Fire Cloud; Or, The Mysterious Cave. A Story of Indians and Pirates.Fletcher, Samuel
History
Fire Cloud; Or, The Mysterious Cave. A Story of Indians and Pirates.
Fletcher, Samuel
Indians of North America -- Fiction; New York (State) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Fiction; Pirates -- Fiction
Great was the excitement caused in the goodly little City of New York,
by the arrival of the merchant ship bringing as prisoners, the daring
pirate with two of his men whose fearful deeds had caused all the
inhabitants of the land to thrill with horror.
And great was the surprise of the citizens to find in that terrible
pirate a well-known member of the community, and one whom nearly all
regarded as a worthy member of society.
Another cause of surprise to the good people of the city, was the
arrival by this vessel, of one whom all had long given up as lost, and
that was Henry Billings, the lover of Hellena Rosenthrall.
He it was who had recognized in the commander of the whale boat, the
pirate Flint, and had warned the captain of the ship of his danger,
thereby enabling him to save his vessel, and the lives of all on
board.
Captain Flint made a slight mistake when he took the vessel by which
he was run down, for the India man he was looking out for. It was an
ordinary merchant ship from Amsterdam, freighted with merchandise from
that port. Though in appearance she very much resembled the vessel
which Captain Flint had taken her for.
The reason young Billings happened to be on board of her was this:
It will be remembered that when the ship in which Billings had taken
passage for Europe, was attacked by the pirates, he was forced to walk
the plank.
By the pirates, he was of course supposed to have been drowned, but in
this they were mistaken. He had been in the water but a few moments
when he came in contact with a portion of a spar which had probably
come from some wreck or had been washed off of some vessel.
To this he lashed himself with a large handkerchief which it was his
good fortune to have at the time.
Lashed to this spar he passed the night.
When morning came he found that he had drifted out to sea; he could
not tell how far.
He was out of sight of land, and no sail met his anxious gaze.
His strength was nearly exhausted, and he felt a stupor coming over
him. Then he lost all consciousness.
How long he lay in this condition he could not tell. When he came to
himself, he found that he was lying in the birth of a vessel, while a
sailor was standing at his side.
The whole thing was soon explained.
He had been discovered by the Captain of a ship bound for England,
from Boston.
He had been taken on board, in an almost lifeless condition, and
kindly cared for.
In a little while he recovered his usual strength, and although his
return home must necessarily be delayed, he trusted to be enabled
before a great while to do so and bring to justice the villains who
had attempted his murder.
Unfortunately the vessel by which he had been rescued, was wrecked on
the coast of Ireland, he and the crew barely escaping with their
lives.
After a while, he succeeded in getting to England by working his
passage there.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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