for that throw. Marry, how they struggle!"
"Look at Long-Sword!" said Parkington. "See, he is up the rope, hand
over hand!... he makes the rail!... he is aboard!... his rapier is
out!... he spits one!... he spits another!... My God! did you see it!
struck from behind!--he is down! he is down!"
The fall of their leader ended the fight. The Coward and One-Eye had
gone down with the boats--the former with his neck broken, the latter
with his legs shot away. There was none to lead the few that had
remained on shore, or who managed to save themselves from the river.
Their one thought, now, was flight.--But where to flee!
Boom!
A ball from one of the vessels scattered the water at their very feet.
They cut and ran for cover, leaving the wounded to follow, as best they
might.
And Marbury and Parkington, brought to a sudden realization of their
own danger, turned and made for the house, at full speed.
"Where are the women?" was Marbury's first question, as they dashed in.
"Gone!--they are safe at Maynadier's, by this time," said Constable.
"Good!--we may have to fight for it."
"What has happened?" asked Herford.
"Enough!" answered Parkington.--"The pirate ship was captured while
undefended, by one of Mr. Marbury's schooners, which had just come in.
They tried to regain it--their boats were sunk--almost all on board
were killed--their leader is dead or a prisoner--the rest are bound,
this way, seeking to escape.--Here they come! Now for it."
The pirates were marching rapidly up the drive--about fifty of them.
They seemed to have decided, already, what and how, for, at about two
hundred yards, they separated into three detachments. One of these
remained in front, another, of an equal number, passed around to the
right, and the third, containing the remainder, made for the left of
the house and the rear.
"They are going to rush us on all four sides at the same time," said
Marbury. "Be ready!"
There was not long to wait. The moment the rear detachment was in
place, a shrill whistle rang out, and, with an exultant yell, the
pirates flung themselves forward.
They were met by a fusillade from the windows, that thinned their
ranks, somewhat, but did not stop the onslaught. Before the defenders
could change guns, they were close against the house, and, so, safe for
the time. But it gave them no entrance--they were practically as far
from the inside as ever.
A wounded pirate, out in front, waved his hand feebly and called to
his fellows for aid; another struggled to his feet, staggered a few
steps and plunged down in a heap; one crawled on hands and knees to the
shade of a nearby tree, propped himself against it, and there died,
cursing God, man and the devil; others lay where they had fallen, their
buccaneering over. The Jolly Roger would fly no more for them.
But their comrades heeded them not. They were of no value, further,
could bear no part in the strife. They were as useless impedimenta as
the dead, so they left them to die.
Suddenly, a chopping noise began immediately under the front of the
house. Marbury listened an instant, then sprang for the stairs.
"The cellar windows!" he shouted. "A man from each room follow me."
These windows, of which there were four, two in front and two in rear,
were protected by iron bars set into the stone foundation, and scarcely
three inches apart. No one could squeeze through, unless two of them
were ripped out. And that was what the pirates were trying to do,
protected by their proximity to the house, and finding that the windows
were not defended.
But the bars were staunch, and, when Marbury gained the cellar, they
had not been sprung. He threw up his pistol, and one of the assailants
went down. The others instantly drew back out of sight.
"Ha! ha!" laughed Parkington; "what is the next move?"
A crash of glass answered him from the other cellar; the next moment,
four pirates were in and upon them. Parkington drew his blade and took
the first one, Constable the second, and Herford the third; the fourth
made for Marbury, who was without his sword, and with nothing but an
empty pistol to defend himself.
With a shout, the pirate leaped upon him, to be met by the empty
weapon, hurled in his face with all the strength Marbury possessed.
The man flung up an arm and broke the blow, somewhat, but it still
struck him hard enough to cover his face with blood, and to send him
staggering back against the wall. Before he had recovered, Marbury
sprang across the cellar, and, seizing an axe from the corner, returned
to the attack.
The pirate dashed the blood away and met him with a sweeping blow of
his cutlass. Marbury caught it on the handle of the axe and turned it
aside. Again the cutlass swung, and again the axe brushed it away, and
again, and yet again. A fifth time, the cutlass swept around, aimed at
the head, which, with an axe, is the most difficult to protect. Marbury
had just time to spring back, the point ripping the stock at his
neck, and cutting the buckle asunder. The next instant, ere he could
recover, Marbury whirled his weapon aloft and brought it down with all
his force, shearing away the guard, which the pirate raised to meet it,
like a willow wand and sinking deep into his neck. The man dropped.
