Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate's Daughter

by Frank Richard Stockton

  CHAPTER X

  CAPTAIN CHRISTOPHER VINCE

  It was truly surprising to see the change which came over the spirits ofour young Kate Bonnet when she heard that the King and Queen had sailedfrom Kingston port. She was gay, she was talkative, she sang songs, sheskipped in the paths of the garden. One might have supposed she was sohappy to get rid of the young man on the brig which had sailed away. Andyet, the news she might hear when that young man came back was likely tobe far worse than any misgivings which had entered her mind. Kate's highspirits delighted her uncle. This child of his sister had grown morelovely than even her mother had ever been.

  Now came days of delight which Kate had never dreamed of. She had notknown that there were such shops in Spanish Town, which, although ayoungish town, had already drawn to itself the fashion and the needs offashion of that prosperous colony. With Dame Charter, and often alsowith her uncle in company, this bright young girl hovered over fairfabrics which were spread before her; circled about jewels, gems, andfeathers, and revelled in tender colours as would a butterfly among theblossoms, dipping and tasting as she flew.

  There were some fine folk in Spanish Town, and with this pleasantsociety of the capital Mr. Delaplaine renewed his previous intercourseand Kate soon learned the pleasures of a colonial social circle, whoseattractions, brought from afar, had been warmed into a more cheerfulglow in this bright West Indian atmosphere.

  To add to the brilliancy of the new life into which Kate now entered,there came into the port an English corvette--the Badger--for refitting.From this welcome man-of-war there flitted up the river to Spanish Towngallant officers, young and older; and in their flitting they flittedinto the drawing-room of the rich merchant Delaplaine, and there weresome of them who soon found that there were no drawing-rooms in all thetown where they could talk with, walk with, and perchance dance withsuch a fine girl as Mistress Kate Bonnet.

  Kate greatly fancied gallant partners, whether for walking or talking ordancing, and among such, those which came from the corvette in theharbour pleased her most.

  Those were not bright days for Dame Charter. Do what she would, heroptimism was growing dim, and what helped to dim it was Kate's gaiety.It did not comfort her at all when Kate told her that she was solight-hearted because she knew that Dickory would bring her good news.

  "Truly, too many fine young men here," thought Dame Charter, "whileDickory is away, and all of them together are not worth a curl on hishead."

  But, although her dreams were dimmed, she did not cease dreaming. Astout-hearted woman was Dickory's mother.

  But it was not long before there were other people thereabout who beganto feel that their prospects for present enjoyment were beginning tolook a little dim, for Captain Christopher Vince, having met MistressKate Bonnet at an entertainment at the Governor's house, was greatlystruck by this young lady. Each officer of the Badger who saw theircaptain in company with the fair one to whom their gallant attentionshad been so freely offered, now felt that in love as well as inaccordance with the regulations of the service, he must give place tohis captain. Moreover, when that captain took upon himself, the verynext day, to call at the residence of Mr. Delaplaine, and repeated thevisit upon the next day and the following, the crestfallen young fellowswere compelled to acknowledge that there were other houses in the townwhere it might be better worth their while to spend their leisure hours.

  Captain Vince was not a man to be lightly interfered with, whether hehappened to be engaged in the affairs of Mars or Cupid. He was of aresolute mind, and of a person more than usually agreeable to the femaleeye. He was about forty years of age, of an excellent English family,and with good expectations. He considered himself an admirable judge ofwomen, but he had never met one who so thoroughly satisfied hisaesthetic taste as this fair niece of the merchant Delaplaine. She hadbeauty, she had wit, she had culture, and the fair fabrics of SpanishTown shops gave to her attractions a setting which would have amazed andentranced Master Newcombe or our good Dickory. The soul of Captain Vincewas fired, and each time he met Kate and talked with her the fire grewbrighter.

