 Section 18 of Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates, this is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mary Schneider. Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle. Compiled by Merle Johnson. The Ruby of Kishmore, Part 2. The terrific encounter with the one-eyed little gentleman in black. Finding himself once more in the open street, Jonathan Rugg stood for a while in the moonlight, endeavoring to compose his mind into somewhat of that sobriety that was habitual with him. For indeed he was not a little excited by the unexpected incidents that had just befallen him. From this effort at composure he was aroused by observing that a little gentleman clad all in black had stopped a little distance away and was looking very intently at him. In the brightness of the moonlight our hero could see that the little gentleman possessed but a single eye, and that he carried a gold-headed cane in his hand. He had hardly time to observe these particulars when the other approached him with every appearance of politeness and cordiality. Sir, said he, surely I am not mistaken in recognizing in you the supercargo of the ship Susannah Hayes which arrived this afternoon at this port. Indeed, said Jonathan, thou art right, friend, that is my occupation and that is whence I came. To be sure, said the little gentleman, to be sure, to be sure, the Susannah Hayes with a cargo of Indian cornmeal and from my dear good friend Jeremiah Doolittle of Philadelphia. I know your good master very well, very well indeed, and have you never heard him speak of his friend, Mr. Abner Greenway of Kingston, Jamaica? Why, no, replied Jonathan, I have no such recollection of the name, nor do I know that any such name hath ever appeared upon our books. To be sure, to be sure, repeated the little gentleman briskly, and with exceeding good nature. Indeed, my name is not likely to have appeared upon your employer's books, for I am not a business correspondent, but one who in times past was his extremely intimate friend. There is much I would like to ask about him, and indeed I was in hopes that you would have been the bearer of a letter from him. But I have lodgings at a little distance from here, that is, if it is not requesting too much of you, maybe you would accompany me thither, so that we may talk at our leisure. I would gladly accompany you to your ship, instead of urging you to come to my apartments, but I must tell you I am possessed of a devil of a fever, so that my physician has forbidden me to go out at nights. Indeed, said Jonathan, who you may have observed, was a very easy disposition. Indeed, I shall be very glad to accompany thee to thy lodgings. There is nothing I would like better than to serve any friend of good Jeremiah do littles. And thereupon, with great amity, the two walked off together, the little one-eyed gentleman in black linking his arm confidingly into that of Jonathan's, and tapping the pavement continually with his cane, as he trotted on at a great pace. He was very well acquainted with the town of which he was a citizen, and so interesting was his discourse that they had gone a considerable distance before Jonathan observed that they were entering into a quarter darker and less frequented than that which they had quitted. Tall brick houses stood upon either side, between which stretched a narrow crooked roadway with a kennel running down the center. In front of one of these houses, a tall and gloomy structure, our hero's conductor stopped and, opening the door with a key, beckoned for him to enter. Jonathan, having complied, his newfound friend led the way up a flight of stairs against which Jonathan's feet beat noisily in the darkness, and at length, having ascended two stairways and having reached a landing, he opened a door at the end of the passage and ushered Jonathan into an apartment, unlighted except for the moonshine, which, coming in through a partly open shutter, lay in a brilliant patch of light upon the floor. His conductor, having struck a light with a flint and steel, our hero, by the illumination of a single candle, presently discovered himself to be in a bedchamber, furnished with no small degree of comfort and even elegance, and having every appearance of a bachelor's chamber. You will pardon me, said his new acquaintance, if I shut these shutters in the window, for that devilish fever of which I spoke is of such a sort that I must keep the night air even out of my room, or else I shall be shaking the bones out of my joints and chattering the teeth out of my head by tomorrow morning. So saying he was as good as his word, and not only drew the shutters to, but shot the heavy iron bolt into its place. Having accomplished this, he bat our hero to be seated, and placing before him some exceedingly superior rum, together with some equally excellent tobacco. They presently fell into the friendliest discourse imaginable. In the course of their talk, which after a while became exceedingly confidential, Jonathan confided to his new friend the circumstances of the adventure into which he had been led by the beautiful stranger, and to all that he said concerning his adventure his interlocutor listened with the closest and most scrupulously riveted attention. Upon my word, said he, when Jonathan had concluded, I hope that you may not have been the victim of some foolish hoax. See what she has confided to you. That I will, replied Jonathan, and thereupon he thrust his hand into his breaches pocket and brought forth the ivory ball. No sooner did the one eye of the little gentleman in black light upon the object than a most singular and extraordinary convulsion appeared to seize upon him. Had a bullet penetrated his heart he would not have started more violently, nor have sat more rigidly and breathlessly staring. Mastering