They were
true pirates. They had great cutlasses and pistols, and one of them was
very tall and broad shouldered, and wore an old-fashioned cocked hat.
"That's Captain Kidd," whispered Abner to his wife, and she pressed his
hand to let him know that she thought he must be right.
Now the men came up high upon the beach, and began looking about here
and there as if they were searching for something. Mary was filled with
horror for fear they should come to that bluff to search, but Abner knew
there was no danger of that. They had probably come to those shores to
bury treasure, as if they were great sea-turtles coming up upon the
beach to lay their eggs, and they were now looking for some good spot
where they might dig.
Presently the tall man gave some orders in a low voice, and then his men
left him to himself, and went back to the boat. There was a great pine
tree standing back a considerable distance from the water, battered and
racked by storms, but still a tough old tree. Toward this the pirate
captain stalked, and standing close to it, with his back against it, he
looked up into the sky. It was plain that he was looking for a star.
There were very few of these luminaries to be seen in the heavens, for
the moon was so bright. But as Abner looked in the direction in which
the pirate captain gazed, he saw a star still bright in spite of the
moonlight.
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