  He had never considered himself a marrying man, but that was because hehad never met any one he had cared to marry. Now things were changed.Here was a girl he had known but for a few days, and already, in hisimagination, he had placed her in the drawing-rooms of the English homehe hoped soon to inherit, more beautiful and even more like a princessthan any noble dame who was likely to frequent those rooms. In fancy hehad seen her by his side, walking through the shaded alleys of his grandold gardens; he had looked proudly upon her as she stood by him in theassemblages of the great; in fact, he had fallen suddenly and absolutelyin love with her. When he was away from her he could not quiteunderstand this condition of things, but when he was with her again heunderstood it all. He loved her because it was absolutely impossible forhim to do anything else.

  Naturally, Captain Vince was very agreeable to Mistress Kate, for shehad never seen such a handsome man, taking into consideration hisuniform and his bearing, and had never talked with one who knew so wellwhat to say and how to say it. Comparing him with the young officers whohad been so fond of making their way to her uncle's house, she was gladthat they had ceased to be such frequent visitors.

  The soul of Mr. Delaplaine was agitated by the admiration of his niecewhich Captain Vince took no trouble to conceal. The worthy merchantwould gladly have kept Kate with him for years and years if she wouldhave been content to stay, but this could not be expected; and if shemarried, from what other quarter could come such a brilliant match asthis? What his brother-in-law might think about it he did not care; ifKate should choose to wed the captain, such an eccentric anduntrustworthy person should not be permitted to interfere with thedestiny that now appeared to open before his daughter. These thoughtswere not so idle as might have been supposed, for the captain hadalready said things to the merchant, in which the circumstances of theformer were made plain and his hopes foreshadowed. If the captain werenot prepared to leave the service, this rich merchant thought, whyshould not he make it possible for him to do so, for the sake of hisdear niece?

  With these high ambitions in his mind, the happily agitated Mr.Delaplaine did not hesitate to say some playful words to Kate concerningthe captain of the Badger; and these having been received quietly, hewas emboldened to go on and say some other words more serious.

  Then Kate looked at him very steadfastly and remarked: "But, uncle, youhave forgotten Master Newcombe."

  The good Delaplaine made no answer, for his emotions made it impossiblefor him to do so, but, rising, he went out, and at a little distancefrom the house he damned Master Newcombe.

  Days passed on and the captain's attentions did not wane. Mr.Delaplaine, who was a man of honour expecting it in others, made up hismind that something decisive must soon be said; while Kate began greatlyto fear that something decisive might soon be said. She was in adifficult position. She was not engaged to Martin Newcombe, but hadbelieved she might be. The whole affair involved a question which shedid not want to consider. And still the captain came every day,generally in the afternoon or evening.

  But one morning he made his appearance, coming to the house quiteabruptly.

  "I am glad to find you by yourself," said he, "for I have some awkwardnews."

  Kate looked at him surprised.

  "I have just been ordered on duty," he continued, "and the order is mostunwelcome. A brig came in last night and brought letters, and theGovernor sent for me this morning. I have just left him. The cruise I amabout to take may not be a long one, but I cannot leave port withoutcoming here to you and speaking to you of something which is nearer tomy heart than any thought of service, or in fact of anything else."

  "Speaking to my uncle, you mean," said Kate, now much disturbed, for shesaw in the captain's eyes what he wished to talk of.

  "Away with uncles!" he exclaimed; "we can speak with them by-and-bye;now my words are for you. You may think me hasty, but we gentlemenserving
the king cannot afford to wait; and so, without other pause, Isay, sweet Mistress Kate, I love you, better than I have ever lovedwoman; better than I can ever love another. Nay, do not answer; I musttell you everything before you reply." And to the pale girl he spoke ofhis family, his prospects, and his hopes. In the warmest colours he laidbefore her the life and love he would give her. Then he went quickly on:"This is but a little matter which is given to my charge, and it may notengage me long; I am going out in search of a pirate, and I shall makeshort work of him. The shorter, having such good reason to get quicklyback.

  "In fact, he is not a real pirate anyway, being but a country gentlemantiring of his rural life and liking better to rob, burn, and murder onthe high seas. He has already done so much damage, that if his evilcareer be not soon put an end to good people will be afraid to voyage inthese waters. So I am to sail in haste after this fellow Bonnet; butbefore--"

  Kate's face had grown so white that it seemed to recede from her greateyes. "He is my father," said she, "but I had not heard until now thathe is a pirate!"

