li ,, 111 , i ,[.n , BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF Henrg m. Sage XS91 /7'....4-^7^..6..^..... 2^.aJj..a..U...l. 9963 PS 3344.W6C2"l90r "'""' ^^''^mumSA.SLi^ Schooner "Centiped 3 1924 022 229 474 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022229474 "Pirate — wretch — monster ! ' and thy soul blasted forever." Frontispiece. said she, " may thy heart be burned Page 107. Captain Brand. Captain Brand of the Schooner ** Centipede ** A Pirate of Eminence in the West Indies ; His Loves and Exploits, together with Some Account of the Singular Manner fay which He Departed This Life ^ ^ By LIEUT. HENRY A. WISE. U.S.N. (Harry Gringo) WITH FOUR PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS By J. WATSON DAVIS H. \^, Burt Compaii>>, J- J- jf^ ^ ^ J- publishers, f^ew Yoi*h iqijitiwi mpi i(l.miia -T CAPTAIN BRAND OF THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE PART FIRST. CHAPTEB I. SPREADING THE STRANDS. "Shout three times three, like Ocean's surges. Join, brothers, join the toast with me; Here's to the wind of life, which urges The ship with swelling waves o'er the sea !" It was in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and five, and in the River Garonne, where a large, wholesome merchant-brig lay placidly on the broad and shining water. The fair city of Bordeaux, with its great mass of yellow- tinted buildings, towers, and churches, rose from the river's banks, and the din and bustle of the great mart came faintly to the ear. The sails of the brig were loosed, the crew were hauling home the sheets and hoisting the top- sails with the clear, hearty songs of English sailors, while the anchor was under foot and the cable rubbing with a taut strain against the vessel's bluff bows. At the gang- way stood a large, handsome seaman, bronzed by the sun and winds of about half a century, dressed in a square-cut blue jacket and loose trousers, talking to the pilot — a brown little Frenchman, in coarse serge raiment and large, clumsy 1 2 CAPTAIN BEAND OF sabots. The conversation between them was carried on partly by signs, for, in answer to the pilot, the other threw his stalwart arm aloft toward the folds of the spreading canvas, and nodded his head. "It is well. Captain," said the pilot; "the tide is on the ebb ; let us go. Tip anchor !" "Ay, pilot!" replied the captain, pulling out his watch; "in ten minutes. The ladies, you know, must have time to say good-by. Isn't it so, my pilot?" The gallant little Frenchman smiled in acquiescence, and, taking off his glazed hat with the air of a courtier, said: "Certainly; why not? Jean Marie would lose his pilotage rather than hurry a lady." Going aft to the raised cabin on the quarter-deck, the captain softly opened the starboard door, and looking in, said, in a kindly tone : "It is time to part, my friends; the pilot says we are losing the strength of the tide, so we must kiss and be off." Two lovely women were sitting, hand clasped in hand, on the sofa of the transom. You saw they were sisters of nearly the same age, and a little boy and girl tumbling about their knees showed they were mothers — young mothers, too, "for the soft, full, rounded forms of woman- hood, with the flush of health and matronly pride tinging their cheeks, and masses of dark hair banded over their smooth brows and tearful eyes, told the story at a glance. They rose together as the captain spoke. "Adieu, dear Eosalie! We shall soon meet again, let us hope, never more to part." "Adieu, Nathalie! adieu, dearest sister! adieu, adieu!" The loving arms were twined around each other in the last embrace ; the tears fell like gentle rain ; but with smiles of hope and trustfulness they parted. "Ay," said the sturdy skipper, as he stood, with eyes brimful of moisture, regarding the sisters — ''ay, trust me for bringing you together again. Well do I remember when you were little wee things, when I brought you to THE SCHOONEE CENTIPEDE 3 iTrauce after the earthquake in Jamaica; just like these little rogues here" — and he laid his brawny hands on the heads of the children, who clung to each other within the folds of their mothers' dresses; "but never fear, my dar- lings," he went on, "you will meet happily again. Ay, that you shall, if old Jacob Blunt be above land or water." A boat which was lying alongside the brig shoved off; the little boy, who had been left on board, was held high above the rail in the arms of a sturdy negro, while the mother stood beside him, waving her handkerchief to the boat as it pulled rapidly toward the shore. "Man the windlass, lads!" cried the captain. "Mr. Binks, brace round the head-yards, and up with the jib as soon as the anchor's aweigh." The windlass clinked as the iron pawls caught the strain of the cable, the anchor was wrenched from its oozy bed, the vessel's head fell off, and, gathering way, she moved quietly down the Eiver Garonne. CHAPTER II. CALM. "Till noon we quietly sailed on. Yet never a breeze did breathe: Slowly and smoothly went the ship. Moved onward from beneath." The great lumbering brig, with yards square, main-sail hauled up, and the jib and try-sail in the brails,- lay list- lessly rolling on the easy swell of the water, giving a gentle send forward every minute or so, when the sluggish sails would come with a thundering slap against the masts, and the loose cordage would rattle like a drum-major's rattan on a spree. The sea was one glassy mirror of undulations, 4 CAPTAIN BKAND OF shimmering out into full blaze as the rising sun just threw its rays along the crest of the ocean swell ; and then, dip- ping down into the rolling mass, the hue would change to a dark green, and, coming up again under the brig's black counter, would swish out into a little shower of bubbles, and sparkle again joyously. Away off in the distance lay the island of Jamaica — the early haze about the mountain tops rising like a white lace veil from the deep valleys below, with here and there a white dot of a cluster of buildings gleaming out from the sombre land like the flicker of a helioscope, and at intervals the base of the coast bursting forth in a long, heavy fringe of foam, as the lazy breakers chafed idly about the rocks of some projecting headland. Nearer, too, was the dark succession of waving blue lines in parallel bars and patches of the young land wind, tipping the backs of the rollers in a fluttering ripple of cat's-paws, and then wandering sport- ively away out to sea. On board the brig, forward, were three or four bare-footed sailors, in loose frocks and trousers, moving lazily about the decks, drawing buckets of water over the side and dashing it against the bidwarks, while others were scrub- bing and clearing up the vessel for the day. The caboose, too, began to show signs of life, and a thin column of smoke rose gracefully up in the calm morning air until it came within the eddying influence of the sails and top- hamper, when a bit of roll would puff it away in blue curls beyond. Abaft stood a low, squat-built sailor at the wheel, his striped Guernsey cap hanging on one of the spokes, and