But I knew it was only caused by the commonness of such crimes, in a land then almost lawless, and not by any want of feeling on the part of Mr. Cheetham.
On the contrary, he entered warmly into the scheme for the conviction of the malefactors.
While we were still discussing it, a man entered the outer door, and soon after protruded his face inside that of the office. It was the vidette we had left on the levee.
"Well, Riggs," asked the lawyer, "what movements?"
"Thar rolling the cotton ashore."
"Good; we must go and buy it."
"You'll have to be quick, then. They've engaged a lot of drays. I reckon they're about taking it to a storage."
The lawyer seemed to reflect.
"After all, let them," he said; "we can follow it there. But no," he continued, after another spell of considering; "you must see it, Cheetham, as it comes out of the boat. If you go too soon to where they are storing it, it might cause suspicion. Your best way is to drop down to the wharf, ask for a sample of the cotton, say you are ready to buy, and then you will ascertain who has the selling of it. After that you can conclude the bargain anywhere—at the St. Charles Hotel, if Mr. Bradley prefer it. Meanwhile, I must be off to a magistrate to get out a warrant against the fellows upon the flat, lest they give us the slip as soon as their ark is empty.
"Riggs, you first show Mr. Cheetham the cotton, then take a coach to the St. Louis Hotel, ask for Mr. Henry Woodley, and tell him and his brother to come here at once. After that, coach it back to the wharf, and see where they are taking the stuff to. You can follow the drays at a distance, and don't be seen in company with Mr. Cheetham. Old birds, such as these appear to be, may scent the lime about you. Go, Cheetham; buy the cotton; pay what price you choose—on a credit. But don't pay cash for it, till you draw upon me!"
Smiling at these jocular instructions, the cotton-broker went off to obey them, Riggs going before him to point out the commodity he was to purchase.
"Now, sir," said the lawyer, turning to me, "we shall want your assistance—the most important of all. Without it our case might come to nothing. We must wait for the Woodleys. Walter can make a charge, as the owner of the cotton and the negroes. God help us! Henry's testimony won't be worth much, still it will strengthen the depositions you are able to make. Once we get the lot in limbo, we shall find plenty of evidence. We shall make a trip to the Devil's Island, and see what's at the bottom of the lagoon. It's terrible to think of it. Take a cigar, and let's talk about something else."
I did as desired, and lighting our cigars, we conversed upon lighter subjects.
In due time the Woodleys made their appearance; and we all went to the office of an alderman.
The depositions were formally made, and we obtained a warrant for Black, Stinger, and the third individual whose name was unknown. We regretted not being able to include the name of Nathaniel Bradley, but we hoped soon to return to the seat of justice, better provided with data for an affidavit.
The alderman was asked to keep our secret until the time came off for committal, which of course he promised to do, and we returned to the office of the attorney to await the action of Cheetham.
We had not been there many minutes when the cotton-broker came in. His countenance betokens success.
"Well?" inquired Sawyer.
"I've bought it—every bale."
"From whom?"
"From a Mississippi planter, by name Nathaniel Bradley."
"Cheap?" jokingly inquired the lawyer.
"So cheap that I wish it was a bona-fide purchase. I found Mr. Bradley by no means exacting as to price. He closed with my first bid. I'm to meet him at the St. Charles to-morrow, and pay down the cash. Meanwhile the cotton is being sent to the Empire Press subject to my orders, on its being paid for. I suppose you have no objection to that, Mr. Woodley?"
"Not the slightest," replied the Tennessee planter; "any press so long as I can recover it."
"Now, gentlemen," said Sawyer, "I want you all to go with me to the alderman's office; but let us scatter, and march two, two and one. Five such formidable people in the streets together might look as if we intended storming the municipality. Cheetham, you know the place; take Mr. Henry Woodley. And you, sir," continued the lawyer, addressing himself to me, "have not forgotten it. May I request you to become the guide of your friend Walter? As for myself you will find me at the fountain of justice."
We started from the lawyer's office, going as directed; and soon after returned to it armed with the authority we had sought.
That night, Nathaniel Bradley, William Black, James Stinger, and a man whose name we were able to insert into the warrant as Lemuel Croucher, and whose condition we discovered to be that of overseer on the aforesaid Bradley's plantation, found lodgings in the common calaboose of the Crescent City.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CONVICTION.
I shallnot wear the patience of my reader with the details of the trial that followed. Enough for him to know that we succeeded in securing a conviction, against all four of the accused. They were convicted not only of piracy, but murder, of which we found the proofs, alas too clear!
In dragging the lagoon to strengthen our testimony with the scraps of cotton-bagging I had seen the pirate sinking below the surface, an appalling object was brought up on the prongs of the drag—the body of a negro that had been kept at anchor below by a bag of iron tied around the neck.
His face was disfigured by the slashes of a knife; but not so much as to hinder Walter Woodley from identifying him as one of the four who had been sent to assist in the navigation of the flat.
There was a bullet-hole through his breast, no doubt from the shot I had heard fired when half asleep, followed by that death shriek that so long rung in my ears.
We searched for the other three, dragging the whole lagoon, as well as the strait that led into it. They could not be found. In all likelihood their bodies had been sunk in the deep channel of the river—a safer place of concealment.
Why one had been brought up the lagoon we could not tell, unless it was that he had been killed outside, and allowed to lie upon the flat, for the want of time, while turning out of the current, to dispose of his body by flinging it overboard.
We succeeded in fishing up the bundles of cast bagging, that carried the Woodley mark; and, along with them, two other lots of older date, and bearing a different brand. One set of these was gone to rottenness and rags; on the other could still be deciphered a name and mark that led to its identification. It had covered the cotton of that missing boat belonging to the Arkansas planter, of which Henry Woodley had heard.
How many of these horrid tragedies had been enacted on the Devil's Island it was impossible to say, but certainly one every year. No wonder at planter Bradley becoming rapidly rich! No wonder at the Devil's Island being deemed a haunted spot, inspiring terror among the black-skinned creatures who had occasion to go near it. To many of them, its gloomy lagoon, or the swift current sweeping around it, had proved more destructive than the fancied demon of their superstitious fears.
We had no difficulty in making out the case clear against the pirates; but, although we proved them guilty of the double crime—robbery and murder—to say nothing of the attempt at assassinating myself—the severest sentence that could be obtained waspenitentiary for life! There was no proof of their having murdereda white man!
Bradley did not submit long to his confinement. In less than a year afterward, I heard that he had put an end to his life.
As to Black, Stinger, and Croucher, for what I know to the contrary, all three may be still inside the strong walls of the Louisiana State prison, working out their tedious term of compulsory penitence.
I might turn to other themes, and describe scenes of a more tranquil character. But no doubt, by this time the reader is tired of my narrative. He will not care to listen to the oft-told tale, the old, old story, as it was told to Cornelia Woodley. Suffice it to say, that she listened to, liked it, and said "Yes."
THE END.
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