The skeleton crew

The moon shone brightly over the pure white landscape, and, as far as the eye could range, nought was to be seen but leafless trees, which bowed and shook in a stiff north-west...

“From Mr. Redgill, I believe?” said the farmer. “Are you his son? Excuse me not rising to receive you, but I am unwell. I intended to go to London in a day or two, and settle wi...

“Black-hearted scoundrel!” said a voice, not far off. “Black-hearted scoundrel! I knew by the wicked twinkle of his eye that he meant me ill. Cunning as he was I have outwitted...

Darlington Hall, the country residence of Sir Richard Warbeck, was an immense old building, high, strongly built, containing many galleries, vaults, and mysterious ins and outs,...

Tim’s eyes rolled in wild excitement, while the footman fell upon his knees, and began to mumble out his prayers in a very rapid manner, for he had come to the humble conclusion...

“I don’t so much fear now,” he thought. “I’ve got the poker, and if any of ’em come near me I’ll try and smash their ugly skulls in quick time; that is, if they will let me.”

It was a lucky moment for some of the servants that old Sir Richard and his party of sailors did so suddenly burst upon the scene, and thus put an end to the bloody ordeal that...

The keeper of the village prison was a timid old man, and much feared that the red-hot zeal on the part of some of Bob’s sympathisers might lead them on to attack the gaol, perh...

He had espied Ellen by chance, and in her saw not the virtuous village maiden, but a beautiful object for his master, the Merry Monarch, who, Blood knew, would pay any price to...

The horses and carriage were drawn up at the appointed spot, and Jonas, thinking of the large reward which the colonel had often promised him, was on the bright look out for the...

The sounds which Colonel Blood had heard for a moment aroused his bold spirit, and as he crossed the mill bridge, slowly and calmly, he resolved upon arriving at some explanatio...

The first thing which Wildfire Ned did, when he left his uncle’s presence, and had publicly insulted Redgill, was to proceed to the stables, and saddle his own gallant mare “Sta...

Captain Jack and his half-dozen companions were so thoroughly disappointed and disgusted with their ill-success in and around Darlington, that they made up their minds to depart...

Wildfire Ned, Bob Bertram, Lieut. Garnet, and the brave old innkeeper, followed the Skeleton Band as far as they possibly could, but, as we have said, soon lost sight of their g...

The village of Walton, near to the abbey, never forgot that memorable night on which Lady Julia, a newly-made bride, was carried off by the chief of the Skeleton Crew, and her y...

But he looked upon commerce as something degrading, and felt ashamed to own among the gay gallants of the town that he was anything less than a person of noble blood.

But with all his knavery, he possessed a sort of gentlemanly bearing that admitted him into almost any society of the loose-living period in which he lived, namely, that of the...

Phillip Redgill was by far too weak from his recent wound to keep his appointment with Captain Jack at the “Cat and Bagpipes” over the water, and therefore remained at home in h...

“Yes, I dare say you have,” the voice replied. “But, if you had a dozen daggers, or a whole arsenal at your back, they would do you no good here.”

As we have narrated in a previous chapter, Captain Jack and his friends insisted upon thrusting themselves uninvited upon the gay and fashionable company assembled in Phillip Re...

“Wasn’t Phillip Redgill one of the sparks of fashion? Did not fair dames (of doubtful virtue, perhaps) smile bewitchingly upon him? Was he not nodded to by this lord and that on...

“So much the better for us, then,” laughed the Smuggler Chief. “If young Ned Warbeck can only rid the seas of such monsters as they are, then there may be some chance of honest...

But from the passing remarks of the Skeleton Crew, he almost wished that he had been dead, for he trembled to think what tortures and unearthly agony they intended to make all s...

IN WHICH PHILLIP REDGILL IS FORCED TO RAISE THE WIND TO PAY HIS DEBTS TO CAPT. JACK, AND IN WHICH THE READER BEHOLDS THE PHANTOM LEGS, AND IS INTRODUCED TO THE SKELETON BARBER.

PHILLIP REDGILL CONTINUES TO PLAY HIS GAME OF VILLANY—HE DETERMINES TO MARRY AN HEIRESS—THE DISCOVERY OF FALSE NOTES IN THE MONEY-SAFE AT THE INDIA HOUSE—CHARLEY’S REMORSE AND C...

THE PHANTOM LEGS—PHILLIP REDGILL CONTINUES HIS CAREER OF VILLANY—HIS FRIEND CAPTAIN JACK—YOUNG REDGILL’S MOTIVES FOR MARRYING—THE SUDDEN DEATH OF HIS FATHER—WHO CAUSED IT?—CHARL...

When, therefore, Nettles went into the village-barber’s shop to get shaved, the tonsorial professor was very loquacious, and, at great length, told him all he had heard about th...

PHILLIP REDGILL’S UNEXPECTED FORTUNE—HE IS ALONE IN THE WORLD—THE CORONER’S INQUEST OVER HIS FATHER—THE VERDICT—THE VILLAIN PURSUES HIS CAREER OF CRIME—SIR ANDREW’S DAUGHTER FAN...

While Phillip Redgill was congratulating himself upon the gradual completion and success of all his villanous schemes, Charley Warbeck was pining in prison, and totally deserted...

While Charley Warbeck is receiving the last visits of a very few friends, prior to his journey from London to the State Prison, Mr. Phillip is in daily consultation with his leg...

“What do _you_ want here, sir?” said old Sir Andrew, in a terrific rage. “Get out of my house, you penniless scamp. Get out of my house, you miserable intriguer! I curse the hou...