his body leaning, half asleep, over the barrel, which gave him a sharp twitch every now and then when the sea caught the rudder on the wrong side. Near at hand, with an arm around an after top-mast backstay, and head resting over the rail, was the mate, Mr. Binks, with a spy-glass to his eye, through which he was peering at the distant hills of Jamaica. THE SCHOONEK CENTIPEDE S Presently, as he was about to withdraw the brass tube, and as the old brig yawed with her head inshore, something appeared to arrest his attention ; for, changing his position, and climbing up to the break of the deck-cabin, he steadied himself by the shrouds, and rubbing his eye with the sleeve of his shirt, he gave a long look through the glass, mut- tering to himself the while. At last, having apparently made up his mind, he sung out to the man at the wheel : "Ben, my lad, look alive; catch a turn with them hal- yards over the lee wheel; and just take this 'ere glass and trip up to the fore-yard, and see what ye make of that fellow, here away under the easternmost headland." Ben, without more ado, secured the spokes of the wheel, clapped his cap on his head, hitched up his trousers, and, taking the glass from the mate, rolled away up the fore- rigging. Meanwhile Mr. Binks walked forward, stopping a moment at the caboose to take a tin pot of coffee from the cook, and then, going on to the topsail-sheet bitts, he carefully seated himself, and leisurely began to stir up the sugar in his beverage with an. iron spoon, making a little cymbal music with it on the outside while he gulped it down. He had not been many minutes occupied in this way when Ben hailed the deck from the fore-yard. "On deck there!" "Halloa!" ejaculated Mr. Binks. "I see that craft," cried Ben; "she's a fore-and-after, sails down, and sweeping along the land. She hasn't got a breath of wind, sir." "Very well;" said Mr. Binks, speaking into the tin pot with a sound like a sheet-iron organ; "come down." As Ben wriggled himself off the fore-yard and caught hold of the futtock-shrouds to swing into the standing rigging, he suddenly paused, and putting the glass again to his eye, he sung out : "I say, sir! here is a big chap away off on the other quarter, under top-sails. There ! Perhaps ye can see him from the deck, about a handspike clear of the sun" — 6 CAPTAIN BEAND OF pointing with the spy-glass, as he spoke, in thfi proper direction. "All right!" said the mate, as he began again the cym- bal pot-and-spoon music. "Becalmed, ain't he?" "Yes, sir ; not enough air to raise a hair on my old grand- mother's wig," muttered Ben, as he slowly trotted down the rigging. The sun came up glowing like a ball of fire. The land wind died away long before it fluttered far off from the island, and, saving the uneasy clatter at times of the loose sails and running-gear, all remained as before. It was getting on toward eight o'clock, and while the cook was dishing the breakfast mess for the crew beneath an awning forward of the quaxter-deck, the captain came up from his- cabin below. The stalwart old seaman stepped to the bul- warks, and, shading his eyes with his hand from the glare, he took a broad glance over the water to seaward, nodded to the mate, and said in a cheerful voice : " Dull times, matey ! No signs of a breeze yet, eh ?" "No, captain," said Mr. Binks; "dead as ditch-water; not been enough air to lift a feather since you went below at four o'clock. But we have sagged inshore by the current a few leagues during the night, and here's old Jamaica plain in sight, broad ofE the bow." "Well, it's not so bad after all, a forty-four days' passage — so I'll tell my lady-bird passenger." Going to the latticed door of the deck-cabin, the jolly skipper threw it wide open, clapped his hands together thrice, and then, placing them to his mouth like a speaking- trumpet, he bellowed out, in a deep, low roar : "Heave out there, all hands! Heave out, lady-bird and baby! Land ho!" There came a joyous note from a soft womanly voice within a screen dravm across the after-cabin, mingled with a little cooing grunt from a child, and presently an inner door swTmg back, and the sweetest little tot of a boy came tumbling out into the open space, and sprang at once into THE SCHOONEE CENTIPEDE •? the captain's arms. The little fellow buried liis brown, curly head in the old skipper's whiskers, and then, kick- ing up his fat naked legs, he laughed and chattered like a magpie. "Aha, you young scamp! This small nose smells the oranges and cinnamon, eh ? And dear, lazy mamma shuts her pretty eyes, and won't look for. papa, and so near home, too !" Here Mme. Eosalie's low sweet voice trilled out merrily in a slightly foreign accent, while the contralto tones vi- brated on the ear like the note of a harp. "Ah ! my good captain, l;ow could you deceive me ? Still, I forgive you for telling me last night that we were so far from Kingston. When you know, too," she went on, in her Creole accent, "how I love and want to see my dear hus- band these last four years, since you carried him away in' your good big ship. But never mind, my good friend, I shall pay you off one of these days; and now send, please, for Banou to dress his little boy." Scarcely had the worthy skipper reached a bell-rope near :at hand, and given it one Jerk, than the cabin door opened, ;and in stepped a brawny black, with bare woolly head and white teeth, his eyes glittering with delight. There was that about his face which indicated intelligence, courage, 'devotion, and humanity — those indescribable marks of ex- pression which Nature sometimes stamps in unmistakable lines on the skin, whether it be white or black. He was ibelow the middle height, but the large head was set, with a ;great swelling throat, on the shoulders of a Titan. His loose white-and-red striped shirt was thrown well back over Ihis black and broad chest; and putting out a pair of mus- (cular arms that seemed as massive and heavy as lignum- ■vitse, the boy Jumped from the captain to meet them ; and then slicking his little soft legs down the slack of Banou's shirt, he ran his rosy fingers in his wool, and shouted with glee. "Oh^ ho!" said the black, as he passed his huge arms 8 CAPTAIN BRAND OF around the little fellow, and smoothed down his scanty night-dress as if it were the plumage of a bird — "oh, ho! little Master Henri loves his Banou, eh? Good, he take bath." Bearing his charge out upon the quarter-deck beneath the awning, he pulled a large tub from under a boat turned upside down over the deck-cabin; and then, while the young monkey had scrambled round to his back, and was beating a tattoo with his tiny fists on his shoulders, Banou caught up a bucket and proceeded to draw water from over the side, which he dashed into the tub. When he had nearly filled th^.tub he felt around with his black paws as delicately as if he was about to seize a mosquito, and, clutch- ing the kicking legs with one hand, he spun the little fellow a somersault over his head, and skinning oil at the same time his diminutive frock, plunged him into the sparkling brine, singing