Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 36, Number 125, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 November 1904 — The Sea Scourge [ARTICLE]

The Sea Scourge

CHAPTER XXIII. On the following morning Marl Laroon was awakened by feeling some one shaking him by the shoulder. He opened his dull, leaden eyes, and saw Otehewa standing over him. “Come, my master,” she cried, “you haT© slept long enough.” The pirate saw the bright sunlight shining in through the windows, and he slowly arose to his feet. It was some time before he comprehended what had passed, but nt length the scenes on the night before came to liis mind, and he started and gazed wildly into her face. “Otehewa, I have a wife?” “Yes, sir,” returned the girl, looking calmly into his face. ““Don’t you remember?—you were married to Mary last night.” “Accursed fool that I was!” muttered the pirate, in anger with himself alone. “I resolved that I would not drink much last night. Did I drink much?” Now Otehewa knew just where to take the man, for she had seen him helped to bed so many times after his carousals, and had also heard him talk the next morning, that she knew he never remembered anything thnt had transpired after he had become intoxicated op the evening. “You drank a good deal of wine, sir,” khe answered; “and you know ’twas the strongest kind." In half an hour after this breakfast was served, and Marl sent for his wife to come down. Mary refused nt first, but Otehewa told her she must. v And,” she added, “you must not show one angry look, nor speak one bad word. Keep ‘the pirate on good terms with yon, and if help comes not to-day, I will fix your oppressor the same ns he was last night.” At length Mary went down, and at the door of the eating room she found her “husband” waiting for her. Her first Impulse was to shrink away, but she remembered her promise to Otehewa, and she gave the pirate her hand. At that moment she felt a strange degree of strength come to her soul. Perhaps her hope overcame her fear. She saw Otehewa standing by her, and when she saw how calm that noble girl looked it gave calmness to herself. She allowed Laroon to lead her to a seat, and then sit down by his side, and she did not even shudder. The meal was. finished—the buccaneer and his bride had eaten alone, while Otehewa waited upon them; and Laroon was upon the point of rising, when the door was opened and Paul entered the apartment. But he was not alone, for close behind him came James Fox! CHAPTER XXIII. Let us go back to the brig, and follow the youth to his present position in that eating room. Early in the morning Buffo Burningtou came down from the masthead, where he 1 had been for over ad hour, and sought the young surgeon, and informed him that he must go back to the castle. “Ask no questions,” said Buffo, “but come with me at once. There are a •core of men or more in the woods, and they will go with us. Come —if you would save Mary.” \ Paul was bewildered, but that was enough, and he prepared himself quickly. The boat was his own crew, the same four whom he used to take with him, and then they set off. Half way up the river they pulled in to the shore, and, having landed, Buffo and Paul told the boatmen that they might return to the brig when they pleased, and tell the captain's crew to come up at sunset. After this our hero and Burnington struck off toward another path •which led to the castle, and when he reached it Paul was not a little astonished at meeting a company of thirty armed men —all of them soldiers, and one of them iu the splendid undress of au infantry colonel, to whom the youth was introduced. “Now,” said Buffo, speaking to Paul, ■“you lead these men to the back of the •mall wooded hill by the castle. I must go and call Mr. Fqx, who lies waiting close at hand, and I may keep on to Caronne's. If Ido conclude to keep on Fox will join you and proceed at once to the castle, and I shall join jW there in •eason for the denouement.” As Burnington thus spoke he started off by a narrow cross path, and Paul turned to Col. Tafallo, remarking as he did so: “Do you understand all this, sir?” “Perfectly,” replied the officer. “Lead us on.” There was a promptness and decision about the look and tpne of the man which forbade Paul to ask questions, and he at once started on his way. In just about one hour he reached the back of the hill, which lay only a few rods from the castle wall, and here, in less than ten minutes, they were joined by James Fox. The old gentleman shook the youth warmly by the hand and then proposed they should start at once for the castle. It happened very fortunately that all the men who lived in the cots without the wall had gone off to their work upon the other side of the river, where they were engaged in gathering cochineal; so the party approached the main building without alarm and even reached the postern without being discovered. This postern was often left unlocked in the daytime, and it happened to be so now; so Paul opened it and passed in. There were some dozen men —slaves lounging about the buildings in that part of the yard, but they gave no alarm, for they saw Paul first, and hence supposed of course all was right. Then when they came to be threatened with death by the soldiers if they made any noise, they dared not give warning, and nil was so far safe. After this Paul and the old gentleman left the colonel and his men and proceeded at once to seek Mari Laroon—with what success we have seen. The pirate started up when lie saw the youth, and when his eye also rested npon the old gentleman whom he had forked so hard to get out of the way he trembled and turned pale. But he was not long without speech. “What do you here, sir?” he asked of Paul, with a flashing eye. —tULcame at the command of another.”