  The captain started from his chair. "What!" he cried, "your father? Yes,I see. It did not strike me until this instant that the names are thesame."

  Kate rose, and as she spoke her voice was not full and clear as it waswont to be. "He is my father," she said, "but he sailed away withouttelling me his errand; but now that I know everything, I must--" If shehad intended to say she must go, she changed her mind, and even camecloser to the still astounded captain. "You say that you will make shortwork of his vessel; do you mean that you will destroy it, and will youkill him?"

  "He is my father!" said Kate.]

  Captain Vince looked down upon her, his face filled with the liveliestemotions. "My dear young lady," he said, and then he stopped as ifnot knowing what words to use. But as he looked into her eyes fixedupon his own and waiting for his answer, his love for her tookpossession of him and banished all else. "Kill him," he exclaimed,"never! He shall be as safe in my hands as if he were walking in his ownfields. Kill your father, dearest? Loving you as I do, that would beimpossible. I may take the rascals who are with him, I may string themup to the yard-arm, or I may sink their pirate ship with all of them init, but your father shall be safe. Trust me for that; he shall come tono harm from me."

  She stepped a little way from him, and some of her colour came back. Forsome moments she looked at him without speaking, as if she did notexactly comprehend what he had said.

  "Yes, my dear," he continued, "I must crush out that piratical crew, forsuch is my duty as well as my wish, but your father I shall take undermy protection; so have no fear about him, I beg you. With his ship andhis gang of scoundrels taken away from him, he can no longer be apirate, and you and I will determine what we shall do with him."

  "You mean," said Kate, speaking slowly, "that for my sake you willshield my father from the punishment which will be dealt out to hiscompanions?"

  He smiled, and his face beamed upon her. "What blessed words," heexclaimed. "Yes, for your sake, for your sweet, dear sake I will doanything; and as for this matter, I assure you there are so many ways--"

  "You mean," she interrupted, "that for my sake you will break your oathof office, that you will be a traitor to your service and your king?That for my sake you will favour the fortunes of a pirate whom you aresent out to destroy? Mean it if you please, but you will not do it. Ilove my father, and would fain do anything to save him and myself fromthis great calamity, but I tell you, sir, that for my sake no man shalldo himself dishonour!"

  Without power to say another word, nor to keep back for another secondthe anguish which raged within her, she fled like a bird and was gone.

  The captain stretched out his arms as if he would seize her; he rushedto the door through which she had passed, but she was gone. He followedher, shouting to the startled servants who came; he swore, and demandedto see their mistress; he rushed through rooms and corridors, and evenmade as if he would mount the stairs. Presently a woman came to him, andtold him that under no circumstances could Mistress Bonnet now be seen.

  But he would not leave the house. He called for writing materials, butin an instant threw down the pen. Again he called a servant and sent amessage, which was of no avail. Dame Charter would have gone down tohim, but Kate was in her arms. For several minutes the furious officerstood by the chair in which Kate had been sitting; he could notcomprehend the fact that this girl had discarded and had scorned him.And yet her scorn had not in the least dampened the violence of hislove. As she stood and spoke her last bitter words, the grandeur of herbeauty had made him speechless to defend himself.

  He seized his hat and rushed from the house; hot, and with blazing eyes,he appeared in the counting-room of Mr. Delaplaine, and there, to thatastounded merchant, he told, with brutal cruelty, of his orders todestroy the pirate Bonnet, his niece's father; and then he related thedetails of his interview with that niece herself.

  Mr. Delaplaine's countenance, at first shocked and pained, grewgradually sterner and colder. Presently he spoke. "I will hear no moresuch words, Captain Vince," he said, "regarding the members of myfamily. You say my niece knows not what fortune she trifles with; Ithink she does. And when she told you she would not accept the offer ofyour dishonour, I commend her every word."