the while in a laughing chant: "Dls is the way strong Banou catch him. First be strip and den he 'plash him ; Henri he jump and 'cream for his moder. But Banou luh him more dan his broder!" Here the brawny nurse would souse him head over heels in the sparkling water, lift him up at every dip, rub his black nose all over him, making mock bites at the little legs and stomach; and, finally, holding him aloft, dripping, laughing, and struggling, go on with his refrain : "What will papa say when he sees him, Piclcaninny boy dat is sure to please him? Big Banou he rub and dress him. But little Henri he kick and pinch him!" All this time the men seated forward on the deck, peg- ging away deep into their mess-kits, would pause occa- sionally, shake their great tarry fingers at the imp, and chuckle pleasantly, with their mouths full of lobscouse, aa if the urchin belonged to them as individual property. THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE d The black man gave the child a final souse in the tub, and then holding him up to drain, as it were, for the last time, exclaimed, while his face lighted up with pleasure : "Oh, ho, my little massa ! what will papa say to-morrow when he sees his brave Henri ?" "Ah! how happy he will be, Banou!" said the lovely mother, who had just come on deck, as she kissed the mouth of the young scamp, while the black wrapped and dried his little naked body in a large towel. "Ah, yes ! my mistress, we will be happy once more to get home to master on the plantation." "Tell me — tell me, good captain," said she, turning in a pretty, coquettish way to the skipper, "when shall we get into port?" It was a sight to see her, in the loose, white morning- gown folded in plaits about the swelling bosom, her slender waist clasped by a flowing blue sash, the dark brown satin bands of her hair confined by a large gold filigree pin, and half concealed by a jaunty little French cap, with the ribbons floating about her pear-shaped ears ; and while her soft, dark hazel eyes were bent eagerly toward the solid old skipper, her round, rosy, dimpled fingers clasped a miniature locket fastened by a massive linked gold chain around her neck. "Tell me, my dear Captain Blunt, how many hours or minutes will it be before I shall behold my husband ?" The good-natured skipper laughed pleasantly at the eagerness of his beautiful passenger, and opening his hands wide, he gave vent to a long, low whistle, and replied : "When the wind comes from good San Antonio, my lady-bird — ^when the sea-breeze makes — ^then the old brig will reel off the knots ! But see ! just now not a breath to keep a tropic bird's wings out. There, look at that fellow !" High up in the heavens two or three man-of-war birds, with wide-spread pointed wings, and their swallow-tails cut as sharp as knife blades, were heading seaward, and every little while falling in a rapid sidelong plunge, as if in 10 CAPTAIN BRAND OF a vacuiun, and then again giving an almost imperceptible dash with their pinions as they recovered the lost space and continued on in their silent flight. "That's a sure sign, Mme. Eosalie," continued the skip- per, "that the trade wind has blown itself out, and the chances are that this hot sun will drink up the flying clouds, and leave us in a dead calm till the moon quarters to-night. What say you, Mr. Binks ? Am I right ?" "Never know'd you to be wrong, sir," said the mate, with an honest intonation of voice, as he tried to stare the sun out of countenance in following the captain's glance. "So long!" exclaimed the young mother, with a little sigh of sadness, as she stood peering over the lee rails to the green hills and slopes of the island, standing boldly out now with the lofty blue mountains cutting the sky ten thousand feet in mid-heaven; "so near, too; and he is thinking and waiting for us !" "Come," exclaimed the skipper heartily, "the youngster wants his breakfast!" CHAPTER III. HIGH NOON. "No life is in the air, but in the waters Are creatures huge, and terrible, and strong; The sword-fish and the shark pursue their slaughters; War universal reigns these depths along." High noon ! Still the stanch old brig bowed and dipped her blufE bows into the long, easy swell of the tropics; the round, flat coimter sent the briny bubbles sparkling away in the glare of the noontide sun; the sails flapped and chafed gainst the spars and rigging, while the crew shel- tered themselves beneath the awnings and dozed peacefully. THE SCHOONEK CENTIPEDE 11 Off to seaward a few dead trade-clouds showed theit white bulging cheeks along the horizon, and occasionally a fluttering blue patch of a breeze would skim furtively over the backs of the rollers; but long before they reached the brig they had expended their force and expired in the boundless calm. Not so, however, with the large sail that had been seen from the brig in the early morning. For, with a lofty spread of kites and a studding-sail or two, she at times caught a flirting puff of air, and when the sun had passed the zenith she had approached within half a mile or less of the brig. There was no mistaking the stranger's character. Her taut, trim masts, square yards, and clear, delicate black tracery of rigging, shadowed by a wide spread of snow-white canvas over the low, dark hull — which at every roll in the gentle undulations exposed a row of ports with a glance of white inner bulwarks, while the brass stars of her battery reflected sparks of fire from the blazing rays of the sun — showed she was a man-of-war. "She's one of our cruisers, I think, sir," said the mate, as he handed the spy-glass to the captain; "but Ben here believes contrariwise, and says she is a French corvette." "Have to try again, Mr. Binks; for, to my mind, she's an out-and-out Yankee sloop-of-war. Ay ! there goes his colors up to the gaff ; so up with our ensign, or else he'll be burning some powder for us." Even while they were speaking a flag went rapidly up in a roll to the corvette's peak, when, shaking itself clear, it lay white and red, with a galaxy of white stars in a blue union, on the lee side of the spanker; while at the same instant a long, thin, coach-whip of a pennant unspun itself from the main-truck, and hung motionless in the calm down the mast. Her decks were full of men, standing in groups under the shade of the sails to leeward ; and on the poop were three or four officers in uniform and straw hats. One of. these last stood for some time gazing at the brig — one hand resting on the ratlines of the mizzen -shrouds, and 12 CAPTAIN BRAND OF the other slowly swinging a trumpet backward and for- ward. Presently an officer with a pair of gleaming epaulets on his shoulders mounted the poop ladder, touched his hat, and waved his hand toward the brig. A moment after : "Brig ahoy !" came in sharp, clear, manly tone through the trumpet. "Sir?" "What brig is that?" "The Martha Blunt. Famed after my dear old wife, God bless her ! and myself, Jacob Blunt, God bless me !" added the jolly skipper, in a sotto voce chuckle to the fair passenger who stood beside him. "Where