SKETCH OF THE BUCCANEERS OF BARRITARIA—SCENE IN JAMAICA—
A NIGHT EXPEDITION.

About one-fifth of the brief term of years to
which Divine Wisdom has limited the life of man
we have suffered to roll unrecorded down the tide
of time.

Our tale now opens in a new theatre, with
scenes of fresher and more exciting interest, before
which characters move and act who have borne no
inconsiderable part in the great drama of the second,
and last war of independence, between the
United States of the North and Great Britain.

A few years before the commencement of this
memorable and decisive war, a daring band of privateers-men,
inured to every hardship to be

[figure description] Page 052.[end figure description]

encountered in storms of battle, or of the elements, and as free
as the winds which filled their flowing sheets, had
obtained commissions from the new government of
Carthagena, then first struggling for independence,
to cruise against the royalists, or vessels sailing under
the flag of Spain. By the authority of these
commissions, they not only made numerous captures
on the great highway of nations, but blockaded
many ports of the royalists in the Mexican
and West India seas.

Giving a latitude to their commissions which the
government from which they received them did not
recognize or foresee, they embraced in them, besides
the ships of the royalists, such other vessels as
they might fall in with, which, on trial, proved unable
to withstand their superior force. From privateers-men,
sailing under the flag of a South American
state, emboldened by success and power, they
became rovers of the wide blue sea, independent of
every flag but their own bright-red banner, and acknowledging
no commission but that written upon
the edge of their gleaming sabres. The flags of
every nation struck to their own, and the broad waters
of the Mexican sea became at the same time
their empire, their battle-field, and their home.

The prizes, their lawless mode of translating
special commissions, and that delusion of the visual
organs which led them to see in every flag, the
gorgeous blazonry of his Majesty of Spain, against
whom they had declared open war, enabled
them to seize, were taken into the secret bayous and
creeks adjacent to the mouth of the Mississippi,
where they were effectually concealed and safe from
capture or pursuit.

The most important passes made use of by these
buccaneers, and with which the scenes of our tale
are more immediately connected, lie about twenty
leagues to the west of the delta of the Mississippi,

[figure description] Page 053.[end figure description]

and about forty miles south-west of the city of
New-Orleans. Here, an arm of the Mexican gulf
extends four or five leagues inland, terminating in
the mouths of several bayous or creeks, which, by
many devious and intricate windings, known only
to the smugglers, reached to within a few miles of
New-Orleans. They were navigable only for
boats, which here were accustomed to discharge
their unlawful freights taken from captured vessels,
from whence, through other and more commercial
hands, it obtained a rapid and secret conveyance to
the city.

This arm of the gulf is termed the bay of Barritaria,
so called, from that system of naval barratry
which characterized the class of men which
usually frequented it. The mouth of this bay, or
lake, as it is more generally denominated, from being
nearly encircled by the land, is defended by a
small island about two leagues in length and three
miles in breadth, which lies in a direction east and
west, and nearly parallel with the line of the coast,
leaving two narrow passes or entrances to the lake
from the gulf.

That, on the east, at the period with which we
are to identify our tale, was exceedingly shallow,
allowing only the passage of boats of light draught;
the western and main pass only admitted vessels
drawing nine and ten feet of water. This
island, which is called indiscriminately, Grande Terre
and Barritaria, is not an unbroken level, like the
surrounding low lands, or prairies, constituting the
southern section of Louisiana, but, with a striking
geological feature in reference to the aspect of this
region, it rises abruptly from the sea, with bold and
precipitous sides, sometimes swelling into slight eminences
several feet in height, covered with dense
forests of trees, among which, superior to all, towers
the live-oak in its iron strength. It also abounds in

[figure description] Page 054.[end figure description]

a great variety of game; and an abundance of excellently-flavoured
fish are taken in its waters. Each
extremity of this island, at the time of which we
speak, was strongly fortified and bristly with cannon,
completely commanding both entrances to the
inner bay or lake.

Close within the western and deeper inlet to the
right, and effectually concealed by the intervening
islands from the open sea, from which it was about
three leagues distant, was a safe and commodious
anchorage; the only secure harbour for many
leagues along that dangerous coast.

This island, with its anchorage, was the principal
resort of the Carthagenian smugglers. From
their little territory, which in the face of the government
of the North United States, they had boldly
usurped, the fame of their extraordiuary deeds
went abroad over sea and land, till the name of
Barrataria was associated in the minds of men,
with crimes and deeds of outlawry, unparalleled in
the history of banned and out-cast men.

For better security, and more efficient operations,
these men, at first sailing singly, each upon his
own desperate enterprise, ultimately associated
themselves into one body, conferring the command
of their squadron on an individual of their number,
whose distinguished qualifications as a commander
over such a fleet, and such men, manifested on
many a bloody deck and many a desperate fight,
marked him singularly as their leader.

Besides this rendevous of the buccaneers of Barritaria,
in Louisiana, there were two others of less
importance; one of which was situated in an uninhabited
part of the coast, in the neighbourhood
of Carthagena, and the other in the West India
seas, on the west coast of the island of St. Domingo.
In these seas, and ultimately in this last-mentioned
spot, are laid the scenes of our second book.

[figure description] Page 055.[end figure description]

In one of the romantic bays, with which the
southern shore of the island of Jamaica is indented,
and on one of the rich autumn evenings peculiar
to the Indian seas, about fifteen years subsequent
to the period embraced by the last book, a long,
low, black schooner, very taunt and sharp in the
bows, with all light sail drawing freely, and a red
and blue signal fluttering aloft, might have been
seen bowling gallantly over the miniature waves
of the bay, which glittered in the sun-light as
though overlaid with golden mail.

On the deck of the little vessel, which was heavily
armed and full of men, stood one of commanding
person, whose features, as he leaned over the quarter-railing,
were partially concealed by the drooping
front of his broad palmetto hat; that portion of his
face, however, which could be discerned, displayed a
black silken mustacho, curving like cupid's bow,
over a fine mouth, whose general expression was resolution.
Now, however, a yellow segar severed his
lips, which languidly embraced it, while an occasional
cloud of blue smoke emitted from beneath
his overshadowing hat, curled above his head, and
floating to leeward, blended with the evening
haze.

Listlessly, like one familiar with the scenery, he
gazed upon the glorious prospect spread out before
and around him, rising from the shores of the bay
and retreating backward and higher, till the distant
clouds bounded the view—a scene of gorgeous
sublimity. Precipice on precipice, avalanche on
avalanche rose, piled one upon the other—a theatre
of magnificent desolation; while the soaring
ridges of the Blue Mountains, half mantled in
clouds, and the lofty peak of St. Catharine, elevating
her summit several thousand feet above the
sea, towered proudly above all.

Immediately on his left, rose, to a lesser height, a

[figure description] Page 056.[end figure description]

chaos of inaccessible cliffs, abrupt rocks, shooting
upward like towers and craggy peaks, exhibiting
the stern aspect of some great convulsion which
had laid nature in ruins. As the schooner shot
farther into the bay, these wild features were concealed
by intervening wooded hills, which, with
round green summits, swelled from the shore; and
as she still lessened her distance from the land, numerous
verdurous spots sprinkled along the precipitous
side of the mountains, or laid, like green carpets,
upon the rocks, and among the trees, softened
and relieved the harsher character of the scenery;
while the traces of human ingenuity, taste and labour,
were discerned on every hand. Majestic forests,
groves of palmetto, and pastures like the softest
lawns, now lining the shore and overhanging the
water, were rapidly passed; and vast savannas, covered
with variegated cane, as far as the eye could
distinguish, displayed, in their changing tints, the
verdure of spring, blended with the exuberance of
autumn.

As the rover sailed farther into the bay, his eye,
as he glanced with momentary animation along the
land, rested upon the cots and hamlets of the negroes,
the walls of a distant military post, and the
white villas of the planters, dispersed picturesquely
on the precipices, and in every green nook along the
sides of the receding hills. The schooner, after
running about a league into the land, suddenly altered
her course, and stood for the entrance of a
little harbour or recess of the bay; and now, under
her mainsail and jib alone, coasted along a bold
shore, dotted here and there with a magnificent
pimento—groves of which clothed the distant eminences.
The summits of the cliffs, beneath which
it sailed, were verdant with trees of thickest foliage,
while, from their over-hanging brows, tiny cataracts,
like slender threads of silver, leaped down into the

[figure description] Page 057.[end figure description]

sea, ringing musically as they fell, or struck upon
the deck of the vessel, sprinkling a cool shower
upon the seamen.

