hat the former inhabitants of Barrataria, in
consequence of having abandoned their wicked ways of life, and having
assisted in the defence of their country, were now granted full pardon
for all the evil deeds they had previously committed.

Now Lafitte and his men were free and independent citizens of the United
States; they could live where they pleased without fear of molestation,
and could enter into any sort of legal business which suited their
fancy, but this did not satisfy Lafitte. He had endeavored to take a
prompt and honest stand on the side of his country; his offers had been
treated with contempt and disbelief; he had been branded as a deceitful
knave, and no disposition had been shown to act justly toward him until
his services became so necessary to the government that it was obliged
to accept them.

Consequently, Lafitte, accompanied by some of his old adherents,
determined to leave a country where his loyalty had received such
unsatisfactory recognition, and to begin life again in some other part
of the American continent. Not long after the war he sailed out upon the
Gulf of Mexico,--for what destination it is not known, but probably for
some Central American port,--and as nothing was ever heard of him or his
party, it is believed by many persons that they all perished in the
great storm which arose soon after their departure. There were other
persons, however, who stated that he reached Yucatan, where he died on
dry land in 1826.

But the end of Lafitte is no more doubtful than his right to the title
given to him by people of a romantic turn of mind, and other persons of
a still more fanciful disposition might be willing to suppose that the
Gulf of Mexico, indignant at the undeserved distinction which had come
to him, had swallowed him up in order to put an end to his pretension to
the title of "The Pirate of the Gulf."

Chapter XXXI

The Pirate of the Buried Treasure

Among all the pirates who have figured in history, legend, or song,
there is one whose name stands preeminent as the typical hero of the
dreaded black flag. The name of this man will instantly rise in the mind
of almost every reader, for when we speak of pirates we always think of
Captain Kidd.

In fact, however, Captain Kidd was not a typical pirate, for in many
ways he was different from the ordinary marine freebooter, especially
when we consider him in relation to our own country. All other pirates
who made themselves