The Story of Two Women Pirates The history of the world gives us many instances of women who have taken the parts of men, almost always acquitting themselves with as much credit as if they had really belonged to the male sex, and, in our modern days, these instances are becoming more frequent than ever before.

Joan of Arc put on a suit of armor and bravely led an army, and there have been many other fighting women who made a reputation for themselves; but it is very seldom that we hear of a woman who became a pirate.

There were, however, two women pirates who made themselves very well known on our coast.
The most famous of these women pirates was named Mary Reed.

Her father was an English captain of a trading vessel, and her mother sailed with him.

This mother had had an elder child, a son, and she also had a mother-in-law in England from whom she expected great things for her little boy.