Chapter V (2)

"The book with name not to be spoken!
The book, the book to feed the flame,
The book, the book none dare to name!"

"Think he means the Holy Bible, Captain Kyd?" demanded Loff, with religious horror.

"Silence!" cried the pirate chief.

He took from the folds of his cloak as he spoke a thick book, and gave it to the wizard, who received it with three several prostrations. He then tore it in pieces and cast the leaves into the grave. Instantly blue flame rose from it to a great height, thunder rolled in startling peals, while the most vivid lightning hissed and glared around them; at the same instant the bell in the church tower tolled without human aid with a sound so deep and solemn, so wild and unearthly, that every man was filled with consternation and horror. The wizard alone stood unmoved; and standing with one foot upon the treasure, chanted,

"One half the sacrifice is o'er.
In the grave your treasure pour!
He who seeks must seek again,
He who digs will dig in vain!"

"Thus much is over," said Kyd, advancing. "Pour the coin and jewels into the grave."

"Shiver my timbers! if I understand this!" exclaimed Loff. "There is more of Old Hoofs to do in the matter than I expected, or you wouldn't have caught me here. Umph! this black wizard smells of brimstone!"

After all the treasure was poured into the grave, the wizard, looking, as the moon shone upon his form and features, more like a demon than human, stood across it, and looked around malevolently upon the pirates as they leaned upon their spades prepared to refill it. After a moment's silence he began, in the same wild, monotonous chant:

"Safe from every human eye
Shalt this gold securely lie;
When a mortal who has seen
The treasure placed the grave within,
Shall in the grave alive be thrown:
This done, the spot shall ne'er be known.
And finish'd then the rites will be,
Mortal, thou hast sought from me!"

"If I had my doubts before about his being leagued with Beelzebub, not one have I left now," said Loff, with indignation. "I can see a fellow walk a plank or seized up to the yardarm, but I am too tender-hearted to see such a thing done as he hints at in his infernal rhymes."

The whole pirate crew seemed to be animated by the same feelings. At first general consternation prevailed; but, gathering confidence, they whispered together, casting the while revengeful looks towards the wizard. Suddenly, by one impulse, they laid their hands, without speaking, upon him, and cast him headlong into the grave; and then, acting as one man, filled it up with its living occupant in a moment of time. The first action of Kyd was to spring forward and rescue him; but the determined attitude of his men, whose minds were too highly wrought up to be held under control, checked the impulse. He stood by till the grave was smoothed over, so that not a vestige of it remained, and was then about to command them to return to the brig, which was seen through the trees lying at her anchor near the land; but ere he could give the order, the flame of a gun fired from her flashed upon his eyes, followed by a loud report, that echoed in many a deep, rumbling note along the wooded shore.

"A signal of alarm!" he cried; "to your boats all!"

He hastened forward to the verge of the promontory where the prospect was unobstructed, and, casting his eyes down the narrow strait that opens seaward between Staten Island and Sandy Hook, beheld not a mile off, coming round the headland, a large ship, her tall sails glancing like snow in the moonlight. Loud and clear rung his voice hastening his men to the brig, while gun after gun flashed and thundered from her, calling them on board to her defence. In less than five minutes three boats loaded with the pirates put off from the shore and pulled swiftly in the direction of the brig. Kyd stood up steering the foremost one. But the wind blew steadily and strong in from sea, and the strange ship came on so fast that she was soon no farther off from their vessel than they themselves. It was plain she knew what she was about.

"Strain every nerve, men!" he cried, in an even, determined voice that reached every ear, while its coolness was more effectual in inspiring confidence than loud shouts would have been. "Pull together and steadily! She must not reach the brig before us. Now, all together! Lively, lively! A few strokes and we shall reach her."

But they were yet several hundred yards from her, and the stranger came ploughing his way down without taking in a sail or altering his course, save just enough to enable him to cut off the boats, the approach of which, as well as the relative position of the brig with the shore, he was able to discern by the aid of the moon, which filled the atmosphere with brilliant light. In the mean while the brig cut her anchor, and, swinging round, with her diminished force directed a feeble and irregular fire towards her. But she kept on her course in majestic silence, without returning it and without apparent injury; and, ere the boats could reach their vessel, she sailed in between it and them, and poured a broadside into each. The brig felt the fire in every spar; but the boats, being so low in the water, escaped without injury, the shot flying high above the heads of the pirates, and crashing among the forests on the shore. The brig was now evidently in the power of the ship; and Kyd, finding that it would be impossible to reach her, shouted through the smoke, that settled thickly over the water, to his mate Lawrence whom he had left on board with but a dozen men,

"Let them not take her! Blow her up, and to your boat!"

