Chapter 3

Elizabeth knew what the boredom of living in San Diego was doing to Stanly, so she was easily persuaded to agree to his plan to spend the summer chasing pirates. Stanly spent as much time as possible with Elizabeth while he waited for Capt. McFadden to pick him up. Elizabeth was actually glad to see him leave; she'd had about all the "mothering" she could take from Stanly.

Stanly had them head for San Francisco; he wanted to order more of the special shotguns and shells made by his friend Amos Goldman, the gunsmith there. Amos told Stanly that it would take him at least 6 months to make as many shotguns and shells as Stanly wanted, but Stanly placed the order, anyway. Stanly wanted every sailor on board the Elizabeth armed with a breech-loading shotgun, and that would be 16 shotguns and 500 shells. Stanly left his deposit, and the Elizabeth sailed on the morning tide.

Most of the islands harboring pirates were off the coast roughly between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, though there were a few others scattered about. Stanly wanted to be legal and not considered just another pirate, so he had applied in Sacramento for a letter of marque. Such papers were normally issued by a national government, not a state, but Stanly's lobbyist had argued that they were so far from Washington, D. C., that an exception should be made in Stanly's case. His application was granted, and Stanly became "legal."

Pirates stayed away from the larger islands like Santa Catalina and clustered on the smaller islands. Capt. McFadden wanted to make a systematic sweep down the coast; he thought that this was more likely to net them more pirates than flitting from here to there without a plan. This sounded logical to Stanly, so that's what they did.

The first island they hit didn't even have a name, so they jokingly called it "Nameless1." They could see a small ship tied up to the shore, but that was not proof of pirate activity. Stanly and two seamen rowed over to investigate; their excuse was they wanted to know if the other ship was in trouble and needed help. The suspect ship fairly bristled with guns, so Stanly was suspicious.

Stanly's little boat was flying a white pennant in a effort to show that they had no warlike intent as they approached. Stanly called out when they got close, "AHOY, THE GERTRUDE! MAY WE COME ABOARD?"

"KEEP AWAY! WE DON'T WANT VISITORS!" This was spoken with a Germanic accent.

Stanly was about to veer off when he heard a woman scream out, "HELP ME, PLEASE! I AM A PRISONER!"

Stanly pretended he didn't hear the call for help, and ordered his men to return them to the Elizabeth. Back on board the Elizabeth, he met with Capt. McFadden and the mate, John Sessions, to discuss their course of action. Stanly said, "I heard a woman scream for help. I think that we should investigate further."

McFadden said, "Gertrude outguns and outmans us. We'll have to sneak on board tonight."

Sessions commented, "Several of the men can swim, and so can I. We can sneak aboard tonight and overpower the watch."

McFadden warned, "Very well, but don't harm anyone until we know with certainty that they are pirates. The rest of us will join you from the skiff when you signal that you are ready for us."

The Elizabeth sailed away from the Gertrude until it was out of sight. McFadden dropped a sea anchor, and they waited until dark. Two men were left on board the Elizabeth, while the remaining 15 clustered in the skiff, which was severely overloaded. However, the skiff was safe enough in the calm seas for the short trip back to the Gertrude.

The raiders waited just around a point of land while the mate and 3 seamen swam to the Gertrude. The watch was as lax as they had expected, and the raiders were able to board the Gertrude without raising the alarm. There was only one watchman, and he was drunk. The watch was easily overpowered, and the mate flashed a light to the waiting raiders to call them aboard.

The skiff tied up to the side of the Gertrude, and the boarders swarmed onto the main deck. Most of the boarders fanned out to watch the three hatches broaching the main deck from below while Stanly led two seamen to scout the ship.

Stanly led his men through the doorway leading under the poop deck. They found the door to the captain's cabin unlocked, so Stanly looked in. The cabin was not nearly as neat as one would expect for a seagoing vessel. Clothes were strewn about, and there were more weapons in evidence than was normal. A man and a woman were sleeping in the captain's bunk, and the remnants of a drinking binge were still on the chart table.

Stanly put a dagger to the man's neck and woke him and the woman. Stanly said, "Don't move, Captain. My hand might slip and drive this dagger through your throat."

The woman woke up and looked somewhat bleary eyed at the situation. Her eyes fixed on the knife at the man's throat. She screamed, "YOU FOUL BASTARD!" and dropped as much weight as she could onto Stanly's hand holding the knife. The knife was driven to the hilt through the man's neck hard enough to stick into the wood of the bunk below.

The woman burst into tears. She cried as she said, "The bastard tortured my husband most horribly before killing him. I swore to kill this devil, even if it was the last thing I ever did."

Stanly asked, "Are there any other prisoners on board?"

"Yes, my son and daughter are locked in the next cabin. I have been kept there, too, except that this bastard brought me into his cabin every night to rape me!"

"How did you come to be on this boat?"

"We were passengers on a ship from San Francisco. The pirates attacked and killed everyone else. Then they looted and sank the ship. There was a lot of gold aboard that ship, and it is now on this ship. I don't know their future plans."

Stanly said, "You are safe, now. My men will capture this ship and set you and your children free. Return to the other cabin and keep them there while we secure this ship."

Stanly went back on deck and told the men what had happened. They stormed the fo'c'sle with cutlasses and killed all the pirates in their hammocks without giving them a chance to fight back. Stanly's men were not stupid! They slit the bellies of the dead men and threw them over the side.

Capt. McFadden sent a man in the skiff to the Elizabeth with word to come to the Gertrude and anchor nearby. Meanwhile, they cleaned up the blood from the Gertrude and brought the former prisoners on deck.

Stanly asked, "Madam, what is your name, if you please. I am Stanly Bromly and this is Capt. Joseph McFadden."

"Mr. Bromly, I am pleased to meet you and grateful to you all. My name is Senora Renaldo Aguilar, and these are my children Carlos and Rosita. We were headed to our home in Los Angeles. Can I persuade you to deliver us there at your convenience?"

"Certainly, Senora Aguilar. We were planning to deliver the Gertrude there tomorrow. Are you willing to remain on board her for a few more hours?"

"Yes, with you as our protectors! Thank you so very much!"

"It is our pleasure. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a number of things I must do."

There was over $50,000 in gold coins and bullion in the hold of the Gertrude. It was a great temptation to keep it, but Stanly was mindful of his reputation, so he planned to return it to its rightful owners. Of course, he would get a prize fee for its return. That, coupled with the money from the sale of the Gertrude, would be a lot of money for each member of the group.