoso, another veteransoldier. "I join my plea to that of my comrade, Don Cæsar. "

"And I add my word, sir. "

"And I, mine. "

"And I, too, " came from the other men of the suite. 

"Gentlemen, I thank you, " said Alvarado, gratefully looking at thelittle group; "this is one sweet use of my adversity. I knew not I wasso befriended----"

"You hear, you hear, my father, what these noble gentlemen say?"interrupted Mercedes. 

"But, " continued Alvarado sadly, "it is not meet that the blood of theprincely de Laras should be mingled with mine. Rather the ancient houseshould fall with all its honors upon it than be kept alive bydegradation. I thank you, but it can not be. "

"Your Excellency, we humbly press you for an answer, " persistedAgramonte. 

"Gentlemen--and you have indeed proven yourselves generous and gentlesoldiers--I appreciate what you say. Your words touch me profoundly. Iknow how you feel, but Alvarado is right. I swear to you that I wouldrather let my line perish than keep it in existence by such means. Rather anything than that my daughter should marry--forgive me, lad--thebastard son of a pirate and buccaneer, a wicked monster, like that man!"

"Sir, " exclaimed a thin, faint old voice from the outskirts of the room, "no base blood runs in the veins of that young man. You are allmistaken. "

"Death and fury!" shouted Morgan, who was nearer to him, "it is thepriest! Art alive? Scuttle me, I struck you down--I do not usually needto give a second blow. "

"Who is this?" asked de Lara. "Back, gentlemen, and give him access toour person. "

The excited men made way for a tall, pale, gaunt figure of a man clad inthe habit of a Dominican. As he crossed his thin hands on his breast andbowed low before the Viceroy, the men marked a deeply scarred wound uponhis shaven crown, a wound recently made, for it was still raw and open. The man tottered as he stood there. 

"'Tis the priest!" exclaimed Hornigold, who had been a silent anddisappointed spectator of the scene at last. "He lives then?"

"The good father!" said Mercedes, stepping from her father's side andscanning the man eagerly. "He faints! A chair for him, gentlemen, andwine!"

"Now, sir, " said the Viceroy as the priest seated himself on a stoolwhich willing hands had placed for him, after he had partaken of agenerous draught of wine, which greatly refreshed him, "your name?"

"Fra Antonio de Las Casas, your Excellency, a Dominican, from Peru, bound for Spain on the plate galleon, the _Almirante Recalde_, capturedby that man. I was stricken down by his blow as I administeredabsolution to the mother of the young captain. I recovered and crawledinto the woods for concealment, and when I saw your soldiers, yourExcellency, I followed, but slowly, for I am an old man and sorewounded. "

"Would that my blow had bit deeper, thou false priest!" roared Morgan infurious rage. 

"Be still!" commanded the old Viceroy sternly. "Speak but another worduntil I give you leave and I'll have you gagged! You said strange words, Holy Father, when you came into the hall. "

"I did, my lord. "

"You heard----"

"Some of the conversation, sir, from which I gathered that thisunfortunate man"--pointing to Morgan, who as one of the chief actors inthe transaction had been placed in the front rank of the circle, although tightly bound and guarded by the grim soldiers--"claimed to bethe father of the brave young soldier. "

"Ay, and he hath established the claim, " answered de Lara. 

"Nay, my lord, that can not be. "

"Why not, sir, " interrupted Alvarado, stepping forward. 

"Because it is not true. "

"Thank God, thank God!" cried Alvarado. Indeed, he almost shouted in hisrelief. 

"How know you this?" asked Mercedes. 

"My lady, gentles all, I have proof irrefutable. He is not the child ofthat wicked man. His father is----"

"I care not who, " cried Alvarado, having passed from death unto life inthe tremendous moments, "even though he were the meanest and poorestpeasant, so he were an honest man. "

"My lord, " said the priest, "he was a noble gentleman. "

"I knew it, I knew it!" cried Mercedes. "I said it must be so. "

"Ay, a gentleman, a gentleman!" burst from the officers in the room. 

"Your Excellency, " continued the old man, turning to the Viceroy. "Hisblood is as noble as your own. "

"His name?" said the old man, who had stood unmoved in the midst of thetumult. 

"Captain Alvarado that was, " cried the Dominican, with an inborn love ofthe dramatic in his tones, "stand forth. My lord and lady, and gentlesall, I present to you Don Francisco de Guzman, the son of hisexcellency, the former Governor of Panama and of his wife, IsabellaZerega, a noble and virtuous lady, though of humbler walk of life andcircumstance than her husband. "

"De Guzman! De Guzman!" burst forth from the soldiers. 

"It is a lie!" shouted Hornigold. "He is Morgan's son. He was given tome as such. I left him at Cuchillo. You found him, sir----"

He appealed to the Viceroy. 

"My venerable father, with due respect to you, sir, we require somethingmore than your unsupported statement to establish so great a fact, " saidthe Viceroy deliberately, although the sparkle in his eyes belied hiscalm. 

"Your grace speaks well, " said Morgan, clutching at his hope still. 

"I require nothing more. I see and believe, " interrupted Mercedes. 

"But I want proof, " sternly said her father. 

"And you shall have it, " answered the priest. "That cross he wears----"

"As I am about to die!" exclaimed Morgan, "I saw his mother wear it manya time, and she put it upon his breast. "

"Not this one, sir, " said Fra Antonio, "but its fellow. There were twosisters in the family of Zerega. There were two crosses made, one foreach. In an evil hour the elder sister married you----"

"We did, indeed, go through some mockery of a ceremony, " mutteredMorgan. 

"You did, sir, and 'twas a legal one, for when you won her--by whatmeans I know not, in Maracaibo--you married her. You were forced to doso before you received her consent. One of my brethren who performed theservice told me the tale. After you took her away from Maracaibo her oldfather, broken hearted at her defection, sought asylum in Panama withthe remaining daughter, and there she met the Governor, Don Francisco deGuzman. He loved her, he wooed and won her, and at last he married her, but secretly. She was poor and humble by comparison with him; she hadonly her beauty and her virtue for her dower, and there were reasons whyit were better the marriage should be concealed for a while. 

