“The crews were rough, reckless, daredevils of every race; soldiers of fortune who had drifted to Tortuga and joined the Brethren, and as they had everything to gain and nothing to lose they exhibited bravery, took risks and performed deeds which have never been equaled. But they were not real pirates by any means—except in the eyes of the Spaniards. They never molested French or British ships, they were openly welcomed and aided in the French or British islands, and even when peace was declared and the buccaneers still continued to prey upon the Dons, the authorities winked at them and gave them refuge. But in time dissensions arose between the English, the Dutch and the French buccaneers at Tortuga, and the various nationalities separated and each took separate spots for their strongholds. The Virgin Islands were favorite lairs, for the Danish and Dutch owners were safe from their attacks by sheltering the freebooters, who spent money as recklessly as they won it, and the buccaneers had stringent rules, and the death penalty was inflicted upon any man who molested the persons or properties of the friendly islanders. The British buccaneers made Port Royal, Jamaica, their stronghold, and that town became famed as the richest and wickedest city in the world. Another lair was a little island in Samaná Bay in Santo Domingo, and the Cayman Islands south of Cuba, the Bay Islands off Honduras and several islands off the Coast of Venezuela also became nests for the freebooters. “At first, of course, all the buccaneers were equal. There were none who knew more of buccaneering than the others, all pooled their resources and the captains were elected by vote or won their place through owning a ship or having captured one. But gradually certain men won fame and prestige for their cruelty, their daring or their success, and rapidly rose to recognized leadership and became famous as buccaneer chiefs. CHAPTER II SOME BUCCANEERS AND THEIR WAYS “Now, having learned why the buccaneers were so called and how they came into existence, we’ll take up a more interesting matter, and I’ll try to tell you something of the men themselves, of the most famous buccaneers and of their deeds,” continued Mr. Bickford. “Certain famous buccaneers’ names are almost household words—such as Morgan, Montbars, L’Ollonois and your friend Captain Kidd, who, as I said, was no buccaneer—but others, who did even braver and more terrible things and were the most noted of buccaneers in their day, are almost unknown to the world to-day. Among these was Pierre Le Grand, Brasiliano, Bartholomew Portugues, Sawkins, Sharp, Davis, Red Legs, Cook, Dampier, Mansvelt, Prince Rupert and many others.” “But you’ve forgotten Drake and Hawkins and Blackbeard,” put in Jack.