Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1909-04-29


value. played false to his comrades,
by stealing Of with the lions share
OF the booty; thus, by a gainful act
OF per6dy. inculcssing upon the
eager susceptibility Of the page an
imposing moral. of which 10 may be
supposed he would not bs slow 20
profit.
Such was the school lin which
Cocklescraft received the rudiments
OF his education. These harsher
traits Of his character, however, il
is but justice tn say, were. In some
degree. mi,igated by a tolerably
fair amount OF scholastic accomplish
ment, picked up in the intervals of
his busy life amongst the scant
teaching sff nrded by the islands, OF
which the projection ard care Of his
patron enabled him to profit. To
this was added no mean skill in
music, d incing, and the use OF his
weapon; whilst certain enthusiasm
OF temperament stimulated his cour
age and even whetted the fierceness
of his nature.
Morgan, having run his career,
returned to England. man OF
wealth. and was knighted bv the
monarch. in one OF those profigate
revels by which Charles disgraced
his kingly state; the page was, In
consequence, turned adrift upon the
world, as it is usual to say of heroes,
with no fortune but his talents. and
no friend but his sword" Riot
soon exhausted his stock of plunder.
and the prod igal licentiousness Of
THE Brethren OF the Coast" for.
bade the gathering ofa future hoard.
About this date the European DOW
ers began to deal more resolutely
with the banditti Of the islands, and
their trade consequently became
more precarious They were COM
PEELED, in pursuit of new fields for
robbery, to cross the isthmus and
try their fortunes on the coast of
the Pacific-whither Cocklescraft
followed and reaped his harvest in
the ravage of Peru: but in turn, the
Brethren found themselves tracked
into these remoter seas, and our ad-
venturer was fain, with many OF his
comrades, to find his way back to
the coves and secret harbors of Tor
tuga and the Keys. whence he con-
trived TO win q subsistence, by an
occasional .stoop upon-sneh. Iiefence-
less wanderers of the ocean as
chance threw with In his grasp.
The Olive Branch was a beautiful
light vessel, which, in one OF his
sea forays, he had wrested from q
luckless merchant; and this acqu uisi-
tion suggested to hin the thought
that. with such necessary alterations
as should disguise her figure and
equipment. he might drive a more
secure, and, perchance, more pro-
fitable trade between the Atlantic
colonies and the old countries; so,
with q mongrel crew of trusty cut
throats, carefully selected from the
companions OF his former fortunes,
and secret armament well bestow-
ed for sudden emergency, he set
himself up for an occasional trader
between the Chesapeake and the
coast OF Holland. A lucky acquain-
tance with the Cripple of st. Jerome s
gave him useful ally in his voca
tion as smuggler; the fisherman s
hut, long believed to be the haunt oil
evil spirits. admirably favored his
design, and under the management,
OF Rob, soon became a spot of pecul-
lar desecration in popular report;
and thus, in no long space OF time
the gay. swasbing cavalier, master
OF the Olive Branch, began to fnC
good account 10 his change of charac
ter from the fibustier of the Key.
into that OF smuggler aud trader o
the Chesapeake. He had now made
several voyages FROM St. Mary's Il
the various marts OF Holland an &
England, taking out cargoes OF to
bacco and bringing back such mer
chandise as was likely to find
ready sale in the colonies. His ab
sence from port was often mysteri
ouSly prolonged, and on his retur,
it not unfreauently happened tha
there were found amongst his carpI
commodities such as might scare,
be- conjectured to have been brough
from the ports OF Europe, consist
ing some times Of tropical fruits, in
gots OF gold and silver. and sundr,
rich furniture OF Indian aspect, bet
ter fitted for the cabinet OF the yir
tuoso than the trade of a new pro
vince. Then, also, there were oc
casionally costly stuffs, and tissue
OF exceeding richness, such as clotl
OF gold, velvets of Genoa, arras tapes
try. and even pictures which nigh
have hung in churches. Those com
modities were invariably landed a
st. Jerome's Bay before the Oliv
Branch cast her anchor in the har
bor OF st. Mary's, and were reship
ped on the outward voyage. Th
Cripple of st. Jerome's had a few
customers who were privileged a
certain periods to traffic with hir
in species of merchant ise of whic
he was seldom without a supply q
his command-chiefiy wines an,
strong waters. and coarser house
hold goods, which were charity ex
hibited in small parcels at the hu,
and when the bargain was made
supplied in greater bulk by unseel
, hands from secret magazines, con
corning which the customer wa
not so rash as even to inquire-fo
Rob was man who, the countr,
people most devoutly believe hal