The inlet towards which she was rapidly advancing,
was nearly enclosed by a chain of isolated
rocks, towering like gigantic pinnacles; and a
craggy promontory overhanging the basin, half encircled
it on the west. Between the termination of
this promontory, and the chain of rocks, was visible
a narrow passage, by which craft of small size only
could pass, one at the time, into the dark, circular
pool, sleeping calm and deep within its rocky
sides, which, frowning terrifically over it, cast beneath
a black shadow, even whilst the sun hung high in
the heavens. Now the shadows were deepened in
the approaching twilight, and a mysterious gloom
gathered over the spot as the day receded, presenting
to the imagination dark caverns and horrid ravines
on every side.

Into this secret nook the little vessel rapidly shot,
under the guidance of a skilful hand, and running
into its farthest extremity, towards the main
land, came to anchor under a projecting rock,
which, cleft to its base, admitted a footway from
the water to the highland plantations in the interior.
In a few minutes the white sails disappeared,
and the tall, black masts of the vessel relieved
against the sky, alone betrayed her presence; for
the dark hull itself was invisible in the deep shadow
of the cliff. Not a sound was heard from her
deck after she entered, save an occasional order
given in a suppressed voice, and the rubbing of the
cable as the anchor sunk noiselessly into the water.
The trees were motionless, and not a breath
ruffled the limpid surface of the basin.

“List!” said a low, deep voice, from the stern of
the vessel; and the distant wail of a bugle fell,

[figure description] Page 058.[end figure description]

with a melancholy cadence, upon the ears of the
listening seamen.

Again it rose and fell, low and plaintive; and
hardly had the sound died in the air when three
sharp blasts were blown in rapid succession.

“That's the signal! Valasquez is as true as
steel to his own avarice!” exclaimed the commander
of the schooner, whom we have just introduced
to the reader.

“Be ready all! Ten of you go with me. See
to your pistols, and let every other man take a dark
lantern and a cutlass, and have two oars slung for
a barrow. The rest of you be still as the grave,
and on the alert to obey my signals. Three pistols,
Ricardo,” he continued, addressing one of his
officers, “fired in succession will be our signal for
a reinforcement, should the old Don be too hard
for us. Now ashore, my men, all,” he added with
rapidity and energy.

Accompanied by a handsome youth, and a deformed
slave, and followed by ten of his men, in red
woollen caps and shirts, and without jackets, he
sprung on to a projecting point of rock, heavily
armed, and the next moment stood in the mouth of
the cleft or defile, terminating at the top of the
cliff.

“Madre de Dios!” exclaimed one, in a suppressed
whisper, to his comrade by his side, casting his
eyes up the narrow and precipitous pass, which
they were slowly ascending, “this must be the upstairs
to purgatory.”

“Rather, Mister Spaniard,” drawled his companion—
a tall, light-haired, ungainly seaman—
through his generous nasal organ, “rather, it may
be another guess sort of a road.”

“And what may that be?” inquired a Spanish
sailor, gruffly, who toiled on just before him.

“The road to the good place, I guess, Senyore.”

[figure description] Page 059.[end figure description]

“Gif proof o' dat!” said a lank Frenchman, by
trade a frissieur, but who had now taken to cutting
men's throats instead of their beards. “Gif
proof o' dat, by Gar, Monsieur Yenkee!”

“Why, Mister Parley-voo, you see,” articulated
the other slowly, in reply, “I can prove it to a demonstration
from scriptur, if ye happen to know
what that are is. Don't it say, `strait is the gate
and narrow is the way that goes up to heaven?' ”
and the scriptural quoter cleared his throat emphatically,
and wiped his loose lips upon his red woollen
sleeve, with an air of self-complacency.

“Give preacher Sol a quid o' tobacco for that
sarmont,” said one; “blast my eyes if he haint arnt
it;” and a low suppressed laugh was heard from
two or three of his comrades.

“Silence there,” said their leader, in a low, distinct
voice; and the rest of their way up the defile
was effected, only occasionally interrupted by the
splash of a loose fragment, which, agitated by
their feet, fell into the water, or the whispered execration
of some one, as a false step had nearly sent
him headlong down upon his companions, and into
the dark gulf beneath.

“Now, my brave fellows,” said the leader of this
night-party, as he stood at the head of the defile,
upon the summit of the cliff, whilst his men filed
past him, and gathered in a group, beneath the dark
shadow of a cluster of palm, cocoa-nut and bamboocane
trees, which crowned the heights. “Now, my
good men, we are on an expedition, which, if successful,
and its success depends on your own wills,
and sharp cutlasses, will redeem all our past losses,
which tempted the crew to mutiny. These wars
have made all craft, but those who show their teeth,
full timid enough in venturing on our legitimate
empire; but this henceforward shall be no cause of

[figure description] Page 060.[end figure description]

complaint. I have yielded to your wishes on this
occasion, not, you well know, because I feared to
withstand them, although it is against my own feelings
to rob an old man of his hoarded ingots.
The free flag, a flowing sheet, and open sea
for me. But be ready. I will lead you on this
adventure. Ho, Cudjoe!” he said to his slave,
“give the answering signal to Velasquez—clearly
and well, now, for your boar's head may pay the
forfeiture for bungling;” and the clear, wild and
discordant cry of the galena, when alarmed, suddenly
broke the stillness of the night, now prolonged
and low, now sharp and loud—then suddenly
ceased.

“Well done, my Guinea-bird,” said his master;
“your beldam mother, Cudjoe, must have fed you
on guinea-eggs.”

“Hark! it is answered;” and a similar cry came
from the depths of the wood. In a few moments
afterwards it was repeated nearer, and then ceased.

The silence which succeeded, was interrupted
by a screech and rustling on the left, in the direction
of a patch of coarse grass, terminated by
clumps of aloes, torch-thistle, and palmetto, which
formed the boundary of the cultivated portion
of the estate. Every eye turned instantly
in that direction, and every man's hand was laid
upon the butt of his pistol.

“Ho! Léon, my fine creature, but you are a
welcome pioneer!” exclaimed the chief, as a noble
dog, of majestic size, bounded into their midst, and
sprung fawningly against his master's breast. “But
down, sir, down, you hug like a Greenland bear!
What news bring you from my trusty spy?”

The sagacious animal, as if the careless question
of his master had been intelligible, looked into the
face of the querist, and strove to draw his attention

[figure description] Page 061.[end figure description]

by raising his fore-paw to his neck and striking
once or twice forcibly the broad, studded collar encircling
it.

“Ha! it is so? Théodore, open your lantern,”
said the chief to the youth; “cautiously, though:”
and the pirate bent over the collar and examined
it, while the dog stood wagging his huge tail with
a motion expressive of much satisfaction.

“Nay, Léon, you are a cheat, sir!” said his master,
angrily, after a close examination of the collar,
which on other occasions had served him for the
transmission of billets relating to both love and battle.
“Go, sir!” but the noble animal crouched at
his feet, forced his paw under the collar, and struggled
to break it from his neck.

“The key! the key, Cudjoe!” he cried; and
the slave thrust his huge hand into a kind of Pandora's
box made in his lower garments, from which,
among a heterogeneous display of broken pipes,
chicken breast-bones, beads, ebony hearts, broken
dirk-knobs, charmed relicks, and spells against
obeahs, fetahs, and melay men, he produced the
key to the collar.

His master unlocked it, and stepping aside with
his back to his men, he secretly slid aside the smooth
plate which constituted its inner surface, and displayed
an opening nearly the whole length and
breath of the collar. From this concealed repository,
which he thought known only to himself and
a fair inamorata, then in a distant land, he took a
folded scrap of paper.

“Curse this prying knave Velasquez!” he muttered;
“how in the devil's name could he have
learned this secret? But how or when, he has
made good use of it,” he cast his eyes over the note
upon which the rays of the lamp fell brightly through
a carefully opened crevice in the sides of the lantern.

“Well, men,” he said, turning to his party, “I

[figure description] Page 062.[end figure description]

find Léon has been a trusty messenger; Velasquez
has written upon his collar what chances await
us at the old villa. There are but two old slaves,
the old man and his daughter, besides his trusty
nephew and secretary, Hebérto Velasquez! Onward.
Lead, my trusty Léon!”

