The Story: In St. Thomas there lived a young Danish maid whose mother & father had been washed from a ship by a hurricane. She dreamed of finding her foster-brother, Karl, who had also disappeared. Karin asked Captain Thatch (in reality, Edward Teach, "Bluebeard") whether he had seen the lad. Thatch had been in the same place as Karin during the hurricane, & might know about Karl. He remembered striking & robbing a boy, who might have survived, but a search for him proved unsuccessful. Bluebeard then became Karin's guardian, secretly intending to marry her. When Yellow Fever struck St. Thomas, he sent Karin to safety in Denmark, where she found Karl. Sailing back to St.Thomas, their ship was intercepted by Bluebeard's pirates, whom they tricked & defeated. Bluebeard left the West Indies & continued his depredations along the Carolina Coast, leaving Karin & Karl to live happily on the island.

-- Aileen Block

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