"A child was born. You were that child, sir. Thither came this man withhis bloody marauders. In his train was his wretched wife and her ownboy, an infant, born but a short time before that of the Governor. DeGuzman sallied out to meet them and was killed at the head of histroops. They burned Panama and turned that beautiful city into a helllike unto La Guayra. I found means to secrete Isabella de Guzman and herchild. The plague raged in the town. This man's wife died. He gavecommand to Hornigold to take the child away. He consulted me, as apriest whose life he had spared, as to what were best to do with him, and I advised Cuchillo, but his child died with its mother before itcould be taken away. 

"Isabella de Guzman was ill. I deemed it wise to send her infant away. Iurged her to substitute her child for the dead body of the other, intending to provide for its reception at Cuchillo, and she gave herchild to the sailor. In the confusion and terror it must have beenabandoned by the woman to whom it was delivered; she, it was supposed, perished when the buccaneers destroyed the place out of sheer wantonnesswhen they left Panama. I fell sick of the fever shortly after and knewnot what happened. The poor mother was too seriously ill to do anything. It was months ere we recovered and could make inquiries for the child, and then it had disappeared and we found no trace of it. You, sir, "pointing to Hornigold, "had gone away with the rest. There was none totell us anything. We never heard of it again and supposed it dead. "

"And my child, sir priest?" cried Morgan. "What became of it?"

"I buried it in the same grave with its poor mother with the cross onits breast. May God have mercy on their souls!"

"A pretty tale, indeed, " sneered the buccaneer. 

"It accounts in some measure for the situation, " said the Viceroy, "butI must have further proof. "

"Patience, noble sir, and you shall have it. These crosses were ofcunning construction. They open to those who know the secret. There isroom in each for a small writing. Each maiden, so they told me, putwithin her own cross her marriage lines. If this cross hath not beentampered with it should bear within its recess the attestation of thewedding of Francisco de Guzman and Isabella Zerega. "

"The cross hath never left my person, " said Alvarado, "since I canremember. "

"And I can bear testimony, " said the Viceroy, "that he hath worn itconstantly since a child. Though it was large and heavy I had asuperstition that it should never leave his person. Know you the secretof the cross?"

"I do, for it was shown me by the woman herself. "

"Step nearer, Alvarado, " said de Lara. 

"Nay, sir, " said the aged priest, as Alvarado came nearer him and madeto take the cross from his breast, "thou hast worn it ever there. Wearit to the end. I can open it as thou standest. "

He reached up to the carven cross depending from the breast of the youngman bending over him. 

"A pretty story, " sneered Morgan again, "but had I aught to wager, I'doffer it with heavy odds that that cross holds the marriage lines of mywife. "

"Thou wouldst lose, sir, for see, gentlemen, " cried the priest, manipulating the crucifix with his long, slender fingers and finallyopening it, "the opening! And here is a bit of parchment! Read it, sir. "

He handed it to the Viceroy. The old noble, lifting it to the light, scanned the closely-written, faded lines on the tiny scrap of delicateparchment. 

"'Tis a certificate of marriage of----" He paused. 

"Maria Zerega, " said Morgan, triumphantly. 

"Nay, " answered the old man, and his triumph rung in his voice, "ofIsabella Zerega and Francisco de Guzman. "

"Hell and fury!" shouted the buccaneer, "'tis a trick!"

"And signed by----"

He stopped again, peering at the faded, almost illegible signature. 

"By whom, your Excellency?" interrupted the priest smiling. 

"'Tis a bit faded, " said the old man, holding it nearer. "Fra--An--tonio! Was it thou?"

"Even so, sir. I married the mother, as I buried her yester eve upon thesand. "

"'Tis a fact established, " said the Viceroy, satisfied at last. "DonFrancisco de Guzman, Alvarado that was, thy birth and legitimacy areclear and undoubted. There by your side stands the woman you have loved. If you wish her now I shall be honored to call you my son. "

"My lord, " answered Alvarado, "that I am the son of an honorablegentleman were joy enough, but when thou givest me Donna Mercedes----"

He turned, and with a low cry the girl fled to his arms. He drew herclose to him and laid his hand upon her head, and then he kissed herbefore the assembled cavaliers, who broke into enthusiastic shouts andcries of happy approbation. 

"There's more evidence yet, " cried the priest, thrusting his hand intothe bosom of his habit and drawing forth a glittering object. "Sir, Itook this from the body of Sister Maria Christina, for upon my adviceshe entered upon the service of the Holy Church after her bereavement, keeping her secret, for there was naught to be gained by itspublication. That Church she served long and well. Many sufferers therebe to whom she ministered who will rise up and call her blessed. Shekilled herself upon the sands rather than give aid and comfort to thisman and his men, or submit herself to the evil desires of his band. Sirs, I have lived long and suffered much, and done some little servicefor Christ, His Church, and His children, but I take more comfort fromthe absolution that I gave her when she cried for mercy against the sinof self-slaughter than for any other act in my career. Here, young sir, "said the priest, opening the locket, "are the pictures of your fatherand mother. See, cavaliers, some of you knew Don Francisco de Guzman andcan recognize him. That is his wife. She was young and had golden hairlike thine, my son, in those days. You are the express image of herperson as I recall it. "

"My father! My mother!" cried Alvarado. "Look, Mercedes, look yourExcellency, and gentlemen, all! But her body, worthy father?"

"Even as her soul hath gone out into the new life beyond, her body wasdrawn out into the great deep at the call of God--but not unblessed, señors, even as she went not unshriven, for I knelt alone by her side, unable by my wounds and weakness to do more service, and said the officeof our Holy Church. "

"May God bless thee, as I bless thee!" answered Alvarado, to give himthe familiar name. 

