The Green Flag, and Other Stories of War and Sport

Оглавление

Артур Конан Дойл. The Green Flag, and Other Stories of War and Sport

CAPTAIN SHARKEY

I. HOW THE GOVERNOR OF SAINT KITT'S CAME HOME

II. THE DEALINGS OF CAPTAIN SHARKEY WITH STEPHEN CRADDOCK

III. HOW COPLEY BANKS SLEW CAPTAIN SHARKEY

THE CROXLEY MASTER

I

II

III

THE LORD OF CHATEAU NOIR

THE STRIPED CHEST

A SHADOW BEFORE

THE KING OF THE FOXES

THE THREE CORRESPONDENTS

THE DEBUT OF BIMBASHI JOYCE

A FOREIGN OFFICE ROMANCE

Отрывок из книги

When the great wars of the Spanish Succession had been brought to an end by the Treaty of Utrecht, the vast number of privateers which had been fitted out by the contending parties found their occupation gone. Some took to the more peaceful but less lucrative ways of ordinary commerce, others were absorbed into the fishing fleets, and a few of the more reckless hoisted the Jolly Rodger at the mizzen, and the bloody flag at the main, declaring a private war upon their own account against the whole human race.

With mixed crews, recruited from every nation, they scoured the seas, disappearing occasionally to careen in some lonely inlet, or putting in for a debauch at some outlying port, where they dazzled the inhabitants by their lavishness, and horrified them by their brutalities.

.....

"You came here to speak of Sharkey, Master Craddock," said he.

"The man Sharkey is a vessel of wrath," said Craddock. "His wicked horn has been exalted over long, and it is borne in upon me that if I can cut him off and utterly destroy him, it will be a goodly deed, and one which may atone for many backslidings in the past. A plan has been given to me whereby I may encompass his destruction."

.....