5. V.
“Such was the true history of the captured Frenchman, whom
our pirate-chief persuaded the court of admiralty to adjudge to
him as a vessel picked up at sea, abandoned by its proper owners.
Blackbeard was soon at sea again. He was even more
successful in the results of his next cruise; gathering Spanish
gold, ingots, and jewels of great value, and treasures equally of
east and west. But he carried in no more vessels for the jurisdiction
of the courts. He employed the shorter processes of
firing and scuttling. He seldom found any prisoners. He kept
none. The sea locked up his secrets — for a time at least; and
his cruise was a long one in proportion to its successes.
“But news reached him of a suspicious character. He heard
rumors of ships-of-war preparing to search for pirates. He was
advised from North Carolina, that his own virtues were not beyond
suspicion, and that, somehow, certain rumors had reached
Virginia affecting his securities. It became necessary to hide
away the treasures already procured, before again venturing
within the waters of Cape Fear and Ocracocke. He must
cleanse the aspect of his craft, so that she should be able to endure
examination as a fair trader, and secure the bloody spoils
of previous ventures, beyond the grasp of law and civilization.
We all know how common was the practice among the pirates
of establishing hoards in unfrequented places. All these islets,
according to tradition, from the capes of Virginia to that of Florida
conceals some buried treasure. On this occasion our pirates
put into Bull's bay, the avenues to which they well knew. In
this region, they selected a spot, either on Bull's island, or Long,
or some one of the islands immediately contiguous — all of which
were then uninhabited — in which to hide their treasures. Here,
at midnight, they assembled. The hole was dug in the earth.
The pirates all gathered around it. They bore the glittering
piles — in kegs, boxes, sacks, jars. They saw them all deposited.
Then they clasped hands, and each swore, severally repeating
the horrid oath which Blackbeard dictated.
“There was a pause. The rites were yet unfinished. The
hole remained opened. Something was yet to be done, according
to which alone, in the superstitions of the pirates, could the
treasure be securely kept. Meanwhile, there had been voices
crying to them from the woods. The devil had been adjured
by the terrible chief of the crew, and he had answered with awful
sounds from a neighboring thicket. They could, most of
them, believe in a devil, and tremble, where they tacitly renounced
all faith in a God. Of course, this mummery had been
devised by the cunning for the especial benefit of the ignorant.
They had imprecated a horrid destiny upon their souls, in the
event of their fraud or infidelity to their comrades, and the audible
answers of the fiend declared their oaths to be registered in
hell. Such was a part of the scheme by which the pirates
bound each other to forbearance, and for the common security
of their hidden treasures.
“But something more was necessary to the completion of these
horrid rites. There was a needed sacrifice which murder always
found it necessary to provide for superstition. But this portion
of the ceremony was, of course, a mystery to all those whom the
pirates had lately incorporated among their crews from among
the captives they had taken.
“`And now that we have all secure, brothers of the coast, it
still needs that one of us should remain to watch the treasure
till our present cruise is over. Food he shall have in abundance,
drink, and shelter. A boat shall be left for him with
which to fish, and weapons with which to procure game of the
woods and wild fowl along the shore. It must be a willing
mind that must undertake this watch. Who volunteers? Let
him speak boldly, like a man.'
“An eager voice answered —
“`I will remain and watch the treasure!'
“It was that of the poor cabin-boy, the sole survivor of the
French merchantman. The trembling creature had shuddered
with daily and nightly horrors since the hour of his captivity.
He eagerly seized the present opportunity of escape from an association
the terrors of which oppressed his soul. Blackbeard
looked at him grimly, and with a dreadful smile. He saw
through the wretched boy, and readily conjectured all his hopes.
They were those of all who had ever consented to watch the
treasure. But it did not matter to the pirate's object whether
the volunteer were honest or not. It was enough that he should
volunteer. According to their laws none could be
compelled to
take this watch; and it was one of the secret tests, that of the
volunteer, by which to discover who, of the crew, were in secret
disloyal, and likely to prove treacherous.
“`You!' repeated Blackbeard. `You, then, willingly choose
to remain and keep watch over the treasure?'
“`I do!'
“`Then remain, and see that you watch well!'
“And, with the words, lifting the pistol which, all the while,
had been secretly prepared in his grasp, he shot the wretched
boy through the head. So sudden was the movement, that the
miserable victim was scarcely conscious of his danger a single
moment, before the bullet was crashing through his brains. He
fell into the hole above the treasure, and the earth was shoveled
in upon the victim and the spoils he had probably fancied he
should be able to bear away.
“`There — see that you keep good watch, good fellow!'
“A wild howl of demoniac joy from the adjacent covert startled
the superstitious of the crew. The sacrifice to the fiend in
waiting had been graciously accepted; and a tacit pledge was
thus given by the demon that, with his aid, the treasure should
be kept safely by the vigilant spectre of the victim.