“How I do hate such treacherous tools,” he said
mentally, as, preceded by his dog and followed by
his men, he threaded the forest; “open villany
were virtue to such secret machinations. And
against an uncle too! who has been but too indulgent—
that he may a little earlier have his heaps
of gold to squander upon his debaucheries. Holy
father! if I did not fear a general mutiny throughout
my squadron, by reason of our late scanty harvest
on the seas, I would not lift a finger to help this
roué to his wishes. But fate, fate! I am the football
of circumstances! How often have I been led by
my destiny to do deeds at which my soul revolted!
Oh, God! oh, God! that I could be at peace with
my own heart! Peace! there remains no peace for
me! I have bathed my hand in blood, and there is
no retracing my footsteps. My first mad crime has
been the prolific parent of all my subsequent ones.
If my arm had been staid at that fatal period by
some good angel, I should have been an honourable—
perhaps, a good man! That deed ruled my
after destinies. My hand is now red—red! and
nothing but my own blood can ever wash out the
stains which crimson it. And is there a future, too,
where men must give account of their earthly deeds?
Is there a day of retribution for the murderer? Do
the innocent and the guilty go alike to one destiny—
to one reward or punishment? Oh, God! No,
no!—There was one pure spirit released by this same
bloody hand from the snowy bosom which confined
it, panting to be free—and shall our destiny—mine
and hers—be the same in the coming world? Oh,

[figure description] Page 063.[end figure description]

no! Oh, no! she must be glorious and happy there!
and I—there is surely a hell for thee, Lafitte!”
he exclaimed bitterly. The wretched and guilty
man pressed his temples for a moment, and turned
to cheer his followers, striving in the action of the
time to forget his own miserable thoughts.

The party had now issued from the dark recesses
of the wood, the vivid green of whose foliage was
was just tinged with silver from the rising moon,
and after passing with a swift tread around a hedge,
or border of bamboo and orange trees, came at once
in front of a large, old mansion, situated on the side
of a gentle eminence facing the bay.

From the point where they first beheld the house,
several avenues, overgrown with rank and luxuriant
grass, diverged in various directions. One of
these paths immediately in front of them was broader,
and by the light of the newly-risen moon, which
glanced along its whole length, seemed some worn
by recent use. This avenue, which afforded to
the freebooters a glimpse of the house containing
their prey, was bordered by the rich-leaved oleander,
numerous beautiful trees bearing roses of every dye;
with the jessamine, and grenadilla, yielding to the
caprice of nature, entwining its luxuriant vines into
gracefully-formed alcoves. At a gateway, obscured
by the shade of many large trees standing around
it, the party made a halt.

“Now listen to my instructions, each man of you,”
said their leader, as they paused here, awaiting their
guide. “There is to be no violence; the persons
of the old man and his family shall be held sacred.
It is his wealth, not his life you seek. Let no man
pull a trigger, if he love his life, this night. If we
are attacked by the patrol, then, and only in the last
emergency, use your fire-arms; for one report of a
pistol, would bring the neighbouring garrison down
upon us in force; and our little Gertrude, lying so

[figure description] Page 064.[end figure description]

snugly in the Devil's Bowl below, would be intercepted
by a king's cruiser before she could gain the
open sea. Be cool and discreet, and we succeed,”
he added, as the men were about to murmur their
assent; “be imprudent, and it will be a short grace
from the red coats, and a swing from the nearest
tree.”

“Hist! here comes our guide. What, ho, there,
the word!”

Creeping on his hands and knees, as he spoke,
appeared from beneath a clump of bushes growing
by the gate, a low, square figure, naked to the
waist, from which, to his bony knees descended a
garment equally participating in the honours of the
petticoat and small-clothes. As he emerged from
the shadow of the hedge into the moonlight, his
black glossy hide glistened like a polished boot.

Gathering himself up to his full height, which
was perhaps a little exceeding three feet eleven
inches, he replied, with rapid, nervous articulation,
while his teeth, and the white of his eye glittered in
the moonlight,

“De word, mass' buckra? de word, mass' 'berto
tell me say be, `de collar.' ”

“You are my man,” he exclaimed; “lead on to
your young master. Where does he await us?”

“Close by de big tam'rind tree, mass'! 'hind de
soute wing ob de house.”

“On, my beauty!” said he, gaily; the momentary
depression having passed away; “lead on, we follow.”

The guide darted again under the hedge, where
the ground had been burrowed, leaving room for a
full sized man to draw himself under with ease,
by putting aside the lower branches of the armed
hedge, encircling the grounds. Through this opening,
each man, after getting upon his knees, passed
through into the garden, followed by their leader,

[figure description] Page 065.[end figure description]

who hewed with his cutlass a broad passage, through
which to retreat. Here, forming his men into a line,
he placed himself at their head, and with rapid and
noiseless footsteps the whole party followed their
sable guide through many dark and devious labyrinths,
towards the rear of the villa.

CHAPTER II.

[figure description] Page 066.[end figure description]

A RUINED VILLA—A CASTILLIAN MAIDEN—THE VENERABLE
SPANIARD—SCENE IN A SUBTERRANEAN APARTMENT.

While the band of piratical marauders were
winding their way through the intricate paths
which led through the grounds, we will precede
them to the villa.

This was a long, low, steep-roofed edifice, with
a dilapidated and sunken gallery running along its
front, supported by a row of heavy, dark-coloured
columns, some of which leaned inward while one
or two were lying prostrate upon the green sward
before the house. At either end of the gallery, stood a
bronze statue of some classic hero, while in various
points in front of the building and half-concealed by
the wild and neglected shrubbery, were several marble
statues, a few standing, but more broken into
pieces and thrown down, fragments of which were
scattered in every direction over the grounds. A
green terrace, fronting the bay and bound with marble,
up to which a ruined flight of steps ascended

[figure description] Page 067.[end figure description]

from the shore, extended the whole length of the
parterre, or ornamented garden, before the villa.
The chimneys, and in many places the walls of
the house had crumbled and fallen; windows were
without shutters—the ascent to the piazza, the
entrances to the dwelling, and the various walks
diverging from it, were choked up with tall coarse
grass, and fragments of brick, stone and marble.
The whole premises presented a scene of melancholy
desolation—the sad record of past opulence
and grandeur.

The northern wing of the building, alone withstood
the devastations of decay, and at this time,
served as the abode of the family whose reported
wealth, had held forth temptations to a band of
pirates to invade the sanctity of its domestic circle.
The opulent proprietor, an old Castillian soldier,
lived in the enjoyment of vast possessions in Mexico,
when one of the many revolutions in that illfated
land, sent him forth an exile to other shores.
With the value of his estates exchanged for Spanish
coin and vessels of gold and silver, or melted down
into ingots, and accompanied by his only child, a
beautiful dark-eyed Castillian girl—a nephew whom
he had adopted, and one or two faithful servants, he
came to Jamaica, and purchased the estate on which
he now dwelt, from one of those old, ruined planters,
who once lived princes of the island.

The old Spaniard's heart was broken by his
exile. His proud spirit was fallen, and he had
become again a child, and the child of his bosom,
the young Constanza Velasquez, was the only
solace of his age and solitude. But the nephew,
turned upon his benefactor, and like the serpent,
stung the bosom that nourished him.

The hour of vespers had long passed, and Constanza
kneeled by the couch of her father.

Her figure was round, finely developed, and

[figure description] Page 068.[end figure description]

displayed to advantage by a laced jacket, or bodice of
black satin, enriched with a deep lace border closely
fitting her shape. The curve of her shoulders was
faultless, terminating in arms that would have
haunted Canova in his dreams. On either wrist
sparkled a diamond button confining the bodice at
the cuffs. At both shoulders it was also clasped
by a star of emeralds. Her fine raven hair was
drawn back, and arranged in the form of a crest of
tresses falling around her finely-turned head. A
single white flower was secured in a rich curl
above her forehead, by a gold-wrought comb, inlaid
with many coloured stones. Over her head
was thrown a white mantilla or veil, fastened on
the comb by a pearl pin, so disposed as to fall down
the back, to the feet of the wearer; yet it could
be readily brought forward and dropped over the
whole person. At this time, it was gathered in
folds, and hung gracefully on her left arm.

Beneath her robe of white satin, worn under
the bodice, and richly flowered with net work
of silver, appeared, fitted in a neat Spanish slipper,
a foot—such as poets of the northern clime
see in dreams—of the most perfect and fascinating
symmetry. The complexion of the maiden
was a rich olive tinge, mellowed by the suns of sixteen
Indian summers. Her eyes were large, dark,
and expressive, shaded by long silken lashes, even
darker than her dark shining hair, giving them,
when in repose, that dreamy look, which the pencils
of the old Italian masters loved to dwell upon with
lingering touches. They spoke of deep passion and
gentleness, while a smile of light danced perpetually
in their radiant beams. The general character of
her extremely lovely features indicated great sweetness
of disposition and ingenuousness. The timid
expression of her eye, evincing indecision, was relieved
by a firmness about the mouth and the

[figure description] Page 069.[end figure description]

maidenly dignity which sat upon her beautiful forehead.
In her left hand, she held a diamond crucifix suspended
from her neck by a massive gold chain, each
link in the shape of a cross. Upon her right arm,
reposed the majestic head of her venerable parent,
her delicate fingers playing with the silvery, shining
ringlets that flowed about his neck, and curled upon
his massive forehead. His features were sharp and
rigid with illness and settled grief; and his dark
eye was lustreless as he gazed up into the face of
his child.