are you from, and where bound?" came again through the trumpet. "Bordeaux, and bound to Kingston. We have a free passport from Sir Eobert Calder and Admiral Villeneuve." There was a wave of the trumpet as the speaker finished hailing, and then, touching his hat to the officer with the gold swabs, and pausing only a moment, he moved to the other side of the corvette's poop. "It would be no more nor polite in him to tell us what his name is, arter all the questions he's axed." "Don't ye know, Mr. Binks," broke in the captain, "that the dignity of a man-of-war is sich that it wouldn't be dis- creet to tell no more than that she has a cargo of cannon- balls, and going on a cruise anywheres? which ye may be- lieve is as much valuable information as we might get out of our own calabashes without asking a question." "You are allers right. Captain Blunt; but I did not tax my mind to think when I spoke them remarks," said Binks^ deferentially. The cruiser, however, seemed more communicative than the mate gave her credit for, and a moment after the officer with the trumpet sung out : "This is the United States ship Scourge, from Port Royal, bound on a cruise. Please report us." THE SCHOONEE CENTIPEDE 13 And again., after a few words apparently with the officer of the epaulets, the trumpet was raised to his lips, and he asked: "Have you seen any vessels lately?" The skipper was on the point of answering the hail, when his mate said, "Beg pardon. Captain Blunt, but Ben and me made out a fore-and-aft schooner airly this morning, with sweeps out, pulling in under the outermost headland there," pointing with his horny finger as he spoke. "Nothing, sir, but a small schooner at daylight sweep- ing to windward." "What?" came back in a clearj, quick note from the corvette. "Small fore-and-after, sir, with sails down and sweeps out, close under the land." In a moment two or three officers on the cruiser's deck put their heads together, several glasses were directed to- ward the now dim mirage-like shadow of the island, and the next instant the sharp ring of a boatswain's whistle was heard, followed by a gruff call of, "Away there! Ariels, away !" Immediately a cluster of sailors, in white frocks and trousers and straw hats, sprang over the ship's quarter to the davits; and then, with a chirruping, surging pipe, a boat fell rapidly to the water. The falls were cast off, the cutter hauled up to the gangway, and soon an officer stepped over the side and tripped down to the boat. The white blades of the oars stood up on end in a double line, the boat pushed off, the oars fell with a single splash, and she steered for the brig. Descending into the gentle valley of the long swell, she would disappear for an instant, till nothing but the white hats and feather blades of the oars were visible; and again rising on the crest, the water flashed off in foam from her bows, as she came dancing on. In a few minutes the coxswain cried, "Way enough!" and throwing up his hand with the word "Toss !" the cutter shot swiftly alongside; the boat-hooks of the bowmen brought her up with a sudden jar, and the, next moment an 14 CAPTAIN BRAND OF officer, with an epaulet on his right shoulder and a sword by his side, stepped over the gangway. The skipper was there to receive him, to whom he touched his cap with his f oreiinger ; but as his eye glanced aft he saw a lady, and he gracefully removed his cap and bowed like a gentleman to her. He was a man of about eight-and-twenty, with a iine, manly, sailor-like figure and air, and with a pair of bright, determined gray eyes in his head that a rascal would not care to look into twice. "I am the first lieutenant of the Scourge, sir," he said, turning to the skipper, "and if you will step this way I'll have a few words with you." This was said in a careless tone of command, but withal with frankness and civility. The captain led him aft to- ward the tafErail, but in crossing the deck the little tot of a boy followed closely in his wake, and getting hold of the officer's sword, which trailed along by its belt-straps on the deck, he got astride of it, and seized on to the coat-skirts, of the wearer. The little tug he gave caused the officer tO' turn round, and with a cheerful smile and manner he ' snatched the urchin up in his arms, kissed him on both cheeks, and as he put him down again and detached his sword for him to play with, he exclaimed : "What a glorious little reefer you'll make one of these days ! Won't you ?" "Yes, yes, my papa !" said the little scamp, as he looked knowingly up in the officer's face. "Excuse my little boy, sir," said his mother, who was in chase of him; and then turning to the child, with a blush spreading over her lovely face, "It is not your papa, Henri. Papa is. in Kingston." "Ah, madame, I love children. I had once a dear little fellow like this, but both he and his sweet mother are in heaven now. God bless them !" A flush of sadness tinged his cheeks, and he passed his hand rapidly across his eyes, as if the dream was too sad to dwell upon; but changing his tone, while with one hand h^ THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE 15 patted the little fellow's head^ he went on : "Madame lives in Jamaica?" "Oh, yes! I was born there, but my parents were de- stroyed by an earthquake when I was quite a little child, and this good captain here carried my sister and myself to France soon after, where Monsieur — " here she hesitated and blushed with pleasure — "where I married my husband, who is a planter on the island. Perhaps you may know M. Jules Piron?" "Piron!" said the navy man, with warmth. "Ay, madame, for as fine a fellow as ever planted sugar ! Know him ? Why, madame, it is only a week ago that a lot of us dined with him at his estate of Escondido — you know it, madame ? — in the grand piazza which looks down the gorge. But he behaved very shabbily," said the officer, as his face lighted up gayly, "for he kept a spy-glass to his eye oftener than the wine-glass to his lips, in looking out seaward, and in talking of his wife and the little boy he had never seen." "Oh, monsieur, you make me so happy!" said the lovely woman, as, with sparkling eyes and heaving bosom, she cried, "Banou ! Banou ! this gentleman has just seen your good master !" The black, who had been standing near and guarding every movement of his little charge, who was trailing the sword about the deck, immediately approached the ofiBcer, and, falling on his knees, seized his hand and drew it to- ward his face. "Ah, madame, I see that kindness meets with a return as well from a dark as a fair skin," said the officer, in a low tone, as he gently withdrew his hand from Banou's grasp. "But," he continued, turning toward the skipper, as the clear sound of the cruiser's bell struck his ear, "I must not forget what I came for. You say, captain, that you saw a schooner at daylight, eh ? This way, if you please" — as he raised his cap to Mme. Piron and walked over to the other side of the deck, "What was she like ?" 16 CAPTAIN BRAND OF "She was reported to me by the mate," replied Jacob Blunt, as he nodded toward Mr. Binks. "Oh, Mr.