oned
lanthorn digging for treasure in the graveyard; and those who professed
to know said he was the tallest of men, with full black beard, coppery
face, and such evil eyes, that any who once met their gaze must die
within a year. However that might be, there were few in Moonfleet who
would not rather walk ten miles round than go near the churchyard after
dark; and once when Cracky Jones, a poor doited body, was found there
one summer morning, lying dead on the grass, it was thought that he had
met Blackbeard in the night.

Mr. Glennie, who knew more about such things than anyone else, told me
that Blackbeard was none other than a certain Colonel John Mohune,
deceased about one hundred years ago. He would have it that Colonel
Mohune, in the dreadful wars against King Charles the First, had deserted
the allegiance of his house and supported the cause of the rebels. So
being made Governor of Carisbrooke Castle for the Parliament, he became
there the King's jailer, but was false to his trust. For the King,
carrying constantly hidden about his person a great diamond which had
once been given him by his brother King of France, Mohune got wind of
this jewel, and promised that if it were given him he would wink at His
Majesty's escape. Then this wicked man, having taken the bribe, plays
traitor again, comes with a file of soldiers at the hour appointed for
the King's flight, finds His Majesty escaping through a window, has him
away to a stricter ward, and reports to the Parliament that the King's
escape is only prevented by Colonel Mohune's watchfulness. But how true,
as Mr. Glennie said, that we should not be envious against the ungodly,
against the man that walketh after evil counsels. Suspicion fell on
Colonel Mohune; he was removed from his Governorship, and came back to
his home at Moonfleet. There he lived in seclusion, despised by both
parties in the State, until he died, about the time of the happy
Restoration of King Charles the Second. But even after his death he could
not get rest; for men said that he had hid somewhere that treasure given
him to permit the King's escape, and that not daring to reclaim it, had
let the secret die with him, and so must needs come out of his grave to
try to get at it again. Mr. Glennie would never say whether he believed
the tale or not, pointing out that apparitions both of good and evil
spirits are related in Holy Scripture, but that the churchyard was an
unlikely spot for Colonel Mo