“But his deed fired the buccaneers on Tortuga with dreams of easily acquired prizes and riches, and soon a host of the rough hunters and woodsmen were cruising about in small boats and attacking every Spanish ship they saw. Indeed, many, unable to secure sailboats, actually went a-pirating in tiny dugout canoes, and so daring and reckless were they that, despite their handicaps, they took two huge galleons laden with plate within the first month, as well as many smaller vessels. Now that they had seaworthy ships and plenty of wealth at their disposal they became bolder and bolder, and were soon not only cruising the Caribbean Sea, and taking ships, but were attacking the fortified and wealthy towns along the Central and South American coast with success. And let me mention here that it was very seldom that the buccaneers made use of the larger ships in their piratical raids. The smaller vessels were faster, they were more easily handled, and when necessity arose they could slip through narrow, shoal channels through which the Spanish men-of-war could not follow. The buccaneers’ vessels seldom carried over six guns, many had but two or three, but they swarmed with men armed to the teeth, and the buccaneers depended far more upon a dashing attack and hand-to-hand fights than upon cannon fire.” “Excuse me, Dad,” interrupted Jack, “but are there books that tell all these things?” “Yes, Jack,” replied Mr. Bickford. “And the best and most complete is a book called ‘The Buccaneers of America.’ It was written by a buccaneer, a man named Esquemeling, who took part in nearly all the most famous of the buccaneers’ raids and served with Morgan, L’Ollonois and many other buccaneer chiefs. His own history is almost as interesting as that of any of the men of whom he wrote. He was a Hollander by birth, but went to Tortuga as a clerk for the West India Company of France. The company, however, found that although the buccaneers were quite willing to purchase goods it was quite another matter when it came to paying for them, and as a result, the West India Company abandoned their agency in Tortuga and gave orders that all their goods and chattels on the island should be sold for what they would bring. This included servants of the company as well, and Esquemeling found himself sold for a slave for thirty pieces of eight. His master was a cruel, tyrannical man and abused his Dutch slave shamefully, although offering to let him buy his freedom for three hundred pieces of eight. Esquemeling, however, as he says himself, ‘was not master of one in the whole world.’ Finally Esquemeling became weak and ill from abuse and inadequate food, and his cruel master, fearing the man would die and he would be out of pocket and without a slave as well, disposed of the sick Hollander for seventy pieces of eight. His new master was a surgeon and a kindly man and, having doctored Esquemeling and restored him to health and strength, at the end of a year he gave him his