— a " "Binks, sir," said that individual, touching his hat and making an awkward scrape at a bow. "Well, Mr. Binks, did you clearly make out the vessel you saw this morning under the land ?" "Can't say exactly, sir, as I did; but Ben Brown there was on the fore-yard, and he got a good squint at her." "Ah ! can I see the man ?" The mate straightway went forward, and, after a few pokes about the lee waist, Ben was roused out from under the jolly-boat and came rolling aft. "You saw the schooner, eh?" said the lieutenant, as if he was in the habit of asking sharp questions and getting quick answers. "Yes, sir," said the squat seaman, as he hitched up his knife-belt, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and took off his cap. "Where?" ■ "Here away, sir," with a wave of his paw, "just clear &f that bluff foreland where the gap opens in the Blue moun- tain." "How was she rigged?" "Bare sticks, sir, not much of a bowsprit, and no sail spread. I see her iirst by the flash of her sweeps in the rising sun, as she was heading about sou'-sou'-east into the land." "Two masts, you say?" "Ay, sir; but I thought as 'ow there was a jigger-like yard a-sticking out over her starn, though I wasn't sartin." "So!" said the lieutenant in a musing tone, and with rather a grave face and compressed lip; "that will do; thank you, my man." Then placing his hand on the skip- per's shoulder, he drew him to one side, out of ear-shot, and said; THE SCHOONEK CENTIPEDE 17 "Captain Blunt, are you much ■acquainted with these latitudes?" "Oh, yes, sir; me and my old brig are regular traders here, from Bordeaux to Jamaica, and so home to England." "No treasure, I presume?" went on the officer, with a smile. "Why, lieutenant, none to speak of, p'rhaps ; just a hand- ful of dollars and a guinea or two in a bag for a few sacks of sugar or coffee, or a pipe of rum, or sich like, on my own account." "Well, my friend, there is probably nothing to fear; but if the breeze springs up keep as close to the corvette as you can, and I shall ask the captain to keep a lookout for you during the night. By the way," the officer continued, in a low tone, as he moved toward the gangway, "in case any- thing should happen, you had better hoist a lantern at your peak or in the main rigging. We have sharp eyes for ugly customers, and one or two of them have been particularly troublesome of late hereabouts." Turning for a moment to bid adieu to the fair lady pas- senger on the quarter-deck, and recovering his sword after a playful struggle with the youngster, he buckled it around his waist, and, stepping lightly over the side and into the boat, the oars fell with a single splash, and the cutter shot rapidly away toward the corvette. CHAPTER IV. SUNSET. "Light is amid the gloomy canvas spreading. The moon is whitening the dusky sails. From the thick bank of clouds she masters, shedding The softest Influence that o'er night prevails." The sun went down like a globe of fire; but just as it touched the horizon it flattened ont into an oval disk, and, 18 CAPTAIN BEAND OF sinking behind a dead, slate-colored cloud, shot up half a dozen broad rose and purple bands, expanding as they mounted heaTenward,and then fading away in pearly-tinted hues in the softening twilight until it mingled in the light of the half-moon nearly at the zenith. Presently, along the eastern horizon the bank of clouds, which had been lying dead and motionless all the sultry day, seemed to be imbued with life, and, separating in their fleecy masses, mounted up above the sea, and soon spread out, like a lady's fan, in all directions. "Ho! ho!" shouted Captain Blunt, clapping his hands, "what said I, Mme. Eosalie, when we saw the sun setting up his lee backstays a while ago? A breeze, eh? Come, Mr. Binks, be wide awake ! We shall he howling off the knots before the watch is out." The mate caught the enthusiasm of the skipper, and, jumping up on the break of the deck-cabin, he sung out : "D'ye hear there, lads? Give us a good pull of the top- sail halyards, and round in them starboard braces a bit! That's your sort ! Well, the head-yards ! That'll do with the main ! Up with the flying jib, and trim aft them star- board jib and stay-sail sheets I There ! Belay all !" Meanwhile, the corvette, with her lofty dimity kissing the sky, caught the first light airs before the slightest ripple darkened the surface of the water; and with her helm a-starboard, and her after-yards braced sharp up, she si- lently swung round on her heel, while the spanker came flat aft, like a sheet of white paper, and with the head-sails trimmed, she slowly moved athwart the stern of the brig. The sails of the brig, which had begun to sweU out in easy, drooping lines, fell back again flat to the masts as the ship crossed her wake. But, as the corvette passed, the of- ficer of the watch on the poop raised his cap to the lovely woman who was standing out in graceful relief on the upper cabin deck, with her little boy held up beside her in the sturdy arms of the black, and placing the trumpet to his lips, said in a distinct voice, as if addressing the skipper: THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE 19 "We shall go about at midnight. Eemember the direc- tions I gave you this morning. A speedy voyage, madam !" He shook his trumpet playfully at the boy, who put out his chubby arms with delight to the speaker, and then ham- mered away with great glee on the crown of his bearer's head. "Thank you, sir," said Captain Blunt, who was leaning over the rail; and then turning to his mate, he added: "Them Yankees, Mr. Binks, always treats a merchant- man like gentlemen on the high-seas, and I never knew one on 'em to turn their backs on friend or foe. What a pity they ever cut adrift from the Old Country! Howsoever, matey, it can't be helped, and you had better up with the port studding-sails, hang on all the rags, and make the old drogher walk." Now came the rippling breeze all at once over the sea, fluttering furtively for a minute or two, so as to make the top-sails of the brig swell out and then fall back in a tremu- lous shiver; but again. bulging forward in a full-breasted curve, the vessel felt the tug, and began to dash the spray from her bluff bows till it fell away beyond the lee cat-head in flying masses of foam. Meanwhile the corvette had edged away in a parallel course with the brig, running past her at first as if she were at anchor, when she let her top-gallant-sails slide down to the caps, and, with the weather-clew of her main-sail triced up, held away with the brig a mile or more to windward. "Now, Mme. Eosalie," said the kind old skipper, "it is nearly midnight; take your last snooze in the old barky, and wake up bright and happy for Port Eoyal and — ^you know who, in the morning." The charming woman had been watching, with soul-rapt gaze, the lofty hills of Jamaica from the last blaze of the setting sun, and until the moon, too, had vanished and left only a dim blue haze over the island. She started as the captain spoke, gave a deep