As he spoke he sank on his knees and pressed a long and fervent kissupon the worn and withered hand of the aged man. 

"It is not meet, " said the priest, withdrawing his hand and laying itin blessing upon the bowed fair head. "That which was lost is foundagain. Let us rejoice and praise God for His mercy. Donna Mercedes, gentlemen, my blessing on Señor de Guzman and upon ye all. Benedicite!"he said, making the sign of the cross. 

CHAPTER XXIV

IN WHICH SIR HENRY MORGAN APPEALS UNAVAILINGLY ALIKE TO THE PITY OFWOMAN, THE FORGIVENESS OF PRIEST, THE FRIENDSHIP OF COMRADE, AND THEHATRED OF MEN

"And bless me also, my father, " cried Mercedes, kneeling by Alvarado'sside. 

"Most willingly, my fair daughter, " answered the old man. "A fithelpmate indeed thou hast shown thyself for so brave a soldier. By yourleave, your Excellency. You will indulge an old man's desire to blessthe marriage of the son as he did that of the mother? No obstacle, Itake it, now exists to prevent this most happy union. "

"None, " answered the Viceroy, as the young people rose and stood beforehim, "and glad I am that this happy solution of our difficulties hascome to pass. "

"And when, sir, " questioned the priest further, "may I ask that youdesign----"

"The sooner the better, " said the Viceroy smiling grimly. "By the mass, reverend father, I'll feel easier when he hath her in his charge!"

"I shall prove as obedient to thee as wife, Don Francisco----" saidMercedes with great spirit, turning to him. 

"Nay, call me Alvarado, sweet lady, " interrupted her lover. 

"Alvarado then, if you wish--for it was under that name that I firstloved thee--I shall prove as obedient a wife to thee as I was a dutifuldaughter to thee, my father. "

"'Tis not saying o'er much, " commented the Viceroy, but smiling morekindly as he said the words. "Nay, I'll take that back, Mercedes, ormodify it. Thou hast, indeed, been to me all that a father could ask, until----"

"'Twas my fault, your Excellency. On me be the punishment, " interruptedthe lover. 

"Thou shalt have it with Mercedes, " answered the Viceroy, laughingbroadly now. "What say ye, gentlemen?"

"My lord, " said Agramonte, from his age and rank assuming to speak forthe rest, "there is not one of us who would not give all he possessed tostand in the young Lord de Guzman's place. "

"Well, well, " continued the old man, "when we have restored order in thetown we shall have a wedding ceremony--say to-morrow. "

"Ay, ay, to-morrow, to-morrow!" cried the cavaliers. 

"Your Excellency, there is one more thing yet to be done, " said Alvaradoas soon as he could be heard. 

"Art ever making objections, Captain Alvarado--Don Francisco, that is. We might think you had reluctance to the bridal, " exclaimed the Viceroyin some little surprise. "What is it now?"

"The punishment of this man. "

"I gave him into your hands. "

"By God!" shouted old Hornigold, "I wondered if in all this fatheringand mothering and sweethearting and giving in marriage he hadforgot----"

"Not so. The postponement but makes it deeper, " answered Alvaradogravely. "Rest satisfied. "

"And I shall have my revenge in full measure?"

"In full, in overflowing measure, señor. "

"Do you propose to shoot me?" asked the buccaneer chieftain coolly. "Orbehead me?"

"That were a death for an honorable soldier taken in arms and forced tobide the consequences of his defeat. It is not meet for you, " answeredAlvarado. 

"What then? You'll not hang me? Me! A knight of England! SometimeGovernor of Jamaica!"

"These titles are nothing to me. And hanging is the death we visit uponthe common criminal, a man who murders or steals, or blasphemes. Yourfollowing may expect that. For you there is----"

"You don't mean to burn me alive, do you?"

"Were you simply a heretic that might be meet, but you are worse----"

"What do you mean?" cried the buccaneer, carried away by thecold-blooded menace in Alvarado's words. "Neither lead, nor steel, norrope, nor fire!"

"Neither one nor the other, sir. "

"Is it the wheel? The rack? The thumbscrew? Sink me, ye shall see how anEnglishman can die! Even from these I flinch not. "

"Nor need you, from these, for none of them shall be used, " continuedthe young soldier, with such calculating ferocity in his voice that inspite of his dauntless courage and intrepidity the blood of Morgan frozewithin his veins. 

"Death and destruction!" he shouted. "What is there left?"

"You shall die, señor, not so much by the hand of man as by the act ofGod. "

"God! I believe in none. There is no God!"

"That you shall see. "

"Your Excellency, my lords! I appeal to you to save me from this man, not my son but my nephew----"

"S'death, sirrah!" shouted the Viceroy, enraged beyond measure by theallusion to any relationship, "not a drop of your base blood polluteshis veins. I have given you over to him. He will attend to you. "

"What means he to do then?"

"You shall see. "

"When?"

"To-morrow. "

The sombre, sinister, although unknown purpose of the Spaniards had newterrors lent to it by the utter inability of the buccaneer to foreseewhat was to be his punishment. He was a man of the highest courage, thestoutest heart, yet in that hour he was astonied. His knees smotetogether; he clenched his teeth in a vain effort to prevent theirchattering. All his devilry, his assurance, his fortitude, his strength, seemed to leave him. He stood before them suddenly an old, a broken man, facing a doom portentous and terrible, without a spark of strength orresolution left to meet it, whatever it might be. And for the first timein his life he played the craven, the coward. He moistened his dry lipsand looked eagerly from one face to another in the dark and gloomy ringthat encircled him. 

"Lady, " he said at last, turning to Mercedes as the most likely of hisenemies to befriend him, "you are a woman. You should be tender hearted. You don't want to see an old man, old enough to be your father, suffersome unknown, awful torture? Plead for me! Ask your lover. He willrefuse you nothing now. "

There was a dead silence in the room. Mercedes stared at the miserablewretch making his despairing appeal as if she were fascinated. 

