The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1905-08-18

II
And still the silvcred water came food
Ing In. Gently, tenderly, caressingly,
The little waves Tapped the sands. At
| last they lifted the CHASTITY head of
young Teach and laid 1t Mt his feet.
He cursed the rising water and bade
1t stay. and heedlessly 1t came on. 1t
WAS troDic sea, and the waters were
rs warm as those of any sun kissed
ocean, but they broke upon his knees
with the coldness of eternal ice. They
| rolled the heavier body of his faithful
slave against him. He strove to drive
1t away with his foot as he had strlven
to thrust aside the ghastly head, and
without avail. The two friends receded
as the waves rolled back, but they
came on again and again and again.
They had been faithful to him in fe;
they remained with him In death.
| Now the water broke about his waist
now it rose to his breast. He was ex-
haustcd, worn out. He hung silent
staring. His mind was busy Ills
thought went back to that rugged
Welsh land where he had been born.
He saw himself little boy playing in
the fields that surrounded the farm
house Of his father and mother. }
He took again that long trip across
the ocean. He lived again in the hot
hell Of the Caribbean. Old forms of
forgotten buccaneers clustered about
him.
The water was higher now. 1t was
at his neck. There were Porto Bcllo.
Puerto Principe, and Maracaibo. and
Chagrcs, and Panama-ah Panama, All
the fcnds Of hell had been there, and
he had been their chief. They came
| back now to mock him.
There WAS pale faced, tender eyed
Maria Icrcgn, who had died OF the
plague, aud the baby. the boy Jamai-
ca, too. swept into his vision. There
was his wife shrinking away from him
in the very articles Of death. There was
young EbeneZcr Hornigold, dancing
right merrily upon the gallows togetll-
or 0'ith others of the buccaneers lie hal
| hanged.
The grim figure OF the one. eyed
boatswain rose before him and lccrcd
upon him and swept the other aprnri.
tions away. This was La GUayr:,
yesterday. He had been BETRAYED.
Whose men We're those? The men
hanging on the walls? And Hornigoll
had done told Ben Hornigold-that
he thought so faithful.
He screamed aloud again with hate;
he called down curses upon the head
of the growing one eyed apparition
And the water broke into his mouth
ana stopped him. 1t called him to his
senses for moment. His present peril
overcame the hucous recollection of
the past. That water was rising still
Great God! At last he prayed. Lips
that had only cursed shaped them.
selves into futile petitions There was
a God after all.
The end was upon him, yet with thu
old instinct Of life he lifted himself
upon his toes. He raised his arms as
far as the chains gave him play and
caught the chains themselves and
strove to pull, to lift ut last only ia
hold himself up, a rigid. awful figure
He gained an inch or two. but his
letters held him down AS the waite,
supported him he found little difficulty
IN maintaining the position for a
space. But lie could go no higher
II the water rose an inch more that
would be the end. He could breathe
only between the breaking waves now
| The body Of the black was swung
against him again and again, the head
| OF young Teach kissed him upon the
cheek, and still the water seemed to
rise and rise and rise. He was Il dead
man like the other two-indecd, he
I prayed to die-and yet in fear he cung
to the chains and held on. Each mo
ment he fancied would be his last but
lie could not let go.
| BY and by the waters fell He could
not believe it at first He still hung
suspended and waited with bated
breath. Was he deceived? No, the
waters were surely falling. The sec
onds seemed minutes to him; the min
utes, hours. At last he gained assur-
ance. There was no doubt but chat the
tide was going down. The waves had
risen far, but he had been lifted above
them; now they were falling, falling.
Yes, and they We're bearing away that
accursed body and that ghastly head.
He was alive still, saved for the time
being. The highest waves only touch
ed his breast now. Lower, lower, they
moved away. Reluctantly they ln-
gered, but they fell-they fell.
| To drown? That was not the judg-
ment of God for him then. What would
1t was just out of reach Of his lips
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