are puzzling your brain, my dear friend, to explain to your satisfaction how you find your old companion, once so poverty-stricken, living in a comfortable establishment, wearing respectable clothing, and enjoying his life a little-are you not?"

"I confess to some surprise, my dear Theack-I need not add, to very great pleasure, however, in addition."

"Of that I am quite certain. to my old office, did you not?" "Yes."

near Yorktown. I need not tell you, my
dear fellow, that all this requires an expla-
nation; and while you are thus engaged
you may as well take up the broken thread,
which you have twice dropped, of that oth-
er explanation—”

"Of my passion for craniology?”
"Yes."

"And the particular object of my stud

You went ies?"

"I have not occupied it for months-in fact, I have no office, and contemplate retiring from practice and visiting Europe with Mrs. Theack."

"Mrs. Theack!-there is a Mrs. Theack, then ?"

"Unquestionably there is a Mrs. Theack," he laughed.

"Precisely."

"I promise you not to delay a full explanation of every thing now. The thread shall not break in my hands again. You will dine with me to-day, will you not? Yes? Then you shall know all you wish to know, 'over the walnuts and the wine.'"

A light step was heard coming down the staircase, and the rustle of a lady's dress; the door opened, and in came the living original of the beautiful miniature. Mrs. Theack was a young lady of about twenty

"And she is that is to say, she was-" "The original of the miniature I once showed you-yes; and its exact counter-five, blonde, blue-eyed, and with a face full part. Of that you shall judge."

of the most winning smiles. I was presented to her as an old friend, and she held out a small white hand with charming grace.

"I scarcely require an introduction," she said; "Dr. Theack has spoken of you a thousand times, Sir. Believe me, I am very glad to see you."

Nothing could be simpler or more cordial. I resumed my seat; we entered into general

And the door closed. Theack then re- conversation; and dinner was at last ansumed his seat, and said,

"You must endeavor to remember the face of the miniature, in order to compare it with the original."

"Why should you not show it to me again?" I said; "that would save me the exercise of my imagination."

"I am sorry to say I can not. I have had the misfortune to lose it-how, I am wholly unable to explain, unless the ribbon to which it was attached gave way, and it dropped without my knowledge."

"How long since ?"

nounced an array of every delicacy of the season, served in a large and elegant apartment, presided over by silent and respectful waiters in white gloves, who came and went as though shod with the shoes of silence. As night fell, lights were lit, Mrs. Theack retired with smiles to the drawing-room, and her husband and myself were left alone over the wine.

"Now for my story," said Theack, entering without ceremony on the subject. "I know that you are more than willing, my friend, to let politics, the opera, the new books, and other topics wait, and listen to

"You seem interested in the miniature. Well, I missed it-let me see-after a jour-my personal narrative; are you not?" ney which I made, some time last spring." "I am truly sorry you have lost it." "And I too, I assure you; but I never expect to see it again."

I might have told him that I had the miniature in my pocket, where I had guarded it carefully since picking it up on the beach of York River; but there was time enough to explain all this, and I did not wish to precipitate matters.

"Let us lose sight of one and all, and come to the narrative, I beg you." "Well."

"And begin at the beginning; that is to say, my dear friend, tell me all that you choose to tell. You will not weary me, I promise you."

"Then I shall go back to my earliest recollections," he said, leaning back in his chair, and speaking in a musing tone. "These "Well," I said, “so you are married, pros- recollections will not detain us long, and perous in your fortunes, and in vigorous are necessary to an intelligent comprehenhealth, my dear Theack-all that quite de- sion of my story. I was born in the Isle of lights me, and I must add that your appear-Nevis, one of the Leeward Islands, in the ance and surroundings at the present moment are in vivid contrast to your pale face, and the rather sombre spot where our last meeting took place- the deserted house

West Indies, my father coming of a Breton family named Théac, anglicized into Theack, and my mother of the same family with Alexander Hamilton, killed, not far from this

Why you, who are so good, so like an angel, great part of the night, reflecting. should thus be-'

"A shadow seemed to pass over her forehead, and reverting to the language of her early years, for she was from France, she muttered,

