um of combat
had slackened and Blackbeard was no more. One or two of his officers
were alive and they knew that the game was lost. Reinforcements could be
sent from the sloops and the brigantine as soon as they were signaled
for. And there was no flight from a stranded ship. Blackbeard had been
able to infuse them with his own madness. Better chance the gallows than
no quarter.

Here and there a few of the most desperate dogs of the Spanish Main who
had followed Blackbeard's fortunes a long time, refused to surrender but
they were either shot down or overpowered. Captain Wellsby was sending
off two boats from the _King George_ with his surgeon, and the sloops
were kedging in closer to the cay with the rising tide. Half the seamen
were beyond aid and of the pirates no more than twenty were alive. Jack
Cockrell was thankful to have come off so lightly, and he consoled
himself with the notion that a scar across his cheek would be a manly
memento. Colonel Stuart had been several times wounded but 'tis hard
killing a Highlander.

It was Lieutenant Maynard's duty to offer public proof that he had slain
none other than the infamous Blackbeard, wherefore he made no protest
when his armorer hacked off the head of the dead pirate. There was no
feeling of chivalry due a fallen foe, valiant though his end had been.
This horrid trophy was tied at the end of a sloop's bowsprit, to be
displayed for the gratification of all honest sailormen who might behold
it in port. It was not a gentle age on blue water and Captain Edward
Teach had been the death of many helpless people during his wicked
career.

Lieutenant Maynard announced that he would take the two sloops into Bath
Town, before proceeding to Virginia, as they were overcrowded vessels
and the survivors of the boarding party needed proper care ashore. It
would also afford the unscrupulous Governor Eden of North Carolina an
opportunity to see his friend, Captain Teach, as a pirate who would
divide no more plundered merchandise with him.

The brigantine _King George_ was ready to escort them into Pamlico
Sound, after which she would sail for Charles Town. Before the
departure from the entrance of Cherokee Inlet, the stranded vessel was
set afire and blazed grandly as the funeral pyre of Blackbeard's stout
lads who would go no more a-roving.

Never was a nurse more devoted than Joe Hawkridge when his comrade was
mercifully restored to him. Jack was woefully pale and weak but in