sigh, kissed her hand to the good 20 CAPTAIN BEAND OF old skipper, said ''Good-night, my friend," and, with a smile, she entered her cabin. The black was seated within the partition of the apart- ment, near a small swinging cot, urging it gently to and fro, and watching over his little charge. "Good-night, Banou," she said, in patois French; "you may go to bed, and I will take care of my little boy." The black grinned so as to show his double range of white teeth beneath the rays of the cabin lamp, and without a word he moved silently away. The lady stood for a few moments gazing lovingly at the sleeping child, and then, drawing the miniature from her bosom, she detached it with the chain from her neck, and after pressing it to her lips, she leaned softly over the cot and fastened it around the little sleeper. As light and zephyr-like as was the effort, it caused the little fellow to stir, and reaching out his tiny arms, while a baby smile played around the dimples of his cheeks, he clasped his mother's neck. Ah ! fond and devoted mother ! That was the last sweet infantile caress your child was ever destined to give you ! Treasure it up in joy and sorrow, in sunshine and gloom, for long, long years will pass before you press him to your heart again ! OHAPTEE Y. DARKNESS. "The busy deck is hushed, no sounds are waking But the watch pacing silently and slow; The waves against the sides incessant breaking. And rope and canvas swaying to and fro." On went the Martha Blunt with no fears of danger near. The bell struck eight, the watch had been called, and the captain, taking a satisfactory look all around the horizon, glanced at the compass, and with a slight yawn, said : THE SCHOONEK CENTIPEDE 21 "Weil, Mr. Binks, I believe I'll turn in for a few hours; Seep the brig on her course, and at daylight call me. It will be time enoiagh then to bend the cables, for, I don't think we shall want the anchors much afore noon to-mor- row. Where's the corvette?" "There she is, sir, away off on the port beam. She made more sail a few minutes ago, and now she appears to be edging off the wind and steering across our forefoot. I s'pose she's enjoying of herself, sir, and exercisin' the crowds of chaps they has on board of them craft." "Well, good-night, matey" — pausing a moment, how- ever, the honest old skipper stepped down the companion- way, as if half communing with himself, and then, with his head just above the slide, he added, "I say, Mr. Binks, there's no need, p'r'aps, but you may as well have a lantern alight, and bent on the ensign halyards there under the taffrail, in case you want to signal the corvette. Ah, Banou ! that you, old nigger ? Good-night !" So Captain Blunt went slowly down below, and at the same time the black went aft, coiled himself down on the deck, and made a pillow of the brig's ensign. Mr. Binks wriggled himself upon the weather-rail, where, with a short pipe in his mouth, he kicked his heels against the bulwarks, and, while the old brig plunged doggedly on, he indulged himself with a song, the air, however, being more like the growl of a bull-dog than a specimen of music : "If lubberly landsmen, to gratitude strangers. Still curse their unfortunate stars, Why, what would they say did they try but the dangers Bncounter'd by true-hearted tars?" "What d'ye think of that, Ben?" said Mr. Binks, as he finished his ditty, and sucked away on his pipe. "Why, Mr. Mate," replied Ben, as he gave the wheel a spoke or two to windward and glanced at the binnacle, "the words is first rate, but it seems to me your singing gear is a bit out o' condition, and I thought you wos a-prayiu' ; but 22 CAPTAIN BRAND OF the fact is/' concluded Ben apologetically, "that whenever I hears a song I allers thinks I'd like a smoke and a drink." "Oh! you would, eh? Well, shipmate, turn and turn about is fair play; so here, just take a pull at the pipe, and I'll step to the cuddy for the bottle, and we'll have a little snifiBer all around." Saying this, Mr. Binks swung o£E the rail, handed Ben the pipe, and, after an absence of a few moments, he re- turned with a square case bottle and a pewter mug. "Now, Ben," said he, "this 'ere is not a practice, as you know, I often is guilty of ; but you bein' a keerful hand and a stiddy helmsman, and port here close aboard, I've no ob- jections to take a toss with ye." Then pouring out a mod- erate quantity of the fluid, the mate handed it to Ben, who, taking the pipe out of his mouth, and with one hand on the king spoke of the wheel and one eye at the compass-card, threw his head back and pitched the dram^ dovm his throat. "My sarvice to ye, sir," said Ben, as he smacked his lips and then shut them tight together, lest a breath of the pre- cious liquid might escape. "A little of that stuff goes a great ways." Mr. Binks hereupon measured himself off an aUowance, and touching Ben on the shoulder, raised the pewter to his lips. "Here comes the corvette, sir !" broke iq Ben, as he stood on tiptoe, holding on to the spokes of the wheel, and taking his eyes off the binnacle a moment to get a clear view over the rail. "Here she comes, with her starboard tacks abroad, athwart our bow, and moving like an albatross !" The man-of-war had for an hour or more crept well to windward and then, wearing round, she came down close upon the wind imder royals, and hep three jibs and spanker as flat as boards. As she whirled on across the brig's bow, a few cables' length ahead, the sharp ring of the whistles was again heard, and the moment after the head-sails flut- tered and shook in the wind, the sheets and blocks rattled, and with a clear order of "Main-sail haul!" the after-yards THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE 33 swung round like magic, the sails filled, and without losing headway the head-yards were swung and she gathered away on the other tack. On she came, with the spray flying up into the weather leech of her foresail, the dark mazes of her rigging marked in clear lines against her white canvas, and the watch noiselessly coiling up the ropes on her decks. As she pushed her sharp snout through the water, and grazed along the brig's lee quarter, an officer on the poop gave a rapid and searching glance around, peered sharply along the brig's deck, waved his trumpet to the mate, and resumed his rapid tramp to windward. In ten minutes after she had passed the brig's wake nothing was seen of her save a dark, dim outline, a light halo reflected on the water from her white streak, and an occasional luminous flash of foam as it bounded away from her lean bows. Half an hour went by. The mate was sitting on the weather-rail droning out an old sea song to himself, and the four or five men of the watch were dozing away along the bulwarks. Presently, iowever, Ben, the helmsman, happened to let his eyes wander away from the compass- card for a moment, as he steadied the wheel by his legs and bit a quid from his plug of niggerhead, when, glancing be- neath the bulging folds of the lee clew of the main-sail, he clapped both hands again on the steering spokes, and shouted : "Mr. Mate, here's a sail close under our lee beam!" "Where?" asked Binks. But, before he had fairly time to run to the other side of the vessel and take a look for himself, a quick rattle of oars was heard as a boat grated against the brig's side, and, before you could think, a swarm of fellows started up like so many shadows above the rail. Tn five seconds they had jumped on the deck. Ben fell like a bullock from a blow from the butt-end of a pistol, the helm was jammed hard down, the lee braces let fly. As the old brig gave a lurching yaw in bringing her nose to windward, the weather leeches shivered violently in the wind, taken flat aback, the studding-sail booms snapped 24 CAPTAIN BRAND OF short off at the irons, and, with the sails, fell slamming and thumping below. Meanwhile the mate had barely time to spring to the companion-way and sing out, "We're boarded by pirates. Captain Blunt!" when he, too, received an ugly overhand stroke from a cutlass on his skull, and went senseless and bleeding down the hatchway like a scuttle of coals. As the mate pitched head foremost down the companion- ladder two of the pirates jumped after him, and, dealing him another cruel stab with a knife deep in the back, they passed on into the lower cabin. There was a brief struggle, the sound of voices mingled with curses and threats, and then all quiet again. At the first noise, however, the black, Banou, sprang to his feet, and, as he caught a glimpse of the fellows swarming over the side, he snatched hold of the ensign halyards where the signal lantern had been bent on, and in an instant it was dancing away up to the gaff, shrouded from view to leeward of the vessel by the spread of the spanker. In an- other moment the black leaped to the deck-cabin and darted through the door. But in less time than it has taken to tell it the Martha Blunt had changed hands. There on the quarter-deck stood in groups some sixteen barefooted villains, in coarse striped gingham shirts, loose trousers, and skull-caps, and all with glittering naked knives or cutlasses, and pistols in their belts and hands. In the midst of this cluster of swarthy wretches, near the companion-way, stood a burly, square-built ruffian, with a pistol in his right hand, and his left pushing up a brown straw hat as he ran his fingers across his dripping forehead and a tangled mass of carroty, unshorn locks. There was a wisp of red silk kerchief tied in a single knot around his bare bull neck; the shirt was thrown back, and exposed a tawny, hairy chest, as a ray of light flashed up from the binnacle. He looked — as indeed he was — ^the lowest type of a sailor scoundrel. His companions were of lighter build, and their dress, complexion, and manner — ^to say THE SCHOONER CENTIPEDE 25 nothing oJ' their black hair and rings in their cars — in- dicated a birth and breeding in other and hotter climates. "Well, my lads," said the big fellow, who seemed to be in command, "the barky is ours, and we've cheated that in- farnal cruiser handsomely. Go forward, Pedro, and gag them lubbers. Then tell the boys to trim aft them jib- sheets, and round in them after-braces, some of yon, so we can keep way with the schooner and take things easy." Here he laughed in a husky, spirituous, low chuckle, and then went on: "This will make up for lost time! Who knows but there may be some ounces on board ! But who's left in the boat, Gomez?" This was addressed to a bow- legged, beetle-browed individual, with a hare lip, which kept his face in a perpetual and skeleton-like grin, who hissed out from between his decayed front tusks : "The doctor and a crew of three, sir." "Good; three of the chaps will do to look out for her; but tell the doctor to drop the boat astern, and veer him a rope from the gangway. There ! that's well with the braces ! Keep her off a point; so — that'll do." As the orders were promptly obeyed, and the crew of the brig gagged, and the vessel surged slowly on her course, the same speaker turned to his men and said: "Now, my hearties, lefs have an overhaul of the skipper. Hand him up here; or, never mind," he added, "PU just step down and have a growl with him myself." In pursuance of his expressed purpose, the stout ruffian slued himself round, took a sweep about the horizon, then sticking his pistol in its belt, he slowly descended the lad- der, gave the wounded and dying mate a kick, and, with a hoarse laugh, entered the cabin. There, on a small sofa abaft, between the two stem air- ports, sat Captain Blunt. Blood was trickling down in heavy drops from a lacerated bruise on his forehead; but, notwithstanding the swelling and pain of the wound, his features were calm, stern, and honest. On either side of him sat as villainous a brace of mongrel Portuguese or 26 CAPTAIN BKAND OF Spaniards as ever infested the high seas; and his arms were pinioned by a stout cord to the bolt above tiie tran- som. "My sarviee to you, sirl" said the leader of the gang, with a devilish smile of derision, as he stuck his arms akimbo and squirted some tobacco-juice from his filthy mouth across the cabin table at the pinioned prisoner. "I s'pose you know by this time that you're a lawful prize, captured by an independent constable of the West Indies, notwithstandin' ye had sich safe escort and convoy all the artemoon ?" Here he chuckled, squirted more juice over the table, then dropped down on a sea-chest cleated to the deck, took off his hat, and scratched his yellowish-red hair. The poor captain said not a word, but shook a large clot of blood from his brow. "Well, now, my old hearty, the first thing for you to do is to poke out your manifest, and any other little matters of vallew ye may have stowed away; and be quick, mind ye, for you haven't much time to sail in this 'ere craft. How- soever, I s'pose ye can swim ?" "You'U fitnd the manifest and the ship's papers there, inside that instrument-box; and aU the money in the ves- sel is in that locker; and I trust in Heaven it may bum your hands to cinders, you devils !" "Ho ! smash my brains ! keep a stopper on your jaw, or I'll squeeze your dead carcass through that 'ere starport." The fellow rose as he spoke, and, stepping up to the nar- row state-cabin near by, jerked open the upper drawer of a small bureau affair, and pulling out a canvas bag, sealed at the mouth, tossed it on to the cabin table. The coin fell with the heavy, dead sound peculiar to gold ; and the ruf- fian, after taking it up again and weighing it tenderly, growled out, "This chink will do for a yapper, at any ratel So now let's have a peep at what the cargo consists on." Then stepping a second time to the berth, he gave a kick to the instrument-box; the lid flew off, and diving in his THE SCHOONEE CENTIPEDE 37 fist he drew out a bundle of papers. Once more seating himself at the table beneath the swinging lamp, he clumsily undid the papers and spread them before him. "What a blessed thing is edication," muttered he to him- self, "and what a power o' knowledge reading 'riting does for a man !" Putting his fat stumpy finger on each line of the manuscript, he slowly