DICKORY STRETCHES HIS LEGS There were jolly times on board the swift ship Revenge as she sped through the straits of Florida on her way up the Atlantic coast.

The skies were bright, the wind was fair, and the warm waters of the Gulf Stream helped to carry her bravely on her way.

But young Dickory Charter, with the blood-stained letter of Captain Vince tucked away in the lining of his coat, ate so little, tossed about so much in his berth, turned so pale and spoke so seldom, that the bold Captain Blackbeard declared that he should have some medicine.
"I shall not let my fine lieutenant suffer for want of drugs," he cried, "and when I reach Charles Town I shall send ashore a boat and procure some; and if the citizens disturb or interfere with my brave fellows, I'll bombard the town.

There will be medicine to take on one side or the other, I swear." And loud and ready were the oaths he swore.
A pirate who carries with him an intended son-in-law is not likely, if he be of Blackbeard's turn of mind, to suffer all his family plans to be ruined for the want of a few drugs.
When Dickory heard what the captain had to say on this subject his heart shrank within him.

He had never taken medicine and he had never seen Blackbeard's daughter, but the one seemed to him almost as bad as the other, and the thought of the cool waves beneath him became more attractive than ever before.