manner,

'So Miss Armstrong, you acted the heroine to perfection, this
afternoon.'

A look of utter loathing and contempt, being the only answer which the
fair Ellen deigned to bestow on the pirate's words, he continued:

'You must certainly be mad, my lovely lily of the valley, to look so
scornfully upon me, who at present holds in his hand the power of thy
life or death.'

'As I am well assured that you will use the awful power you speak, to
put a speedy end to my wretched existence,' replied Ellen, 'I must beg
of you, instantly to retire, and thus rid me of your hateful presence.'

'Stop, stop, my pretty Miss,' exclaimed Blackbeard, 'not quite so fast,
if you please. In the first place you must learn, that I have at present
no intention of taking your life, but on the contrary, I intend to make
you my wife, as soon as circumstances will permit.'

'Pirate, fiend, villain,' exclaimed Ellen, starting up from her seat and
confronting Blackbeard, with all the majesty of injured innocence,
'learn, that rather than become the wife of a desperate robber like
thyself, Ellen Armstrong will die, die by her own hand, and--'

'Ha, ha ha, there you go into heroics again,' interrupted the pirate, in
a tone of scornful irony, 'but I will soon find a way to bring you back
to your senses. Now, listen,' he continued, after a moment's pause, and
in a tone of voice changed to stern severity, 'listen I say, to my