his emotion with the utmost difficulty as Jonathan replaced the ball in his pocket, he drew a deep and profound breath and wiped the palm of his hand across his forehead as though arousing himself from a dream. And you, he said of a sudden, or I understand a quicker. Do you then never carry a weapon even in such a place as this? Right any moment in the dark a Spanish knife may be stuck between your ribs. Why, no, said Jonathan, somewhat surprised that so far on a topic should have been so suddenly introduced into the discourse. I am a man of peace and not of blood. The people of the Society of Friends never carry weapons, either offence or defense. As Jonathan concluded his reply the little gentleman suddenly arose from his chair and moved briskly around to the other side of the room. Our hero, watching him with some surprise, beheld him clap to the door and with a single movement shoot the bolt and turn the key therein. The next instant he turned to Jonathan a visage transformed as suddenly as though he had dropped a mask from his face. The gossiping and polite little old bachelor was there no longer, but in his stead a man with accountants convulsed with some furious and nameless passion. The ball, he said in a coarse and raucous voice. That ivory ball, get it to me upon the instant. As he spoke he whipped out from his bosom a long, keen Spanish knife that in its every appearance spoke without equivocation of the most murderous possibilities. The malignant passions that distorted every liniment of the accountants of this little old gentleman in black filled our hero with such astonishment that he knew not, whether he were asleep or awake. But when he beheld the other advancing with the naked and shining knife in his hand his reason returned to him like a flash. Leaping to his feet he lost no time in putting the table between him and his sudden enemy. Indeed, friend, he cried in a voice penetrated with terror, Indeed, friend, thou hast best keep thy distance from me, for though I am a man of peace and a shunner of bloodshed, I promise thee that I will not stand still to be murdered without outcry or without endeavoring to defend my life. Cry as loud as you please, exclaimed the other. No one is near this place to hear you. Cry until you are hoarse. No one in this neighborhood will stop to ask what is the matter with you. I tell you I am determined to possess myself of that ivory ball and have it, I shall, even though I am obliged to cut your heart to get it. As he spoke he grinned with so extraordinary and devilish a distortion of his countenance and with such an appearance of every intention of carrying out his threat as to send the goose flesh creeping like icy fingers up and down our hero's spine with the most incredible rapidity and acuteness. Nevertheless, mastering his fears, Jonathan contrived to speak up with a pretty good appearance of spirit. Indeed, friend, he said, thou appearest to forget that I am a man of twice thy bulk and half thy years, and that though thou hast a knife, I am determined to defend myself to the last extremity. I am not going to give thee that which thou demandest of me, and for thy sake I advise thee to open the door and let me go free as I entered, or else harm may befall thee. Fool! cried the other, hardly giving him time to end. Do you then think that I have time to chatter with you while two villains are lying and wait for me, perhaps at the very door? Blame your own self for your death. And gnashing his teeth with an indescribable menace and resting his hand upon the table, he vaulted with incredible agility clean across it and upon our hero, who entirely unprepared for such an extraordinary attack was flung back against the wall, with an arm as strong as steel clutching his throat and a knife flashing in his very eyes with determined portent of instant death. With an instinct to preserve his life he caught his assailant by the wrist and, bending it away from him, set every fiber of his body in a superhuman effort to guard and protect himself. The other, though so much older and smaller, seemed to be composed entirely of fibers of steel and in his murderous endeavors put forth a strength so extraordinary that for a moment our hero felt his heart melt within him with terror for his life. The spit-hole appeared to dry up within his mouth and his hair to creep and rise upon his head. With a vehement cry of despair and anguish he put forth one stupendous effort for defense and, clapping his heel behind the other's leg and throwing his whole weight forward, he fairly tripped his antagonist backward as he stood. Together they fell upon the floor, locked in the most desperate embrace and overturning a chair with a prodigious clatter in their descent. Our hero upon the top and the little gentleman in black beneath him. As they struck the floor the little man in black emitted a most piercing and terrible scream and instantly relaxing his efforts of attack fell to beating the floor with the back of his hands and rubbing with his heels upon the rug in which he had become entangled. Our hero leaped to his feet and with dilating eyes and expanding brain and swimming sight stared down upon the other like one turned to a stone. He beheld instantly what had occurred and that he had, without so intending, killed a fellow man. The knife, turned away from his own person, had in their fall been plunged into the bosom of the other and he now lay quivering in the last throes of death. As Jonathan gazed he beheld a thin red stream trickle out from the parted and grinning lips. He beheld the eyes turned inward. He beheld the eyelids contract. He beheld the figure stretch itself. He beheld it become still in death. The momentous adventure with the stranger with the silver earrings. So our hero stood stunned and bedazed