10. THE RESCUE OF FRIDAY.

There was between them and my castle the creek, which I mentioned often in the first part of my story, where I landed my cargoes out of the ship; and this I saw plainly he must necessarily swim over, or the poor wretch would be taken there. But when the savage escaping came thither, he made nothing of it, though the tide was then up, but plunging in, swam through in about thirty strokes or thereabouts, landed, and ran on with exceeding swiftness.

When the three persons came to the creek, I found that two of them could swim, but the third could not; and that, standing on the other side, he looked at the others, but went no further, and soon after went softly back again; which, as it happened, was very well for him in the end. I observed that the two who swam were yet more than twice as long swimming over the creek as the fellow was that fled from them. It came very warmly upon my thoughts, and indeed irresistibly, that now was the time to get me a servant, and perhaps a companion or assistant, and that I was called plainly by Providence to save this poor creature's life.

I immediately ran down the ladders with all possible expedition, fetched my two guns, and getting up again with the same haste to the top of the hill, I crossed toward the sea, and having a very short cut and all downhill, placed myself in the way between the pursuers and the pursued, hallooing aloud to him that fled, who, looking back, was at first per

haps as much frightened at me as at them. But I beckoned with my hand to him to come back, and in the meantime I slowly advanced towards the two that followed; then rushing upon the foremost, I knocked him down with the stock of my piece.

I was loath to fire, because I would not have the rest hear; though at that distance it would not have been easily heard, and being out of sight of the smoke too, they would not have easily known what to make of it. Having knocked this fellow down, the other who pursued him stopped as if he had been frightened, and I advanced a pace towards him. as I came nearer, I perceived presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me; so I was then necessitated to shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him at the first shot.

But

The poor savage who fled, though he saw both his enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was so frightened with the fire and noise of my piece that he stood stock-still, and neither came forward nor went backward, though he seemed rather inclined still to fly than to come on. I hallooed again to him, and made signs to come forward, which he easily understood, and came a little way; then stopped again, and then a little farther, and stopped again; and I could then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had been taken prisoner and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies were. I beckoned to him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of encouragement that I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer,

kneeling down every ten or twelve steps in token of acknowledgment for saving his life. I smiled at him and I looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to come still nearer.

At length he came close to me, and then he kneeled down again, kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the ground; and taking me by the foot, set my foot upon his head. This, it seems, was in token of swearing to be my slave for ever. I took him up and made much of him, and encouraged him all I could.

But there was more work to do yet; for I perceived the savage whom I had knocked down was not killed, but stunned with the blow, and began to come to himself so I pointed to him and showed him the savage, that he was not dead.

:

Upon this he spoke some words to me, and though I could not understand them, yet I thought they were pleasant to hear, for they were the first sound of a man's voice I had heard, my own excepted, for above twenty-five years. The savage who was knocked down recovered himself so far as to sit up upon the ground, and I perceived that my savage began to be afraid; but when I saw that, I presented my other piece at the man, as if I would shoot him. Upon this, my savage-for so I call him now--made a motion to me to lend him my sword, which hung naked in a belt by my side; which I did. He no sooner had it but he ran to his enemy, and at one blow cut off his head so cleverly, no executioner in Germany could have done it sooner or better; which I thought very strange for one who, I had reason to

believe, never saw a sword in his life before, except their own wooden swords. However, it seems, as I learned afterwards, they make their wooden swords so sharp, so heavy, and the wood is so hard, that they will even cut off heads with them, ay, and arms, and that at one blow too.

When he had done this, he came laughing to me in sign of triumph, and brought me the sword again, and with abundance of gestures which I did not understand, laid it down, with the head of the savage that he had killed, just before me. But that which astonished him most was to know how I killed the other Indian so far off. So pointing to him, he made signs to me to let him go to him; so I bade him go, as well as I could. When he came to him he stood like one amazed, looking at him, turning him first on one side, then on the other, looked at the wound the bullet had made, which, it seems, was just in his breast. He took up his bow and arrows and came back; so I turned to go away, and beckoned him to follow me.

Upon this he made signs to me that he should bury them with sand, that they might not be seen by the rest if they followed, and so I made signs to him again to do so. He fell to work, and in an instant he had scraped a hole in the sand with his hands, big enough to bury the first in, and then dragged him into it and covered him, and did so by the other also. I believe he had buried them both in a quarter of an hour. Then calling him away, I carried him, not to my castle, but quite