Evening star., 1924-12-04
Continued from Yesterdays star.)

ment to less hostile ground. Awhile
| yet 1t continued, to be concluded at
last by An ungracious undertaking
from NJ. de Rivarol to submit to the
demands of the buccaneers He gave
II with an extreme i'll grace and only
because Blood made him realize al
last that to withhold 1t longer would
be dangerous. In an engagement he
might conceivably defeat Blood's fol.
lowers. But conceivably he might
not. And even If he succeeded the
effort would be so costly to him In
men that he might not thereafter find
himself in sufficient strength 10
maintain his hold Of what he had
seized
The end of it all was that he gave
a. promise at once to make the neces
sary preparations, and II Capt, Blood
and his officers would wait upon him
on board the Victorieuse tomorrow
morning the treasure should be pro-
duced' weighed in their presence and
thelr nfth share surrendered there
ana then into their own keeping
among the buccaneers that night
| there was hilarity over the sudden
| abatement OF NJ de Rfvarol's mon
strous pride. But when the next dawn
broke over Cartagena, they had the
explanation of it. The only ships to
be seen in the harbor were the Ara
bella and the Elizabeth riding AZ
anchor. and the Atropos and the
Lachesis careened on the beach for
| repair Of the damage sustained in
the bombardment. The French ships
were gone. They had been quietly
ano secretly warped out Of the har-
Dor under cover of night, and three
sails. faint and small, on the horizon
to westward was all that remained to
be seen of them. The absconding
NJ. de Rivarol had gone off with the
treasure, taking with him the troops
! and marines he had brought from
! France. He had left behind him
| at Cartagena not only the empty
handed buccaneers, whom he had
swindled, but also VI. de Cussy and
the volunteers and negroes from His
| panloia, whom he had swindled no
| less.
The two parties were fused into
| one by their common fury, and be-
| fore the exhibition of II the inhab BIZ
! tants OF that Inflated town were
stricken with deeper terror than they
had yet known since the coming Of
| this expedition.
Capt. Blood alone kept his head,
setting curb upon his deep chagrin
He had promised himself that before
parting from NJ de Rivaroi he would
present reckoning for all the petty
arronts and insults TO which that un-
speakable felloW-now proved a
scoundrel-had subjected him.
We must follow" he declared
Follow and punish"
At first that was the general cry
Then came the consideration that only
| two Of the buccaneer ships were sea-
worthy-and these could not accom-
modate the whole force, particularly
being at the moment indifferently
victualed for a long voyage. The
crews Of the Lachesis and Atropos
and with them their captains, VOL
verstone and Yberville, renounced the
! intention. After all, there would be
a deal of treasure still hidden in Car
| taGena. They would remain behind
to extort it while fitting their ships
for sea. Let Blood and Hagthorpe
and those who sailed with them do as
they pleased.
Then only did Blood realize the
rashness of his proposal, and in at
! tempting to draw back he almost
precipitated a battle between the two
| parties into which that same pro-
! posal had now divided the bucca-
| neers- And meanwhile those French
| sails on the horizon were growing
| less and less. Blood was reduced to
| despair. If he went off now. heaven
| knew what would happen TO the town,
| the temper of those whom he was
| leaving being what il was. Yet If he
| remained, II would simply mean that
| his own and Hagthorpe's crews would
! join in the saturnalia and increase
| the hideousness Of events now inevi-
! table. Unable to reach a decision, his
| own men and Hagthorpe's took the
! matter Off his hands, eager to give
| chase to Rivarol. Not only was a
. Ia 81 HhC9f n no hi,t
! an enormous treasure was to be won
! hy treating as an enemy this French
! commander who himself had so viii
! lainously broken the alliance.
Whom Blood. torn q S he was be-
! tween conflicting considerations. stu
| hcsItated, they bore him almost by
main force aboard the Arahella.
! Within an hour, the water casks at
! least replenished and slowed aboard,
! the Arabella and the Elizabeth put to
! sea upon that angry chase.
When we were well at sea and the
| Arabella's course was laid" writes
| Pitt in his log, "r went TO seek the
| captain, knowing him to be in great
| trouble of mind over these events. I
| found him sitting alone in his cabin.
| his head in his hands, torment in the
eyes that stared straight before him,
| seeing nothing"
What now, Peter?" cried the young
Somerset mariner. Lord, man, what
| is there here to fret you? Surely
| 'tisn't the thought of Rivarol!"
NO" said Blood thickly. And for
| once he was communicative. It may
we'll be that he must vent the thing
| that oppressed him or be driven mad
by 1t. And Pitt, after all, was his
| friend and loved him, and so proper
man for condolences. But If she
knew! If she knew! o God! l had
| thought to have done with this pi-
racy; thought to have done with It
| forever. Yet here have / been COM
mitted by this scoundrel TO the worst;
| piracy that ever / was guilty OF.
Think of Cartagena! Think of the
hell those devils will be making OF it
nowi And l must have that on my
soul.'
Nay, Peter-'tisn't on your soul,
but on RivaroPs. 1t is that dirty
thief who has brought all this about.
! What could you have done to pre-
vent it?"
Il would have stayed If it could
! have availed."
1T could not, and you know it. So
| why repine?"
There is more than that to it,"
groaned Blood. What now? What
remains? Loyal service with the
English was made impossible for me-.
Loyal service with France has led to
this, and that is equally impossible
| hereafter.
What remains, then? Piracy? I
| have done with 1t. Egad, IL I am to
| live clean. l believe the only thing is
| to go and offer my sword to the King
| of Spain"
But something remained-the last
thing that he could have expected
som methlng toward which they were
| rapidly sailing over the tropical, sun
! lit sea. All this against which he