gazing down upon his victim like a man turned into a stone. His brain appeared to him to expand like a bubble. The blood surged and hummed in his ears with every gigantic beat of his heart. His vision swam and his trembling hands were bedewed with a cold and repugnant sweat. The dead figure upon the floor at his feet gazed at him with a wide glassy stare and in the confusion of his mind it appeared to Jonathan that he was indeed a murderer. What monstrous thing was this that had befallen him who by a moment before had been so entirely innocent of the guilt of blood? What was he now to do in such an extremity as this with his victim lying dead at his feet, a poignard in his heart? Who would believe him to be guiltless of crime with such a dreadful evidence as this presented against him? How was he a stranger in a foreign land to totally defend himself against an accusation of mistaken justice? At these thoughts a developed terror gripped at his vitals and a sweat as cold as ice bedewed his entire body. No, he must tarry for no explanation or defense. He must immediately fly from this terrible place or else should he be discovered his doom would certainly be sealed. At that moment and in the very extremity of his apprehensions there fell of a sudden a knock upon the door sounding so loud and so startling upon the silence of the room that every shattered nerve in our hero's frame tingled and thrilled to answer to it. He stood petrified, scarcely so much as daring to breathe, and then, observing that his mouth was a gape, he moistened his dry and parched lips and drew his jaws together with a snap. Again there fell the same loud insistent knock upon the panel, followed by the imperative words, open within. The wretched Jonathan flung about him a glance at once of terror and of despair, but there was for him no possible escape. He was shut tight in the room with his dead victim like a rat in a trap. Nothing remained for him but to obey the summons from without. Indeed, at the very extremity of his distraction he possessed reason enough to perceive that the longer he delayed opening the door the less innocent he might hope to appear in the eyes of whoever stood without. With the uncertain and spasmodic movements of an ill-constructed automaton he crossed the room and stepping very carefully over the prostrate body upon the floor and with the hesitating reluctance that he could in no degree master, he unlocked, unbolted, and opened the door. The figure that outlined itself in the light of the candle against the blackness of the passageway without was of such a singular and foreign aspect as to fit extremely well into the extraordinary tragedy of which Jonathan was at once the victim and the cause. It was that of a lean tall man with a thin yellow countenance embellished with a long black mustache and having a pair of forbidding deeply set and extremely restless black eyes. A crimson handkerchief beneath a lace-cocked hat was tied tightly around the head and a pair of silver earrings which caught the light of the candle and twinkled against the inky darkness of the passageway beyond. This extraordinary being without favoring our hero with any word of apology for his intrusion immediately thrust himself forward into the room and stretching his long, lean, bird-like neck so as to direct his gaze over the intervening table fixed a gaping and concentrated stare upon the figure lying still and motionless in the center of the room. What you do there, he said, with a guttural and foreign accent and thereupon without waiting for a reply came forward and knelt down beside the dead man. After thrusting his hand into the silent and shrunken bosom he presently looked up and fixed his penetrating eyes upon our hero's countenance who benumbed and bedazed with his despair still stood like one enchained in the bonds of a nightmare. Eva's debt, said the stranger, and Jonathan nodded his head in reply. Va, you killedest man! inquired his interlocutor. Indeed, Jonathan cried, finding a voice at last, but one so hoarse that he could scarcely recognize it for his own. I know not what to make of the affair, but indeed I do assure the friend that I am entirely innocent of what thou seest. The stranger still kept his piercing gaze fixed upon our hero's countenance, and Jonathan feeling that something further was demanded of him continued. I am indeed a victim of a most extravagant and extraordinary adventure. This evening, coming an entire stranger to this country, I was introduced into the house of a beautiful female who bestowed upon me a charge that appeared to me to be at once insignificant and absurd. Behold this little ivory ball, said he, drawing the globe from his pocket and displaying it between his thumb and finger. It is this that appears to have brought all this disaster upon me. For, coming from the house of the young woman, the man thou now beholdest lying dead upon the floor induced me to come to this place. Having invagled me hither, he demanded of me to give him at once this insignificant trifle. Upon my refusing to do so, he assaulted me with every appearance of a mad and furious inclination to deprive me of my life. At the sight of the ivory ball, the stranger quickly arose from his kneeling position and fixed upon our hero a gaze the most extraordinary that he had ever encountered. His eyes dilated, like those of a cat. The breath expelled itself from his bosom in so deep and profound an expiration that it appeared as though it might never return again. Nor was it until Jonathan had placed the ball in his pocket that he appeared to awaken from the trance that the sight of the object had sent him into. But no sooner had the cause of this strange demeanor disappeared into our hero's reaches pocket than he arose as with an electric shock. In an instant he became