The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-02-17


" Yes. but why didn't he go cIerkin'
! in a grocery instead Of becomin' a pi-
! rate 2 asked the hired man.
Well as soon as we had both re-
/ covered we went to sea. Bloody Dick
/ had brig called the Death Watch,
and she ran into Valparaiso and took
; US of. She had a crew of eighty men.
and of all the villains on earth they
were the worst The only man in the
( world they feared was Bloody Dick.
He shot down two of them with his
/ own hand the first day we were out
4 He made me his mate, and he told m
70 shoot the first man who looked
cross-eyed at me All of them believed
that I had waded in blood and was a
terrible fellow.
Gosh, but this is sunthin' we don't
git every dayl' said the farmer, as he
pCked his hired man in the ribs.
But I hain't encouragin' pirates
myself answered the other in a sulky
tone
" The first ship we captured I con
tlnued, was the Bounding Sally, of
London Her captain took US for a
peaceful trader and let US come up
/ with him. and he did not suspect our
wicked purpose until fifty of our men
nae gained his decks. A terrible scene
of slaughter followed. She had over a
hundred passengers and crew, and in
tell minutes. all except fifteen of them
Y ere lying dead. The fifteen we saved
/ to walk the plank and be drowned in
the sea. We took out Of the vessel
about half a million dollars in cash
and then scuttled her
" And how many persons did you
kill 3 asked the farmer.
90 don't remember exactly but not
over four or five. I was new at the
business, you see. and the sight of
b;ooI affected me. For two weeks
after that I had nightmare every night.
Did you ever kill any one yourself?'
Lands. no! I've killed hogs and
fowls. but never human bein'.'
Say, I'm beginnin' to get goose
flesh, called the hired man, as he stood
UP.
You never mind goosehesh,' child
ed the boss, but sit right down agin
ard hear the story out. I've waited
thirty years for a pirate to come along
and now I'm goin' to hear all about it.
You didn't stop with one ship did you,
Stranger
oh, no. We robbed. burned. scut-
tied and murdered right along for the
next two years. I think we took about
fifty ships and murdered at least five
thousand people. Did you ever read
OF now we took the Winsome Maiden.
of New York;
s. No, I never did never got hold
of Il real pirate book, though I've allus
wanted to-.
She was taking one hundred
schoOlna ans, fifty orphan girls and
seventy widows around Cape Horn on
an excursion when we OVerhauled her.
mustard to make sandwiches with. and
she lay to until we came up. Then
SKY of US boarded her and began the
work of slaughter. Did you ever XIII
ar orphan girl? p
Thunder. mol Didn't I say I had
never killed nobody?'
Hear how calmly the villain talks
Of murder. muttered the hired man.
Well you have no idea how tough
some of them are. 1t takes more to
k II them than it would an OK. school
MA ANS die pretty easy, but widows
and orphans want a lot of haci.ilg. It
took US nearly half a day to finish
that crowd. That was my last with
tie pirate crowd. One of The orphans
struck me across the small of the
back with handspike and hurt me
so that Bloody Dick put me ashore
In Australia. 1t was two years before
my spine got we'll While L was suf-
fering with it the people found out that
I was Crossbones Charlie, the pirate,
and they would have hanged me but
for the governor. He asked me if
had repented of my crimes, and when
I answered that had he said [ should
have chance to live on and win my
good name back lie issued full
pardon and helped me to get back to
my native land and here [ am
90 But why are you on the tramp
So One of the schoolma ans told me
before I killed her that she had
mother in this state. and she asked as
a special favor that I would hunt the
old lady up and give her the partlcu-
lars I'm not tramping, but looking.
'Oh. I see. Jim, you go to work.
and stranger. YOU come along to the
house with me-
con our way through the corn he
added:
you can holland then yOu'd better
move on. I think a pirate who has re-
formed is jest as good IS anybody but
that pesky Jim is jealous of you and