Darlene's Digest

He returned with his copy of Captain Johnson and arranged himself on her bed while Lydia took the chair. She didn’t want to admit it to the two pirates, but she also was captivated by the tales of long ago miscreants and their adventures. “As you know, Mattie, Edward Teach, or Blackbeard, was a commodore of pirates, commanding other captains beneath him. He was not a good man at all, but he was a very successful pirate, so successful that the governor of Virginia Colony offered a huge bounty on his head—one hundred pounds!” Mattie’s eyes grew large as her father gave her an edited version of Blackbeard’s life, but even so she was frowning at the end. “‘Here was an end of that courageous brute, who might have passed in the world for a hero had he been employed in a good cause; his destruction…was entirely owing to the conduct and bravery of Lieutenant Maynard and his men.’” “Blackbeard did not treat his crew well, Papa. You are the better captain. I am glad Lieutenant Maynard stopped...