The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, January 31, 1904, Page 8

THE SAN FRANCISCO SUNDAY CALL ght by A. Conan Doyle) aneers were something mere band of ma- were a floating re- cipline wn., In their srseless quarrel with ds they had some sem- heir side. Thelr bloody cities of the Main were not more barbarous than-the inroads of pon the Netherlands, or upon the bs ese same Amer- ica But there came a day w of the B s no lor he fleets stered ccaneer &t the T nd the solitary and outlawe k their place Yet even witt tion of restraint and of discipline stfil lingered a among the early pirates. the Avorys, the Engla e Robertses, th remaina an sen- time the n f some ama ality behind A 208 = . £ o of S hole met nks said tle when he hes ews; but k into a morosé en g ncholy. He neg s business, avoided his frie of his time in the he fishermen and seame riot and devilry, he sat his pipe, with & set f 5 ring eve. It was © s bis mis- fortunes ts, and his old s e askance, for the r was enough to bar him f west men bad see gre fzon and the g =h ig & ing like 2 Some s s a wh e ring with her capvae ady’s bodice, be- ciuse che a patched foretop- eall rising the violet wa- e t was from a ¥ d a waterless ed with sun-dried came a man who had been n and who had es- hands. He reasons which supply—but he did write, to the of Copley Banks. together over the dumb man pointed here outlying reefs and tor- while his companion sat silence, with his unvarying virate's for nterest s Sery g, some two years after Copley Banks strode wn office with his old air of ness. The manager prise, for it was months since he had shown any inter- in business morning, Mr. Banks!” said he, morning, Freeman. I see the Ruffiing Harry is in the bay.” “Yes, s she clears for the Wind- ward Islands on Wednesday."” “I have other plans for her, Free- man. I have determined upon a slav- ing venture to Whydah.” But her cargo is ready, si “Then it must come out again, Free- man. My mind is made up, and the Ruffiing Harry must go slaving to Whydah.” All argument and persuasion were vain, so the manager had dolefully to clear the ship once more. And then Copléy Banks began to make preparations for his African voy- age. It appeared that he relied upon force rather than barter for the filling of his hold, for he carried none of those showy trinkets which savages love, but the brig was fitted with eight nine- pounder guns and racks full of mus- kets and cutlas The after sailroom next the cab transformed into a powder ‘magaz and she earried as many round shot as a well found priva- teer. Water and provisions were ship- ped for a long voyage. But the preparation of his ship's com- pany was most surprising. Jt made Freerpan, the manager, realize -that, there was truth in the rumor that his master had taken ve of his senses, For, under one p: <t or another, he began to dismiss old and tried whe the firm for ear he embarked the sct en whose repu- tation s the lowest crimp w e bee amed to fur- nish tk There Birthmark Sweetlocks. who was known to have been present at the killing of the logwood cutters, 80 that his hideous scarlet disfigure- as put down by ed afterglow the fanciful as from that great and under little sun- with taking of Cape tin, a first who had served s at the chosen from among 1 his 1 faced at you when he tried 1 had been shaved, sible to recogr him n hom Sharkey had the knife i who had tell his experiences to Cop- nes were not unnoticed, i the andant of the nor town of of the artillery. the Sad The cor jor Harvey M serious representations to s not a tra but a sma d he. “I nk rrest Copley Ba 1 war- 1d be as a d to se do wou suspect?”’ asked the who was a slow witted man, ) fevers and port wine d the soldier, “that it ver again.” ede Bonnet was a planter of on and religious charac- m some sudden and over- freshet of wildness in his en up everything in order rating in the Caribbean xample was a recent one, sed the utmost conster- s. Governors had accused of being in rates and of receiving now Lt with p jssions upon their plunder, so that league ? v any sinisten, construction. Well, Majof Harvey am vastfy sorry to do anything which may offend my friend, Copley Banks, for many a time have my knees been under his mahdgany, but in face ot what you say there is no choice for me but to order you to board the vesssl and to satisfy yourself as to her char- &cter and destination.” So at oné.in the morning Major Har- vey, with a latnchfu] of his so'diers, paid -a surprise visit' to the Ruffling Harry, with thé resuit that they picked up ‘pothing moke solid than a. hempen cable floating at the moorings. It had been £lipped by