The Buccaneers
Directed by Otis TurnerIn the first scene we are taken on to the deck of Capt. LaFette's ship at the time a furious battle is raging between his crew and that of Blackbeard's, a rival buccaneer. There is the flash of cutlasses, hand-to-hand struggling between men with bare backs. Blackbeard is defeated; the leaders join hands later and agree to join forces. Then follows another battle quite as exciting and furious and even more pitiable, for the victims include innocent men, sailors under the English captain and a woman and a child. The woman, wife of the captain, is slain before his eyes while defending her baby boy. LaFette decides to adopt the little fellow. Twelve years pass and the boy, now a man, deplores his lot, finding consolation only in the tintype portrait of his dead mother. He has never actually served with the pirates in their desperate deeds. Blackbeard attempts to force LaFette to compel the boy to fight without success. There is a shore leave for the men. The boy is forced to accompany the two captains on a visit to the governor, under the disguise of the Earl, and his two friends whom the pirates killed. The boy falls in love with the governor's daughter and is torn with grief at his false position. Blackbeard is disturbed with jealousy, for the girl is taken with the boy. But the boy's manhood, under the stimulus of love, awakens and he dominates both Blackbeard and LaFette. In revenge Blackbeard turns state's evidence, informing the governor of who they really were by letter after their departure. In the raid that follows LaFette manages to escape. The boy is placed upon trial and tells his tale, which is discredited by Blackbeard. LaFette hears of the trial, gets to the judge's court and manages to stagger in and tell the truth about the boy, which is needed to clear him. Blackbeard, wild at seeing himself thus trapped, shoots LaFette. The play closes with the boy and girl plighting their troth.
