Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts | Page 9

the vessel saw and heard
nothing on the dark waters around them.
When they were very near the man-of-war, the captain of the
buccaneers--according to the ancient accounts of this
adventure--ordered his chirurgeon, or surgeon, to bore a large hole in
the bottom of their canoe. It is probable that this officer, with his saws
and other surgical instruments, was expected to do carpenter work
when there were no duties for him to perform in the regular line of his
profession. At any rate, he went to work, and noiselessly bored the
hole.
This remarkable proceeding showed the desperate character of these
pirates. A great, almost impossible task was before them, and nothing
but absolute recklessness could enable them to succeed. If his men
should meet with strong opposition from the Spaniards in the proposed
attack, and if any of them should become frightened and try to retreat to
the boat, Peter knew that all would be lost, and consequently he

determined to make it impossible for any man to get away in that boat.
If they could not conquer the Spanish vessel they must die on her
decks.
When the half-sunken canoe touched the sides of the vessel, the pirates,
seizing every rope or projection on which they could lay their hands,
climbed up the sides of the man-of-war, as if they had been twenty-nine
cats, and springing over the rail, dashed upon the sailors who were on
deck. These men were utterly stupefied and astounded. They had seen
nothing, they had heard nothing, and all of a sudden they were
confronted with savage fellows with cutlasses and pistols.
Some of the crew looked over the sides to see where these strange
visitors had come from, but they saw nothing, for the canoe had gone to
the bottom. Then they were filled with a superstitious horror, believing
that the wild visitors were devils who had dropped from the sky, for
there seemed no other place from which they could come. Making no
attempt to defend themselves, the sailors, wild with terror, tumbled
below and hid themselves, without even giving an alarm.
The Spanish captain was still playing cards, and whether he was
winning or losing, the old historians do not tell us, but very suddenly a
newcomer took a hand in the game. This was Peter the Great, and he
played the ace of trumps. With a great pistol in his hand, he called upon
the Spanish captain to surrender. That noble commander glanced
around. There was a savage pirate holding a pistol at the head of each
of the officers at the table. He threw up his cards. The trick was won by
Peter and his men.
The rest of the game was easy enough. When the pirates spread
themselves over the vessel, the frightened crew got out of sight as well
as they could. Some, who attempted to seize their arms in order to
defend themselves, were ruthlessly cut down or shot, and when the
hatches had been securely fastened upon the sailors who had fled below,
Peter the Great was captain and owner of that tall Spanish man-of-war.
It is quite certain that the first thing these pirates did to celebrate their
victory was to eat a rousing good supper, and then they took charge of

the vessel, and sailed her triumphantly over the waters on which, not
many hours before, they had feared that a little boat would soon be
floating, filled with their emaciated bodies.
This most remarkable success of Peter the Great worked a great change,
of course, in the circumstances of himself and his men. But it worked a
greater change in the career, and possibly in the character of the captain.
He was now a very rich man, and all his followers had plenty of money.
The Spanish vessel was amply supplied with provisions, and there was
also on board a great quantity of gold bullion, which was to be shipped
to Spain. In fact, Peter and his men had booty enough to satisfy any
sensible pirate. Now we all know that sensible pirates, and people in
any sphere of life who are satisfied when they have enough, are very
rare indeed, and therefore it is not a little surprising that the bold
buccaneer, whose story we are now telling, should have proved that he
merited, in a certain way, the title his companions had given him.
Sailing his prize to the shores of Hispaniola, Peter put on shore all the
Spaniards whose services he did not desire. The rest of his prisoners he
compelled to help his men work the ship, and then, without delay, he
sailed away to France, and there he retired entirely from the business of
piracy, and set himself up as a gentleman of wealth and leisure.
Chapter