Alexander Tardy
page: 0 (TitlePage) [View Page 0 (TitlePage) ] ALEXANDER TARDY: THE POISONER, AND PIRATE CHEF OF ST. DOMNGO. ::? II LN & BROHER 43 ANN-STREET. page: 0[View Page 0] ENTERED, according to Act of Congress, in the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-two, by II. LONG & BROTHER, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern District of New York. -I ALEXANDER TARDY. CHAPTER I. The Planter's Dwelling-The Convivial Party-The Afray- The Quadroon-The Glitter of the Snake. IT was a planter's house in the island of St. Domingo. The building was spacious but plain, being simply a square structure of sun-burnt brick, with a verandah of lattice work running completely around the upper story. Plain and simple as the dwelling was, it wore a look of paradise. Nature surrounded it on every side with a wilderness of verdure and flowers, and nestled in the lap of that gorgeous luxuriance which a tropical sun alone can call to life, the house of the planter seemed an abode fit for an Houri. It was near the hour of evening, and the hot noon-day rays of the sun of St. Domingo were tempered into. a more genial radiance by the cooling breeze which swept up from the sea, and scattered the grateful fragrance of the orange grove and the hedge of flowers through all the planter's dwelling. In a large apartment of the upper story, four persons were seated around a mahogany table, covered with fruit, glasses, and bottles of wine. The whole four were youths-none of th eing, apparently, over nineteen years of age. All were dessed in the light and careless garments peculiar to the island, but despite of any evidence from their dress that betokened wealth, their air and manner told plainly that they were the sons of rich planters, and the aristocracy of St. Domingo. About the personal appearance of two of them, there was no particular mark to attract attention or require description, but the remain- ing two were striking,both in form and feature, and in the direct contrast that they presented to each other. Of this latter pair, the one was stout in figure, inclining somewhat to corpu- lence, but preserving a symmetry of proportion by the fact, that although not yet a mari, his height was full five feet and a half. His hair was light an4d bushy, his f6rehead broad and open, and forming a clear index of more than ordinary intel- lect, while a pair of dark blue eyes, mild and merry in their expression, betokened the best of tempers. A complexion of page: 4-5[View Page 4-5] 4 , ALEXANDER TARDY, the purest white and red, and on which robust health was plainly written, completes his picture. The other youth whom we have mentioned was small in stature, with limbs delicately formed, and a head of fine black hair, which, curling down in glossy luxuriance even to his shoulders, would have given to him an effeminate appearance, had not the features of his face told a far different story. Those features, as they stood out in bold relief from the clustering locks which encircled them, were regular in their outline, fas- cinating in their expression, and yet now and then causing a strange and unpleasant feeling to pass over those who looked upon them. The complexion was the tinge of the olive, clear, ' but betraying no sign of the warm and ruddy blood. The lips were thin and compressed, forming, as it were, but a delicately curved line on the face. The nose was aquiline, with that arched and transparent nostril which physiognomists have said gives evidence of a force of character, mighty either for good or evil. The forehead was neither high or low, but fair in its proportions, and projecting over the eyebrows, but not to any verge of deformity-the bold index rather of extraordinary qualities of perception. The eyes were as black as the hair, and formed the peculiar feature which gave to the youths whole countenance that varied and :strange appearance of attraction and repulsion which we have noticed. At one moment they seemed dull and totally destitute of expression- the next, they would enlarge and flash with fire and animation -the next, contract and look out from beneath their brows with the cold glitter of the snake. In all their varied play, the muscles of the face, completely at the will of the owner, answered faithfully to them, and on the whole of the youth's countenance, notwithstanding his delicate form and curling ' rin gle here was already stamped the bold, daring, wily man, destined to lead and control, and leave his mark in some shape wherever he appeared. The first of the young men whom we have above described was named Francis Gerald, and the other Alexander' Tardy. 'Both were sons of two of the wealthiest planters on the island. The father of the former, an Englishman, had removed with his 'family into the island but a year previous, and purchased an extensive plantation, on which he was now realising a large fortune. The father of the latter was a Frenchman, had long been a resident and a planter, and his son, Alexander, had been born on the island. It was at the house of the elder Tardy that the party, as we have described them, consisting of Gerald and young Tardy and two others, also sons of neighboring planters, were now assembled. The occasion which had called them together was not a particular one. In the, indolence of the climate in which they lived, and the scarcity of society to THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 5 relieve it, the four young men were in the habit of alternately meeting at each other's houses, and giving way to conviviality as a matter of course. On the evening in question, the bottle had circulated pretty freely, and at the time our history opens, the whole party were fast approaching that point where hilarity swells into uproar, and maudlin sentiments and declarations of friendship are often mingled in disgusting confusion, with obscene jests and gross insults. "I say, Tardy," exclaimed Gerald, with rather a malicious twinkle of his blue eye, as he endeavored at the same time to steady his head, with his elbow, on the table, and look directly in the face of the other, "I say, Tardy, you take a mighty sight of pains to monopolize that devilish handsome Quadroon, called Zeuleika, that old Jose, just over here, has on his plantation. e taken a fancy to her myself, and am going to get her, and then you must stand off the way." The eye of Tardy was in a moment in a flame. "Gerald," he slowly said, as he rose deliberately up and returned the other's look, "you are touching on dangerous ground; you had better change the subject;" and as he spoke, he struck the glass that he held in his hand down on the table with such force, that it w'as shivered to atoms in his grasp. "Stuff and nonsense!" answered Gerald, the wine he had drunk rendering him indifferent to the threatening look of Tardy. "Stuff and nonsense! You're jealous. Give me a fair start, and I'll win her from you in' less than three days; but mind, I'll have her any how." Never!" exclaimed Tardy, rushing with a staggering gait on Gerald, and with a drawn dagger in his hand. Gerald at the samemnoment unsheathed his, and a fatal issue would have followeq, had not the other two youths, who had hitherto remained passive and sipping their wine, rushed in between the excitedi parties.' As it was, the hands of both were held, and with that strange phase of inebriety, wherein, as we said before, contradictions, the most strange and disgusting, take place in the same moment, Gerald apologised, Tardy confessed himself satisfied, and vows of continued friendship exchapged. The conviviality was now kept up until a late hour-until the wine triumphed over nature, and laid the latter low in a feverish and heavy slumber. Morning witnessed the separation of the party, and Tardy and Gerald, to all appearance, bid each other adieu as friends.- With Gerald, the hearty adieu which he had uttered was sincere; the fumes of the wine had 'passed away, and having had no real intent to interfere in the amour of Tardy, he supposed that Tardy, like himself, would forget it when sober reason assumed its way. He was mistaken. Through the fiery and passionate nature of Tardy, there ran a dark vein of suspicion, which ever swelled and throbbed at page: 6-7[View Page 6-7] 6 ALEXANDER TARDY, the slightest touch of anything which concerned him, his interests, or his pleasures. Gerald had touched that vein, and the blood of Tardy was in a fever, as high when the morning brought soberness, as it was in the evening when he was under the influence of wine. The vein had' been touched, too, in its tenderest point-on the very spot where its pulses throbbed with the heat of licentious desire. The Zeuleika to whom Gerald had alluded with such a bitter jest, was a Quadroon girl living with a neighboring planter, who was known by the name of Don Jose. She was presumed to be his daughter by a slave, but the truth was neither known with certainty, or formed the object of any earnest inquiry. Such things were too common in St. Domingo to excite remark or notice. Don Jos was an old bachelor, of some sixty years of age. Zeuleika lived in his house as a favorite daughter- was treated with kindness and consideration by Don Jos; and had even had the opportunity to educate herself to a consider- able extent for one in her station of life. Tardy had chanced to take a violent fancy for her some two months previous to the convivial party above mentioned, and the fancy had fast risen into an infatuation. Zeuleika returned his feelings with interest, and the pair, with the hot. blood coursing through their veins with a hotter glow from the sunny clime in which they lived, had rioted continually, since their first acquaintance in an unrestrained feast of passion. It was not likely, therefore, that thus situated with Zeuleika, and with Tardy's disposition, that the remarks of Gerald, although spoken when-half intoxicated, should with Tardy pass by unforgotten. He brooded over it; the more he thought of it, the stronger Gerald loomed up before his imagination, as a rival, and the sound of the hoofs of Gerald's horse'had not died away on his ear, before he made an unde- fined but dark resolve with reference to the friend who had thus roused his jealousy. Again it is evening; the cool breeze is again sweeping up from the ocean; the heat of the sun is tempered; young Tardy' is again before us, but the scene is changed. It is no longer the room of revelry, the wine bottle and the jest, but it is the shade of the orange grove, beneath which young Tardy reposes, pil- lowing his head on the lap of the Quadroon Zeuleika, looking up into her face with the gaze of passion, and playing wantonly with the locks of her hair, that were blacker, more luxuriant, and of glossier fineness than his own. The figure of Zeuleika,' as she thus pillowed her lover's head, was beautiful. A more faultless model of airy grace* and symmetry never came from sculptor's hand than she presented. Her skin was fairer and clearer than that of Tardy, and through the slight tinge of brown that her cheek displayed, there struggled the faint bloom of the rose. Her features, in the regularity of their chiselling, THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 7 approached 'nearly those of the Grecian, and the large dreamy eye, overshadowed by long and silken eye-lashes, that she cast down on her lover, was full of that power which kindles into bursting the slumbering volcanoes of passion. Her age, like that of Tardy, was apparently about nineteen years. "Zeuleika," said Tardy, suddenly changing the expression of his face, and slightly compressing his lips, as he twisted tighter the lock of hair that he had entwined around his finger,. "Zeuleika, do you know Francis Gerald?" The girl bounded from her seat in an instant, and raising her form to its full height, while a mingled expression of pain and anger passed over her features, she answered: ' I do; and what then?" Tardy found that he had touched a wrong cord, and has- tened to soothe his mistress. ' "Forgive me, Zeuleika," and the snake-like glitter of his eye changed into a softer and more open expression; " forgive me. Geald, in hs ups, has jested with me concerning you; swears he has a fancy for you, and will have you; but meant not to impugn your fidelity to me.' Better not," answered Zeuleika, with a flashing eye. "And so Gerald has jested about me, as if my person was a base thing, to be bandied about from one hand to another. You little know Zeuleika and the blood that is in me. No man shall jest about me twice. 4 may seem powerless; but I can revenge. Tardy, if you love me, you will join me in revenge. Gerald shall die-not by the knife, but die not the less surely, although, perhaps, less slowly and more natural." Again the glitter of the snake came into the eye of Tardy, and he answered: "Agreed, Zeuleika; for now I hate him. But what mean you? How shall he die?" "By poison-poison, subtle and sure, made by these hands. Meet me in this grove to-morrow night, and I will show you;" and with these words, Zeuleika bounded through the grove, and was lost to the sight in a moment. The glitter of the snake was still in the eyes of Tardy as he followed her retreating footsteps; and his future destiny was fixed forever. -* , .4 page: 8-9[View Page 8-9] 8 ALEXANDER TARDY, CHAPTER II. Zeuleika's proposition-The reverie of Tardy-The Quadroon and'her Cauldron-The Lesson of Death-The Victim. IT may seem a strange phase in the character of a woman, that Zeuleika should have proposed to Tardy to poison Gerald, simply because Gerald had expressed a fancy for her, and made that fancy the foundation of a light jest concerning the obtain. ing of her person. Admiration; no matter from what source it comes, or in what terms expressed, is an offence which woman is very apt to forgive, and very far from seeking to revenge as a deadly insult. A deeperl motive than revenge was, however, the ruling power in the breast of Zeuleika, and that motive was her consuming love for Tardy. ' To prove to him that love, she blended, as it were, her soul with his, took up his quarrel in the exact manner to answer to the then unde- fined wishes of his hate, and by her proposition put his wishes into shape and form, while at the same time she placed the whole on the ground of revenging herself for an insult. The enormity of the act she proposed was nothing to her. Beau. tiful as Houri, the spirit within was black as that of a fallen angel-daring, reckless, and unrestrained by any moral tie. Tardy's was the same, and because it was so, and because she knew and felt its sympathy, she believed her act would bind him more firmly to herself. Long after Zeuleika. had left the orange grove, Tardy re- mained there in his recumbent position, revolving in his mind the proposition that the Quadroon had made to him; and the more he thought of it, the more he gloated over it in all its complete fitness to meet his wishes and accomplish his ends. By that proposition, so boldly and recklessly made, and which would have startled with horror any youthful, or even mature soul, the infant wickedness, if we may so express it, in Tardy's nature, was only developed, as it were, in an instant into spon- taneous and vigorous growth. With Zeuleika by his side, he had laid himself down beneath the shade of the grove, merely as a boy with precocious evil in every part of his moral systenm but with it only struggling in the blood, and wanting a fiery sun to unfold it into the flower. Zeuleika had been that sun; the bud had bloomed, and he arose and retraced his steps home, a fll-grown man of evil, ready thenceforward and forever to commit any crime, and to destroy with savage ruthlessness and merciless atrocity all that stood in his path, or all whose destruc- tion would tend to the accomplishment of his wishes. His sleep that night was feverish and disturbed. In his dreams, a lawless life, in which murder seemed a familiar thing, rase x E r THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TPIB WEST INDIES. 9 before his imagination, and he seemed himself to be the actor in a mad revelry of passion, strife, and sensual enjoyment. When he awoke in the morning, the dream had left its impress deep upon his soul. While at midnight Tardy was dreaming, Zeuleika was alone in her little chamber; but sleep was a stranger there. Dressed and seated before a table, she was watching, with an intense gaze, the flame of a lamp tha4 burnt beneath a small metal dish, from which a faint and strange odor rose and filled the apartment. A few leaves and herbs, seemingly the refuse of what she had just dropped into the dish, lay scattered on the table, and a death-like stillness reigned through the room, un- broken, save by a slight simmering in the dish, and the quick breathing of the Quadroon as she kept her eyes fixed on the miniature cauldron before her. In those eyes there was not now, as we have before seen in them, the soft and melting loC of love, but a glare of unholy light, startling to behold. The moments passed on, the odor rose stronger, the little cauldron bubbled louder, and more fixed became the gaze and quicker the breathings of Zeuleika. At length her features relaxed, a shade of satisfaction passed over them, and rising from her seat, she took the dish from the lamp, and poured from thence a few drops of a dark colored liquid into a vial that she took from her bosom. "It is finished to a charm," she muttered, as she tightly corked the vial. "Death, slow but sure, is here; dnd now for Tardy, according to my promise." A few minutes afterwards, the little cauldron and all its appliances were carefully put away, the light extinguished, and Zeuleika sought her pillow. While Tardy at midnight dreamed of Gerald and of poison.; while Zeuleika, in her bed-chamber, prepared the deadly draught, Gerald, the victim, all unconscious, slept soundly the dreamless sleep of health, and a kindly nature, which held no communion with the black spirit of evil. True to her appointment, Zeuleika met Tardy in the orange grove next evening. t "Tardy," she said, placing the vial' of poison that she had prepared the night before in his hand, "there is the instrument of death I promised you. It is my first trial; but I know it is right from the instructions of her who taught me. It will not bring death instantly, but he who drains that vial will die gradually, and as if his death was natural. I can make other poisons to take life almost in a moment, but this is best for our present purpose." Tardy looked for a moment with wonder at the Quadroon girl, who thus calmly, and as if she was talking on some ordi, nary subject, addressed him with reference. to killing Geral4i^K page: 10-11[View Page 10-11] 10 ALEXANDER TARDY, and placed in his hands the means to do it. As if his glance had satisfied him that she was a spirit of daring, fitted for a close compact with his own, he turned from the contemplation of her face, and holding the vial up to the light of the sun, said to her, while looking at it: "And who, Zeuleika, is the one who taught you this fearful lesson of death?"' "My mother," answered the Quadroon, and her eyes flashed, and her form dilated as she spoke. "Other mothers teach their children gentle virtues; mine has taught me, instilled into my very being, the principle of revenge and hate for all that wrongs me or crosses my path. I cannot tell her history, for she never told it to me. All I know is, she was a Quadroon like myself-lived like myself as a free woman in the house of Don Jos-that she had learned the art, by what means I know not, of making poisons-that she gave me instructions in the same, and told me to use them whenever hate, revenge, or ambition should require their aid." "And will you learn me the art also, Zeuleika?" said Tardy, gazing at her with all the admiration which his variable fea- tures were capable of expressing. "I will," answered the girl, firmly, as she placed her hand in his to seal thi compact. "And now, Zeuleika," said Tardy, "I will make it my busi- ness to test -on Gerald the virtues of your deadly vial;" and Tardy spoke this Tcalmly, and with a face unmoveable, as if he had grown old in crime, and murder had become to him a business and a habit. Peacefully the moon shone down in resplendent brightness on the orange grove, but the two young fiends of evil, whose shadows but a moment before had darkened the green sward, had departed. "Gerald," exclaimed Tardy, a few days' after the above occurrence, as they were both seated within the verandah of the house of Tardy's father, "Gerald, take another glass before ,you go," and Tardy poured out the ruby wine into the other's glass. Gerald drained the goblet to the bottom, and shaking the hand of his seeming friend, mounted his horse, and galloped off to his home. Days and weeks passed on, and the above scene was almost daily enacted at Tardy's residence. Gerald, surprised and pleased with the increased courtesy of Tardy since their late affray, yielded himself a willing but unconscious victim into the hands of his destroyer. At length the fresh color of his cheek, which we have noticed, began to pale, his frame to grow languid, and a strange weakness seemed to be consuming his life away. The order of things was now reversed, and Tardy, at Gerald's request, went daily to see him. Medical advice THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. " was called, but Tardy's skill baffled the medicinal art of St. Domingo, and day by day he sank lower ard lower in his mortal weakness. Constantly at his side now stood Tardy, administering to him his, medicine, with cheering words on his lips, and with a countenance so open and sympathising, that naught could be read on it but the firmest friendship. Far different was its expression at the intervals when, with Zeu- leika, he related to her the wasting away of his victim. Death at length came to the relief of Francis Gerald, and with all the ceremonies of the Roman Church he was laid in his grave. Tardy followed him to the tomb, and the good padre who officiated on the occasion looked upon him as a model of a Pythias. The death of Gerald created no suspicion that there had been foul play, although physicians were at fault with respect to the nature of his disease. Medical art was not so curious in St. Domingo as to open his body in order to find out defi- nitely the cause of his death, and Tardy, therefore, had so far worked out his hate and jealousy with safety to himself. No one in St. Domingo dreamed that one so young as he, and with such connexions, had ever even conceived of committing the crime of murder. "Zeuleika," said Tardy, as on the night of the day of the funeial he stood with his mistress under the shadow of Don Jos's dwelling, "Gerald is dead: he died by my hand. I have set my foot on the burning ploughshare of crime, and a fierce wild spirit is creeping over me, and urging me to follow up my first deed by a life of adventure. I feel the dashing of the boiling ocean against my breast, and I could kiss its foam in blood, and become a pirate!" "I could follow you to the end of the world, and for you meet the ocean wave and foam, and shrink notjfrom the blood," said the Quadroon, in answer. "Well, come, then, now; as the moon is bright, let us walk to the Pirate's Crag, on the sea shore. I feel just like it, and if you are ready, While the waves are dashing at our feet, you shall teach me the mystery of the poison." '"Wait a moment," answered the girl, and running into the house, she soon returned with a basket on her arm, and the murderer and murderess took their way to the Pirate's Crag. * , page: 12-13[View Page 12-13] 12 ALEXANDER TARDY, CHAPTER III. The Pirate's Crag-The an with the Striped Shirt-The Cavern Drawhridge and the Bottomless Pool. AT the period-about theyear 1800-when the circumstances narrated in our two first chapters took place. St. Domingo, to- gether with the rest of the West India Islands, was the famous resort of the pirates of all nations. The West Indies, in fact, had ever been so, from the time when their discovery led the commerce of the world to seek. the rich profit which they pro- mised and ever yielded. These islands of the Indian Ocean bred a race of pirates, and they formed the great starting point ' and rendezvous of the celebrated buccaneers of old who crossed the Isthmus and ravaged the golden shores of South America. Their climate, their locality, their very formation, and the cor- ruption of their government, contributed to make them the pirates' attraction and the pirates' paradise. The hot sun warmed the blood to deeds of adventure, and the laxity of morals among the female race offered to passion a fuil:indul- gence in its fiery current. Fruits of the most luscious kind grew spontaneous, and sensual indolence had but to reach forth the hand to pluck them. Their great attraction, however, for desperate men was the character of their shores, where nature had made herself an architect to build homes and dwel- lings for the pirate, such as he himself would have created, had he been the one to give the directions. These pirate homes were the immense coral and other rocks which line the shores of the West Indies, and which are almost universally perforated with large chambers, thus forming caves of shelter and conceal- ment suitable to piratical purposes, such as no other part of the world produces in such abundance and perfection. Many of these caves were perfectly dry, being far above high-water mark, but the majority of them were laved at their mouths by the tide of the sea, on which the pirate could ride with his boat into the very entrance of his safe retreat. It was no wonder that the West Indies formed the grand camping-ground of the pirate race. It was towards a place on the shore of St. Domingo, called the "Pirate's Crag," overhanging a cave such as we have above described, that we found Tardy and Zpuleika in our last chap- ter, bending their steps. The moon shone brightly down as the pair emerged from a thick grove and stood on the very edge of a beetling precipice that looked far and wide over the waters of the ocean. "And this, Zeuleika, is the Pirate's Crag," said Tardy, as his eyes, flashing with a strange light of excitement, wandered over THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TH"E WEST INDIES. 13 the watery expanse, glittering like silver in the rays of the moon, until they rested on the bright, line where the ocean kissed the sky: "How my pulses swell and throb to ride upon yon glittering, surging pathway, as a wild and lawless monarch, with no-power on earth to bind me or to stay my hand." Zeuleika's gaze was also fixed upon the ocean, and a respon- sive fire kindled in her eye as her companion spoke. Both, in silence, for a few moments surveyed the scene, each with the Past unrolling its picture of a first crime before them, and the Future pointing out a path for them to follow. The Past exhi- bited the murdered Gerald-the Future spread the boundless ocean before them in a wild and stormy waste of attraction, from whose sounding waves there seemed to rise a voice which *bid them drown, in a more maddened hurricane of crime upon crime, all rememthrance of the first that they had committed. l' Tardy," t- length said Zeuleika, breaking the silence and turning her looks from the sea, "that sea must be'our future home, but as you asked me for the secret of the poison, I must not forget it, and here it is. Here, in this basket, are some leaves and herbs, and here also is a written recipe given to me by my mother; take them, make the poisons according to the directions, try them on any animal, and you will find that they will be true to their purpose ;" and Zeuleika, taling the basket from her arm, gave it to Tardy, together -with a slip of paper which she took from her bosom. "But see!" she said, "I will tell you each herb and leaf;" and opening the basket, she took out its contents separately, and explained to Tardy their nature 6 and where he could find them. "And now," she continued, "you have in your hands an instrument of death as mighty as the sword, and 'which on sea or land you can wield for death in all its shapes." Tardy received the little basket, listened attentively as she pointed out the character of its contents, and then again, as if his whgle soul was wrapped in the thoughts that the sea before him called forth, he again fixed his eyes on that watery element, Again for a space there was silence between them, which Tardy broke by saying: "Do you know anything of this place, Zeuleika'? As much as I have been over this neighborhood, I was never here before. I have heard of it, but my curiosity has never before led me hither." "I know nothing of it," answered Zeuleika, "except the sto- ries I have heard that pirates often come here, and in the cave that is said to be beneath this conceal themselves, and that it has long been known by the name of the Pirate's Crag. Further than we now stand I have never been, although here I have-often stood, as we do now, andgazed upon the sea until my brain was in a whirl." page: 14-15[View Page 14-15] " ALEXANDER TARDY, "Suppose, then," returned Tardy, "that we descend and ex- plore beneath. My humor impels me that way, and you are not afraid, if I think right, to follow." "I fear nothing, not even death, while you are with me, was the answer, and the two then turning from the crag commenced a descent towards the shore. The descent was by no means easy. It led through a diffi- cult pathway of precipitous rocks whose interstices were filled with stunted brushwood, and when these were passed, the thick groves of the mangrove tree, with its broad, stiff leaves, and roots shooting from the trunk at the distance of ten feet from the ground, interposed a barrier which other persons, in a less adventurous mood than were Tardy and Zeuleika at that time, would have shrunk from endeavoring to penetrate. But down the rock, through stunted bushes and through the mangrove forest they forced their way, until they found themselves on the beach directly under the crag which they had just left. The tide came rippling up to their feet, while before them, directly in the face of the ledge of rocks that formed the crag, was\ an arched opening, beyond which naught was to be seen but darkness. "True enough," said Tardy; "here is a cave fit to all ap- pearance for pirates. How I should like to enter, but bold as I am, I dare not tempt that darkness. We must wait for another time-daylight and a torch may aid us." "Now's the time, youngster-strike while the iron's hot! is my way. Come, bring along your woman and follow me!" exclaimed a rough voice behind Tardy, and at the same mo- ment the figure of a man glided like an apparition and stood before the entrance of the cave. Tardy and. his companion. started back with an involuntary motion of fear. The appear- ance of the person, whose form and features stood clearly revealed in the moonlight against the face ofthe rock, was such as would have startled natures bolder and more reckless than those of Tardy and Zeuleika. The height of the stranger was about five feet, and his form, so far from resembling a hu- man body regularly made, seemed more like a rough collection of gnarled and knotted human limbs packed closely together in all sorts of angles. His head was bullet-shaped, and covered with a thick crop of dark-brown, bristly hair, that projected far over his low forehead and mingled with his shaggy eyebrows. His eyes were deeply sunken in' his head, but gleamed out from beneath their caverns of flesh with a'sinister and wicked look that left no doubt in the beholder's mind of the desperate charac- ter of the soul within. The color of his face it was hard to determine. The main part of it wore the hue of a piece of well- tanned leather, while across one of his cheeks, and over the nose, whose bridge was entirely broken, there ran a ghastly THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TlBE WEST INDIES. 15 scar, which on one portion of its line was of a, fiery red, and on another deepened into a livid purple. His dress was composed of a blue and white striped'cotton cap, which he wore jauntily on one side of his head, a striped shirt of the same color and material fitting tightly to his skin, and a pair of wide and flow- ing pantaloons very much resefmbling in color and texture the sail of a vessel. The shirt and the pantaloons were bound to- gether at the waist by a broad black belt, in one side of which was thrust a huge, knife in a leathern sheath, and in the other a pair of heavy and highly-ornamented pistols. Such was the stranger who had so suddenly addressed Tardy, and who now, with his arms folded across his breast, looked fixedly- at him, waiting for a reply. Tardy, recovering himself immediately, read at a glance the character of the man with the striped shirt, and it being of just such a description as he' was at that moment in the humor of falling in with, he answered unhesitatingly: ' G9 on! Pknow what you are, but am not afraid to follow. Come, Zeuleika!" "Pluck, by G-!" answered the other. "I knew it, and I know you, youngster, and your woman too. I heard you pala- ver by Don Jose's house; I heard you up yonder, on the crag; you've begun d-- d young, and I'll show you how to keep it up. D--d fine funeral your friend Gerald had to-day, but the deep sea is the place-no priest, no funeral-throw the dead overboard, and laugh as with a splash they sink to a grave which nobody can dig into!" and as the man with the striped shirt spoke, he fixed a keen look on Tardy which told him that the ruffian before him know all. . Tardy's self-possession did not, however, forsake him, but apparently not taking any notice of the last remark of his guide, he-waved his hand for hkn to enter the cave, while he and Zeu. leika at the same time made a step forward to follow. "Pluck again! can't scare you. D-n it, Tardy!