The loss of the well-known vessels, “Racehorse” and “Eclipse,” and their destruction by the Skeleton Crew under Death-wing, was a serious blow to several gentlemen in the habit...

No sooner had the news spread that the insurance office had closed up its business than a whole host of tradesmen sent in their “little bills,” and Sir Andrew’s residence was be...

His luxuriant head of hair was cropped so closely, according to “regulations,” by the prison barber that very little capillary substance was left upon his cranium, which now loo...

Wildfire Ned, however, had proved how silly this idea was, for during his first battle on the water he had everywhere wished to meet Death-wing, the grim chief, in mortal combat...

But the smashing of Sir Andrew’s offices, and of the South Sea Bank, in the general monetary “crash” which had suddenly and unexpectedly come upon all the banks, had found him b...

The sudden and unexpected return of Charles from prison, and the unmistakable tokens of affection he had shown to Miss Clara since his abrupt appearance in the parlour, and the...

Miss Clara, however, took but little notice of her mother’s ceaseless prattle about the dignity, grandeur, and importance of “the Haylark’s,” but quietly bore all with meekness...

The marriage of Charley and Miss Clara was duly announced in the newspapers, and the style in which it was said to have been conducted so astonished the clerks and employés of t...

They also blindfolded him, in spite of his groans for mercy, and, after dragging him along for about a hundred yards, they stopped, and, loosening the bandage from his eyes, thr...

SIR ANDREW APPEARS IN A NEW CHARACTER—HIS DESIGNS ON DAME WORTHINGTON’S PROPERTY—HE CLAIMS RELATIONSHIP—THE POISONED DRAUGHTS—THE OLD DAME’S SAD EXPERIENCE IN THE WORLD—A STRANG...

“We had been tacking and filling for several weeks on the western coast in search of Death-wing’s phantom ship of smugglers, and, during that time, we had had some pretty heavy...

The first thing which Ned did, when he arrived in London, was to report himself at the Admiralty, where many old naval officers of great reputation met and congratulated him on...

“Who the devil are you?” said Ned, rising hastily, and drawing a pistol. “Who the devil are you? What do you want, and where do you come from? Answer instantly, or a bullet shal...

Upon the elegant house, and its fashionably dressed inmates, in Minerva Street, of which Phillip had heard many strange rumours, Mr. Redgill never bestowed a single thought, alt...

“There can’t be much difficulty about doing that,” said the old gaoler, “when such men as Colonel Blood and Captain Jack take the affair in hand, for Captain Jack can prove anyt...

When Captain Jack had run himself out of breath, and had come to a dead standstill from sheer exhaustion, he leaned against a lamp-post, and, puffing and blowing, began to think...

It was now very plain, from the progress of our story, that Colonel Blood had fully got Captain Jack and his gang under his thumb, and that their very lives depended on his will...

Tom Bates had not gone very far from the rendezvous of the Dozen, and was trudging along through the wind and rain, forming plans for that night’s operations, when some one in a...

“Oh, yes, you have. I have heard and know more than you imagine about your doings about town. Had you not taken our oath years ago, not all England could have saved you from gra...

When the spies of the Skeleton Crew had told their tales, Death-wing much commended them for the prudence and caution with which they had proceeded in all they had done.

“Then, ghastly object, speak!” said Death-wing. “Tell to me and my followers how it came to pass that thou, the tenant of a lonely gibbet, should walk the earth like mortal.”

Led on by Death-wing and Phillip Redgill, who was now recognized as one of their chiefs, they went forth into the darkness bent upon sacking the stronghold where for many years...

Four of them, disguised as wood-cutters, with two others to assist them, and who were well acquainted with every nook and corner of the forest, determined to enter at nightfall...

But, although Wildfire Ned, as narrated in a previous chapter, made a vow never to rest until he had captured or destroyed all who belonged to Captain Jack’s band and the Skelet...

In order to thwart Colonel Blood, whom he knew would try to ferret her out, he hired a coach, and, with Lieutenant Garnet and himself inside, he trusted the reins to Bob Bertram...

“Why, I saw him and a young naval officer not more than half an hour ago, hand as pretty a lady out of a carriage as ever man’s eyes rested upon.”

In those days, when coaches were slow and letters unsafe for robbers, gentlemen always had by them a number of trained pigeons, who carried messages to and from their country se...

THE LEVEE—MILLER HARMER ARRIVES IN TOWN—SIR RICHARD, NED WARBECK, AND THE MILLER ARE GRANTED AN AUDIENCE BY THE KING—THE CUNNING PAGE SIMON—THE CRAFTINESS OF COL. BLOOD—NED WARB...

The night upon which the king had been promised that the young Ellen, with whom he was so deeply enamoured, would come to his apartments, at length arrived, and set in with squa...

“Yes,” said Ned; “but, as I expected, not without opposition and a sharp fight. I met Colonel Blood, and we crossed swords. He fell in less than a minute. I pushed my way up the...

If, during his whole lifetime, Wildfire Ned had done nothing more, the successful capture of Captain Jack and his noted gang was more than enough to bring his name prominently b...

“Then unburden your conscience, Jack,” said Ned, “and, in order that what you say may be made public hereafter, I have brought a quick writer with me, who will put down on paper...

THE RED MAN OF THE GIBBET GIVES WARNING TO THE SKELETON CREW—DEATH-WING LEADS ON THE LAST ATTACK OF HIS CREW—NED WARBECK, BOB BERTRAM, LIEUTENANT GARNET, AND TIM HAVE AMPLE REVE...

“Well,” said Ned Warbeck, when he had left the condemned cell, in which he had had his interview with Captain Jack and old Bates. “Well,” said he, in astonishment, “wonders neve...