Evening star., 1924-11-09
CONTINUED from Yesterdays starr
CHAPTER NNI.
Th~ Tran.

The Trap.
That affair or Mile. d'0gcron bore
as its natural fruit an improv enc n t
in the already cordial relations be-
tween Capt. BLOOD and the Governor
of TortugL At the fine stone house,
with its green jalousied windows,
which NJ. d'Ogcron had built himself
in a spacious and luXuriant garden to
the east of Cayona, the captain be-
came a very welcome guest. NJ.
dOgeron was in the captains debt
for more than the 10000 pieces of
eight which he had provided for
mademoiselle's ransom; and, shrewd,
hard bargain driver though he might
be, the Frenchman could be generous
and understood the sentiment of
gratitude. This he now proved in
every possible way, and under his
powerful protection the credit of
Capt. Blood among the buccaneers
very rapidly reached it's zenith.
So when it came to fitting out his
fleet for that enterprise against
Maracaybo. which had originally been
Levasseur's project, he did not want
for either ships or men to follow him.
He recruited 500 adventurers in all,
and he might have had as many thou
lands if he could have offered them
accommodation. Similarly. without
difficulty he might have increased
his fleet to twic" it's strength Of ships
but that h" preferred TO keep it what
1t was. Th, thr," vessels to which
he confined it were tn" Arabella. the
La Fouurt. which Cahusac up,r com
manded with Il contingent of SOM.
six Score frenrhmcn. and the Santi-
ago. which had been rctittcd and re
christcned the Elizabeth after that
Queen of England whose scanen had
humblcd Spain as Capt. Blood now
hoped to humble it again Ha gthorpc,
In virtue of his service in the navy,
was appointed by Blood to command
her. and the appointment was con-
hrmed by the men
1t was some months after the
rescue Of Mile. d'Ogeron-in August
of that year, f6s7-that this little
feet, after some minor adventures s
which I pass over in silence, sailed
into the great lake of Maracaybo and
effected its raid upon that opulent
city of the main
The affair did not proceed exactly
as was hoped and Blood's force came
to hnd itself in a precarious position.
This is best explained in the words
employed by CahusaC-which Pitt has
carefully recorded--in the course Of
an alteration that broke out on the
steps of the Church of Nuestra Sonora
del Carmen. which Capt. Blood had
impiously appropriated for the pur-
pose of a corps de garde. have
said already that he was papist
only when it suited him.
The dispute was being conduct ed
by Hagthorpe, Wolverstone and Pitt
on the one side, and Cahusac, out of
whose uneasineSs it all arose, on the
other. Behind them in the sun
scorched, dusty square, sparsely
fringed by palms. whose fronds
dropped listly in the quivering heat
surged a couple of hundred wild fell
lows belonging to both parties, their
own excitment momentarily quelled
SO that they might listen to what
passed among their leaders.
Cahusac appeared to be having it
all his own way, and he raised his
harsh, querulous voice so that all
might hear his truculent denunci-
alton. He spoke, Pitt tells us, a
dredful kind of English. which the
shipmaster, however makes little at
as discordant as his speech. 1t was
of kind to advertise his trade, and
ludicrously in contrast with the sober
garb of Hagthorpe and the almost
foppish daintineSs of Jeremy Pitt.
His soiled and blood stained shirt of
blue cotton was open in front. to cool
his hairy breast, and the girdle about
the waist of his leather breeches car
ried an arsenal Of pistols and a knife,
whilst a cutlass hung from a leather
baIdrick loosely slung about his body;
above his countenance, broad and nat
as a Mongolian's, red scarf was
swarthed, turbanwise, about his head.
rs 1t that 1 have not warned you
ha0inninO IN ol