-you see I know your name-I like you; you are a- murderer; 1 have killed a hundred. My name is Pepe the Pirate-just the man you wanted. Come on! I do not fear to show you the pirate's den ;" and reaching his hand into the mouth of the cavern, Pepe pulled out a torch, which was soon lighted by means of a flint and tinder which he took from his pocket. "Bend low and be careful now, or your Beads may come against something that'll knock stars into your eyes." Tardy and Zeuleika did as directed, and entering the cave, half crawled and half walked a distance of some yards through a- winding and narrow passage, which brought them suddenly to a deep pool of water, over which, by the light of the torch they saw placed as a bridge what appeared to be a firm board capable of sustaining a heavy weight. page: 16-17 (Illustration) [View Page 16-17 (Illustration) ] 16 ALEXANDER TARDY, That looks like a nice bridge-eh, Tardy?" said Pepe, with a loud laugh, "and how nice you and your pretty Zeuleika would have walked over it, if you 'had come alone to-morrow! See here!" As he said this, the pirate raised the board-a dull splash fol- lowed, and half of the board floated on the surface of the pool. It had been sawed nearly through in the middle, and when raised by Pepe, had broken by its own weight the slight line of the wood that had been left untouched. "This is the lock and key to our premises when we are away," said Pepe. "A wet bed in that bottomless pool is the consequence of breaking into this house. Anybody may try it that pleases, the old Governor of St. Domingo into the bar- gain!" Both Tardy and Zeuleika felt a shudder creep over them as the certain fate they would have met,.had they endeavired to explore the cave alone, was thus vividly presented to the n "See, again!" said Pepe, " how easily we caninake abridge that would hold an army," and the words were hardly out of his mouth before, with a heavy sound, accompanied ,by a noise like that of rope running through a pulley, a narrow flat stone spanned the pool, and formed a path of safety across its black waters. ' D-d fine draw-bridge for our castle, isn't it, Tardy?" said Pepe, with another laugh. "You didn't notice that stone, did you? It would have been d-d singular if you did. 1'l' pull it up againtto let you see it work," and the stone was in a moment back to the place from which it had fallen. Tardy artd Zeuleika gazed with. a gratified wonder at the contrivance. The stone, when in its upright position, sedmed like a part of the side of the cave against which it stood, the line where it was detached from the wall resembling a natural fissure of the rock. A rope was fixed in a ring on the upper end, and passed through a pulley placed firmly in an excava- tion of the wall of the cave. When the stone was up, both rope and pulley were effectually concealed, and no one, as we said before, when looking at it, would have observed any- thing peculiar in the wall of the cave, much less suppose that a bridge could be raised orqowered from it at will. "You've not seen all its workings yet," said Pepe, after they had crossed the pool and advanced a few steps beyond.; and raising a small stone at his feet, the end of a rope was dis- covered. Pepe took the rope, gave another pull, and up to its place again rose the bridge. The solution of this last mystery was that the rope, in the excavation behind the stone, passed through a bore under the ground, through the black waters of the pool, which effectually concealed it, and came out on the other side at the place where Pepe showed it to his companions. THBE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. X7 page: 18-19[View Page 18-19] After passing through another low and narrow passage, the trio emerged into a vaulted and spacious apartment, the extent and appearance of which caused Tardy and Zeuleika to hold their breath for an instant in wonder and amazement. CHAPTER IV. The Story of the Cave-The Tripod and the Gilded Couch- The History of Pepe-The Priest and his Pupil-The Mutiny-The Lady and the Scar. THE apartment of the cave in which Tardy and Zeuleika, With Pepe holding the torch before them, now found them- selves, was well calculated to strike them with a degree of wonder, bordering as nearly on a feeling of awe as their reckless and defiant natures were capable of experiencing. Circular in form, with a diameter of at least one hundred feet, spanned by an arched roof of the :native rock'at least fifty feet high, and fashioned into as regular a dome as if chiseled by the hand of art, this cavern chamber of the parth, spread before the gazers in an immensity of gloom, caused by the feeble light of the single torch that Pepe held, and wlich revealed, as it were, in an uncertain darkness, the vast extent and grandeur of the whole place. There was a dead silence for some moments, and while the eyes of Tardy and Zeuleika were busy in pene- tratingias far as they were able, every part of the cave, Pepe looked: steadily at them, evidently well pleased with the effect that his pirate abode produced upon them. "'shaw," he at length said, breaking the silence, "you can't, see half with this little taper; suppose I illuminate," and advancing forward he applied his torch to a tall brazen tripod that stood in -the centre of the cave. A miniature fire, almost large enough to have warmed a common-sized apartment, immediately blazed on the tripod, and the whole cave glared in the brilliancy of the flame. Every part .stood out clearly to view. While the .rpof of coral rock glittered in the scintillations of the light as if set with myriads of diamonds, the floor of the cave itself was not wanting in a display of a heterogeneous mass of articles of luxury that did not disgrace this palace of nature. Rich carpets were scattered here and there, tables and chairs of mahogany and gilded wood, and couches on which the most tender forms might repose in comfort. The spectacle of the cave, as it now presented itself, would, after the first feelings of wonder were over, have been captivating almost to any one, but it was doubly so to Tardy and Zeuleika, who appreciated at a glance its attractiveness THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 19 and fitness for that wild and lawless class of men to whose embrace the force of their first crime now irresistibly impelled them, and the romance and luxury of whose hours of revelry and relaxation were so dazzlingly spread before them in this the pirate's home. "Fine house, isn't it, Tardy?" exclaimed Pepe, after he had given his visitors full time to look around them, " and talk of the old legends of your castles and towers, why there's a story in every article in this cave that beats the yarns of your old land lubbers of story makers all to pieces-more blood and hor- ror in them-and what's better, they are as true as gospel. Look at that lamp which I have just lit, with its three long brass tipped legs; and just what we wanted. It was once-or rather the legs were-part of the rigging of a telescope belopg- ing to an old astronomer who was going to the South Pole, or somewhere else, to take a peep at the people in the moon. Poor old devil, we discovered him first-that is, the ship he was in-- and by the right of discovery we took the ship and him, with all the rest that was in it. We stabbed him and the others, pitched them overboard to the fishes, and among other things of value that we thought we might want, we brought off the old astronomer's telescope, twisted it from its legs, set them up yonder, and laid the telescope itself by. The odd-looking and old-fashioned copper vessel that we have mounted on the legs in the place of the telescope, we took from a nunnery on the coast of South America. What the nuns used it for, I don't know. All I know is, that we had a time among the screaming women, and that we burnt the nunnery to the ground after- wards. It makes a capital lamp to hold the oil we always burn in it, and which is no more or less than some villanous spirits that we took from a Frenchman, who calculated with it to cheat and poison the Indians of the Isthmus. We took his whole cargo, left him burning up in his own ship, and as his liquor was too bad to drink, we burn it on state occasions, when we have a jollification, and wish to light up our palace to the best advantage; but, hold up, I am spinning my yarn too long." "Not at all," answered Tardy, "I like to hear it, and would also like to hear your history, and how it comes that here, you of all your comrades, are alone. We have some hour yet to spare, Pepe; let's hear your story." "Well, as you're booked to join us, I'll spin my yarn to amuse and instruct you," and at the word "instruct," the pirate placed his finger with mock gravity on his mutilated nose. "First of all," continued Pepe "take a seat on that downy couch, with the gilded lion-head feet. It was once part of the cabin furniture of a Spanish government vessel, loaded with treasure from ile mines of South America, and on its way page: 20-21[View Page 20-21] 20 ALEXANDER TARDY, home. The crew went below, and we took possession. And now I'll get a glass of first-rate wine. I shall talk and you listen all the better for it." Tardy and Zeuleika did as they were desired, and the wine having been produced and set on a table which Pepe drew up before his guests, he placed himself in a large chair on the opposite side, and a draught of wine having been partaken of by each, Pepe commenced his story. We shall not attempt to give it in his own words; its sub- stance was as follows: Pepe was born in the city of Naples, and his father and mother were of the race of Italian beggars, called Lazzaroni. If they had plenty of maccaroni, and could sleep under the shade of a church portal until they wanted more, they were contented. Until he was twelve years of age, Pepe led the same vagabond life, begging and stealing, and nightly whipped when he had not begged and stolen enough. At the age referred to, a priest who had often seen Pepe beggingr at the church door, took some strange fancy to the' ungainly little beggar, procured him without much trouble from his parents, took him to his house, and fed and clothed him. He did no more. He undertook to educate him for the church, but he might have as well endeavored to stop up Vesuvius as crush the raging evil within the breast of Pepe, which, as time rolled on, developed itself more and more to the priest. Pepe learned all the knowledge that the priest put within his reach-and it was considerable-and his mind was naturally quick ; but to the moral principles that the priest endeavored to instil into him, he turned a deaf ear. Finding all his admonitions of no avail, and that the purpose of his charity had been defeated, the priest, in despair, at last turned him adrift in the streetsof Naples. But Pepe was no longer the beggar; he was the desperate villain, willing to do anything for gold. Those that wished his services were not long in finding him out, and at the age of twenty came the turning point in hi life which cast him afterwards into a life of piracy. At that time, and when he was in want of cash to indulge in the excesses in which his nature ever loved to revel, a young Italian of noble birth, who knew his whole history, sought him out, and boldly offered a round sum of gold if he would stiletto a certain person whom he described, and who, he told Pepe, would on a certain even- ing play a serenade beneath the window of a house, the situa- tion of which he designated. Pepe understood it all at once- it was a common thing in Naples-love and jealousy, and the rival must be murdered. Pepe had no scruples; the gold leamed before his eyes, and he performed the task effectually. The act, however, committed, Pepe thought it better to be away from the immediate scene of the deed, and he accordingly THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 21 repaired to Leghorn. There, after spending, in the grossest excesses of all kinds, the money he had acquired by the mur- der, he once more found himself destitute, and to better his for- tune, and at the same time to gratify a roving propensity that was fast becoming a settled habit with him, he determined to go to sea. For this purpose, he now became a constant visitor at that class of public houses in Leghorn to which sailors resorted, and he soon met the chance he was looking for. At one of the places referred to, he formed the acquaintance of a tall, well built, and commanding looking Spaniard by the name of Manuel. The pair were not long in understanding each other. Manuel, like Pepe, was a man of desperate fortunes, and as he informed Pepe, had just shipped on, board of an American trading vessel named the "Hope," laden with a rich cargo of 'goods, a considerable quantity of specie, and bound on her return trip home to the port of New York. Another sailor was wanted, and after a short consultation Pepe came to the conclusion that the "Hope" was exactly the place to suit him, and Manuel exactly the comrade he would have picked out of a hundred. A visit to the ship and an introduction to the captain quickly arranged all matters, and on the day appointed for the vessel to sail, Pepe embarked as a sailor on board the "Hope." There were ten men in all on board of the Hope-the mas- ter, Hiram Miller, the mate, Jonathan Brown, and six sailors, besides Manuel and Pepe. Of these six, three were Ameri- cans, two Italians, and one Scotchman, who went by the name of Nicola. He was a curious specimen of humanity. Short in stature, broad-shouldered, with heavy but well-set limbs, beto- kening a giant's strength, dull grey eyes, shaded hardly by the hairy line of an eyebrow, he seemed more like a strong, sleepy animal than a man of any mind or quick action, to plan or exe- cute either evil or good. He had, however, both the mind and the action, and when he exerted them he placed them in the scale of evil. The Hope had not been at sea three days, when the trio of kindred spirits centered in the spirits of Manuel, Pepe a'sd Ni- Cola came together with the natural attraction of the magnet, and the resolution to mutiny, take the ship and turn pirates, was the result. So well did they arrange their plans, the two Spanish sailors were induced to join them, and the time fixed for the fatal stroke without the captain or his mate or the Ame-. rican sailors suspecting that anything wrong was in contempla- tion. It was determined that the first night it should so happen, that the mate should be on deck, together with Pepe, Manuel, and Nicola, while one of the American sailors should be at the. helm, the other two in their berths, and the. captain sleeping in the cabin, that then the attack should be made-Manuel to page: 22-23[View Page 22-23] 22- - ALEXANDER TARDY, throw himself upon the mate, Pepe rush in the cabin and kill the captain, while Nicola was to attend at the same instant to the sailor at the helm-the two remaining American sailors in their berths were left to the care of their two Italian compa- nions, who. it was calculated, would be there also awaiting the signal, which was to be the first line of a song sung by Pepe. If within a week no night arrived when there would be such a disposition of their forces, other plans were to be adopted. The one now concluded on was adopted for the ease with which it. could be carried out, and the mutineers were willing to trust to a chance in order to accomplish their purpose with the least trouble and greatest certainty of success possible. Within the week the chance turned up in favor of the ,muti- neers, and the forces of the Hope were arranged according to the wishes of the conspirators. There was a dead calm on the sea, and the stars shone down with unclouded brilliancy. The American sailor, in fancied security, dozed upon the helm, and the mate, with his eyes fixed steadily on the unruffled bosom of the ocean, dreamed in half unconscious reveiie of his far-off home. Within the cabin the Captain slept soundly, while in the forecastle the remaining two American sailors were also locked in the most profound slumber. All was still as death, and the mutineers held their breath for the signal. It came. The first line of one of the amorous songs with which the Italian language abounds, burst from the lips of Pepe andfloated out not unmusically on the evening air. With the first sound of the strain, the glittering knives of Manuel and Nicola entered deep into the breasts of the mate and the man at the helm, and the next moment their lifeless bodies fell with a dull splash into the sea. In the meantime, in the cabin, Pepe's blade had performed a like work of death, and before the circle in the water, caused by the falling of the two first victims, had ceased its widening, another circle spread upon the surface of the sea, and in its center appeared the bloody corpse of the un- fortunate captain. Within the forecastle the success of the two Italian sailors in the convict with their American companions had not been so complete. The latter had been aroused a little too quick, and gave their assailants battle; but Pepe, Manuel, and Nicola now coming to the rescue, they were soon overpowered and bound. Manuel now assumed the command of the vessel, making Pepe his mate, and the mutineers offered to the American sail- ors their lives, on condition that they should join and turn pirates. They chose rather to die, and were murdered and- thrown overboard without further ceremony. The Hope was now immediately steered towards the West Indies, where Manuel had previously made several voyages, and with the shores and caves of which he was intimately THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TIME' WEST INDIES. 23 acquainted. The cargo was soon disposed of, and procnrin'g some twenty other characters as "desperate as themselves; and furnishing the Hope with two carronades and a good supply of muskets, boarding-pikes, and 'cutlasses, Manuel and his crew nailed the black flag to their mast and set out on a regular pirat. ical cruise. It was successful, and resulted in' the obtaining a quantity of specie, and also in the capture of a fine schooner, to which the pirates transferred themselves, and named it the "Tiger." It was in the capture of this schooner that Pepe received the frightful gash across his face that we have before described. He was the first to board the vessel and make his way to the cabin, wher6a young and gallant Englishman interposed him- self between his young wife and the demoniac Pepe, who was rushing forward to seize her. Pepe missed a blow of his cut- lass that he aimed at the Englishman, and received one in return from the sword of the latter that cut deep across his face and laid him senseless on the cabin floor. The victory, how- ever, was of no avail to the Englishman. Manuel and his blood-thirsty crew were by this time masters of the schooner, and while the Englishman and every other male on board were mercilessly murdered, the shrinking and terrified wife was deli- vered up to a far more horrible fate than death. Up to the time when Tardy met Pepe at the Pirate's Crag of St. Domingo, the Tiger had made many piratical voyages. Pepe had recovered from his wound, the crew had been en- larged to some forty as desperate men as ever scoured the face 'of the ocean, and the Pirate's cave, where Tardy and Zeuleika now sit listening to Pepe's story, had been discovered and made the rendezvous of the gang and the place for the concealment of their treasures. 'Such was the substance of Pepe's story, to which Tardy and Zeuleika listened in breathless interest. It was a strange, and, considering all the attending circumstances, an awful sight- that ruffian speaker-and the youthful pair that formed his audi- ence-the cave around with its wallspf stone glittering in the light of the flaming tripod, the revolting features of Pepe glaring in the blaze with a still greater repulsveness, and his deep-set eyes gleaming with deeper ferocity as the account of each scene of murder in which he had been an actor fell from his lips-and beyond alf, Tardy and Zeuleika, with their comely forms and features fresh in the fulness of youth, and to all appearance, of innocence, bending their eyes steadily on the speaker and be- traying no emotion of fear or horror at the awful tale. It was the master spirit of murder teaching the willing infants of crime how to walk over the bloody pathway that he pictured to them in glowing colors. "How comes it, Pepe, that. you are here alone?" said page: 24-25[View Page 24-25] 'Ups^ ALEXANDER TARDY, Tardy, at the close of the recital. "Where is Manuel and the Tiger?" "Not far off," answered the pirate, "they will be here in a week. I am here on business -that you will know at another time, that is, if you join us; what say you, are you ready, and dare you trust Zeuleika to the pirate's life?" "I am," said Tardy. "And Zeuleika will protect herself," answered the Quadroon girl, while a gleam of fire darted from beneath her long eye- lashes. "And now," said Tardy, " it's time for us to go; I will meet you, Pepe, at the Crag, four days from this." "Agreed," answered Pepe, and relighting the torch with which he had lighted his visitors into the cave, he guided them out in the same manner as they had entered. It was near the break of day when Tardy, having left Zeu- leika at Don Jos, reached his home, and after carefully putting away the basket that Zeuleika had given him, sought his pillow to dream of Gerald, the pirate's cave, and of Pepe. CHAPTER V. The Fearful Disclosure-The Resolve of Tardy-The Depar- ture and the Discovery-Love and Poison-Murder and the Prison. ON the morning after the events related in our last chapter, and while yet Alexander Tardy was tossing on his bed in a feverish slumber, his father was seated in the rmain apartment of the house, with his head bowed on his breast, and apparently in profound meditation. He had remained in this posture for some moments, when the door opened noiselessly, and an aged slave, with hair as white as snow, and a face as black as polish- ed ebony, glided in,.and sood silently before his master. "Well, Ignace," said the elder Tardy, raising his head, "what do you want? Is there more confirmation of the fearful news you told me a few days since? Speak, and speak quick." With a trembling voice the slave obeyed, and the substance of his communication was, that in one week there would be a general rising of the slaves on the island, and that they had sworn to murder, burn, and destroy without mercy-that he communicated this intelligence at the risk of his own life, and that both his and his master's life would be the forfeit if what he had done was discovered. The elder Tardy received this news with less of fear than might have been imagined. The k s THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIS 25 fact was, that he and other planters had for some time, owing to the state of affairs on the island, looked for just such a result, and had been making preparations to leave. Ignace's commu- nication therefore to the elder Tardy, was startling to him only in the fact that the time was so -near at hand when the blow was to be struck. "Thank you, Ignace," he said, when the old negro ceased speaking; "you have beep faithful-here is all I can spare to you as a token of my gratitude," and he gave the slave a few pieces of gold. A tear glistened in the eye of the old negro, as he took the coins, held them a moment in his hand, and then returned them to his master, saying: "No, massa, Ignace no want Hem, burn his finders. Massa, let Ignape go too: he follow you all over the world." Be it so, then," said Tardy, "I shall go, Ignace, in three days. Call Alexander here." Tardy soon entered the presence of his father, who in a few words informed him of what Ignace had communicated, adding that he had already secured a vessel, collected together as much cash as he could, that he should sail for Philadelphia, in the United States, within three days, and that, therefore, his son must make himself ready to accompany him. The news fell upon young Tardy like a thunder claps The fearful event in which he himself had been engaged, and the complete absorp- tion of his soul in the contemplation of that pirate life to the adoption of which the murder he had committed seemed to im- pel with irresistible force-all this had shut out from view every thing else that was going on around him, and when he now, for the first time, heard of the volcano of murder and fire that was to burst over the island in the shape of an insurrection, he knew not what to do or say. He had pledged himself to join the 'pirate band in a week, and yet he was called upon by his father to leave the island in three days. How could he refuse? For some moments he made no answer, and his mind was,in a whirl of doubt what course to pursue. Recovering himself, however; he at length found words to express his horror at what he heard; and his readiness to depart with his father. The interview over, Tardy mnounted his horse and rode slowly towards the planta- tion of Don Jos, in order to confer with Zeuleika. During his ride his feelings underwent a change. The glare of the pirate's cave, surrounded by which he had, the night before, listened in a wild fever of excitement to the gPowing picture of the pirate's life, drawn by Pepe, now faded somewhat in his imagination before the light of the new and startling position in which- he now found himself. A fearful tragedy was at hand and about to be acted on the island. If he staid to consummate his inten- tion of joining the pirates, he might himself fall a victim to the n page: 26-27[View Page 26-27] 2 . ALEXANDER TARDY, fury of the insurrection before he could accomplish his purpose, It was true he might take refuge with Pepe in the cave,.but the insurrection 'might interfere with the anchoring of the pirate fleet, and,it might be long before he could ride on the ocean in company with the band. On the other hand, a new field of adventure was opened to him in a direction that he m'ight easily and at once follow, and at the same time obey a lingering sense of filial love, which, even in his depravity, he felt struggling within him. The more he looked atit, the more the voyage to the United States rose before his view in a form of attraction, mingled with an undefined conviction that it would be an ad- vantageous prelude to that life of lawless adventure on the ocean which by no means had lost its hold on his feelings, but which, on the contrary, spread out before him as his-future irreversible destiny. Before Tardy arrived at the plantation of Don Jos, he had decided in his mind to leave Pepe and the pirate band for the present to take care of themselves, while he followed the fortunes of his father. Pepe and the pirates were, however, still strong before him in the dim vista of the future. Again Tardy and Zeuleika stood beneath the shade of the orange grove, and the former unfolded to the Quadroon girl his budget of news, and informed her of his intentions. "There is only one thing that disturbs me, and causes me to hesitate," he continued, "and that is you, Zeuleika. I cannot leave you; and yet how are you to go? I will stay if it can- not be remedied, and as Tardy spoke, he wound his arm around the form of the Quadroon girl, and strained her passionately to bis breast. "The news you bring," said Zeuleika, disengaging herself from the embrace of Tardy, " is no news to me. I heard it this morning, and should have found means to tell you before night, if you had not come to me. 1 thought it likely that you would determine as you have, and I also have resolved what to do. I will never leave you. Follow your father on board of the ship, and when the sail is hoisted, I will stand by your side, never fear. But what shall we say to our friend, Pepe?" "Oh!" answered Tardy, laughing," we will leave him to find out for himself the cause of our not keeping our appointment, and if we ever meet again, as I have a strange presentiment we shall, why then we'll explain matters; and now, as both of us have enough to do, we had better be about it." With an embrace and a kiss, Tardy and his mistress sepa- rated, and the orange grove was again silent, with its leaves and flowers hanging motionless in the hot and burning rays of the noon-day sun. It was night, and the shadows fell long and dark over a small and retired cove. on the coast of St' Domingo. Within the e* . * ' THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THi WEST INDIES. cove, the sails of a small vessel might be indistinctly seen un- furling themselves to the breeze, and a moment afterwards gliding gently out on the broad bosom of the ocean, which Wias lighted only by the fitful gleam of the stars, which now and then struggled faintly through a sky obscured by dark and threatening clouds. The vessel was named the "Isabella," and beside the captain and crew, there stood on her deck the elder Tardy, his son Alexander, together with other members of the family, and including also the faithful slave Ignace. The Tardys, with all the property they could gather together, were on their way to Philadelphia, flying before that hurricane of insurrection, whose approach had been announced to thetm, and which, three days after their departure, burst with fury over the island of St. Domingo. "Thank God!" said the elder Tardy, as the vessel at last' emerged into the open sea, and drove briskly on before a stiff' wind, "thank God, we are at last safe, although it is' at the sacrifice of half of my fortune! Perhaps, Alexander, we can redeem it in the land to which we are going." Alexander Tardy, when his father thus addressed him, was leaning gloomily over the bulwarks of the vessel, and gazing into the dark waters beneath. At the sound of his fathers' voice, he raised his head, made some indistinct reply, and again resumed his posture of musing. His brow was con- tracted, and the expression of his face gave evidence that bitter feelings were -gg within his bosom. The truth was, he was disappointed, an' his disappointment was mingled with' anger that he had as yet seen no sign of the presence of' Zeuleika, who had promised to be there. Where was she?' He would have stayed on the island, braved all the danger, and run the risk of joining with her the pirates, rather than have come on -board the "Isabella" and sail to the United States' without her. He cursed himself for coming on board without being certain of her accompanying, him, and his curse was mingled with a reproach of her for not keeping her word; arid' thus bitterly communing with himself, he fixed a more intense gaze on the heaving waves, as if he was exploring their depths for the form of her whose presence he so painfully wished.' At this moment the figure of a boy glided from the cabin to the side of Tardy, and gently touched his elbow. Tardy turned, and his glance no sooner met the counte'nance of the boy than he was about to make an involuntary expression-,'f surprise. A sign from the boy, however,.arrested the half-utterea excla- mation, and drawing closer to Tardy, he said: "Hush! it is I, Zeuleika. I concealed'myself on b d, and you must now protect me. I dared not, come in a yothier way, for fear of being discovered, or that the captain would' think something was wrong, and send' me back. Call me Vic- "Y page: 28-29[View Page 28-29] MU ALEXANDER TARDY, tor-say that you know me-that I have run away-that the thing cannot be helped now-and that you will take me for your servant." Having spoken thus, Zeuleika, or the boy Victor, sauntered carelessly away from the side of Tardy. "Hoy, there! youngster, who are you?" exclaimed the captain of the I Isabella," now for the first time observing the boy; and as he spoke, he advanced and grasped Victor rather roughly by the shoulder. "You need not shake the boy so harshy," said Tardy, coming forward. "The fact is, captain, he has just told me his story. 