Have you ever heard of a gentleman pirate?
Well if you haven’t, I will tell you about Stede Bonnet, for that was his name. When Stede Bonet was a kid of his later years, he was a very respectable plantation owner. Some years later, he decided to go seek his fortune among pirates. He ordered a ship for him and his crew, telling everyone in the village that he and his men were going on a trading voyage. But of course, with 10 guns and 70 crew, the people in the village were suspicious. His ship was called the Royal James.
His first prize was an easy one, for the people on board surrendered. His second prize was not so easy—for the ship was from Barbados which was where he lived. He would have to think it out very carefully so that the people in his village would not discover that Stede had become a pirate. The two ships were passing each other but Stede was too much of a gentleman to blow their ship to bits with all the crew on board, and was too pirate to let them pass, so this is what he did: he went closer beside them, boarded the ship, captured the crew, took the loot, and brought them both back to his ship. A few weeks later, he dropped the crew off on an island with some of his loot and left them there. But the crew found a way back to Barbados and spread the rumor about Stede becoming a pirate. At that, a young general volunteered to hunt down Stede and his crew. The journey started. A few days later the fight began, the two ships going at each other. Stede was gaining speed and had a chance to escape, but when they going past each other Stede’s ship suddenly stopped on a sand bar, and the other ship blew it to bits.
That was the end of Stede Bonnet.
