Evening star., 1924-11-04

ner Shoul0 continue ever Derore MIN
| to help him keep his hands as clean
as a man might in this desperate
| trade upon which he was embarking
| And so. although he might entertain
| no delusive hope Of ever winning her
| for his own, of ever even seeing her
| again, yet the memory Of her was
| to abide in his soul as a bitter-sweet,
purifying influence. The love that is
| never to be realized will often re-
main a mans guiding ideal.
The resolve being taken, ne went
actively to work ogeron, most ac-
commodating of governors, advanced
| him money for the proper euipment
of his ship the Cinco Llagas, which
he renamed the Arabella- This after
some little hesitation. fearful Of thus
| setting his heart upon his sleeve. But
his Barbados friends accounted it
| merely an expression Of the ever
| ready irony in which their leader
dealt.
To the score OF followers he al
| ready possessed, he added threescore
more, picking his men with caution
| and Northumberland he was an
| exceptional judge of men-from
amongst the adventurers of Tortuga-
| With them all he entered into the
articles usual among the Brethren
of the Coast. under which each man
was to be paid by a share in the
| prizes captured. In other respects,
| how ever. the articles were different.
! Aboard the Arabella there was to be
none Of the ruffianly indiscipfine that
normally prevailed in buccaneering
vessels. Those who shipped with him
undertook obedience and submission
| in all things to himself and to the
officers appointed by election. Any
to whom this clause in the articles
was distasteful might follow some
| other leader.
Toward the end of Der, when
the hurricane season had blown itself
| out, he put to sea in his we'll found,
well-manned ship, and before he re-
turned in the following May from a
protracted and adventurous cruise,
the fame Of Captain Peter Blood had
run like ripples before the breeze
| across the face of the Caribbean Sea
There was a fight in the Windward
Passage at the outset with a Spanish
galleon, which had resulted in the
cutting and finally the sinking OF
| the Spaniard. There was daring
raid effected by means of several ap-
propriated piraguas upon a Spanish
pearl feet In the Rio de la Hacha,
from which they had taken a par
ticularly rich haul of pearls. There
was an overland expedition to the
goldfieids Of Sancta Maria, on the
Main, the full tale Of which Is hardly
credible, and there were lesser ad-
ventures through all of which the
crew of the Arabella came with credit
and profit II not entirely unscathed.
And so it happened that before the
Arabella came homing to Tortuga in
the following May to refit and re-
pair-for she was not without scars,
| as you conceive-the fame Of her and
Of Peter Blood her captain had swept
| from the Bahamas to the Windward
: Isles, from New Providence to Trim
idad.
An echo Of it had reached Europe,
| and at the Court of ST James angry
| representations were made by the
| Ambassador Of Spain. to whom it was
answered that it must not be sup
posed that this Captain Blood held
any commission from the King of
England: that he was, In fact. q pro-
| scribed rebel, and escaped slave, and
| that any measures against him by
his catholic majesty would receive
the cordial appreciation Of King
James III.
| Don Miguel dc Espinosa, the ad-
miral of Spain in the West Indies,
and his nephew Don Esteban. who
sailed with him. did not lack the will
to bring the adventurer to the yard
arm. With them this business of
capturing Blood. which was now an
International affair, was also a fam
lily matter.
Spain, through the mouth of Don
Miguel, did not spare her threats.
The report of them reached Tortuga,
and with 1t the assurance that Don
Miguel had behind him not only the
authority of his own nation. but that
of the English King as well.
It. was q brutum fulmen that in
spired no terrors in Captain Blood
Nor was he likely, on account Of it.
| to allow himself to run to rust in
the security of Tortuga- For what
he had suffered at the hands OF Man
he had chosen to make Spain the
scapegoat. Thus he accounted that
| he served a twofold purpose; he took
compensation and at the same time
served, not indeed the Stuart King,
whom he despised, but England and,
for that matter. all the rest Of civil
| lied mankind which cruel. treacher-
GUS, greedy, bigoted CASTLE sought
to exclude from intercourse with the
New World.