h seas, pursuing unchecked his career of plunder.

Finally, the people in desperation, finding Governor Eden either unable
or unwilling to put an end to the pirate's depredations, appealed to
Governor Spotswood, of Virginia, for aid, and the pirate was finally
captured and beheaded by Lieutenant Maynard, whom Spotswood put in
command of the ship that went out to search for this terror of the seas.

Seen through the softening haze of two centuries, the figure of the
redoubtable sea robber acquires a romantic interest, and it is not
surprising that many good and highly respected citizens of eastern North
Carolina number themselves quite complacently among the descendants of
the bold buccaneer.

CHAPTER VII

THE OLD BRICK HOUSE--A TRUE HISTORY OF THE HISTORIC DWELLING REPUTED TO
BE THE HOME OF THE FAMOUS PIRATE

Local tradition claims that the old brick house described in the
foregoing chapter, was once a haunt of the famous pirate, Edward Teach,
or Blackbeard, as he was commonly called.

Wild legends of lawless revel and secret crime have grown up about the
old building, until its time-stained walls seem steeped in the
atmosphere of gloom and terror which the poet Hood has so graphically
caught in his "Haunted House":

"But over all there hung a cloud of fear--
A sense of mystery, the spirit daunted,
And said as plain as whisper in the ear,
'The house is haunted.'"

It is said that the basement room of the Brick House served as a dungeon
for prisoners taken in Teach's private raids and held for ransom.

There are darker stories, too, of deeds whose secret was known only to
the hidden tunnel and unrevealing waters below.

But tradition has been busy with other occupants of the old house. It is
said to have been in colonial days the home of a branch of an ancient
and noble English family.

[Illustration: "THE OLD BRICK HOUSE," ON PASQUOTANK RIVER]

To the care of these gentlefolk their kinsmen of old England were said
to have entrusted a young and lovely girl in order to separate her from
a lover, whose fortunes failed to satisfy the ambition of her proud and
wealthy parents.

The lover followed his fair one across the seas, and entered in disguise
among the guests assembled at the great ball which was given at the
Brick House in honor of their recently arrived and charming guest. The
young lady's brother, who had accompanied her to this country,
penetrated the disguise of her lover.