'He has run away from his guardian in St. Domingo; he wished to see the world, and so concealed himself in the ship until it is too late to remedy the difficulty. I have taken a fancy to him, will take him in my service, pay his passage, and so I suppose you will have no objection." The pay being made sure, the captain had, of course, nothing further to urge, although he said if he had known it before, he should not have run the risk of taking runaways on board. The father of Tardy thought the whole affair a strange one, and particularly the fancy that Tardy had suddenly conceived for the boy; but the crowd of other more important thoughts connected with his own situation, prevented him from paying much attention to the matter, and it was accordingly settled as Alexander Tardy wished. After the above occurrence, nothin 'ular happened on board the "Isabella" to vary the us ionotony of a com- mon voyage at sea. Tardy and his boy, Victor, were always together, and although it excited some remark among the sailors, it was a subject of no comment in the cabin. After a short run, the "Isabella" anchored in Philadelphia, and the boy, Victor, followed Tardy rand his father to the lodgings ? which they immediately sought. On establishing himself in Philadelphia, the elder Tardy im- r mediately set up his son, Alexander, in business. A store was taken, and Alexander started in the way of making an honest ' ing. For a time, all prospered wifh him, and outwardly in the view of the citizens of Philadelphia, he was a most respect- bla man. The volcano of crime, however, that raged within his breast, was only smothered, not extinguished. Zeuleika, in the character of his boy-servant, still continued with him, and the inals of his business were spent either in dalliance with hlE rln trying experiments in the manufacture of poi. sons, which she was an adept, and soon taught her lover to excel her handiwork. Cats and dogs were the victims they seleted, and the dalliance of passion was varied by their witnessing the death agonies of the brute creation that they sacrificed to their fearful stUdies in the mystery of de- stroying life. A, THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 29 Matters thus passed on for some time, but inattention to busi- ness on the part of Tardy led to bankruptcy, and with the bankruptcy caine the old feeling of desperation and crime. His first step was to embark on board the Congress fiigate, under the command of a Captain Smith. Zeuleika did not go with him, and how long he remained on board of the vessel is not now distinctly known. Certain it is that he soon after re- joined Zeuleika and proceeded to Boston. Here he engaged himself to a German dentist, but it was only a cloak to cover the most dissipated habits that now seized strong hold of him. In Boston also he resorted to crime to replenish his pockets, and was detected in stealing the pocket-book of a Captain Balch, at Colonel Wilde's stage office,. He was convicted of the offence, and sent to the state,prison for a short period of time. On regaining his liberty, he again joined Zeuleika, who, re- suming the character'of a boy, that she had for some time thrown aside, accompanied him on board of a schooner, com- manded by one Captain Latham, and bound for-Charleston, South Carolina. It was on board of this schooner that Tardy first put into practice op human beings some of the poisons that he had pre- pared. He deliberately administered to the passengers one of his mildest preparations, and the death of several was the con- sequence. A physician happening to be on board applied such antidotes as to prevent the rest from perishing. With a fiend- like atrocity that has no parallel, Tardy charged the cook of the schooner with the deed, and on the arrival of the schooner at Charleston the cook was tried for the offence. He was con- victed, and sentenced to be hung, and Tardy and Zeuleika , were among the crowd of spectators who witnessed his death l agonies. After remaining in Charleston a short time, Tardy with Zea- leika took passage in the packet Regulator, commanded by Captain P. Norton, for Philadelphia. No sooner had he touched the deck than he looked about him for his victims. Among the few passengers on board was a German, who, Tardy soon dis- covered, had considerable property on board the schooner, and whom he at once marked as his prey. Between him and Zeu- leika the poison was soon prepared-and, not content with administering it to the German alone, they placed it in the sugar that was to be partaken of by all. The hour of tea came, and all but Tardy and Zeuleika used the sugar. An hour after supper had not passed, when every passenger was taken sick, and Tardy offered his services as physician. They were gladly accepted, and all but the German recovered. He died in agony, and his body was committed to the deep. The next morning Tardy announced that he had found poison in the sugar, and expressed his belief that the steward was the man who placed * *e page: 30-31[View Page 30-31] 30 ALEXANDER TARDY, it there. The passengers, prejudiced in Tardy's favor by the apparent'kindness with which, he attended them, adopted his suspicions, and the unfortunate steward was put in irons. On the arrival of the vessel at. Philadelphia, the examination of the steward took place, but the testimony of the captain and ,the consignees, in relation to his previous good character, raised a doubt of his guilt, and he was discharged. Tardy, however, persisted in declaring him guilty, and to such an extent did he carry his pertinacity on the subject, that suspicion at length became roused against him. These suspicions derived greater ,strength from the fact that Tardy had demanded the property of the German passenger on the ground that the German had verbally given them to him in his last moments, in consideration of his services to him As a physician during his illiess. The consignees refused to give up the property, and set a spy over the actions of Tardy. It was found -that his actions were very suspicious, and from the disclosures of a'ofederate it was also ascertained that he had planned a piracy which he intended to commit on board of one of the Richmorrdpackets. He was accordingly arrested, the charge of having poisoned the passen- gers on board of the Regulator was urged agiinst him, and he was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to the sate prison for seven years. Zeuleika," whispered Tardy as he parted from her to enter the prison, "all is not lost. Remember the pirate's cave and 'Pepe, we shall yet see them again, and then there will be a har- vest of bitter revenge." "I will be there,' answered the Quadroon girl, "to reap it with you." CHAPTER VI. Zeuleika in her Parlor-The Quaker Tailor-Measuring a Woman-The State Prison, and the Quaker Visitor-The Cell of Tardy. ;' I will not only be with you, Tardy, hereafter, to reap with you your revenge," muttered Zeuleika to herself, as she lingered a moment to look at the heavy portals of the prison that had shut the form of Tardy from her sight, "but I am and will be here at hand to aid you to open a passage through yonder'walls, if woman's wit and a little of man's help can accomplish it." With Zeuleika, action always followed quick on the heels of resolution, and in this instance her passionate love for Tardy gave, both to her resolution and action a double quickness and energy. She was amply provided with money. With a prud- ence apd a foresight not common to men of such habits and THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 31 such character as Tardy, he had, during the short career of crime through which we followed him in our last chapter, laid up a considerable amount of his gains, in order to meet the de- mands of any day of emergency and need that might come upon him. He had made Zeuleika the keeper of this sinking fund of crime, and she had proved herself a faithful banker. He knew she would when he trusted her. With no hindrance,; therefore, to impede her movements, either in the way of having to look about her for the means of her daily subsistence, or to pause for the want of money in order to perfect any plan she might devise for Tardy's escape, Zeuleika set herself immediately at work to accomplish her one great purpose. Leaving the rather obscure dwelling that she and Tardy had occupied in the suburbs of Philadelphia, just previous to the arrest and conviction of the latter, she removed to a neat and comfortable house in the heart of the city, to which we will now introduce the reader. It was the early part of the evening-a clear and cold even- ing in the month of January. In her parlor, in the dwelling above referied to, sat Zeuleika, beside a plain mahogany center table, on which a small bronzed lamp of fanciful pattern burnt brightly, while a blazing fir6 before her sent a warm and ruddy: glow around the-apartmnent, where sofas, cushioned chairs, and heavy crimson curtains, tightly drawn, were not wanting to give an ai,r of supreme 'comfort, if not 'of luxury, to the whole scene. The light of the lamp and the fire fell full upon the face and form of Zeuleika, and revealed them in a fuller per- feetion of beauty than she exhibited when first we saw her in the bud of youth, in the orange grove of St. Domingo. The bud had expanded into the full, rich flower of womanhood, and as she -sat there in her well-appointed apartment, dressed in a robe of purple velvet, fitted tightly to her person, in a manner to'show her figure to the best advantage, she presented a picture of female grace and beauty that would have struck the most indifferent beholder with admiration. The well-turned and rounded featTRes of her face bore upon them no sign of the scenes. of crime through which she had passed, or of the storm of feeling that was raging within her breast on account of the situation of her lover. With her head leaning on her white little hand, that was half buried in the luxuriant tresses of her raven hair, she was gazing musingly into the fire before her, with a face as calm as if she was some cherished'wife, com- pletely happy in her honored home, and in the consciousness of perfect innocence. Calm and passionless as she appeared, the soul within, courageous and resolute as that. of man, was ih a whirl of feverish thought, striving to arrive at some focus of: plan by which Tardy might be delivered from prison. After sitting thus for some moments, she suddenly arose and touched page: 32-33 (Illustration) [View Page 32-33 (Illustration) ] 32 ALEXANDER TARDY, the handle of the bell, as if she had at length resolved on the course she would take. A black female servant immediately answered the summons. "Dinah," said Zeuleika, "do you know where the tall Quaker tailor, Aminadab Vail, lives, just round the corner?" Dinah showed a row of ivory in full development, and ac- companied the exhibition with a jerk of the head, to express the fact that she had the amount of knowledge required by her mistress. "Well, then, Dinah, run round there, and tell him I wish to see him." With a still wider expansion of her ivory, accompanied this time with an extensive globular dilation of white circles in the region of the eyes, Dinah vanished. A few moments afterwards the door again opened, and there walked, or rather slid into the room, a curious specimen of the male race in the person of Aminadab Vail, the tailor.- His form, very tall and very thin, was encased in a snuff-colored coat, modelled in its shape after that line of beauty originated by the shad, a drab vest, covering with its immense- pocket- flaps the locality of the hips, and a pair of breeches, graced vith a shining steel buckle at the point where they met. a pair of white top boots, in the secresy 6f whose amplitude the size of the leg was left entirely to conjeoture. The whble dress was of the finest cloth, with not the smallest speck Visible to mar its glossy surface. His hair was yellow, not the yellow that forms the golden locks in which poets deal, but a dead, decided yellow, with nothing about it for poetry to meddle with. It was combed with scrupulous straightness behind and on either side, until it mingled with the darker snuff tints of the collar of his coat, thus forming a semi-cirqular frame, in which his face was set with the stiffness of pasteboard. The most marked feature of his face was his nose, which was long, but by no means thin, and at the extremity of its length seemed to have turned up, to view with surprise the distance it had run from the low protruding forehead that overshadowed:it. The expression of Aminadab Vail's countenance, as he en- tered the apartment, was that of rigid solemnity, which seemed impervious to any impression from the influence of earth ; but as he advanced forward to make his bow, his eye seemed to dilate at the beautiful figure of Zeuleika before him, and to fix itself upon her with an indefinable half stare, in the gleam of which there was mingled mort of the flesh than the spirit. "Mr Vail," said Zeuleika, looking very coolly at the person she addressed, "I have sent for you on a very delicate busi- ness, in which secresy is necessary, and as it does not compro- mise you, and here is the gold to pay for it, I presume you will not hesitate to do as I wish." THE FAMOUS PIRATE- OF THE WEST INDIES. 33 page: 34-35[View Page 34-35] "Verily, maiden, thy'Jast argument is potent, and if, as thee says, it affects not my reputation, I await thy 'orders." "Well, then, Mr. Vail, I am no maiden, and I wish for a short period to be turned into a man, after the Quaker order. I wish you, in other words, to make me a complete Quaker suit from top to bottom, and I want it to fit to a hair." "Shade of William Penn," exclaimed Aiinadab, " what a curious woman thou art; but does thee know that the law for- bids thee to array thyself in man's apparel?" "Never mind the law, Mr. Vail, there's the money-will you do as I wish, and keep quiet, or not?" and Zeuleika, throwing on the table a well-filled purse, through the net-work of which the yellow gold was plainly visible, surveyed Aminadab with a stern, majestic look, that caused him fairly to start in his boots. Aminadab's eyes soon settled on the purse, and he expressed his entire willingness to meet her wishes. "Then measure me according to rule malke the. clothes, by to-morrow night, and another, purse shall be yours." '"O, shade of William Peenn! what a raire- woman this. ifs again muttered Aminadb to. himnself, as he trmblingly advamced to perform the operation directe d With a broad laugh on, her, face, and her fornp bolt upright, Zeuleika motioned him to bgin. With a.' nervous movement, Amrinadab drew his tape fro': his pocklet, an4di standing almost at arm's length fi'omi ZeuleiKa, p assed the measure aroundi e. with a degree of looseness as if he were. taki te gurggof W Q wern. ta the' gugeeqf thrfee coats instead of one... "' T;ihtei, tighlter, Aminadfalt'" qxclaimed Zeuleika, laughig heartily, and in a manner tlhat'pire' 6completely than evir lae: served the. operator ; " tighter, AipiRadab, 'r i willi hag lia , sack.' Iwish to be a s tylish Quiker, Aminadab." "'eril, , then, :ainden t it'on, or man,-w teer: thae chppses. to, b. e called-I will essay to please thee" answe ed Aminadab, bracing hirnself 'up with desperation to. finish his task; aid as he spodke he drew the tape around her with all his might. "That's a little too tight for the Quaker pattern," said Zeu- leika, recovering her breath, which the tape had almost com- pressed out of her. "I should be turned out of meeting at once with such a close fit; give it the true Quaker looseness, Amin- adab, but still make it set snug-you know what I mean," and again Zeuleika laughed. "Verily, maiden, I know not what thee means, or to-what race of womankind thee belongs, but again I will essay." The balance of the operation would have formed a study for a painter-the graceful, well-moulded figure of Zeuleika, stand- ing erect as if she were a soldier on drill, a laugh, half satirical, half of hearty enjoyment, working in every one of the fine fea- THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 60 tures of her face, while before and around her moved the thin, tall form of Aminadab, his hands twitching the tape nervously over her person, as if half afraid to touch her, and yet seemingly wishing to linger over the task, his pale face flushed with an ex- citement with which, to judge by their shaking, even the tops of his boots had a sympathy-altogether, it was a most rare and comical picture. "'There, Aminadab, that's enough-never mind about the small clothes, you must guess at them," exclaimed Zeuleika, tired at length of the teasing sport that, in the recklessness of her nature, she had enjoyed at the expense of Aminadab. "Take your money, bring the clothes to-morrow night, whisper not a word, for if you do, Mr. Aminadab Vail, it will be worse for you-and now you may go." With these last words, the laugh disappeared from the face of Zeuleika, her eyes flashed with a fiery expression, that made the blood of Aminadab run cold within him'; and, with'a quicker step than that with which he had entered, he left the house. "Shade of William Penn!" he exclaimed to himself, as he emerged into the street, "is it Woman, man, or devil? But verily she has money,'.' and putting his hand tightly in his pockets, he walked composedly homeward. As for Zeuleika, the door- had no sooner closed upon Amina- dab than she threw hei'self on her chair, laughed quietly for a moment, and said-"Well, I've had some fun with the mea- suring part of the business, in order to divert my thoughts, but now I must think of my course when I get the clothes,"'and again she gaged into the fire, and resumed the deep fit of mus- ing which the scene with Aminadab had'broken off. It was a bright, cold morning, a few days after the above oc- currence. The ground was white with a deep covering of snow, and all the air was alice with the ring of sleigh bells and the ie rry voices of the joyous riders. Vrom among the many' sleighs that were whirling rapidly in every direction, one of a. plain and substantial appearance, drawn by two noble bay: horses,.drew up before the gate of the State Prison of Pennsyl- vania. Besides the negro driver, the sleigh contained only one, occupant. This was a dapper-looking little Quaker, who, with his broad-brimmed and shining hat, his straight-breasted over- coat of glossy snuff-colored cloth, small clothes, and' top boots, seemed as if he had just popped out of a bandbox. On alighting from the sleigh, the little Quaker immediately entered the prison, and asked to see the warden. On;the ap- pearance of that personage, the Quaker introduced himselfas' a member of the Society of Friends in England, who was travel- ing through the States, and that among the m6st prominent objects of his curiosity were the prisons of the land, and he page: 36-37[View Page 36-37] 36 ALEXANDER TARDY, therefore trusted that he would be favored with a view of this one and its inmates. "And in the meantime," continued the little Quaker, " as I wish always to be doing some good to the unfortunate and the wicked, I presume thee will have no objec- tions to my distributing this little tract, entitled 'Comfort for the Prisoner,' to the various inmates confined within these walls," and the Quaker handed one of the tracts to the warden. The warden expressed the pleasure it would give him to show his visitor over the prison, and then, after hastily glancing over the tract, said that his visitor was welcome to distribute as many as he pleased. Following his guide, the Quaker now went through the different parts of the prison, distributing his tracts to the pri- soners, and talking so pleasantly and benevolently to his con- ductor as completely to win his confidence. The prison of the, period of which we are writing was far different from that of the present day. The discipline was not so strict, sev- eral prisoners were often at night confined in one cell, and all, during the day, had more opportunities of communicating with each other. It was seldom that any, except the-most refractory, were confined alone in a cell both day and night. As the little Quaker walked along, seemingly intent only on scattering his tracts, and conversing with his conductor on the general man- agement of the prison, his eye mights have been observed to scan closely each prisoner, and apparently to be searching after some particular one. The rounds of the prison had been almost accomplished, and a shade of disappointment passed over the Quaker's countenance. It brightened, however, when the keeper stopped before a cell, and said, "This, sir, is the cell where we have had to confine the famous Alexander Tardy, the Poisoner, who was lately sent up here. He's been so obstinate and unruly that we have had to use harsh measures with him, but he's cooling down, and we shall let him out with the other prisoners to-morrow. Perhaps you would like to look at him, as there has been so much talk about him." "I should, indeed," answered the little Quaker; "I have heard of the wretched man, and he was, as thee has well said, a most famous wicked person." The door of the cell was now thrown open, and there, on his pallet of straw and hoard, clothed in his prison garb, his head shaved, and his face haggard and pale as ashes, was seated Alexander Tardy, so altered in appearance as scarcely to be recognized for the handsome youth of St. Domingo, who some few years before had landed, with his father and Zeuleika, on the wharf at PHiladelphia. As the door of the cell grated on its hinges, Tardy raised his eyes, and as they fell upon the face of the Quaker, he gave a THE,FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 37 slight start. An old sign of Zeuleika, however, given by the finger of the Quaker, caused him to relapse again into the downcast and desponding attitude in which he appeared when the door was first opened. "Here is comfort for thee," said the Quaker, with a voice as smooth as oil, and at the same time putting one of his tracts into Tardy's hand. This time the tract was slightly doubled, and formed a small bundle, but the confidence with which the Quaker had inspired the keeper, caused the latter not to observe closely, and owing to this and the gloom of the cell, the thickness of the tract passed without notice. "Farewell, unfortunate man," said the Quaker, as the door closed,(" farewell, repent, read the tract and be comforted in thy punishment." A few moments after this the little Quaker was riding home- wards in his sleigh, and he laughed as he said to himself, "Well, Zeuleika, you are a good Quaker, and do credit to the handiwork of Aminadab Vail." CHAPTER VII. The Prison Cell and the Letter-The Visitor and the Supper- The Betrayer 'ind the Betrayed-The Prison Lash-The Revenge of the Quadroon. AGAIN alone in his cell, Tardy drew stealthily forth the little bundle given to him by the Quaker, and by the dim light that struggled through the grating over the door, lie examined it closely. He found, nicely done up in the tract, several small files and a gimblet, and also the following lines traced in pencil - "Keep up your spirits and work.. One week from this time, at midnight, I will'be at the north-east corner of the wall, where a rope ladder will be thrown over to you. This corner is never guarded, so James Brand, who has been in the prison, informs me. We will wait half an; hour. If you come not within that time, we shall think you have not been able to use your files and gimblet to advantage, and we shall go. Below is the plan of the prison, made by yoprrold associate, James Brand, who assures me that he knows the keeper who every night guards the door leading from the prison building to the yard, and doubts not but that he can bribe him to fix it so that you can easily pass out. If Brand should succeed, the keeper will find an opportunity to let you know, and you will, there- fore, have only to saw out of your cell, in order to get into the yard. If the keeper cannot be bribed, don't on that occasion give up. Do' the best you can; we will await you, as I said before. Yours, "ZEULEIKA." , i' page: 38-39[View Page 38-39] 3s8 ' ALEXANDER TARDY, The plan of the prison referred to was roughly sketched on a blank leaf of the tract. The joy of Tardy knew no bounds at this seemingly fair chance of escape opened .before him, and for an instant the gloom of his dungeon shone bright in the cheering gleam of : hope. Controlling his emotions, he carefully concealed the budget that Zeuleika had left him, and, sitting down on his pal- let,* he began to revolve in his mind how he should proceed.- After a short consultation with himself, he determined to wait a day or two, in order to see, if possible, the keeper, on whom he was informed an attempt at bribery would be made, and also because, as he expected, he would soon have anbther con- vict to share his cell. With reference to the last matter, it turned out as Tardy had expected. The next day the solitary confinement to which he had been doomed on account of his refractory conduct, was remitted, and he was suffered to go out in the ward and mingle with the other prisoners. At night ano- ther convict shared his cell, and to him Tardy was therefore obliged to disclose his intentions, take him into his councils, and suffer him to share in 'the advantage of his proposed escape. Another day passed, and Tardy had the satisfaction of receiv- ing from the keeper referred to, by Zeuleika, a telegraphic sign, intimating that it was all right between them, and the door of escape, as far as the keeper was concerned, would be opened to hin. Most men of Tardy's keenness of intellect, would have doubted the prudence of thus trusting a keeper of the pri- son, but Zeuleika and Brand had planned it, and therefore, to him, the nail of confidence was clinched on the head. On the night of the day of the above occurrence, Tardy and his accomplice commenced their operations, and succeeded in making a considerable incision around the lock of the door, when the hour of morning warned them .that it was time to cease their labors. They then concealed, with some putty that Tardy's fellow-prisoner had obtained during the day, the cut, ting they had made, and, smothering their impatience, waited calmly for the opportunity of the following night. Our scene again changes to the house of Zeuleika, where, in her parlor the Quadroon girl, or woman as she now was, was seated before her comfortable fire, trotting her foot impatiently, and raising her head at every sound, as if she waited anxiously the coming of a visitor: A loud ring at the door at length caused her little foot to cease its motion and her face to assume its usual calm expression. A moment afterwards a man entered the apart- ment, accosted her familiarly, and took a seat before the fire as if he was perfectly at home. The appearance of the stranger was prepossessing. He was apparently about thirty-five years of age, was well-built in figure, and well-dressed in the fashion of the day. His com- THE FAMOUS PIRATE Of THE WEST INDTES, 39 plexion wash rubicund, and his features, pleasing in expression and regular in outline, were shaded by a profusion-of dark. brown hair, rather inclined to curl, and whose inclination in that way seemed to have been promoted with the greatest care by the brush of its owner. Altogether, he was what might be called a handsome man, with no marked peculiarity about him to denote that he possessed any great force of character, either for good or evil. . Well, Brand," said Zeuleika, as soon as her visitor had finished rubbing his hands before the fire and had settled him- self back in his chair with the air of a man ready to proceed to business--"Well, Brand, what news? Have you seen the keeper and succeeded with him? I hope you have been care- ful and sounded him well before you committed yourself. You know I never liked this proposition of bribing him, but you said you knew him, and I have trusted you; and now tell me how has it turned out?" "Just as I wished and expected," answered Zeuleika's visi- tdor, giving his hands another brisk rub, not this time to warm them, but rather to give vent to the. high degree of satisfaction that he appeared to feel. "Just as I expected; I knew I could not be mistaken. I have known that keeper from a boy; mo- ney was his God. He has only lately been appointed to the prison, and I am the first one that has offered him his idol in a figure of big enough proportions, and he gave in at once, put it on the 'score of old friendship-do anything for me you know. It will all be right, Tardy will get himself out of his cell, and our keeper will wink at the rest, but we must change our plan in one thing-there will be no need of our going to wait for Tardy by the wall of the prisowr, or to throw him a rope ladder over it. He can easily scale the wall, whereas our going there and waiting may be dangerous. There may be passers- by who will notice us and give the alarm to those inside the prison. I have fixed upon a retired spot, not far distant, where the keeper will let him know he can meet us, and this will an- swer better than our going to the prison walls. I am sorry I did not think of this before you went to the prison to see Tardy." Although Zeuleika's visitor made, with an easy and careless manner and tone, this last proposition to alter part of the original plan concocted for Tardy's escape, a keen observer might have noticed that he watched anxiously and narrowly the effect of his words on her whom he addressed., A shade of intense sa- tisfaction passed over his features as Zeuleika, with an eye sparkling with hope and joy, answered, "Just as you say, Brand, I trust you, and am glad to hear that there is such a good prospect of Tardy's escape from that awful place, and now I suppose you feel like eating and drinking -you will find I have not forgotten to have the feast ready." page: 40-41[View Page 40-41] 40 ALEXANDER TARDY, A table with a snow white cloth was soon spread byblack Dinah, and. wine and a smoking hot supper of the most tempting character placed upon it. Both Zeuleika and her visitor did the supper ample justice. Both had fasted far beyond their usual hours-the one in her anxiety to' hear how the other had suc- ceeded, and the other in his anxiety to know, for certain reasons which we shall hereafter discover, the effect his present interview would produce on her with whom it was held. The result being pleasing to both, a double zest was added to the viands, and several hours passed gaily between the host and her guest. In high spirits, her fine features in the full play of sprightly anima- tion, she laughed and jested, he responding in the same manner, varied only now and then by a look of concentrated admiration and passion that he fixed upon her, but which he appeared to sup- press at the very instant of its birth. It was, midnight when the supper was over and the pair separated. "Good night, Brand," said Zeuleika at the door. "Three nights hence we meet to go for Taidy; and remember, I trust you." "Thank you for the trust," muttered the visitor to himself, as he walked homewards through the street. "And you may be sure I will improve it." The guest of Zeuleika, whom she addressed by the name of James Brand, was, as the reader will have surmised, no other than the same James Brand referred to by Zeuleika in the letter which she had handed to Tardy in prison. Tardy had become acquainted with him in Charleston, and since that time he had been Tardy's associate and accomplice in many schemes of villany, and was to have been so in many more, whose accom- plishment Tardy's imprisonment had defeated. When Zeuleika had resolved on endeavoring to aid Tardy in escaping from his dungeon, she had naturally taken Brand into her confidence, and the eagerness and apparent sincerity with which he entered into her views, had completely blinded her to any thing like suspicion of his motives. James Brand, however, was a villain of the deepest die---a villain even among villains, who did not even acknowledge the binding nature of the desperado's golden rule, ' Honor among thieves." He had, from the first moment of his acquaintance with her, conceived a violent passion for Zeuleika. While Tardy was at hand, he feared to show his passion by making any advances, and during the first weeks of the former's imprisonment, and while Zeuleika was in the first tumult of her grief, he (Brand), deemed it prudent still'to pursue the same line of conduct, and wait his opportunity. The opportunity came in the shape of the request of Zeuleika that he would aid her in accomplishing Tardy's escape firom prison. It was just what he wanted. By entering apparently with his whole soul into the enterprise he calculated that he would in- THE FAMOU9 PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 41 gratiate himself into her favor, and .while he. did so, he was resolved, at the same time, secretly to thwart what to her he seemed to forward. The villain's plan was, instead of helping Zeuleika to fiee Tardy, to betray to the prison authorities the design of the latter to escape. Tardy, would thus be kept out of the way, and Zeuleika, Brand thought, would at length, see- ing the hopelessness of Tardy's freedom until the seven long years of his confinement had expired, grow weary of being without a protector, and beholding in him (Brand) one who had done so much for her, would be likely at length to listen to his advances. Acting on this supposition, Brand informed the keeper, whom he told Zeuleika he had bribed to their side, of the day and manner in which Tardy would -make the attempt for his fieedom, and then, as we have seen, with a smooth face and tone of the utmost sincerity, told Zeuleika that the way was all prepared for Tardy again to rejoin her. The reason why the betrayer did not wish Zeuleika to go and throw the rope ladder over the prison wall to Tardy, as at first proposed, was evident. It might have led to unpleasant consequences had they been caught, and Zeuleika been informed of his baseness. He had at first proposed it himself, in: order to show Zeuleika how much he was in earnest, and he then trusted to good luck afterwards to lead her away from the idea without exciting her suspicions. We have seen how successful he was, and how completely the Quadroon mistress of Tardy trusted him. We turn now to the prison cell of Tardy, to see how the plan of the betrayer worked in that quarter. It was the hour of midnight-the midnight appointed for the escape. The silence of death reigned throughout the prison, and Tardy and his accomplice held their breath, as the former -the cutting in the door having been at length successfully accomplished-reached his hand through the opening and drew back the bolt. The next moment the pair stood without, but, instead of finding the ward clear, and making an easy passage by the keeper who guarded the outer' door, as they expected, -their eyes met a sight which petrified them to the spot. By the side of their cell door stood two keepers, both of them holding pistols in their hands, duly levelled with the most true aim, while behind these two leaders stood in formidable array a number of other prison officials, ready to render any assistance necessary. One of the keepers who thus presented themselves before the astonished sight of the fugitives, was the very man. who they had supposed was their friend. "It's no go, my brave fellows," said this keeper; " you may saw holes through the doors, but you can't'get out;' we have let you go thus far, to show you how'far vou can go. We are too wide awake for you, Tardy: right about face, and march in again; we'll settle with you to-morrow." ,l . . , f page: 42-43[View Page 42-43] 42 ALEXANDER TARDY, j The demoniac rage of a baffled fiend burnt with a fierce fire within the'breast of Tardy and glared out through his eyes as these taunting words fell upon his ear. He saw, however, that resistance was useless, and, muttering between his set teeth:- "Betrayed!' betrayed " he passed, with a defiant 'look at the keeper, into his cell. His accomplice, who was an older and more philosophical prisoner, took his disappointment coolly, and followed the example of Tardy with a composed step, as if the discovery and defeat of their enterprise for freedom was one of the naturally to be expected incidents peculiar to a majority of such attempts. "Promise me," said Tardy to his companion, when the door had been again made fast on them and he had had time to re- cover his composure--' promise me, if you have an opportunity before me-and it is likely to be so, for they will punish me the most severely-that you will endeavor to get some of the pri. boners whose terms soon expire, to seek out Zeuleika, and tqll her that James Brand has betrayed us. I know it is so, and I see through it all. He alone could have dohe it. She will know what revenge to take." And Tardy here gave full directions by which his mistress might be found. '"I swear to do so," answered the other; and again the prison cell was silent. With the light of the next morning came the punishment of Tardy and his fellow-prisoner for their act of insubordination. In these days, the lash was one of the main instruments of tor- ture in our prisons, and it was wielded of course with mercy or brutality, according to the disposition of the officer who hap- pened to have control of its use. Tardy's director of the lash, :on the' morning of the punishment, did not, to say the least of it, belong to the order of the "Brothers of Mercy, and the lash therefore rioted in the bloody furrows which it turned up on the delicate and quivering back of its victim. The punishment was inflicted before the assembled prisoners, and Tardy bore it to the last without a groan escaping from him; but as he was again led back to his cell, there was a light in his eye that caused even his keeper to shudder at the thought of what would be his fate were he at that instant in the power of his prisoner. Tardy's accomplice did not bear the lash with the same philo- sophy that he bore his discomfiture the night before. He screamed in agony, and mingled his cries with curses neither low or choice. Exhausted and almost fainting, he was taken to his cell. Both prisoners were doomed, besides the punishment of the lash, to several days' solitary confinement in a dark cell, 'with bread and water for their diet. Thus ended Tardy's at- tempt to escape. At the midnight hour when Tardy and his fellow-prisoner met with such a signal defeat to their hopes, Zeuleika stood THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 43 with James Brand under the shadow of an old and ruined building, not a great distance from the prison, in which Brand had led her to wait the coming of Tardy. The time ap- pointed passed, and no Tardy came to the arms of his expect- ant mistress. "What means this?" asked Zeuleika of her companion, while a shade of gloom, not unmingled, as Brand thought, with a look of suspicion. passed over her features. "Can this keeper have played us false, or have you?" she added fiercely and sud- -denly, and her eyes flashed as she spoke. Brand answered her with such plausibility, pointing out to her the many things that might happen to defeat Tardy's plan, even: if the keeper were true, that Zeuleika was soothed into confidence of his and the keeper's integrity in the matter,--and finally, when all hope of Tardy's joining, them had vanished gave herself the word to return home, It was not, however until nearly daybreak that she did so, and Brand won still upon her confidence by his waiting patiently with her. It may. wondered why a villain like Brand, having tne passion for :Ze. leika that he entertained, should thus take so much troubje, to worm himself gradually into her favor to usurp her imprisonid lover's place. Was he not nowalone with her at midnigh, and she but a feeble woman in his power? 