"Answer him, " said her stern old father, "as a Spanish gentlewomanshould. "

It was a grim and terrible age. The gospel under which all lived inthose days was not that of the present. It was a gospel writ in blood, and fire, and steel. 

"An eye for an eye, " said the girl slowly, "a tooth for a tooth, lifefor life, shame for shame, " her voice rising until it rang through theroom. "In the name of my ruined sisters, whose wails come to us thisinstant from without, borne hither on the night wind, I refuse tointercede for you, monster. For myself, the insults you have put uponme, I might forgive, but not the rest. The taking of one life like yourscan not repay. "

"You hear?" cried Alvarado. "Take him away. "

"One moment, " cried Morgan. "Holy Father--your religion--it teaches toforgive they say. Intercede for me!"

His eyes turned with faint hope toward the aged priest. 

"Not for such as thou, " answered the old man looking from him. "I couldforgive this, " he touched his battered tonsure, "and all thou hast doneagainst me and mine. That is not little, for when I was a lad, a youth, before I took the priestly yoke upon me, I loved Maria Zerega--but thatis nothing. What suffering comes upon me I can bear, but thou hastfilled the cup of iniquity and must drain it to the dregs. Hark ye--theweeping of the desolated town! I can not interfere! They that take thesword shall perish by it. It is so decreed. You believe not in God----"

"I will! I do!" cried the buccaneer, clutching at the hope. 

"I shall pray for thee, that is all. "

"Hornigold, " cried the now almost frenzied man, his voice hoarse withterror and weakness, "they owe much to you. Without you they had notbeen here. I have wronged you grievously--terribly--but I atone by this. Beg them, not to let me go but only to kill me where I stand! They willnot refuse you. Had it not been for you this man would not have knownhis father. He could not have won this woman. You have power. You'll notdesert an old comrade in his extremity? Think, we have stood togethersword in hand and fought our way through all obstacles in many adesperate strait. Thou and I, old shipmate. By the memory of that oldassociation, by the love you once bore me, and by that I gave to you, ask them for my death, here--now--at once!"

"You ask for grace from me!" snarled Hornigold savagely, yet triumphant. "You--you hanged my brother----"

"I know, I know! 'Twas a grievous error. I shall be punished forall--ask them to shoot me--hang me----"

He slipped to his knees, threw himself upon the floor, and laygrovelling at Hornigold's feet. 

"Don't let them torture me, man! My God, what is it they intend to do tome?"

"Beg, you hound!" cried the boatswain, spurning him with his foot. "Ihave you where I swore I'd bring you. And, remember, 'tis I that laidyou low--I--I--" He shrieked like a maniac. "When you suffer in thatliving death for which they design you, remember with every lingeringbreath of anguish that it was I who brought you there! You trifled withme--mocked me--betrayed me. You denied my request. I grovelled at yourfeet and begged you--you spurned me as I do you now. Curse you! I'll askno mercy for you!"

"My lord, " gasped out Morgan, turning to the Viceroy in one finalappeal, as two of the men dragged him to his feet again, "I havetreasure. The galleon we captured--it is buried--I can lead you there. "

"There is not a man of your following, " said the Viceroy, "who would notgladly purchase life by the same means. "

"And 'tis not needed, " said the boatswain, "for I have told them whereit lies. "

"If Teach were here, " said Morgan, "he would stand by me. "

A man forced his way into the circle carrying a sack in his hand. Drawing the strings he threw the contents at the feet of the buccaneer, and there rolled before him the severed head of the only man save BlackDog upon whom he could have depended, his solitary friend. 

Morgan staggered back in horror from the ghastly object, staring at itas if fascinated. 

[Illustration: . .. He threw the contents at the feet of the buccaneer, and there rolled before him the severed head of . .. His solitaryfriend. ]

"Ha, ha! Ho, ho!" laughed the old boatswain. "What was it that he sang?'We'll be damnably mouldy'--ay, even you and I captain--'an hundredyears hence. ' But should you live so long, you'll not forget 'twasI. "

"You didn't betray me then, my young comrade, " whispered Morgan, lookingdown at the severed head. "You fought until you were killed. Would thatmy head might lie by your side. "

He had been grovelling, pleading, weeping, beseeching, but the utteruselessness of it at last came upon him and some of his couragereturned. He faced them once more with head uplifted. 

"At your will, I'm ready, " he cried. "I defy you! You shall see howHarry Morgan can die. Scuttle me, I'll not give way again!"

"Take him away, " said Alvarado; "we'll attend to him in the morning. "

"Wait! Give me leave, since I am now tried and condemned, to say aword. "

A cunning plan had flashed into the mind of Morgan, and he resolved toput it in execution. 

"It has been a long life, mine, and a merry one. There's more blood uponmy hands--Spanish blood, gentlemen--than upon those of any other humanbeing. There was Puerto Principe. Were any of you there? The men ranlike dogs before me there and left the women and children. I wiped myfeet upon your accursed Spanish flag. I washed the blood from my handswith hair torn from the heads of your wives, your sweethearts, and youhad not courage to defend them!"

A low murmur of rage swept through the room. 

"But that's not all. Some of you perhaps were at Porto Bello. I drovethe women of the convents to the attack, as in this city yesterday. WhenI finished I burned the town--it made a hot fire. I did it--I--who standhere! I and that cursed one-eyed traitor Hornigold, there!"

The room was in a tumult now. Shouts, and curses, and imprecations brokeforth. Weapons were bared, raised, and shaken at him. The buccaneerlaughed and sneered, ineffable contempt pictured on his face. 

"And some of you were at Santa Clara, at Chagres, and here in Venezuelaat Maracaibo, where we sunk the ships and burned your men up like rats. Then, there was Panama. We left the men to starve and die. Your mother, Señor Agramonte--what became of her? Your sister, there! Your wife, here! The sister of your mother, you young dog--what became of them all?Hell was let loose in this town yesterday. Panama was worse than LaGuayra. I did it--I--Harry Morgan's way!"