began: "'Man-ifest of brig Martha Blunt — Ja-cob Blunt, master ;' " here he paused, and, squirting more tobacco-Juice over at the skipper, as if to attract his attention, he suddenly ejaculated, "Hark ye. Master Blunt, what was the name of that man-o'-war vessel as was lyin' by you this morning ?" "The Scourge," replied the skipper faintly, as he shook another large drop of blood from his brow. "The what? The Scourge! That Yankee snake ! Smash my brains ! D'ye know that that ship has been a-hangin' about the north side of Cuba for ever so long, interruptin' our trade ? And you, an Englishman, to go and ax him to purtect ye ! Take that !" Here he snatched a pistol from his sash, and, taking aim full at the skipper's breast, pulled the trigger. Fortunately, the weapon snapped and did not explode. The ruffian held it a moment in his hand, and then letting it rest upon the table, he said, with a horrible imprecation : "Ye see you wos not born to be shot; but we'll see what salt water will do for ye by-and-by." Taking out his knife at the conclusion of this speech, he picked the flint of his pistol, opened the pan, shook the priming, and then shoved the weapon back in his belt. The mention of the Sco'urge^ however, had evidently caused him some trepidation, for when he resumed the perusal of the manifest it was in a hurried, agitated sort of way, and not at all at his ease. Smoothing the papers again before him, he went on, making running commentaries as he read : " 'Eighty-six cases of silks' — light, and easily stowed away; 'twenty-nine tons bar-irons; sixty-four sugar-kettles' — it will help to 28 CAPTAIN ':BRAOT) OF sink the brig; 'forty pipes of Bordeaux; two hundred baskets champagne ; three hundred and fifty boxes of claret' — sour stuff, I warrant you; 'two casks of Cognac brandy ' But I say, you. Blunt," said the fellow, look- ing up, "where's your own private bottle? It's thirsty work spellin' out all this 'ritin', and my mouth's as dry as a land-crab's claws. Howsoever," he continued, as he caught the glance of satisfaction which came over the swarthy faces of his companions beside the captain, "wait a bit, and we'll punch a hole in a fresh barrel presently." Having run through the manifest, he opened another paper and exclaimed, "Hulloa! what have we here? Tjist of passengers — Mme. Eosalie Piron and ' Ho ! that's a French piece, I knows by the name. Where is she ? Hasn't died on the v'yage, has she? D'ye hear there, ye infarnal Blunt?" The captain's face was troubled, and his head dropped down on his breast without replying ; but one of the scoun- drels at his side struck him a brutal blow with the back of his knife-hilt on the mouth, and looking up, he said, with an effort : "Yes, we have a female passenger on board, with a help- leas child; but I pray you, in God's name, to leave the inno- cent woman in peace. You've robbed and ruined me and my poor old wife — ^tum me adrift if you like, drown or hang me, but don't harm the poor lady." The tears blinded him as he spoke and mingled with the bloody stream which trickled down his cheeks. The ruf- fian's ugly face and blood-shot eyes lighted up with a devil- ish and sinister satisfaction as the skipper began his ap- peal ; but before he had well finished speaking he broke in : "Avast your jaw! will ye? You'll have enough to look out for your own gullet, my lad, without mindin' anybody else's; so turn to and say your prayers afore eight bells is struck, because there's sharks off Jamaiky." Then addressing his own scoundrelly myrmidons, he ex- claimed, "Look out sharp for that old chap, my lads, while THE SCHOONEE CENTIPEDE 29 I goes to s'arcli for the woman passenger !" As he turned, however, to leave the cabin one of his subordinates began to rummage about in a locker, when the burly brute said, "Tonio, don't get to drinkin' too airly, boy, for ye know it's agin the law till the prize is snug in harbor, or sunk, as the case may be." "Ay, ay," replied the man with a nod and a grin, and he resumed his seat again; but no sooner had their leader left the cabin than a bottle and glasses were placed upon the table, and they fell to with a will, complimenting the bound and wounded prisoner by "pitching the last drops from their tumblers into his face. CHAPTEK VI, DANGER. "What tale do the roaring ocean And the night wind, bleak and wild. As they heat at the crazy casement. Tell to that little child?" In all this time so little noise had been made that even the watch below, in the brig's forecastle, were snoozing away without a dream of danger ; though, had one of them shown his nose above the fore-peak, he would have either been knocked down and murdered like the mate, or, with a gag in his jaws, been hurled overboard. When the leader of the pirates stepped again on deck he said to his compan- ions, who were still clustered around the companion-way: "Well, my boys, we have 'arned a good prize — a fine cargo of the real stuff — silks, wines, and what not, besides a few of the shiners !" Here he jingled the bag of gold and dollars in his paws, and then threw it, with an easy, indif- ferent toss, on to the slide of the companion-way. 30 CAPTAIN BRAND OF "What think ye, lads?" he continued, in a hoarse whis- per. "There's a petticoat aboard! and, as sure as my name's Bill Gibbs, here goes for a look ; for there's nothing like lamplight for the lovely creeturs !" As he swung round on his bare feet to approach the entrance to the deck-cabin a move was made in the same direction by two or three of the wretches of his band; but shoving them roughly back with his heavy fist, and clap- ping a hand to his belt, he said, in a threatening tone : "None o' that, my souls! I takes the first look myself, and if I think her beaiity'll suit the chief, why — I shall be able to judge, ye know, whether she'll go furder on the cruise or swim ashore with the rest of the lubbers at day- light to Jamaiky. Keep your eye on the schooner, Pedro, and don't make no more sail. D'ye hear?" "Ay, ay!" quoth that worthy, as he and his followers fell sulkily back. It took but three strides for Mr. Bill Gibbs to reach the cabin door, when, findiag it hard to open, after several trials at the knob, he placed his burly shoulder against the edge of the panel-work, and throwiag his powerful weight upon it the door yielded with a snap of the lock, and he pitched forward full length upon the cabin floor. The noise startled the lady within, and speak- ing as if half asleep, she called : "Banou ! Banou ! what is the matter ?" "My God, madam! we are prisoners in the hands of pirates !" Before more words were uttered Mr. Bill Gibbs, who by this time had regained his feet, while giving vent to a ToUey of blasphemous curses, roared out as he beheld the black, "Ho ! nigger passengers, hey? A moimseer of color, as I'm a Christian ! I say, cucumber shins, is that 'ere woman as is talkin' as black as you be?" He was not left long in doubt concei'ning the color of the person lie alluded to, for at the instant the state-room door flew o| in, and the lovely woman, in her loose night-dress «j(»a»