_Henry Huntington and Pat O'Leary, the Earl's Servant, start
upon An Exploring Expedition--Its Strange and Sudden
Termination at the Pirates' Cavern._
With a love of adventure, which no sense of anticipated or real danger
could restrain, glowing upon his mind, and beaming forth from his
handsome eyes, did Henry Huntington, upon his first landing upon the
island, declare to his companions that he intended to pass the day in
exploring its beautiful though limited dimensions, and when hunting for
curious sea-shells and other marine curiosities, wherewith to enrich a
sort of miniature museum which he had commenced some years before in
merry England.
'Is that your real intention, Henry, or are you joking,' asked the earl,
as the young man finished speaking.
'I certainly intend, sir, to spend the time allotted to me here, in
doing as I have said,' replied Henry.
'Then it is my opinion that you will have a tiresome time of it,' said
the earl.
'With all deference to your better judgment, my lord, I anticipate a far
different result.'
'Well, then, I wish you all prosperity in your adventurous undertaking,'
replied the earl, 'but be careful to keep within sight of the ship.'
'I shall undoubtedly be very careful about that, sir, for although I own
that I am an enthusiastic lover of romantic adventures, I do not by any
means, aspire to the envious celebrity of being left alone, in all my
glory, upon a desolate island. But who amongst all the party is hardy
enough to volunteer to go with me. Will you, Arthur?'
'Why, what a selfish fellow you have got to be, Henry,' said Mary
Hamilton, 'to start on a wild goose chase yourself, and then ask the
only other young gentleman of the party to accompany you.'
'That would be ungallant, without dispute,' chimed in 'sweet' Ellen
Armstrong.
'Upon a second thought, I am compelled to believe it would,' replied
Henry. 'But to settle the matter, by Lord Armstrong's leave, I will take
his servant Patrick with me.'
'Do you hear that, Patrick,' asked the earl?
'Indade, sir, and I do,' replied Mr. Patrick O'Leary, with the true
Hibernian accent. 'And its to the end of the world that I would follow
swate master Henry, intirely.'
'Well, Patrick, let us take a start now, then,' said Henry.
'Stop a bit, if ye plase, master Henry, till I ask yer honor a bit of a
question. Is there any wild bastes on this elligant little island?'
'Not that I know of. But what made you think of that, Patrick?'
'Faith, an it was just this, then, your honor. Ould Father McGrave,
rest to his sowl, who was the parish praste at Bully Bannon, when I
was a wee bit spalpeen of a boy, used to tell me that in 'forrin'
places like this, where the sun was as hot as purgatory all the year
round, there was a great plinty of tigers and illifonts, [meaning
probably--elephants,] and sarpints, and all other kinds of savage
bastes. Now I jest thought, master Henry, if that was the case here, I
would just cut a couple of "shillalahs," one for each of us, off of
yonder tree, as they might work in handy in case of accidint.'
'Although there is no danger of our being attacked by wild bastes, as
you call them,' replied Henry, smiling at the simplicity of the honest
Patlander, 'still, the shillalahs may not come amiss, so make haste and
cut them, and then we will set out upon our journey,'
Having thus gained Huntington's permission, Pat O'Leary lost no time in
repairing to the tree which he has before mentioned, where he selected
two of its branches, which he thought suitable to his purposes, he
quickly cut them from their parent trunk with his jacknife, and returned
with them to Henry, who chose the shortest one of the two, and then
said:--
'Now, Patrick, as they have all gone off and left this spot, it is time
for us to follow their example.'
'Fast as yer honor plases,' replied Patrick, and so saying, he
immediately followed Henry, who had advanced some paces ahead of him,
and they then proceeded both together, on their intended expedition.
They walked on for some moments in silence, which, however, was broken
by Henry, who thus addressed his companion,--
'Well, Patrick, what do you think of this beautiful spot?'
'Och, yer honor, and I think its just the most illigant little spot in
the world, where the pratees, [meaning, possibly, the oranges and
lemons,] grow on the trees, and where one never sees a snake, nor a
sarpint at all, at all. Sure, and I think that the blessed Saint Patrick
must have stopped at this place in the course of his travels, and killed
all the snakes, and the frogs, and the vipers, bad luck to them, as he
did in ould Ireland.'
'But how should you like to live here altogether?' asked Henry.
