The Pirate's Gold by Gordon Stables

"O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, / Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, / Far as the breeze can bear the billows foam, / Survey our empire, and behold our home! / These are our realms, no limits to their sway, / Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey; / Ours the wild life, in tumult still to range, / From toil to rest, and joy in every change. " / BYRON, _The Corsair_.

"‘After Morgan had concluded the story of his wild adventures, --

"‘"Well, Bassanto," he said, "you'll join us, of course? Mind, we are not pirates, but cruisers under the British flag, and we have private orders to do our traditional enemy the Spaniard all the harm we can, and try to cripple his commerce.

"‘"And this," he added, "is good for us, you know. All that our country desires is the name and tonnage of the vessel destroyed. With the gold and silver found on board they do not interfere. We divide the spoil among ourselves, and according to our rank.

"‘"I have made so much money already, that, assisted by some of my comrades, I have bought a fine ship, and armed her. The boys have chosen me to be captain of her, and she lies round here in the bay. So get ready to join us. It will be a grand thing for you, lad, and in a few years you will be able to go back and lead a quiet and peaceful life in England. What say you?"

"‘I thought for a few minutes, then held out my hand.

"‘"I will go," I said, and we shook hands.

"‘I was to be a sailor now in earnest.

"‘But little did I know that I was to be a pirate as well.

"‘The _Rover_ was not only a very large ship, but she had a large crew. Both crew and ship were armed in a most formidable way.

"‘She was well found in the matter of provisions, though I should have liked if less rum had been in the hold. This fiery and maddening poison the men drank, forenoon, noon, and night.

"‘The discipline was in some ways lax, in others terribly severe.

"All sorts of coarse songs might be sung fore and aft or down below. The men might speak roughly to each other, and even fight with cudgels or fists; but one day shortly after I joined, a sailor gave an officer an insolent answer. To my astonishment the latter at once drew his sword and ran him through the body. Then wiping his sword on the dead man's clothing, calmly ordered the poor fellow's corpse to be tossed overboard.

"‘In five minutes more his body was being torn to pieces by the sharks.

"‘Horrified beyond measure, I at once betook myself to the private cabin of Captain Morgan to report the matter. I found him drinking rum which had simply been heated in a pannikin, and molasses added to it.

"‘He made me sit down, and offered me some; but I was sick at heart, and could touch nothing.

"‘When I told him what the officer had done, he merely laughed.

"‘"Too tender-hearted, Bassanto," he said, with a hiccup or two. "Soon get over all that. Discipline, you know, discipline mus' be maintained -- any cost. 'F a man insults you, shoot 'm down. 'Xpect you to do the same."

"‘I did not like to wound Morgan's feelings, nor to quarrel with him, so I sat talking for some little time on different subjects, then quietly retired. Yet to my sorrow I could see that his character was entirely changed, the result of rum-drinking and bad company, and that the once gentle and religious boy had been transformed into a bloodthirsty and cruel desperado.

"‘Our ship's head was turned westward from Jamaica, which might have been called our headquarters.