“It was in 1682—about the time Sharp returned from his ‘dangerous voyage’—that Hamlin took as a prize the French ship, La Trompeuse, refitted her as a corsair and made a swift and successful piratical cruise through the Caribbean. Despite all protests of the British, Hamlin made his headquarters at St. Thomas, where he was entertained by the governor—with whom, no doubt, he shared his loot—and was afforded every courtesy and aid in fitting for another raid. For over a year Hamlin wrought havoc with British, French, Spanish and Dutch shipping with equal impartiality, finally culminating in a wholesale capture of seventeen Dutch and British ships off the coast of Africa. “Returning from this foray the pirates were loudly welcomed in St. Thomas; the merchants bid for the loot brought ashore, and Hamlin made merry with his good friend, the governor. But word of the corsair’s whereabouts had been carried to the neighboring British Islands. Governor Stapelton, of Antigua, despatched the H.M.S. Francis under stout old Captain Carlisle to St. Thomas, and three days after Hamlin’s triumphant arrival at the island the British frigate sailed into the harbor. “It was useless for the pirates to attempt to escape or to resist. Their ship was under the guns of the frigate scarcely a pistol shot away and, hastily scrambling into their boats and firing a few guns to ‘save their faces,’ the pirate captain and his men rowed for shore and sought protection under the wings of the governor. Carlisle wasted no time in formalities and, despite the fact that he was in the waters of Denmark, promptly fired the pirate ship and blew her to bits. “Of course Governor Esmit protested, claiming he had already seized the Trompeuse in the name of the Danish king, but Captain Carlisle snapped his fingers—figuratively speaking—in the Danes’ faces, asked them what they were going to do about it and sailed away, well satisfied with a good deed well done. In the meantime, Esmit provided the pirates with a new vessel, but realizing that complications might arise, he suggested, in a friendly way, that henceforth some more isolated, out-of-the-way spot would be better adapted to piratical uses.” CHAPTER XI KIDD, THE PIRATE WHO WASN’T A PIRATE “Whew, I didn’t know they had pirates and buccaneers right up here around home!” exclaimed Fred. “Think of pirates in Long Island Sound!” “Of course there were,” declared Jack. “If there weren’t, how do you suppose Captain Kidd could have buried his treasure up here?” “That’s so,” admitted his cousin. “But I always thought he pirated down in the West Indies and just brought his treasure up here to hide it. Do you suppose he really did bury anything up this way, Uncle Henry?”