'Live, is it, master Henry? Sure, an I had rather live here than any
place in the wide world, besides barrin my own blessed ould Ireland.'
'What, alone?' again asked Huntington.
'By the powers, sir, no, not a bit of it,' replied the Patlander. 'The
devil a bit would Pat O'Leary wish to live alone in any place, bat I was
just thinking, master Henry, that if you and Miss Hamilton, bless the
light of her blessed black eyes, would only consint to be married, and
live upon this pretty, convanient little island, what a nate, clane,
comfortable serving man you might have in Patrick O'Leary.'
Not knowing exactly, in what way to reply to Patrick's last speech,
Henry remained for the time silent, and they thus proceeded on their
journey, ascending first to the top of one hill, then after passing
through a fertile and beautiful valley, ascending another, until at last
they got completely tired. As they reached the second valley, Henry
spoke as follows:
'I think we had better rest here awhile, Patrick.'
'Just as you plase, sir,' answered his companion, 'rest or go on, it's
all one to Paddy O'Leary.'
'Then I guess we will stop here,' said Henry.
So saying, he seated himself on the luxuriant green grass, beneath a
fragrant orange tree, and Patrick was about to follow his example, when
the sudden appearance of three men on the summit of an adjacent
eminence, greeted the curious gaze which he cast around, and caused him
to exclaim:
'By the powers of mud and blarney, master Henry, if there is no four
legged bastes upon this illigant bit of an island, there's plenty of two
legged ones.'
'What do you mean,' exclaimed Henry, starting to his feet.
'What do I mane? An sure, and what shall I mane, yer honor, except just
what I said? Just look at the top of that young mountain yonder, and you
will see two ugly looking two legged bastes, headed by a third, who
looks for all the world like the horrid baste with 'sivin heads and ten
horns,' that Father McGrave used to tell us was stabled in purgatory,
and ridden by the very ould divil himself.'
Turning his eyes in the direction intimated, Henry immediately
discovered the three strong men to whom Patrick had alluded, and they
seemed at the same time to have seen him, for soon afterwards he
observed that they were descending the hill, and walking swiftly towards
the place where he and his servant were standing.
'By the boys of Bulskerry, them divils are all armed, every mother's son
of them,' exclaimed O'Leary, as the strangers gained a near approach to
them.
'So they are, sure enough,' answered Henry. 'But what shall we do, Pat,
run away, or stop and see what they want of us?'
'It would surely be the asiest and most agreeable for both of us, to
show them a light pair of heels, or, in yer honor's own words, to run
away, that is, if so be that we had any where to run to,--but as we
haven't, why, the best thing we can be after doing, is to--to do the
best we can,--by staying where we am.'
Having arrived at this very logical, and important conclusion, our
honest Hibernian flourished his shillalah above his head, but the next
moment it was snatched from his grasp by Blackbeard, who cast it away to
a considerable distance.
'Bad luck to yer, for a murthering blackguard,' exclaimed Pat, as
nothing daunted, he closed in with the pirate, and with his superior
strength, would have easily crushed him to the earth, had not one of his
(Blackbeard's) comrades struck poor Pat a violent blow on the head with
the butt of his pistol, which caused him to let go his hold, and as he
afterwards averred, 'knocked the life from his head down to the inds of
his toes.'
Whilst this curious transaction was in progress, Henry Huntington was
busily engaged in parrying the thrusts which were aimed at him by the
third pirate, with his stout walking stick, (which might, perhaps, be
more properly termed a heavy club,) and so lustily did he lay about him,
that he soon managed to knock his adversary down, through the agency of
a blow, (which, as it was afterwards discovered, fractured the villain's
skull,) when Blackbeard and the other man, who had just got clear of
Pat, fell suddenly upon Henry Huntington, and soon disarmed him.
This having been accomplished, Blackbeard addressed him as follows:
'Dost thou know, rash and fool-hardy man, that you have incurred death,
by daring to resist my authority, and wounding one of my comrades?
'Though I know nothing either of you or your authority, or your
comrades, I do know, that as far forth as I could, I have done my duty.'
'And I still have mine to do,' answered Blackbeard. 'Knowest thou that
Mary Hamilton is in my power?'
'What,' exclaimed Henry, wildly, 'do I hear aright? Is my affianced in
the power of--'
'If Mary Hamilton is your affianced wife, she is certainly in the power
of Blackbeard, the far-famed pirate of the Roanoke.'