His voice was distinctly heard by every man both in the brig and ship.

"Hard up! hard, hard!" was instantly heard in the clear voice of Fitzroy; and the ship, which was steering so as to lay the brig aboard, fell off and stood in towards shore. The moment afterward a small boat was seen to put off from the brig, which a few seconds afterward blew up with a terrible explosion, suddenly turning night, for many miles around, into broad day, and shaking the earth with the tremendous concussion. For an instant the air was filled with a shower of missiles, and trains of fire lighting up sea, forest, and boats with a momentary and wild glare; then all sunk into darkness, and the pale moon once more struggled to assert her right to the empire of her own gentle light, which had been so suddenly invaded.

"Now, my men, we are left to our own resources," said Kyd. "There is not water enough for this ship to pass up this narrow sound. Let us pull through it. Who our pursuer is I have no idea: a small corvette, sent expressly by the king in pursuit, doubtless. But let us do our best to get off. We shall find some trader in the harbour, and will cast ourselves on board of her. There is no other chance!"

His address was received with a shout, and the four boats, Lawrence having now joined them, began to pull northward through the Staten Island Sound. The ship, in the mean while, after recovering the ground she had lost in avoiding the explosion, stood steadily on after the boats, which were not a quarter of a mile ahead, occasionally firing a bowchaser at the little fleet. The chase continued for half an hour, the pirates keeping the lead gallantly, and, being enabled to cross shoals by their lighter draught, occasionally they got far ahead, while the ship was slowly following the circuitous channel.

"She has a pilot who knows the ground," said Kyd, as he beheld the ship navigate safely an intricate reach of the narrow passage. "If he clears the Red Bank we have just come across, he will do what ship has never done before--go through into York Bay! Now she comes to it!" he cried, with animation, rising in his boat and watching the advance of the ship across the shoal. Suddenly he exclaimed, while a shout went up from the men, who were so interested at this crisis of the pursuit that they forgot to pull at the oar,

"She has struck, and heavily too! There goes her fore-topgallant-mast like a pipestem!"

"She will off with the flood," said Lawrence.

"It is full flood now. She will stick there as long as two timbers hold together, unless they pitch their guns overboard," said Loff.

"Ho, my lads, all!" suddenly cried Kyd, addressing them; "she is now ours. Back water! Let us carry her as she lies!"

He was answered by a loud hurrah, and the boats' heads were instantly turned towards the ship, which was about half a mile off. The boats shot forward with velocity, pushing before them vast surges which their ploughing bows turned up from the surface. They had got within half their distance of her, when boats were lowered from every part of her, and, as if by magic, filled with men.

"They are on the alert! He who commands her knows his business!" said Kyd, who, as his boats approached, had stood up in the stern of his own, with his drawn cutlass extended towards the vessel, inspiring his men and panting for the conflict. But, at this indication of their readiness to receive him, he suddenly cried, turning and waving his hand to the boats in the rear,

"Hold on!"

He then surveyed the enemy, and said in a calm, deep tone, every accent of which was expressive of his determined purpose,

"There are six boats, with at least twenty men in each; we number fifty or sixty only. Nevertheless, we must fight them!"

This proposition, notwithstanding the previous ardour of the crew, was received with a universal murmur of dissent.

"We are willing to pull towards New-York Bay, Captain Kyd," said Loff, "and take possession of some of the craft there; but there are too many odds against us to risk fighting yonder barges. Besides, on the bows of the largest boat I can see a gun relieved against the wake of the moon."

"It is too true. We shall be likely to have the worst of it," said Kyd, suppressing his rage, which was ready to burst forth at the refusal of his men, and satisfied on a second glance that it would be useless to attempt, with his ill-armed crew, to capture a flotilla of boats so well prepared both for attack and defence. "Put away, and let us get through this narrow sound at our best speed! If they pursue us we will lead them a long chase."

He was answered by a cheer from his men and a simultaneous dash of the numerous oars into the water, under the force of which the boats moved up the strait with direct and rapid motion. At the same instant a gun of heavy metal was discharged from the bows of the headmost boat of their pursuers, loaded with grape; but the leaden shower fell far short of them; while, at the same instant, with loud cheers, all the barges left the side of the ship and commenced hot pursuit of the pirate boats.

"A twelve-pounder by its report," said Kyd, "and it would have done mischief if it had been elevated half an inch higher. Pull, men! they will shoot better the next time!" he shouted, waving his sword with animation and cheering them on.