transformed as by a touch of magic. A sudden and baleful light flamed into his eyes. His face grew as red as blood, and he clapped his hands to his pockets with a sudden and violent motion. Zabal! He cried in a hoarse and strightened voice. Zabal! Give me Zabal! And upon the next instant our hero beheld the round and shining nozzle of a pistol pointed directly against his forehead. For a moment he stood as though transfixed. Then in the mortal peril that faced him he uttered a roar that sounded in his own ears like the outcry of a wild beast, and thereupon flung himself bodily upon the other with the violence and the fury of a madman. The stranger drew the trigger and the powder flashed in the pan. He dropped the weapon, clattering, and in an instant tried to draw another from his other pocket. Before he could direct his aim however our hero had caught him by both wrists and bending his hand backward prevented the chance of any shot from taking immediate effect upon his person. Then followed a struggle of extraordinary ferocity and frenzy. The stranger endeavoring to free his hand and Jonathan striving with all the energy of despair to prevent him from affecting his murderous purpose. In the struggle our hero became thrust against the edge of the table. He felt as though his back were breaking and became conscious that in such a situation he could hope to defend himself only a few moments longer. The stranger's face was pressed close to his own, his hot breath, strong with the odor of garlic, fanned our hero's cheek while his lips, distented into a ferocious, infarient grin, displayed his sharp teeth shining in the candlelight. Give me the ball! he said in a harsh and furious whisper. At that moment there rang in Jonathan's ears the sudden and astounding detonation of a pistol shot and for a moment he wondered whether he had received a mortal wound without being aware of it. Then suddenly he beheld an extraordinary and dreadful transformation take place in the countenance thrust so close to his own. The eyes winked several times with incredible rapidity and then rolled upward and inward. The jaws gaited into a dreadful and cavernous yawn. The pistol fell with a clatter to the floor and the next moment the muscles so rigid but an instant before relaxed into a limp and listless placidity. The joints collapsed. The entire man fell into an indistinguishable heap upon and across the dead figure stretched out upon the floor while at the same time a pungent and blinding cloud of gunpowder smoke filled the apartment. For a few moments the hands twitched convulsively, the neck stretched itself to an abominable length, the long lean legs slowly and gradually relaxed and every fiber of the body gradually collapsed into the lassitude of death. A spot of blood appeared and grew upon the collar at the throat and in the same degree the collar ebbed from the face leaving it of a dull and leaden pallor. All these terrible and formidable changes of aspect are he roasted watching with emotionless and riveted attention and as though they were to him matters of the utmost consequence and importance and only when the last flicker of life had departed from his second victim did he lift his gaze from his terrible scene of dissolution to stare about him. This way and that his eyes blinded and his breath stifled by the thick cloud of sulfurous smoke that obscured the objects about him in a pungent cloud. That is the end of Part 2 of the Ruby of Kishmar. Section 19 of Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Mary Schneider. Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates by Howard Pyle. Compiled by Merle Johnson. The Ruby of Kishmar. Part 3. The unexpected encounter with the sea captain with the broken nose. If our hero had been distracted and bedazed by the first catastrophe that had befallen, this second and even more dreadful and violent occurrence appeared to take away from him for the moment every power of thought and of sensation. All that perturbation of emotion that had before convulsed him he discovered to have disappeared, and in its stead a benumbed and blinded intelligence alone remained to him. As he stood in the presence of this second death, of which he had been as innocent and as unwilling an instrument as he had of the first, he could observe no signs either of remorse or of horror within him. He picked up his hat which had fallen upon the floor in the first encounter and brushing away the dust with the cuff of his coat sleeve with extraordinary care adjusted the beaver upon his head with the utmost nicety. Then turning still stupefied as with the fumes of some powerful drug, he prepared to quit the scene of tragic terrors that had thus unexpectedly accumulated upon him. But ere he could put his design into execution, his ears were startled by the sound of loud and hurried footsteps, which coming from below ascended the stairs with a prodigious clatter and bustle of speed. At the landing these footsteps paused for a while and then approached more cautious and deliberate toward the room where the double tragedy had been enacted and where our hero yet stood silent and inert. All this while Jonathan made no endeavor to escape, but stood passive and submissive to what might occur. He felt himself the victim of circumstances over which he himself had no control. Gazing at the partly open door he waited for whatever adventure might next befall him. Once again the footsteps paused, this time at the very threshold, and then the door was slowly pushed open from without. As our hero gazed at the aperture there presently became disclosed to his view the strong and robust figure of one who was evidently of a seafaring habit. From the gold braid upon his hat, the seals dangling from the ribbons at his fob, and a certain particularity of custom, he