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<v Speaker 1>Chapter twenty three of Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts.

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<v Speaker 1>This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in

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<v Speaker 1>the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please

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<v Speaker 1>visit LibriVox dot org. This recording is by Mark Smith

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<v Speaker 1>of Simpsonville, South Carolina. Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts

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<v Speaker 1>by Frank R. Stockton, Chapter twenty three. A truehearted sailor

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<v Speaker 1>draws his sword, feeling now quite sure that he could

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<v Speaker 1>do what he pleased on shore as well as at sea.

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<v Speaker 1>Blackbeard swore more, swaggered more, and whenever he felt like it,

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<v Speaker 1>sailed up and down the coast, and took a prize

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<v Speaker 1>or two to keep the pot boiling for himself and

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<v Speaker 1>his men. On one of these expeditions, he went to Philadelphia,

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<v Speaker 1>and having landed, he walked about to see what sort

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<v Speaker 1>of a place it was. But the governor of the state,

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<v Speaker 1>hearing of his arrival, quickly arranged to let him know

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<v Speaker 1>that the Quaker city allowed no black hearted pirate with

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<v Speaker 1>a ribbon bedecked beard to promenade on Chestnut and Market streets,

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<v Speaker 1>and promptly issued a warrant for the sea robber's arrest,

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<v Speaker 1>but Blackbeard was too sharp and too old a criminal

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<v Speaker 1>to be caught in that way, and he left the

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<v Speaker 1>city with great dispatch. The people along the coast of

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<v Speaker 1>North Carolina became very tired of Blackbeard and his men.

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<v Speaker 1>All sorts of depredations were committed on vessels large and small,

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<v Speaker 1>and whenever a ship was boarded and robbed, or whenever

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<v Speaker 1>a fishing vessel was laid under contribution. Blackbeard was known

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<v Speaker 1>to be at the bottom of the business, whether he

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<v Speaker 1>personally appeared or not. To have this busy pirate for

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<v Speaker 1>a neighbor was extremely unpleasant, and the North Carolina settlers

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<v Speaker 1>greatly longed to get rid of him. It was of

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<v Speaker 1>no use for them to ask their own state government

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<v Speaker 1>to suppress this outrageous scoundrel. And although their good neighbor

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<v Speaker 1>South Carolina might have been willing to help them, she

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<v Speaker 1>was too poor at that time and had enough to

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<v Speaker 1>do to take care of herself. Not knowing or not

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<v Speaker 1>caring for the strong feeling of the settlers against him,

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<v Speaker 1>Blackbeard continued in his wicked ways, and among other crimes,

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<v Speaker 1>he captured a small vessel and treated the crew in

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<v Speaker 1>such a cruel and atrocious manner that the better class

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<v Speaker 1>of North Carolinians avowed they would stand him no longer,

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<v Speaker 1>and they therefore applied to Governor Spotswood of Virginia and

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<v Speaker 1>asked his aid in putting down the pirates. The Virginians

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<v Speaker 1>were very willing to do what they could for their

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<v Speaker 1>unfortunate neighbors. The legislature offered a reward for the capture

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<v Speaker 1>of Blackbeard or any of his men, but the governor,

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<v Speaker 1>feeling that this was not enough, determined to do something

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<v Speaker 1>on his own responsibility, for he knew very well that

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<v Speaker 1>the time might come when the pirate vessels would begin

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<v Speaker 1>to haunt Virginian waters. There happened to be at that

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<v Speaker 1>time two small British men of war in Hampton Roads,

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<v Speaker 1>and although the governor had no authority to send these

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<v Speaker 1>after the pirates, he fitted out two sloops at his

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<v Speaker 1>own expense, and manned them with the best fighting men

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<v Speaker 1>from the war vessels. One of the sloops he put

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<v Speaker 1>under Captain brand and the other under Captain Maynard, both

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<v Speaker 1>brave and experienced naval officers. All preparations were made with

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<v Speaker 1>the greatest secrecy, for if Blackbeard had heard of what

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<v Speaker 1>was going on, he would probably have decamped. And then

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<v Speaker 1>the two sloops went out to sea with a commission

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<v Speaker 1>from the governor to capture Blackbeard, dead or alive. This

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<v Speaker 1>was a pretty heavy contract, but brand and Maynard were

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<v Speaker 1>courageous men and did not hesitate to take it. The

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<v Speaker 1>Virginians had been informed that the pirate captain and his

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<v Speaker 1>men were on a vessel in Oqucoke Inlet, and when

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<v Speaker 1>they arrived they found to their delight that Blackbeard was there.

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<v Speaker 1>When the pirates saw the two armed vessels sailing into

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<v Speaker 1>the inlet, they knew very well they were about to

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<v Speaker 1>be attacked, and it did not take them long to

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<v Speaker 1>get ready for a fight, nor did they wait to

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<v Speaker 1>see what their enemy was about to do. As soon

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<v Speaker 1>as the Sloops were near enough, Blackbeard, without waiting for

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<v Speaker 1>any preliminary exercises such as a demand for a surrender

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<v Speaker 1>or any nonsense of that sort, let drive at the

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<v Speaker 1>intruders with eight heavily loaded cannon. Now the curtain had

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<v Speaker 1>been wrung up and the play began, and a very

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<v Speaker 1>lively play. It was the guns of the Virginians blazed

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<v Speaker 1>away at the pirate ship, and they would have set

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<v Speaker 1>out boats to board her had not, Blackbeard forestalled them.