Marbury jerked out the axe, and turned to help the others.
He found Herford hard put to hold his own. He had been wounded slightly
in the arm, and was beginning to breathe heavily. Without ado, Marbury
stepped behind the pirate, and felled him with a blow on the head.
At the same time, Constable passed his sword through his antagonist,
and, as the man fell, he whipped it out again, and turned to assist
Parkington. But the latter raised his hand in protest.
"I will kill him in a moment," he said. "Pray, indulge me---- Ah, my
friend--you do not know the double coup.... So, take it!" and the man
died, with the sword in his throat.
"Four!" muttered Marbury.
"Five! with the man you shot," corrected Parkington.
Suddenly, there arose a great thumping at the rear, accompanied with
shots and curses and imprecations. Marbury and the others sprang up the
stairway, to find Snowden and the rest engaged in repelling a desperate
onslaught on the rear door.
While the fight was going on in the cellar, the assailants had mustered
all their strength in the rear, to make one determined effort to gain
admission. Four men were sent to the wood-house for a log. They were
not disturbed by the defenders, who were not wasting bullets on the
departing. Another contingent followed, and were likewise undisturbed.
The rest gathered close along the side of the house and waited, secure
from those within. Then, of a sudden, the men emerged with the log,
and hurried across the open with it. Some of them fell under the fire
of the besieged, but not enough to hinder, and, before they received
a second volley, they had the log safe before the house. Their first
assault had been ineffectual, they were mustering, now, for a second.
To get a proper swing, it was necessary to go back a little way from
the door; the moment they did so, they came into range of the rifles
at the nearest windows. Four pirates went down before their fire--but
the rest, with the log swung from their shoulders, dashed forward and
hurled it against the door.
It split the frame and shattered it, but did not drive it from the
hinges, nor loosen the lock.
"A good door!" said Parkington. "But will it stand another?"
"We shall soon see," answered Constable.
Again the pirates bore back--again, the rifles cracked and four of them
went down--again, there was a crash--the splinters flew, the hinges
rattled, the lock sprang inward, bent and twisted, but the door still
held.
"It will not stand another," said Parkington, drawing his sword. "Be
prepared."
This time, however, the assailants did not go back. They simply lifted
the log and sent it against the lock. And the door yielded, though
slowly and reluctantly, dragging backward on its battered hinges, so
that the foremost pirates had to fling themselves forward to its aid.
Whereby, the nearest met his death, for Parkington saw, and quickly
passed his sword through the man's heart, the body tumbling across the
entrance. The other saved himself by a leap back--but the door was
open, now.
With a rush, the pirates came--to be met by a volley of bullets that,
in the mass of men, had deadly effect. They stopped--wavered--and then
Parkington and Constable were at them, their rapiers flashing as they
sent them home.
"Ha! ha!" laughed the former, as he spitted his man in the jugular, so
that the blood jetted forth in a great stream. "I would not have missed
this sport for a hundred guineas.--Ha! that is it, is it?--well, accept
this in exchange, my friend.... What, going! and so soon! Au revoir,
messieurs! my heart goes with you--au revoir.... Mr. Constable, my
compliments on your sword-play, it was most expert. True, they were but
pirates, but some of them were not to be despised." And with a formal
salute, he ran his weapon back into its sheath.
The pirates were going; panic had seized them, and they were in
full retreat--a dozen or so in number, caring for nothing so much
as to escape. They wanted no more of the house that had been their
misfortune--that had seemed so easy and, yet, in truth, was so hard.
They wanted to get away--in the unreasoning fear that held them, mad
flight alone spelled safety. And they went, scurrying across the lawn
and through the park, as though the Devil and all his battalions were
riding in their wake.
"Terror drives--all else is forgotten," said Constable.
"We can be thankful for the terror," observed Parkington; "it saved us,
I fancy; we should not have had a chance had they been properly led."
"We played in rare good luck," said Snowden. "Fifty pirates! and only a
flesh wound in the arm, and a shattered door to pay the bill. Oh! what
luck!"