He thrust himself into the very faces of the men, and with cries of ragethey rushed upon him. They brushed aside the old Viceroy, drowning hiscommands with their shouts. Had it not been for the interference ofHornigold and Alvarado they would have cut Morgan to pieces where hestood. And this had been his aim--to provoke them beyond measure by arecital of some of his crimes so that he would be killed in their fury. But the old boatswain with superhuman strength seized the bound captainand forced him into a corner behind a table, while Alvarado withlightning resolution beat down the menacing sword points. 

"Back!" he cried. "Do you not see he wished to provoke this to escapejust punishment? I would have silenced him instantly but I thought yecould control yourselves. I let him rave on that he might be condemnedout of his own mouth, that none could have doubt that he merits death atour hands to-morrow. Sheath your weapons instantly, gentlemen!" hecried. 

"Ay, " said the Viceroy, stepping into the crowd and endeavoring to makehimself heard, "under pain of my displeasure. What, soldiers, nobles, doye turn executioners in this way?"

"My mother----"

"My sister----"

"The women and children----"

"The insult to the flag----"

"The disgrace to the Spanish name!"

"That he should say these things and live!"

"Peace, sirs, he will not say words like these to-morrow. Now, we havehad enough. See!" cried the old Viceroy, pointing to the windows, "theday breaks. Take him away. Agramonte, to you I commit the fort. Mercedes, Alvarado, come with me. Those who have no duties to perform, go get some sleep. As for you, prisoner, if you have preparation tomake, do so at once, for in the morning you shall have no opportunity. "

"I am ready now!" cried Morgan recklessly, furious because he had beenbalked in his attempt. "Do with me as you will! I have had my day, andit has been a long and merry one. "

"And I mine, to-night. It has been short, but enough, " laughedHornigold, his voice ringing like a maniac's in the hall. "For I havehad my revenge!"

"We shall take care of that in the morning, " said Alvarado, turning awayto follow the Viceroy and Mercedes. 

BOOK VI

IN WHICH THE CAREER OF SIR HENRY MORGAN IS ENDED ON ISLA DE LA TORTUGA, TO THE GREAT DELECTATION OF MASTER BENJAMIN HORNIGOLD, HIS SOMETIMEFRIEND

CHAPTER XXV

AND LAST. WHEREIN IS SEEN HOW THE JUDGMENT OF GOD CAME UPON THEBUCCANEERS IN THE END

Before it was submerged by the great earthquake which so tremendouslyoverwhelmed the shores of South America with appalling disaster nearly acentury and a half later, a great arid rock on an encircling stretch ofsandy beach--resultant of untold centuries of struggle between stone andsea--thrust itself above the waters a few miles northward of the coastof Venezuela. The cay was barren and devoid of any sort of life exceptfor a single clump of bushes that had sprung up a short distance fromthe huge rock upon a little plateau sufficiently elevated to resist theattacks of the sea, which at high tide completely overflowed the isletexcept at that one spot. 

Four heavy iron staples had been driven with great difficulty into holesdrilled in the face of the volcanic rock. To these four large chains hadbeen made fast. The four chains ended in four fetters and the fourfetters enclosed the ankles and wrists of a man. The length of the fourchains had been so cunningly calculated that the arms and legs of theman were drawn far apart, so that he resembled a gigantic white crossagainst the dark surface of the stone. A sailor would have described hisposition by saying that he had been "spread-eagled" by those who hadfastened him there. Yet the chains were not too short to allow a littlefreedom of motion. He could incline to one side or to the other, lifthimself up or down a little, or even thrust himself slightly away fromthe face of the rock. 

The man was in tatters, for his clothing had been rent and torn by theviolent struggles he had made before he had been securely fastened inhis chains. He was an old man, and his long gray hair fell on eitherside of his lean, fierce face in tangled masses. A strange terror ofdeath--the certain fate that menaced him, was upon his countenance. Hehad borne himself bravely enough except for a few craven moments, whilein the presence of his captors and judges, chief among whom had been theyoung Spanish soldier and the one-eyed sailor whom he had known for somany years. With the bravado of despair he had looked with seemingindifference on the sufferings of his own men that same morning. Afterbeing submitted to the tortures of the rack, the boot, the thumbscrew, or the wheel, in accordance with the fancy of their relentless captors, they had been hanged to the outer walls and he had been forced to passby them on his way to this hellish spot. But the real courage of the manwas gone now. His simulation had not even been good enough to deceivehis enemies, and now even that had left him. 

He was alone, so he believed, upon the island, and all of the mortalfear slowly creeping upon him already appeared in his awful face, clearly exhibited by the light of the setting sun streaming upon hisleft hand for he was chained facing northward, that is, seaward. As hefancied himself the only living thing upon that island he took littlecare to conceal his emotions--indeed, it was impossible for him anylonger to keep up the pretence of indifference. His nerves wereshattered, his spirit broken. Retribution was dogging him hard. Vengeance was close at hand at last. Besides, what mattered it? Hethought himself alone, absolutely alone. But in that fancy he was wrong, for in the solitary little copse of bushes of which mention has beenmade there lay hidden a man--an ancient sailor. His single eye gleamedas fiercely upon the bound, shackled prisoner as did the setting sunitself. 

Old Benjamin Hornigold, who had schemed and planned for his revenge, hadinsisted upon being put ashore on the other side of the island afterthe boats had rowed out of sight of the captive, that he might stealback and, himself unseen, watch the torture of the man who had betrayedhim and wronged him so deeply that in his diseased mind no expiationcould be too awful for the crime; that he might glut his fierce old soulwith the sight for which it had longed since the day Harry Morgan, beholden to him as he was for his very life and fortune, for a thousandbrave and faithful, if nefarious, services, had driven him like a dogfrom his presence. Alvarado--who, being a Spaniard, could sympathize andunderstand the old sailor's lust for revenge--had readily complied withhis request, and had further promised to return for the boatswain in twodays. They calculated nicely that the already exhausted prisoner wouldscarcely survive that long, and provisions and water ample for thatperiod had been left for the sustenance of Hornigold--alone. 

