Evening star., 1924-11-06
CAPTAIN BLOOD
By RAFAEL SABATINI
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

oeioNeo nero nature in curl-papers,
| hs 1t were, and she found the spec
tacle disgusting and terrifying. 1t
recalled the brutal slaughter Of the
Dutch captain, and suddenly she real
ized that what her brother had Just
: salo OF this man was no more than
true. Fear growing to panic was
written on her face, as she stood
there leaning for support against the
table
Why. sweetheart, what Is thisc"
i1evasseur moved toward her. She
recoiled before him. There was A
smile on his face, a glitter in his
eyes that fetched her heart into her
throat
he caught her, as she reached the
uttermost limits of the cabin, seized
her in his long arms and pulled her
| to him.
mo, no" she painted
| 1es, yes, he Knocked her and his
mockery was the most terrible thing
Oh an. lie crushed her to him brutally,
oelDerate!y hurtful because she re-
! sisted and kissed her whilst she
Wrlthed in his embrace Then. his
| passion mounting, he grew angry and
stripped off the last rag of hero.s
mask That still may have hung upon
his face. Little fool, did You not
near your brother say that you are in
my power? Remember il, and re-
member that of your own free will
you came. l am not the man with
"hoh a woman can play fast and
loose So get sense. my girl, and ac-
| cept what you have invited, He
| Kissed her again, almost contemn,u-
| ousiy. and flung her off. NO moro
sro~is, he said. You'll be sorrv
| else" '0ii'
| some one knocked. Cursing the in
corruption, Levasseur strode off TO
| open. tahusac stood before him.
me bretons face was grave. He
came 10 report that they had sprung
Ieah between wind and water, the
consequence of damage sustained
from one of the Dutchman's shots
IN alarm. Levasseur went off with
| MN. The leakage was not serious so
| long as the weather kept fine. hrt
shouId a storm oyertake them II
| might speedily become so. A man
was slung overheard to make a par
la stoppase with sail-cloth. and
| the pumps were got to work.
Ahead of them a low cloud showed
on the horizon. which Cahusac pro
nounced one Of the northernmost OF
the Virgin Islands
! We must run for shelter there
and careen her" said Leyasseur "r
do not trust this oppressive heat. \
| storm may catch US before we make
! land"
"A storm or something else" said
Cahusac grimly. Have you noticed
that He pointed away to starboard.
| Levasseur looked, and caught his
breath Two ships that at the dis
| lance seemed of considerable burden.
were heading toward them some
five miles away.
IF they follow us what is to
| happen" demanded Cahusac.
We'll fight, whether were in case
TO DO so or not" swore Levasseur
| 'Counse1s of despair" Cahusac was
contemptuous. To mark it he spat
| upon the deck. This comes of going
| to sea with a lovesick madman. Now.
keep your temper. captain. for the
| hands Will be at the end Of theirs If
We have trouble as a result Of this
| Dutchman business"
| For the remainder Of that day
Levasseur's thoughts were Of any
thing but love. He remained on deck,
| his eyes now upon the land, now upon
| those two slowly gaining ships To
| run for the open could avail him
nothing, and in his leaky condition
would provide an additional danger.
he must stand at bay and fight And,
| then, toward evening, when within
| three miles of shore and when he
/ {,
| for battle, he almost tainted from re-
lief to hear a voice from the crows
| nest above announce that the larger
| OF the two ships was the Arabella
! Her companion was presumably a
! prize.
| But the pessimism of Cahusac
abated nothing.
| That is but the lesser evil ;" he
| growled. What will Blood say about
this Dutchmano"
! Let him say what he pleases"
Levasseur laughed in the immensity
! OF his relief.
And what about the children of
the Governor of Tortugao"
| He must not know"
| Hell come TO know in the end"
! Aye, but by then. morbleu, the
matter will be settled. l shall have
| made my peace with the governor. /
tell you l know the way TO compel
| Ogeron to come to terms"
| Presently the four vessels lay to
! on the northern coast OF La Eirgen
Magra- a narrow little island. arid and
| treeless, some twelve miles by three.
uninhabited save by birds and turtles
and unproductive of anything but
salt, of which there were consider
| able ponds to the south
Levasseur put off in a boat, accom-
panied by Cahusac and two other Of
| ficers, and went to visit Capt Blood
| aboard the Arabella-
| Our brief separation has been
mighty profitable" was Capt Blood's
greeting. ITS busy morning we've
both had He was in high good
humour as he led the way to the
great cabin for q rendering Of ac-
counts.
The tall ship that accompanied the
Arabella was a Spanish vessel Of IS
guns the Santiago from Puerto Rico
| with 10000 weight of cacao, 40, 900
| pieces of eight. and the value of TO-
600 more in jewels. A rich capture Of
| which two-ffths under the articles
! went to Levasseur and his crew. OF
the money and jewels a division was
made on the spot. The cacao it was
agreed should be taken to Tortuga
| to be sold.
Then 1t was the turn Of Levasseur
and black grew the brow Of Captain
Blood as the Frenchmans tale was
unfolded. AT the end he roundly ex-
pressed his disapproval The Dutch
were a friendly people whom it was a
folly to ALLEVIATE. particularly for so
paltry matter as these hides and
tobacco, which at most would fetch
bare 10000 pieces.
But Levasseur answered him. as he
had answered Cahusac, that a ship
was ship. and is was ships they
| needed against their projected enter
prise. Perhaps because things had
gone well with him that day, Blood
ended by Struggling the matter aside
Thereupon Levasseur proposed that
the Arabella and her prize should re-
turn to Tortuga there to unload the
cacao and enlist the further adven-
turerS that could now be shipped.
LevaSSeur manwhile would effect
certain necessary repairs, and then,
proceeding south, await his admiral a
SaltatudOS an island conveniently