Away they flew, pursuing and pursued! At one moment the ship's boats would be almost upon them, when the pirates would shoot from the main channel into some creek or bayou intersecting the marshy shores, and re-enter the Sound far above them. At intervals the twelve-pounder broke with a loud roar upon the night, echoing among the woods of Staten Island and the Jersey shore in multiplied reverberations; and, like a hurricane, its cloud of bullets would rush along the air, or plough and skip along the surface of the water, but with little effect. On they went, pursuing and pursued, neither yielding or showing signs of fatigue. At length the moon hung low over the western horizon, and shone with a cold, watery look; in the east flakes of light spotted the sky, and the darkness began to break before the dawn. Gradually the ashy hue of the sky became clearer, and changed to a delicate pink; and then, waxing brighter, grew to vermillion, till the whole eastern sky blushed with the incipient dawn. The clouds that hung about the path of the coming sun began to turn out edges of gold, and the sky to the zenith to radiate with beams of glorious dies. The whole heaven, even down to the low west, had changed its livery of blue for the rose, while the jealous moon, disdaining to look on a rival whose coming was so gorgeously heralded, threw a snowy veil over her brow, and sunk, scarce visible on the brow of morning, beneath the horizon! Suddenly up rose the sun and filled the world with light!

As the day approached the hostile parties became plainly visible to one another, and were able to count each other's force. At sunrise the pirate's boats entered the bay of New-York, leaving Staten Island on the right, and closely followed within a third of a mile by their pursuers, pulled directly towards the town, which, with its wall and Rondeel, was seen rising from the water a league distant. Not far from the shore, between the Governor's Island and the town, lay three or four small Dutch yachts at anchor, waiting for the change of tide to take them up to Albany. It was evident, from the course he took, that it was the intention of Kyd to throw himself on board one of these vessels, and effect the escape of himself and crew. This seemed to be the idea suggested to the mind of the leader of the pursuing boats, and he urged his men forward in the most animated and eager manner. At the stern of his launch, which took the lead, and in the bows of which was mounted a twelve-pound carronade, floated a silken flag, on which were conspicuous the initials of his name and the crest of the house of Bellamont.

"By the cross!" exclaimed Kyd, as the sunlight struck on this flag, and a passing breeze unfolded it to his eye as he turned to watch the chase, "'tis the same flag!"

"What flag?" inquired Loff, taking a pocket spyglass from his jacket.

"Ha! you have a glass! Give it me!" he cried, hastily. "By Heaven!" he cried, after a moment's surveying, "'tis the same! The very initials. Now the wind opens it. 'Tis the same with the earl's crest! What can it mean? This youth Edwin may have become her champion since I so foolishly gave him his liberty! He, and none else, commands the barges! But there is too much skill displayed in directing the pursuit to emanate from a boy like him! Yet why this flag? Among the dense mass of heads beneath I cannot distinguish the leader's features!"

"Shall we board the nearest yacht?" asked Loff. "We shall soon be close upon them."

Kyd turned and found that he was within a mile of three sloops that lay under the guns of the Rondeel. He looked back and saw that the barges were coming with increased speed, and would be up with him by the time he could reach the vessels. He cheered on his men with every gesture and word of encouragement; but, with all their exertions, he perceived that at every dip of their sweeps his pursuers gained on him.

At length the carronade from the leading boat opened upon them for the first time since sunrise and with terrible effect upon the nearest boat, commanded by Lawrence. Nearly every bullet told in the plank or flesh; and the ill-fated boat, which seemed to have received the whole charge from the piece, instantly went down, leaving (so effectually had it been converted into their coffin) only Lawrence and one of his comrades floating wounded upon the surface.

"For the yacht--never stop to pick him up! for the yacht! Your lives depend on your reaching it!" shouted Kyd, with desperation. "Pull, ye dogs! Strong! together all! Bend to your sweeps like devils! In five minutes we'll be on board."

But the crew of the sloop, consisting of three or four men only, were already aware of their danger; and, cutting their cable, hoisted their jib and mainsail with what haste the occasion demanded, and, aided by the wind and tide, moved swiftly down the harbour beyond their reach. The other vessels followed this example as rapidly as possible; and, ere the pirates could get alongside, they were sailing away at a rate that defied pursuit.

"We are foiled by the devil's own aid!" said Kyd. He paused a moment. His pursuers were close upon him, and, save the shore, there was no avenue of escape. To delay and fight with his reduced number, even if his jaded and dispirited men would consent to it, would have been certain capture and death. For an instant he paused, and then said, in the calm, deliberate tone he was accustomed to use in times of most imminent peril,

"We must pull in shore and fight our way across the town to the East River, where we can cut out one of the vessels in the dock. There is no alternative! The town's people will scarce resist us! Will you land and let me lead you, men?"