I re

member my stunned feeling, and how my mind seemed to stagger under the load of my disgrace. This, then, was the explanation of those scornful glances of the neighbors, of my mother's melancholy, and of her "Nous sommes maudits—maudits, mon fils!' last words, 'We are cursed, my son.' Be"These were her last words, 'We are fore morning I had made up my mind what cursed, my son.' A few moments afterward course to pursue, and had packed up my she expired, and I was alone in the world-poor effects, taking special care to forget a poor boy of sixteen, without a relative or friend on earth.

nothing which had belonged to my mother. I then went to Charlestown, and called on "Two years passed, and gradually the a money-lender of the place. What amount, deep wound caused by my mother's death I asked, would he lend me on my small prophealed. Heaven is merciful, and sends its erty, or would he buy it? He looked at balm. I grew more cheerful, but there still me keenly, saw that I was desperate, and was that vague, mysterious air in every one offered to buy the property outright, offerI met. All avoided me, looked sidewise at ing me about one-third of its value. I acme, and seemed to regard me with loathing. cepted without a word, executed a deed for I was soon to ascertain what all this meant the tract, received the money, and went to now. There was a planter on the island the wharf to look for a ship about to sailwho had a very beautiful daughter, for in what direction was a matter of indifferwhom I conceived a boyish fondness. She ence to me. A schooner was just loaded seemed to return my affection-it could with rum, sugar, and molasses, and about scarcely be called love-and when we met, to set out for New York. I inquired if I which was always by accident, in some ru- could obtain a passage on her; was answerral spot, her face smiled, and the few words ed in the affirmative. My packages were she uttered were full of sweetness. Well, sent on board at daylight, and an hour aftone day I was sitting in my poor house, when erward the schooner was going under full her father knocked at the door, entered, and sail northward. The voyage was rapid, and I could see from the lowering expression of in due time the vessel reached New York. his countenance that he was enraged. His I took the first lodgings I found, moved my errand was soon told. I had formed or was effects into the small chamber, and trying forming an intimacy with his daughter, he by a resolute effort of the will to banish said, with a scowl; it should go no further. from my memory my whole past life, reI was to understand, once for all, that no solved to begin a new existence if I could, daughter of his should even speak to a per- to pursue some honorable employment, to son like myself. I must have turned quite do my duty as an honest man, and die, when pale at this insulting speech of the old man my time came, free from at least personal he was nearly seventy-and said, 'What disgrace or taint. is your meaning, Sir? Am I a convict, that no one can even speak to me?'

"After mature deliberation I resolved to adopt the profession of medicine. For this

"You are-do you mean you do not know I had a natural inclination, and I com

it ?'

"He stopped.

"I am-am what?' I said.

"You are the grandson, or the greatgrandson, of a pirate—of the notorious Theack!'

"These words struck me like a blow in the face. I groaned, and could make no answer at first. I then exclaimed,

"The grandson of a pirate! I am descended from a pirate!'

menced my studies in the office of an old physician, from which a year or so afterward I passed to Harvard University, where I first made your acquaintance. You must recall my profound melancholy at that time, and my solitary habit of living. The great misery of my disgraceful origin haunted and overshadowed me. I determined to banish it, if possible, by hard study, and applied myself to my favorite science, anatomy, with all the powers of my mind. I scarcely remember how my attention was first directed to craniology as a science, but it soon became a sort of mania with me, and chance one day added a thousandfold to the interest which I took in it. I was glancing, in the college library, at an old volume of one of the earlier historians of Virginia, when my eye was suddenly arrested by my own name Theack. The writer gave an ac"He looked fiercely at me, went out, and count of the naval fight between an English mounting his horse, rode away. Well, I sat ship and that commanded by the pirate still for the rest of that day and during a‘Blackbeard,' alias John Theack, off the coast

"Yes, and one of the most infamous of the whole gang that once infested these waters. Every infamy was charged upon him, and in public official documents. He was from Hayti, and his son or grandson came here to Nevis to escape the disgrace attached to the name. Now you know why I forbid you to speak to my daughter. I warn you not to do so again, or—'

of North Carolina, in the year 1720, and stated that Theack was killed in the action, his ship captured, and his head brought to Virginia on the point of a bowsprit. In a note, the writer added that the head was delivered to Governor Spotswood, and, after public exposure, the skull was labeled with its owner's name, and preserved as a curiosity, as men preserve the rope which has hung some great criminal.

had just made this discovery when you came into the room; the scene which ensued between us you will no doubt remember.

