The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-02-17
n Vi6i; frnn Captain Kidd.


In an Illustrated article on Gardincr's
lsland,in The December CeHt,nv, George
Parsons Lathrop writes - follows, re-
garling an unexpected TiSit from the
notorious pirate: Lord John Gardiner
one June evening observed u mysterious
sloop with six guns riding ut anchor off
the island It was Kidd's last vessel tho
antonio. This Lord John WAS large,
hearty man. who lived generously, was
clever TO tue Indians and sQuaws. and
had 80 much ability in affairs that. al
though he married four times and spent
n great deal Of money. he po"tiouod off
his daughters handsomely and left u
larg" estate at his death. He was not II
person TO be scared by Il mysterious
armed Sloop; so, after she had lain in
sight two days without making any
sign. he put oil in Il boat To boar,, her
and inquire what she was Ns he came
up over the side, Captain Nidr ill then
unknown 20 HIM received him with the
traditional politcncsS of Il thriving dc,-
pcrado, and asked after ;hc health Of
himself and family. Thea, in answer
to Lord Johns inquiries, hr said that
he was on his way 10 Lord Bcllomont Mt
Boston; would Gardiner do him the
favor 10 carry two negro boys and one
girl ashore. to be kept there until he re-
turned or sent an order for them? Car
diner consented, and wcn, back to the
island. The next morning Kidd re-
sumcd intercourse by sending ashore n
request that Gardiner should come ON
board at once, and bring six sheep with
him. This was rather forcing the ac-
qunintancc, Gardiner may have Thought;
h"t he complied Thrrcupon Kidd
promptly ripcncd acquaintance into in
timacy, and asked him if he could spare
n barrel of cider. Lord John once more
proved ncighboriy. a"d found that he
c0Hl1 spare the cider sending two
of his men ashore to fetch it. While
waiting for their return, Kidd cot out
from his cargo, two pieces Of damaged
Bengal muslin. = rare and valued
fabric in is pristine state which he
put into bag and requested Gardncr
To take rs Il present to his wife. Il is
likely enough that the captain, seeing
in hearty Lord John y capacity for such
things produced som" Df his if;v-shil-
ling rrum OF ,hroa- -hrnGr ,lpuund Ma
dc.rA 10 he tasted Something, Mt any
ratr.Wauncd hm up . Increased gcn"r-
oSiiy FIR in %Hout Il quarter OF IN hour
he rr,Srn t,d l!r Lord Of the Isle with
some muslin for his own use. When
the mon came back with In" barrel of
cider, he gave them tour pieces Of gold
for their trouble. Furthermore, after
getting ready To sail, he offered TO pay
for the cider; but Gardiner protested
that he was sufficiently rewarded bv the
present to his wife. They parted at last:
and Kidd. Gallan,ly firing salute Of
four guns, stood for Block Island
Ills purpose in lingering in these
waters was TO get rid of his suspicious
freight before going to Boston During
the stay near the island two New York
sloops took on part of his cargo; and
three days later he returned from Block
Island in company with another ncfar-
ious sloop, which relieved him OF chests
containing plate and gold and other
goods, This time Kidd again sent for
Gardiner and committed To his charge
n chest, Il box Of gold,a bundle of quilts,
and four bales OF goods. The box of
gold, as Gardiner afterwards Solcmnlv
dcposcd, WAS destined by Kidd for Loli
Bcllomont. All the treasure and mcr-
chandisc was buried in some swampy
land near Cherry ltaYbor. beside Home
Pond, within milr .! the manor house,
TO be kept Tor Kidd or his order
"'lf call for il and it is zone, Kidd
declared 10 Lord John, 4 viii take your
head OF your son ;.