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Wolves of the Sea Being a Tale of the Colonies from the Manuscript of One Geoffry Carlyle, Seaman, Narrating Certain Strange Adventures Which Befell Him Aboard the Pirate Craft "Namur" By: Randall Parrish (1858-1923) |
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Being a Tale of the Colonies From the Manuscript of One Geoffry
Carlyle, Seaman, Narrating Certain Strange Adventures Which Befell Him
Aboard the Pirate Craft "Namur"
BY RANDALL PARRISH
Author of "When Wilderness Was King," "The Last Voyage of the Donna
Isabel" "Beyond the Frontier" "Contraband" etc.
Frontispiece By FRANK E. SCHOONOVER
1918
FOREWORD Anson Carlyle, aged twenty three, the ninth in descent from Captain
Geoffry Carlyle, of Glasgow, Scotland, was among the heroic Canadian
dead at Vimy Ridge. Unmarried, and the last of his line, what few
treasures he possessed fell into alien hands. Among these was a
manuscript, apparently written in the year 1687, and which, through
nine generations, had been carefully preserved, yet never made public.
The paper was yellowed and discolored by years, occasionally a page
was missing, and the writing itself had become almost indecipherable.
Much indeed had to be traced by use of a microscope. The writer was
evidently a man of some education, and clear thought, but exceedingly
diffuse, in accordance with the style of his time, and possessing
small conception of literary form. In editing this manuscript for
modern readers I have therefore been compelled to practically rewrite
it entirely, retaining merely the essential facts, with an occasional
descriptive passage, although I have conscientiously followed the
original development of the tale. In this reconstruction much
quaintness of language, as well as appeal to probability, may have
been lost, and for this my only excuse is the necessity of thus making
the story readable. I have no doubt as to its essential truth, nor do
I question the purpose which dominated this rover of the sea in his
effort to record the adventures of his younger life. As a picture of
those days of blood and courage, as well as a story of love and
devotion, I deem it worthy preservation, regretting only the
impossibility of now presenting it in print exactly as written by
Geoffry Carlyle. R.P.
CONTENTS I Sent into Servitude II The Prison Ship III Dorothy Fairfax IV The Shores of Virginia V The Waters of the Chesapeake VI Fairfax Speaks with Me VII The Lieutenant Unmasked VIII A Victory, and a Defeat IX A Swim to the Namur X On the Deck of the Namur XI The Return of the Boat XII A Friend in the Forecastle XIII I Accept a Proposal XIV I Warn Dorothy XV The Cabin of the Namur XVI In Dorothy's Stateroom XVII A Murder on Board XVIII A New Conspiracy XIX Laying the Trap XX The Deck Is Ours XXI In Full Possession XXII The Crew Decides XXIII The Prisoners Escape XXIV In Clasp of the Sea XXV The Open Boat XXVI A Floating Coffin XXVII On Board the Slaver XXVIII A New Plan of Escape XXIX A Struggle in the Dark XXX Opening the Treasure Chest XXXI The Boat Attack XXXII The Last of the Namur XXXIII Before the Governor
WOLVES OF THE SEA
CHAPTER I
SENT INTO SERVITUDE
Knowing this to be a narrative of unusual adventure, and one which may
never even be read until long after I have departed from this world,
when it will be difficult to convince readers that such times as are
herein depicted could ever have been reality, I shall endeavor to
narrate each incident in the simplest manner possible. My only purpose
is truth, and my only witness history. Yet, even now lately as this
all happened it is more like the recollections of a dream, dimly
remembered at awakening, and, perchance, might remain so, but for the
scars upon my body, and the constant memory of a woman's face. These
alone combine to bring back in vividness those days that were days of
youth and daring, of desperate, lawless war, of wide ocean peril, and
the outstretched hands of love. So that here, where I am writing it
all down, here amid quietness and peace, and forgetful of the past, I
wander again along a deserted shore, and sail among those isles of a
southern sea, the home for many a century of crime and unspeakable
cruelty. I will recall the truth, and can do no more... Continue reading book >>
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