“Have you said your prayers to night, my child?”

“I have, dear father; and they ascended for your
recovery. Oh, that the sweet mother of our Saviour
would grant answers to my prayers!” she said looking
upward devotionally.

“She will, she will, Constanza,” replied the
aged man, “for yourself, but not for me! I have
lived my allotted space. I must soon leave you,
child. Be prepared for it, my daughter! Listen!
I dreamed this afternoon that I saw the blessed Virgin,
and she was the image of yourself.”

“Nay, father, let not your love for poor sinful
Constanza lead you to sin in your language,” interrupted
his daughter, blushing at the unintentional
flattery, while she trembled at its seeming impiety.

“So, so, but yet hear me, child,” he interrupted
impatiently; “when I gazed upon her, wondering
she was so like you, she changed, and instead of you,
I saw your mother! How much like her you look
just now my child! Bend down and let me kiss
your brow.” The fair girl bent her brow to her
father's cheek, her dark locks mingling with his
white hair.

“You do not remember your mother,” uttered he,
after a moment's affectionate embrace; “poor child!
she was very beautiful. Your lofty brow is hers,
the same pencilled arch—the same drooping lid—

[figure description] Page 070.[end figure description]

and when you smile, I almost call you, `my Isabel!”
'

“Am I so like my sainted mother, father? I
wish I could recollect her or recall a feature,” she
said, placing her finger on her lips in the attitude of
thought—“but no, no, it is vain!” she added,
shaking her head mournfully, “her image is gone
forever.”

“Oh no, not forever, my child, you shall meet her
again in heaven.”

All at once a cloud of sorrow passed across his
troubled features, and grasping in his trembling and
withered fingers, the soft, round hand of his daughter,
he said in an earnest manner,

“Constanza, I feel that I cannot leave you, my
unprotected dove! in this sinful world alone. What
will become of you, my child, when I am gone?
Hebérto!” and the old man's eye flashed with anger
as he repeated the name, “Beware of Hebérto!
Oh, that the proud name of Velasquez should be dishonoured
by such a branch! Fear him, my child, fear
him as you would the adder that winds his glistening
folds along your path;” and the old man clasped
his skeleton fingers upon the sparkling crucifix
which lay upon his breast and after remaining
silent for a few moments, he lifted his aged eyes to
heaven and said, “Holy Mary! take her! she is
thy child, thy sister! Be a mother to my child, dear
Mary, Mother of Jesus! and as thy beloved son surrendered
thee to the care of his beloved disciple
while he hung expiring on the cross,” and he pressed
fervently and devotionally the jewelled representative
to his lips, “so do I, a poor penitent worm of
the dust, here and on my dying bed, give up to thee,
my child—my only beloved child! Thou hast her
mother in heaven. Oh keep her daughter while
on earth! Mary, Mother! in the language of thy
dying son, I say, `Mother, behold thy daughter!”'

[figure description] Page 071.[end figure description]

The venerable man, who in his momentary devotion
had raised himself from the sustaining arm of
his daughter, as he uttered the last words, fell back
upon the pillow exhausted.

“Oh, Agata! Agata!” shrieked the deeply-affected
and terrified girl, “Come! hasten! my father is
dying.”

The door of the anti-chamber burst open, and the
tall figure of young Hebérto Velasquez stood before
her as she turned to look for her aged attendant,
wrapped in a dark blue cloak, and his features
shaded by a drooping sombrero.

“Ha, my charming cousin! what has tuned that
pretty voice so high,” he said in a gay, yet unpleasant
tone; at the same time coming forward and
bending gracefully down, he passed his arm around
the waist of the lovely girl.

The maiden sprung as if a demon had laid
his polluted hand upon her person. “Heberto!
Señor Velasquez!” and she stood before him as she
spoke—her eye flashing with maidenly indignation—
her cheek glowing with insulted modesty, and her
majestic figure and attitude like that of a seraph
whom Satan had dared to tempt. “What mean
you, sir? begone! Would you press your hateful
suit to the daughter, over the corpse of her father?
Begone, I hate you!—more than I have ever loved —
I now hate you! Oh shame, shame! that I
should ever have loved THEE!” and her lip, eye
and brow, expressed withering scorn.

“Leave me, sir!” she added, as she saw that he
moved not. But the bold and unblushing intruder,
although his eye quailed before the proud look of
the maiden, stood with folded arms, a fierce brow,
and malicious lip, gazing upon her, as she turned to
bathe the aged temples of the unconscious invalid
and restore him to animation. “Leave me, sir;
Oh, let not my father revive and find you here. It

[figure description] Page 072.[end figure description]

will kill him. You know he cannot endure you,
soulless man, since you brought that fatal will for
him to sign.”

“Ha, do you throw it in my teeth, pretty one!
But prithee tell me, when first learned you the part
of tragedy queen? Nombre de Dios, my pretty
cousin! but you play your part excellently well.”

“Scorner! Insulter! away—Oh that the count
were here to chastise insolence!”

“The count,” slowly repeated Velasquez, grinding
the hated appellation between his glittering
teeth, as he slowly articulated it.

At this moment the old man unclosed his eyes.
“Go, sir, go—would you murder him?” she exclaimed,
while her dark eye flashed with anger.

“He will die full soon enough when his ingots
are gone,” repeated Velasquez, scornfully. “I will
go, my queenly cousin; but the time perhaps may
not be far off, when you will sue for this same Velasquez
to stay, and with clasped hands and tearful
eyes pray him to speak you kindly; then will he
remember this evening. Adios, estrella mia!” he
added with a mock, sentimental air, and kissing his
hand, while he cast over the voluptuous outline of
her shoulders, as, in her sacred duty she bent
affectionately over her father's form, a glance of
mingled desire and hatred, he pressed his hat over
his eyes, folded his cloak closelier about his form, and
left the apartment.

With a firm and rapid pace he passed through
the hall, and traversed the deserted apartments of
the large mansion, his way lighted by the moon,
which poured in floods of radiance at the open and
shutterless windows. Opening, and closing carefully
after him, a door which communicated with
the opposite wing, he descended a broken staircase,
into a dark vault beneath, and unlocking a small door

[figure description] Page 073.[end figure description]

concealed on the outside by thick shrubbery, he
pushed aside the bushes, and stood in the moonlight.

“By the blessed Baptista!” he exclaimed, as he
emerged from the secret portal, “if these men betray
me! Yet, without me they cannot hunt out
the old dotard's hoard. But if I am the buccaneer's
tool, you have lost your wits, Velasquez, if he shall
not be yours.” And the dark plotter against a
helpless old man, and his lovely and unprotected
child, smiled inwardly at the pleasant thought his
fertile brain conjured up, as he paced to and fro,
beneath the shade of a large tamarind tree, which
grew near that wing of the mansion.

“What can keep them?” he muttered, as a
fancied sound in a clump of bushes, upon which his
eye was often turned, stayed for a moment his
footsteps.

“It is a full half hour since they answered my
signal. Cesar has been long absent! The black
loiterer should have had them here, ere now.”

“A shrine to thee, patron saint!” he suddenly exclaimed,
devoutly kissing a medal, suspended to his
collar, “there is the square figure of my naked
Adonis; and that tall figure! I know it well;
once seen it is not soon forgotten; and there follow
his sturdy villains. Now, Herbérto Velasquez, thou
art a made man!”

“Señores, buenos tardes,” he said, gaily advancing
a few steps to meet the approaching party, as it
emerged from the avenue, and traversed the terrace
to the place of appointment. “My good sir
captain, you are right gladly welcome to my poor
domicil. If it please you, draw up your men in
this shade, while we walk aside,” he added, proffering
his hand to the leader of the party.

“Sir Spaniard, pardon me that I grasp not the
hand of a villain,” replied the chief, without removing
his hand from the cutlass hilt, upon which it

[figure description] Page 074.[end figure description]

mechanically rested. “Nay, start not! and leave
that rapier in peace. I know you, though we have
met but seldom. Thanks, or courtesy, I owe you
not. This adventure is not of my seeking; it is
the ill-begotten offspring of mutiny on the part of
my men, who will be in no other way appeased,
and of treachery, ingratitude, and base villany on
your own. Now, Señor, to business; but let there
be no friendship, and but few words between us.”

