A little later, Captain Jamison arrived to make his report, and was received with acclaims and congratulations. Whereat, the honest sailor was vastly surprised, not imagining that they were aware of what had happened on the river. He brought with him the bags of gold and the silver which, he said, he supposed was the ransom money Marbury had paid the pirates, it having been found at the landing, where they had left it in their eagerness to recover their ship.  
When questioned, as to how he had got possession of the ship, he told the story:
 
"I sailed into the Patuxent, with a good breeze on the port quarter, and came in sight of the landing, at about six bells of the dog-watch. I noticed a brig lying close in to the dock that was strange to me, and, on coming nearer, I hove to and hailed her. She didn't answer, nor could I see any one aboard, so I hailed again—and a third time. Then a man appeared from below, and, to my fourth hail, responded something in a jargon I could not understand. I did not like the look of the ship, anyway, and this made me suspicious. I could see that she carried two Long-Toms, had a great expanse of sail, and was built to go a very fast clip. When[Pg 161] further hails were ignored, I ordered out a boat and proceeded to board her, with six men. How we managed it is of no moment. Suffice it to say, we got aboard with the loss of one man dead and one wounded, and found only two defenders. We strung them both up to the yard-arm, and took possession. It was a pirate, right enough. I supposed its crew were raiding the Hall, sir, and I was just preparing to go to your assistance, when I saw them returning. I, of course, did not know how far they had succeeded, and I made ready to receive them. You know with what results. It was a pretty little fight. The pirate chief—at least, I made him so—alone managed to get aboard, and had killed two of my men, when I knocked him over from behind with a belaying pin. He stepped aside, at the moment, sufficiently to save his head and catch it on the shoulder. Hence, a broken collar bone instead of a broken skull. He is not much hurt. I've locked him up in the cabin, and put a guard over him. With your permission, Mr. Marbury, I'll have him up at the end of a rope to join his comrades, as soon as I get back. A dead pirate is the only safe one."
 
"I think I would not be so hasty," said Marbury, with a smile. "Do you know who he is?"
 
"Not I, sir. A pirate's a pirate—the quicker he's dead the better for honest men."
 
"You forget the reward—there must be at least[Pg 162] five hundred pounds on his head. Long-Sword is worth his weight in gold."
 
"Long-Sword, did you say? Long-Sword the Corsair?"
 
Marbury nodded. "It is the name he gave me."
 
Jamison emitted a whistle of surprise.
 
"Well I should say he is a gold mine—it's a thousand guineas reward he is. I'll carry him straight to Annapolis—with your honor's permission, of course—and we shall see him doing the gallows dance according to the King's justice. Ho, ho! Ho, ho! I think I'll be quitting the sea, sir, and settling down.... Long-Sword! May the Lord save me! I must go and put him in double irons, at once. He may have a broken collar bone, and be locked in the cabin, but nothing but double irons will hold him safe."
 
"And what of the pirate ship?" asked Parkington. "If Long-Sword is a prize, it should be a veritable treasure house."
 
"I purposely refrained from examining her," Jamison answered. "I left that for Mr. Marbury."
 
"I will come down, presently," said Marbury. "Meanwhile, you may proceed with making an inventory of the booty aboard."
 
Jamison saluted and departed. The party finished the meal, and went out on the lawn. The dead had been taken away for burial, and the evidences of the late struggle were being removed.
 
[Pg 163]
 
"I hope the house party is not ended," said George Marbury. "The ladies can come back, and, I am sure, feel perfectly safe."
 
"I fancy that is for the ladies to decide," said Snowden:—"though I am quite willing for Mrs. Snowden to return. We, at least, have seen the last of the pirates, I imagine."
 
The other men had the same opinion, though Herford thought that he would much prefer to have killed all the pirates, and not had a bunch running loose in the vicinity.
 
"There is no danger to us," said Plater. "They will get out of the neighborhood about as fast as they can. They may do some marauding, on the march, but it will not be twice in the same place—and it will not be anything that will require time. They are in too great a hurry. I will wager, that they have already separated in twos and threes, to foregather at an appointed place—York or thereabouts. I too am quite willing for Mrs. Plater to return."
 
And so it was, that he and Snowden and Constable were designated to go to Rose Hill and bring the ladies back—it being understood that nothing be said to them of the pirates' second attack.
 
A little later, Marbury set out for the dock to inspect the pirate ship. As he was going down the steps, Parkington called to him, that, if he had no objection, he would be glad to accompany him.
 
[Pg 164]
 
"Come along, sir," he answered—"but I think, if the others do not mind, they would better remain to welcome the ladies, and insure that the house is here for them—there is just a chance that the pirates may return."
 
"Is not this attack most unusual?" Sir Edward asked, as they came in sight of the landing.
 
"It is more than unusual—it is extraordinary. We have not known of a pirate north of the West Indies for forty years—and, as for one venturing inside the Capes, I fancy, it is not in the memory of man. Of course, we had heard of Long-Sword, as the most notorious buccaneer on the old Spanish Main; but that is far from the Chesapeake. We never thought to see him here, sir."
 
