Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 15

"The Witch of Darien" by Frederick Whittaker This serial adventure opens during a Caribbean cyclone in 1664. A Spanish galleon, the *Nuestra Señora del Asunción*, carrying former Governor Don Alonzo del Campo y Espinosa and his daughter Doña Inez toward Spain, encounters an approaching buccaneer vessel—a small but dangerous periagua. Despite the galleon's superior firepower (forty guns), Don Alonzo fears the pirates' fearsome reputation. The passenger Don Enrique Morganos, a mysterious figure claiming Spanish origin, reveals knowledge of buccaneer tactics. When Inez begs him to devise an escape that avoids bloodshed, he demands her love as payment. The periagua pursues the galleon toward the Pitons of St. Lucia, where they hope to reach safety. Morganos descends to the cabin, hinting at a secret plan.