the.brig, whose owner had sdented danger. ' She had already passed the Palisadés; -and was beating out against’the northeast trades om a course for the Windward Passage. When upon the wext morning the brig had left Morant JBoint. a.fgnere haze upon the southefn horizon the men were ealled aft and Copley Banks re- vealed his plans ‘to them. He had chosen them, he ‘said, as brisk boys and lads of spirit, who. would rather run some risk upon the sea thanstarve for a living upon the shor King's ships were few and wealg¥and they’ ce was open to & said he, “I1 could master any trader who mights come their‘way. Others had done well at the business, and'with a handy; well- found vessel, there was no reasoh. w they should not turn their tarry jacket+ into velvet coats. If ‘théy were p oz pared to sail under the blifick; fak~he’ was ready to command them|; ‘but, it any wished to withdraw they might have the gig and row back to Jamafca. Four men out of six-and-forty askéed for their discharge, went over the ship's side into the boat and rowed away amid the jeers and howlings of the crew. The rest assembled aft and drew up the articles of their association. A square of black tarpaulin had the white ckull painted upon it and was holsted _ amid cheering at the main, Officers were elected and the limits of their authority fixed. Cop'ey Banls was chosen cdptain, but as there are no mates upon a pirate craft Birthmark Sweetlocks became quartermaster and Israel Martin the boatswain, There was no difficulty in knowing what was the custom of the brotherhood, for half the men, at Jeast, had served upon pirates before. Food should be the same for all, and no man should inter- fere with another man's drink! The capiin should have a cabin, but all hands should be welcome to enter it when they chose, All should share and share alike, save only the captain, quartermaster, boat- swain, carpenter and master gunner, Who had from & quarter to a whole share extra. He who saw a prize first should have the best weapon taken out'of‘her. He who boarded.her first should have the richest suit of clothes aboard of her. Every man might treat His own prisoner, be it man or woman, aftgr ,his own fashion. If a man flinchéd, from his gun the quartermas- ter sfiould pistol him. These were some of- the rules which the crew of the Ruf- filng Harry subscribed to by putting forty-two crosses at the foot of- the paper upon which they had been drawn. S0 a new rover was afloat upon the seas, and her name before a year was over became as well known as that of the Happy Delivery. From the Baha- mas to the Leewards, and from the Leewards to the Windwards, ' Copley Banks became the rival of Sharkey and the terror of traders. For a long time the bark and the brig never met, which was the more singular, as the Ruf- fling Harry was forever looking in at Sharkey’s resorts; but at last one day, when she was passing down the inlet of Coxon's Hole, at the east end of Cuba, with the intention of 9Areening, there. was the Happy Delivery, . with her blocks and tackle-falls already rigged for the same purpose. < Copley Banks fired a shotted salute and hoisted the green trumpeter en- sign as the custom was among gentle- men of the sea. Then he dropped his boat and went aboard. Captaln Sharkey was not & man of & genlal mood, nor had he any kindly sympathy for those who were of the same trade as himself. Copley Banks found him seated astride upon one of the ‘after guns, with his New England quartermaster, Ned Galloway, and a crowd of roaring, ruffians standing about him. Yet none of them roared with quite such- assurancé when Shar- key's pale face and filmy blue eyes were turned upon him. He was in his shirt sleeves, with his cambric frills breaking through his open red satin long-flapped vest. -The scorching sun seemed to have no power upon his fleshless frame, for he wore a low fur cap, as though it had been win- ter. A, many-colored band of silk passed across his' bodv and supported a short, murderous sword, while his broad, brass-buckled belt- was stuffed with pistols. “‘Sink you for a poacher!” he cried as Copley Banks passed over the bul- warks. “I will drub you within an inch of your life, and that inch also! What mean you by fishing in my waters?"” Copley Banks looked at him and ‘his eyes were like those of a traveler who sees his home at last. ' “I am glad that we are of one mind,” said he, “for I am myself of opinion that the seas are not large enough for the two of us. But if you will take your sword and pistols and come upon & sand bank with me, then the world will be rid of a damned villaln whichever way It goes.” “Now; this is-talking!” cried