Velasquez bit his lip in silence, and his inferior
spirit shrunk within him, as these biting words
rung upon his ear; and the penetrating, self-powered
gaze of the pirate rested, while he spoke, full
upon his features. But his love of wealth overcame
any momentary struggles of wounded pride, and he
replied in a less assured tone than he had used,
when first addressing his companion.

“It is well, Señor,” he said, carelessly, “if you
choose to be captious on so slight a matter. But
'tis a blessed chance my pretty cousin heard not
your romancing. I would wager my gold-headed
rapier against the iron one you wear, that she
would have loved you outright.”

“Your sword is more likely to be lost in such a
wager, than in one of battle,” was the contemptuous
reply; “but I came not here to lay wagers with
you, Don Velasquez, either of coin or battle. To
the matter in hand. We have no time for idle
dallying, and I am not given to bandying words.
For the privilege of taking possession of the large
sum of money in the possession of your uncle, you
are to be allowed one-half for your own personal
use, on condition, that without turmoil or blood-shed,
injury to persons or property, you conduct
my men to your uncle's strong-hold. These,” he
added, after a moment's silence, “are the terms we
made in Kingston. Say I not well, Señor?”

“There remains one other condition,” replied

[figure description] Page 075.[end figure description]

Velasquez, with the caution of practised villany;
“that mutual secrecy be sacredly observed between
us, in relation to the removal of the treasures.”

“Even so, wary Señor Velasquez; that the robbed
old man may lay all censure upon the pirates,
whom you would make the scape-goat of your
treachery to your uncle, and curse them when he
talks of his loss to his sympathizing nephew, if,
haply, he lives to relate the sad story. Well, lead
on, Señor, we follow,” he added, sternly.

“Call two of your strongest men,” said Velasquez,
“let them accompany us, and command the
rest to stand as close as possible with their weapons
ready for use, in case of alarm; and enjoin upon
them to observe the strictest silence. Now, sir! shall
we move?”

“Théodore, be alert, our lives depend upon
it,” said the chief to his young attendant; and,
followed by two of his men, he approached the secret
opening, guided by Velasquez, who had constructed
it for his own private admission into the
vault, when his lavish purse required replenishing;
although, a certain indefinable respect for his name
and respectability among men, prevented him from
openly robbing his benefactor, or removing sufficiently
large sums to excite suspicion.

Accident, in some of his visits to Jamaica, had
thrown him into the company of the commander of
the schooner, with whom, from a supposed congeniality
of character, he sought to cultivate an
intimacy. Ignorant of human nature, whose outward
seeming is often the most false, and anxious
to be regarded by the outlaw as a caballero of
mettle; without knowing his exact character,
and thinking he must assimilate himself to the
false standard of an outlaw set up in his own
mind, he threw into his manner a recklessness,
lawlessness, and ferocity, which was, however,

[figure description] Page 076.[end figure description]

natural to him, disgusting to the chief, who took no
pains to conceal his contempt for him. Subsequently,
a knowledge of a threatened mutiny
among his men, suggested to the dark-minded
man a scheme, not only to gain wealth himself,
without suspicion, or rather, proof of illegal acquisition,
but to do the pirate, whose fellowship, like the
cur who is beaten, he coveted the more he was
spurned, a favour that should purchase his good
will.

Putting aside the thick clumps of the oleander,
concealing the secret opening into the vault of the
building, Velasquez and his companions entered the
low-arched room communicating with the apartment
above, by the shattered stair-case he had
descended on quitting his cousin.

“It is too dark to place a foot! Are you provided
with a lantern?” he inquired, in a whisper, carefully
and without noise, closing the door, as the
last man entered.

“Here is one,” said the seaman nearest him,
opening, at the same time, one side of the night
lantern, with which nearly every man was provided.

The guide took it from him, and passing round
the stairs, opened a door he had purposely left
unlocked, and entered a long damp passage,
the extremity of which lay in total darkness. The
outlaw placed his hand upon his stiletto, and glanced,
with habitual watchfulness, around him, as he
approached its obscure and suspicious termination.
At the end of the passage, which they crossed with
light footsteps, they passed through another door,
the key of which was in the lock, and entered a
low-vaulted room, directly under the inhabited
wing of the mansion.

The floor was paved with large flat stones, and

[figure description] Page 077.[end figure description]

besides the door, through which they entered, there
was no perceptible outlet.

“Here is the room adjoining the money,” said
Velasquez, in a low, husky voice, with his face
averted from the gaze of him whom he addressed.
“Be silent; the least noise will betray us:—
Hark! did you not hear the report of a gun? No,
it was a movement overhead.” The momentary
suspicion and apprehension of detection, which
are the attendants of guilt, passed off, and he
continued,—

“Look at this wall, sir! you see it is perfectly
smooth; yet through it we pass to my uncle's
gold bags,” said he, with a forced smile, as he shook
off his fears, and those qualms of conscience which
tortured even his hardened spirit. Then, pressing
against one of the sides of a large square stone, it
turned half way round, on a concealed pivot, and
displayed a narrow opening on either side.

“This is too small; we cannot pass through it,”
said the pirate, now speaking for the first time since
entering the vault.

Without replying, Velasquez pressed the sides of
the two lower stones in the same manner, and two
dark, narrow passages, nearly the height of a man,
and so wide, that one could pass sideways, were
opened in the wall.

Holding the lamp, so that it would illuminate
the interior, a narrow, spiral stair-case was discovered,
leading both into the upper room, where the
outlet was concealed by a private door, and from
the spot where they stood, into a subterranean vault
beneath—constituting a medium of communication
between the upper room and the vault, and from
the stair-case, by revolving the stones, to the exterior
of the building, by the way the party had entered.

“You see, my uncle is a true Spaniard, señor
captain, in his taste for subterranean and secret

[figure description] Page 078.[end figure description]

passages!” said Velasquez. “Pity 'tis, his ingenuity
should not have had eyes to admire it before.
He should thank me, by our Lady's benison,
for making known to a man of judgment, like
yourself, his passing skill. See! how secretly he
can descend from his chamber to count his ingots!
though to do the old dotard justice, he possesses not
a miserly soul. This passage in the wall must,
however, be set down to his nephew's ingenuity.
It would astonish the old man, as much as if a
new Roman miracle were hatched, (the saints pardon
my impiety!) if he should press too heavily
against the sides of his stair-way, and pitch, at
once, into this room. I would give half I expect
to possess this night, to see his aghast features,
when he made the discovery. But I see you are
impatient, señor captain,—let us proceed,” he added
hastily, as his companion sprung into the
opening on the staircase; and following him, they
descended into the vault, over which the lamp cast
a dim and uncertain light.

The little room, or cell, in which they now were,
was arched over-head—the walls were constructed
of solid masonry, and there was visible neither outlet
nor inlet, save, at the foot of the stairs, that
which admitted them.

Around the room, which was about eight feet
square, stood several antique marble urns, blackened
by age and dampness, which had once constituted
a part of the ornaments of the villa grounds
in the days of its pride. These urns were covered
with slabs, once capitals and pedestals.

A heavy cedar box, with a cover loosely thrown
over it, stood on one side, while, on a raised floor,
were candlesticks, urns, a tall crucifix, and many
vessels for the altar and festal board, all of massive
silver.

“Mines of Peru! but here is a goodly display of

[figure description] Page 079.[end figure description]

wealth!” said the pirate, glancing his eye over the
glittering array before him. “Let us see what
these urns contain. Coin of silver! coin of silver!
chains of gold! bracelets! glittering stones, and
gems of price!” said he, as he removed one after
another of the slabs which covered them. “And
here, in this strong box,” he continued, removing
the lid, “what have we here? Holy Saint Peter!
but here is a prince's ransom indeed;” and the
rough corners of a heap of ingots sparkled with a
thousand points in the rays of the lamp.

“Here, Señor Captain, is the prize you seek,”
said Velasquez, exultingly, after waiting until he
had surveyed the costly heaps. “Let your men
take the box of ingots, the vessels of silver, and the
urn of golden chains, gems, and bracelets; for
my portion, leave me the remaining urns of dollars—
though something less than what you share—I
am content with them. But remember your oath
of secrecy.”

“That will I, Señor Velasquez,” said the outlaw,
in a lively tone; “and I consent to this division.”