'Tis true he was then and often alone with her, but she was not the feeble wo- man for him to terrify, and, he knew it. He knew she would as quick use a dagger as a honeyed word, and. he feared her. .,e therefore followed her home, waiting as before for time and assi- duity to aid him. For months after the failure of Tardy's attempt to escape, Brand was a constant visitor at Zeuleika's house. At first she did not notice anything about his actions towards her different from that which she had been accustomed to see. Gradually however, his words and looks became bolder, and with..th quickness of woman's perception on such subjects, she markl the instant when passion overstepped prudence, and a lover in the person of James Brand st;ood revealed to her, although lhe had not said it. James Brand missed his mark when he c S culated that time and absence from Tardy would give Zeauleii to his arms. The moment that a suspicion of Brand's love, or rather, as she construed it, desire for her, flashed across ter mind, there came with it also' the suspicion that he had .ieeg false, and betrayed Tardy in his effort to gain his freedom. Then followed hate and a burning desire for revenge, but she waited to have her suspicions more certainly confirrmed, and in the meantime assumed to Brand a more cordial manner than ever. Bolder and bolder grew James Brand. and more yielding grew Zeuleika, but the sword was over the betrayer's head, and the hair by which it hung was swaying in Zeuleika's hand. page: 44-45[View Page 44-45] "' ALEXANDER TARDY, One night, when Zeuleika sat musing in her apartment over Tardy's fate and her situation with Brand, a man at the door asked to see her on important business. He was admitted, and a rough looking, ill-clad figure, with features pale and bearing the. marks of long confinement stood before her. You need not fear me," said the man, as he noticed her to, shrink for a moment from his presence, "I come from prison and from your man Tardy. I was told to seek you out and tell you these words-' James Brand is our betrayer.' I have per- formed my mission, give me food and drink, for I am famishing." "Food, drink and gold you shall have," answered Zeuleika, and setting hard her teeth she added, " as for you, James Brand, there shall be death." Feasting and drinking in the house of Zeuleika, sat its mistress and Brand a few nights after the former had received the mes- sage from Tardy. Never did the Quadroon's eyes shine bright- er and never did they glance with so passionate a lustre towards her guest. Excited and maddened with his own passion, and with the prospect of its gratification, Brand drank deeply of the wine which Zeuleika offered to him, and returned her glances with ten-fold interest, while he did not hesitate to approach her in dalliance. For some time she half repulsed half encouraged him, until in the fever of his excitement he threw his arm around her and exclaimed: "The hour has come, Zeuleika, and you shall be mine." At this moment a fearful change came over his features, a deadly pallor settled in his countenance, and he sank back on his chair. "Yours, James Brand!" exclaimed Zeuleika, starting from her seat, and bending over him and hissing the, words into his ear: "You are mine and death's, Brand! Poison, deadly poison, is in your veins, and these hands mixed it for the betrayer of Alexander Tardy." Despair, fear, and horror, all could be read in the face of her victim, as the Quadroon spoke. * "Curses, curses light upon you.; may the flames of---" here convulsions choked his utterance, while coldly, with an eye of stone, Zeuleika stood over him, and watched his death agonies. They were not long, for the poison was quick and subtle, and a corps soon rolled on the floor at the feet of the avenging Qua- droon. "It is finished," she said: "and now to prepare for the future." THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 45 CHAPTER VIII. The Burial in the Cellar- The Excavation and the skeleto-- The Dolphin and the MAan with the Ears-The Three Voices. of Poison-St. Domingo and the Pirate's Cave. THE next step of Zeuleika was to call to her assistance her only attendant, black Dinah. The negress started with horror. as she entered the apartment and her eyes fell upon the fearful sight there presented. On the floor lay extended the dead body of James Brand-the eyes open, glassy and staring, andthe features livid and hideously distorted by the agonies of death. By the body and looking down on it with lips compressed and a pale and bloodless countenance, expressing the concentration of anger and hate, stood Zeuleika, her form rigidly erect, her. hair dishevelled on her shoulders andLher whole appearance presenting a scarcely less terrifying picture than that of her victim at her feet. A half uttered shriek was on the lips of the negress as she glanced on the scene, but possessing a large share noQt only of the daring evil but also of the nerve of her mistress, she instantly recovered herself, and dropping her upraised hands, waited Zeuleika's orders as calmly as if she expected them to be concerning only some ordinary office of the table. "'-Ie has betrayed Tardy and me, and I have killed him" said Zeuleika, "and now we must make the best of the job. Iemember, you stand or fall with me; be faithful and there is. nothing to fear. Come, help me get this carrion to the cellar." The negress obeyed, and with difficulty the two women sue- ceeded in dragging the body of James Brand to the cellar door, which being accomplished they bent all their force in one vi- gorous push that caused the body to tumble over the few re- maining low steps, full upon the hard earthern floor of the place which was to form the end of the journey. A light having -been procured, Zeuleika, followed by the negress, descended into the cellar. "Now get the coal shovel, hand me the axe, and let us to work," said the Quadroon with a fierce and steady voice. Hour after hour passed on, and Zeuleika and the negress plied at their dreadful task, the one wielding in her delicate hands the axe in order to hack up the hard ground, the other shovelling up the dirther mistress had loosened. Neither spoke, but bent all their stiength in silence to their work, while the flame of the solitary candle, flickering in the draught; left a large portion of the place in a gloomy darkness, and glanced fitfully only, now on the stark limbs and livid features of the corpse. and now on the bending forms and nerved up countenances of. the grave diggers as with large drops of perspiration rolling from page: 46-47[View Page 46-47] p Ahl!rLiEXANUR;l T'AKRDY, their brows, they cut and dug deeper and deeper into the earth. An awful scene was that cellar burial of the dead, and as full of horrors in its features as the parlor murder that had pre- ceded it. "'The morning was far advanced, when the work of burying the body of Brand was finished, and all evidence of the floor of the cellar having been disturbed oblitered. One week after- wards Zeuleika gave up the house, and abandoning all hope of successfully aiding Tardy to escape from prison, took passage with her negro servant for New Orleans. She left, however, with some of Tardy's old acquaintances full directions how to fihd her in case he himself should manage to regain his freedom before his time expired. The sudden disappearance of James Brand caused no inquiry, as his life was that of a rover, and vthen three years afterwards the house in which Zeuleika lived was torn down to give place to the progress of city improvement, and when in the consequent excavation a skeleton was found under the floor of the cellar, public wonder spent itself in talking about the strange circumstance, and died away without being satisfied. A period of nearly seven years now elapses in our narrative. It was a bright and beautiful morning in the month of May, and a trim built schooner, with sails all spread to thp wind, is leaving Cape May far in the distance, and bounding forward with the speed of a racehorse on the sky encircled sea. On the deck, leaning over the bulwarks and with sparkling eyes gazing on the waters, as if their souls danced with a joy that had been roused into being by the rolling of'the waves, stood two men of rather remarkable appearance. Both were apparently about thirty-five years of age, and both had light curling hair, features of great regularity, and complexions verging on what is called olive. The face of the taller of the two bore marks of care and a constitution somewhat impaired by physical suffering, while his companion was the very picture of robust health, notwith- standing a certain delicacy of frame and feature that approach- ed to the verge of effeminacy. We need not describe them further, as their conversatiqn,-will at once explain to the reader who they are. "Again I am free," said the taller of the two, addressing the other in a low voice and in the French language, "and Zeu- ltika, may all!the furies seize me if on the sea I do not take a litter revenge for the sufferings I have endured on land." "I am with you to the last, as you well know," was the prompt answer. "I am Woman no more except in your arms --man henceforth in all else besides, but is all arranged, and are you sure of your men on board of this vessel?" -"All right," returned Tardy, "Courro, the cook, is mine, and three out of the five sailors; that with us leaves our forces equally THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TEE WEST INDIES. 47 balanced as far as it regards numbers, but our weapon-you understand-is a host in itself and turns the scale in our favor. So far everything has turned out well, our wigs and whiskers and your male attire have done wonders, and neither our broad shouldered captain, his mate or supercargo dream that they have taken on board the famous convict Tardy and that daredevil woman who, in the shape of a benevolent little Quaker, visited him in that infernal Pennsylvania prison." "Or that female riend (as they would have called her had they suspected the truth,) who put Jim Brand into a cold bed in the cellar," added Zeuleika. "But talking of whiskers," she con- tinued, "I think mine beats yours," and giving the article men- tioned a patronizing and affectionate stroke with her little hand, she burst into a loud laugh just as the mate of the vessel, in the performance of some of his duties, came near the place where the two were standing.., Thus again, as the reader has discovered, we are with Tardy and Zeuleika. Two weeks before we find them, as above, on board of the schooner, the prison doors had been opened to Tardy and he had rejoined Zeuleika in Philadelphia, whither she had come from New Orleans to meet him. Their first care was to disguise themselves as much as possible. Upon the head, where the mark of the prisoner still rested, Tardy had placed the light wig that we have seen, and this, with the whiskers, coupled with the alteration that long confinement had made in his features, so completely altered his appearance that even his old associatesin Philadelphia did not know him, much less the police. As for Zeuleika she assumed the breeches. again, but this time in the character of a ratheu buckish lookingr gentleman, in whose hairy face and stylish habiliments, Tardy- himself, when she appeared before him in her new character, did not recognize his mistress. Both, on assuming this disguise, had taken with it the name of Reynoux, put up at one of the' best hotels in the city, and represented themselves as brothers and French merchants on their way to Havana, where they had some design of settling in business. They had remained at, the hotel several days, and during that time Tardy had found a schooner just on the eve of sailing for Havana, and found it under just such circumstances as convinced him that it was the very one on board of which he could probably carry out his designs, which it is needless to say were not those that an honest merchant would be likely to have in view. The name of the schooner was the Dolphin, and, while exa- mining her, Tardy recognized. in the coorkan old acquaintance of his, named Jean Courro. :Jean Courro was a Frenchman. with a figure thin but wiry and muscular, a face of a muddy sallow complexion, and sharp little grey eyes, fiery red in the.' corners. In addition to all this, Courro possessed the most re. page: 48-49 (Illustration) [View Page 48-49 (Illustration) ] 48 ALEXANDER TARDY, markable pair of ears that ever graced the head of a human being. They were large, thin as a wafer, of a deathly whiteness almost transparent, and smooth as glass over all their surface, with the exception of one very small hole in the center, where they were affixed to the head. They-looked in fact as if they were a pair of ears that had been extended in their dimensions by a nicely-heated smoothing-iron. These ears of Courro had always been a standing jest amhong his companions, who, in their cups, were accustomed to inquire jocosely of Courro when the French Government first adopted the "ear brand for its galley birds?" Immediately on meeting with. Courro, Tardy knowing his man, informed him at once of his .intentions, and sought his co- operation. Courro's views and wishes jumped with those of Tardy, and the bargain was soon concluded. Courro had been in his life a half-and-half villain, that is to say, he had divided -his life between being a sailor on board of piratical vessels, and a sailor, cook, steward, or anything else that he could, on board of several merchant ships, where he had succeeded in passing himself off. as an honest man. When on his "honest voyages," as he called them, he had hitherto conducted himself pretty well up to the true mark-for, as he was also accustomed to remark to his intimate associates, "variety is the spice of life,'and I occasionally try on a decent way to see how the d-da thing fits." Courro could talk English as well as hie could liis native tongue, and swear in it equally as forcibly.' Tardy found him when he was going on his second "honest voyage" on board the Dolphin, but the temptation offered him by Tardy was too great not to change at once the character of the trip. The plan proposed by Tardy to Courro was simply to get possession of the Dolphin, turn her into a pirate vessel and pro- ceed to the coast of St. Domingo, instead of quietly going in her as passengers and cook to Havana. In case of success, Tardy was of course to be captain, and Courro was to be high in pro- motion under him. The arrangement made was as follows : Tardy and a young man who he told Courro was a relation of his and worthy of all confidence, were to take passage in the Dolphin, under the name, as we have already seen, of Rey- noux. Tardy did not extend his communication so far as to inform Courro that his young relative was his mistress Zeuleika, because it had been agreed between her and Tardy that hence- forward, should' they become pirates, her sex should be con- cealed t9 all but him. This was the proposition of Zeuleika herself, and Tardy had consented to it. An exception, how- ever, was of course to be made in the case of Pepe, if they should meet with him, and he was to be persuaded to secresy. Once on board the Dolphin, Courro was to bring about, if pos- sible, to their plans the five sailors that were engaged to work THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. , 49 page: 50-51[View Page 50-51] 50 ALEXANDER TARDY, the vessel, and then Tardy was to supply the poison and Courro mix it either in the food or wine of the captain, mate and super- cargo of the schooner. All the incipient stages of thise vile conspiracy to obtain pos- session of the Dolphin had worked to Tardy's satisfaction. The Reynouxs had applied for passage and been received, aid even before the schooner had reached Cape May, three of the sailors had been let into the secret; and given their oaths of fealty to Tardy through his agent Courro. It. remained, therefore, but for the poison to perform its work. Even for this the way seemed smoothly paved. Nathaniel Oliver, the captain, was an open-hearted Yankee in the broadest sense of the term, slow to suspect evil in any one, rough in manner, but bold and courage- ous as a lion. The mate, John Searle, was the counterpart, in a younger cover, of the captain, while the supercargo, Jere- miah Goldsmith, was the younger son of a rich Quaker, who had taught him to count dollars and cents and eschew all worldly vanities. The first lesson he had learned to perfection, while on the second he split the difference and kept one eye upon the temptations of the world and the other on the frowns of the Meeting. The consequence was that the cut of his coat was a compromise between the coats of the world and those ot the Meeting, while the man within the coat in his daily walk and habits was continually straddling the prescribed line. The fact was that Jeremiah Goldsmith was a very shallow-minded young man, without any force of character and no valuable ideas beyond the knowledge how to count and keep dollars and cents. This was-his maiden voyage, and sea-sickness laid him on the shelf before the vessel had been two days out. Onward over the sea bounded merrily the schooner Dolphin, on her trading voyage to Havana. The captain, mate, and the two Reynouxs were the best-of friends; even Jeremiah Gold- smith took a great fancy to the latter two passengers, from the kind visits he received from them as he lay in agony in his cabin. In the meantime, within the forecastle, Courro grew in favor with the sailors and all'was bright for the mutineers. Five days out, with a favorable breeze and a blue line on the sky, revealed the island of Cuba far in the distance. It was night, and the moon and stars shone down with brilliancy on the Dolphin, and her white sails glittered in the light like sheets of silver. "Is all ready?" whispered Tardy to Courro, as he descended into the cabin. "Aye, aye," was the hurried answer, and captain, mate, Tar- dy and Zeuleika, a few moments afterwards, were enjoying the evening meal. The meal was over. The captain was examining his papers in the cabin, Tardy, Zeuleika and the mate were on deck toge- THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 51 ther with Courro and the sailors. The schooner was spanking along at a brisk rate, all appeared right and no spirit of evil seemed to be near to mar the solemn influence of that moonlight hour on the sea, when the winds were favorable and the heavens smiled in radiance. Suddenly a cry of agony arose from the cabin, and at the same instant the captain rushed up the companion way exclaim- ing, "Poisoned! poisoned! God- have mercy on me!" and with the last words'he fell in convulsions on the deck. His cry had not ceased to ring over the waters, ere it was answered by one of the same mortal agony from the mate, who had been standing by the gunwale. He also fell in convulsions, while a feeble wail from the berth in which the unfortunate su- percargo was confined, closed the trio of voices that had so fear- fully broke the stillness of the night. At -te first sound from the captain, the two sailors whom Courro had vainly endeavored to bring over to mutiny, rushed forward to his assistance, but the hands of Courro and the other thra seamen were on them, and held them like an iron vice. Calm and unmoved, Tardy and Zeuleika looked upon the scene until the two refractory seamen had been secured, and the moans and convulsive movements of the captain and his mate grew fainter and weaker. Then Tardy stood out in the center of the deck, and in an exulting tone shouted, "Bravo, Courro! The Dolphin is ours. Hail to the God of poison; and you, men," continued Tardy, addressing himself to the three sail- ors, who held the other two in their grasp, "do you receive me as your captain?" "Aye, aye!" was shouted in answer. "Then," said Tardy, "Courro is my mate, and this young man here is Pedro, my friend; St. Domingo and the pirate's cave are our first destination. Put your prisoners in irons and throw yonder bodies and the one in the berth below overboard, and then hurrah for fortune." . Two nights afterwards the Dolphin rounded a point on the coast of St. Domingo and came to anchor directly in front of a precipitous bluff of rocks. "Look, Zeuleika," said Tardy, "we are once more at the pirate's cave." page: 52-53[View Page 52-53] 52 ALEXANDER TARDY, CHAPTER IX. The Giant Negro-The Pirate Chief--The Experiment of Poison-The Pirate Revel-The Death of the Chief. THE evening was far advanced when the Dolphin was safely moored in the sheltered cove which, joining in the shape of a horse-shoe into the coast of St. Domingo, laved with its waters the foot of the precipitous ledge of rocks withinwhose bowels was the pirate's cave, wherein, in the beginning of this history, Pepe first introduced Tardy and Zeuleika to the mysteries and attractions of a pirate's life. More than ten years had passed since that eventful night, and as Tardy and Zeuleika now gazed& from the deck of the Dolphin on the well-known spot, a host of' contending emotions swelled in their bos6ms. White, like a wall of chalk, the rocky bluffs that formed the face of the cave, shone in the bright light of the moon, and for some moments Tardy and his mistress bent their earnest looks upon it in silence. Vividly before their itmaginations, like the hurried scenes of a startling tragedy, rolled the past-the orange grove again sent forth its fragrance around them, while in the dalli-- ance of the first heat of their youthful passion-then came the spectre of the murdered Gerald to give place in its turn to the ferocious Pepe beckoning them into the dark mouth of the cave, and then again they were seated on the gilded couch, listening to the pirate's tale, and in the vast chamber of rock glittering in the light of the blazing tripod. Then followed the long interval of their sojourn in the United States, with its dark deeds of crime, its prison scourge 'and sufferings, and the revenge on Brand; and as these rolled away, the question throbbed within their bosoms, what was to be the next era of their lives? They had dated the first from the pirate's cave, for it was there they looked back on their first crime, and vowed to follow it up by a life of evil. Again, they were in safety at its portal, and what was to be the second era dated from the pirate's cave? Was Pepe there, or where was he? and if not there, had he left any clue behind him? 'Come, Zeuleika,'" said Tardy, at length raising himself with a long breath from the bulwark of the ship, where he had been leaning; " come, we must go, and it will be best to go alone." And, elevating his voice, Tardy called his mate, Courro, to his side. "Courro, yonder is the pirate's cave I have told you about: get a torch, lower the boat, and Pedro and I am off to explore." The order was quickly obeyed, and some fifteen minutes af- terwards Tardy and Zeuleika stood before the low arched open- ing that formed the entrance to the cave. All around was silent as death. ) . : THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 53 "There can be no one here," said Tardy, lighting his torch, "and this time we mpst enter without an introduction from Pepe. Come on and bend low." Crouching down they entered, and soon came to the black bottomless pool that we have before described to the reader. The stone drawhridge was up in its place, and a board spanned the pool in thQ: same,-manner as it had done ten years before, when Pepe': httd first shown them what a treacherous pathway such a board would become to him who set his foot upon it. "Some one is here, then," whispered Tardy with a slight quiver of his lips. -"You remember what Pepe said,' When the board is down we're in, and the stranger who treads the board to follow, splash he goes to h-l, and gives us the alarm,' so we must be careful. I'll give the watchword Pepe told us," and Tardy in as loud a voice as he could command shouted in French "The Tiger and the Black Flag." The words were scarcely out of his mouth when on the op- posite side of the pool there stood a' figure that startled the visitors of the cave, although they had nerved themselves to behold something strange and formidable. The figure was that. of a gianT negro nearly seven feet in height, holding in his teeth a bla zorch, and in each hand a pistol, levelled directly at the breasp the intruders into the cave. With the exception of a strip of cotton-loth which girded his loins, and formed also a sheath for two glittering knives, he was naked as he was born. The brawny muscles that swelled in full relief on his arms, legs and breast, shone in the light like bars of iron, while his eyes, bloodshot in the corners, glared savagely from beneath a mass of matted woolly hair, and seemed to derive a concentration of ferocity from the apparent demoniac grin of his white teeth, caus- ed byithe tight grip with which they were fixed into the handle of his torch. Tardy and Zeuleika involuntarily started back, but the negro remained motionless, evidently waiting for some fur- ther sign or information from the former, that would enable him to determine whether to fire at them or admit them. Recov- ering himself, Tardy mentioned the name of Pepe, and pointing towards the board over, the pool, and also to the stone draw- bridge that was in its place on the side of the cave, he informed the negro that he knew all about them both, that, he and his companion were friends, and claimed admittance into the cave, where, if any of the band were present, he would give further particulars. The explanation of Tardy seemed entirely satisfactory to the negro, who shoved his pistols into the belt of his only article of dress, and taking his torch from his teeth, motioned to Tardy to push down the bridge and come across. The negro himself could have let down the bridge, merely by giving a slight pull at' the rope which came up through the ground on his side of the page: 54-55[View Page 54-55] 54 ALEXANDER TARDY, pool, and which was concealed there in a hole, as we have before described to the reader. He himself evidently wished fo see if Tardy knew as much as he pretended. Tardy immediately proved his knowledge, by taking hold of the right stone, and giving it the true scientific shove, which sent it splashing across the pool. The negro gave a loud "Yah! yah!" as Tardy and Zeuleika crossed the bridge and stood by his side. The laugh did not improve his features. When Tardy and Zeuleika, preceded by their black usher, entered the main apartment of the cave, they were greeted by a far different sight from that which they had gazed upon when Pepe first introduced them there. The gilded couch was still there, and the brazen tripod still retained its place in the center of the cave, but the gloss of the gilding and the color of the crimson satin of the one was much tarnished and faded, and no flaming light blazed on the other. The cave was illumined only by two small torches, in addition to the one that Tardy carried in his hand, and all three failed to cast over the immense apart- ment that dazzling brilliance which the blaze of the tripod had given it when last Tardy and Zeuleika had stood there with Pepe. On the couch, lay a man, whose emaciated foFtm, by its frequent convulsive movements, seemed racked with 7 His eyes were sunken, and his face deadly pale, with the euption of a small,- bright-red, hectic flush on either chiek. The dress of the invalid consisted of an Andalosian jacket of blue velvet, richly embroidered with gold, breeches of the same color and material, gaily fastened at the knee with bows of red ribbon, white stockings, and light trunk-boots made of yellow morocco. A table, on which were bottles both of wine and medicine and a pair of pistols, was at the sick man's elbow, while on a low stool at his feet, a wench, old and withered, sat watching his motions. When Tardy and Zeuleika, preceded by the giant negro, entered, the invalid raised his eyes languidly, but a gleam of fire instantly shot out from them, and the flush on his cheek became deeper, as his glance lighted on the two strangers. Making a violent effort, he half sprung from the couch, and laid his trembling hands on the'pistols, exclaiming- "H-1 and furies! you black devil-have you betrayed me? -take that!" and he raised both pistols to fire. The negro, however, was too quick for him. Darting forward to the table, he dashed the pistols from the sick man's hand, and with a slight push sent him reeling back on the couch, then folding his arms across his breast, the negro said, fiercely- "Captain, don't be a fool, the stranger gave the old pass word of the band,' The Tiger and the Black Flag.' He's Pepe's friend, talk to him yourself, but don't fire bullets at Black Sampson, or he'll let daylight through your d---d liver, if you, THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 55 are Captain." And having thus delivered himself, the black giant, as if to smooth down ,his excited feelings, helped himself to full half of a bottle of wine, which he swallowed at one draught from an immense goblet into which he had poured it. "There is nothing to fear from us," said Tardy; boldly ad- vancing to the couch, " my name is Alexander Tardy, and this young man with me is Pedro my friend. I expect I address Manuel, the Captain of the Pirate ship Tiger. You are, I know all, for Pepe, your mate, in this very cave, ten yearsago, told me the whole story about the Hope and the Tiger, and here I pledged myself to join the band at some future day. I am here now to do it, with Pedro and four other stout trusty fellows, who are in my schooner, now at anchor in the cove outside. Will you take us, or is the Tiger lost, Pepe and all the crew dead, but these I see here, and in that case, shall I take you and Sampson on board my Dolphin, and all of us start on a new cruise?" When Tardy ceased speaking, black Sampson helped him- self to another draught of the wine, and gave another loud, hyena-like Yah! yah!" in which he was this time joined by a low chuckle from the old withered wench. On the other hand, Manuel, the captain of the pirate ship Tiger (for it was he), who had intently been examining Tardy and his com- panion while the former was speaking, held out his hand and exclaimed- "By St. Juan! I like you. Yes, Pepe told me he had met you, and that you had' promised to join us; but better late than never, and better still, Pepe isn't dead, or the Tiger lost -or wasn't six months ago, when I was left here almost dead with the fever. Take a drink,\sit down, and I'll spin a yarn about, the Tiger and myself; but-first, comrade, what are your credentials, that you and your companions can make good pirates and do credit to the cross-bones and the black flag? Have your smelt powder, and beensup to your knees in blood? Can you drive a knife, if necessary, into the heart of a father, before the eyes of his beautiful daughter who clings to your knees for mercy, or send a bullet through. the brain of a priest' who calls on Heaven to curse you as a murderer?" "Ten days from Philadelphia, we murdered the captain, mate, and supercargo of the Dolphin, took the vessel, and are here with her in the cove. This, with some five or six murders on our own individual account, by myself and my friend Pedro here, forms our certificate," answered Tardy. "Good, by St. Juan, as a Pope's Bull to scour the pockets of the faithful!