"Ay, to the shore!" was the general cry; and swiftly the boats cut their way towards the foot of the Rondeel, which they approached on the western side, out of the range of its few remaining guns. Close in hot pursuit came the barges, pouring in upon them a constant and fatal discharge of firearms. The carronade was no longer fired, as its rebound so materially checked the speed of the boat that it soon fell behind all the others.

"Leave your oars and draw your cutlasses!" cried Kyd, as the boats struck the beach near the spot where he had landed when he attempted to convey Kate Bellamont to it. It was not far from the Rondeel, on the west of the governor's house.

With a shout the pirates bounded on shore, about forty in number, and, hastily forming in a body, headed by Kyd, with drawn sabres and pistols, were rapidly led by him around the base of the fort and across the lawn in the direction of Jost Stoll's tavern and the West Dock. The garrison in the Rondeel was so taken by surprise at the boldness of the bucaniers, that, before they could prepare to dispute their landing, they were moving at a rapid and steady pace across the grounds in front of the White Hall towards the wicket that led into the town. But here they were met with unexpected resistance. At the head of full eighty burghers, whom he had hastily armed and assembled to oppose this strange invasion from the sea, the Earl of Bellamont advanced upon them through the gate.

"Be men!" cried the earl to his command. "Remember, though unused to arms, you now fight for your homes, your wives, your children, your own lives, and all ye hold dear. Charge them ere they can form their body!"

The governor himself rushed forward, sword in hand, as he spoke, the sturdy burghers with a shout pressed on, and the two parties were immediately engaged in a sanguinary conflict. The pirates fought with demoniac fury, while the townsmen, excited by the smell of powder and the clash of steel, dealt blows that told wherever they fell. Nevertheless, the bucaniers, by long habit, discipline, and indifference to danger, got the better of them, though scarcely numbering half their force, and drove them, in spite of the cries and commands of the earl, towards the gate. Everywhere Kyd was present, and high above the sounds of conflict was heard his voice cheering and encouraging. But, though victors for the moment, they were soon confronted with a fresh and better disciplined foe. The barges had by this time landed their crews, and they now advanced upon them with loud cries and in overpowering numbers.

"Face them! Fight each man for his own life!" shouted Kyd, as, on turning from the discomfiture of the burghers, he beheld the advance of his pursuers.

The combat was now waged with terrific fury. Now the victor, now the vanquished, Kyd attacked and defended with a degree of skill and courage that, employed in a better cause, should have had a better result. At length his men, being broken into small parties, were overpowered, and either slain or disarmed. He alone defended himself against a numerous division that had pressed him towards an oak, the branches of which grew near the window of Kate Bellamont's boudoir. They would have cut him down by mere force of numbers if they had not suddenly been restrained by the commanding voice of Fitzroy, who hitherto had been engaged in another part of the field.

"Hold, men! Back, and leave him to me!" he cried, advancing towards Kyd through the lane opened to him by his men.

"Ha! does the sea give back its dead?" cried Kyd, with horror, dropping his red cutlass and gazing upon him with mortal fear. "Can it be! Speak, I conjure thee, if thou art flesh and blood!"

"Monster, this day shall terminate thy career of crime!" replied Fitzroy, preparing to cut him down.

"By the mass! flesh or blood, I'll have a bout with thee!" cried Kyd, reassured by his voice, seizing a sabre from one of the men he had slain. "Ho! for Kate Bellamont!"

"Ha, villain! For _thyself_, then!"

A fierce broadsword combat ensued between them, and continued for a few seconds with equal skill and energy. At length the sword of Fitzroy caught in the strand of hair about Kyd's neck and severed it. Instantly the amulet it sustained dropped to the ground. Kyd's confidence and courage seemed to fail him at once, and, striking at random, he was soon disarmed by his cooler adversary, and his life placed at his mercy.

"Strike!" said the bucanier, despondingly.

The victor was about to obey, when his uplifted arm was arrested by a shriek from the balcony, and the voice of Kate Bellamont crying,

"Spare him! save him, Fitzroy!"

The point of his weapon sunk at his feet, and he bent low to her in acquiescence; then turning to his men, he said,

"Bind him. My lord, what shall be done with him? He is at your disposal."

"Bear him to the prison of the Rondeel, there to await his trial!"

Silent and desponding, yet still holding himself with a dignified and lofty bearing, the captive pirate chief was borne, with his few surviving followers, to a dungeon in the Rondeel, while the earl, Fitzroy, and Edwin (who had not participated in the contest) together entered the Hall, leaving their victorious party to clear the ensanguined field of the melancholy traces of the morning's fight.