Page:Daring deeds of famous pirates; true stories of the stirring adventures, bravery and resource of pirates, filibusters & buccaneers (1917).djvu/221

 charge of murdering the captain, although "it is true I stood by and saw the fatal deed done, and stretched not forth my arm to save him." Wansley, however, frankly admitted the justice of the sentence and died penitent. We need say no more, but if there are any to-day who have still a secret affection for the pirates of yesterday, we can only suggest that although few of these pirates were cowards yet there is not one who showed himself little more than a vulture in human form. Very rare indeed does one find instances of these rude fellows giving mercy. There is now and again such an occasion, but it is like the stray blade of herbage in a wilderness. Personal vanity—the determination to get rich at all costs—has brought many a crime in its wake, and if men are still dishonest in other ways, we can at least be thankful that the wholesale murders of the days of the pirates have long since ended.