-and now to my story." The substance of the story which Captain Manuel told to his attentive listeners, was as follows:-A week after Tardy left Pepe at the cave, the Tiger, as the latter had expected, an. I page: 56-57[View Page 56-57] 5 AALEXANDER TARDY, chored in the cove at the Pirate's Crag. Her cruise had been successful, and for a few days the crew had revelled:in the cave and on board of the ship. The revel over, they were just on the point of starting, when they' were joined by black Sampson and some five or six other negroes almost as large as himself, who offered themselves as recruits, and were accepted. The Tiger then sailed, and since that time had been cruising, for the greatest part of the period, in the East Indian Ocean, where the captain and his crew had committed outrages on trading vessels, and on the towns of the islands and along the coast, fully equal to any perpetrated by the famous Joassamees pirates, who about the same time infested those regions. Several times the Tiger had fallen in with English government ships, sent out to exterminate the Joassamees, and once or twice she had nar- rowly escaped being taken. In all her adventures, the success of the Tiger had not been very great, and she had, during the whole period, only visited the pirate's cave at St. Domingo twice-once about three years, and last about seven months, previous to Tardy's present arrival. In the meantime, her crew had entirely changed from its original character. Death by sickness and violence had done its work, and of the sixty orig- inal men that manned the Tiger, few except Manuel, the cap- tain, Pepe, the mate, and black Sampson, remained. At her last visit to the cave, Manuel had been taken sick with a violent fever, and Pepe, deeming it best that the ship should not remain until the captain recovered, left him with Sampson to take charge of him, while he, Pepe, proceeded with the ship on a short cruise, calculating to return in the course of a few months. The time fixed upon for his return had long since passed; the captain's fever, as he called it, had left him in the last stages of a consumption, which, notwithstanding all the concoctions of the old crone whom Sampson had procured to nurse him, was evidently hurrying him to the grave. The captain himself, however, had no idea of dyingfiyd concluded his story by tell- ing what he should do when he again should tread the deck of the Tiger as its master. It was midnight when the tale of the pirate chief was ended, and Tardy with'Zeuleika rowed back to the Dolphin, and'l informed Courro and the other three associates of all that had happened. Morning broke brightly over the Dolphin, as she lay in the cove of the Pirate's Crag, and Tardy, together with all on. board, were early astir. "Courro," said Tardy, "there is a little job on hand before breakfast, which we may as well finishin order to have a better appetite. Bring up those two rebellious devils of sailors, and try once more what we can do with them before we pitch them overboard." THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 57 The order was no sooner given than obeyed, and the two sailors of the Dolphin, who had refused to join in the conspi- racy with Tardy and Courro, were brought on deck. They were both Americans, natives of one of the Eastern States; and as a fine a pair of honest-looking sailors as ever handled a rope. They were heavily ironed, but the soul within was far from being conquered. With an unquailing eye they looked into the fierce faces around them, as if prepared to meet any fate that might await them. "For the last time," said Tardy, addressing them, "I give you a chance for your lives; join us willingly as rovers of the sea and you are free, with plenty of wine, women, and gold ahead of you; what's your answer, speak quick?" "Never " was the clear and loud response from the lips of both. "Courro," said Tardy, "we'll put these men out of the way scientifically, by way of experiment. Pedro, give me that vial. The counterfeit Pedro, in the person of Zeuleika, drew a small vial from her bosom and handed it to. Tardy. "This is a little different dram from what I gave the cap- tain, mate, and supercargo of the Dolphin," said Tardy, taking the vial in his hand and holding it up to the light of the morn-. ing sun, "but I guess it is as good. Men, stretch their mouths. open wide and we will see." The jaws of the unfortunate victims were forced apart with- out much ceremony by willing hands, and Tardy himself poured a small quantity of the fatal draught in each' of their throats. Then, while his thin lips curled with a bitter expression, and a- light fiendish enough to have been the reflection of the flames of the lower world, glared'in his eye, he shouted,!"Let gorand we'll see how it works." The hands 'were withdrawn, and with a- terrible spasm the jaws- of the unfortunate men came grating together. Then followed convulsion after convulsion, fiercely shaking the whole frames of the dying men, and causing even the iron manacles to rattle in that strife of mental agony which they fettered. Five minutes passed, and the work was accomplished. Two livid bodies, still bound in chains, lay on the deck with their faces upturned to the sun. "Throw them overboard; the medicine is good, but rather too violent except on great occasions. And now for breakfast," said Tardy, as he turned into the cabin, followed by Courro and Zeuleika. Again it is night, and Tardy, Courro and Zeuleika, or Pedro, as we shall hereafter call her, are in the pirate's cave. Captain Manuel is still extended on his couch, an unnatural brilliancy shines in his dark eye, and at intervals a violent cough that seems to come tearing up from the very seat of life, echoes - i y page: 58-59[View Page 58-59] 58 ALEXANDER TARDY, through the cave. Black Sampson and the old negress have spread a table with luscious fruit and wine, and the whole party are at the height of hilarity, including even Sampson himself, who did not scruple to take, without ceremony, from the table whatever he wanted. The Captain too, was gay, and talked, laughed and swore when the cough would permit him. Tardy raised his glass and gave the toast, "Here's success to the Tiger and--" His further speech was interrupted by a noise coming through the opening into the cave, as if a heavv stone had fdllen, and followed immediately afterwards by a voice, exclaiming, "The Tiger and the Black Flag." By St. Juan!" exclaimed the pirate chief, vainly endeavor- ing to spring to his feet, "it's Pepe. Hurrah! hurrah!"The effect was too much for him, and he sank back exhausted on. his, couch. "1 Pepe sure enough it is," exclaimed that individual an instant afterwards, entering into the cave, followed by about ten men, all of whose garments, like that of Pepe's, were soiled and torn, and betrayed, as well as their faces, that they had seen hard times. "But what the devil is the matter?" continued Pepe, "a ship is in the cove, and here are strangers;" and Pepe fixed a scrutinizing glance on Tardy, Pedro and Courro. The glance at Tardy seemed to reveal some knowledge to him, for walking right up to him, he held out his hand, and with an oath far from choice, he exclaimed- "Alexander Tardy, how are you? You have been a d-d long while in coming to see us-but who are these two, and where's Zeuleika?" Dead and buried," said Tardy, putting, his finger on his lip. "Well, I hope she likes her grave clothes," said Pepe, and he gave a wink towards Pedro as he spoke. Tardy came to the conclusion, in his own mind, that Pepe was a very observing pirate. The bustle of the entrance of Pepe and his fellow-pirates over, the coming of Tardy was explained to him, and he then proceeded to tell his own story. It was short. -The Tiger had been shipwrecked on the coast of South America about a month before, and all had perished but himself and his ten companions, who, through much difficulty and danger, had at last reached the pirate's cave. "But who cares, Manuel?" said Pepe, finish- ing his story; "'the Tiger was old, and here's Tardy with a new ship ready." It may well be supposed that there was now a regular revel in the Pirate's Cave. It was long since the shipwrecked pirates had enjoyed one, and they entered into it with a zest that amply made up for lost time. Even Tardy and Pedro trembled as ,they heard the wild voices and witnessed the mad actions that X *Tt THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 59 characterized the orgies of the Pirate's Cave. The brazen tri- pod was lighted, and like demons they danced around it, vary- ing the dance with drinking and singing, yells, curses, and insane shouts of laughter. The world without heard them not -secure in the bowels of the earth, the earthly spirits of evil were let loose. "Sing us the war-song of the Tiger!" exclaimed the pirate chief, raising himself on his elbows, and his whole frame quiver- ing with the excitement of the scene. Pepe commenced, and was immediately joined in the chorus by Sampson and the rest of the crew of the Tiger:- Ho! from our mast the black flag is streaming, Ho! on our deck the bright knives are gleaming; Ho! on our track a trim prize is sailing, Ho! on her deck all souls they are quailing. Hurrah! hurrah! for the black, black flag, Hurrah! for the gleaming knife; Hurrah! for wine, for blood, and for gold, Hurrah! for the Pirate's life. Boom! boom! 'tis our guns with smoke and flashing, Down, down in the sea there is a crashing; Gripe! gripe! fast by the prize we are clashing, Board! board! and on her decks we are dashing. Hurrah! hurrah! &c. Spare! spare! o'er the wave rings the wild cry, Stab! stab! the quarter of rovers is "Die!" Search! search! into each hole and corner pry,' Shout! shout! for the bright, bright gold meets the eye. Hurrah! hurrah! &c. With the last line'of the chorus there came a shriek from the couch of the pirate chief, that hushed even the noise of the pirates' revelry, and all eyes were turned towards Manuel. lie had half started from the couch, his eyes seemed starting from their sockets, his lips moved as if he was trying to speak, but no sound came. The pirates looked aghast, for death was among them, in, to them, its most fearful shape-death according to the law of nature. The excitement of the revel had been too much for the pirate chief, and while yet the revellers were look- ing at him, confused and startled, the death rattle sounded in his throat, and he fell back a corpse. The silence of the cave was broken by Pepe exclaiming, "He's dead, and nothing is better than drinking to show our sorrow." And the revel went on. ' - page: 60-61[View Page 60-61] 60 ALEXANDER TARDY, CHAPTER X. The Burial of the Pirate Chief-The election of a new Captain -The Baptism of the Circe-Pirate Personalities-The Spanish Guard Ship. THE morning was far advanced, and all the revellers in the cave, withthe exception of Tardy and Pedro, lay scattered on the floor of the cavern chamber, breathing heavily in the deep slumber of intoxication. The dead body of the pirate chief, Manuel, was still stretched out, stark and ghastly on the couch where he had expired, and on it the eyes of Tardy and Pedro were fixed with a constant stare, as if they had been stricken dumb by the strange incidents of the scene that had transpired around them. Moments passed on, and the silence'of death, unbroken 'save by the breathings of the drunken pirates, reigned in the cave, until a slight tremor seemed to pass over the frame of Tardy, and he started from his seat, exclaiming: "Zeuleika, this is horrible; I cannot stand it. I can murder and witness the death-pang of the victim, without the shake of a fibre, but somehow this scene makes me feel queer; let's rouse these drunken brutes," and as he spoke he pulled a pistol from his belt and fired it over the heads of the sleepers. In an instant every man sprung to his feet, and grasped his knife. "A thousand devils!" shouted Pepe, "who fired, are we be- trayed?" and with flashing eyes he and his companions, now perfectly sobered, rushed towards Tardy. Tardy, however, betrayed no fear, but with an air of com- mand, that the pirates instinctively obeyed, he waved them back with the sweep of another pistol'which he presented, and, in a voic ringing clear above the clamor of tongues that now assailed him, he shouted in answer: . "Dornt be fools, you're not betrayed, I fired the pistol to wake yu, ,p .that you might bury your captain, and not let him lie there like a dead dog, while you slept like drunkei ones around 4him. Come, it is time to go to work, we hav'had enough of revel, and who is there that dares say to the con- trary?", There was something in the tone, manner, and look of Tardy, as he tius boldly spoke, that exerted, as if by some strange principle of animal magnetism, an instant influence over the. despeiate men around him. An universal cheer of approval was the answer that greeted him, while Pepe rushed to him, laid his hand on his shoulders, and turning to the pirates,said: "Comrades of the Black Flag, this is our man, I know it, our captain is dead, and the Tiger has gone to Davy Jones' locker. Here is Tardy with his ship, and he shall blour captain. In. -k THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 61 ' of his joining us, we'll join him. I am old, and resign my claim in his favor. He shall be our Chief; what say you?" "Aye! aye!" was the response from every mouth. "Then cross your knives over Manuel's body, and swear it.", Eleven knives (being those of Pepe and his ten companions) glittered in the light, and their points touched each. other over the body of the pirate chief, while the voices of their holders slowly pronounced the words, "We swear! we swear!" "And I swear," said Tardy, while his cheek flushed and his whole frame seemed to quiver with the excitement that the sudden movement of the pirates in his favor had: produced,. "and I swear to lead you to gold and to bitter revenge on the whole race of man who hold the like of you and me. in abhor- rence. Ravage and destroy is the watchword; and by all the powers of darkness, I swear, over 'your dead captain's body, I will always be the first to set the example," and oh the breast of the dead pirate chief Tardy laid his gleaming knife, and like the rest pronounced slowly and solemnly the words, "I swear! I swear!" "Give us your hand, Captain Tardy," said Pepe, holding out his own huge and knotted palm, "you see I am a generous, whole-souled pirate, or I would never have given up my chance of being captain to such a stripling as you, but you are a trump. I said so ten years ago, and I say so now. Three cheers, bro- thers of the Black Flag, for our living captain, and then we'll bury the dead one. Hurrah!'" The cheers were given, and the pirates stood ready for the orders of their new captain. "Shall we bury him in the sea?" asked Tardy. "No," answered Pepe, "here in this cave which he discov- ered, and in its centre: beneath the tripod, and when we light it in the revel we'll remember the Chief of the Tiger." "Aye! aye!" shouted all in answer, and the new Chief bowed his head in acquiescence. The brazen tripod was removed, and the brawny arms of the pirates were soon busy in digging a grave in the centre of the cavern. The work did not take long, and was: performed in silence. When a deep' hole, into. which the Water oozed, had been dug, the body was lowered into it, and- the cavity filled up. "Even here," said Pepe, as he flattened the ground above the body of Manuel, "even here the waters of the ocean are his bed, and there let him rest, if a pirate dead or alive can rest, but put back the tripod, take a drink, and let us adjourn 'to the Dol- phin, for I'll be d-d-if I don't begin to feel solemn.? An hour afterwards the pirate's cave was in darkness, and all who had been a short time before within it, were on board of the Dolphin. ^ .* page: 62-63[View Page 62-63] WU4) vALEXANDER TARDY, "Dolphin no more," said Tardy, as he stood on the deck of the schooner, surrounded by his own crew, and by Pepe and his companions. "Her name shall henceforth be 'Circe,' in honor of the Goddess of Poison. Pedro, baptize her." Pedro advanced, broke a small vial over the schooner's bow, and threw a glittering knife after it into the sea. "She is baptized with poison and the knife!" exclaimed Tardy. I "She is baptized with poison and the knife!" answered all the pirate crew. The setting sun sunk red and fiery into the western horizon, and a shout like that of incarnate demons rose from the deck of the Circe, and floated out far over the waves beyond the pirate's cave. "Pepe," whispered Tardy, as he walked apart with the for- mer, "you have guessed Tightly with regard to Pedro, who is no other than Zeuleika, but I trust in your honor; there is 'honor among thieves' you know, and it is best-you understand me-that on board of the Circe Zeuleika should be known only as the man Pedro. She'll carry the character out well enough, never fear. I shall trust you, Pepe.' "Couldn't trust a better man," answered Pepe, "I am a irate of honor, although something of a devil; I've taken a huge fancy to you, and your secret will be safe with me; when do we sail?" "Day after to-morrow," replied Tardy, who immediately afterwards retired into the cabin, while Pepe, lighting a fragrant Havana, threw himself down on a coil of rope and amused him- self with watching the fantastic curls of smoke which he forced through his mouth and mutilated nose. It was a frightful look- ing face that was revealed at intervals, in startling distinctness behind the flashes of Pepe's segar, while he continued smoking. Even Courro stopped as he was passing, and hitching up his trowsers, gave a broad stare of wonder at the smoker. "Well, my Philadelphia recruit, what the d-1 are you look- ing at?" said Pepe, taking the segar from his mouth, an puff- ing a cloud of smoke directly in Courro's face. "' Weugh," exclaimed Courro. half strangled, "I was lookin at that tri-colored beauty mark of yours across your nose. have seen all sorts of faces in my time, but your mug beats the lot." "Signor Courro," said Pepe, blowing another full cloud to- wards the person he addressed, "you are about turning pirate, and therefore I won't, on the start, spoil your sport, but if you ever again indulge in your d-d remarks on the appearance of my face, I'll split you open with this little joker, as scientifically as you ever gutted a turkey when you were cook in the mer- chant service, so strike your colors and shr off, for I'm dan- THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 63 gerous ;" and the gash in Pepe's face became livid, as he laid his hand on his knife. Courro measured Pepe for an instant from head to foot, and coming to the conclusion that discretion was the better part of valor, moved off without making any reply. The morning broke bright and clear over the Circe, and all the forces on board were, at an early hour, mustered on deck. Tardy- made a speech, in which he laid down the laws which were to govern them in their adventures, and at its conclusion each pirate swore to obey the rules proposed. Tardy was eloquent. He had perfect command of the Spanish language, and his eloquence, joined with his personal appearance, and the deeds of daring which each one on board knew he had perform- ed, produced an enthusiasm on the part of those who had sworn to follow him, that promised well for the concentrated effect with which all their future enterprises would be conducted. "We sail to-morrow," said Tardy, at the close of his address, "and may fortune fill our sails, and bring us gold for our pockets, and victims for our/hate. Hurrah!" N6 further inci4ent occurred on board of the Circe during the day. Pepe and Tardy went on shore in the afternoon, sair that everything was right in the cave, secured the drawhridge in its place, and bid the pirate's retreat adieu, until necessity or inclination should bring them again to its shelter. When evening came, which it did with a favorable darkness, a part of the crew busied themselves in getting water from a spring not far distant, and filling the casks of the schooner. Another part, with black Sampson at their head, departed in a boat up a small stream, which emptied into the cove, and whose course inland was bordered by a thick forest. When they had followed the stream about a mile, they came to a low hut, tenanted apparent- ly only by one negro, but it was filled with fresh provisions and fruits, all of which the pirates, in two or three trips, conveyed safely to the schooner. By an understanding with some of his countrymen, black Sampson had procured them, to be brought to the hut the day before. It was late at night before the bus- iness of supplying the Circe with water and provision was com- pleted. The Circe sailed before daybreak next morning, and before night was gallantly ploughing her way over the waves, far out of sight of the land. "Pepe," said Tardy, as during the day he stood with that individual in the stern of the vessel, and with a glance took in the length, breadth, and all the deck appurtenances of the, schooner; "Pepe, the Circe is good enough as far as she goes; but you will observe that the few boarding-pikes which we brought from the cave, the weapons at our girdles, and' those two small swivelyonder, are all that we have to grapple with page: 64-65 (Illustration) [View Page 64-65 (Illustration) ] " ALEXANDER TARDY, larger ships and whole rows of long guns. It strikes me, Pepe, that the sooner we get possession of something more fit for war than the schooner Cirte, the better. And we went more men. We are only seventeen men, all told." "The chance will come, or I know nothing of pirate life," was Pepe's consoling answer. The chance did come sooner than either expected. Two days after the sailing of the Circe, she reached the southern shore of Cuba; and came to anchor between the main * land and'a little island not more than a half mile distant. It was nightfall when her anchor was cast; but, before the dark- ness had fully set in, a sail was descried on the sea by Tardy, who handed his glass to Pepe and asked his opinion. Pepe took an attentive survey for some moments, and returning the glass, said- "Captain, there is a chance ahead; that's a small Spanish guard ship. She does not see us; if she does she may fire and be d-d; she cannot do us much damage, lying as we do be- hind this snug little island. My advice is, that we wait until midnight, get in our two boats, and board that same guard ship. It is rather a desperate game, but she's not very, big, has not more than twenty men on board, and, once on the deck, d-n their guns, we can manage with the pistol and the knife.2!' There was no fear in Tardy's composition, and calling the. men together, he told them of Pepe's proposition, and said if they were willing to go, he was willing to lead. A simuitaneous drawing of knives was the affirmative answer that,he received, and all were soon busy in making preparations. . The vessel on which Tardy and his pirate crew nowV -di- tajted their bold attack, was, as Pepe had pronounced her to be, no other than a Spanish guarda de costa. She was a low, straight schooner, of about a hundred and fifty tons burden- was mounted with two long .brass twelve-pounders, and a large: gun on a pivot amidships. Her complement of men was only thirty, and' they, with their captain, seemed by no means wide awake to their duty. On this night in particular, they came to anchor, as we have seen, within sight of the Circe, but, strange to say, neither captain nor crew took any pains to look around them. It was unfortunate for them, and fortunate for Tardy: and his men, that they did not. At midnight the sleeping men of the Spanish guard ship were :," :awakened by a yell on their decks, as if a shoal of demons had v leaped upon them from the sea. The boarding of the Spaniard had been accomplished without difficulty, and once on the deck, it became a hand to hand battle, in which the desperation of the pirates was almost sure to gain the victory. The contest was short. As the Spanish Captain rushed from his cabin and shouted to his men not to yield, a blow from. Pepe laid him life- 'Ail 'HE FAMOUS PIRATE- OF THE WEST INDIES. 8 page: 66-67[View Page 66-67] " THEi FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. less at the threshold of the companion-way, and struck a panic to the hearts of the crew. They immediately threw down their arms and cried for quarter. The answer was, " will you join us?"About ten of the thirty expressed their willingness, and their lives were saved. The rest were mercilessly butchered and cast into the sea. By the capture of the Spanish guard ship, Tardy was put into possession of a well-armed vessel, and the light of the next morning beheld the Circe scuttled and sunk, and Tardy and his pirates sailing on the sea in their new prize. All on board were in good spirits, and the soul of Tardy swelled within him-as he trod the deck of the new Circe and found how well she answer- ed all his wishes. CHAPTER XI. The Calm of the Sea and the Pirate's Carouse-Th7e Transfixed Hand and the Bloody Card-Death by Poison, Fire, and the Knife. THE Spanish guarda de costa, thus successfully taken by the bold manceuvre of Tardy and his crew, and now converted by them into the new Circe, destined to carry terror over the sea, did not sail long on the morning after her capture by the pirat- ical band. A dead calm fell upon the ocean, and all further progress of the Circe, for that :day at least, seemed stopped. The pirates were not sorry: Exhausted by the effort .and ex- citement of the previous night, the demands of nature for repose were pressing upon them with a force not to be resisted, and this opportunity, therefore, for a good nap, when the ship would not require much attention, was exceedingly welcome. Sound and deep the pirates slept in the calm of the ocean, and the eyes of Tardy and Pedro alone were wakeful. For them the excitement had as yet no calm in their breasts, and the delirious joy of a first triumph of success in the path for which their souls had so long yearned, was as yet in the wild whirl of that raging fire of the spirit which seems to burn out from the body all ideas of rest. Master now of a strong, good- sized and swift sailing vessel, well appointed with cannon and arms of all kinds, and commander of about forty athletic. and desperate men, a vista of the future opened before Tardy, in the contemplation of which his soul revelled to intoxication. So it was also with Tardy's companion, Zeuleika, who, in the cha- racter of the man Pedro, sat beside him, and both, gazing with gleaming eyes, now on the sleeping pirates and warlike ap- pointments of the ship, and now out on the wide sea, gave 4l THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 67 themselves up, in silence, to a sort of mental riot in a coming life of lawlessness and outrage that rolled before them in a se- ductive picture, of which the black spirit of evil was at once the painter and exhibitor. Years before, when looking from the beetlingedge of the Pirate's Cliff out on the broad ocean, the same vision had passed over the face of the waters. Then it was all imagination, but now, they stood on a footline of reality, which they had reached with hands stained with crime and blood, and from which the vision of the Pirate's Cliff now rose up in more palpable shape, with all the steps, over which they were to mount, developed, as it were, in the blaze of a glowing fire. Hours passed on, and the pirate crew still slept in the .calm of the ocean, while their chief and his mistress, awake on the deck, rode on the whirling winds of thick chasing fancies that came blowing fiercely from the shores of the lower world. Night descended, and still the sea was smooth, the air had no sound, and the regular. lappings of the water against the sides of the Circe were the only music which accompanied the setting sun to his ocean bed. "Halloo! ye pirate devils!" shouted Pepe, as he sprang to his feet, "wake up and let's have a carouse," and as he spoke he gave Black Sampson, who lay stretched out near at hand, such a vigorous kick that it brought that worthy on his feet also, with a yell of rage that completely awakened the rest of the crew. "There, put up your knife, Sampson," said Pepe, with a loud laugh, as the negro drew his blade and looked fiercely around to strike the man who offered the indignity to his shins. "Put up your knife, Sampson, I was the man who kicked you, and it is of no use for you to fight me," and Pepe accompanied his words with a significant tap on the handle of his own weapon. The negro glared a moment furiously at the speaker, and then sheathed his blade as if he had come to the conclusion that Pepe was right. An hour afterwards the cabin of the Circe was in a blaze of light, and both there and on the deck the pirates-were in the height of a mad revel. "Courro," yelled Pepe, in the cabin, where with that indi- vidual, Tardy and others, he was drinking and playing cards, "Courrd, you're cheating. You've got a foul wind playing about your topmast, and one sail too many flying from your main yard, which I'll take in so," and leaning over he drove his knife clean through Courro's hand into the table. Screaming with th6 sharp agony of the pain, Courro tore away his hand, leaving the glittering blade transfixed in a bloody card. At this damning'proof, the grasp of the pirates, which had been on their weapons,' were instantly withdrawn; while Courro, with a vain effort to rush on Pepe, sunk fainting to the floor. X page: 68-69[View Page 68-69] 68 ALEXANDER TARDY, "Sampson," said Pepe, as he again carelessly shuffled the pack of cards, " take care of him, and when he comes to, look out or he'll be shooting some one." The negro grinned horribly as he bent to pick. up Courro, who at that moment recovering himself, started to his feet and made another rush towards Pepe. But the grasp of the negro held him as in a vice, and bore him away. "Easy, easy, now," said the black giant to the struggling Courro, " or d-n me if I don't strap you to the long gun whilst I doctor you." But Courro would not be easy, and the negro kept his word. Calling fior a rope, which was soon brought to him by willing hands, he bound his patient on the long gun amid-ships, and very composedly, by the light of the moon, and with the drunken pirates yelling around him, and evidently enjoying the scene, he proceeded to diess the wounded haned. In the meantime Tardy interfered not or spoke a word. He knew the character of the men with whom he had to deal, and beside, he also en- joyed the fierce barbarity of Pepe's administration of justice. Night melted into morning, and the shouts and songs of the carousing pirates, mingled with the imprecations of Courro, as he lay stretched on his iron bed, formed the music that wel- comed the rising sun to the bosom of the ocean; over which the calm of waters was still brooding. Another day of sleep and inactivity among the rovers of the sea passed on, but with the evening came a stiff breeze, and the sails of the Circe, with a cheer and a shout, were given to the winds. A few days afterwards, the Circe, with Spanish colors flying, ran within hail of Moro Castle, and either escaped ob- servation or deceived it into the belief that all was right, as no notice was taken of her. "Sail ahead!" cried black Sampson, from the mast-head, on the day succeeding the passing of Moro Castle. The eye of Tardy lighted with satisfaction as he heard the welcome sound. All hands were immediately called up to prepare for the attack, pnd the savage joy of the clief was shared by all the pirate crew. Even Courro, who had been released from his uneasy bed, forgot, for a moment, his hatred of Pepe, and, with a shout as loud as the rest, he waved his maimed hand aloft, and with the other gasped his cutlass. All was now bustle and activity on board the Circe. While Pepe was busily engaged in superintending the clearing of the decks and the arming of the men, Tardy walked hastily up and down, alternately turning in his mind the plan of attack, and recon- noitering the strange sail through his telescope. "Can you make her out, Pepe," he said as he handed the glass to the old rover. Pepe put the glass to his eye, and resting the end of the TIlE FAMOIrS PIRATE OF TIIE;'-EST INDIES. 69 instrument that covered that organ, in the deep crease of the frightful gash across his face, he gave a long and scrutinizing look. The examination was evidently satisfactory, for lie hand- ed the glass back to Tardy, saying : "She's from the United States, 11ll bet-a trim, well built trader, with something worth while inside of her to look after. It's my belief she sees us, for she is sailing like the devil away from us." "Pepe, I hope she is from Philadelphia; I feel as if I should like to practice my hand on some of the 'shad bellies.'" The prize in view was about two leagues distant, and. every stitch of canvass that the Circe could carry, being squared to the breeze, the latter vessel jumped gallantly before the wind, in chase of her plunder. While the pursuer is on the track, we will change the scene to the deck of the pursued. The "' Hannah," which was the name of the vessel to which the pirates were now giving chase, was a large merchant vessel from Philadelphia, engaged in the Havana trade, and was heavily loaded with sugar, besides having a valuable consign- ment of segars, and $10,000 in specie on board. Her crew, for a merchant ship, was a strong one, consisting of ten or twelve men, beside the captain and mate. Neither was she un- provided with arms, having a supply of guns and swords, and two small swivels. It was a time when the pirates of the West Indies preyed extensively on commerce, and such precautions were not unfrequent. The owner of the ship, a Mr. Clark, of Philadelphia, was also on board, together with his daughter, a lovely young girl of eighteen years of age. Mr. Clark hinmself was a man of commanding appearance, with hair as white as snow, and although h h had seen sixty winters, his step was as elastic and his spirit as buoyant as in the days of his youth. The delicate health of his daughter had induced him to take her on a trip firom the colder breezes of Philadelphia to the more genial skies of Cuba. They had spent some time on that island, and the bloom of the rose having once more returned to the cheek of the daughter, both father and child were now returning home. On the morning when the "Hannah " was descried, as we have seen, by the pirate ship Circe, Mr. Clark and his daughter had after breakfast taken a seat on the deck, and were talking of the pleasure they anticipated in once more reaching their home and rejoining 'their friends. Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by the cry of ' a sail," and the captain soon afterwards came aft and informed Mr. Clark that as near as He could discover, tihe ship in sight was, to say the least of it, suspicious looking in appearance. The Philadelphia merchant was a man of brave and strong nerve; he feared not for him- page: 70-71[View Page 70-71] 70 ALtXANDER TARDY,. self, but for the frail and trembling being who clung to him with a wild and frantic look as the captain expressed his opinion of the strange craft in sight. "You mean," Captain, said Mr. Clark, in a voice tremulous with emotion, as he drew his daughter closer to him, " that you think a pirate is in, our wake.'" "I do," answered the captain, "and would advise that we crowd all sail to get out of her way, and trust to Heaven; but if we are taken to fight till the last." "Such is my opinion," returned the merchant, and the hoarse voice of the captain was immediately heard in giving the neces- sary orders. Fainting and insensible, Miss Ciark was borne to the cabin, and given to ths care of her attendants, while the merchant and the captain gave fresh courage to the crew by the example of bravery and energetic action which they set, in arming and preparing themselves for the worst. We now turn once more to the pirate's deck. The chase had now fairly set in, and although the "Hannah" carried a heavy press of canvass, and walked the waters brave- ly, the Circe steadily gained on her. The silence of expec- tation, wrought up to its highest point of intensity, reigned on the deck of the Circe, as the pirates, with their hands on their weapons, bent forward with strained eyeballs, watching the movements of their victim. On one side of the long gun, amidships, stood Pepe with his cutlass drawn, and the gash in his cheek deepened into a more purple hue. On the other side stood Black Sampson, with a lighted match. in his hand, and the iron muscles of his black and shining frame swelling larger and larger as he kept his eyes intently fixed, as if waiting for the order, on Tardy, who was standing a little in front, looking through his glass. At length the latter stamped his foot and shouted, ' Run up the black flag and let the-long gun speak." The dark folds of the one in an instant unrolled to the breeze, while a flash ascended from the other. The shot, however, fell short of its mark, and the "Hannah " held on her way with- out signifying any intention of heaving to, in answer to the fearful summons. Tardy then ordered the gun to be loaded with cannister shot, and he himself took the match in his hand, The Circe was now fast narrowing the distance between her- self and the Hannah to a measure frightfully short to those on board of the latter. "Rake her mast, if possible," said the captain of the Hannah to his man at the swivel, and we may yet be saved." The shot of the Hannah flew harmless over the low gunwale of the Circe. "That's the way you heave to at the summons of the black flag, is it?" said Tardy, while his thin lips quivered with rage; THE' FAMOUS PIRATE OF TtHE WEST INDIES, ;1 'Pthen you shall feel the teeth that bite beneath it'"As he spoke, he applied the match, and the vessels being now within three hundred yards of each other, the carnage which the can- nister shot scattered on the deck of the Hannah was fearful, Half of the ill-fated crew were either killed or wounded.' A few moments afterwards the two vessels grappled, and on the deck of the merchant ship the pirate crew poured with fury, The slaughter of the cutlass now commenced, and when every man on board of the Hannah, with the exception of the cap, tain and Mr. Clark, had been barbarously butchered, Tardy gave the order to stop, and for these two persons to stand be. fore him. At the same moment Miss Clark was dragged shriek- ing from the cabin by Pedro, and was made to form the third one of the group that the pirate chief now confronted with .a cold and deadly eye, in which the wretched victims read plainly their doom. Who are you?" said Tardy, addressing Mr. Clark; "speak, and speak quick." The old 'man looked calmly and unflinchingly in the face of Tardy, and answered, giving his-name and place of residence, and then continued-"Take all in the ship, and if there is a spark of human feeling in you, let us then depart in peace ; but if not kill me, kill us all at once, rather than this my child should be delivered up to a fate worse than death." "From Philadelphia, hey!' screamed rather than answered Tardy, as the old man ceased to speak; " from Philadelphia-- and you ask for mercy either for man or woman; well, then, know that I am Alexander Tardy, the pirate, and that I have been in Philadelphia, and that the stripes of the prison lash still burn into my flesh. Mercy, indeed! it makes me laugh, Here, Pepe, take the old tnan and his daughter on board the Circe, and you, Sampson, attend to the captain on board of his own ship." And Tardy whispered into ths negro's ear some order that caused him to part his thick lips with a frightful grin. In the meantime the Hannah had been' searched and the specie found. This was immediately taken to the Circef and the segars followed. The sugar was not disturbed, for it was plunder of a bulky sort that the pirates then did not care to be troubled 'with. Bound to the mast of the Circe, Mr. Clark resigned himself to his fate with all the fortitude he was able, although a pro- longed shriek from the cabin told him plainly the awful fate that was befalling his daughter in the hands of the pirate crew, and his soul shuddered as he listened. Tardy watched him, and seemed to gloat over his agony. "The end has not come yet," said Tardy: "Ho, there, bring up the girl; the law of the pirate has been fulfilled for the crew -now it is my turn," page: 72-73[View Page 72-73] 3?2! ALEXANDER TARDY, Half dead, the wtetched girl was again dragged on deck, and a cup containing a dark colored liquid was given her to drink by Tardy himself. She drank it eagerly, for the fever of death was already on her. But it was the deadly draught of poison, and the death which would have come to her far more easily, was by the refined cruelty of Tardy turned to one of torture. The poison was slow in its operation, and racked the lovely form of the maiden with fierce convulsions. The father was compelled to look on the awful sight, and in the intensity of his agony he called on Heaven to strike the fiend, who gloated over the scene, dead with its thunderbolt. But Heaven received the soul of the maiden, and reserved its lightning for Tardy, while the father bowed his head and prayed that his own death might soon come. "Look again, old man," yelled Tardy, "and you, Sampson, help him." With a rude jerk, the negro turned the face of Mr. Clark to- wards the "Hannah," and pulled the eyelids open which Mr. Clark in vain endeavored to close. ' Another fearful sight met his gaze. The "Hannah" had been parted from the Circe, and had drifted off to a considerable distance. A fire was creeping around her mainmast, and the flames enveloped the whole ship, licking, like so many forked tongues, the masts and rigging, and revealing in startling distinctness the body of the captain bound to the very mast head, where he writhed in the heat of the fur- nace below, which was roasting him alive ere the flames could reach him to put an end to his sufferings. At length the charred body dropped into the grave of fire, and a short time afterwards a few blackened timbers, floating on the sea, were all that were left of the "Hannah."' A blow of Sampson's knife ended the sufferings of Mr. Clark, and the curtain oftlight fell dark on the pitate ship as she plow- ed her way througn the sea. CHAPTER XI1. The Storm -The craft Charity and the Mate with the Cauli- flower Nose-The Prize Fight on board the Circe and the Victory by Shins. -As the night advanced the skies grew blacker, and long before morning, one of those terrific thunder storms peculiar to the tropics, raged in all its fury over the bosom of the ocean. It seemed as if the demons of the air, let loose, were howling over the wide waste of waters where the fiery thunderbolts of heaven were lashing them into madness. And the Circe in her TIlE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 73 storm dress of close reefed topsails, tossed wildly on the sea; now quivering for an instant in the black and yawning'troughs of the waves, and now rising safely on their crests, with the forked lightning playing about her masts and rigging, and illu. mining the seething ocean before and around her until it flash- ed in the light like a vast succession of rolling ridges of burning phosphorus. The pirates on the deck of the Circe were hushed into someting like awe by the terrors of the storm, and for a ti the curse was changed by many of them, strange as it may s , into a devout crossing of their breasts and a muttered prayer to the Virgin, as they addressed themselves steadily to the working of the ship. Tardy was cool and collected, and his voice, in issuing his orders, rung loud and clear in the pauses of the storm. While many a gallant ship, manned by honest men and freighted with rich cargoes, collected by the hands of honest industry, sunk that night to the bottom of the ocean, or were cast stranded and wrecked on rock bound coasts, the Circe with her demon crew and ill-gotten plunder, rode safely through the storm. With the light of the morning the violence of the tempest passed away, and the Circe, with her sails all set, held bravely on her course. The first occupation of pleasure with which the pirates busied themselves after the subsiding of the storm, was the division of the ten thousand dollars in specie that had been taken from the Hannah. This was performed according to a settled law1 and with the greatest order. The specie was duly paraded on deck and divided into three shares. The first share of two thousand dollars was taken by Tardy and Pedro, the second of a similar amount by Pepe and Courro, and the remainder of six thousand was divided equally among the crew. The division occupied some time, but when once made the specie disappeared in an inconceivably short period-each one taking off his share to some secret corner as fast as he. could. The usual carouse attendant on success followed, and rum, wine and 'brandy reign- ed supreme on board of the Circe during the following night. A few days after the capture of the Hannah, as before nar- rated, a queer little craft, with the "Charity " painted in flaming letters on her stern, was tumbling and pitching in the sea, not far from the coast of Florida. The Charty was not much larger than a good size fishing smack, but was built on that approved Dutch model which, although admirably calculated to'buffet the waves with safety, was not peculiarly fitted to ride upon. them with any degree of speed. - The Charity, however, Was slow and sure, although it seemed a hazardous venture to tempt in her the dangers of the sea. But Captain Israel Todd, her master, was a venturesome man, especially when a little spe- culation was on hand, and gathering together some few Yankee notions, Israel had lett the port of Boston and trusted himself in page: 74-75[View Page 74-75] 74 ALEXANDER TARDY, the Charity to reach the port of Havana, where he intended to drive, if possible, a little trade. Captain Israel Todd when he left the city of the Puritans did not crowd his craft with any unnecessary hands or mouths. Two men beside himself and; a boy of about fifteen years of age, were all the souls on board of the Charity. Of the men only one requires particular men- tion. He was a man really about forty years of age, but to judge by his appearance he might have been taken for sixty. His face was a ser i' of wiry wrinkles, flamingly red in their color, and adorned in their midst with a lump of flesh mad( o answer for a nose, but which seemed more like a diminutive :cauliflower of a purple hue and in full bloom. His hair was matted and grizzly, his eyes small, grey and watery. His dress consisted of a very dirty pair of duck trousers, confined to the waist, where they met a greasy red shirt, by a broad leathern belt. The name of this individual was Ben Merritt, and Ben 'Merritt was the mate of the Chalrity. Ben was in fact an old worn out sailor, and had lond contented himself with coasting up and down Long Island Sound with Captain Todd, to which latitude the voyages of the Charity had been confined previous to her great trip to the West Indies. The voyage of the Charity to Havana had been made with- out accident, her cargo of notions had been disposed of to great advantage by Captain Israel Todd, and she was now, when we meet with her, making her way homeward to Boston. The sky was clear, a stiff breeze was blowing, and as we said before, the Charity was pitching forward on her path like a tub in the sea. - Ben was at the helm, and Captain Israel was seated on a barrel, regaling himself with a stiff northeaster of Jamaica rum. The temperance society had not yet reached the deck of the Charity. "Luff, darn ye, luff, don't you see, Ben Merritt, where you are going," exclained Captain Israel, as with his glass raised to his mouth he happened to glance over at Ben at the helm. That latter individual's eyes were certainly more watery than usual, the purple on his cauliflower was deeper, and it was evident that Jamaica was in him, although he had never been in that delightful island. Ben roused himself up at the voice of his captain, and with a contemptuous scowl answered: "Captain Israel, you see as how you are Captain of this ship," and Ben laid particular stress on the word ship, at the same time taking a scornful survey of the easily to be surveyed deck, masts, spars and rigging, "and have a right to command, but you'll allow me to say, scientifically speak-hic-ing, you're not much better than a land-lubber after all. Luff indeed! When I was on board the brig Warren in the East India trade, in the year..- ( There, Ben, shut up your jaw, for as soon as you begin that THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. Vt eternal story about the Warren in the East India trade, and your sailor knowledge on board, there is no end to it. All you have got to do, Ben, when I say luff, is to luff and be darned to you; therefore luff now," and Captain Israel Todd tossed the remainder of his glass down his throat, while Ben luffed accord- ing to order. There was a silence of some minutes between the captain and his mate, which was at length broken by the former ex- claiming - "Ben, I swan to man, I love the Charity, every nail and plank in her. I have always been successful in her from the time I took a cargo of Wethersfield onions to the port of New York up to this ere present moment, when we are returning with a pretty considerable handsome pocketful of the raal yellow shin- ers that we got from the yellow-faced, whiskered Spaniards, who by this time, I take it, Ben, have a pretty considerable no- tion of the Yankee notions we left behind. Now, Ben Merritt, I'm a leetle superstitious, and it's my belief that the success of the Charity is owing to her name. I called her Charity, after' my old woman Charity Todd, and you know, Ben, she's a 'regu- lar stunner. When she squares her yards to the breeze, I'll be darned, Ben, if she don't go ahead and no mistake. Just like' her, this ere craft has always gone ahead, and Captain Israel Todd has made money by her." "You see as how," answered Ben, now entirely softened in his humor by the confidential discourse of his captain, " you see as how the Charity is a very good craft of its kind; but when 1- was on board of the Warren in the East India trade, in the year---bat halloo, Captain Israel Todd, there's a d-d queer- looking sail on our larboard bow,-just get that glass of youms' and give her a twig." Captain Israel, at this abrupt termination of Ben's intermin- able story of the Warren in the East India trade, jumped from his seat on the barrel and hastened into the cabin, from which he soon emerged, bearing in his hand a spy-glass of enormous dimensions, whose brass mountings were entirely obscured'in their brightness by a bluish mildew which betokened that Cap- tain Israel had very rarely made use of that instrument to carry on his survey of the waters. Resting the glass on the top-of the green little box that formed the covering to the Charity's com- panion-way, Capt. Israel steadied himself to take a grand survey' of the approaching sail. "Consarn the pesky thing, Ben," he exclaimed, as he screw- ed his eyes in all manner of shapes to take what he called a good look, "consarn the pesky thing, Ben, I can't see nothing." "In c6urse you can't," answered Ben, with great composure; as he gave the tiller a turn, "for the glass in that ere same in- strument has been broke ever since we run that cargo of shin- gles out of Portland harbor." page: 76-77[View Page 76-77] 76E ALEXANDER TARDY, "Right, by gum," returned Captain Israel, "and I guess I'll trust to my nat'ral blinkers." The captain, Ben, and the two remaining individuals of the Clarity's crew, now strained their vision across the waters in order to make out the character of the strange sail. They were not long in doubt. The advancing ship made rapid progress towards them, and soon her low, black hull and raking masts stood clearly revealed. "Darn me, Ben, if she isn't a pirate; jest look at that bl bunting they are running up. It's my belief that our time hs come, and that the Charity is as good as gone, but Israel Todd is a man, and although he may be killed, he isn't to be skeered. Ben, if we have got to walk the plank, we'll do it like men, with a prayer to Heaven to have mercy on ourselves and to take oare of old Charity Todd, who will be made a widow." It was true, as Captain Israel had said, that the advancing vessel was a pirate, and was no other than the Circe, command- ed by Alexander Tardy. Tardy himself had been the first to discover the Charity, and had called the attention of Pedro and Pepe to it. As they neared the Charity, and her size and cha- racter became distinct and plain, Tardy turned to Pepe, and said, with a laugh: "There is no use for us to get ready for action here, but we can have a little fun. Send a shot across her bow, Sampson, and let's see what the Dutch craft will say to it." The shot was sent, but the Charity kept on her way, as if nothing had happened to impede her course. "Well, I like the fellow's indifference," said Tardy, as he wit- nessed the futile effect of his shot, " and there's more, fun ahead than I thought for." Nearer and nearer the vessels approached each other, and the Circe was now within hail of the Charity. "Ahoy, there," shouted Tardy, "who are you, and wherl from?" "The Charity, from. Bosting, Israel Todd, captain, and no- thing of a cargo worth the while of pirates rummaging after," answered Captain Israel, leaning over the side of his vessel. "Heave to, then, and we will come and see," returned Tardy. "Sartingly," answered Captain Israel, without the slightest quiver of his muscles. "Sartingly, seeing as how, we can't help it." Tardy, Pedro, Pepe, Courro and Sampson soon stood on the deck of the Charity. "Have you got any money?" asked Tardy of Captain Todd, who stood erect before him. "A leetle bit, seeing that there's no use in lying just before walking the plank, and I reckon we've got to walk it, for that's THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 71 the way, I have always hearn tell, the pirates do it. So, Mr. Pirate Captain, take the Charity and all in her, and bring out your plank; we four, from the port of Bosting are willing to walk it, seeing as how we can't help it, but we're Christians, Mr. Pirate, and not cut-throats, and do not fear to die; aint we, Ben, and you, my boys, Jim and Joe?" The two latter nodded an affirmative, and taking their cue of courage from their brave-hearted, but homespun Captain, braced themselves up to meet their fate, not deigning to ask for the quarter, for which, from all the stories they had heard of pirates, they firmly believed it was useless to supplicate. As for Ben, he gave his trousers a hitch, and answered: "Captain, I'm an honest man and am ready to follow you, and I remember a circumstance when I was on board the Warren in the East India trade- " "Ben," said Captain Israel turning a moistened eye on his faithful mate, "I rather guess your story of the Warren in the East India trade has come to an end, and that there's not much time to tell it over again now. Come, Mr. Pirate Captain, and you fellow there with the ugly gash across your mug, we're ready." Tardy and his pirate crew were taken somewhat aback by the coolness of the three men and the boys before them. The whole thing was a variety in pirate life that struck them strange- ly, and turned, as it seemed in the end, by a mysterious in- fluence, their thirst for blood aside. "Search the vessel," commanded Tardy, "and then we'll decide what's to be done with the crew." Hereupon black Sampson gave one of his demoniac grins, which Captain Todd was not slow to perceive and slightly shudder at. "Snowhall, as we call niggers in the State of Massachusetts, I calculate that your laugh on this occasion is-unseasonable-; if you want to stab, why stab, but don't laugh when you do it, that's horrid." Tardy himself could not help laughing at this speech of Cap- tain Israel, and all the pirates laughed but Sampson, who'put his hand on his knife and was in the act of drawing it, when Tardy commanded him to hold, saying at the same time with a rather equivocal expression that Sampson should have a chance at Captain Israel " all in good time." The vessel was searched, and to the surprise of Tardy and the pirates, some two thousand dollars in specie was the fruit of the search. "Captain Israel Todd," said Tardy, "the Charity has turned out so much more charitable in the way of money than we expected; we will vary from our general rule by way of variety,' and let you and your large crew live. There is, however, one page: 78-79[View Page 78-79] ag7oS ALEXANDER TARDY, condition, and that is, that as Sampson there has a sort of claim on you for the appellation wherewith you were pleased to ad- dress him, you must therefore fight him without weapons-take a regular set-to-and if you beat him, you and yours are free. But you must go on board of the Circe and let my crew see the fun. It's a dull life we lead, Captain Todd, and we want a little sport now and then." The specie, Captain Todd and his crew, were soon transferred on board of the Circe, which by this time had come up along- side of the Charity, and grappled with her. The ring was formed, and the negro and the Boston captain, divested of all weapons, stepped forward to the fight. The pirates around yelled and shouted with satisfaction, and amid the din of these demons of the sea the battle commenced. The captain was as brawny and as muscular as the negro, and it was a pretty even match of strength. The negro struck out his blows scientifi- tally, and the captain dodged them, and returned them in as equally a scientific manner. The claret flowed from the nose of the negro, and the features of the captain soon exhibited a somewhat battered appearance. The pirates, excited, bet oi each according to their fancy, and the deck of the Circe pre- sented a pretty fair specimen of a regular prize fight at sea. Round after round was fought, and while Courro played bottle holder to Black Sampson, Pepe performed the same office for Captain Todd. "I rather guess," exclaimed Captain Israel, as he came stag- -gering up in the last round, "that I might as well put an end to this piratical fight, so here goes," and with the word, watching his opportunity, he gave the negro a kick on the shins that laid -him flat." "Foul, foul," yelled the negro springing up a moment after- wards, "kill him, stab him, throw him overboard." "Foul, is it, Snowhall? Well, it's enough to make a horse laugh to hear a pirate talk of foul play, on board of his own ship; but, however, foul or not, I suppose I 'must walk the plank; so,-Captain, get it ready." "No," answered Tardy, with firmness, and looking around on the pirates as if his will was not to be questioned, "get on -board your own craft, and,clear for Boston; 1 give you your clearance, and you may tell the Selectmen of that moral town, that Alexander Tardy, of whom they perhaps have heard,'sent :you back safe and sound, with his compliments." An hour afterwards the Charity was again pitching forward in her homeward path to Boston, where she duly arrived, and where Captain Todd found a hearty welcome from his good wife, Charity, although the loss of the dollars was a sore spot i: ,both their memoirs. As for Beh, he sunk at once the Warren ,.and the East India trade, and ever afterwards prefaced his THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 79 stories on nautical matters with "when I was on board the Charity in the West India trade in the year 18-, when Alex- ander Tardy, the pirate-," Captain Todd always continued to stop him at that point. CHAPTER XIII. An Excursion to the Pacific-The Battle Cup of Fire and the Pirate's Toast--The Fight and the Stratagem-The Priest and the Pirate. ON the morning after the encounter with the craft Charity, from Boston, there was a consultation among the pirates on board the Circe, as to the course the ship should next take. The opinions were various-some were for cruising longer in the latitudes where the vessel was now sailing-others for ex- tending their course to the coast of Guinea. While the confu- sion of tongues, occasioned by the clash of opinions was at its height, Tardy, who had for some time been an attentive listener, suddenly waved his hand with the air of command habitual to him, and exclaimed: "Hold up, brother rovers of the sea, your infernal din for a moment, and let me speak. What say you to a passage round the Horn to the rich and lovely shores and islands, the soft. skies and the calm waters of the Pacific. A little trip on the track of the old Buccaneers, although it may be more danger- ous, may turn out as pleasant and profitable now as it did when old Morgan or Davis ravaged the South American coast-and, besides, these waters will soon be rather a hot atmosphere for us. We have played a few games here lately that will be heard of before long, and the different government vessels will be. amusing themselves in chase after us. Let's give them the slip, and let them take their trouble for their pains,; and, when they get a little over the fever of their hunt, and begin to think we're gone for good, why then we'll come back and give these waters another scouring. What say you? Are ydu for South America and the Pacific. Pedro, Pepe, and Courro are all of my opinion. Is there any one here against it?" The proposition of Tardy seemed at once to. catch the fancy of the pirate crew, and a hearty aye! aye! was shouted by each throat in such an emphatic manner, that Tardy had no difficulty in discovering that his motion was carried without a dissenting voice. The consultation therefore was at once bror ken up, and the course of the ship was changed. Not many days afterwards the Circe anchored in the cove of the pirate's, cave at St. Domingo. The object of so soon again visiting this page: 80-81[View Page 80-81] 80 ALEXANDER TARDY, spot was to water and provision, and also to refit the vessel for the more extended voyage now in prospect, and to accomplish this the pirate's cove was thought by Tardy and Pepe to be the best place. From St. Domingo the Circe steered directly for Cape Horn, which she made without meeting with any par- ticular incident. The passage round the Cape was rough and stormy, but the Circe bravely weathered the gale, and in two t months from the time of leaving St. Domingo, she was sailing on the bosom of the broad Pacific, not far from the northern part of the coast of Chili. Day was just breaking over the coast. The pirate crew, with the exception of Pepe and Tardy, were wrapped in the arms of' deep sleep. Tardy and Pepe paced the deck and looked anxi- ously over the face of the waters. "Pepe," said Tardy, at length, "this is getting to be rather dull work. I wonder what has become of all the rich prizes for which this famous South Sea is so celebrated? Not one has yet gladdened our eyes. We have been sailing here some days, and nothing but two small craft, hardly worth running after, has crossed our path. 'Tis true, we got a little water and some provisions from these; but they were bare of gold. Pepe, I'm getting tired of it. We'll have to run on shore for a Buccaneering expedition, to vary the monotony of the: thing." Pepe gave his arms a stretch, as if he felt their stiffness from long disuse, and answered: "' Right, captain, I'm d-d tired too." At this moment, the look-out on!the main topsail yard shouted-"Sail ho!" and the glass of Tardy was at his eye in an instant. The God of luck be thanked, Pepe, there's a sail ahead, sure enough, and as near as I can make out, I think it is something worth a fight for." The shout of " a sail," had operated like magic on the sleep- ing pirates; and, even while Tardy was yet speaking, they came rushing on deck to see what fortune was sending in their way. "Clear the decks and get ready for action," was the com- mand of Tardy, and every man sprang to obey it with an ala- crity that would have done credit to any man-of-war that ever sailed the ocean. Black Sampson, as he busied himself about the long gun, gave a series of grins that were far from amiable. The gash on Pepe's cheek deepened as usual into a more livid color as the anticipation of the coming attack stirred up the black wells of his ferocity, and there was a gleam in the eyes of Pedro exceeded only in its snake-like glitter by that which lighted up those of Tardy, as he rapidly issued his orders. As the sun rose above the horizon, shaking his dripping locks TIE FAMOUS PIRATE OP THE WEST INDIES. 81 in a shower of golden light far and wide over the waters, the character of the sail in view became distinctly visible to the sight of Tardy's glass. Twice our size, comrades," said he, turning to the crew, "and with more iron teeth to bite. Shall we fight or give her the heel? She looks ugly, but if we succeed she'll look hand- somer. I say fight, though her decks be crowded with guns and devils; what say you?" "Fight! fight!' was the answer, yelled in a savage shout of fury that told, that whatever was aboard of the other ship, there was no lack of devils on the deck of the Circe. "Then mix the fighting dram, Courro," said Tardy, "and pass it round. We are going to have warm work here, or I am mistaken." Courro was not long in obeying the order of the pirate chief. In a few moments an immense iron kettle, filled with liquor of his own concoction, was brought forward and placed on the deck amidships, while Courro himself, with a long silver ladle in one hand and a silver goblet in the other, took his station beside it as master of ceremonies. It was a strange contrast-the sil- ver cup and ladle and the iron kettle-but it was the contrast of the extremes of pirate plunder brought into the service of pirate life. Whatever was the nature of the contents of Cour- o's iron punch-bowl, the pirates regarded it with eager eyes, as if they well knew the charm 'of its taste and inspiration, and burned to experience both. There .was now, however, none of the disorder or confusion of the revel-no rushing forward with haste to clutch and drain the goblet that Courro already had filled and held extended in his h and. There was, on the con- trary, a dead silence on the deck, and each man stood like a statue at his post, waiting for the order, and anticipating it only with the wistful action of his eyes. "Rovers and comrades," said Tardy, taking the goblet from Courro's hand, " it is for me, as your chief, to drink first of this war-cup, which we drain only when the foe is double our force and we need the demon's fire-draught. Here, then, I drink to the health of the devil, whom I invoke to aid us in dealing death and destruction to all on board yonder ship. Satan, your health'! Give us your fury!" and Tardy drained the goblet to the bottom. Pepe followed the chief, swallowed the bumper, and repeated the toast, and in regular order, after him, every one of the crw did the same. As the last man turned the last drop of the cup down his throat, and began-"Sat-an, your---," there was a rushing sound in the air, the words of the speaker were cut short in their utterance, the goblet fell from his hands, and his headless body, spouting forth a stream of gore, fell beside it. The splash of a spent ball in the water, not far beyond the ves- page: 82-83[View Page 82-83] 82 ALEXANDER TARDY, sel, revealed the iron messenger of death. A wild and demo . niac yell from the'throats of all the pirates rent the air, as they saw their companion fall. It seemed now as if the aid they had invoked from Satan had been granted to them through the fire- draught prepared by Courro-for, with inflamed visages and violent gesticulations, they shouted and cursed, leaped firantically about the deck, waved their cutlasses and matches in the air, and seemed to fight, in imagination, with the foe before he was yet in their grasp. High and clear, above all the horrid din, was' heard the voice of Tardy. "Sight the long gun, Sampson; look sharp now, and send one of the devil's own shot in answer to the summons for the Black Flag to heave-to. Show 'em how the Black Flag heaves-to-- Fire!" Flash went the gun with its voice of thunder, and Tardy, with his glass, followed the passage of the ball in the air. "Satan be thanked," he shouted, and he fairly jumped with excitement as he spoke. "Ha! Sampson, you mowed them down well that time-four keeled over on their deck to one on ours-fire again, and men give 'em this time the whole broad- side of the Circe." And all the cannon of the Circe opened their mouths and belched forth their clouds of smoke and shotted fire, which was answered in like manner from the advancing ship. 'The firing now became brisk between the two vessels as they neared each other. Yelling and cursing, begrimmed with sweat and pow. der,'the pirates worked their guns with desperation, while far over the water, in the inteivals of the reports of the cannon, could' be heard the cheers of the officers of the other Whip to their men. Nearer and nearer, amid the roar and flash and smoke of battle, the two vessels approached each other-the antagonist of the Oirbe bearing steadily down upon her, while the latter bore up as steadily to the attack. As yet the fire of the Circe's antagonist had done small da- mage. 'Two of the pirates only had .been wounded, most of the shot aimed at them having passed harmless over the vessel. It was far different on board of the other ship, and when she came within speaking distance of the Circe, Tardy could see, as the smoke thinned in its rollings, that his own shot had told 'with fearful effect on the deck of his foe. But he saw also that the deck of his enemy, notwithstanding all the death he had scattered on it, was still crowded with twice the number of his own men, that there were two guns to his one, and that the vessel was large enough to run him under. Tardy, however, knew not fear under any circumstances, and again he shouted in a voice of thunder to his men- "Pour the fire into them-grape and cannister-rake 'em fore and aft," and again the heavens were darkened with the THE. FAMOUS PIRATE OFP TH WE8T INDIES. 