"Well, friend, I came near making then and there a clean breast of every thing. I was prevented by two considerations— physical prostration and a sense of shame. I had been very ill before leaving New York, and had not recovered from my nervous prostration; and then I had not examined the papers taken from the closet, and feared that they might only confirm the vile character attributed to Theack. It was only on my way to New York and after my arrival that I could make the examination. Let me come at once to the point, and say that the result restored to me my self-respect, and made me the happiest man alive, for it resulted in-my marriage.

"From that moment I was seized with a singular idea: to discover, if possible, whether this melancholy relic was still in existence, and to apply to an examination of it my theories of craniology, in order to ascertain whether the human being to whom it had belonged had been the monster that he was represented to be. To have it contradict the traits attributed to him was a forlorn hope, but the idea that it might do "I shall proceed to explain what I mean. so haunted me. I saw no other hope. The First, I applied to the skull my craniological official reports of the man and his career tests, and was overjoyed. The organs of were all blackened by hostility; for Theack this man, who for a century and a half had was a Frenchman, and England and France borne the reputation of cruelty, brutality, were then at war. The test I dreamed of and general infamy, were those of a brave, seemed the sole one remaining; if I could generous, and kindly soldier, endowed with apply it, and the result was favorable, it some of the finest traits of humanity. Eimight not convince others, but at least it ther this had been his real character, or would convince me. Well, this project never craniology was a delusion; and as I believed left my mind. I was too poor to visit Vir- in the science implicitly, I at least was conginia then, but I resolved to do so at the vinced, and thus was relieved from that earliest possible moment. I left college, sense of degradation which had so long opestablished myself in New York, and, redu- pressed me. This, however, was only one cing my expenditures to the lowest point, point gained. The more important inquiry gradually laid up a small sum to defray my remained-whether the papers which I had traveling expenses. Meanwhile I made the discovered in the house near Yorktown conacquaintance, by accident, of a young lady tained evidence of the real character of the -she has just left us-conceived an ardent man, or facts connected with his career. passion for her; and this intensified, I need The result of this examination I shall state not say, my desire to ascertain the real char- briefly. The papers consisted of the report acter of Theack the pirate. I was possessed of Lieutenant Maynard, giving an account now by another idea: that he was not a of the naval fight with 'the famous pirate buccaneer in any sense, but the commander Blackbeard, alias John Theack,' in which he of a privateer sailing under French letters was stigmatized as a desperado and wretch; of marque, which would fully account for an of an official communication on the subject attempt to blacken his name; and I then from Governor Spotswood to the Virginia resolved to examine every document in ref- Burgesses, apparently a copy; and of docerence to him that remained in existence. uments found on board the 'pirate ship.' The opportunity to visit Virginia only came Among the latter was the official commisin the year 1873. I then proceeded to Rich- sion from the French monarch to his trusty mond and examined the ancient archives subject Jean Théac to cruise under letters there, but found nothing; thence I went to of marque against English vessels, the two Williamsburg, the former capital, but was countries being at war; a list of the prizes equally unsuccessful. Then, as a last and captured by the said Captain Jean Théac; desperate resort, I went to the Moore House, and the official certificates of the officers of near Yorktown, or Temple Farm, as it was the ports in which the prizes were condemnonce called, Governor Spotswood's country ed and sold, in regular accordance with marresidence, led by a faint hope that I might itime regulations. Thus the man stigmathere find something. I was not mistaken, tized as a mere freebooter had been the as you know. In the corner of a dark closet commander of a privateer, regularly comon the second floor I discovered a number missioned by the King of France. The of papers, which I saw at a glance related charges blackening his name had been the to the subject of my search; and then, as I result of international bitterness in time continued to grope, my hand fell upon that of war--certainly not attributable to Govskull, to which was attached a paper con- ernor Spotswood, but probably to English taining the words, Theack the Pirate.' I ship-owners whom he had despoiled. VOL LIV.-No. 320.-16

He rose, held the sheet to the fire, and gradually faint blue characters appeared upon it, fading slowly again, as the paper cooled, when taken away.

