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

~~NN~~f @~-~-N@4f WANAA 1R0AA0 ~ AAbOAN
value, played false to his comrades
by stealing of with the lions share
Of the booty; thus. by gainful ACT
OF perddy. intoxicating upon the
eager susceptibility of the page an
imposing moral. Of which it may be
supposed he would not be slow to
profit.
Such was the school In which
Cocklescraft received the rudiments
Of his education. These harsher
traits Of his character, however, Il
IS but justice to say, we're, In some
degree, mitigated by tolerably
fair amount Of scholastic accomplish
ment, picked up In the intervals OF
his busy life amongst the scant
teaching afforded by the islands, Of
which the protection and care OF bis
patron enabled him to profit. To
this was added no mean skill ia
music, dlncing, and the use Of his
weapon; whilst certain enthusiasm
Of temperament stimulated his cour.
age and even whetted the ferceness
Of his nature. NJ
Morgan, having run his career,
returned to England, a man OF
Nav.
wealth. and was knighted, by the
monarch, in oneof those prohIgate
revels by which Charles disgraced
his kingly state; the page was, In
consequence, turned adrift upon the
world, as II is usual TO say OF heroes,
with no fortune but his talents. and
no friend but his sword" Riot
soon exhausted his stock Of plumber,
and the prod iRal RIGHTEOUSNESS OF
THE Brethren OF the Coast, for
babe the gathering ofa future hoard.
About this date the European pow
ers began to deal more resolutely
with the banditti Of the islands, and
their trade consequently became
more precarious They were COM
PEELED, Ia pursuit OF new fields for
to cross the isthmus and
try their fortunes on the coast Of
the Pacific whittier Cocklescraft
followed aud 'reaped his harvest la
the ravage OF Peru: but in turn, the
Brethren found themselves tracked
into these r6moter seas, and our ad-
venturer was fain. with many OF his
comrades, TO end his way back to
the coves aud secret harbors OF Tor
tuga aud the Keys, whence he con
triyed TO win d Subsistence, by an
occasional stoOp upon such defence.
less wanderers OF the ocean as
chance threw with In his grasp
The Olive Branch was beautiful
light vessel, which, In one Of his
sea forays, he bad wrested from q
luckless merchant; and this acquisi.
tion suggested 10 him the Thought
that, with such necessary alterations
as should disguise her figure and
equipment, be might drive o more
secure, and. perchance, more pro,
fitable trade between the Atlantic
colonies and the old countries; so,
with 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.
lance with the Cripple Of ST. Jerome's
gave him useful ally in his voca-
ton as smuggler; the fisherman 8
hut, long believed to be the hauntof
evil spirits, admirably favored his
design, and under the management
OF Rob, soon became spot OF pecul.
lar desecration In popular report;
and thus, In no long space OF time.
the gay, smashing cavalier, master
OF the Olive Branch. began TO find
good account 10 his change Of charac
ter from the fibustier OF the Keys
into that Of smuggler and trader OF
the Chesapeake He had now made
several voyages from st. Mary's to
the various marts OF Holland and
England, taking out cargoes OF TO.
bacco and bringing back such mer-
chandise as was likely TO find q
ready sale In the colonies. His alb
sence from port was often mysteri-
ously prolonged, aud on his return
IL not unfrequently happened that
there we're found apougst his cargo
commodities such as might scarce
be conjectured TO have been brought
from the ports Of Europe, -consist.
ing some times Of tropical fruits, In
gots Of gold and silver, and sundry
rich furniture Of Indian aspect, bet
ter fitted for the cabinet Of the vir.
tuoso than the trade Of a new pro
vince. Then, also, there were oc.
cssionally costly stuffs, and tissues
OF exceeding richness, such as cloth
OF gold, velvets OF Genoa, arras tapes
try, and even pictures which might
have hung In churches. Those com.
modities were invariably landed at
St JerOme's Bay before the Olive
Branch cast her anchor in the har-
Dor OF st. Mary's, and were reship-
ped on the outward voyage. The
Cripple OF st. Jerome's had few
customers who we're privileged at
certain periods to traffic with him
IN o species OF merchandise OF which
he was seldom without o supply at
his command--chieiiy wines and
strong waters. and coarser house.
hold goods, which were charity ex.
hibited in small parcels at the hut.
and when the bargain was made,
supplied in greater bulk by unseen
hands from secret magazines, con-
corning which the customer was