'God help her then,' exclaimed Henry, hardly knowing what he said.
'Amen,' exclaimed the pirate, in a tone of cruel mockery.
'If it is true, what you have told me,' said Henry, earnestly, 'only let
her go, free her, Mary Hamilton, from your cruel grasp, and then you may
kill, torture, do anything with my poor body that you will.'
'I shall dispose of her, and you too, just as I please,' answered
Blackbeard, 'but I shall not stop longer here to bandy words with you.'
As he finished speaking, the pirate raised his silver call to his lips,
and as its loud clear whistle rung out upon the still air, three more
desperadoes appeared suddenly upon the scene of action, whom Blackbeard
thus addressed:
'Comrades, convey this young sprig of nobility,' pointing to Henry, 'and
that prostrate Irishman,' pointing to Patrick, (who was just beginning
to recover from the blow which had stunned him,) 'to the cavern, under
the palace, where you will see that they are closely confined.'
So saying, Blackbeard turned quickly away, and soon disappeared through
the adjoining forest.
The cavern to which the pirate had alluded in his last speech, as being
under the 'palace,' was a large, subterranean appartment, which was
generally used by the bucaniers as a place of storage for their ill
gotten plunder. This cavern had had many, and various ways of entrance,
the principal one of which, was near the outside of the palace, and was
opened by removing a broad, flat stone, which had been ingeniously set
upright in a small banking, apparently of earth, which surrounded this
singular abode.
We might as well say here, as anywhere, that we are well aware that the
representation given by us of the pirate's palace and cavern, will be
looked upon by many as unnatural and improbable, but when they consider
that the bucaniers of that period were very numerous, and consisted of
men of almost every variety of genius, which must, even in its times of
relaxation, be employed about something, they will cease, perhaps, to
wonder that the ingenuity of such men should be exerted in building
convenient, and even elegant structures for their accommodation, and
their extensive means of enriching them with ornaments the most costly,
with which the numerous Indiamen they captured were freighted, will not
be farther questioned.
But to return to our story.
Finding himself surrounded by four or five armed and desperate men,
Huntington, concluding that resistance would be in vain, signified his
readiness to follow them, whereupon he was led by two of their number to
the cavern above alluded to, whilst the remaining pirates bestowed their
attention upon poor Patrick O'Leary, whom, (as he had not yet recovered
his powers of locomotion,) they lifted upon their shoulders and bore him
away after his master, much in the same manner as they would have
carried a slaughtered beast.
Having arrived with their prisoners at the place assigned for their
confinement, the pirates conversed amongst themselves, as follows:
'I say, Poplin,' exclaimed one who seemed to be a kind of petty officer,
'what do you suppose our captain intends to do with these two bear cubs
that we have here?'
'I cannot say, Mr. Pepper,' replied the person to whom that worthy had
spoken, 'what he will do with that red-headed son of a mushroom, that
lays rolled up there yonder, like a bundle of half dead lobsters, but as
for the other one, he, you know, killed Pedro, and I heard the captain
say that he would be hanged.'
'Then of course he will be, so that settles that affair,' replied Mr.
Pepper, very coolly. 'But what do you suppose, Poplin, he is going to do
with that fine lady, that he's got up overhead there?'
'Which one do you mean? He's got two of them,' said Poplin.
'Ah, yes, so he has, I recollect now. I mean both,' said Pepper.
'I cannot tell only about the youngest one,' replied Poplin, 'whom the
captain is going to take on board the brig.'
'What, has the pretty little craft arrived?' asked Pepper.
'She has,' rejoined the other.
'Then its all over with the Indiaman.'
'Of course it is,' replied Poplin, significantly.
'But the Indiaman you know,' suggested Pepper, 'carried double the
number of guns that the brig does.'
'She carries a Captain Rowland also,' said Poplin, drily.
'Ah, I understand it all now,' said Pepper, 'so let us confine the
prisoners, and then go up and see the fun.'
So saying, a few moments afterwards, Pepper and his companions departed,
leaving Henry Huntington and Pat to their own reflections.
What these reflections were, we shall leave for the present to the
imagination of our readers, and resume in our next chapter the further
adventures of Blackbeard, Arthur Huntington, and sweet Ellen Armstrong.