Sharkey, Jumping-off the &gun and holding out his hand. “I have not met many who could look John Sharkey in the eyes® IN THE OIN cueél.ff gg#gnr'rf g S . THAT IVOR Y= g WITH THEH%J_EAm OF: MBISTURE THAT WASEVER SEEN OF SHAPKEY and speak with a full preath. May the ¥But Copley Banks came often on devil :elze me if I-do. not choose you as . rd the Happy Delivery and joined a consort! But if you play me false; Sharkey in many. of his morose de- then I will come abeard of you and gut bauches, 4o th tjag’lfl! any misgivings You upon your own poop.” of the lattariweremet at rest. He knew “And. ¥ pledge Vdu the.same!” said nothing of the &l thiat he had done Copley Banks, and.so the-two pirates to his'new booh companion, for of his became sworn. comrades to-each other. many victims hofi‘" ald he remember That summer they, went north as far the woman:and the two boys whom he as the Newfoundland Bapks and har- ’;ge;lM:‘h;‘e‘t:r’euc:ele::iiz':;o:‘c.}'.'g‘:i ried the New York tradggsgnd the | oge.té-himself and to his quartermas- Whale ships trom New bhm.”f 14 ter for & caroyse upon the last evening Copley Banks who captured {8e/LiYer- of'yneir stay at the Caicos Bank he saw pool ship House of Hanover, Bul.it was Was no reason to refuse. Sharkey who fastened hef mastérto A well found passenger ship had been the windlass and pelted him to 9;}'.? rifled the week before, so their fare was with empty claret bottles. of the best, and after supper five of KCine's theém drank deeply together. There Together they engaged the Kmmgs byl ' t1e"two captains, Birthmark ship Royal Fortune, which had been “gyoatiocks, Ned Galloway and Israel #ent in search of them, and beathier off Martin, the old buccaneersman. To after a night action of five hoyrs, the wait upon them was the dumb steward, drunken, raving crews. fighting naked whose head Sharkey split with his in the light of the battle lanterns, with glass because he had been too slow in & bucket of rum and a pannikin laid by ‘the tackles of every gun. They the filling of it. The quartermaster had slipped Shar- key’s pistols away from him, for it ran to Topsall Inlet, in North Carolina. wag an old joke with him to fire them to ‘refit, and then in the spring they cross-handed und‘:r the table and see i ¢ icos, ready for who was the lucklest man. It was a ‘?" o= ':‘:2%?;,‘: S:: West Indies. pleasantry which hadl’ cost his boat- oR R key.and Copley SWain his leg, o now, when the table By this time Sharkey ai was cleared, they would coax Sharkey’s Banks had become very excellent y.unong gway from him.on the excuse friends, for Sharkey loved a Whole; of the heat and lay them out of his arted villain, and he loved a man of reach. ::eaule and it seemed to him that the The captain’s cabin of the Ruffling two met in the captain of the Rufing Harry was in a deckhouse upon the Harry. It was long before he gave his P0OD. and a stern-chaser confidence to him, for cold suspicion lay deep iIn his character. ‘Never once would he trust himself outside his own ship and away from his own men.” mounted at the back of it. t were racked round the wall and three great hogsheads of powder made a stand for dishes and for bottles. In this grim room the five pirates sang the silen§ glasses and passed the box and the candle round for their tobacco pipes. Hour after hour the talk became fouler, the voices hoarser, the curses and !houllng{ mors incoherent, until three of the flve had closed their bloodshot eyes and dropped their swimming heads upon the !I?)-), Copley Banks and Sharkey were left face to face, the one because he had drunk the least, the other because no amount of liguor would ever shake his iron nerve or warm his sluggish blood. Behind him stood the watchful stew- ard, forever filling up his waning glass. From without came the low lapping of the tide, and from over the water & sailor’s chanty from the bark. & Copley Banks glanced at the steward, and the man took a coil of rope from the shotrack behind him. “Captain Sharkey,” sald Copley Banks, “do you remember the Duchess of Cornwall, hailing from London, which you took and sank three years ago off the Statira Shoal?” “Curse me if I can bear their names in mind,” said Sharkey. “We did as many as ten ships a week about that time.” ““There were a mother and two sons among the passengers. Maybe that will bring it back to your mind.” Captain Sharkey leamed back In thought, with his huge thin beak of & nose jutting upward. Then he burst suddenly into a high treble, neighing laugh. He remembered it, he said, and he added details to prove it. “But burn me if it had not slipped from my mind!” he cried. “How came you. to think of it?"” “It was of interest to me,” sald Cop- ley Banks, “for the woman was my wife and the lads were my only sons.” Sharkey stared across at his compan- fon:and saw that the smoldering fire which lurked always in his eyes had bufjed up into a lurid flame. He read their ‘menace and he clapped his hands to his empty beit. Then he turned to seize a weapoms but the bight of a rope was cast around him and in an instant his arms were bound to his side. He ruughg like a wildcat and screamed for help. i “Ned!” he yelled. Here's damned vil help!”