not that my first hours of wedded life should be thus broken iu upon.” “Wedded!” exclaimed the youth, turning pale as death, and grasping the back of a chair for support. “Did you say wedded?” asked Fox, in a shrill whisper. “Ay,” answered Laroon, with a demoniac smile. “This sweet girl was made my lawful wife last evening. It geems to astonish you.” “Lost! lost!” gasped Paul, sinking down iutq a chair and covering his face; «y»d at tlie same time the eyes of James Fox seemed starting from his head. "No, no, Paul!” cried Mary, forgetting nil else but her loved one’s agony, and rushing to liis side. “No, no,” she repented, flinging htr arms about his neck. “Look up—look up! Lnst night, a foul mockery was said here against my will, and the base priest pronounced me wife! But a kind angel has guarded me.” With one low cry of joy our hero wound his arms about the form of the gentle maiden and drew her upon his bosom, while the hands of the old man were instinctively clasped and raised toward heaven. But all this did not seem tt> suit Marl Laroon. He raised liis clenched fists and brought them down upon the table with such force that the dishes leaped again. “Now,” he cried, “I’ll know who rules here, and you shall know the fate of those who tread in my way! What ho! Here, I say! Here!” The door was quickly opened, and a defiant smile had already begun to work upon the pirate’s face, but it passed av.ay immediately, for those were not his slaves that.entered; they were a colonel and a score of soldiers! "Take that man!” uttered Fox, point ing to Laroon as he spoke. There was a short struggle, and the buccaneer was a bound prisoner. "Now, Marl Laroon,” pronounced the old man, "your race has come to an end! You know me, I think?” He gazed fixedly into the pirate’s face as he spoke, and the bold, bad man cowered and trembled. He did know who it was that spoke to him, and revealed the fact.

“Ay,” he hissed, standing now at ease, while his brow grew black as night with hate and deadly vengeance, "I know ye, Stephen Humphrey! But I am not gone yet! You must not think of triumph while I live!” “The less you think of life, my dear sir, the less you’ll feel of disappointment when the hangman takes you.” There was something in the very calm, sober quietness of that remark which carried an ice bolt to the pirate’s heart. “Stephen Humphrey?” uttered Paul, as soon ns he could command his speech, at the same time letting go his hold upon Mary, and 'turning toward the old gentleman. “Yes, Paul,” returned he whom we have known as James Pox. “I am Stephen Humphrey. Do you remember the name?” “Uncle Stephen?” “Yes,” answered the old man, with a smile. “And I lived with you when I was a child?” “Yes.” ‘,‘And Alary?” whispered the youth, trembling violently. “Can she not guess?” answered the other, extending his arms toward her, while a strange look overspread his features. The maiden tottered forward and sank upon his bosom. She gazed up into his face and in a very low whisper she mur mured: “Father!” “But you are not my father?” cried Paul. “No, nor am I any relation, save such as my solemn pledge, given to your dying father, and my love make.” CHAPTER XXIV. By this time Mary and Paul had both become calm, and passing his daughter over to the youth’s keeping, Humphrey confronted the bound villain. “Marl Laroon,” he said, “I always knew you had a hard heart, but I never knew what a villain you were until you stole my children from me. For years after that dark day when you thus robbed me I could gain no clew to your whereabouts, but at length I heard of the fearful depredations of the Scourge, and I heard your name mentioned as her captain, and sometimes Marl Laroon was but the incarnation of that Scourge. I learned that you had a haunt at Manila. I then found Buffo Burnington, and to him I gave the task of hunting you up. He joined you, and when he felt sure that my child was in this place he wrote a letter to the Governor of Nagasaki informing him of the facts. It was by the contrivance of him, too, that he and your party of horse hunters were apprehended. And now, Paul," continued the old man, turning to where the youth and haiden stood, “you know