The sight of so much wealth, which he had to
lay his hands upon only to possess, and the prospect
of restoring discipline in his fleet, overcame for the
moment his contempt for the tool that served him,
and his regret at taking possession of the wealth of
a defenceless old man. “But,” he argued, as he
and others, under similar circumstances, had argued
before, “if I do not take it, Velasquez will; but I
have sworn on bended knee that a sacred portion
should be reserved for the daughter! Innocence has
been too long the victim of guilt! The last shall
now be subservient to the first. Come, Señor
Velasquez,” he said abruptly, aloud, “let us to
work. Here, Gaspár, you and Nicolás raise this
box; it is weighty, but you were not blessed with
the neck and shoulders of bulls for nothing. No!

[figure description] Page 080.[end figure description]

not move it? Then lighten it—there—thats' well.
Now bear it to the outside, and bid Théodore send
Mateo and Carlos back with you—be silent and
speedy.”

The men, placing an open lantern upon the cover
of the box to light them through the dark passage
of the building, disappeared slowly up the stairs
with their heavy burden, while the two principals
who remained, the one—with folded arms leaning
against the side of the vault, and the other, with
his right hand thrust into his bosom, the left resting
upon a slab—stood silently and in darkness
awaiting their return.

CHAPTER III.

[figure description] Page 081.[end figure description]

“A strong proof of Divine oversight in relation to human affairs, is
the entrapping of the guilty in the gins they have set for others. This
retributive system is daily presented to our knowledge. The most
perfect consummation of Divine justice on earth, is, no doubt, when the
criminal receives his just punishment, accidentally, by the hand of his
intended victim.”

A SURPRISE—VELASQUEZ AND HIS UNCLE—A BATTLE WITH DRAGOONS—
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT—RETREAT—DEPARTURE OF THE
BUCCANEERS.

After Velasquez left the apartment of the insulted
and distressed maiden, her firmness and
womanly indignation forsook her with the object
that called it into existence, and burying her face
in the pillow of her father's couch, she wept bitterly.

“Daughter! Constanza! why do you not speak
to me?” called the old man in a tremulous voice,
his consciousness gradually returning. “My child
weeping! do not weep for me, my dear Constanza.
I—am—better—better—much—quite—quite well,”
he feebly articulated in a broken voice, which contradicted
his words. “It grieves me to see your

[figure description] Page 082.[end figure description]

eyes in tears; let me take your hand in mine, mí
álma! Tell me why those tears?” he inquired,
with parental kindness.

“Nay, I weep not, father,” replied the lovely girl,
brushing the fast falling tears from her eye-lashes;
“now that you are well, I am happy, very happy,”
and she laid affectionately her dimpled hand upon
her parent's fevered brow. “Oh, I have dreamed
a fearful dream, mí álma,” suddenly spoke her
father, starting with the recollection. “I dreamed
that Velasquez, with a guilty lip, sought to desecrate
your virgin cheek—”

“Nay, nay, my dear father, it was but a dream,”
interrupted the blushing girl, with a nervous rapidity
in the tones of her voice. “Will you not sleep?
the hour wears late, and I would see you sleep. Oh,
my father, try and sleep for your Constanza's sake—
live for your child,” she said, as a sense of her
loneliness, if he should be taken from her, coming
vividly to her mind, alarmed her.

“I will, I will, daughter. Do you not recollect,
sweet wife, when first I called you mine; you were
young, then, and beautiful; 'tis a great while ago,
and yet you are still as lovely as when crowned a
virgin bride. But methinks time has changed me
strangely! Why do you weep, Isabel? We are not
all alone. Our little daughter is with us. Shall
Constanza not be our earthly blessing? When I
am old and feeble will she not bless our pillow?”

“Father! father! oh, my dear, dear father! do
you not know your daughter? your own beloved
Constanza, who speaks to you?” cried the distressed
girl, as from his wandering language, the conviction
of her father's danger pressed upon her mind.

“Yes, my child,” said the aged parent, recovering
from his temporary alienation of mind, “you are
indeed Constanza!” and she kneeled by his pillow,
and was pressed affectionately to his bosom.

[figure description] Page 083.[end figure description]

Whilst father and daughter, locked in each other's
arms, presented this lovely and touching picture of
filial and parental love, a low murmuring, apparently
from the vault beneath, aroused them from
their endearing interchange of affection.

“Hist, child! what sounds are those?” She
raised her head and listened; and the ringing of
metal, and whispered words came up from below.

“Blessed Virgin! there is mischief near,” she
cried, in alarm.

“Jesu, Jesu Maria! my ingots! my gold!” exclaimed
the old man, clinging with the penurious
characteristic of opulent old age, to that wealth he
could no longer use. “There are robbers below!
my child, oh, my child, you are a beggar!”

With suddenly bestowed strength he sprang from
his couch, and seizing a pistol hanging near him,
he pressed with his thumb the knob from which he
took it, and a narrow door, hitherto concealed by
the peculiar architecture of the room, flew open, displaying
the winding stairway leading to the vault,
and at the same instant a light flashed full in his
haggard face from the aperture.

“We are discovered!” shouted a voice from below.

“It is the old man!” exclaimed Velasquez;
“finish him—dead men tell no tales;” and a click
of a pistol followed the words of the speaker.

“What mean you, sir Spaniard,” interposed the
deep, manly voice of the pirate; “would you do
murder? What fear you from a childish old man?
For shame! put up your pistol. Be lively, men,”
he added, with a quicker tone, “and convey this
last load to the men without.—Stand back, Señor
Velasquez,” he cried in a loud voice; “attempt to
pass this stair, and, by St. Barabbas! little service shall
this night's treachery do you. Cielos! what is this!
he exclaimed, as the blood spouted from the temples

[figure description] Page 084.[end figure description]

of the Spaniard, whilst the report of a pistol, levelled
by the old man at the scarcely seen marauders,
thundered in the close vault like the explosion of a
mine. The Spaniard sprung backward, and fell
dead upon the urns of silver, for which he had sold
both honour and life, with a fearful execration upon
his livid lip.

“Thus perish treachery by the hand of its victim,”
exclaimed the pirate. “This is likely to be
no small night's work; stand where you are Senor,”
he added, addressing Don Velasquez, who was
descending the stair-case, “there shall no harm
come nigh you; the man you had most to fear has
received the reward of his deeds. Stay your hand,
old man! do you dare me with steel?” he demanded,
as he struck up from his hands a glittering rapier,
he had seized to defend the stairway after
discharging the pistol.

“Mother of God! what noise is that without?
one—two—three, pistols! my signal! Ho, Carlos,
Matéo, what?” he emphatically demanded, as his
two assistants rushed past the old man and leaped
into the vault. “What, villains, what?” and his
voice rung through the passages.

“We are surprised, sir! The report of the pistol,
and the shrieks of some old slaves, were answered
by a shout from a distance. Immediately a blue
light illuminated the barracks, and a musket was
discharged to give the alarm. Just as I came in,
I could already hear the tramp of horses, and the
clanging of armour along the highway. There must
have been mounted troops abroad to be on horse so
soon.” This information was given with rapidity
and energy by the seaman.

“It is as I feared,” said the chief, calmly, “the dragoons
are upon us!” and drawing his cutlass, “follow!”
he cried to his men. And as the speediest
way of gaining the outside of the building, he sprang

[figure description] Page 085.[end figure description]

up the stairs into the room above, gently putting
the old man aside, as he emerged into the chamber.

“Save, oh save my father!” shrieked his daughter,
who had clung to his neck during the scene we
have described, striving to prevent him from rushing
below, and, who now threw herself upon his
breast, intervening her person as a shield between
the pirate's cutlass and her parent's bosom. “Save,
oh spare his life!” and she extended her arms
imploringly. “Take, take all, but let my father
live.”

“Fear not, fair maiden,” replied the chief in a
tone of deep respect, that fell like the voice of hope
upon her heart, struck with her extraordinary loveliness;
“do not be alarmed, your lives and honour
are sacred in the hands of Lafitte!”

“Lafitte! oh God!” shrieked the maiden;
and raised her eyes to heaven, clasped her snowy
fingers and would have fallen, had not the outlaw
caught her in his arms.

“Oh my daughter, my daughter!” cried the
helpless old man, weakened and nervous from excitement,
“what will become of you?” and falling
upon his knees before the pirate, he supplicated
his mercy.

“Oh, take all, take all—gold, jewels, all, but
leave me my Constanza—my only child! the blest
image of her mother!” and the furrowed cheeks
of the old father, as he pleaded for his child, were
running with tears. “For the sake of thy mother,”
he continued, with energy, “for the sake of
the blessed Virgin, take not away my only child!”
and the old man clasped the knees of the buccaneer,
and fell upon his face and wept.

