by Daniel Defoe
rest.
Upon this I resolved to discover myself to them, and learn something oftheir condition. Immediately I marched in the figure above, my manFriday at a good distance behind me, as formidable for his arms as I,but not making quite so staring a spectre-like figure as I did.
I came as near them undiscovered as I could, and then before any of themsaw me, I called aloud to them in Spanish, "What are ye gentlemen?"
They started up at the noise, but were ten times more confounded whenthey saw me, and the uncouth figure that I made. They made no answer atall, but I thought I perceived them just going to fly from me, when Ispoke to them in English, "Gentlemen," said I, "do not be surprized at me;perhaps you may have a friend near you when you did not expect it."--"Hemust be sent directly from Heaven then," said one of them very gravely tome, and pulling off his hat at the same time to me, "for our condition ispast the help of man."--"All help is from Heaven, Sir," said I: "but canyou put a stranger in the way how to help you, for you seem to me to bein some great distress: I saw you when you landed, and when you seemedto make applications to the brutes that came with you, I saw one of themlift up his sword to kill you."
The poor man with tears running down his face, and trembling, lookinglike one astonished, returned, "Am I talking to God, or man! Is it a realman, or an angel?"--"Be in no fear about that, Sir," said I: "if God hadsent an angel to relieve you, he would have come better cloathed, andarmed after another manner than you see me in; pray lay aside your fears,I am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you, you see; I haveone servant only; we have arms and ammunition; tell us freely, can weserve you?--What is your case?"
"Our case," said he, "Sir, is too long to tell you, while our murtherersare so near; but in short, sir, I was commander of that ship, my menhave mutinied against me; they have been hardly prevailed on not tomurther me, and at last have set me on shore in this desolate place,with these two men with me; one my mate, the other a passenger, where weexpected to perish, believing the place to be uninhabited, and know notyet what to think of it."
"Where are those brutes, your enemies," said I; "do you know where they aregone?"--"There they are, Sir," said he, pointing to a thicket of trees; "myheart trembles, for fear they have seen us, and heard you speak, if theyhave, they will certainly murder us all."
"Have they any fire-arms?" said I. He answered, "They had only two pieces,and one which they left in the boat."--"Well then," said I, "leave the restto me; I see they are all asleep, it is an easy thing to kill them all;but shall we rather take them prisoners?" He told me there were twodesperate villains among them, that it was scarce safe to shew any mercyto; but if they were secured, he believed all the rest would return totheir duty. I asked him, which they were? He told me he could not atthat distance describe them; but he would obey my orders in any thing Iwould direct. "Well," says I, "let us retreat out of their view or hearing,least they awake, and we will resolve further;" so they willingly wentback with me, till the woods covered us from them.
"Look you, Sir," said I, "if I venture upon your deliverance, are youwilling to make two conditions with me?" He anticipated my proposals, bytelling me, that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be whollydirected and commanded by me in every thing; and if the ship was notrecovered, he would live and dye with me in what part of the worldsoever I would send him; and the two other men said the same.
"Well," says I, "my conditions are but two. 1. That while you stay on thisisland with me, you will not pretend to any authority here; and if I putarms into your hands, you will upon all occasions give them up to me,and do no prejudice to me or mine, upon this island, and in the meantime be governed by my orders.
"2. That if the ship is or may be recovered, you will carry me and myman to England, passage free."
He gave me all the assurance that the invention and faith of a man coulddevise, that he would comply with these most reasonable demands, andbesides would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasionsas long as he lived.
"Well then," said I, "here are three muskets for you, with powder andball; tell me next what you think is proper to be done." He shewed allthe testimony of his gratitude that he was able; but offered to bewholly guided by me: I told him, I thought it was hard venturing anything, but the best method I could think of, was to fire upon them atonce, as they lay; and if any were not killed at the first volley, andoffered to submit, we might save them, and so put it wholly upon God'sprovidence to direct the shot.
He said, very modestly, that he was loath to kill them, if he could helpit; but that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been theauthors of all the mutiny in the ship; and if they escaped, we should beundone still; for they would go on board, and bring the whole ship'scompany, and destroy us all. "Well then," said I, "necessity legitimatesmy advice; for it is the only way to save our lives." However, seeinghim still cautious of shedding blood, I told him, they should gothemselves, and manage as they found convenient.
In the middle of this discourse we heard some of them awake, and soonafter we saw two of them on their feet. I asked him, if either of themwere the men who he had said were the heads of the mutiny? He said, No."Well then," said I, "you may let them escape, and Providence seems tohave wakened them on purpose to save themselves."--"Now," said I, "ifthe rest escape you, it is your fault."
Animated with this, he took the musket I had given him in his hand, andpistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each man a piecein his hand: the two men, who were with him, going first, made somenoise, at which one of the seamen, who was awake, turned about, andseeing them coming, cried out to the rest; but it was too late then; forthe moment he cried out, they fired, I mean the two men, the captainwisely reserving his own piece: they had so well aimed their shot at themen they knew, that one of them was killed on the spot, and the othervery much wounded; but not being dead he started up on his feet, andcalled eagerly for help to the other; but the captain, stepping to him,told him it was too late to cry for help; he should call upon God toforgive his villany; and with that word knocked him down with the stockof his musket, so that he never spoke more: there were three more in thecompany, and one of them was also slightly wounded. By this time I wascome; and when they saw their danger, and that it was in vain to resist,they begged for mercy. The captain told them, he would spare theirlives, if they would give him any assurance of their abhorrence of thetreachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to himin recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to Jamaica,from whence they came. They gave him all the protestations of theirsincerity that could be desired, and he was willing to believe them, andspare their lives, which I was not against; only I obliged him to keepthem bound hand and foot while they were upon the island.
While this was doing, I sent Friday with the captain's mate to the boat,with orders to secure her, and bring away the oars and sail, which theydid; and by and by, three straggling men, that were (happily for them)parted from the rest, came back upon hearing the guns fired; and seeingtheir captain, who before was their prisoner, now their conqueror, theysubmitted to be bound also; and so our victory was complete.
It now remained, that the captain and I should inquire into oneanother's circumstances: I began first, and told him my whole history,which he heard with an attention even to amazement, and particularly atthe wonderful manner of my being furnished with provisions andammunition; and indeed, as my story is a whole collection of wonders, itaffected him deeply; but when he reflected from thence upon himself, andhow I seemed to have been preserved there on purpose to save his life,the tears ran down his face, and he could not speak a word more.
After this communication was at an end, I carried him and his two meninto my apartments, leading them in just where I came out, viz. at thetop of the house; where I refreshed them with such provisions as I had,and shewed them all the contrivances I had made during my long, longinhabiting that place.
All I shewed them, all I said to them, was perfectly amazing;
but, aboveall, the captain admired my fortification; and how perfectly I hadconcealed my retreat with a grove of trees, which, having now beenplanted near twenty years, and the trees growing much faster than inEngland, was become a little wood, and so thick, that it was impassablein any part of it, but at that one side where I had reserved my littlewinding passage into it: this I told him was my castle, and myresidence; but that I had a seat in the country, as most princes have,whither I could retreat upon occasion, and I would shew him that tooanother time; but at present our business was to consider how to recoverthe ship. He agreed with me as to that; but told me, he was perfectly ata loss what measure to take; for that there were
