genial man who stabbed, so to speak, without offence, and was the only
Non-conformist in Hook s crew; and Noodler, whose hands were fixed on
backwards; and Robt. Mullins and Alf Mason and many another ruffian
long known and feared on the Spanish Main.
In the midst of them, the blackest and largest in that dark setting,
reclined James Hook, or as he wrote himself, Jas. Hook, of whom it is
said he was the only man that the Sea-Cook feared. He lay at his ease
in a rough chariot drawn and propelled by his men, and instead of a
right hand he had the iron hook with which ever and anon he encouraged
them to increase their pace. As dogs this terrible man treated and
addressed them, and as dogs they obeyed him. In person he was
cadaverous and blackavized, and his hair was dressed in long curls,
which at a little distance looked like black candles, and gave a
singularly threatening expression to his handsome countenance. His eyes
were of the blue of the forget-me-not, and of a profound melancholy,
save when he was plunging his hook into you, at which time two red
spots appeared in them and lit them up horribly. In manner, something
of the grand seigneur still clung to him, so that he even ripped you up
with an air, and I have been told that he was a _raconteur_ of repute.
He was never more sinister than when he was most polite, which is
probably the truest test of breeding; and the elegance of his diction,
even when he was swearing, no less than the distinction of his
demeanour, showed him one of a different cast from his crew. A man of
indomitable courage, it was said that the only thing he shied at was
the sight of his own blood, which was thick and of an unusual colour.
In dress he somewhat aped the attire associated with the name of
Charles II, having heard it said in some earlier period of his career
that he bore a strange resemblance to the ill-fated Stuarts; and in his
mouth he had a holder of his own contrivance which enabled him to smoke
two cigars at once. But undoubtedly the grimmest part of him was his
iron claw.
Let us now kill a pirate, to show Hook s method. Skylights will do. As
they pass, Skylights lurches clumsily against him, ruffling his lace
collar; the hook shoots forth, there is a tearing sound and one
screech, then the body is kicked aside, and the pirates pass on. He has
not even taken the cigars from his mouth.
Such is the terrible man against whom Peter Pan is pitted. Which will
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