“Venerable Señor, rise up, your daughter shall
not be taken from you,” replied Lafitte, raising
tenderly the prostrate old man from the ground.

[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]

Constanza, when she felt that the pirate supported
her form, at once, by a strong mental effort, rose
superior to her weakness, and was preparing to
bound from him; but when she saw that he did
not detain her, and that he spoke kindly and soothingly
to her father, she thought a voice of so much
tenderness, could not belong to so bad a man as the
pirate had been represented to her. And when he
placed her father's form in her arms, she looked up
into the outlaw's face with greater confidence.

“Señor, I will believe you, we will trust in you,
for, oh! what else can we do? but go, do go from
us! take the gold you came for, and depart! Leave
me and my father; we can be happy without
wealth; he is too old to use it, and, I—I care not
for it—take it; it is yours, freely bestowed.”

“Maiden,” he replied, with an embarrassed air,
and a flush like shame suffusing his brow, whilst
the shouts of the dragoons approaching the villa,
rung unheeded in his ears. “Maiden, I thank
you, and feel grateful for your confidence; it is not
ill placed. The treasure it is out of my power to
command, or I would return it; it is in the hands
of my men, and at their disposal, not mine. But
here,” he added, after an instant's hesitation, kneeling,
and taking her hand, which she instantly withdrew,
“here is a treasure dearer to me than all else
beside!” and he gazed with impassioned, yet respectful
tenderness, upon the pale features of the
surprised girl.

“Pardon me,” he added with earnestness, as he
observed the maidenly embarrassment, his abrupt
address produced, “pardon me, that I make use of
such untimely language, at this moment, but there
is a tumult abroad—I hear the ringing of steel, the
shouts of fighting men, and the firing of musketry.
I must speak to you now! Listen to me, lady, I
beseech! See, I am a suppliant at your feet!”

[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]

“Oh Señor, I implore you, think not of me! go!
your men call their chief! Go, you will be taken,
and your life will be sacrificed.”

As she spoke, a rich colour played over her cheek,
and mantled her brow, and her dark, up-raised
eye, betrayed deep and strange interest, in the
safety of the pirate—the fruit of a struggle between
resentment, and kindness, in her bosom; and her
dishevelled hair, fell, a dark cloud of ringlets, over
her neck and bosom, which heaved like a gently
agitated billow.

“Maiden, unless your lips pronounce forgiveness,—
without one ray of hope I cannot go. Speak,
Señora, but one word!”

“I do forgive you, señor, but leave me. Hark,
that shout! delay another moment, and you are
lost.”

“I will obey you, lady, and leave my cause to
you and heaven!” he said, seizing, and pressing
her hand to his lips; then, as the noise without
increased, he drew a pistol from his belt, and casting
back a lingering look, expressive of mingled
hope and fear, while a smile mantled his handsome
features, he rushed from the apartment on to the
terrace. The next moment, she heard his footsteps
dying away, in the direction of the sounds of
contest, which from the firing and cries of the combatants,
seemed to be already fierce and bloody.

Constanza, as the pirate disappeared, laid her father's
head upon a pillow, and leaving him to the
troubled sleep, into which he had sunk from exhaustion,
leaned from the window, and looked
forth upon the lovely moon, which, in its nightly
watch, never shone upon a sweeter face.

The sounds of conflict had receded till they
were lost in the distance; and all was still and
motionless, save a few white clouds sailing along
the blue heavens, a slight waving of the foliage

[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]

about the window; and the irregular heaving of
her bosom.

She stood, and communed with her own
thoughts. “Strange! stange,” said she, mentally,
“but that voice, so rich, and full of tenderness!
how my heart bounded, when I heard him address
my poor father! where can I have heard it? How
singularly it affected me! and can he be Lafitte?
that dreadful man! proscribed among men—a
price set upon his head! hated, shunned, and
feared by all! Yet, how very noble looking he is,
and so humane! And his eyes, how dark and
piercing. He is certainly, very handsome! But,”
and her cheek paled, as she gave utterance to her
thoughts, “oh, holy Virgin, I fear him, the language
he used! oh, lost, lost Constanza! If beloved
by this outlaw, better have been the bride of
Velasquez, than the—the—oh, dear Madonna,
help now, for I know not what to do!” and she
covered her face with her hands, and the tears
forced their way through her taper fingers.

“Oh that Alphonse were here,” she at length
continued; “my own Alphonse! Dreary weeks
he has been absent, and yet he comes not. How
have I watched day after day, for the glimmer of
his white sails, upon the horizon. Oh, that he
were here to-night! when, when, will he come?”
and she rung her hands, and leaned despondingly
upon the window.

Suddenly, the report of a pistol, followed by the
sound of running feet, and now and then, a cry,
as of men pursuing and pursued, startled her from
her reverie; and instantly, the scenes she had gone
through, passed vividly before her mind, and she
awoke, at once, to a full consciousness of the loneliness,
and utter helplessness of her situation.

Hastening, instantly, as the noise increased, to
the side of her father, as though protection could

[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]

be found in his feeble arm, she awaited, like the
panting fawn, with throbbing heart, and alarmed
eye, the coming danger. The sounds came nearer
and nearer, and the hasty tread of armed men
was heard upon the terrace, followed by a heavy
sound, as if one had leaped, at a bound, from
the ground on to the piazza. Hardly had Constanza
time to move from the surprised attitude
in which those appalling sounds arrested her, or
conjecture their nature, when, springing in through
the window, which she had just left to cling to
her father, Lafitte once more stood before her.

His eye was illuminative with a fierce light, his
lip was compressed, and blood was upon his brow
and hand, which grasped a dripping cutlass.

“Oh God! oh God!” shrieked the terrified girl,
as this sudden apparition appeared before her, and
fell senseless upon the floor. The outlaw though
closely pursued, paused for an instant, with indecision,
and then, hastily raised her with the air
of one, who had, at the moment, decided upon a
certain mode of conduct. Scarcely had he lifted
her drooping form upon his muscular arm, when
the window was filled with soldiers, thirsty for the
blood of the daring outlaw.

“Back, sirs; or, by the holy God, I will bury
this weapon in this maiden's bosom!” he cried in a
resolute tone; and he grasped his cutlass near the
point, shortening it, like a stiletto, and elevated
his arm.

The soldiers hesitated to enter.

“What, cowards! do you value a girl's life, when
Lafitte is the prize?” said the fierce voice of their
leader; “follow me!” and he sprung in at the
window—to fall back upon his men, a stiffened
corpse; while the report of a pistol, discharged behind
Lafitte, rung through the room.

“Ha Carlos! is that you?” said Lafitte, as he

[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]

looked round to see from whence the shot was
fired.

“Yes, Señor,” he hastily replied, “escape through
the old man's door—down the stairs—and out
through the passage. I have just passed through,
and the coast is clear. I will keep the red devils at
bay,” said he quickly.

“Good, my Carlos—but the old man! we cannot
leave him,” and he pointed to the couch.

“Little will he know whether he be taken or left.
The old man's commission has run out,” said he,
laying his rough hand upon the cold temples of
the old Spaniard—“Dead, dead enough, señor!”

“Poor, poor child, how will she bear it!” said
Lafitte with interest—“How now,” he added quickly,
“here they come like so many blood-hounds.”

The soldiers without, who were engaged in loud
and noisy altercation among themselves, as to who
should first enter and seize the outlaw, now
hailed with a shout the sound of hoofs, and the
ringing of sabres and spurs, announcing a reinforcement.

“This fair girl must be my breast-plate—dash
out that light, and follow me!” cried the pirate;
and springing through the secret door, he disappeared
with his lovely burden. Carlos darted after
him and hastily closed the door, which received a
shower of bullets from half a dozen horse pistols,
levelled at his retreating form.

“Well done, Carlos,” said Lafitte, approvingly;
“now open your lantern and lead the way.”

Rapidly traversing the dark passages, they soon
left behind them the sounds of rage and disappointment,
vented by their pursuers on entering the
room, and finding their victims had escaped in
some mysterious manner.

“That torch here, William!” said the dragoon
officer,” how in the devil could he have escaped!

[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]

There is no sign of an outlet here—he must be in
league with Beelzebub to have slipped away thus.
Ha! who is this?—old Don Velasquez!—and dead
too!—Poor old soldier—money, daughter, life,—
all in one hour! But mount men, mount! to
horse!—this outlaw has escaped by some subterranean
passage in this old Spanish house—and will
double upon us like an old hare—Ho! surround the
house—to horse!” Leaping from the window
he bounded across the gallery, and mounted, followed
by half a score of his followers; and putting
spurs to his horse, he made a rapid sweep around
the dwelling.

