He fired--the pirate stretched out his arms, turned slowly on his back,
with his face towards me. I thought he gave me a sort of “Et tu, Brute”
look, but I dare say it was fancy--his feet began to sink, and he
gradually disappeared, a few bubbles of froth and blood marking the spot
where he went down. He had been shot dead. I will not attempt to
describe my feelings at this moment, they burned themselves in on my
heart at the time, and the impression is indelible. Whether I had or
had not acted, in one sense, unjustly, by ousting myself so
conspicuously forward in the attempt to capture him, after what had
passed between us, forced itself upon my judgment. I had certainly
promised that I would, in no way that I could help, be instrumental in
his destruction or seizure, provided he landed me at St Jago, or put me
on board a friendly vessel. He did neither, so his part of the compact
might be considered broken; but then it was out of his power to have
fulfilled it; besides, he not only threatened my life subsequently, but
actually wounded me; still, however, on great provocation. But what “is
writ, is writ.” He has gone to his account, pirate as he was, murderer
if you will; yet I had, and still have, a tear for his memory,--and many
a time have I prayed on my bare knees that his blue agonized dying look
might be erased from my brain; but this can never be. What he had been
I never learned; but it is my deliberate opinion, that, with a clear
stage and opportunity, he would have forced himself out from the surface
of society for good or for evil. The unfortunates who survived him, but
to expiate their crimes on the gibbet at Port Royal, said he had joined
them from a New York privateer, but they knew nothing farther of him
beyond the fact, that by his skill and desperate courage, within a month
he had by common acclaim been elected captain of the whole band. There
was a story current on board the corvette, of a small trading craft,
with a person answering his description, having been captured in the
Chesapeake, by one of the squadron, and sent to Halifax for
adjudication, (the master, as in most cases of the kind, being left on
board,) which from that hour had never been heard of, neither vessel,
nor prize crew, nor captain, until two Americans were taken out of a
slaver, off the Cape de Verds by the Firebrand, about a year afterwards,
after a most brave and determined attempt to escape, both of whom were
however allowed to enter, but subsequently deserted off Sandy Hook by
swimming ashore, in consequence of a pressed hand hinting that one of
them, surmised to be Obed, had been the master of the vessel above
mentioned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account