The ship struck:
the pirates went to hell, and you, gentlemen, were preserved to
order all things well in Virginia. May she long be grateful! The
man who dared that death rather than attack the ship he guessed to
be the Company's is my mortal foe, whom I will yet sweep from
my path, but he is not a pirate. Ay, take it down, an it please you,
Master Secretary! I retreat from a most choice position, to be sure,
but what care I? I see a vantage ground more to my liking. I have
lost a throw, perhaps, but I will recoup ten such losses with one
such kiss. By your leave, lady."
He went up to her where she stood, with hanging arms, her head a
little bent, white and cold and yielding as a lady done in snow;
gazed at her a moment, with his passion written in his fierce eyes
and haggard, handsome face; then crushed her to him.
If I could have struck him dead, I would have done so. When her
word had been kept, she released herself with a quiet and resolute
dignity. As for him, he sank back into the great chair beside the
Governor's, leaned an elbow on the table, and hid his eyes with one
shaking hand.
The Governor rose to his feet, and motioned away the two seamen
who held me fast. "We'll have no hanging this morning,
gentlemen," he announced. "Captain Percy, I beg to apologize to
you for words that were never meant for a brave and gallant
gentleman, but for a pirate who I find does not exist.
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