The Sea Rover's Ruse

"The Sea Rover's Ruse" This serial novel by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, titled "A Romance of Sea and Shore in 1812," depicts the elopement of Celine Chetwyn with Captain Bernard Bazil, a uniformed sailor she believes serves Cartagena but who reveals himself as a buccaneer. After years of marriage aboard his pirate schooner, Celine remains trapped in the vessel's cabin with their two children: a ten-year-old boy trained as a midshipman and a four-year-old daughter. When Bazil discloses their marriage was performed by a crewman posing as a priest, Celine collapses in despair. As the schooner pursues a merchant brig that proves to be an armed cruiser, most of the pirate crew boards the vessel. A sudden storm separates the ships, leaving the schooner undermanned and adrift. The young middy takes command on deck, ordering sail reduction while his mother lies ill below.