"I am the only hero among you!" laughed Herford. "How does it happen,
Parkington, that you let me get away with the wound?"
"When it comes to that," was the ready answer, "you are welcome to the
honor,--if honor there be in letting a pirate stick you. I choose the
whole hide rather than the hole."
"Come, gentlemen, let us inspect the casualties," said Marbury, and led
the way out to the rear.
A dozen bodies lay on the grass and around the doorway--they had
fallen in their tracks, proof of the deadly shooting of the defenders.
Marbury turned them, one by one, with his foot, to make sure that they
would buccaneer no more. The last one groaned, made a faint move to
arise, and, then, seeing who prodded him, drew his dagger and plunged
it into his heart.
"Wise man!" said Marbury. "He saves himself a tiresome imprisonment and
an awful death."
On the other side of the house, there were both dead and wounded, the
former, however, being much in the majority. Of the latter, two were
maimed and helpless, and Marbury contented himself with directing the
blacks to carry them into the nearest outhouse and give them drink. He
would come presently, and see to their hurts. Another, blinded in both
eyes by a bullet, was wandering around half crazed by the pain, and
imploring some one to kill him. He had lost his dagger and was without
weapon. Marbury looked at him a moment, considering--then, went to him.
"Here is what you want," he said. "Make an end."
The distracted wretch reached out wildly, seized the pistol, that
Marbury put into his hand, and instantly sent the ball into his brain.
"Dig a trench back of the park and bury them," Marbury directed, when
they had viewed the last, and turned back to the house. And the blacks,
straightway, began to do as they were commanded.
"Here endeth the reading of the lesson!" commented Parkington.
"And may the next one be forever postponed," added Plater.
"Amen!" said the rest, speaking as one man.
"It is a pity, now, the ladies were put to the bother of riding away,"
Parkington reflected.
The others stared at him and were silent, except Herford, who gave a
little, scornful laugh.
"I think they would have enjoyed the outcome," Parkington went on; "and
then, it would have given Captain Herford the opportunity to pose as a
hero, _in ipso actu_."
"Captain Herford can take care of himself--" he began.
"As you have shown us, my dear Captain, as you have shown us!" said
Parkington.
At which Herford scowled, then passed it by with a laugh.
They went into the house, and opened the shutters. Everything was calm
and peaceful, as of yesterday. Save that the furniture was somewhat
disarranged, no one would have imagined what a strenuous morning had
been theirs. The table was spread for breakfast--the breakfast itself
had been ready to serve. Marbury remembered that none of them had
eaten, and it was now near noon. He turned to his guests.
"Gentlemen," he said, with a wave of his hand toward the ready fare,
"let us fall to. Joshua, serve the meal--but first, I think, we all
need a drink." He motioned toward the side-board, where the decanters
glistened. "Help yourselves."
Parkington filled his glass, and held it up.
"Messieurs," he said, "it is not the time usually devoted to toasts,
but, nevertheless, I give you: 'The ladies, may they be in safety now,
and soon return to us.'"
XI
THE KEY
A little later, Captain Jamison arrived to make his report, and was
received with acclaims and congratulations. Whereat, the honest sailor
was vastly surprised, not imagining that they were aware of what had
happened on the river. He brought with him the bags of gold and the
silver which, he said, he supposed was the ransom money Marbury had
paid the pirates, it having been found at the landing, where they had
left it in their eagerness to recover their ship.
When questioned, as to how he had got possession of the ship, he told
the story:
"I sailed into the Patuxent, with a good breeze on the port quarter,
and came in sight of the landing, at about six bells of the dog-watch.
I noticed a brig lying close in to the dock that was strange to me,
and, on coming nearer, I hove to and hailed her. She didn't answer,
nor could I see any one aboard, so I hailed again--and a third time.
Then a man appeared from below, and, to my fourth hail, responded
something in a jargon I could not understand. I did not like the look
of the ship, anyway, and this made me suspicious. I could see that she
carried two Long-Toms, had a great expanse of sail, and was built to
go a very fast clip. When further hails were ignored, I ordered out
a boat and proceeded to board her, with six men. How we managed it is
of no moment. Suffice it to say, we got aboard with the loss of one
man dead and one wounded, and found only two defenders. We strung them
both up to the yard-arm, and took possession. It was a pirate, right
enough. I supposed its crew were raiding the Hall, sir, and I was just
preparing to go to your assistance, when I saw them returning. I, of
course, did not know how far they had succeeded, and I made ready to
receive them. You know with what results. It was a pretty little fight.