was evidently of no small consideration in his profession. He was of a strong and powerful build, with the head set close to his shoulders and upon a round short bull neck. He wore a black cravat loosely tied into a knot and a red waistcoat elaborately trimmed with gold braid. The leather belt with the brass buckle and hanger and huge sea boots completed a costume singularly suggestive of his occupation in life. His face was round and broad like that of a cat and a complexion stained by constant exposure to sun and wind to a color of newly polished mahogany. But accountants which otherwise might have been humorous, in this case was rendered singularly repulsive by the fact that his nose had been broken so flat to his face that all that remained to distinguish that feature were two circular orifices where the nostrils should have been. His eyes were by no means so sinister as the rest of his visage, being of a light gray color and exceedingly vivacious, even good-natured in the merry restlessness of their glance, albeit they were well-nigh hidden beneath a black bush of overhanging eyebrows. When he spoke, his voice was so deep and resonant that it was as though it issued from a barrel rather than from the breast of a human being. "'Oh, now, me hardy,' cried he, instantorian tones so loud that they seemed to stun the tensely-drawn drums of our hero's ears. "'Oh, now, me hardy, what's to do here? Who is shooting pistols at this hour of the night?' Then catching sight of the figures lying in a huddle upon the floor, his great thick lips parted into a gape of wonder, and his gray eyes rolled in his head like two balls, so that what with his flat face and the round holes of his nostrils he presented an appearance which, under other circumstances, would have been at once ludicrous and grotesque.' "'By the blood,' cried he, "'to be sure it is murder that has happened here.' "'Not murder,' cried Jonathan, in a shrill and panting voice, "'not murder, it was an accident, and I am as innocent as a baby.' The newcomer looked at him, and then at the two figures upon the floor, and then back at him again with eyes at once quizzical and cunning. Then his face broke into a grin that might hardly be called a drollery. "'Accident,' quote he, "'by the blood.' "'Do you see it is a strange accident, indeed, "'that lays two men by the heels, "'and lets the third go without a scratch?' Delivering himself thus, he came forward into the room and, taking the last victim of Jonathan's adventure by the arm, with as little compunction as he would have handled a sack of grain, he dragged the limp and helpless figure from where it lay to the floor beside the first victim. Then, lifting the lighted candle, he bent over the two prostrate bodies, holding the illumination close to the linemans, first of one, and then of the other. He looked at them very carefully for a long while, with the closest and most intense scrutiny and in perfect silence. "'They are both dead,' says he, as Davy Jones, "'and whoever you be, I protest that you have done "'your business, the most completest that I ever saw "'in all my life.' "'Indeed,' cried Jonathan, "'in the same shrill and banding voice, "'it was themselves who did it, "'first one of them attacked me and then the other, "'and I did but try to keep them from murdering me. "'This one fell on his knife, "'and that one shot himself in his efforts to destroy me.' "'That,' said this even, "'you may very well tell to a drylander, "'and maybe he will believe you, "'but you cannot so easily pull the wool "'over the eyes of Captain Benny Willets. "'And what, if I may be so bold as for to ask you, "'was the reason for their attacking so harmless a man "'as you proclaim yourself to be?' "'That I know not,' cried Jonathan. "'I am entirely willing to tell thee all the circumstances. "'Thou must know that I am a member "'of the Society of Friends. "'I landed here in Kingston and met a young woman, "'a very comely appearance, "'who entrusted me with a little ivory ball, "'which she requested me to keep for her a few days. "'The sight of this ball, in which I can detect nothing "'that could be likely to arouse any feelings of violence, "'appears to have driven these two men entirely mad, "'so that they instantly made the most ferocious "'and murderous assault upon me. "'See? What's thou have believed "'that so small a thing as this would have caused so much trouble? "'And as he spoke, he held up to the gaze of the other "'the cause of the double tragedy that had befallen. "'But no sooner had Captain Willets's eyes "'lighted upon the ball than the most singular change "'past over his countenance. "'The color appeared to grow dull and yellow "'in his ready cheeks, his fat lips dropped apart, "'and his eyes stared with a fixed and glassy glare. "'He arose to his feet, "'and still with the expression of astonishment "'and wonder upon his face, gazed first at our hero "'and then at the ivory ball in his hands, "'as though he were deprived both of reason and of speech. "'At last as our hero slipped the trifle back "'in his pocket again, the mariner slowly recovered himself, "'though with a prodigious effort, "'and drew a deep and profound breath "'as to the very bottom of his lungs. "'He wiped with the corner of his black silk cravat, "'his brow, upon which the sweat appeared to have gathered. "'Well, messmate,' says he at last, "'with a sudden change of voice, "'you have indeed had a most wonderful adventure. "'Then with another deep breath, "'well, by the blood, "'I may tell you plainly that I am no poor hand "'at the reading of faces. "'Well, I think you to be honest, "'I am inclined to believe every word you tell me by the blood. "'I am prodigiously sorry for you, "'and I am inclined to help you out of your scrape. "'The first thing to do,' he