ow
I longed that he might kill that scoundrel Blackbeard! And all the time
he was your enemy, he was my enemy, he was a viler wretch than even the
bloody pirate who killed him. Oh, Kate, Kate! if I had but known."

"Miss Kate, if you please," said the girl. "And it is well, Dickory, you
did not know, for then you might have jumped upon him and stuck him in
the back, and that would have been dishonourable."

"He thought," said Dickory, not in the least abashed by his reproof,
"that the Revenge was commanded by your father, for he sprang upon the
deck, shouting for the captain, and when he saw Blackbeard I heard him
exclaim in surprise, 'A sugar-planter!'"

"And he would have killed my father?" said Kate, turning pale at the
thought.

"Yes," replied Dickory, "he would have killed any man except the great
Blackbeard. And to think of it! I stood there watching them, and wishing
that vile Englishman the victory. Oh, Kate! you should have seen that
wonderful pirate fight. No man could have stood before him." Then, with
sparkling eyes and waving arms, he told her of the combat. When he had
finished, the souls of these two young people were united in an
overpowering admiration, almost reverence, for the prowess and strength
of the wicked and bloody pirate who had slain the captain of the Badger.

When Mr. Delaplaine came on board, Kate, who had been waiting, took him
aside.

"Uncle," she exclaimed, "I have great news. Captain Vince is dead. At
last he came up with the Revenge, but instead of finding my father in
command he found Blackbeard, who killed him. Now my father is safe!"

The good man scarcely knew what to say to this bright-faced girl, whose
father's safety was all the world to her. If he had heard that his
worthless and wicked brother-in-law had been killed, it would have been
trouble and sorrow for the present, but it would have been peace for the
future. But he was a Christian gentleman and a loving uncle, and he
banished this thought from his heart. He listened to Kate as she rapidly
went on talking, but he did not hear her; his mind was busy with the
news he had to tell her--the news that she must give up her loving
search and go back with him to Spanish Town.

"And now, uncle," said Kate, "there's another thing I want to say to
you. Since this great grief has been lifted from my soul, since I know
that no wrathful and vindictive captain of a man-of-war is scouring the
seas, armed with authority to kill