The pirate chief--at least, I made him so--alone managed to get aboard,
and had killed two of my men, when I knocked him over from behind with
a belaying pin. He stepped aside, at the moment, sufficiently to save
his head and catch it on the shoulder. Hence, a broken collar bone
instead of a broken skull. He is not much hurt. I've locked him up in
the cabin, and put a guard over him. With your permission, Mr. Marbury,
I'll have him up at the end of a rope to join his comrades, as soon as
I get back. A dead pirate is the only safe one."
"I think I would not be so hasty," said Marbury, with a smile. "Do you
know who he is?"
"Not I, sir. A pirate's a pirate--the quicker he's dead the better for
honest men."
"You forget the reward--there must be at least five hundred pounds on
his head. Long-Sword is worth his weight in gold."
"Long-Sword, did you say? Long-Sword the Corsair?"
Marbury nodded. "It is the name he gave me."
Jamison emitted a whistle of surprise.
"Well I should say he _is_ a gold mine--it's a thousand guineas
reward he is. I'll carry him straight to Annapolis--with your honor's
permission, of course--and we shall see him doing the gallows dance
according to the King's justice. Ho, ho! Ho, ho! I think I'll be
quitting the sea, sir, and settling down.... Long-Sword! May the Lord
save me! I must go and put him in double irons, at once. He may have a
broken collar bone, and be locked in the cabin, but nothing but double
irons will hold him safe."
"And what of the pirate ship?" asked Parkington. "If Long-Sword is a
prize, it should be a veritable treasure house."
"I purposely refrained from examining her," Jamison answered. "I left
that for Mr. Marbury."
"I will come down, presently," said Marbury. "Meanwhile, you may
proceed with making an inventory of the booty aboard."
Jamison saluted and departed. The party finished the meal, and went out
on the lawn. The dead had been taken away for burial, and the evidences
of the late struggle were being removed.
"I hope the house party is not ended," said George Marbury. "The ladies
can come back, and, I am sure, feel perfectly safe."
"I fancy that is for the ladies to decide," said Snowden:--"though I am
quite willing for Mrs. Snowden to return. We, at least, have seen the
last of the pirates, I imagine."
The other men had the same opinion, though Herford thought that he
would much prefer to have killed all the pirates, and not had a bunch
running loose in the vicinity.
"There is no danger to us," said Plater. "They will get out of the
neighborhood about as fast as they can. They may do some marauding,
on the march, but it will not be twice in the same place--and it will
not be anything that will require time. They are in too great a hurry.
I will wager, that they have already separated in twos and threes, to
foregather at an appointed place--York or thereabouts. I too am quite
willing for Mrs. Plater to return."
And so it was, that he and Snowden and Constable were designated to
go to Rose Hill and bring the ladies back--it being understood that
nothing be said to them of the pirates' second attack.
A little later, Marbury set out for the dock to inspect the pirate
ship. As he was going down the steps, Parkington called to him, that,
if he had no objection, he would be glad to accompany him.
"Come along, sir," he answered--"but I think, if the others do not
mind, they would better remain to welcome the ladies, and insure that
the house is here for them--there is just a chance that the pirates may
return."
"Is not this attack most unusual?" Sir Edward asked, as they came in
sight of the landing.
"It is more than unusual--it is extraordinary. We have not known of
a pirate north of the West Indies for forty years--and, as for one
venturing inside the Capes, I fancy, it is not in the memory of man.
Of course, we had heard of Long-Sword, as the most notorious buccaneer
on the old Spanish Main; but that is far from the Chesapeake. We never
thought to see him here, sir."
"I think I should like to talk with him," said Parkington. "It will be
quite an interesting experience."
Marbury laughed. "You will be all the rage in London--the man who spoke
with Long-Sword--and survived!"
"I am not so sure as to London--and I care nothing for being the rage.
It is the novelty of the thing that takes me."
"Well, you may quiz him to your heart's content, and I think you will
find him, outwardly at least, a gentleman. He impressed me as being of
superior birth--however much he may have backslid in his calling--and
his manners are the equal of your own."
