girl, and once more his
tears burst forth, mingled with prayers for her, and the most bitter
curses upon her destroyers.

He raised one hand to his face as though to brush his tears away, and we
then noticed for the first time--horror upon horror!--that his fingers
had all been cut, or rather _hacked_ out, at the knuckle-joints, the
wounds still slowly bleeding.

He saw our looks of compassion, and said, as if in reply:

"Ah, gentlemen, willingly would I have submitted to be torn limb from
limb by the demons, had they but spared my poor Rose--my darling, my
only daughter."

After another short pause, he began:

"It was about midnight, last night, that we noticed a sail ahead of us,
which was duly reported. There was not very much wind at the time, and
she did not near us until about six bells. As she closed with us, her
movements became so suspicious that I ordered the arm-chest on deck,
called all hands, and served out the pistols and cutlasses to them.

"Our suspicions were very shortly confirmed, for when she was within a
cable's length of us she sheered suddenly alongside, and about fifty men
leaped from her on to our deck. Our poor fellows gave them a warm
reception; but they were all quickly cut down, and in about three
minutes the pirates had the ship. They immediately began to plunder
her, and a band of the most ruffianly of them, headed by their captain,
made for the cabin. Seeing that all was lost, my son--his body lies at
the door there--and I rushed in here, to make a desperate stand in
defence of my daughter.

"The poor fellow killed three of them, whilst I severely wounded others;
but he was shot down, and I fell, exhausted with the wounds I had
already received. My poor girl was soon discovered and dragged from her
berth.

"The chief then questioned me as to our cargo, where we were from, and
so on; and believing that treasure was concealed somewhere in the ship,
he mutilated me thus," holding up his fingerless hands, "to force me to
reveal its hiding-place. We had none, but he would not be convinced;
and when my daughter also denied the existence of any treasure on board,
the villain deliberately shot her before my eyes!

"They then ransacked the cabin, turned out the lockers, and drank and
sang, until the mate, I suppose, of the pirate came in and reported that
everything of value was transferred to the brig; when the leader--whom I
once or twice heard addressed as Johnson,"--Bob and