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<v Speaker 1>Boarding was always a favorite method of fighting with the pirates.

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<v Speaker 1>They did not often carry, and even when they did,

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<v Speaker 1>they had but little fancy for battles at long distances.

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<v Speaker 1>What they liked was to meet foes face to face

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<v Speaker 1>and cut them down on their own decks. In such

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<v Speaker 1>combats they felt at home and were almost always successful,

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<v Speaker 1>for there were few mariners or sailors, even in the

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<v Speaker 1>British Navy, who could stand against these brawny, glaring eyed

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<v Speaker 1>dare devils, who sprang over the sides of a vessel

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<v Speaker 1>like panthers and fought like bulldogs. Blackbeard had had enough cannonading,

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<v Speaker 1>and he did not wait to be boarded. Springing into

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<v Speaker 1>a boat with about twenty of his men, he rowed

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<v Speaker 1>to the vessel commanded by Maynard, and in a few

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<v Speaker 1>minutes he and his pirates surged on board her. Now

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<v Speaker 1>there followed on the decks of that sloop, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most fearful hand to hand combats known to naval history.

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<v Speaker 1>Pirates had often attacked vessels where they met with strong resistance,

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<v Speaker 1>but never had a gang of sea robbers fallen in

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<v Speaker 1>with such a bold and skilled antagonists as those who

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<v Speaker 1>now confronted Blackbeard and his crew at it. They went cut, fire, slash, bang, howl,

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<v Speaker 1>and shout, steel clashed, pistols blazed, smoke went up, and

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<v Speaker 1>blood ran down. And it was hard in the confusion

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<v Speaker 1>for a man to tell friend from foe. Blackbeard was everywhere,

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<v Speaker 1>bounding from side to side, and as he swung his

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<v Speaker 1>cutlass high and low, and though many a shot was

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<v Speaker 1>fired at him, and many a rush made in his direction,

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<v Speaker 1>every now and then a sailor went down beneath his

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<v Speaker 1>whirling blade. But the great Pirate had not boarded that

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<v Speaker 1>ship to fight with common men. He was looking for Maynard,

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<v Speaker 1>the Commander. Soon he met him, and for the first

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<v Speaker 1>time in his life, he found his match. Maynard was

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<v Speaker 1>a practiced swordsman, and no matter how hard and how

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<v Speaker 1>swiftly came down the cutlass of the Pirate, his strokes

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<v Speaker 1>were always evaded, and the sword of the Virginian played

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<v Speaker 1>more dangerously near him. At last, Blackbeard, finding that he

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<v Speaker 1>could not cut down his enemy, suddenly drew a pistol

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<v Speaker 1>and was about to empty its barrels into the very

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<v Speaker 1>face of his opponent, when Maynard sent his sword blade

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<v Speaker 1>into the throat of the furious pirate, the great Blackbeard,

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<v Speaker 1>went down upon his back on the deck, and in

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<v Speaker 1>the next moment Maynard put an end to his nefarious career.

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<v Speaker 1>Their leader dead, the few pirates who were left alive

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<v Speaker 1>gave up the fight and sprang overboard, hoping to be

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<v Speaker 1>able to swim ashore, and the victory of the Virginians

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<v Speaker 1>was complete. The strength, toughness, and extraordinary vitality of these

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<v Speaker 1>feline human beings, who were known as pirates as often

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<v Speaker 1>occasioned astonishment and ordinary people. Their sun tanned and hairy

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<v Speaker 1>bodies seemed to be made of something like wire, leather

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<v Speaker 1>and India rubber, upon which the most tremendous exertions and

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<v Speaker 1>even the infliction of severe wounds, made but little impression.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Blackbeard fell, he received from Maynard and others no

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<v Speaker 1>less than twenty five wounds, and yet he fought fearlessly

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<v Speaker 1>to the last, and when the panting officer sheathed his sword,

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<v Speaker 1>he felt that he had performed a most signaled deed

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<v Speaker 1>of valor. When they had broken up the pirate nest

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<v Speaker 1>in Oquercroke inlet, the two sloops sailed to Bath, where

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<v Speaker 1>they compelled some of the unscrupulous town officials to surrender

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<v Speaker 1>the cargo which had been stolen from the French vessel

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<v Speaker 1>and stored in the town by Blackbeard. Then they sailed

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<v Speaker 1>proudly back to Hampton Roads, with the head of the

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<v Speaker 1>dreaded Blackbeard dangling from the end of the bowsprit of

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<v Speaker 1>the vessel he had boarded, and on whose deck he

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<v Speaker 1>had discovered the fact before unknown to him, that a

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<v Speaker 1>well trained, honest man can fight as well as the

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<v Speaker 1>most reckless cutthroat, who ever decked his beard with ribbons

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<v Speaker 1>and swore enmity to all things good our end of

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<v Speaker 1>chapter M