I need say no more to convey the fact that this illustrious
sea-captain and great gentleman of Castile had lost his head, and
was become a pirate in his turn. The Supreme Council of Castile
might anon condemn him for his practices. But how should that matter
to one who already was condemned beyond redemption? On the contrary,
if he should live to lay the audacious and ineffable Blood by the
heels, it was possible that Spain might view his present irregularities
and earlier losses with a more lenient eye.
And so, reckless of the fact that Captain Blood was now in vastly
superior strength, the Spaniard sought him up and down the trackless
seas. But for a whole year he sought him vainly. The circumstances
in which eventually they met are very curious.
An intelligent observation of the facts of human existence will
reveal to shallow-minded folk who sneer at the use of coincidence
in the arts of fiction and drama that life itself is little more
than a series of coincidences. Open the history of the past at
whatsoever page you will, and there you shall find coincidence at
work bringing about events that the merest chance might have
averted.
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