On Useppa

"Then he was sorry for the great fish that had nothing to eat and his determination to kill him never relaxed in his sorrow for him. How many people will he feed, he thought. But are they worthy to eat him? No, of course not. There is no one worthy of eating him from the manner of his behavior and his great dignity." Old Man and the Sea






There was a narrow but relatively deep strait between what would eventually come to be known as Boca Grande Island and Pine Island, both just north of Captiva Island. For the Spanish Rowboat,

carrying Captain De Madrone of the El Capitan, along with a handful of his officers and mates, it would serve as a perfect entry point into the islands, finally protected from the back breaking chop of the waves which had by now calmed and served them gently past the two small emerald islands.  They could be only several hours lagging behind course of the Trueheart, the very cause of this particularly risky game that De Madrone was playing, the fate not only of his own life, but his crew, his ship, perhaps even the Spanish Crown itself if it came to be understood that one of its very own captains of the Treasure Fleet had turned pirate.  Waters here at the inner passage of the virtual archipelago were shallow; the Trueheart could not have made it much past the initial facade of sea-facing beaches.  "On, dead ahead, two o'clock mates," yelled Savoy, a burly man with robust voice and well swiped mustache but no beard.  "Look on, large timbers fallen at the head of coming bay."

The scene they approached was more than an unusual one – to careen a ship in such quick time meant that the Trueheart had figured out the object of this game. They had been sent out on lead on purpose  skipping around the shoals that surrounded these islands.  And for this, there could only be

one reason: the silver stocks they carried.  De Madrone ordered to approach the ship directly.  He would arouse no suspicion by simply telling the Lord's truth – they had been attacked by the pirate ship and escaped nary by a breath of life.  Not a person sitting that moment on the rowboat, however, could have envisioned the further scene as they moved closer to the teetering ship lit by the haze of the sunken sun and rising moon.  The hull indeed had been damaged by a shoal, revealing a gash the size of a man, yet on the beach, sprawled out over a good fifty feet in length, thin waves lapping upwards towards them, were a small crew of men stuck by arrows and above them on higher ground barrels and chests of what

most certainly must have been the silver load.  They landed the row and began to inspect the grounds.  The marks of many bare feet tangled in the sand and lead up into the dark entries of the forest above.  "Build a fire, take all the arms you can find." The Captain found himself in the unlikely possession of the treasure but not a ship worthy of its transport.  "Two hours we have before Her Bounty has come to see our trick and will be wading through the straits readying to strike."  Just then a single cry sang out from the Trueheart like a muffled birdsong.