continued, "'is to get rid of these two dead men, "'and that is an affair I believe "'we shall have no trouble in handling. "'One of them we will wrap up in the carpet there, "'and tether we can roll into yonder bed curtain. "'You shall carry the one and I the other, "'and the harbor, being at no great distance, "'we bring them thither and tumble them overboard, "'and no one will be the wiser of what has happened. "'For your own safety you may easily see. "'You can hardly go away and leave these objects here "'to be found by the first comer "'and to rise up in evidence against you.' "'This reasoning in our hero's present bewildered state "'appeared to him to be so extremely just "'that he raised not the least objection to it. "'Accordingly, each of the two silent, voiceless victims "'of the evening's occurrences was wrapped into a bundle "'that from without appeared to be neither portentious "'nor terrible in appearance. "'Thereupon Jonathan shouldering the rug "'containing the little gentleman in black, "'and the sea-captain doing the like for the other. "'They presently made their way down the stairs "'through the darkness and so out into the street. "'Here the sea-captain became the conductor "'of the expedition and leading the way down "'the valleys and along certain by-streets, "'now and then stopping to rest, "'for the burdens were both heavy and clumsy to carry. "'They both came out at last to the harbor front, "'without anyone having questioned them, "'or having appeared to suspect them of anything wrong. "'At the water side was an open wharf, "'extending a pretty good distance out into the harbor. "'Thither the captain led the way, "'and Jonathan followed. "'The way out along the wharf or pier, "'stumbling now and then over loose boards, "'until they came at last to where the water "'was of a sufficient depth for their purpose. "'Here the captain, bending his shoulders, "'shot his burden out into the dark mysterious waters, "'and Jonathan following his example did the same. "'Each body sank with a sullen and leadened splash "'into the element, where the casings "'becoming loosened. "'The rug and the curtain rose to the surface "'and drifted slowly away with the tide. "'As Jonathan stood gazing dullly at the disappearance "'of these last evidences of his two inadvertent murders, "'he was suddenly enviomently aroused "'by feeling a pair of arms of enormous strength "'flung about him from behind. "'In their embrace his elbows were instantly pinned "'tight to his side, and he stood for a moment "'sounded, while the voice of the sea-captain "'rumbling in his ear exclaimed, "'Ye bloody mother and Quaker, I'll have that ivory ball "'or I'll have your life.' "'These words produced the same effect upon Jonathan, "'as though a douche of cold water "'had suddenly been flung over him. "'He began instantly to struggle to free himself, "'and that with a frantic envioment violence "'begotten at once of terror and despair. "'So prodigious were his efforts "'that more than once he had nearly torn himself free, "'but still the powerful arms of his captor "'held him as in a vice of iron. "'Mean time our heroes assailant "'made frequent, though ineffectual, attempts "'to thrust a hand into the breeches' pocket, "'or the ivory ball was hidden, "'swering a while under his breath "'with a terrifying and monstrous string of oaths. "'At last finding himself foiled in every such attempt "'and losing all patience at the struggles of his victim, "'he endeavored to lift Jonathan off of his feet, "'as though to dash him bodily upon the ground. "'In this he would doubtless have succeeded, "'had he not caught his heel in the crack "'of a loose board on the wharf. "'Instantly they both fell, violently prostrate, "'the captain beneath and Jonathan above him, "'though still encircled in his iron embrace. "'Our hero felt the back of his head "'strike violently upon the flat face of the other, "'and he heard the captain's skull sound with a terrific crack, "'like that of a breaking egg upon some post "'or billet of wood against which he must have struck. "'In their frantic struggles they had approached "'extremely near the edge of the wharf, "'so that the next instant, "'with an enormous and thunderous splash, "'Jonathan found himself plunged "'into the waters of the harbor, "'in arms of his assailant, "'loosened from about his body. "'The shock of the water brought him "'instantly to his senses, "'and being a fairly good swimmer he had "'not the least difficulty in reaching "'and clutching the crosspiece of a wooden ladder "'that coated with slimy sea moss "'led from the water level to the wharf above. "'After reaching the safety of the dry land once more, "'Jonathan gazed about him as though to discern "'once the next attack might be delivered upon him. "'But he stood entirely alone upon the deck. "'Not another living soul was in sight. "'The surface of the water exhibited some commotion "'as though disturbed by something struggling beneath. "'But the sea-captain, who had doubtless been stunned "'by the tremendous crack upon his head, "'never rose again out of the element "'that had engulfed him. "'The moonlight shone with a peaceful "'and resplendent illumination "'and accepting certain remote noises "'from the distant town, "'not a sound broke the silence and peacefulness "'of the balmy tropical night. "'The limpid water, illuminated by the resplendent moonlight, "'lapped against the wharf. "'All the world was calm, serene, "'and enveloped in a profound and entire repose. "'Jonathan looked up at the round "'and brilliant globe of light "'floating in the sky above his head "'and wondered whether it were indeed possible "'that all that had befallen him was a reality "'and not some tremendous hallucination. "'Then suddenly arousing himself to a renewed realization "'of that