About the grandest birthday present one could get was given me by Don. It was his favorite sword, a real old time cutlass which perhaps was used by pirates. He called it “Fury” and got up an awfully funny card to go with it.
And Dwight Franklin made me a lovely drawing of the beach at Cocos back in the old days, with a regular pirate landing on it from his ship. That picture is used at the end of my book.
Cocos Island is really a wonderful place for a pirate party anyway, for real pirates were there many times, and maybe men were marooned there, or left there, and mutinies occurred. Treasure was buried there. Along the beach where ships came for fresh water, there are carvings on the rocks, ship’s names and dates, many of them old and back as far as 1813. There were names of famous whaling [[102]]ships, and one, The Shrew, was a real pirate ship but the date was not given with that one, probably on purpose.
Don’s Birthday Card.
To: David Putnam
pirate, artist, writer adventurer and sportsman, shipmate and best friend
AS BIRTHDAY GREETING & IN TOKEN OF MY ESTEEM I HEREBY PRESENT
MY GOOD SWORD
“FURY”
WHICH HAS DONE ME FAITHFUL SERVICE & BEEN MY VERY MOST CONSTANT COMPANION ALWAYS IN CRUISING AT SEA AND ASHORE, ALSO IN HOSPITAL AND IN GAOL, IN CARNIVALS AND IN THE GOTHAM TOMBS, IN ye SKULL & BONES TAVERN ye BLACK STAR INN of PE QUOT MANOR, SHARK’S TOOTH, & YE PIRATE’S DEN
WHEREFORE I HAVE SET MY MARK THIS TWENTIETH DAY OF MAY 1925
SAILOR’S MONUMENT BEACH CHATHAM BAY COCOS ISLE
Don Dickerman
CORSAIR CAPTAIN