Evening star., 1924-11-11

purely out OF humanitarian conSlo-
erations. this last offer of terms.
will spare the city OF Maracaibo and
forth with evacuate 1t. leaving behind
me the 40 prisoners i have taken,
in consideration of your paying me
the sum of $4,000 pieces of eight and
100 head of cattle as a ransom,
thereafter granting me unmolested d
passage Of the bar. My prisoners,
most of whom are persons of con-
sideration, l will retain as hostages
until after my departure, sending
them back in the canoes which we
shall take with us for that purpose.
advised as to refuse these terms
and thereby impose upon me the
necessity of reducing your fort at
the cost of some lives. l warn you
that YOU may expect no quarter from
US and that ] shall begin by leaving
heap of ashes where this plea SAINT
CT yof Maracaibo now stands"
The letter written. he bade them
bring him from among the prisone rs
the deputy governor OF Maracaibo,
who had been taken at Gibraltar.
Disclosing its contents to him, he
dispatched him with il 10 Don Miguel.
His choice of a messenger was
shrewd The deputy governor was
of all men the most anxious for the
deliverancc of his city. the one man
who, on his own account, would plead
most fervently for its preservation
at all costs from the fate which
Capt. Blood was threatening it.
And as he reckoned, SO il befen.
The deputy governor added his own
passionate pleading to the proposals
Of the letter
But Don Miguel was of stouter
heart. True. his fleet had been part
~ destroyed and partly captured
But then. he argued, he had been
taken utterly by surprise That
should not happen again. There
should be no surprising the fort.
Let Capt Blood do his worst at Mara
caaoo. there should bo bitter reck-
oning for him when eventually he
decided-as. sooner or later, decide
he must-to como forth.
The deputy governor was flung to
panic He lost his temper and said
some hard things to the admiral
But they were not as hard as the
thing the admiral said to him in
answer.
Had you been loyal to your king
in hindering the entrace of these
cursed pirates as I shall be in him
dering their going forth again, we
should not now find ourselves in our
present straits. So weary me No
moro with your coward counsels. 7
make no terms with Capt. Blood. I
know my duty to my king, and I in
tend to settle it. Take you that mes
sage back
So. back to Maracaibo, back to his
own handsome house, in which Cant
Blood had established his quarters.
came the deputy governor with the
admlrais answer. And because he
had been shamed. into a show of
spirit by the admiraI's own stout
courage in adversely, he delivered 81
as truculently as the admiral could
have desired
And 1t is like that?" said Cant
$1,000, with a quiet smile, though the
heart OF him sank at this failure of
MS oiuster. well, we'll, it's a nitv
now that the admiral's so headstrong
it was that way he lost his fleet
which was his own to lose. This
pleasant city Of Maracaibo isn't So
no DOUBT he'll lose it with fewer mis-.
siVings. am sorry. Waste. Iike
ploodshed, is a thing abhorrent 70
me. But there ye are! I'll have tho
faEgots to the place in the morn;nr
ana maybe when he sees the blaze
tomorrow night he'll begin to he
lieve that Peter Blood is A man -,
ms word. Ye may go, Don Fran