But before his pursuers had taken horse, Lafitte
threaded the subterranean passages of the building,
and emerged from the secret door into the
bright moonlight, and with the speed of the hunted
stag, crossed the open lawn and entered the
avenue which led towards the sea-shore. This path
was exposed for some distance, to the eye of an
observer, from the piazza of the villa, and as the
dragoons completed their survey of the grounds
immediately surrounding the house, and met at the
end of the wing, near the tamarind tree,—the white
robes of the maiden glared upon the eyes of the
leader.

“As I thought—on! there is our game,” he cried,
burying his spurs deep into the horses flanks, and
dashing down the avenue, like the wind, followed
at speed by his troop.

“Carlos,” cried Lafitte, as he heard the shout,
announcing to him that they were on his track.
“Now we must put forth all our energies, my brave
man. You know the path—go before and we
will yet distance them—fly!”—and on they went
with the rapidity of deer, with the hounds but a
bound behind them,—passing under trees—crossing
from avenue to avenue, and endeavouring, by a

[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]

straight line, to gain the cliff instead of following
the windings of the paths which were open to the
cavalry. Breathless they flew, and at every turn,
and opening in the shrubbery, the feet and voices of
their pursuers were heard nearer and nearer.

“Now, captain, we are at the end of the grounds,
and here is the gate—stoop, sir,” said Carlos, darting
under the hedge, from which their ebony guide had
crawled early in the evening, to conduct them on
their expedition.

“Thank God! we are safe at last—they cannot
pass that barrier,” exclaimed Lafitte, as he paused
a moment, to breathe on the outer side of the hedge,
“and this fair maiden!” he added with sympathy,
“she is yet unconscious!”

“Now, Carlos, once through this wood, without
being intercepted, and we are safe—forward!” he
said, in an assured tone; and raising his lifeless
burden, he moved swiftly through the forest, while
the shouts and execrations of their pursuers, as they
found their prey had eluded their pursuit, rung in
their ears.

The fugitives had nearly gained the cliff, when
a sudden galloping on their left, told them that their
pursuers had found a way to clear the hedge.
Looking back, they discovered their arms gleaming
through the trees, and the whole troop dashing forward
in full cry.

Drawing his belt tighter around him, bringing
his cutlass hilt to his grasp, and changing his still
lifeless burden to the other arm, with renewed speed,
the outlaw bounded through the dark glades of the
forest. Every moment lessened his distance from
his pursuers—and just as he was ascending a slight
eminence, commanding a view of the sea, and
near the verge of the cliff, beneath which their
vessel lay—the foremost horseman was within pistol
shot of them.

[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]

“Surrender, sir pirate! surrender!” he shouted
as he levelled his long pistol, and deeper plunged his
spurs into the sides of his foaming steed; the next
instant horse and rider would have been upon the
buccaneer, when drawing a pistol from his girdle,
and half turning in his flight, he fired upon the
dragoon. The ball sunk into the forehead of his
horse, which, with one plunge forward, fell lifeless
upon his rider—and the ball of his pistol, which he
discharged while falling, passed through the cap of
the pirate. The remainder of the troop were close
upon him, but the fate of their comrade, for a moment
checked their speed.

“Hold there, for your lives, men!” shouted
their commanding officer who had been outridden
by his troop—and now came up—“hold, do not fire,
but surround and take him. It were better
that he should escape, than that fair girl should be
injured.”

“A hundred guineas to him,” he added “who
captures him, dead or alive—but if the lady suffer
harm, let him who gives the blow, beware!”

The soldiers sullenly returned their pistols to their
holsters and drew their swords. But there were now
other objects on which to exercise them; for at the
same moment appeared a party of the pirate's crew,
armed with cutlasses and fire-arms, who, leaving the
schooner, and marching inland, on hearing the signal
for succour made by their comrades, were returning,
without meeting with them—they having, with the
exception of Lafitte, gained the shore by another
route, with the loss of two of their number, shot
down by the dragoons, and a portion of their booty.
Striking their cutlasses against their pistols, with a
loud noise—and cheering each other with shouts,
they came on at a rapid pace, and before the dragoons
could draw and cock their fire-arms to meet
this new enemy, they were fired upon with fatal

[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]

effect, by the advancing buccaneers. Here and
there, a rider fell from his steed at the discharge,
while the wounded animals fled with wild cries
through the forest.

“On, on! revenge for our comrades!” cried the
pirates, pressing forward to close with them; creeping
under the horses, and passing their cutlasses up
through their bodies—dragging the riders, by main
force from their seats, or springing behind them,
and hurling them bodily to the ground. For a few
moments men and horse, were mingled in a sanguinary
and dreadful melée.

The leader of the buccaneers did not, however,
derive any personal advantage from this reinforcement;
for the captain of dragoons, dismounting,
as the pirates made their desperate charge, cried,
“Have at you, sir pirate, for my own pleasure,
and rescue of that lady;” advancing, as he spoke,
with his drawn sword upon his antagonist, who,
from the time he had killed the horse and dismounted
the dragoon—for a moment checking the pursuit—
had stood at bay, and facing his foes, determined
to fight his way, step by step, to his vessel.

His eye lighted up with pleasure, as he heard the
challenge of the leader of the dragoons—a tall, gentlemanly-looking
Englishman, with an herculean
frame, and a strikingly military air.

Anxious to get safe to his schooner his lovely
shield, whom he internally resolved should be forever
his, although he had first taken her up to favour
his own escape, when, closely pursued, he retreated
to the villa—he still moved slowly backward, facing
his advancing foe. In his left arm he supported
Constanza, her unconscious head laid upon his
shoulder, while he wielded his formidable cutlass in
his right hand, upon which he received the ringing
steel of the officer.

In vain the Englishman used every device of art,

[figure description] Page 095.[end figure description]

and each favourite ruse, and as uselessly did he
follow blow on blow, with tremendous force. The
pirate coolly received his descending weapon upon
his cutlass at every stroke, and acting only on the
defensive, still retreated steadily to the verge of the
cliff.

“Now have at you, sir Englishman!” he cried,
as he reached the head of the defile leading to his
vessel. “Now have at you, in my turn. If you
love Lafitte so well, he will give you a lasting mark
of his friendship. So, there!” he added, suddenly
and emphatically, as the officer, at first making a
feint, aimed a heavy blow at his head, which he intended
should be his coup de grace. “So, there!”
and while he received his antagonist's sword upon
his own guard, by a peculiar motion of his cutlass,
with the same movement of his arm, he whirled it
from his grasp high into the air, and making a
sweep over his head, his rapid cutlass whistling
through the air, descended and nearly severed the
left arm of the Englishman from his body. The
officer groaned, and fell heavily upon the ground,
while Lafitte descended with rapidity the narrow
defile to his schooner.

“Ho! Théodore! are you there, my boy?” he
said, as he saw the slight form of the youth upon
the deck; “receive this lady, and convey her to the
starboard state-room, and try to restore her. Jacques,
be out of this place as soon as possible.”

“The anchor is apeak, sir,” replied his lieutenant;
“and the boat is ahead with a tow-line: shall we
move, sir?”

“No, no! hold on, here come the men! Spring
aboard, every one of you!” The seamen came
hastily down the gorge, leaving two-thirds of their
number behind them, while the voices of the soldiers
were heard in full cry in pursuit, some bearing
wounded comrades, and others portions of the booty,

[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]

the most of which, was already safely got on board.
As soon as the last man touched the deck, the commander
uttered his orders for making sail with
rapidity.

“Hoist away the jib and mainsail; set the topgallant-sails
and royals; we must make every thing
tell! Give way, men!” he shouted to the manned
boat ahead; “steadily! there she moves! bear off
from that crag! bend to those spars, men! now she
moves! Pull heartily and cheerily, men, or we shall
be intercepted by a guarda costa!”

“A curse upon this night's work,” he said to himself,
turning and walking aft as the schooner yielded
to the efforts of the crew. “This is well called the
Devil's Punch Bowl, and he is likely to have us all
for ingredients, for his next bumper.”

In a few moments the dark-hulled schooner, under
the sweeps, the slightly drawing royals, and by the
aid of the tow-boat, glided swiftly over the black,
glassy flood, and in a few minutes, moved through
the narrow entrance of the basin into the open bay.
Rapidly passing, with a strengthening breeze, the
needles or pinnacles of rock which girted the little
harbour, her tall masts covered with clouds of canvass,
and bounding with a lively motion before the
night-breeze, she left behind her the land, and the
scenes of death and desolation her presence had created,
and swiftly and steadily stood for the open sea.

[figure description] Page 097.[end figure description]