which had occurred, "'he turned and ran like one possessed "'up along the wharf "'and so into the moonlit town once more. "'The conclusion of the adventure "'with the lady with the silver veil. "'Nor did he check his precipitous flight "'until suddenly, being led perhaps "'by some strange influence "'of which he was not at all the master. "'He discovered himself to be standing "'before the garden gate, "'where not more than an hour before he had first entered "'upon the series of monstrous adventures "'that had led to such tremendous conclusions. "'People were still passing and repassing, "'and one of these groups, a party of young ladies "'and gentlemen, paused upon the opposite side "'of the street to observe, "'with no small curiosity and amusement, "'his dripping and redraggled aspect. "'But only one thought and one intention "'possessed our hero to relieve himself "'as quickly as possible of that trust "'which he had taken up so thoughtlessly "'and with such monstrous results to himself "'and to his victims. "'He ran to the gate of the garden "'and began beating and kicking upon it "'with the vehemence that he could neither master "'nor control. "'He was aware that the entire neighborhood "'was becoming aroused, "'for he beheld lights moving "'and loud voices of inquiry. "'Yet he gave not the least thought "'to the disturbance he was creating, "'but continued without intermission "'his uproarious pounding upon the gate. "'At length, in answer to the sound "'of his vehement blows, "'the little wicked was opened "'and a pair of eyes appeared thereat. "'The next instant the gate "'was cast ajar very hastily "'and the pock-petted negroice appeared. "'She caught him by the sleeve of his coat "'and drew him quickly into the garden. "'Buckra, buckra!' she cried. "'What you doin'? "'You wake the whole town!' "'Then observing his dripping garments, "'you bend into water. "'You catch fever and shake till you die. "'Thy mistress,' cried Jonathan, "'almost sobbing in the excess of his emotion, "'take me to her upon the instant, "'for my not-going entirely mad.' "'When our hero was again introduced to the lady, "'he found her clad in a loose and elegant negligee, "'infinitely becoming to her graceful figure "'and still covered with the veil of silver gauze "'that had before enveloped her.' "'Friend,' he cried vehemently, approaching her "'and holding out toward her the little ivory ball, "'take again this which thou gavest me. "'It has brought death to three men "'and I know not what terrible fate may befall me "'if I keep it longer in my possession.' "'What is it you say?' cried she in a piercing voice. "'Did you say it hath caused the death of three men? "'Quick, tell me what has happened, "'for I feel somehow a presage "'that you bring me news of safety "'and release from all my dangers.' "'I know not what thou meanest,' cried Jonathan, "'still panting with agitation. "'But this I do know, that when I went away from thee "'I departed an innocent man, "'and now I come back to thee burdened "'with the weight of three lives, "'which, though innocent, I have been instrumental in taking.' "'Explain!' exclaimed the woman, "'tapping the floor with her foot. "'Explain, explain!' "'That I will,' cried Jonathan, "'and as soon as I am able, "'when I left thee and went out into the street "'I was accosted by a little gentleman clad in black.' "'Indeed,' cried the lady, "'and had he but one eye, "'and did he carry a gold-headed cane?' "'Exactly,' said Jonathan, "'and he claimed acquaintance with friend Jeremiah Doolittle.' "'He never knew him,' cried the lady vehemently. "'And I must tell you that he was a villain named Hunt, "'who at one time was the intimate consort of the pirate kite. "'It was who plunged a deadly knife into his captain's bosom, "'and so murdered him in this very house. "'He himself or his agents must have been watching my gate "'when you went forth.' "'I know not how that may be,' said Jonathan, "'but he took me to his apartment "'and there obtaining a knowledge of the trust "'thou didst burden me with. "'He demanded it of me, "'and upon my refusing to deliver it to him "'he presently fell to attacking me with a dagger. "'In my efforts to protect my life I inadvertently caused him "'to plunge the knife into his own bosom and to kill himself.' "'And what then?' cried the lady, "'who appeared well nigh distracted with her emotions. "'Then,' said Jonathan, "'there was a strange man, a foreigner, "'who upon his part assaulted me with a pistol, "'with every intention of murdering me "'and thus obtaining possession "'of that same little trifle. "'And did he,' exclaimed the lady, "'have long black moustaches, "'and did he have silver earrings in his ears?' "'Yes,' said Jonathan, he did. "'That,' cried the lady, "'would have been none other than Captain Kite's "'Portuguese sailing master, "'who must have been spying upon hunt. "'Tell me what happened next.' "'He would have taken my life,' said Jonathan, "'but in the struggle that followed "'he shot himself accidentally "'with his own pistol and died at my very feet. "'I do not know what would have happened to me "'if a sea-captain had not come "'and proffered his assistance. "'A sea-captain? "'And had he a flat face and a broken nose?' "'Indeed he had,' replied Jonathan. "'That,' said the lady, "'must have been Captain Kite's pirate friend, "'Captain Willis of the bloody hand. "'He was doubtless spying upon the Portuguese.' "'He induced me,' said Jonathan, "'to carry the two bodies down to the wharf, "'having invagled me there, "'where I suppose he thought no one could interfere. "'He assaulted me "'and endeavored to take the ivory ball away from me. "'In my efforts to escape, "'we both fell into the water "'and he, striking his head upon the edge of the wharf, "'was first stunned and then drowned.' "'Thank