Cape Cod (Mass.) -- Fiction; United States -- History -- War of 1812 -- Fiction
In a roaring tone he started to sing. It was a wild song of the rover’s
life and the singer flung his whole soul into the performance. I can
remember the first stanza, which he repeated several times as if it
were a kind of refrain. This was how it went:
“Sing ho, my lads, for Bellamy bold,
For he is king of the main!
He’s filled the hold with yellow gold
From the galleons of Spain.
Then bear away by the light of the moon,
We carry a rover’s freight--
Sing ho, for the gleam of a yellow doubloon
And the chink of pieces of eight!
Sing ho, etc.”
There were several verses in the same spirit telling of fair-haired and
blue-eyed maids in Bristol town awaiting the homecoming of the rover
who, however, was well content to lavish his wealth on the darker-hued
sirens whose flashing eyes welcomed him to the bowers of love in the
sunny isles of the southern seas.
The effect of the song was to restore good feeling between the pair
and the subsequent discussion was free from acrimony. They talked about
the treasure. Goody Hallett insisted that the sea must have encroached
on the spot where it was hidden, and scattered it. The shifting sands
then covered it. She admitted having recovered some of it and expressed
her willingness to share with her guest. On his part, he urged that
now was the time to settle; he must be leaving immediately as his
ship awaited him in Bostoin and he would be absent for a long time.
Goody Hallett agreed to this. There was some little haggling over the
division of the spoil, but the man appeared convinced that the old
woman was telling the truth and accepted what she gave him. He promised
to revisit the place at the end of the voyage and resume the search for
the lost treasure. Then the light was put out and all was silence.
Filled with astonishment at this strange occurrence, I mounted my horse
and continued my journey to Mr. Avery’s. ’Twas very late when I arrived
but I found my friend sitting up. The saintly minister was much alarmed
and astonished when I told him of my adventure. He had heard some talk
about this strange man but put it down to idle gossip.
Together we rode to Goody Hallett’s hut next day, but there was no
trace of the stranger, and the old woman vehemently denied that any
such person had ever been there!
* * * * *
“Now, Goodman Rich, what do you think of it?” asked the minister when
he had finished.
My father acknowledged that he had heard of the man’s presence in the
neighborhood. He believed him to be the Englishman who was one of
the survivors of the “Whidah” wreck; in fact, the minister’s story
confirmed this. Perhaps he was Sam Bellamy himself? As to that,
however, he was present at the burial of the drowned pirates and he
remembered one corpse being identified as that of the pirate captain.
Next morning the minister went his way after profusely thanking my
parents for their hospitality.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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