Modern Prose And Poetry; For Secondary Schools Part 13

"So small an escort scarce befits so great a captain," he said. "We will all attend you." One and all started forward.

I called to mind and gave utterance to all the oaths I had heard in the wars. "I entertain you for my subordinate whom I command, and not who commands me!" I cried, when my memory failed me. "As for you, you dogs, who would question your captain and his doings, stay where you are, if you would not be lessoned in earnest!"

Sheer audacity is at times the surest steed a man can bestride. Now at least it did me good service. With oaths and grunts of admiration the pirates stayed where they were, and went about their business of launching the boats and stripping the body of Red Gil, while the man in black and silver, the Spaniard, the two gravediggers, the knave with the wounded shoulder, and myself walked briskly up the beach.

With these five at my heels I strode up to the dying fire and to those who had sprung to their feet at our approach. "Sparrow," I said easily, "luck being with us as usual, I have fallen in with a party of rovers. I have told them who I am,--that Kirby, to wit, whom an injurious world calls the blackest pirate unhanged,--and I have recounted to them how the great galleon which I took some months ago went down yesterday with all on board, you and I with these others being the sole survivors. By dint of a little persuasion they have elected me their captain, and we will go on board directly and set sail for the Indies, a hunting ground which we never should have left. You need not look so blank; you shall be my mate and right hand still." I turned to the five who formed my escort. "This, gentlemen, is my mate, Jeremy Sparrow by name, who hath a taste for divinity that in no wise interferes with his taste for a galleon or a guarda costa. This man, Diccon Demon by name, was of my crew. The gentleman without a sword is my prisoner, taken by me from the last s.h.i.+p I sunk. How he, an Englishman, came to be upon a Spanish bark I have not found leisure to inquire. The lady is my prisoner, also."

"Sure by rights she should be gaoler and hold all men's hearts in ward,"

said Paradise, with a low bow to my unfortunate captive.

While he spoke a most remarkable transformation was going on. The minister's grave, rugged, and deeply lined face smoothed itself and shed ten years at least; in the eyes that I had seen wet with n.o.ble tears a laughing devil now lurked, while his strong mouth became a loose-lipped, devil-may-care one. His head with its aureole of bushy, grizzled hair set itself jauntily upon one side, and from it and from his face and his whole great frame breathed a wicked jollity quite indescribable.

"Odsbodikins, captain!" he cried. "Kirby's luck!--'twill pa.s.s into a saw! Adzooks! and so you're captain once more, and I'm mate once more, and we've a s.h.i.+p once more, and we're off once more

To sail the Spanish Main, And give the Spaniard pain, Heave ho, bully boy, heave ho!

By 'r lakin! I'm too dry to sing. It will take all the wine of Xeres in the next galleon to unparch my tongue!"

NOTES

=the grave=:--This refers to the latter part of chapter 21 of _To Have and to Hold_; the hero, Ralph Percy, who has been s.h.i.+pwrecked with his companions, discovers a group of pirates burying their dead captain.

=pezos and pieces of eight=:--_peso_ is the Spanish word for dollar; _pieces of eight_ are dollars also, each dollar containing eight _reals_.

=the man in black and silver=:--Paradise, an Englishman.

=frails=:--Baskets made of rushes.

=Kirby=:--A renowned pirate mentioned in chapter 21.

=Maracaibo=:--The city or the gulf of that name in Venezuela.

=gallea.s.ses=:--Heavy, low-built vessels having sails as well as oars.

=Lucayas=:--An old name for the Bahama Islands.

=de Leon=:--Ponce de Leon discovered Florida in 1513; he searched long for a fountain which would restore youth.

=aqua vitae=:--Latin for _water of life_.

=Summer Isles=:--Another name for the Bermuda Islands.

=Cartagena=:--A city in Spain.

=Lima=:--A city in Peru.

=Toledo=:--A "Toledo blade"--a sword of the very finest temper, made in Toledo, Spain.

=the Low Countries=:--Holland and Belgium.

=senor=:--The Spanish word for _sir_.