God!' cried the lady "'with the transport of fervor "'and clasping her jeweled hands together. "'At last I am free of those who have the here-to-four "'persecuted me and threatened my very life itself. "'You have asked to behold my face. "'I will now show it to you. "'Here-to-four I've been obliged to keep it concealed. "'Best recognizing me, my enemies would have slain me.' "'As she spoke, "'she drew aside her veil and disclosed "'to the vision of our hero, "'accountance of the most extraordinary "'and striking beauty. "'Her luminous eyes were like those of a jawa "'and set beneath exquisitely arched in penciled brows. "'Her forehead was like lustrous ivory "'and her lips like rose leaves. "'Her hair, which was as smooth as the finest silk, "'was fastened up in masses of ravishing abundance. "'I am,' said she, "'a daughter of that unfortunate Captain Kite, "'who though weak and a pirate "'was not so wicked I would have you know "'as he has been painted. "'He would doubtless have been an honest man, "'had he not been led astray by the villain Hunt, "'who so nearly compassed your destruction. "'He returned to this island before his death "'and made me the sole heir of all that great fortune "'which he had gathered, "'by the most honest means, "'in the waters of the Indian Ocean. "'But the greatest treasure of all "'that fortune bequeathed to me "'was a single jewel which you yourself "'have just now defended "'with the courage and a fidelity "'that I cannot sufficiently extol. "'It is that priceless gem "'known as the Ruby of Gishmore. "'I will show it to you.' "'Hereupon she took the little ivory ball in her hand "'and with a turn of her beautiful wrists "'unscrewed a lid so nicely and cunningly adjusted "'that no eye could have detected "'where it was joined to the parent globe. "'Within was a fleece of raw silk "'containing an object which she presently displayed "'before the astonished gaze of our hero. "'It was a red stone of about the bigness of a plover's egg "'and which glowed and flamed "'with such an exquisite and ready brilliancy "'to dazzle even Jonathan's inexperienced eyes. "'Indeed he did not need to be informed "'of the priceless value of the treasure "'which he beheld in the rosy palm extended toward him. "'How long he gazed at this extraordinary jewel he knew not "'but he was aroused from his contemplation "'by the sound of the lady's voice addressing him. "'The three villains,' said she, "'who had this day met their desserts "'in a violent and bloody death, "'had by an accident obtained knowledge "'that this jewel was in my possession. "'Since then my life has hung upon a thread, "'and every step that I have taken "'has been watched by these enemies, "'the most cruel and relentless "'that it was ever the lot of any unfortunate to possess. "'From the mortal dangers of their machinations "'you have saved me, exhibited a courage "'of determination that cannot be sufficiently applauded. "'In this you have earned my deepest admiration and regard. "'I would rather,' she cried, "'intrust my life and my happiness to you "'than into the keeping of any man whom I have ever met. "'I cannot hope to reward you in such a way "'as to recompense you for the perils "'into which my necessities have thrust you, "'but yet,' and here she hesitated, "'as though seeking for words in which to express herself, "'but yet, if you are willing to accept of this jewel "'and all of the fortune that belongs to me, "'together with the person of poor Eveline Kite herself, "'not only the stone and the wealth but the woman also, "'are yours to dispose of as you see fit.'" Our hero was so struck aback at this unexpected turn that he knew not upon the instant what reply to make. "'Friend,' said he at last, "'I thank thee extremely for thy offer, "'and though I would not be ungracious, "'it is yet borne in upon me to testify to thee "'that as to the stone itself and the fortune "'of which thou speakest and of which I very well know the history. "'I have no inclination to receive either the one "'or the other, both the fruits of theft, raping, and murder. "'The jewel I have myself beheld three times stained as it were "'with the blood of my fellow man, "'so that it now has so little value in my sight "'that I would not give a peppercorn to possess it. "'Indeed, there is no inducement in the world "'that could persuade me to accept it "'or even to take it again into my hand. "'As to the rest of thy generous offer, "'I have only to say that I am four months hence to be married "'to a very comely young woman in Kensington in Pennsylvania "'by name Martha Dobbs, "'and therefore I am not at liberty to consider my inclinations "'in any other direction. "'Having so delivered himself, Jonathan bowed, "'with such ease as his stiff and awkward joints "'might command, and thereupon withdrew "'from the presence of the charmer, "'who with cheeks effused with blushes "'and with eyes averted made no endeavor to detain him. "'So ended the only adventure of moments "'that ever happened to him in all his life, "'for thereafter he contented himself "'with such excitement as his mercantile profession "'and his extremely peaceful existence might afford.'" Epilogue. In conclusion it may be said that when the worthy Jonathan Rugg was married to Martha Dobbs upon the following June some mysterious friend presented to the bride a rope of pearls of such considerable value that when they were realized into money our hero was enabled to enter into partnership with his former patron, the worthy Jeremiah Doolittle, and that having made such a beginning he by and by arose to become in his day one of the leading merchants of his native town of Philadelphia. That is the end of part three of the Ruby of Kishmore. And that is the end of Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates.