This most remarkable success of Peter the Great worked a great change,
of course, in the circumstances of himself and his men. But it worked a
greater change in the career, and possibly in the character of the
captain. He was now a very rich man, and all his followers had plenty of
money. The Spanish vessel was amply supplied with provisions, and there
was also on board a great quantity of gold bullion, which was to be
shipped to Spain. In fact, Peter and his men had booty enough to satisfy
any sensible pirate. Now we all know that sensible pirates, and people
in any sphere of life who are satisfied when they have enough, are very
rare indeed, and therefore it is not a little surprising that the bold
buccaneer, whose story we are now telling, should have proved that he
merited, in a certain way, the title his companions had given him.
Sailing his prize to the shores of Hispaniola, Peter put on shore all
the Spaniards whose services he did not desire. The rest of his
prisoners he compelled to help his men work the ship, and then, without
delay, he sailed away to France, and there he retired entirely from the
business of piracy, and set himself up as a gentleman of wealth and
leisure.
Chapter V
The Story of a Pearl Pirate
The ordinary story of the pirate, or the wicked man in general, no
matter how successful he may have been in his criminal career, nearly
always ends disastrously, and in that way points a moral which doubtless
has a good effect on a large class of people, who would be very glad to
do wrong, provided no harm was likely to come to them in consequence.
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