Evening star., 1924-11-14
CAPTAIN BLOOD
Bv RAFAEL SABATINI
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told


power and greed of Spain. which
might otherwise be exerted to the
disadvantage of the colonies OF other
nations. They looked, indeed, with
apprehension upon recourse to any
vigorous measures which must result
in driving many of the buccaneers to
seek new hunting grounds in the
South Sea.
To satisfy King James anxiety 70
! conciliate Spain and in response TO
the Spanish Ambassadors constant
and griovous eXpostulatious, my Lord
Sunderland. the secretary Of state
had appointed a strong man to the
deputy governorship OF Jamaica This
strong man was that Col. Bishop who
for some years now had been the
most influential planter in Barbados
Col. Bishop had accepted the post
and departed from the plantations In
which his great wealth was being
amassed with an eagerness that had
its roots In u desire TO pay off a
score Of his own with Peter Blood
From his first coming to Jamaica
Col. Bishop had made himself felt by
the buccaneers. But, do what he
might, the one buccaneer whom he
mad" his particular quarry-that I
Peter Blood who once had been his
S1aVe-eluded him ever and contin-
ued undeterred and in great force to
harass the Spaniards upon sea and
land and to keep the relations be-
tween England and Spain in a. state
of perpetual ferment, particularly
dangerous in those days when the
peace of Europe was precariously
maintained
Exasperated not only by his own
accumulated chagrin. but also by the
reproaches for his failure which
reached him from London, Col
Bishop actually went 50 far as to
consider hunting his quarry In Tor
tuga itself and making an attempt to
clear the island of the buccaneers IL
sheltered. Fortunately for himself he
abandoned the notion of 50 insane an
enterprise, deferred not only by the
enormous natural strength of the
place, out also by the reflection that
rad upon what was, nominaIly ,t
least, a French settlement. must he
attended by grave offense to Franco
Yet short OF some such measure. II
appeared to Col. Bishop that he was
baHied He confessed as much in a
letter to the Secretary of State.
rms letter and the state Of things
which it disclosed made my Lord
sunderland despair of solving this
VeXatious problem by ordinary means
lie turned to the consideration of
aol oiiddTy ones, and bethOught
MIN OF the plan adopted with Nor
gan who had been enlisted into the
Kings service under Charles II. 1t
occurred to him that a similar course
might be similarly effective with
Capt. Blood. His lordship did not
omit the consideration that Blood 9
present outlawry might well have
been undertaken not from inclina-
ton, but under stress of sheer neces-
sity; that he had been forced into II
by the circumstances of his trans
portatton. and that he would welcome
the opportunity of emerging from it.
Acting upon this conclusion, Sun
derland sent out his kinsman, Lord
Julian Wade. with some commissions
made out in blank, and full directions
as to the course which the Secretary
considered 1t desirable to pursue and
yet full discretion in the matter of
pursuing them. The crafty Sunder-
land. master Of all Iabyrinths of in
triGue, advised his kinsman that in
the event OF his finding Blood in
tractable, or judging for other rea-
sons that it was not desirable to en-
list him in the Kings service, he
should turn his attention to the Of
ficers serving under him, and by Sc
ducing them away from him leave
him so weakened that he must fall an
easy victim to Col. Bishops fleet
The Royal Mary-the vessel bearing
that ingenious, tolerably accom-
pltshed, mildly dissolute, entirely
elegant envoy of my Lord Sunder-
land's-made good passage to st.
Nicholas, her last port of call before
Jamaica. 1t was understood that as a
preliminary Lord Julian should re-
port himself to the deputy governor
at Port Royal, whence at need he
might have himself conveyed to Tor
tuga. Now IT happened that the dep
uty governors niece had come to ST.
Nicholas some months earlier on a
visit to some relatives, and so that
she might escape the insufferable
heat of Jamaica in that season. The
time for her return being now at
hand, a passage was sought for her