™ But the three men were far too deep- 1y sunk in their swin sleep for any Voice to 'wake them. R.and and round went the ToDe; until swathed like a mimimy neck. They propped him s less. agalnst a powder bar Sagged him with a handker ed! ny! Wake Help, up! Ned, ¥ ut his 'Alny, red-rimmed eyes still looked hief, curses at then. The dumb man chat- tered in his' exultation, and Sharkey winced for the first,time when he saw the empty mouth before him. He un- derstood that vengeance, slow and p tient, < had, dopgz him long and ' elutchied hiim &f'la: “The t captors had their plans all #rfadged,”® and they were somewhat elaborate. First of all they stove the heads of two.of the great powder barrels, and they heaped the contents out upon the table and floor. - They piled it around and under the threk drunken men, un- til each sprawled iy a heap of it, T they carried Sharkey to the gun and they triced bim sifting over the port- hole, with his body about a foot from the muzxle. ' Wriggle as he would he could pgt meve am inch either to right or left, and the dumb man trussed him up with a sallor's cunning, so that there ‘was no ‘¢hance that he should work free. 2 “New, you Bloody devil,” said Cop- ley Banks, softiy. “you must listen to what 1 have tqisay to you, for they are thé last words that you will hear. Yow, are: fiy fian nuw, and I have bought yod:at.a price, for I have given all that & man can give here below, and I have given my soul as well. “To reach'you I bave had to sink to your levek’ For two years I strove against it, hoping that some other way might come, but I learned that thers was no other way. I've robbed and I have murdered—worse still, I have laughed and lived with you—and alil for the one end. And now my time has come, and you will die as I would have you die, seeing the shadow creep- ing slowly upon you and the devil wait- " ing for you in the shadow."” Sharkey could hear the hoarse volces of his rovers singing their chanty over the water. The words came clear to his ear, and just outside he could hear two men pacing backward and forward upon the deck. And yet he was helples: staring down the mouth of the nine- pounder, unable to move an inch or to utter so much as a groan To the dying pirate the jovial words and rollicking tune made his own fate seem- the harsher, but there was no softening in his venomous blue eyes. Coplev Banks had brushed away the priming of the gun and had sprinkled fresh powder over the touchhole. Then he had taken up the candle .and cut it to the length of about an inch. This he placed upon the loose powder at the breach of the gun. Then he scattered powder thickly over the floor beneath, 80 that when the candle fell at the recoil - it must explode the huge pile in which the three drunkards wers wallowing. “You've made others look death the face, Sharkey,” sald he; “now it has come to be your own turn. You and these swine here shall go together!” He lit the candle end as he spoke, and blew out the other lights upon the tabie. Then he passed out with the dumb maa and locked the cabin door upon the outer side. But before he closed it he took an exultant look backward and received one last curse from those un- conquerable eyes. In the single dim circle of light that ivory-white face, with- the gleam of mo'sture upon the high, bald forehead, was the last that was ever seen of Sharkey. There was a skiff alongside, and In It Copley Banks and the dumb steward made their way to the beach and looked back upon the brig riding in the moon- light just outside the shadow of the palm trees. They waited and waited, watching that dim light which shons through the stern port. And then at last there came the dull thud of a gun, and an instant later the shattering crash of the explosion. The long, sleek, black bark. the sweep of white sand and the fringe of nodding, feathery palm trees sprang into dazzling light and back into darkness again. Voices screamed and called upon the bay. Then Copley Banks, his heart singing within him, touched his companion upon the shoulder, and they plunged together into the lonely jungle of the Caicoa. : in