6 black clouds of the smoke, and the air torn with the roar T cannon. "H-l and furies!" yelled Tardy a moment afterwards, stamping his foot with rage as the mainmast of the Circe fell over with a crash into the sea, killing two of the pirates in its fall. A deafening cheer, louder than all the din of this demon war- fare, arose from the crew of the other ship at the sight of the effect of their well aimed shot, and at the same instant the ship herself loomed up through the smoke, to the gaze of the pirates, like a mountain of spars and rigging, as she grazed with her bows those of the Circe. "Yield ye pirate fiends," shouted the commander of the ship, "or I'll blow you into pieces," "1 yield! I yield!" shouted Tardy in return, "grapple away there, forward, and board. Aft, men, aft, and receive your conquerors." And Tardy stamped his foot and looked on his men with an air of command, which caused the pirates, although they could not understand the order, instantly to obey. At the same time Tardy took a lighted match from the hands of Black Sampson and held it behind him. By this time, the bows of the Circe were grappled fast to those of the other ship, and the crew of the latter poured down, in the excitement of their supposed victory, on the deck of the former. "Hold," shouted Tardy, as he stood in front of the companion way; "I can throw this torch into the cabin on a train that communicates with the magazine, and I swear if you stir ano- ther step I'll do it." Horror struck, the advancing enemy recoiled, and Tardy shouted again, "At them, men, iile tigers," and on them, at the words, the pirates rushed with fearful yells. The ruse suceed- ed, for before they could recover themselves, the pirates had cut down half of those who a moment before had supposed themselves to be the victors, In vain their officers strove to rally them, in vain a tall form among them, in the garb of a priest, fought like a lion and called on the others to follow his example, the pirate 'crew in a short time were masteis of their foe, and while Pepe held his cutlass at the throat of the priest, Black Sampson had his over the head of the captain of the ship. "Enough," cried Tardy, "slay no more; bind the prisoners, and we will held our council on board of the prize." On the quarter deck of the prize Tardy seated himself with Pedro by- his side, and all his crew around him with the excep- tion of ten who had been either slain or wounded in the late encounter. Before him were some fifteen prisoners bounds in- eluding the captain of the ship, the warrior priest, and another individual who, from his dress and bearing, seemed to be of-a superior station in life. page: 84-85[View Page 84-85] 84 ALEXANDER TARDY, 'Who and what are you?" said Tardy addressing the captain. "I was a few moments since the commander of this brigantine of war, the Isabella, belonging to His Most Catholic Majesty of Spain, but now I am the prisoner of a fiendish pirate. Kill me, I am a soldier and fear not to die." "And where were you going my most brave commander?" "Scouring the sea for such pirates as you," was the answer. "And you have caught them, ha! ha! ha " cried Tardy in a mocking tone. "But who are you?" he continued, addressing the other distinguished looking individual. "'The surgeon of the Isabella, and like my commander, scorn to make a useless supplication for my life." "You may have it without asking, my brave surgeon, for I want you to attend to my wounded men, and be careful how you do it, or a worse fate than death shall befal you. And now for your story, sir priest, what have you to say?" "Nothing but that I am a priest of God, that I came from Naples as a missionary among the heathen of this coast, and cannot believe that even pirates will make a useless sacrifice of the body of a poor servant of the Church." "From Naples," said Pepe, starting at the sound of the priest's voice, and he stepped forward and scanned the priest's face closely. "Holy Mother," exclaimed Pepe, after a moment's survey of the priest's countenance, "it is Padre Gomez." "And who is it that among these men of blood and crime that calls me by name?" answered the priest, fixing a half stern, half sorrowful look on Pepe. "It is Pepe, whom you picked up when he was a boy at the church door of Naples," and a slight tremor shook the frame of the pirate. Tardy and the rest looked with silent astonishment on the scene, and the priest lifted up his hands to Heaven in amaze- ment. "Comrades," at length said Pepe, but in a voice far different from his usual ferocious one, "comrades, I claim this man's life; he was the only friend of my youth, and lost, pirate as I am, I yet can be grateful." "His life is granted, Pepe, and he shall be put on some part of the shore where we can most conveniently land. Take him below," said Tardy. "I cannot bless you, Pepe," said the priest, as he was con- ducted towards the cabin, " for your crimes are yet unrepented of; but I will pray for you." We need not dwell on what followed. The captain of the Isabella, and the survivors of his crew, except the surgeon and priest, were ruthlessly butchered and thrown overboard, and the THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 85 pirates transferred their wounded, and all else that they wanted from the Circe, on board of their prize. The Circe was then scuttled and sunk, and the sails of the new and third Circe (for Tardy would not abanhon the name) given to the breeze. "Well, Pepe," said Tardy, "this brigantine, although she had not much money aboard of her, is worth coming to the Pacific after. Twelve good guns, plenty of powder, and small arms. Pepe, we will make the West Indies ring when we go back, which will be very soon." On the third day after the capture of the 'prize, the lookout on the maintopsail yard shouted "Land Ho," and as the sun was setting, the brigantine Circe entered a beautiful and shelter- ed bay of one of the loveliest of the many small islands for which the Pacific is celebrated. Down to the water's edge the richest verdure sloped, in all the flowery luxuriance of the tropic zone, and Tardy, turning to Pedro and Pepe, exclaimed:- "We will rest in this Paradise awhile, if it is safe, before we go back to ourold battle-ground. The pirate may have a Paradise as well as others." "' Never," said the priest, solemnly, at his elbow. "Holy Father," answered Tardy, turning around with a mock- ing bow of respect, "you had better go below." CHAPTER XIV. The Island Paradise-The Valley Nuptials and the Revel in the Palm Grove-The revenge of Zeuleika, and the discovery. THE anchor of the Circe was cast in the bay of the beautiful little island, but the shadows of night had already fallen, and Tardy' deemed it prudent not to land and explore until morning. No signs of any inhabitants was either seen on, or heard from the shore, and this determined Tardy to wait until he should have the advantage of daylight in case there should be any- thing like a surprise contemplated by the natives, if indeed there were any on the island. The night passed quietly away, and with the rising sun the whole crew of' the Circe were astir. The first sight that met their eyes was the appearance on the beach of about twenty Indians preparing to embark in their canoes in order to come to the ship, Tardy gave orders to have everything in readiness should their intentions turn out to be hostile. It was evident, from the signs they made ais they approached the vessel, that the natives were friendly. Their boats were laden with the most luscious fruits, which they in. timated .by signs they brought as presents to the strangers, while, as if to signify that they had no designs of war, each page: 86-87[View Page 86-87] 986 ALEXANDER TARDY, savage raised his spear a moment towards the ship, and then etting its point fall, laid it quietly in the bottom of the canoe. Tardy received his strange visitors without any fear, and the strangers and the pirates were soon mingled in a most pic- turesque manner on the deck of the Circe. While the pirate crew devoured with avidity the fruits that the Indians brought, the latter wandered about the deck, gazing' at and handling everything they saw, and expressing to each other their opinion on the same in a language which was all Greek to their hosts. It was evident that the natives on board of the Circe had seen white men before: for having in a short time apparently satis- fied their curiosity, the chief, a tall, well formed Indian of a deep copper color, advanced to Tardy and made a motion with-his hand towards his throat, as if he would like something to drink. "Give him some water, Courro," said Tardy, " and see what he'll say to it." The water was proffered, but the Indian disdainfully threw the tin cup, in which the draught was handed to him, down on ;the deck. Tardy laughed loud as he said to Courro "Give him rum." The cup this time was drained to the bottom, and the eyes of the savage sparkled with pleasure as he pointed towards his companions, as much as to say "Give them some too." A moderate dram was accordingiy'served to each, and in a few moments the savages appeared to be in the height of good hlu- mor. The chief pointed to his canoes and to the shore, and Tardy understood it to be an invitation for him and his crew to make a visit to the island. A party therefore was soon detailed for the exploring tour, and Tardy, Pepe, Pedro and Black Samp- son, together with about twenty of the crew, well armed, em- barked in their boats, and followed in the wake of the Indian canoes to the shore. The shore of the island, as we said at the close of our last chapter, sloped gently towards the beach, and was clothed in the greenest verdure. On gaining the summit, to which they ascended immediately on their landing, Tardy and his compa- nions found themselves in the midst of a thick forest, where the trees around them seemed alive with a Babel of sounds. It was not difficult to tell fiorm whence the sounds proceeded. Every branch seemed alive with monkeys and birds. The monkeys chattered as they jumped with the rapidity of lightning among the branches, or swung themselves from them by their tails in every variety of grotesquq appearance, while the birds, in al- most countless numbers and of the most brilliant plumage, flew around in all directions, sending out on the air a strange song of mingled harmony and discord, in which every variety of note was discernible, from the scream of the parrot to the sweet warbling of some tiny songster, whose feathers seemed like a THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 87 glittering speck of gold and purple on the greenlimb wherein the straggling ray of the ssin, he tuned his throat to melody. The'-pirates enjoyed the scene with the keenest zest. They shouted and laughed as they passed through the woods, whose underground was a clear, green sward, unbroken or unobstruct- ed, save by clumps of flowering Ghrubs which scented the air with the most fragrant of perfumes. They had advanced thus about a mile, when suddenly they emerged from the forest, and looked down on one of the most beautiful valleys that ever nestled in the bosom of hills. The valley was about two miles in width, and with its car- pet of the greenest velvet, stretched away in length as far as the eye could reach. Its surface was thickly dotted with groves of the banana, cocoanut, and other trees of tropical growth, while through its center ran in graceful curves a sparkling stream, which, viewed from the point where the pirates stood, seemed like a thread of shining silver. In the shadow of one of the largest of the groves a small collection of huts was visi- ble, and pointing to these, the chief, followed by the pirates, commenced the descent into the valley. They were not long in reaching the Indian village, which was situated on the very edge of the stream of the valley, and consisted of some dozen of conical-shaped huts, formed of clay and the boughs of trees. As the pirates and Indians approached the huts, they were met by a troop of Indian women, who came running out to meet them. The women were far. from uncomely. Like the men, their skins were of a copper-color, and their bodies naked. Their forms were full, well-rounded, and graceful-their hair long, glossy, and black-their features regular, and their eyes large and lustrous. They exhibited no fear or shyness, but im- mediately surrounded the pirates, and7 commenced a close inspection of their persons, which the latter submitted to with a most' hilarious resignation and returned with compound inte- rest. One alone of the young beauties of the valley shrunk back slightly, as the chief of the Indians led her towards Tardy, and placed her hand in his, with a gesture intimating that he gave her to him for a wife. Tardy took the proffered gift, and his eyes seemed to wander over it with the height of gratifica- tion. The girl was indeed a flower of Indian loveliness. She was of a lighter color than the rest of her companions, and was but a few shades darker than Tardy himself. With a form light and airy, limbs and features small'and exquisitely turned in their outlines, with her long black hair falling like a mantle of glossy silk over her polished neck and shoulders, and the large black eye of her race rolling with a soft, dreamy lustre under her delicately pencilled brows, she stood on the green sward of her native valley, a model of wild and untamed beauty, that would have commanded admiration even in the proudest pa- laces of civilization. page: 88-89[View Page 88-89] 88 ALEXANDER TARDY, As Tardy gazed upon her, a passionr not less mighty in its influence than that with which Zeuleika had first inspired him in the orange grove of St. Domingo, seemed to take possession of his whole being, and without endeavoring in the least to con- ceal his feelings, although Pedro (Zeuleika) stood near at hand, he whispered softly in the ear of his new mistress, and pointed towards the inviting shades of the luxuriant grove which rose behind and in part overshadowed the little village. The Indian maiden, although she did not understand the tongue in which her new lover spoke, knew it was the language of love, and she raised her large lustrous eyes, which till now had been-down- cast, full upon the form of the speaker. Tardy, as our readers are already aware, was a handsome main, both in figure and features, and the attraction of his appearance was greatly heightened by the rich gold-laced uniform of a Spanish captain that he wore. The uniform was the one previously worn by the Captain of the Spanish guarda de costa, which Tardy took and plundered off the island of Cuba. The eye of the Indian mai- den softened as she looked,-the dazzling figure of the pirate chief conquered her-and unresistingly she walked with her captivator beneath the grateful shades of the grove of Palms. In the meantime Zeuleika, in the person of the man Pedro, had observed the whole scene, and her eyes also were lightened up, not with the soft fire of love, but with that strange and glit- tering light that gleamed in them years ago, when, to show the depth of her love for Tardy, she gave him the poison to kill young Gerald, his rival. As Tardy and his new mistress mov- ed away, Zeuleika remained standing and gazing after them, with an inattention to all going on around her that produced the most curious effects. On the supposition that she was a man, the Indian chief had led up to her also a young girl whom he offered to her as a wife in the same manner as he had, done to Tardy. Zeuleika's maiden, however, looked in vain for some token of admiration from her lover Zeuleika, and having waited as long as she considered it consistent with savage pro- priety, she indignantly turned upon her heel and run up to Black Sampson, who received her with a grin, as if he consider- ed her preference a compliment. The Indian chief looked puzzled at the action of Zeuleika; he could not imnagine why such a wife as the one he had offered should thus be turned off with supreme indifference. The chief, however, although a sa- vage, was wiser than a great many philosophers of civilization, for he made short work of the puzzling question, decided it without argument by an emphatic grunt, and turned again to the task of wife distributing. As for the pirates around, those of them who had time to look up from the captivating prizes that had lallen into their hands, looked equally as puzzled as the chief at the strange conduct of THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 89 'zeuuleika, whom they knew only as the man Pedro, but like the chief they did not debate the matter with themselves, but turned again after a moment's glance, to the dalliance which claimed all their attention. Pepe alone understood the whole, and as the thought passed through his brain that a handsome storm was brewing around the head of Tardy, he rolled his quid in his mouth and gave an equivocal winkl, meant as a sort of settler in his own mind of what inevitably must come to pass. At this moment the dusky wife that the chief had given to him, run her finger over the broad purple gash on Pepe's face, and gave a look of inquire as if she wished to know the why and the wherefore of the mark. "Tattoo, my dear," exclaimed Pepe with a laugh, Indian tattoo, that's all." The woman laughed in answer, and she and Pepe, notwith- standing his curious tattoo, were soon the best of friends. We drop the veil for a few hours over the further scenes that transpired in that beautiful valley of the island, and follow only the movements of Zeuleika. With the fire of jealousy raging in her breast, she wandered alone by the banks of the stream, and the thoughts that held possession of her soul were as black as night. The orange grove of St. Domingo, the pirate's cave, the scenes through which she had passed in Phi- ladelphia-all rose vividly before her imagination, and the re- flection that all had come to pass through the love of the man who now, before her. very eyes, preferred an Indian girl to her, drove her almost wild with frenzy. It was the first time that Tardy had been faithless to her. Pirate as he was, the love of Zeuleika had till now held complete dominion over him, but now the chain was broken and Zeuleika beheld herself adrift on a sea of desertion, whose waves would be bright or dark to her, according to the fitful winds of his passion or his fancy that would drive him to or from her, as the chance might be. Zeu- leika was, as we have before seen, of too fiery a spirit to submit to this without a struggle. When a few hours had passed away, she ceased her troubled walk, and sitting down by the sparkling stream, looked calmly into the clear waters. A change had come over her features, for a dark resolve had stilled the raging tumult in her bosom. Bathing her head'in the cooling waters she arose, and with a smile on her face joined the group of pi- rates and Indians that were now gathering on the edge of the grove and by the door of the huts. It was the feast that the Indian hosts had'spread for their guests that caused the return of the wanderers from their dal- liance of passion in the grove. The board, which was no other than the green grass plot on which each sat, was bountifully supplied with bananas, baked plantain, and the flesh of wild kid. Luscious fruits, of which the pirates knew not or cared to in- page: 90-91[View Page 90-91] 90 ALEXANDER TARDY, quire the name, served for a dessert, while a refreshiig liqwi, made from the juice of the cocoanut, was even more-palatable to the pirates by way of change than the wine and spirits which they were so accustomed to drinking. The pirates and Indians eat and drank to repletion, and another wild revel followed, which lasted until the downward progress of the sun warned the pirates that it was time to return to their ships. For several weeks the pirates remained at the island, enter- tained by the Indian chief and his tribe in the most lavish man- ner. The natives seemed to take a strange fancy to the pirates, who being allowed to do exactly as they pleised, reciprocated the friendship. The Indian chief built hutsTor Tardy and his crew, on the green slope that shelved down to the bay where the Circe was anchored, and to them the pirates' removed their Indian wives. Thither also the pirates, wounded in the late ac- tion with the Isabella, but now fast recovering under the skill of the captive surgeon, repaired to renovate their strength, and the whole crew made the island, as Tardy had called it, a per- fect paradise of sensual pleasure. They hunted-and fished with the Indians, and roamed, with the keen excitement of curiosity, over the island from one end to the other, for it was scarcely ten miles square. The exercise and the air worked off the ill humor of their systems, attendant on their long voyage at sea, and gave edge to their appetite and strength to their limbs. The abode of the pirates on the isle was in fact one continued sa- turnalia, in which their wild spirits let loose, revelled in the en- joyment suited to their taste and nature. The captive priest and surgeon alone did not mingle in the pirate's pleasures. The former attempted once on a visit to the island to make the Indians understand something of the Chris- tian's God, but Tardy crushed his ministry in its bud by con- fining him to the ship. As for the surgeon, he wandered over the island, smothering the unhappy feeling his situation gave rise to, by endeavoring to enlarge his knowledge of botany in the wide and unexplored fields the island so advantageously offered to him. The pirates took no notice of him, and cared not what became of him. But as Tardy had previously pro- mised him that, in consideration of his curing the wounded men, he would put him on the coast with the priest, the surgeon therefore kept a good look-out that the ship did not sail without him. During all this time Tardy gave himself up entirely to his new passion for: the Indian girl, regardless of any effect it might produce on Zeuleika. Zeuleika, on the other hand, dissembled her feelings and mingled with the pirates as usual, and thus the days and weeks passed on. The light of the setting sun fell with a golden-colored haze, soft and dreamy in its influence, on the hut of boughs that the THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. o1 Indian chief had built for the pirate captain on the slope of the island bay. Within, the hut was occupied but by a solitary tenant, and that was the Indian girl for whom Tardy had de- serted Zeuleika. She was asleep on a couch of leaves. Her rounded arm, seen through the thick masses of her silken hair, which strayed in wild confusion over it and her swelling breast, reposed under her head, and on her finely chiselled lips there was a smile. Doubtless, she was dreaming of the brave lover that had come to her across the waters. A shadow darkened the door, and Zeuleika entered and stood silently gazing on the sleeping girl. There was a frown on her brow, and the gtter of the snake was in her eye. She touched the sleeper, who started up in affiight, but instantly when she saw who it was, welcomed Zeuleika, whom she had looked upon as a sort of brother of Tardy, her lover. Zeuleika had been careful to win the confidence of the voung Indian, and she had succeeded. When, therefore, she motioned the girl to attend her to the ship, the latter complied without anyl hesitation. Zeuleika herself rowed the boat to the Circe, and the two soon stood upon the deck. The ship was comparatively deserted- most of the crew were away on the island and had not yet re- turned. The few on the duty of watching the vessel took no notice either of Zeuleika or her companion, for they were ac- customed often to see them come on board together. For the same reason the priest and surgeon, who were conversing toge- ther, paid no attention to the pair, and Zeuleika and the Indian girl passed without observation into the cabin. Zeuleika led the way into the state-room of Tardy and closed the door. And the two sat together, and Zeuleika pressed fruit and wine upon the Indian. She had often done so before, and the unsuspicious girl partook of both. We need not describe the result. We have before witnessed the skill of Zeuleika in administering the dead, ly draught of poison, and this time she did not fail. The Indian girl lay a corpse before her,. and the murderess, with her lips compressed and her hands tightly clasped together, stood mo- tionless as a statue, and looked down with a cold glare on her victim. Long she stood thus and gazed, when the sound of the return-. ing pirates rushing on the deck above her head, and the voice of Tardy calling for the Indian girl, as he came flying down the companion-way, fell upon her ears. She started, flung open the door, and standing on the threshold, pointed to the body and exclaimed: "Alexander Tardy, your Indian mistress is here, and I am the one who killed-killed her by poison. Tardy, the weapon I taught you to use---" "Seize her-seize the murderess. Zeuleika, I hate you," yeoed Tardy. page: 92-93[View Page 92-93] 92 ALEXANDER TARDY, "Has it come to this?' muttered Zeuleika. "Then sink with me to h--Il,' and quick as lightning she drew her knife and rushed upon Tardy. Black Sampson and Pepe, however, pinioned her in their grasp, before any mischief was done, but in the struggle het jacket was torn from her bosom, and her sex was revealed to the astonished gaze of the assembled pirates who flocked to the cabin on hearing the uproar. "Pepe, I'll be d-d if it aint a woman," exclaimed Black Sampson, and he gave one of his most horrible grins. "God of Heaven preserve us," murmure the priest, as he averted his eyes. "Bind her and take her away; heave anchor and up, sail, or we shall have the devil's own fight, and no profit, with the sav- ages of the island," again shouted Tardy. "Ae, sail away, Tardy, but we are bound together for the port of the infernal world," hissed Zeuleika through her set teeth as the pirates bore her off. * And in the dark shadows of the night the Circe sailed from the beautiful island of the ocean. CHAPTER XV. Death of Zeuleika-Liberation of the Priest and Surgeon-The fight by the Bottomless Pool of the Pirate's Cave. As onward, in the dark night, and under the pressure of a stiff breeze, the Circe dashed through the waves of the ocean, Tardy, the pirate chief, paced the cabin with rapid and uneasy strides, his breast torn by contending emotions. Only one other person occupied the cabin with him, and that was Zeuleika. Tardy had given orders to this effect-had commanded that the dead body of the Indian girl should be removed from the cabin, shrouded according to the custom of the sea and thrown over- board, while he should be left alone with Zeuleika. While therefore the pirates on the deck were preparing the Indian girl for burial, Tardy and Zeuleika confronted each other in the cabin. The cheek of Tardy was blanched as he continued his regular walk up and down, and there was a look of aversion, sometimes mingled with anger, and sometimes softened into a milder expression, as from time to time he cast a glance at his companion. As for Zeuleika, she sat still and motionless as a statue, her face pale as marble, her eyes downcast and her thin lips quivering. Her hands were still bound, her hair, disordered by the late scuffle with Pepe and Sampson, fell in wild confusion over her neck and shoulders, while her torn jacket still revealed THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF TIlE WEST INDIES. 03 her sex and displayed fully the labored heavings of her white rounded bosom. The silence of death reigned between Tardy and his mistress, unbroken save by the measured tread of the former, the dashing of the water against the sides of the vessel, and the shuffling of the feet of the pirates on the deck overhead. 'The blackest elements of lawless passion were raging a fierce warfare in the breast of each. In Tardy. anger mingled with a sort of sensual regret for the death of his Indian mistress, and hate against Zeuleika produced partly by satiety of her person and partly by the fact that she caused the death of his new passion, strug- gled with the remembrance of Zeuleika's faithful love to him, and black in heart as he was, and capable of any deed, yet his pity for the once worshipped Quadroon girl of the orange grove of St. Domingo, made his hate and satiety hesitate in their half formed purpose, and stirred up a wild uncertainty how he should act. As for Zeuleika, sht saw all the struggle in his breast, un- derstood it all, knew that her reign over him had departed, and the spark of hate which had been kindled within her by jealousy, was raging now in the flame that had been fanned into the full volume of its heat by the pity for her which she saw in the occasional glances of Tardy's eyes, and which her proud spirit despised. While, however, she thus plainly read the thoughts of Tardy's soul, the page of her countenance was an enigma to him-Zeuleika was passive under his look. The sound of a dull heavy splash into the sea floated through the open window into the cabin. Tardy paused in front of Zeuleika, and looking sternly at her, said: "It is the burial of your victim, foolish woman; are you sa- tisfied?" Zeuleika answered not. Her thin lips, which a moment be- fore had been slightly quivering, were now compressed tightly together, and this was the only sign she made in answer. "Zeuleika," continued Tardy, "what in the name of all the fiends of h--1 could have induced you to commit so foolish a deed? Do we not have murder enough on board of the Circe in the re- gular piratical way, that you must go outside of it, and in a freak of jealousy strike dead with the accursed poison an Indian girl, merely because I took a passing fancy to her? And not content with that, you would kill me, who love you as well as ever; pshaw, you are a fool." "These cords on my hands," answered Zeuleika raising her eyes calmly up until her gaze met that of Tardy, "these cords look like love; why do you hesitate to free me, I am but a wo. man-Zeuleika who loved you as her life, and whom vou once loved with all the wild fever of your fiery nature," and a tear glittered in the eye of Zeuleika as she spoke. "Be free then," exclaimed Tardy, "since you are coming to page: 94-95[View Page 94-95] " ALEXANDER TARDY, reason, instead of springing like a tiger on your best friend, There!" and he cut the cord that bound her. In an instant Zeuleika leaped from her seat, and quick as a flash of lightning, a vial which she took from her pocket was at her lips and its contents poured down her throat. The teat drops vanished from her eyes and a wild demon-like gleam of concentrated despair took their place. Like one of the furies let loose from the lower world she threw her arms madly around, and as Tardy shrunk back a moment appalled and speechless, she scremed: "Think you, Alexander Tardy, that I will live to he your cast-off or only tolerated mistress-I who have sold myself for you in crime and blood? Never! death is in my veins; I hate and love you; in death, with h-11 opening before me, I will clasp you in my arms,' and rushing with the strength of a giant she caught Tardy in her embrace, and glued her lips to his. In vain he struggled to escape; she held himn as in a vice, rendered even stronger by the fierce convulsions which now racked her frame, and in this awful death struggle by which she held him both fell heavily on the cabin floor. By this time the scream of Zeuleika and the noise of the fall had alarmed the pirates on deck, and dashing in the door, they rushed to the scene of action. It was a sight'of horror to wit. ness more awful than the carnage of the pirate fight-the pirate chief, his face livid with suffocation, writhing under the infui riated woman who grasped his throat with one hand, while she tightly twined the other around his neck, and with unearthly screams pressed in her paroxysm her livid face to his. For an instant, also, even the whole body of pirates started back with horror, and over and over in the death struggle the pirate chief and his mistress rolled on the floor. They soon, however recovered themselves, and Pepe, Black Sampson and Courro tore Zeuleika from the prostrate Tardy. Wilder and wilder rose her screams and fiercer grew the convulsions of her frame, as with much effort they bore her backwards and held her on the floor, while Tardy sprung to his feet and gazed half stupe. fied around him. For some moments there was a silence-the pirates held their breath-the priest murmured a short prayer, as he held up in his trembling hands the crucifix and knelt be- side the wretched woman. The spasms of death now came over Zeuleika fainter and fainter, and a glaze was settling over her eyes. The pirates relaxed their hold, and motioning away the crucifix which the priest held above her, she said with a voice broken and half audible: "Take it away-there is no mercy for me or him," and she pointed her long taper finger towards Tardy. "Farewell, Tar- dy-I see the orange--grove-pirate's cave-and now-all is dark--black; save me, save me; fiends are dancing round me: THE FAMOUS PIRATE OP TH WEST INDIES, they seize me-save--- .' and again the wretched woman gave a fearful scream that floated out far over the waters and caused Tardy and the pirates to shudder. Then, with a convulsive spring, as if her fierce nature had concentrated all it expiling strength in one mighty effort, she rose to her feet, beckoned Tars dy towards her, and shrieked, "Come, come with me to--- The last ord remained unuttered, for she fell back dead into the arms of Black Sam pson. "Take her away, take her away,' said Tardy, covering his face with his hands, and his whole frame shook violently. "Holy mother; shield us from the powers of darkness," prayed the priest, inaudibly to himself; then raising his voice, and extending his arm towards Tardy, he said loudly and "fr an of crime and blood, behold your pirate paradise. Re. pent! repent!" The voice of the speaker roused again the fiend within. the breast of Tardy. He fixed a fierce glare for an instant on the priest, then raising his hand, he struck him with a savage blow to the floor, and shouted io a voice of fury : "Men, do you hear me? bear her away