The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1896-12-26
the build ding captain ri S!

the door the captai1i knocked three
times with the filt Of his sword.
- 1t swung open, and all but the sentry
entered Ponknnarked = Bill was sta-
!. toned before it.
Lieut.. Parks, have you secured the
prisoners p I'LL M
"They are bound and gagged" and
4 the lieutenant pointed to the forms of
tie sentry and watchman lying on the
floor.
81 trust it was unnecessary TO injure
them said the captain, our duties are
not pleasant, secretary but they must
be performed-now, I'll trouble you for
the vault key and the key to the door
that leads there"
But" said the secretary. who now
began to get suspicious.
'sNo time for ifs and butts, sir! Quick,
men, the cords. Secretary, you see the
shining muzzle Of this pistol, the strong
arm Of the government is here
The secretary was soon bound and
gagged and deposited with the other
two. and, emptying his pockets, Sandy
took the keys and Led the4way.
They bore the three. men along and
placed them in an inner Office. Then
Sandy led the way to the vaults, UNI
locked and threw open the doors and
there lay the gold coin Of Uncle Sam
great heaps sewed up in sacks contain
tanning $4,000 each.
Each man took from beneath his vest
a canvas bag and filed it with as many
sacks of coin as he could carry, and the
"a men, we'll laden, marched back to the
Fisher Boy and hastily descended to
the captains cabin, where the gold was
deposited. Then the uniforms were
doired and the sailor rig donned, the fas-
Jennings cast loose and the Fisher Boy
swung round, her ample sails spread,
filed with the stiffening breeze, and she
was off, scudding through the water
like thing of life, dashing the spray
from her prov, and fast leaving behind
the scene of the most daring exploit Of
Black Beard:
On ladder that hung suspended over
her stern stood man with a brush
and paint pot. The Fisher Boy had
disappeared from the face OF the ocean
forever, and it was the Nancy Parks
that at midnight on the 18th of the
month found her way under the guild
ance of an experienced eye into the
estuary of Smiths island and was made
fast to the pirates landing.
The gold was transferred to the cav
ern and placed with the other treasures
to await a general division by Black
+, bern
followed bumper over the success OF
their last great venture, and when
finally the last man had drunk his fill
and story and rhyme and song died
out the music Of the cabin changed to
lusty shores, which evidenced that even
pirate forms must find repose, and re-
pose they did, as peacefully as though
the nation was not aroused as it had
not been since 1919, and as if they
needed not the fact that congress had
already offered reward OF S25o,0o0 for
the apprehension Of the looters of the
treasury.
True, they knew not who they were,
but as Black. Boards name was now Oh
every tongue it was conceded to be
he; though the third secretary, when
released from his uncomfortable po-
:sition at nine a. m. on the 10th, said:
'sThat from the military bearing of
the officer who accompanied him from
his house to the treasury he must have
been West Pointer"
CHAPTER Xxx.
BLACK BEARD VISITS THE WIDOW BRUCE.
At midnight on the goth boat in
which was seated seven men, six at the
oars and one astern, was fast approach
ing Smithville from the direction OF
the island. Were it not so dark the
figures might have been discerhed by
the lookout or crew of any vessel that
might be passing in or out of the inlet.
The man in the stern who had hold
of tie tiller ropes was the one who
bore the title of Black Beard--the man
who in four months had terrorized the
entire Atlantic coast and performed
deeds of daring far surprising those OF
any bold buccaneer that ever trod the
quarter deck of privateer on the At
1antic coast or stretched hemp at q
ward arm. He neither wore black
beard now nor was he dressed in sea-
mans garb, but attired very much as
were the planters of tlle period.
Bill Gibbs, Sandy and four other
strong men held the oars, and as the
six blades dropped into the seething
brine, and they swayed back with their
long, regular strokes, the boat shot for
ward as though propelled by more than
bone and sinew, her sharp Prov cutting
the water and causing the spray to fall
back into the faces Of the buccaneers.
On the salt marsh but a few hua-
dred yards from the court house, they
pulled the boat ashore.
'Now, men," said the captain. "four
of you will come with me-Gibbs,
Sandy, Watson and Bullion-Staggs
and the Croaker will remain with the
boat-if anyone approaches, pull off,
but il not, lie low; there's no one stir
ring now. We will do one good deed,
and after that amend the laws delay,
and mete out justice to q wretch who
else may battle it for all time to come,
and then. my lads, we turn our back
upon this coast forever. True, men on
whose lives the law has heavy claims
should not b. tho ones to prate Of tho
misdeeds Of others, or amending the
laws delay in melting out justice, while
in our own cases we are in no great
haste for it. But there are crimes for
which / would hang a member of my
crew 1.-THE yard arm. and for such q