CHAPTER II.
_The Narrative of Henry P.Tobias, Ex-Pirate, as Dictated on His Deathbed, in the Year of Our Lord, 1859._ The good John had scarcely made his leisurely, distinguished appearance at his desk on the morrow, immaculately white, and breathing his customary air of fathomless repose, when I too entered by one door, and Charlie Webster by the other.
"Now for the document," we both exclaimed in a breath.
"Here it is," he said, taking up a rather grimy-looking roll of foolscap from in front of him.
"A little like hurricane weather," said the broadly smiling Charlie Webster, mopping his brow.
The room we were in, crowded with pigeon-holes and dusty documents from ceiling to floor, looked out into an outer office, similarly dreary, and painted a dirty blue and white, furnished with high desks and stools, and railed off with ancient painted ironwork, forlornly decorative, after the manner of an old-fashioned countinghouse, or shipping office.
It had something quaintly "colonial" about it, suggesting supercargoes, and West India merchants of long ago.
John took a look into the outer office.

There was nothing to claim his attention, so he took up the uncouthly written manuscript, which, as he pointed out, was evidently the work of a person of very little education, and began to read as follows: "_County of Travas_ "_State of Texas_ "_December 1859_ _"I being in very poor health and cannot last long, feeling my end is near, I make the following statement of my own free will and without solicitation.

In full exercise of all my faculties, and feel that I am doing my duty by so doing._ _"My friends have shown me much kindness and taken care of me when sick, and for their kindness I leave this statement in their hands to make the best of it, when I will now proceed to give my statement, which is as follows:--_ _"I was born in the city of Liverpool, England (on the 5th day of December 1784).

My father was a seaman and when I was young I followed the same occupation.

And it happened, that when, on a passage from Spain to the West Indies, our ship was attacked by free-traders, as they called themselves, but they were pirates._ _"We all did our best, but were overpowered, and the whole crew, except three, were killed.