If you were to go aboard a ship today in =NewYork and sail down through
the =Caribbean Sea, probably the worst thing that could happen to you would
be a storm that made you a little seasick. The chances are that most of your
trip would be one sunny day after another with nothing on the gently
rolling azure sea but an occasionally cruise ship just like yours.
But imagine for a moment that you are on the =Caribbean more than 200 years
ago. The sun is shining as brightly; the sea is as gentle and blue.
But instead of cruising leisurely in among the islands you are running back
to =NewYork with half a dozen chests of silver and gold which you have
received from selling a shipload of fine =NewEngland rum.  There is no other
way to get the money back home in the eighteenth century.




Captain =JamesFlood had a secret. He kept it well, so well that when he died his
secret almost died with him. In all his life Captain =Flood revealed his secret
to only one man, the first mate of his pirate ship. If he had not told his first
mate, we would not know his strange, evil story. But we do, and here it is --
the dark secret of Captain =Flood.
He came from =Jamaica, one of the major islands of the =Caribbean Sea.
Nothing else is known about his background. His story has come down to us
through a legend of the islands, passed on by generation after generation.
No one has ever found out what kind of life he led as a child, or how he came
to be a pirate.


Captain =JamesFlood spent most of his life protecting his big secret. Throughout
his career one thing was all-important: to keep the course of his voyages, his
activities, even his name hidden from those he robbed. He was the perfect example
of the kind of pirate who believed that the less known about him the better the
chances for continued success. Pirates like Captain =Flood were the kind who
believed in the famous saying, "Dead men tell no tales."
But there was another kind of pirate in those days. The second kind believed that the
more he got talked about, the better.


At =Blackbeard's shouted signal the men hoisted anchor and loosed sail. The pirate ship
slowly gathered way. While Lieutenant =Maynard and his sailors, and even some of
=Blackbeard's men, watched with surprise, =Blackbeard grabbed the helm and headed
his ship over toward the beach. Then, just as she seemed about to go aground, he
swung her gently around so she ran parallel to the shore. The sloop of war, running
down to cut her off, suddenly stopped as if she had reached the end of a rope. With
a creaking, grinding lurch she piled onto the sand bar.


=StedeBonnet was the luckiest pirate who ever lived -- while he lived.
More than 200 years ago, he was a wealthy plantation owner on the island of
=Barbados in the West =Indies, but he gave it all up to go apirating. He
had a fine mansion, acres of sugar cane, scores (perhaps more than a hundred)
of slaves, a stable of excellent horses and the respect of everyone on the
island. Yet he still left it all behind to go sailing over the horizon as an
outlaw.
He even paid for the building and outfitting of his pirate ship; he was probably
the only pirate in history who did not steal his first ship.



So =Bonnet turned and ran for the shallows. He well knew that he was taking the risk
of running aground. But he hoped to entice his pursuers onto the shoals too. Then
he would slip back into the channel and leave them floundering on one of the sand bars.
Gradually the =RoyalJames started edging into the shoal water, followed by the sloops
of war.
The plan worked. One of the sloops suddenly came to a halt, hard aground. Her men
had barely started shouting when the other sloop grounded too. Bonnet must have
smiled as he ordered the helm over so as to duck back into the deeper water.
But it was too late. With a sickening lurch the =RoyalJames rode up onto a sand bar
and stuck fast.


There were other "kindly" pirates. Probably the kindliest was one Captain =Misson, a
Frenchman who was being brought up to be an army officer by his father, until the young
student decided that he would rather go to sea. He was training in navigation at =Naples when
he made a holiday trip to =Rome. There he met Signor =Carracioli. The Signor was not only
responsible for =Misson's turning pirate, but he was also responsible for the crew they
got together becoming the strangest band of pirates who ever tossed a grappling hook.
In a ship provided by =Misson and named the =Victoire, they sailed for the West =Indies.


But his men would not agree. And they pleaded so convincingly and so long that he finally gave in.
He would take them out once again, he said, but only this once. If they threw their money away
after this cruise, they could starve for all he cared. This was absolutely the last time.
Off they sailed for the rich hunting grounds on the =Indian Ocean. At the entrance to the
=Red Sea, they lay in wait for the first Mocha ship to come through. With them waited another
pirate ship. Her captain was one =HenryEvery, another lucky pirate.



The leader of the delegation stepped forward and recited a speech of welcome. =Rogers thanked him.
He was glad to be here, he said. He had come to perform two important duties. One was to establish
law and order on the island. The other duty was to accept formally the surrender of any pirates who
wished to turn themselves in. For a few days any pirate could surrender, swear that he would never
turn to piracy again, and that would be that. There would be no punishment, so long as the man remained
a reformed pirate. This offer, of course, could hold only for a few days.