Mary Read- Sailor, Soldier, Pirate by Cherie Pugh

Author:Cherie Pugh [Pugh, Cherie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Russell Pugh
Published: 2010-04-13T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18: Anne Bonny

The Nassau channel was shallow and not easy to navigate, especially with the light fading. We followed William's sloop, tacking the Whydah through the narrow passage, using only the goosewings of a jib, and with all eyes on the shoals. 'Twas easy to see the difficulties a man o' war would face coming in here, even at full tide.

'Twas only when we had tied up to the creaking, rotting wharf, that I had liberty to wipe the sweat off my brow, and examine the infamous port of Nassau. The rosy sunset showed a broad sweep of white beach, crowned by a low ridge of forested hills. A scattering of shanties, a few larger buildings, and a ruined fort, seemed to comprise the town. The harbour was crowded with vessels, mostly the swift island sloops, though there were frigates in full battle array, while others were mere hulks rotting in the shallows. At that late hour, men were leaving their work, rigging sloops and careening prizes, and dories full of sailors rowed from ship to shore.

Carty noted the pirate Captains who had already anchored. "Oliver LeBoose will be in for certain. Aye, there's his schooner. Thomas Coclyn has moored by Edward England's sloop. That's Burgess's fine frigate over there. Ashore is Christopher Winter arm-in-arm with Jim Fife. An' the fop swaggerin' up to them is Johnny Martel, a right cruel bastard, and not altogether welcome here."

Our first business was to divide the loot. Torches were lit, a sail was spread on the sagging dock, and our Quartermasters and their mates hauled three locked chests out of the Whydah, and two from the sloop. With great solemnity, our two Captains unlocked them, and threw back the lids, and we all cheered to see the gold and silver gleaming in the light of the smoking torches. Yet when they tipped the treasure into one vast pile on the patched canvas, we were suddenly silent.

Then the Quartermasters unrolled the Articles, and Connor counted the men, and called for claims for compensation for injuries to be heard. Then they began dividing the gold into one hundred and seven equal piles, each representing one share, the Captains and Quartermasters to receive a share and a half. It took a long time, as the coins were from many countries, and of different values, yet the pirates waited patiently, passing around bottles of rum and swiping at the bothersome mosquitoes. At last Connor was satisfied, and Williams and Bellamy threw dice to see which Captain would choose first. Then it was the turn of the Quartermasters, and then each man chose his share, in the order of signing on.

When it finally came to my turn, I chose a small bag of gold doubloons to buy my piece of the New World, and a large purse of silver to supply my immediate needs. The gold I tied securely around my neck, the silver went into my pocket. Then Bellamy praised us for a grand Company, the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.