why Burnington did not want you to escape, as you had planned to do.” “Ay,” answered Paul, fervently, “I see it all now. But I knew not then how uoble he was.” “Noble!” cried Laroon, gnashing his teeth. "Oh, the traitor! Let me set eyes upon him once again!” “And what will you do?” asked Humphrey with a strange smile. “I’ll have his life!" hissed the pirate. For a moment the other regarded Laroon with a curious look, and then he placed his hand within the breast of his frock, and took from there a curiously contrived boot, within the leg of which there was a firm socket for a small-sized, foot, while the apparent foot of the boot was of sollW cork. This he put upon his right foot, thus making his left leg appear some inches shorter than its mate. His movement was to take from his hat a wig of red, crispy linir, and put it upon his head. Next he pressed his fingers about the socket of his left eye, and that eye, being of crystal glass, fell out into his hand. Then the strange man took a box from hfs pocket, from which he drew a sponge, and having passed this several times over his face, and particularly abont the eyeless socket, he turned toward the pirate captain and smiled. “And who shall command here besides me?” proudly and defiantly cried the pirate captain. “Leave the house, both of you—and yon, my young gentleman, will go bock to the brig at once. I like

and yet Otehewa had seen it all at her first examination of Buffo. At first Marl Laroon seemed hardly to credit the evidence of his own senses, but soon the whole truth was open to him, and for a few moments his head sank upon his breast. When he looked up his anger hnd assumed n dejected cast, for j he saw that at every point he was met beyond power of resistance. | “Oh,” he, muttered, “if Warda had | done his work I had been free from this trap.” I "You should have been more careful bow you did your work,” said Col. Humphrey. “Your whole plan of that night, when you stole into my room and looked upon the scar you gave me so many years ago, was seen and overheard.” “Ay,” said Otehewa, looking him full in the face, “I was awake that night, and I heard your offer to Warda!” This was too. much for the pirate chieftain. To find that he had been the tool of an old man and a poor slave — while he thought himself carrying all before him at his will —struck him so near the heart that he sank back upon a chair and bowed his head. “Now, Marl Laroon,” spoke Humphrey, in a sad tone, “we are about to part, to meet no more on earth. For all you have done against me and mine, I freely forgive you, for I now receive back all I have lost; but I cannot save you, for the laws you have so long outraged, and the blood you have spilled, call for justice. Heaven grant you may repent before you die!” As He ceased he made a sign to the colonel, and Marl Laroon was led from the room. The pirnte stopped as he reached the door and turned back. His eye rested upon Mary, and- a strange look of sadness stole over his features. But in a moment more he snw Paul, and Humphrey, and Otehewa, and tlie whole of his momentary emotion. ended.; He was conveyed to Nagasaki, and tlie whole.crew, save the four boatmen who had brought Paul up in the morning, were taken with him. There lie and they were tried for piracy, condemned and executed under the laws. Of these four boatmen, three made their escape, but Billy Mason came up to the castle, and Col. Humphrey gave him liberty and protection. for he knew that the youth had been taken when a boy, and had ever since remained on board the pirate’s vessel from compulsion. Paul and Mary were anxious to know tlie secret of all that had transpired, and Col. Humphrey, now himself iu looks again, spoke as follows: “Marl Laroon, whose real name is Delaney, loved your mother, Paul, but she would not marry him. She found he was a bad youtK and she left him, and then married with George Lattimore, a warm friend of mine. It was through my instrumentality that this latter match was brought about, for I loved George, and I knew that Helen Laroon would make him a most excellent wife. Helen was an orphan, worth some ten thousand dollars, and I leave you to guess whether this latter item had any influence on Marl. But I introduced Lattimore to the maiden, and in a few months they were married, and from that moment Marl Delaney swore vengeance. He went away to sea, and while he was gone you were born, and while you were yet an infant your mother died. Two years after that your father died. On his death bed he placed his boy in my hands, and with him forty thousand dollars, to be kept for that boy’s use. Your money is safe, Paul, and has more than doubled now. “When you had been with me a short time my own child was born —my little Mary, here —and all seemed sunlight for awhile; but soon a cloud came. My sweet wife died, and I was left alone with my children, for the gentle boy had won my love, and in my heart he found the place of a son. Two years passed away, and my wounds were healed, when Marl came back. He had now taken a new name—calling himself by the name of the girl he had tried to wiif. He met me on the highway near my house, and accused me of having stolen his love from him. I told him all I had done, and also why I had done it. I told him of his character, his dissipation, andjso on,and in a moment of wrath he drew a kuife and sprang upon me. He struck me in the shoulder, and cut a gash the whole width of my bosom, but the wound was not dangerous. This was in the spring. In the following autumn he came to my/house in the morning, and by the help of an old woman whom he bribed, he got the children away. I knew it not until night, for I was not at home. I reriiWliber the day well; it was a dark, dismal day, and that night, after I had searched every nook and corner in vain, I sank down in utter despair. On the following morning one of my men brought me a piece of paper which had been found stuck .into one of the crevices of my carriage. It was a scrawl from Marl Laroon, and simply informed me that he had my own child which he should keep out of revenge, and that the boy lie took as his own, it being tlie child of one who by right was his. Of course I did all I could, but** I could gain no clew to my children, save to trace them to Boston. Years after that I heard of Laroon. as you have already heard me tell. The rest you know. I have suffered fnuch,' more than you can ever know, but all,is bright now. Hereafter heaven shall hear thanksgiving with my prayers.” ******* Within a week the authorities at Nagasaki had taken possession of the pirate’s valuable estate on Silver river, and Col. Stephen Humphrey lyid gone to the city with his friends. Of course the faithful Otehewa accompanied her loved mistress, and Billy Mason went with Paul. When another spring opened its gifts of sunshine and flowers the great house at Humphrey Park was alive with joyous spirits. The Colonel was young again, and raul and Mary were made one for life upon the spot and amid the scenes where their earliest childhood was spent. And young Mason, who had ever proved himself a noble, faithful fellow, whispered a strange question into Otehewa’s ear. She blushed and hung down her head, and then told him to go to her mistress. Mary smiled at his request, and sent him to her husband. Panl smiled, too, but his answer was favorable, and Billy and Otehewa were married; and if they had one thought in their souls that could possibly rival their mutual love for each other, it was the love and devotion they ever felt for their noble The mystery was solved! There stood Buffo Burnington, save in mere dress! The metamorphosis seemed even now impossible, for the transformation was eorriplete. Hardly a feature seemed left;

i he was long in realizing that he wai» the master of more than a hundred thousand dollars. But so it was, for Otehe • wa’s diamonds yielded her that amouu :. under the careful negotiations of th<> Colonel. The gems belonging to Pan and his bride were disposed of at tha same time, and yielded in the same pro-} portion. The summer came and passed, andi autumn followed with its withering touch! upon all without; hut within the home! where dwelt our friends the cloud and storm never came. All there was peace and joy, experienced by souls that had learned the value of heaven’s blessings through lessons of bitter adversity. (The end.)