Friends and cousins

by Abbie Farwell Brown

Now, this stranger was a fishing-boat named the Mary Ann. She was a Maine fishing-boat, like your father’s, Tom Prout, and she was on her way home from the Banks with a cargo of fish. The captain, whose name was Tobey, was frightened out of his wits when he saw the black flag flying at the mast of Captain Kidd’s vessel. Of course, he knew what this meant. If he were captured by the pirate ship he should never see his home and dear little children again. So he put about, and the Mary Ann scuttled away for dear life, without stopping to say “Howdy.”

When Captain Kidd saw the other boat go about, he grinned a dreadful grin and said,—

“Oho! You are running away, are you? Well, that must mean that you have some precious treasure aboard. Let’s after them, my hearties, and give them a chase.”

You see, he was greedy as well as cruel. Already he had more treasure than he knew what to do with, but he longed for more. This was just like a pirate—I beg your pardon, Captain Bulldog! I forgot again.

Now began an exciting chase through the fog. The little Mary Ann was a fast boat, and for a time she kept ahead of the pirate ship, which could barely see her scudding like a sea-gull through the fog. But finally poor Captain Tobey saw that the pirate ship was gaining on him, and his heart sank. Alas! what could he do? He thought of his children at home, and the tears filled his eyes.

Suddenly he had an idea! He knew every rock and shoal in the bay, which was full of rocks and shoals. He remembered that there must be a reef close by, a reef which came almost to the surface of the sea. Until one was quite close he would not see it, hidden by this fog. Captain Tobey steered straight for the place where he knew that reef must be, straight to a froth of white foam.

The pirate ship followed where he led and came on, gaining every minute. Now Captain Tobey held his breath. They were in the waves that broke upon the reef! But the Mary Ann went safely over without touching, because she was so small. And the big vessel flying the black flag came close after her.

Crash! Smash! “Hurrah!” came a shout from the Mary Ann. “Hurrah! Good-by!” The pirate ship was stuck fast on the reef, and the waves were beating her to pieces. But Captain Tobey did not wait to see what happened. He was too eager to get home to his wife and babies. The Mary Ann disappeared silently through the fog, scudding towards a harbor miles away.

But there was excitement indeed on board the pirate ship. The pirates went running to and fro, shouting and waving their arms, crazy with fear. They tumbled into the long boats as fast as they could, without thinking anything about their treasure, only of their precious lives. But Captain Kidd was different. He cared more for his treasure than for anything.

“The mate and I will shift for ourselves!” he shouted. “Leave my boat!” He knew he could not save everything, there was such a vast deal of gold and silver and heavy plate in the ship. But he ran to his own cabin and brought out a little wooden box bound in iron. It was full of the most precious treasure of all,—diamonds and rubies, sapphires and emeralds, and precious stones of every color.