=Weyanoke=:--The home of the hero, near Jamestown, Virginia.

=Sparrow=:--A minister, one of the hero's companions; see chapter 3 of _To Have and to Hold_.

=guarda costa=:--Coast guard.

=Diccon=:--Ralph Percy's servant.

=the gentleman without a sword=:--Lord Carnal, an enemy of Percy.

=the lady=:--She is really Percy's wife.

=Odsbodikins=; =Adzooks=:--Oaths much used two centuries ago.

=By 'r lakin=:--By our ladykin (little lady); an oath by the Virgin Mary.

=Xeres=:--The Spanish town after which sherry wine is named.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY

This selection is easily understood. Ralph Percy, his wife, and several others (see notes) are cast on a desert sh.o.r.e after the sinking of their boat. Percy leaves his companions for a time and falls among pirates; he pretends to be a "sea-rover" himself. Why does he allude to the pirate s.h.i.+p as a "c.o.c.kboat"? Why are the pirates impressed by his remarks? Why does Percy emphasize the riches of the sunken s.h.i.+p? Is what he says true? (See chapter 19 of _To Have and to Hold_.) If not, is he justified in telling a falsehood? Is he really Kirby? Is he fortunate in his a.s.sertion that he is? How does he explain his lack of resemblance to Kirby? What kind of person is the hero? Why does he wish to become the leader of the pirates? Is it possible that the pirate crew should change their att.i.tude so suddenly? Is it a good plan in a story to make a hero tell of his own successes? Characterize the man in black and silver. How does the author make us feel the action and peril of the struggle? How does she make us feel the long duration of the fight with Paradise? Do you like the hero's behavior with the defeated pirates? Why is he so careful to repeat to the minister what he has told the pirates? Why does the minister appear to change his character?

Can you make this piece into a little play?

THEME SUBJECTS

The Real Pirates Spanish Gold A Fight for Life A Famous Duel Buried Treasure Playing Pirates Sea Stories that I Like Captain Kidd Ponce de Leon The Search for Gold Story-book Heroes Along the Sea Sh.o.r.e A Barren Island The Rivals Land Pirates The Pirates in _Peter Pan_ A Struggle for Leaders.h.i.+p Our High School Play

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITING

Try to make a fragment of a play out of this selection. In this process, all the cla.s.s may work together under the direction of the teacher, or each pupil may make his own attempt to dramatize the piece.

In writing the drama, tell first what the setting is. In doing so, you had better look up some modern play and see how the setting is explained to the reader or the actors. Now show the pirates at work, and give a few lines of their conversation; then have the hero come upon the scene.

Indicate the speech of each person, and put in all necessary stage directions. Perhaps you will want to add more dialogue than there is here. Some of the onlookers may have something to say. Perhaps you will wish to leave something out. It might be well, while the fighting is going on, to bring in remarks from the combatants and the other pirates.

You might look up the duel scene in _Hamlet_ for this point. You can end your play with the departure of the group; or you can write a second scene, in which the hero's companions appear, including the lady.

Considerable dialogue could be invented here, and a new episode added--a quarrel, a plan for organization, or a merry-making.

When your play is finished, you may possibly wish to have it acted before the cla.s.s. A few turbans, sashes, and weapons will be sufficient to give an air of piracy to the group of players. Some grim black mustaches would complete the effect.

=A Pirate Story=:--Tell an old-fas.h.i.+oned "yarn" of adventure, in which a modest hero relates his own experiences. Give your imagination a good deal of liberty. Do not waste much time in getting started, but plunge very soon into the actual story. Let your hero tell how he fell among the pirates. Then go on with the conversation that ensued--the threats, the boasting, and the bravado. Make the hero report his struggles, or the tricks that he resorted to in order to outwit the sea-rovers.

Perhaps he failed at first and got into still greater dangers. Follow out his adventures to the moment of his escape. Make your descriptions short and vivid; put in as much direct conversation as possible; keep the action brisk and spirited. Try to write a lively tale that would interest a group of younger boys.