and throw her into the sea. Has the devil scared you all?"And he grasped his pistols as he- spoke, and looked with defiance on all around him, They bore the body of Zeuleika to the deck, and again, for the second time that night, the usual curse and shouts of the pirates were hushed on their tongues, and there was silence on board of the Circe, unbroken save by the shuffling feet of the pirates as they busied themselves with Zeuleika's burial. Then ollowed also for the second time another dull and heavy splash nto the water-the dropping of Zeuleika, the mistress of the pirate chief, into her ocean grave. And onward and onward, through the wide waste of waters, n the black shadows of the night, the Circe dashed on her way, Morning broke over the ocean, and still the breeze blew stifflxy nd the Circe sailed rapidly on her course. Tardy seemed vrapt in gloom, spoke little but to give his orders and now and hen to address a remark to Pepe. The priest, who had reco. eered in some measure from the blow given to him by Tardy, ept himself aloof with the surgeon from all intercourse with the irates. All of the latter seemed in a great degree to be under he same gloomy feelings as Tardy himself, but not being so aciturn or peaceable, they gave vent to the gloom which op. )ressed them, by occasionally cursing and fighting. with each ther. Night, however, brought a calm, and the ship conse. uently not needing so much attention, Tardy, in order to drive ff the dark spell which had fallen on the Circe, proclaimed a arouse. We need not pause to describe it, as we have given escriptions of former ones, from which this did not materially 1 page: 96-97[View Page 96-97] 6sQ ALEXANDER TARDY, differ. Sufficient to say that it was entered into with ferocious zest, and all impression of the late terrible circumstances that had happened on board of the Circe was effectually drowned by the pirates in revel and wine. Four days after the carouse the Circe anchored off the coast of Chili, and a boat containing Pepe, the priest, the surgeon, and four of five of the pirates, put out to the shore. "Farewell," said Tardy, bowing profoundly to the priest, as the boat shoved off, you are free, you see that a pirate can keep his word. Forgive the unpriestly 'laying on of hands' to which I treated you the other night. Give my compliments to the Spa- nish government, and thank them, for me, for the excellent ship that they have given me. Vale, Sanctissime Pater, you see I understand Latin. Vale." And Tardy laughed as the boat shot forward into the water. "Thank God," exclaimed the priest and surgeon in a breath as their feet touched the shore. "But, Pepe," said the priest a moment afterwards, "I once taught you the way of right, will you not repent and follow it. Come with me now, and leave your companions of blood and crime. It is not too late for re- formation." "It's all very well, Holy father," answered Pepe in a tone in which a shade of seriousness struggled with the recklessness of hiis nature, "it's all very well, but the devil claims me, and I must follow him." And thus the pirates and their liberated captives parted. "Now for the West Indies, the scene of our first exploits, I am tired of the South Sea," exclaimed Tardy, as Pepe and his companions in the boat once miore regained the ship. Some two months after this, the Circe was sailing in the West Indian Ocean, not far from the island of Cuba. Another prize was here captured, and Tardy then gave orders once more to' steer for the pirate's cave of St. Domingo. Again the Circe was anchored in the cove at St. Domingo, treasure had been buried in the cave, the blazing tripod was lighted and the shouts, curses and songs of high carousal echoed through the vaulted chamber formed by the hand of nature. "Sampson, you black devil," roared Courro, in the frenzy of liis intoxication, "1 owe you a debt for strapping me on that infernal gun. and thus do I pay it," and he fired his pistol full at the head of the negro. The ball, however, missed its marlk, and struck against the wall of the cave. With a yell the negro sprung upon his foe, and the pirates were at that height of mad revelry when a fight was hailed with savage joy. "At him, Courro, at him, Sampson," rose in infernal chorus from the throats of all the pirates, but high above all the shout of Tardy, who himself roused to ferocity by the liquor that he lhad drank, entered with as keen a zest as the others into the spirit of the scene. THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 97 "Fall back, men," he shouted, "and give them both fair play," and the pirates to a mah obeyed the order. It seemed a match of unequal strength, to look at the giant form of the negro and the comparatively diminutive one of, Courro, but what the latter lacked in bulkt and power, he made up by agility, and the remembrance of the indignity which, as our readers will recollect, Sampson had on a former occasion inflicted on him by strapping him to the gun, nerved his arm with more than its usual strength. "Pepe, I owe you something too for that Stab in my hand, and I'll pay it as soon as I've paid this," yelled Courro, after he had made an ineffectual pass at the negro, which caused Pepe to roar with laughter. Never mind, Pepe," yelled the negro in return, " but look to yourself; or I'll make your ears flatter than ever," and he too made a pass with his knife at Courro, which failed of its aim. The two then clinched and rolled together on the floor towards the entrance of the cave, Sampson uppermost. Courro, how- ever, managed to squirm from under his antagonist, and rush into the narrow opening, but Sampson was after hm, followed by all the pirates, yelling and shouting with demoniac glee at the contest. The scene of battle was now removed to the edge of the bottomless pool where the draw-bridge spanned it. There they again clinched, and the struggle was fearful, but suddenly the negro gave a wild shriek and tell backwards into the pool. Courro had managed, from the very advantage of his size, to plunge his knifebto the hilt into Sampson's heart. Once only the negro rose in the black waters, then sunk, spreading a circle of purple hue around the spot where he disappeared. "Now come on, Pepe," shouted Courro in the frenzy of his victory, "now I'll settle you." "Hold," shouted Tardy, -I'll shoot the first man that fights more; enough for one night ; I can't afford to lose brave men like that; the revel is at an end, and I'll shoot the man that drinks another drop." Even in tihe fury of the carouse Alexander Tardy was obeyed. CHAPTER XVI. The Retrospect-Remorse and Fear-The S'pectres of the Grove-The Murder of the Priest-The Destruction of the Pirate's Cave. IT was the evening following the revel in the Pirate's Cave and the death of Black Sampson. The Circe still lay at anchor in the cove of the Pirate's Cliff, and while part of the crew were: page: 98-99[View Page 98-99] 98 ALEXANDER TARDY, on duty on board or lounging about the decks and cabins, the rest were in the cave. Among the latter was Pepe and Tardy. There was a cloud upon the brow of the latter, and dark and gloomy thoughts were stirling in his soul. A weight of mental depression, heavier than he had experienced in all his career of crime, was weighing down his spirit with a strange and irre- sistible power, that' he endeavored in vain to shake off The fruits of all the black and damning evil that through long years he had committed, were turning to gall and wormwood in his soul, even in the hour of that success and power as a pirate chief, towards which, at the beginning of his career, he had looked forward with such eager longing, and which he had now attained. Years before, as we have seen at the commencement of this narrative, he had stood with Zeuleika on the Pirate's Cliff, now above his head, and looked out on the sea, while the black spirit of his first crime, hovering around him, had caused the waves to glow with an attractive picture of the wild revel, the demoniac deeds and the lawless power of pirate life. The vision had now become a reality, but what had it broug-ht? It was true he had ridden the waves a pirate, had enjoyed the revel, had played the demon of plunder and of murder, and that he now stood within the Pirate's Cave, clothed with unbounded power as a pirate chief, and possessed of gold and treasure. Notwithstanding all this, darkness was now on his soul. Zeu- leika was dead. He had loved Zeuleika, black as his soul was with evil. She had died under circumstances of horror that had startled even his demon nature-had killed his beautiful Indian mistress and destroyed herself by that very poison which she had taught him how to make, which he had used with such an unsparing hand to torture and to murder, and which she had in the end turned into a lash of fire to whip him over his sensual passions into burning remorse and fearful dread. The 'bright vision of pirate life, contemplated from the Pirate's Cliff, was now, in its reality in the Pirate's Cave, enveloped before the soul's eye of Tardy, in clouds dark as midnight, along the edges of which there played continually the lightning flash of conscience, revealing in awful distinctness the grim pale spec- tre of Retribution riding on the forked tongues ot fire and pointing with his long bony finger to the black depths below. So it ever has been-so it ever must be with him who throws aside all good, and riots in evil. It is the eternal law of Heaven, with regard to crime, that there shall come periods when it shall bring its own punishment, and find itself in a scorching hell on earth, even in the moments when it was ex- pecting to be revelling in a Paradise. So it was with Tardy as he sat by Pepe in the cave, with the wine-cup untasted at his side. "Drink, Tardy; why, what the d-1 is the matter with you? THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 99 Are you thinking of the Indian girl, or Zeuleika, or Black Sampson; wy' if I should stop to think, I should cut my throat or take some poison, and follow the whole three; drink, man, and drown your horrors in wine." "Pepe," answered Tardy, with a heavy frown on his brow, "don't talk of drink just now; we have had enough of it for the present,' and as he spoke he rose from his seat and left the cave, saying-s"Let no man follow me." TIe rushed out into the open air, and stood on the coral beach, where the waters laved the very entrance of the cave. The moon shone brightly down, casting a silver radiance far and wide over the sea, and the breath of the evening blew cool upon his cheek, but the fever of his soul raged on with undi- minish'ed heat-,and, like a wild man, he dashed up through the forest path, between the gnarled and knotted trunks of the trees, through the tangled thicket, and over the craggy rocks, until he stood once more on the top of the Pirate's Cliff. He looked towards the sea, but turned his gaze in a moment from it, and a strange desire once more took possession of him to revisit the orange grove near the house of Don Jos, where he first had toyed in the dalliance of love with Zeuleika. And onward he flew towards it, heedless of any danger or risk he might incur. There was, however, comparatively little ground for fear, as'it was near the hour of midnight, and it was easy for him to keep out of the way of the few scattered houses on the plantations through which hle would have to pass. Again he stood in the grove, and in the moonlight in which it slept, as if enshrouded in a silver mist, the past of his whole life seemed to rise up be- fore him-the house of his lather, embowered among its trees and flowers, his hours of conviviality passed-there with Gerald, then lhis passages of love with Zeuleika in the grove, then the poison, the murder of his friend-and last, in one black chaos of contusion, all the murder and riot of his pirate life. Around and about him the grove seemed peopled with his victims, dancing in the moonlight and glaring on him with features dis- torted with convulsions -and streaming with blood. For the first time in his life, the big sweat-drop of fear stood upon his brow, and he waved, his hands wildly around him and ex- claimed- "' Back! back! fiends of h-1, torment me not. I am yours, body and soul, but my time has not come; wait! wait! wait! I cannot go backward, but I can yet pile up a higher mountain of guilt, and I will onward to do it by--." "No, pause here, while yet you may retrace your steps, and repent," said a, low voice, suddenly, at his elbow. Tardy recovered himself in an instant, and laying his hand on the pistol at his belt, he turned fiercely on the stranger who had addressed him. One glance, however, was sufficient to page: 100-101[View Page 100-101] 1OO ALEXANDER TARDY, show him that he had nothing at that moment to fear. The stranger, who stood alone by his side, was the old priest who had officiated at the burial of Gerald, and Tardy recognized him in an instant. "Alexander Tardy," continued the old priest, looking the pi- rate fearlessly in the face, "you see I know you, although years and crime have left their marks upon your face; I have heard of your blood-stained career, but little did I dream of ever see- ing you here again. I was returning from the death-bed of a parishioner when I heard your voice in the grove and recognized it. Crimson with the stain of human blood, ruthlessly shed by you, as your soul is; still, Tardy, there may be yet mercy for you through repentance; repent! repent! come with me; re- member the days of your innocence, and devote the rest of your life to atonement. Come with me, and I will not betray you, for your father's and for your own soul's sake; come." "And will you betray me, if I do not come and repent as you say," asked Tardy, and he laughed scornfully, as he spoke. "Listen to me, old man; there is no repentance for me, if I wished it, and there can be no mercy for me in such a heaven as you priests profess to believe in. I shall go onward, must go onward, and I defy, aye, I defy both Heaven and Hell." "Lost! lost! miserable man," exclaimed the priest, starting back in horror, " and there remains but one thing for me to do as a faithful servant of the church. Ho, there! help! Tardy the pirate!" and the, priest, shouting at the top of his voice, started to fly in the direction of Don Jose's house. ' Old fool," hissed Tardy through his teeth as he seized hold of the priest, "there is no help for it, die," and he drove his knife to the hilt in the heart of the old man, who fell with a groan in the purple stream of his own life's blood. Tardy did not stop to witness his death, but flew towards the - Pirate's Cave. The people of the plantation, aroused by the priest's scream, arrived at the spot to find him dead, and all trace of his murderer gone. 4' To the Pirate's Cave," shouted the voices of the few who reached the dead body of the priest, "his murderers must be there." But on second thoughts and a glance at their numbers, the undertaking was at once given up as too dangerous to be risked until a better force could be organized. In the meantime, Tardy had reached the cave, which on en- tering he shouted aloud to the pirates- Up, men, and away, we have seen the last of the Pirate's Cave; dig up your treasure, turn out a dozen barrels of gun- powder on the floor, and lay a slow match to the beach, let us give the island of St. Domingo a farewell, for it will soon be too hot to hold us." TIlE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 101 "What does it all mean?" said Pepe, and the rest of the pi- rates gathered around Tardy and clamorously repeated the question. Tardy answered by giving an account of his inter- view with the priest in the grove and its bloody issue, and the pirates immediately perceiving the necessity of the case proceed- ed forthwith to obey his orders. The treasures of the cave were removed again to the ship, a mine of powder was placed in the very center of the cave, where the brazen tripod stood, and a slow match was laid along the ground, over the bridge of the bottomless pool, and so out through the entrance of the cave, until it came to the edge of the water. By this time it was daylight, ant the pirates hastened on board of the Circe to prepare for ailiig. When everything was ready, Tardy, with his own hand, touched the match to the train at the edge of the beach, and then put off in his boat to the Circe, on the deck of which he soon stood. As the anchor was weighed and the sails given to the breeze, he waved his hat and exclaimed: "Farewell, St. Domingo, receive the parting salute of Tardy," and the whole crew of pirates waved their hats in unison, and repeated the words of their chief. The wind was fair, and the Circe was borne rapidly from the land out on the broad bosom of the sea. Tardy took his glass and looked anxiously towards the Pirate's Cliff which rose in bold relief from the shore. Silent as death, the pirates stood on the deck, and bent their eves in the same direction. "Are any of the black devils of St. Domingo to be seen on the cliff, Tardy?" said Pepe. "It would be d-d god fun, if there were, to see them blown to h-l before we got out of sight." "There are none there," answered Tardy. "They cannot have mustered' in sufficient force yet to dare to attack the Pi- rate's Cave, but hark!" and as he spoke the sound as of distant thunder came over the waters to the ears of the pirates, and at the same moment there was a visible sinking of the Pirate's Cliff, as if the earth had opened from the shock of an earth- quake. "Good!" shouted Tardy, and the pirates joined him with a chorus of yells. "Good! they'll remember the pirates of the Pirate's Cave in St. Domingo, if by nothing else, by the sound they have made in ripping up the bowels of the earth." And onward the Circe sailed for the last time froin the Pirate's Cliff of St. Domingo. The pirates of the Pirate's Cliff were indeed long remembered in St. Domingo. The sound and shock of the explosion had been heard and felt for miles around, and had occurred (fortu- nately as it turned out) just at the moment when a large force were on the point of starting towards the cave to attack the page: 102-103[View Page 102-103] 102 - ALEXANDER TARDY, pirates who they presumed were there. On coming afterwards to the spot they found masses of coral rock scattered around, and a deep pit where once was. the smooth surface of the Pi- rate's Cliff. In the meantime Tardy steered his course towards Cuba. Again he passed harmlessly in front of the guns of Moro Castle and coasted off the shores of Florida. Here he fell in with an English brig which he took, murdered all on board, and having 'taken from the vessel some' two thousand dollars in specie, he set her on fire and sailed onward to scour the ocean for more victims and further plunder. It would be tedious to go into detail of the piracies now com- mitted by Tardy for the space of six months, in and near the West India seas. To do so would only be to describe the counterparts of. many atrocities of which we have already given minute particulars. Suffice it to say his name became a terror of the ocean, and government vessels were put on his track. We shall see whether or not it was his fate to be captured. CHAPTER XVII. The Dentist and his Visitors--The Story of the AWreck of the Circe-The Conspiracy and its Result-The End. THE scene of our narrative now changes to the interior of a dentist's office, in the city of Havana. The room was small, but neatly fitted up with all the appurtenances of the dental art. There was an oblong table, on which was displayed, in all the array of ivory and polished steel, various mysterious looking instruments, arranged in mahogany boxes, and well calculated to shake the nerves of those who might present themselves to have their mouths refitted. A large chair, with a formidable appearance of machinery at the top where the head of the sitter would naturally rest, stood in the center of the apartment, and ,he glass cases that surrounded the room were filled with rows of bottles, relieved alternately by grinning specimens of human and artificial teeth. The personage who presided over this es- tablishment was a man about fifty years of age, tall, well formed, displaying a luxuriant head of the blackest and glossiest hair, and a set of remarkably even and white teeth. His eyes were as black as his hair, and keen and piercing in their expression. His complexion, although naturally dark, seemed to have had a deeper tinge added to it by long exposure, and his features, although marked by some few wrinkles and crow's feet, still starnped him as a remarkably handsome man. It was evening-that soothing hour in a tropical climate when THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 103 day melts with a delicious softness into night, and the sound of music falls on the ear with the most bewitching influence. The dentist sat alone in his office, his face buried in his hands, and he himself in a deep fit of musing. Another person, but of less striking appearance than the dentist, was seated at the open window, with his head half inclined outward, in the attitude of listening. There was silence between the two, and although there was no light in the room, the apartment and its occupants were distinctly revealed in the bright twilight which came streaming through the open door and window. The strains of music from the military band in the public square of the city, came floating in the richest melody into the dentist's office; but while his companion appeared to drink in, with the keenest plea- sure, every note that was borne to his ear, the dentist himself raised not his head, or seemed sensible of anything that was going on around him. Suddenly the door was darkened, and two men entered, without ceremony, into the room. The first was slim in form, with a thin hatchet-like face, cadaverous in its complexion, and to whose thinness and cadaverousness its possessor appeared to have endeavored to give rotundity and relief, by encouraging the growth of an enormous pair of black whiskers. His companion was a short, thick set man, the pe- culiarity of whose appearance consisted of an enormous patch on a face not very remarkable for its amiable expression. The dentist started from his seat, on' the entrance of the strangers, and stretched out his hand cordially to one with the hatchet face and whiskers, while he eagerly asked: g'What news, Felix! what news? But stop; we might as well shut the door, and darken the window ;" and Tardy, as. he spoke, ordered his companions to close the room and bring a light. It was but the work of a moment to obey the command, and the whole party confronted each other in the bright blaze of a lamp. "I have got glorious news for you," began the person whom the dentist had addressed as Felix; "but let me first introduce to you the companion I have found. Mr. --- "By St. Juan!" exclaimed the dentist, starting forward in amazement towards the man Felix was about to introduce, "it's Pepe, or there is no truth in noses. In the name of h-l, Pepe, where did you come from?" "Mr. Alexander Tardy," answered the other, with mich gravity, "I recognize you, although I don't exactly remember that d--d fine set of teeth you've got now in your muzzle; but I'm devilish glad to see you, and I swear by the long gun of the Circe, there's my friend Courro behind you, that was once strapped on it. How the d-1, Tardy, has this party got toge- ther so nicely again?" page: 104-105[View Page 104-105] 104 ALEXANDER TARDY, It was true, as Pepe had said, the dentist was no other than Tardy, and his companion was Courro, who now acted in the capacity of his attendant and assistant in the office. While Tardy and Pepe are comparing their notes, we will explain to the reader the circumstances that have strangely brought toge- ther in Havana three of the principal characters of our narra- tive, together with a new one in the person of Felix. We left the Circe, in our last chapter, cruizing in the West India Seas, with government vessels in pursuit of her. The chase of the Spanish guard ships after the Circe did not meet with any success. They came once or twice, indeed, in sight of her, but her sailing qualities, and the skill of those on board, soon bore her out of their reach, and Tardy still reigned the 'dreaded pirate of the sea. But what man could not accomplish, Heaven in its vengeance took in hand. The Circe, when near the very part of the coast of Cuba where in a former part of this history, Tardy captured the Spanish Guarda d(e Costa, was overtaken and cast a wreck on a reef of rocks. The crew, to a man, with the exception of Tardy, Pepe and Courro, perished. Tardy and Courro managed to reach the shore together by clinging to a spar, and having had, even in the fury of the storm, sufficient forethought to place as much of their money as they could in the belts around their persons, they did not find it difficult to make their way to Havana. Here Tardy, having acquired, in his various adventures in Philadelphia and Boston, a knowledge of dentistry, set up that business and soon became quite celebrated. Courro acted as his assistant, and his cus- tomers were neither few or far between. No one, however, dreamed that he was the famous pirate wha had so long been the scourge of the ocean, and his disguise of wig, false teeth, and sober suit of black, effectually drove away all suspicion of his being anything but a perfect gentleman. His knowledge of different languages and his prepossessing manners added to the deception, and Tardy, with his servant Courro, who conformed himself with great tact to the habits of his master, lived secure in Havana. The mind of Tardy, however, was restless under the calm garb of decency and honesty; it was not the life for him, and in the intervals of his professional duties, he continually wandered about the docks of Havana, looking for a chance of speculation at sea, and in the haunts of vice, in order to find out some desperate character suited to aid him in an enterprise and to take the place of Pepe, who he supposed was drowned with the rest of the crew of the Circe. He was not long in dis- covering the latter character in the person of Felix, whom we have already introduced to the reader. This Felix had for- merly been engaged in mercantile business, but his irregular habits soon caused him to abandon it. He then went back into the island and returned at intervals well provided with THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 105 money. It was presumed by those with whom he conversed, that he obtained it by being connected with the numerous bands of pirates who at that time infested almost all the bays and inlets of the island. With Felix, Tardy of course soon be- came intimate. It was arranged between them that Felix should endeavor to' find a suitable vessel, on board of which they could take passage. The plan was, when out at sea, to take possession of the vessel, kill the officers and crew by poison or otherwise, as Tardy had often done before, and wind up the performance by turning regular pirates. In the meantime, Felix was also to look out for one or two trusty persons to aid them in the enterprise. Felix, on his voyage oi discovery, came across Pepe, who also had been thrown on the shore from the wreck of the Circe, and, with much difficulty, had likewise made his way to Havana, where Felix found him in a destitute condition in one of the lowest and vilest haunts of the town. As the reader will have seen, it was at the very moment when Felix came to announce to Tardy the result of his researches, that we have once more introduced together the surviving pirates of the Circe. "Well," said Tardy, after he had finished his own and Cour- ro's story, and had heard that of Pepe, "Well, now, oui yarns are finished; I ask again, Felix, have you found a ship, as well as a Pepe?" "Yes, thank the d-l, I've been to Matanzas and found the brig Crawford, bound from thence to the port of New York- just the thing for us, and as neat and trim a craft as ever cut the water." "How many a ,.. ..l. asked Tardy. "Eight, all told :-Henry Brightman, Captain; Edmund Dobson, mate; Joseph Dolliver, Oliver Potter, Asa Bicknell, Nathaniel P. Deane, seamen; Stephen Gibbs, cook, and Nor man Robinson, who owns part of the cargo." "Felix, give us your hand; you're a trump," said Tardy; "and I think we'll have a merry party on board that same brig Crawford; but now, Felix. away: make your arrangements- be secret, and let us get on board as passengers, as soon as pos- sible. Pepe, you'll stay with me and Courro," and an hour afterwards, Pepe, Courro and Tardy retired to rest in the house of the latter, while Felix was as snugly stowed away in his own domicile in another part of the city. The next morning the whole party were on their way to Ma- tanzas, where they arrived without accident or adventure, and found the brig Crawford on the eve of sailing. Tardy, through his appearance as a gentleman and profession as a doctor, pro. duced the most favorable ifnpression on Captain Brightman, and passages for himself and companions were obtained without any difficulty. page: 106-107[View Page 106-107] 106 ALEXANDER TARDY, It was about the middle of May, in the year 1827, that the Crawford spread her sails to the wind and left Matanzas for New York, having on board Tardy, Pepe, Courro, and Felix, together with all the persons enumerated by Felix to Tardy in his description of her crew. The monotony of sea life remained. unbroken or varied by any particular incident up to the 31st day of Maiy. Tardy and his companions had behaved them- selves with the strictest propriety, and the former' had won by his engaging manners the entire confidence of the captain and all the rest on-board. He had, however, during all the time, been secretly perfecting his plans, and the 31st of May was the day fixed for their consummation by action. On that morning Captain Brightman was confined to the cabin by sickness. Tardy, with the mate Dobson and several others, sat down to breakfast on deck, and during the repast,' Tardy acted as master of ceremonies, helping those around to fried eggs, bacon and chocolate. After breakfast, Dobson, the mate, descended to the cabin to get some rest, as the sickness of the captain had compelled him to be on duty all the preced- ing night. He had hardly reached his berth before he was seized with a violent headache, throbbing about the temples, and sickness at the stomach, but he took an emetic, and it passed off, leaving him in a sound sleep. In the meantime several others were taken sick in the like manner, but not to so violent a degree. Tardy's poison, this time, from some un- known cause, seemed not to have acted with its accustomed effect, and his officiousness in relieving the siclk, warded off any inquiry into or suspicion of the cause of the strange sickliess. If the poison had failed to bring death, it had brought weak- ness and exhaustion, and Tardy waited until night to take advantage of it. Night came; the sky was clear, and the stars shone down with a brilliant light on the sea. All was arranged. Dobson, the mate, was asleep in the cabin, where also the captain lay groaning in agony. Dolliver was at the helm, Nathan Deane and Norman Robinson were leaning, sick and faint, over the bulwarks of the brig, while Tardy, Pepe, Courro and Felix were walling up and down the deck. Suddenly, while Tardy de- scended into the cabin, Felix and Courro threw themselves on Deane and Robinson, and threw them overboard,'while Pepe rushed on Dolliver, who was at the helm. The latter, after receiving a blow from Pepe's knife, tore himself frorm his grasp, and escaped, with difficulty, to the main shrouds of the vessel. At this moment, Dobson, hearing the shrieks on deck, rushed from the cabin, just as Pepe had given Potter, who had been standing by Dolliver, a deadly stab. Dobson shouted to Potter to follow Dolliver to the main shrouds. Potter did so as well as he could,'although lie came near falling several times THE FAMOUS PIRATE OF THE WEST INDIES. 107 from the faintness produced by. his wound. ' Dobson, defending himself from Pepe's attack, with a handspike, also retreated to the main shrouds; and Felix and Courro, having despatched the rest of the crew on the deck, they, with Pepe, remained alone its masters. In the meantime Tardy had entered the captain's cabin, where, with a blow of his dagger, he completed on him the work of destruction that he had before commenced with poi- son. He then immediately ascended to the deck to find himself and his companions the only survivors on board, with the ex- ception of Dobson, Dolliver, and Potter, who were in the main shrouds. Tardy ordered them down, promising them their lives if they complied. Dobson first descended, and the pirates made no attempt'to harm him. Dolliver met with a different fate- for no sooner had he touched the deck than he was stabbed by Courro and pushed overboard by Pepe. A moment afterwards Potter fell from the rigging into the ocean. The work of death was now finished; but one, (Dobson,) of all the crew of the Crawford, survived, and Tardy now assumed the command, while Felix acted as mate. In the morning, the bloody deck was washed and the course of the ship turned towards Norfolk, Va., the object being to make some repairs, lay in some provisions, ship new hands, and escape, without being detected. In a few days afterwards, the Crawford accordingly anchored off Old Point Comfort. On the night of the arrival, Dobson managed to get a boat, and put off for the shore. He was not discovered, and the pirates slept in fancied security. In the meantime, Dobson reached the shore in safety, and disclosed the'whole affair to the authorities. A large force was soon despatched to the brig, and the pirates were aroused from their slumbers to find themselves fairly in the toils. "All is over," said Tardy to his three companions, as a crowd of officers and soldiers -ascended the sides of the vessel, "re- sistance is useless, surrender or follow my example; see, thus I cheat the gallows," and with a fierceiand rapid movement, he drew his knife across his throat, severing it from ear to ear. Without,a groan he fell on the deck, in the crimson deluge of his own blood, and died. Felix, Pepe, and Courro surrendered, and were conveyed to Richmond, Va., where they were tried, convicted and hung. They suffered the penalty of the law with dogged indifference, and died as they had lived, in defiance of man and God. Thus ends the life of Alexander Tardy.