Captain Blood Page #2

that inasmuch as Peter Blood

has admitted...

aiding a traitor to your king...

you do bring in a verdict of guilty...

that he may be hanged...

for the high treason he has committed.

What a creature must sit on the throne...

who lets a man like you

deal out his justice.

-Your Majesty.

-Sunderland, what brings you here?

These numerous hangings.

Splendid, aren't they?

We kill the rebels, we kill the rebellion.

Very true, Your Majesty...

but a foolish waste

of valuable human flesh.

How so?

Your Majesty's colonies in the West Indies

are urgently in need of slaves.

A healthy, vigorous man

can be reckoned worth from 10 to 20.

Splendid, Sunderland.

Send out word immediately that the King

is graciously pleased to command...

that all rebels convicted

but not yet hanged...

be gathered together...

and shipped by the first available boats

to the Americas.

Give us water!

There are men dying down here.

You'd think they'd take better care

of a valuable cargo like us.

Ahoy, the deck! Land sighted, Port Royal!

lt's a truly royal clemency we're granted,

my friends...

one well worthy of King James.

He spares us the mercifully quick

extinction of the hangman's rope...

and gives the slow death of slavery.

He grants us our lives

in exchange for a living death.

lt's an uncertain world entirely.

''Be it known, men, that these prisoners

who stand before you...

''are now to be sold at a right

and fitting price.

''They may be put to labor

in the sulfur mines...

''or on the plantations

for a period of 10 years.

''And the parties

to whom they are assigned...

''must enter into security

for the proper punishment...

''of their offense.''

His Excellency, the Governor of Port Royal.

Guards, attention! Present muskets.

Good day, Captain. Lovely day, isn't it?

Or is it?

-Good day, Dixon.

-Good day, Governor.

I suppose we can begin this sale now,

Governor.

No, better wait for Col. Bishop.

He has the privilege

of being late for everything.

Yes, I know.

There he is.

-Good afternoon, Col. Bishop.

-Good afternoon, Governor.

Good afternoon, Miss Arabella.

How is my darling, the Governor,

and his foot?

Every day I think my gout

can't get any worse...

and every day it does.

My dear Colonel,

according to the King's request...

it is for you to take first choice

of this dainty nosegay...

and at your own price.

Egad, they're an appalling lot...

not likely to be of much value

on the plantation.

The less you want, the more for Dixon.

-Dixon? Uncle, I wish you'd buy them all.

-Buy them all?

To keep them out of Dixon's hands.

I perceive somebody's been talking

behind my back...

telling the truth.

-And you can joke.

-Arabella dear, don't be childish.

These men are rebels against their king.

They should be hanged, drawn,

and quartered.

-Any fate they meet is too good for them.

-Your uncle is right.

-Let the sale commence.

-My foot!

My dear, the law is the law,

and it's His Majesty's law...

and must be obeyed.

The best of the lot.

Open your mouth.

-20.

-Sold!

Sold to Col. Bishop for 20.

-As if he were buying horses.

-Yes, quite.

-Same price.

-This is Jeremy Pitt, ship's pilot...

young and sturdy.

-Same price.

-Sold!

Sold to Col. Bishop for 20.

Quiet!

Open your mouth.

His pride has bought him a ticket

to Dixon's mines.

He isn't there yet.

-My dear, consider your social position!

-Uncle!

-Which one?

-That one.

-Him? I will not.

-But I want you to.

No. Let him cool his head

in Dixon's mines. I'll have none of him.

-5.

-5? That's an insulting sum to offer.

-Does anyone offer more?

-6.

7.

You're making an exhibition of yourself...

a girl like you,

bidding for a slave before these people.

-Will you buy him?

-Certainly not.

8.

When a lady's interested in a man....

Calm down, Dixon,

8 is nothing for such a man...

a skilled physician,

a gentleman, and a scholar.

-All right, 9.

-10!

lt's apparent Miss Bishop wants him

more than I do.

Sold to Miss Arabella Bishop for 10.

Sold!

10, sold.

What would you like done with him,

Miss Bishop?

Why, I don't know.

You're extremely foolish.

lt might have cost you your life.

lt was fortunate for you

that I was here to save you.

I hardly consider it fortunate to be bought

by anyone by the name of Bishop.

You could learn a lesson in gratitude.

I could thank for not interfering.

As it happens, you are hardly in a position

to have anything to say about it.

You may join the others belonging

to my uncle...

and henceforth you may take your orders

from him.

Your very humble slave, Miss Bishop.

Come on. Move on, there.

Last night, this dog attempted to escape.

Today you'll see what happens

to those who forget...

that my friend King James

did you all a favor...

in saving you from your just fate

on the gallows.

Show them the iron, Kent.

F-T.

Whoever wears that brand

is known as a fugitive traitor...

and will be treated as such.

Burn those letters in your brain...

lest they be burned on your hides, too.

There speaks a fit friend for King James

if ever I heard one.

Would I had him and his friend James

roasting on a spit over that fire.

Great would be the burning thereof

and loud the rejoicing in Heaven.

Do your duty!

What a cruel shame

that any man is made to suffer so.

-This beastly gout!

-Perhaps a new dressing will help.

Perhaps.

-I have it here.

-Put it down.

So sorry, Doctor.

Easy, you clumsy louts!

-We won't hurt you, Governor.

-You thick-fingered jackasses!

His Excellency will have his little joke.

lll-begotten bunglers!

-Blundering pill peddlers!

-Your Excellency--

That is the final straw.

Out of this house...

and never let me see your faces again.

-But think of our reputations.

-Hang your reputations!

Leave me! I don't want to see you again!

Away! Out!

I don't want to see you!

Out into the streets!

Stop shouting.

You brought on my headache again.

Good! Hannibal, come take my crutch.

Easy, now. Help me up with my foot.

No remedy. Why, thank you, dear.

Why doesn't His Excellency

try another doctor?

Another doctor?

There are only those two

on this wretched island...

-and each one is worse than his partner.

-There is another.

And according to what I've heard,

he became a slave by being a doctor.

A slave?

Would you elevate a slave

to the position of doctor to the Governor?

-ls he a good doctor?

-I don't know.

Why are you laughing?

I'm just thinking how annoyed

Peter Blood would be...

if I did him another favor.

Your Excellency, there are diverse citizens

of this sovereign island...

who come before you with complaints.

Complaints, complaints.

Can none of my citizens

follow the example of their governor...

who endures the utmost agony

without a murmur?

-Easy there, fellow.

-Did I hurt you, sir?

No, but I thought you were going to.

Your Excellency,

this vagrant hides his sins...

behind the name of Honesty Nuttall.

-He's charged with being in debt.

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