Jamison had seen them coming down the avenue, and had sent a boat
ashore for them. He had not allowed any at the landing, he explained,
lest the pirates return, and make trouble.
"Sir Edward Parkington wants to see Long-Sword," said Marbury. "Is he
in the cabin, or have you had him taken below."
"He is in the cabin, sir," Jamison answered. "I concluded to put the
irons only on his legs--I think that will hold him. If you will step
here, sir, I will admit you."
He unlocked the cabin door, and pushed it open, and motioned the guard
away.
"Long-Sword, here is Sir Edward Parkington, who would speak with you,"
he said.--"You will excuse me, sir, I must join Mr. Marbury."
Parkington nodded, and stepped within. The pirate turned, slowly, on
the bunk.
"You will pardon me for not rising," he said; "I am a trifle
indisposed," and he indicated the irons. "How can I serve you?"
"Say rather how I can serve _you_?" Parkington replied.
Long-Sword laughed shortly. "By finishing what that merchantman
bungled--make an end of me, or permit me to make an end of myself."
"You are depressed--a most unusual thing for you."
"Eh--what's that!" the other ejaculated--"a most unusual thing for
me!--who are you?"
"A friend," said Sir Edward.
"I caught your name as Parkington, did I not?"
"You did."
"Then I do not even know you, sir--how can you be a friend?"
"Is foreknowledge a prerequisite to friendship?" Sir Edward asked.
"Marry, yes; and even then it is a rare article," said the pirate with
a sneer. "I am a victim of that same friendship, so you will permit me
to doubt."
"Yes, I know; the faithless friend and the disloyal wife. I----"
"Who are you, sir! Come out of the shadow, if you are not afraid to
show yourself, I cannot hurt you, now!"
"Brandon," said Parkington, stepping into the light, "you have, I fear,
reached the end of your string."
"De Lysle!" exclaimed the wounded man. "May the Devil take me! What do
you here--and under a false name? Did England get too warm for you?"
Parkington nodded. "Something of the sort; so I borrowed another's--a
dead man's--for the time."
Brandon laughed, grimly. "Methinks your string is little longer than my
own--though I wish you success with the game you are playing, whatever
it is."
Parkington took a low stool, from the corner, and sat down.
"The immediate point is to lengthen _your_ string," he said.
"You will help me to escape?" the other asked.
"Yes--I have not forgot the old days, Charles."
Brandon looked at him thoughtfully.
"Why?" he asked, "what is the _quid pro quo_?"
"Nothing whatever, but past deeds. You forget the risk is mine. I put
myself in your power, when I came here. A word from you, and I am
undone."
"A word from the pirate, taken red-handed? Oh, no! But I will grant
anything you ask, in reason and out. I may not cavil with the noose
before my nose."
"Wait, then, until I ask it!" laughed Parkington. "How is your wounded
shoulder."
"It is nothing--only a broken collar-bone. I have led many a boarding
party with worse. It is these damn things that weigh me down,"
indicating the irons.
"You could swim to shore, if they were off?" queried Parkington.
"Easily. Besides, if I fail, I win anyway."
"And the key to the irons is in Jamison's pocket! Well, it shall be
my business to abstract it. And, then, having got it to you, the rest
depends upon yourself--aided by my prayers."
"If it is just the same to you, I would prefer you stopped with the
key," said Brandon. "I doubt the efficacy of your prayers."
"So be it--I will leave the praying to you."
"How long am I to be kept here?" asked Brandon.
"Only a day or two, I believe. It is the purpose of Captain Jamison to
carry you to Annapolis for trial."
"And, in the meantime, you will try for the key?"
"I shall try for the key before I leave the ship," said Parkington.
"What troubles me, is an excuse to come back to you when I have it....
Brandon, how long have you been doing--this?"
"You mean, how long have I been sailing under the Jolly Roger? Four
years, this spring. It was down in Havana. I fell in with a Captain
Sparks. From cards to a duel was an easy transition. I killed Sparks,
and, for want of something better to do, I seized his ship, put my
sword through his mate--who questioned my authority--and ruled in his
stead."
"And took the soubriquet of Long-Sword."
"The men gave me the name for want of a better. My rapier struck them
as of unusual length."
"And of unusual strength," said Parkington, "as they, doubtless, were
made to realize."