6. VI.
“The horrid orgies which succeeded to this murder, among the
pirates, that night — their dance of maniac frenzy over the grave
of their victim, and upon the spot of earth which concealed their
buried deposite — exceeds the possibility of description, as it
would be greatly offensive to propriety were we to describe it.
They drank, they danced, they sang, they swore, they howled,
they fought; and it was long after dawn of the day following
before they proved able to return to their vessel, which lay at
easy anchorage a short distance from the shore. Before leaving
the island, they had obscured with trampling, then with turf
and leaves, all external signs of the burial which they had
made. The orgies of drunkenness which followed had served
still more effectually to obliterate from the memories of most of
them the impressions of the locality which they had gathered
from the scene. It was with this policy that their more cunning
chiefs had encouraged their bestial debauchery and excess.
They, however (the former), had taken the precaution to establish
certain guide-marks to the spot which nothing could obliterate.
The extended branch of one tree was a pointer to the
place; the
blaze of another was made to bear a certain relation
also to the spot, and so many paces east from the one, and so
many paces west from the other, intersecting with a third line
drawn from the position of another bough, or tree, or
blaze, and
the point of junction of the three was that under which the
treasures lay. We are not required here to be more precise in
its delineation.
“Their work done effectually, as usual, and our pirates all
pretty well sobered, they sailed away upon another cruise, the
fortunes of which we need not recount. But this time they
were not long at sea. After awhile they returned to the waters
of North Carolina, and gave themselves up to a week of riot in
Pamplico.
“But, along with the evil deed are born always three other
parties — the accuser, the witness, and the avenger! It is now
difficult to say by what means the later crimes of Blackbeard
became known. He had certainly obliterated all his own tracks
of blood, almost as soon as he had made them. Still, these
tracks had been found and followed, though covered up with
earth and sea: as if the accuser and the avenger were endowed
with a peculiar faculty, such as, in the case of the hound, enables
him to detect the odor of blood even through the mould.
Blackbeard, with the instinct of guilt, was soon aware that a
secret enemy was dogging at his heels.
“So it was.
“There had suddenly appeared a stranger at Pamplico, who
threw himself more than once in the way of Blackbeard's last
wife, the Amazon. He was a fine-looking young fellow, of
martial carriage, wearing the loose shirt of the Virginian hunter,
carrying a rifle, and followed by a dog. He was tall, erect, and
very powerfully built. There was a laughing mischief in his
eye, a sly, seductive humor upon his tongue, and a general
something in his free, dashing, and buoyant manner, which is
apt to be rather pleasing to the women. At all events, the
stranger found favor in the sight of the girl of Pamplico,
and she invited him to her cabin —
but without Blackbeard's
knowledge.
“The stranger did not hesitate to accept the invitation; but he
took care to visit the woman only when he knew that the pirate-chief
was present. The girl was a little dashed when he suddenly
pushed open the door of the dwelling, and stood in his
forest-costume before the parties. With an oath, Blackbeard
demanded for what he came. The stranger had his answer
ready. He had peltry for sale — several packs — and he wished
to barter it for powder and ball. Regarding the pirate only in
his shore character, as a fair trader, there was nothing in the
visit to occasion surprise.
“Blackbeard regarded the stranger with eyes of curious
admiration. He observed with delight the magnificent proportions
of the hunter.
“`You are a big fellow,' said he — `strong as a horse, no
doubt, and as active as a wild cat.'
“`A match,' was the reply, `for any man of my inches.'
“`We'll see that!' exclaimed the pirate, suddenly rising and
grappling with the stranger in a friendly wrestle. The muscular
and bulky forms of the two rocked to and fro, breast to
breast for awhile, until, by an extra exertion of strength, the
hunter laid the outlaw on his back. The latter was nowise
ruffled.
“`You don't look the man to do it,' said he, `but it was well
done. You're a man, every inch of you. Have you ever been
upon the sea? That's the field for such a man as you. Come!
what say you to a v'yage with me? Good pay, good liquor,
and fine girls.'
“Here the pirate winked at his wife, and pointed her out to
the stranger. The latter seemed disposed to entertain the
project. Blackbeard became earnest. He was anxious to increase
the number of his marines, and he held out liberal promises
and prospects to our hunter — but without suffering him to
suppose that his vocation at sea was anything but honest. In
those days, the fair traders required something of a warlike
armament for defence, and usually had it to a certain extent.
“Our hunter offered only such objections as were easy to
overcome; and the result of the conference was an arrangement
between the parties to meet the next day on board of Blackbeard's
vessel, when they should come to a more definite understanding;
our hunter only insisting upon seeing the sort of
world to which he was to be introduced, and the accommodations
and the fare designed for him. This understood, they
separated for the night — the stranger refusing to drink or eat
with the pirate, much to the latter's annoyance. How much
more would this annoyance have been increased, had he known
how tender was the squeeze of the hand which, at parting, the
girl of Pamplico had bestowed upon their guest!
“`With such a chap as that to lead the boarders, and I shall
sweep every deck that ever showed it's teeth,' said Blackbeard
when the stranger had gone.
“`All's well so far!' quoth the latter, as he passed from hearing
of the cabin. `All's well. To-morrow! to-morrow.'
“With the morrow the parties again met, and Blackbeard's
welcome was singularly cordial. He took the hunter on board
his vessel, showed him her appointments, her strength, and dilated
upon the profit of the trade he carried on. The stranger
looked about him, noted well what he saw, took particular heed
of the pirate guns and sailors, — their number, their character;
yet pursued his watch so casually as to occasion no suspicion.
He was pleased with everything, and only forebore to drink, to
eat, or to make any positive engagement, as before. He left
all things in a fair way for arrangement; but it needed that he
should bring in his peltry and secure his various hunter effects,
in his distant foreign home.
“`We shall meet in seven days!'
“`Be sure of it,' answered the other, `for in ten I must prepare
to be at sea. But, by the way, you haven't in all this time told
me your name, or I've forgot it.'
“`Well, when I go to sea, I must get a name. To confess
to you a truth, the one I have borne, is rather in bad reputation.'
“`Ah! ha! I see then why you are here. You've been using
your rifle on meaner brutes than buck and bear. Well! I don't
think the worse of you for that. But give yourself a name that
we may swear by.'
“`Or at! well, as I am to be a sailor, I'll take my name from
the ship. Call me Mainyard, for lack of anything better.'
“So they parted.
“`Mainyard! Mainyard!' muttered Blackbeard to himself.
`Where have I heard a name like that only a day or two ago!
It was from that bloody booby, Coleman. There's something
about the name that — pshaw! what an ass I am! as if there
should be anything strange to a sailor's ear in such a name.
Yet, there is something!'
“And with a vague memory of — he knew not what, — running
in his mind, Blackbeard felt mystified and curious for a
good hour after the departure of the Hunter. Had he not been
half drunk and very furious when Coleman brought his story to
his ears, his doubts would have assumed a more definite form,
and might have led to other results than followed his oblivion.
“Meanwhile the hunter had disappeared. What follows, almost
literally drawn from history, may serve to put into your
hands the clue which was all tangled in those of the maudlin
pirate.