"So much for that, the great point, my dear friend. This singular investigation had ended, you see, in the complete vindication of my ancestor's character--he was no more a pirate than Jean Bart or Paul Jones "The letter to André Théac had been --and I and my poor mother had lived all written with the nitrate or sulphate of cothose years under undeserved disgrace. But balt," continued Theack; "and to save you I have not yet finished my account. A more the trouble of deciphering it in the ancient singular circumstance still remains to be Breton French, I will repeat its substance. mentioned. Among the papers captured It was addressed to Jean Théac's brother, as on board my ancestor's vessel was one ad- the words Cher Frère at the beginning indidressed to André Théac, Martinique,' care-cated, and the writer made this statement. fully folded, sealed-that is to say, it had He had been chased, he said, by an English evidently been sealed, though the seal was cruiser into Chesapeake Bay, and as the Ennow broken; and this paper, strange to say,glishman was double his strength, he had contained no other writing whatever. The endeavored to avoid fighting, more especialfact, I need not tell you, excited my aston-ly as he had on board nearly six millions of ishment, and for a long time I vainly puzzled my brain to make out the meaning of this paper. Would you like to see it?"

"Of all things," I replied.

Hamilton Theack rose, went to a secretary in an adjoining room (the library), opened it, took a paper from it, and returned to his seat.

"Look!" he said, holding the yellow sheet toward me; "here is the address on the outside, 'André Théac, Martinique,' here is the broken wax, and here is the letternothing!"

I took the paper, scanned it closely, saw that it was blank, and returned it with the comment, "So you did not toss aside that paper. What value can it have? It contains nothing."

livres, the proceeds of the sale of prizes. Finding that he was closely pursued and in imminent danger of capture, he had proceeded to conceal this large sum at a spot not far from the mouth of York River, which he reached in a row-boat under cover of darkness, with half a dozen of the trustiest of his crew. They had landed, selecting a prominent point of land on the north bank of the river, and had there buried the treasure, which was contained in a box bound with iron. The letter containing this information he hoped to send by some passing vessel or trusty messenger, so that, in the event of his capture or death, his brother might recover the treasure and convey it to his wife for her benefit and that of her infant child. The exact spot, he added, where the chest was concealed was two leagues north-northwest of the fishing village of Yorktown, on the north bank of York River, at fifty-three paces from the beach, under a small holly-tree, standing by itself, which tree had been dug up, and then replanted directly above the chest. The date of this paper was August 10, 1720, just preceding the engagement in which the writer lost his life.

"It contains a great deal,” he said, "as I shall speedily demonstrate. The idea of tossing it aside never entered my mind. You are an unbeliever in the chain of reasoning leading me to my faith in craniology, but to other modes of reasoning you must give your assent, namely, to that which I adopted on this occasion. What was the object, I asked myself, of Captain Théac in writing the words, 'André Théac, Martinique,' "You will now understand, my dear on the back of this sheet? That might friend," added Hamilton Theack, "how it is have amounted to nothing-he might have that you find me living in comfort, and marintended to write the letter afterward. But ried to the woman of my choice. I shall then the letter was folded; more still, it was not unduly lengthen out my narrative, but carefully sealed. Then it contained some proceed to the end. So exciting had all communication for André Théac, of Marti- these emotions proved, that I had a return nique; and I of course came to the conclusion of my illness, and it was not until spring that the letter was written in sympathetic in the present year, 1874, that I rose from ink, in accordance with a private under- my bed. I then lost no time in prosecuting standing between Jean and André Théac. the search for the treasure, in which I beWell, no sooner had I reached this convic-lieved as firmly as in my existence. I had tion than I applied the ordinary tests, with which my chemical studies had made me perfectly familiar. The acetate of lead is generally employed on such occasions, and I applied sulphureted hydrogen to the paper, in order to bring out the suspected writing, but nothing appeared. I then resorted to the test for writing traced with an infusion of chloride of copper, or the salts of cobalt-heat. You may see the result."

made strong friends of a whole family of stalwart watermen on Staten Island-a father and three sons by unremitting attention to the mother of the young men during a desperate illness, from which she recovered, and I had no difficulty in inducing these men to accompany and assist me in an expedition of which I would tell them more at a future time, I said. They consented at once; we embarked on a small fishing