The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1913-09-25

Lieutenant At3%1ldit AstS 3NHlii- HIS
wife, Whp NILS coming out to Linn from
En-lanA IL being ther intention to
settle IL tie l.t,w country. 4 >hiI, was
seen making SLOW Roadway NJ, the
stream. and Maynard, thinking the
vessel ID Ir The TNets. ii which his
wife Ina S;ti5cl from London. look i
boat ana WAS pulled down to meet her,
y terrific S'lo,.I, awaited him The
vesse wAS INIT tie Thttis but the Ell
ropa, H.ll WIN brought the@news that
the former vessel had been captured
'y Edward Tlati'h, q pirate. common
i. called lt.l1heartl, and all on boaTa
had persisted.
Iharah hue for some time infested
tie coast. running his plumber into
the protection ofSthe governor by d
silin9 it With him. The governor OF
Virginia had been appealed To with !
view to getting rid Of the buccanee1'
and when this last outrage was perpe-
trated stood ready to act. He furnish
nishel the crews ana Lieutenant May
narCl was placed in command of IN e1-
petition to hunt down Blackboard
One day in November the sloops
weighed anchor and sailed away down
the river, followed by the prayers Of
the sturdy settlers Of the town and
TIER comrades on the WarShipS. No
one doubted that if Lieutenant May
EIard fell in with the demon of the
ocean ne would either bring him back
olive Or dead or would never come
back himself. And they We're right.
Maynard had been married but Il
short time before his ship had sailed
from England to a girl he WorShiped.
and both. being Of an adventurous snir-
it. had laid their plans to make I; home
in the new world. From the moment
he heard Of her death he knew but one
sensation, and that was to be revenged
upon her murderer.
Four days after the expedition sail
ed the pirates were sighted in an inlet
near BathtoWn. AS it was nightfal!
Maynard anchored to wait for light by
which to get at his enemy. When it
came Thatch made an effort to escape,
but in doing so ran aground May
nard saw that he had his enemy at a
disadvantage. since, being in a fixed
| position. he could neither muneuyer
| nor set away. Maynard tried to get
| near the pirate. but drew too much
water Throwing out the ballast from
the sloop in which be was he finally
came within close range.
On the pirates deck stood Thatch.
| His bushy black beard. from which he
| derived his name. was tied up with
| ribbons. the ends of which were
thrown over his ears. On his head
was fur cap with 4 lighted match on
slung three brace of pistols. In a
| harsh voice he hurled words of def
ance, to which Maynard replied that
he would soon board him. which was
the only offensive method at his dis
posal. since he had no guns. The an
swer from the pirate was broadside.
which put out of the fight twenty of
Maynard's crew and nine On his sup
porting ship.
Maynard thirsting to get at the de
mon. ran close up alongside his ship,
Suddenly a shower of hand grenades
| fell on the Sloop. and before the crew
could recover from the blow Black
beard and fourteen Of his followers
were on the British ships deck.
Maynard and Thatch rushed togeth-
er Hand to hand they fought. now
| with sword. now with pistol But,
since the one barrel weapon Of that
day was exhausted in a single shot
and six of them We're but equal to one
revolver of the present. it was but a
few minutes before nothing remained
to them except their swords. Thatch
fought for his life. Maynard only for
| revenge. Time and again he luckily
escaped death from his enemy's cut
lass His sword broke, and it seemed
that he must fall before Rlackbeard's
still perfect steel But he fought on
With what remained of his blade.
fhrusting. cIeaving. hacking.
It was a terrible sight. those two
men. the one possessed By a demon OF
cruelty. the other demon OF revenge.
struggling in 4 death grip. =:
At last the pirate. who had managed
to set hold Of 4 loaded pistol, stagger-
ing under !; dozen wounds. while cock
ing it fell dead The end had come.
and it had come for the pirates. Every
man of them jumped overheard and
cried for quarter They We're taken 10
to be reserved for a different ending.
Five or six days later the settlers OF
jamestown and the crews of the war
ships saw sails down the river. recog-
nized the stGOpS and waited an1iously
the resultS Of the expedition, When
they came nearer. on the end OF the
bowsprit OF the foremost vessel was a
deaths head. the head Of Thatch. the
pirate with its CHASTITY. sunken eyes
It's liyid flesh. its black beard tied Ut
In ribbons. Then they knew that the
lieutenant had wreaked his vengeance
SO much for Blackboard. What re
manned was for his crew. When the