Morgan, however, did not know this. He believed his only companions tobe the body of the half-breed who had died for him as he had lived forhim, and the severed head of a newer comrade who had not betrayed him. The body lay almost at his feet; the head had been wedged in the sand sothat its sightless face was turned toward him in the dreadful, lidlessstaring gaze of sudden death. And those two were companions with whomhe could better have dispensed, even in his solitude. 

They had said to the buccaneer, as they fastened him to the rocks, thatthey would not take his life, but that he would be left to the judgmentof God. What would that be? He thought he knew. 

He had lived long enough on the Caribbean to know the habits of thatbeautiful and cruel sea. There was a little stretch of sand at his feetand then the water began. He estimated that the tide had been ebbing foran hour or so when he was fastened up and abandoned. The rock to whichhe had been chained was still wet, and he noticed that the dampnessexisted far above his head. The water would recede--and recede--andrecede--until perhaps some three hundred feet of bare sand would stretchbefore him, and then it would turn and come back, back, back. Wherewould it stop? How high would it rise? Would it flood in in peacefulcalm as it was then drawing away? Would it come crashing in heavyassault upon the sands as it generally did, beating out his life againstthe rock? He could not tell. He gazed at it intently so long as therewas light, endeavoring to decide the momentous question. To watch it wassomething to do. It gave him mental occupation, and so he stared andstared at the slowly withdrawing water-line. 

Of the two he thought he should prefer a storm. He would be beaten topieces, the life battered out of him horribly in that event; but thatwould be a battle, a struggle, --action. He could fight, if he could notwait and endure. It would be a terrible death, but it would be soon overand, therefore, he preferred it to the slow horror of watching theapproach of the waters creeping in and up to drown him. The chief agonyof his position, however, the most terrifying feature in this dreadfulsituation to which his years of crime had at last brought him, was thathe was allowed no choice. He had always been a man of swift, prompt, bold action; self-reliant, fearless, resolute, a master not a server;accustomed to determine events in accordance with his own imperiouswill, and wont to bring them about as he planned. To be chained there, impotent, helpless, waiting, indeed, the judgment of God, was a thingwhich it seemed impossible for him to bear. The indecision of it, theuncertainty of it, added to his helplessness and made it the moreappalling to him. 

The judgment of God! He had never believed in a God since his boyhooddays, and he strove to continue in his faithlessness now. He had been abrave man, dauntless and intrepid, but cold, paralyzing fear nowgripped him by the heart. A few lingering sparks of the manhood andcourage of the past that not even his crimes had deprived him of stillremained in his being, however, and he strove as best he might tocontrol the beating of his heart, to still the trembling of his arms andlegs which shook the chains against the stone face of the rock makingthem ring out in a faint metallic clinking, which was the sweetest musicthat had ever pierced the eager hollow of the ear of the silent listenerand watcher concealed in the thicket. 

So long as it was light Morgan intently watched the sea. There was asense of companionship in it which helped to alleviate his unutterableloneliness. And he was a man to whom loneliness in itself was apunishment. There were too many things in the past that had a habit ofmaking their presence felt when he was alone, for him ever to desire tobe solitary. Presently the sun disappeared with the startling suddennessof tropic latitudes, and without twilight darkness fell over the sea andover his haggard face like a veil. The moon had not yet risen and hecould see nothing. There were a few faint clouds on the horizon, he hadnoticed, which might presage a storm. It was very dark and very still, as calm and peaceful a tropic night as ever shrouded the Caribbean. Farther and farther away from him he could hear the rustle of thereceding waves as the tide went down. Over his head twinkled the starsout of the deep darkness. 

In that vast silence he seemed to hear a voice, still and small, talkingto him in a faint whisper that yet pierced the very centre of his being. All that it said was one word repeated over and over again, "God--God--God!" The low whisper beat into his brain and began to growthere, rising louder and louder in its iteration until the whole vaultedheaven throbbed with the ringing sound of it. He listened--listened--itseemed for hours--until his heart burst within him. At last he screamedand screamed, again and again, "Yes--yes! Now I know--I know!" And stillthe sound beat on. 

He saw strange shapes in the darkness. One that rose and rose, and grewand grew, embracing all the others until its head seemed to touch thestars, and ever it spoke that single word "God--God--God!" He could notclose his eyes, but if he had been able to raise his hand he would havehid his face. The wind blew softly, it was warm and tender, yet the manshivered with cold, the sweat beaded his brow. 

Then the moon sprang up as suddenly as the sun had fallen. Her silverradiance flooded the firmament. Light, heavenly light once more! He wasalone. The voice was still; the shadow left him. Far away from him thewhite line of the water was breaking on the silver sand. His own crycame back to him and frightened him in the dead silence. 

Now the tide turned and came creeping in. It had gone out slowly; it hadlingered as if reluctant to leave him; but to his distraught vision itreturned with the swiftness of a thousand white horses tossing theirwind-blown manes. The wind died down; the clouds were dissipated. Thenight was so very calm, it mocked the storm raging in his soul. And stillthe silvered water came flooding in; gently--tenderly--caressingly--thelittle waves lapped the sands. At last they lifted the ghastly head ofyoung Teach--he'd be damnably mouldy a hundred years hence!--and laidit at his feet. 

He cursed the rising water, and bade it stay--and heedlessly it came on. It was a tropic sea and the waters were as warm as those of anysun-kissed ocean, but they broke upon his knees with the coldness ofeternal ice. They rolled the heavier body of his faithful slave againsthim--he strove to drive it away with his foot as he had striven tothrust aside the ghastly head, and without avail. The two friendsreceded as the waves rolled back but they came on again, and again, andagain. They had been faithful to him in life, they remained with him indeath. 

Now the water broke about his waist; now it rose to his breast. He wasexhausted; worn out. He hung silent, staring. His mind was busy; histhought went back to that rugged Welsh land where he had been born. Hesaw himself a little boy playing in the fields that surrounded thefarmhouse of his father and mother. 

He took again that long trip across the ocean. He lived again in the hothell of the Caribbean. Old forms of forgotten buccaneers clustered abouthim. Mansfelt, under whom he had first become prominent himself. Thereon the horizon rose the walls of a sleeping town. With his companions heslowly crept forward through the underbrush, slinking along like a tigerabout to spring upon its prey. The doomed town flamed before his eyes. The shrieks of men, the prayers of women, the piteous cries of littlechildren came into his ears across forty years. 

Cannon roared in his ear--the crash of splintered wood, the despairingappeals for mercy, for help, from drowning mariners, as he stood upon abloody deck watching the rolling of a shattered, sinking ship. Was thatwater, spray from some tossing wave, or blood, upon his hand?

The water was higher now; it was at his neck. There were Porto Bello, Puerto Principe, and Maracaibo, and Chagres and Panama--ah, Panama! Allthe fiends of hell had been there, and he had been their chief! Theycame back now to mock him. They pointed at him, gibbered upon him, threatened him, and laughed--great God, how they laughed!

There was pale-faced, tender-eyed Maria Zerega who had died of theplague, and the baby, the boy. Jamaica, too, swept into his vision. There was his wife shrinking away from him in the very articles ofdeath. There was young Ebenezer Hornigold, dancing right merrily uponthe gallows together with others of the buccaneers he had hanged. 

The grim figure of the one-eyed boatswain rose before him and leeredupon him and swept the other apparitions away. This was LaGuayra--yesterday. He had been betrayed. Whose men were those? The menhanging on the walls? And Hornigold had done it--old Ben Hornigold--thathe thought so faithful. 

He screamed aloud again with hate, he called down curses upon the headof the growing one-eyed apparition. And the water broke into his mouthand stopped him. It called him to his senses for a moment. His presentperil overcame the hideous recollection of the past. That water wasrising still. Great God! At last he prayed. Lips that had only cursedshaped themselves into futile petitions. There was a God, after all. 

The end was upon him, yet with the old instinct of life he liftedhimself upon his toes. He raised his arms as far as the chains gave himplay and caught the chains themselves and strove to pull, to lift, atlast only to hold himself up, a rigid, awful figure. He gained an inchor two, but his fetters held him down. As the water supported him hefound little difficulty in maintaining the position for a space. But hecould go no higher--if the water rose an inch more that would be theend. He could breathe only between the breaking waves now. 

The body of the black was swung against him again and again; the head ofyoung Teach kissed him upon the cheek; and still the water seemed torise, and rise, and rise. He was a dead man like the other two, indeedhe prayed to die, and yet in fear he clung to the chains and held on. Each moment he fancied would be his last. But he could not let go. Oh, God! how he prayed for a storm; that one fierce wave might batter him topieces; but the waters were never more calm than on that long, stillnight, the sea never more peaceful than in those awful hours. 

By and by the waters fell. He could not believe it at first. He stillhung suspended and waited with bated breath. Was he deceived? No, thewaters were surely falling. The seconds seemed minutes to him, theminutes, hours. At last he gained assurance. There was no doubt but thatthe tide was going down. The waves had risen far, but he had been liftedabove them; now they were falling, falling! Yes, and they were bearingaway that accursed body and that ghastly head. He was alive still, savedfor the time being. The highest waves only touched his breast now. Lower--lower--they moved away. Reluctantly they lingered; but they fell, they fell. 

To drown? That was not the judgment of God for him then. What would itbe? His head fell forward on his breast--he had fainted in the suddenrelief of his undesired salvation. 

Long time he hung there and still the tide ebbed away, carrying with itall that was left of the only two who had loved him. He was alone now, surely, save for that watcher in the bushes. After a while consciousnessreturned to him again, and after the first swift sense of relief therecame to him a deeper terror, for he had gone through the horror andanguish of death and had not died. He was alive still, but as helplessas before. 

What had the Power he had mocked designed for his end? Was he to watchthat ghastly tide come in again and rise, and rise, and rise until itcaught him by the throat and threatened to choke him, only to releasehim as before? Was he to go through that daily torture until he starvedor died of thirst? He had not had a bite to eat, a drop to drink, sincethe day before. 

It was morning now. On his right hand the sun sprang from the ocean bedwith the same swiftness with which it had departed the night before. Like the tide, it, too, rose, and rose. There was not a cloud to temperthe fierceness with which it beat upon his head, not a breath of air toblow across his fevered brow. The blinding rays struck him like hammersof molten iron. He stared at it out of his frenzied, blood-shot eyes andwrithed beneath its blazing heat. Before him the white sand burned likesmelted silver, beyond him the tremulous ocean seemed to seethe andbubble under the furious fire of the glowing heaven above his head--avault of flaming topaz over a sapphire sea. 

He closed his eyes, but could not shut out the sight--and then thedreams of night came on him again. His terrors were more real, moreapparent, more appalling, because he saw his dreaded visions in thefull light of day. By and by these faded as the others had done. All hisfaculties were merged into one consuming desire for water--water. Thethirst was intolerable. Unless he could get some his brain would giveway. He was dying, dying, dying! Oh, God, he could not die, he was notready to die! Oh, for one moment of time, for one drop ofwater--God--God--God!

Suddenly before his eyes there arose a figure. At first he fancied itwas another of the apparitions which had companied with him during theawful night and morning; but this was a human figure, an old man, bent, haggard like himself with watching, but with a fierce mad joy in hisface. Where had he come from? Who was he? What did he want? The figureglared upon the unhappy man with one fiery eye, and then he liftedbefore the captive's distorted vision something--what was it--a cup ofwater? Water--God in heaven--water brimming over the cup! It was justout of reach of his lips--so cool, so sweet, so inviting! He strained athis chains, bent his head, thrust his lips out. He could almost touchit--not quite! He struggled and struggled and strove to break hisfetters, but without avail. Those fetters could not be broken by thehand of man. He could not drink--ah, God!--then he lifted his blindedeyes and searched the face of the other. 

"Hornigold!" he whispered hoarsely with his parched and stiffened lips. "Is it thou?"

A deep voice beat into his consciousness. 

"Ay. I wanted to let you know there was water here. You must be thirsty. You'd like a drink? So would I. There is not enough for both of us. Whowill get it? I. Look!"

"Not all, not all!" screamed the old captain faintly, as the otherdrained the cup. "A little! A drop for me!"

"Not one drop, " answered Hornigold, "not one drop! If you were in helland I held a river in my hand, you would not get a drop! It's gone. "

He threw the cup from him. 

"I brought you to this--I! Do you recall it? You owe this to me. You hadyour revenge--this is mine. But it's not over yet. I'm watching you. Ishall not come out here again, but I'm watching you, remember that! Ican see you!"

"Hornigold, for God's sake, have pity!"

"You know no God; you have often boasted of it--neither do I. And younever knew pity--neither do I!"

[Illustration: "I wanted to let you know there was water here . .. Thereis not enough for both of us. Who will get it? I; look!"]

"Take that knife you bear--kill me!"

"I don't want you to die--not yet. I want you to live--live--a longtime, and remember!"

"Hornigold, I'll make amends! I'll be your slave!"

"Ay, crawl and cringe now, you dog! I swore that you should do it! It'suseless to beg me for mercy. I know not that word--neither did you. There is nothing left in me but hate--hate for you. I want to see yousuffer----"

"The tide! It's coming back. I can't endure this heat and thirst! Itwon't drown me----"

"Live, then, " said the boatswain. "Remember, I watch!"

He threw his glance upward, stopped suddenly, a fierce light in that oldeye of his. 

"Look up, " he cried, "and you will see! Take heart, man. I guess youwon't have to wait for the tide, and the sun won't bother you long. Remember, I am watching you!"

He turned and walked away, concealing himself in the copse once morewhere he could see and not be seen. The realization that he was watchedby one whom he could not see, one who gloated over his miseries andsufferings and agonies, added the last touch to the torture of thebuccaneer. He had no longer strength nor manhood, he no longer criedout after that one last appeal to the merciless sailor. He did not evenlook up in obedience to the old man's injunction. What was there abovehim, beneath him, around him, that could add to his fear? He prayed fordeath. They were the first and last prayers that had fallen from hislips for fifty years, those that day. Yet when death did come at last heshrank from it with an increasing terror and horror that made all thathe had passed through seem like a trifle. 

When old Hornigold had looked up he had seen a speck in the vaultedheaven. It was slowly soaring around and around in vast circles, andwith each circle coming nearer and nearer to the ground. A pair of keenand powerful eyes were aloft there piercing the distance, looking, searching, in every direction, until at last their glance fell upon thefigure upon the rock. The circling stopped. There was a swift rushthrough the air. A black feathered body passed between the buccaneer andthe sun, and a mighty vulture, hideous bird of the tropics, alighted onthe sands near by him. 

[Illustration: Hell had no terror like to this, which he, living, suffered. ]

So this was the judgment of God upon this man! For a second his torturedheart stopped its beating. He stared at the unclean thing, and then heshrank back against the rock and screamed with frantic terror. Thebird moved heavily back a little distance and stopped, peering at him. He could see it by turning his head. He could drive it no farther. Inanother moment there was another rush through the air, another, another!He screamed again. Still they came, until it seemed as if the earth andthe heavens were black with the horrible birds. High in the air they hadseen the first one swooping to the earth, and with unerring instinct, aswas their habit, had turned and made for the point from which the firsthad dropped downward to the shore. 

They circled themselves about him. They sat upon the rock above him. They stared at him with their lustful, carrion, jeweled eyes out of theirloathsome, featherless, naked heads, drawing nearer--nearer--nearer. He could do no more. His voice was gone. His strength was gone. He closedhis eyes, but the sight was still before him. His bleeding, foamy lipsmumbled one unavailing word:

"Hornigold!"

From the copse there came no sound, no answer. He sank forward in hischains, his head upon his breast, convulsive shudders alone proclaimingfaltering life. Hell had no terror like to this which he, living, suffered. 

There was a weight upon his shoulder now fierce talons sank deep intohis quivering flesh. In front of his face, before a pair of lidless eyesthat glowed like fire, a hellish, cruel beak struck at him. A faint, low, ghastly cry trembled through the still air. 

 * * * * *

And the resistless tide came in. A man drove away the birds at lastbefore they had quite taken all, for the torn arms still hung in theiron fetters; an old man, blind of one eye, the black patch torn off thehideous hole that had replaced the socket. He capered with thenimbleness of youth before the ghastly remains of humanity stillfastened to that rock. He shouted and screamed, and laughed and sang. The sight had been too horrible even for him. He was mad, crazy; hismind was gone. He had his revenge, and it had eaten him up. 

The waters dashed, about his feet and seemed to awaken some new idea inhis disordered brain. 

"What!" he cried, "the tide is in. Up anchor, lads! We must beat out tosea. Captain, I'll follow you. Harry Morgan's way to lead--old BenHornigold's to follow--ha, ha! ho, ho!"

He waded out into the water, slowly going deeper and deeper. A waveswept him off his feet. A hideous laugh came floating back over the sea, and then he struck out, and out, and out----

 * * * * *

And so the judgment of God was visited upon Sir Henry Morgan and his menat last, and as it was writ of old:

_With what measure they had meted out, it had been measured back to themagain!_

[Illustration]