  Captain Vince frowned black as night, and clapped his hand to hissword-hilt; but the pale merchant made no movement of defence, and thecaptain, striking his clinched fist against the table, dashed from theroom. Before he reached his ship he had sworn a solemn oath: he vowedthat he would follow that pirate ship; he would kill, burn, destroy,annihilate, but out of the storm and the fire he would pick unharmed thefather of the girl who had entranced him and had spurned him. He laughedsavagely as he thought of it. With that dolt of a father in his hands, aman wearing always around his neck the hangman's noose, he would holdthe card which would give him the game. What Mistress Kate Bonnet mightsay or do; what she might like or might not like; what her ideas abouthonour might be or might not be, it would be a very different thing whenhe, her imperious lover, should hold the end of that noose in his hand.She might weep, she might rave, but come what would, she was the man'sdaughter, and she would be Lady Vince.

  So he went on board the Badger, and he cursed and he commanded and heraged; and his officers and his men, when the hurried violence of hiscommands gave them a chance to speak to each other, muttered that theypitied that pirate and his crew when the Badger came up with them.

  Clouds settled down upon the home of Mr. Delaplaine. There were novisitors, there was no music, there seemed to be no sunshine. Thebeautiful fabrics, the jewels, and the feathers were seen no more. Itwas Kate of the broken heart who wandered under the trees and among theblossoms, and knew not that there existed such things as cooling shadeand sweet fragrance. She could not be comforted, for, although her uncletold her that he had had information that her father's ship had sailednorthward, and that it was, therefore, likely that the corvette wouldnot overtake him, she could not forget that, whatever of good or evilbefell that father, he was a pirate, and he had deserted her.

  So they said but little, the uncle and the niece, who sorrowed quietly.

  Dame Charter was in a strange state of mind. During the frequent visitsof Captain Vince she had been apprehensive and troubled, and her onlycomfort was that the Badger had merely touched at this port to refit,and that she must soon sail away and take with her her captain. The goodwoman had begun to expect and to hope for the return of Dickory, butlater she had blessed her stars that he was not there. He was a fieryboy, her brave son, but it would have been a terrible thing for him tobecome involved with an officer in the navy, a man with a long, keensword.

  Now that the captain had raged himself away from the Delaplaine househer spirits rose, and her great fear was that the corvette might notleave port before the brig came in. If Dickory should hear of the thingsthat captain had said--but she banished such thoughts from her mind, shecould not bear them.

  After som
e days the corvette sailed, and the Governor spoke well of thediligence and ardour which had urged Captain Vince to so quickly set outupon his path of duty.

  "When Dickory comes back," said Dame Charter to Kate, "he may bring somenews to cheer your poor heart, things get so twisted in the telling."

  Kate shook her head. "Dickory cannot tell me anything now," she said,"that I care to know, knowing so much. My father is a pirate, and aking's ship has gone out to destroy him, and what could Dickory tell methat would cheer me?"

  But Dame Charter's optimism was beginning to take heart again and tospread its wings.

  "Ah, my dear, you don't know what good things do in this lifecontinually crop up. A letter from your father, possibly withheld bythat wicked Madam Bonnet--which is what Dickory and I both think--orsome good words from the town that your father has sold his ship, and ison his way home. Nobody knows what good news that Dickory may bring withhim."

  The poor girl actually smiled. She was young, and in the heart of youththere is always room for some good news, or for the hope of them.

  But the smile vanished altogether when she went to her room and wrote aletter to Martin Newcombe. In this letter, which was a long one, shetold her lover how troubled she had been. That she had nothing now toask him about the bad news he had, in his kindness, forborne to tellher, and that when he saw Dickory Charter he might say to him from herthat there was no need to make any further inquiries about her father;she knew enough, and far too much--more, most likely, than any one inBridgetown knew. Then she told him of Captain Vince and the dreadfulerrand of the corvette Badger.

  Having done this, Kate became as brave as any captain of a Britishman-of-war, and she told her lover that he must think no more of her; itwas not for him to pay court to the daughter of a pirate. And so, sheblessed him and bade him farewell.

  When she had signed and sealed this letter she felt as if she had tornout a chapter of her young life and thrown it upon the fire.