"I think I should like to talk with him," said Parkington. "It will be quite an interesting experience."
 
Marbury laughed. "You will be all the rage in London—the man who spoke with Long-Sword—and survived!"
 
"I am not so sure as to London—and I care nothing for being the rage. It is the novelty of the thing that takes me."
 
"Well, you may quiz him to your heart's content, and I think you will find him, outwardly at least, a gentleman. He impressed me as being of superior birth—however much he may have backslid in his calling—and his manners are the equal of your own."
 
[Pg 165]
 
Jamison had seen them coming down the avenue, and had sent a boat ashore for them. He had not allowed any at the landing, he explained, lest the pirates return, and make trouble.
 
"Sir Edward Parkington wants to see Long-Sword," said Marbury. "Is he in the cabin, or have you had him taken below."
 
"He is in the cabin, sir," Jamison answered. "I concluded to put the irons only on his legs—I think that will hold him. If you will step here, sir, I will admit you."
 
He unlocked the cabin door, and pushed it open, and motioned the guard away.
 
"Long-Sword, here is Sir Edward Parkington, who would speak with you," he said.—"You will excuse me, sir, I must join Mr. Marbury."
 
Parkington nodded, and stepped within. The pirate turned, slowly, on the bunk.
 
"You will pardon me for not rising," he said; "I am a trifle indisposed," and he indicated the irons. "How can I serve you?"
 
"Say rather how I can serve you?" Parkington replied.
 
Long-Sword laughed shortly. "By finishing what that merchantman bungled—make an end of me, or permit me to make an end of myself."
 
"You are depressed—a most unusual thing for you."
 
"Eh—what's that!" the other ejaculated—"a most unusual thing for me!—who are you?"
 
[Pg 166]
 
"A friend," said Sir Edward.
 
"I caught your name as Parkington, did I not?"
 
"You did."
 
"Then I do not even know you, sir—how can you be a friend?"
 
"Is foreknowledge a prerequisite to friendship?" Sir Edward asked.
 
"Marry, yes; and even then it is a rare article," said the pirate with a sneer. "I am a victim of that same friendship, so you will permit me to doubt."
 
"Yes, I know; the faithless friend and the disloyal wife. I——"
 
"Who are you, sir! Come out of the shadow, if you are not afraid to show yourself, I cannot hurt you, now!"
 
"Brandon," said Parkington, stepping into the light, "you have, I fear, reached the end of your string."
 
"De Lysle!" exclaimed the wounded man. "May the Devil take me! What do you here—and under a false name? Did England get too warm for you?"
 
Parkington nodded. "Something of the sort; so I borrowed another's—a dead man's—for the time."
 
Brandon laughed, grimly. "Methinks your string is little longer than my own—though I wish you success with the game you are playing, whatever it is."
 
[Pg 167]
 
Parkington took a low stool, from the corner, and sat down.
 
"The immediate point is to lengthen your string," he said.
 
"You will help me to escape?" the other asked.
 
"Yes—I have not forgot the old days, Charles."
 
Brandon looked at him thoughtfully.
 
"Why?" he asked, "what is the quid pro quo?"
 
"Nothing whatever, but past deeds. You forget the risk is mine. I put myself in your power, when I came here. A word from you, and I am undone."
 
"A word from the pirate, taken red-handed? Oh, no! But I will grant anything you ask, in reason and out. I may not cavil with the noose before my nose."
 
"Wait, then, until I ask it!" laughed Parkington. "How is your wounded shoulder."
 
"It is nothing—only a broken collar-bone. I have led many a boarding party with worse. It is these damn things that weigh me down," indicating the irons.
 
"You could swim to shore, if they were off?" queried Parkington.
 
"Easily. Besides, if I fail, I win anyway."
 
"And the key to the irons is in Jamison's pocket! Well, it shall be my business to abstract it. And, then, having got it to you, the rest depends upon yourself—aided by my prayers."
 
"If it is just the same to you, I would prefer[Pg 168] you stopped with the key," said Brandon. "I doubt the efficacy of your prayers."
 
"So be it—I will leave the praying to you."
 
"How long am I to be kept here?" asked Brandon.
 
"Only a day or two, I believe. It is the purpose of Captain Jamison to carry you to Annapolis for trial."
 
"And, in the meantime, you will try for the key?"
 
"I shall try for the key before I leave the ship," said Parkington. "What troubles me, is an excuse to come back to you when I have it.... Brandon, how long have you been doing—this?"
 
"You mean, how long have I been sailing under the Jolly Roger? Four years, this spring. It was down in Havana. I fell in with a Captain Sparks. From cards to a duel was an easy transition. I killed Sparks, and, for want of something better to do, I seized his ship, put my sword through his mate—who questioned my authority—and ruled in his stead."
 
"And took the soubriquet of Long-Sword."
 
"The men gave me the name for want of a better.............