第96章

When I shew'd my self to the two Hostages，it was with the Captain，who told them，I was the Person the Governour had order'd to look after them，and that it was the Governour's Pleasure they should not stir any where，but by my Direction；that if they did，they should be fetch'd into the Castle，and be lay'd in Irons；so that as we never suffered them to see me as Governour，so I now appear'd as another Person，and Spoke of the Governour，the Garrison，the Castle，and the like，upon all Occasions.

The Captain now had no Difficulty before him，but to furnish his two Boats，Stop the Breach of one，and Man them. He made his Passenger Captain of one，with four other Men；and himself，and his Mate，and five more，went in the other：And they contriv'd their Business very well；for they came up to the Ship about Midnight：As soon as they came within Call of the Ship，he made Robinson hale them，and tell them they had brought off the Men and the Boat，but that it was a long time before they had found them，and the like holding them in a Chat 'till they came to the Ship's Side when the Captain and the Mate entring first with their Arms，immediately knock'd down the second Mate and Carpenter，with the But-end of their Muskets，being very faithfully seconded by their Men，they secur'd all the rest that were upon the Main and Quarter Decks，and began to fasten the Hatches to keep them down who were below，when the other Boat and their Men entring at the fore Chains，secur'd the Fore-Castle of the Ship，and the Scuttle which went down into the Cook Room，making three Men they found there，Prisoners.

When this was done，and all safe upon Deck，the Captain order'd the Mate with three Men to break into the Round-House where the new Rebel Captain lay，and having taken the Alarm，was gotten up，and with two Men and a Boy had gotten Fire Arms in their Hands，and when the Mate with a Crow split open the Door，the new Captain and his Men fir'd boldly among them，and wounded the Mate with a Musket Ball which broke his Arm，and wounded two more of the but kill'd no Body.

The Mate calling for Help，rush'd however into the Round-House，wounded as he was，and with his Pistol shot the new Captain thro' the Head，the Bullet entring at his Mouth，and came out again behind one of his Ears；so that he never spoke a Word；upon which the rest yielded，and the Ship was taken effectually，without any more Lives lost.

As soon as the Ship was thus secur'd，the Captain order'd seven Guns to be fir'd，which was the Signal agreed upon with me，to give me Notice of his Success，which you may be sure I was very glad to hear，having sat watching upon the Shore for it till near two of the Clock in the Morning.

Having thus heard the Signal plainly，I laid me down；and it having been a Day of great Fatigue to me，I slept very sound，'till I was something surpriz'd with the Noise of a Gun；and presently starting up，I heard a Man call me by the Name of Governour，Governour，and presently I knew the Captain's Voice，when climbing up to the Top of the Hill，there he stood，and pointing to the Ship，he embrac'd me in Arms，My dear Friend and Deliverer，says he，there's your Ship，for she is all yours，and so are we and all that belong to her. I cast my Eyes to the Ship，and there she rode within little more than half a Mile of the Shore；for they had weighed for as soon as they were Masters of her；and the Weather being fair，had brought her to an Anchor just against the Mouth of the little Creek；and the Tide being up，the Captain had brought the Pinnace in near the

Place where I at first landed my Rafts，and so landed just at my Door. I was at first ready to sink down with the Surprize. For I saw my Deliverance indeed visibly put into my Hands，all things easy，and a large Ship just ready to carry me away whither I pleased to go. At first，for some time，I was not able to answer him one Word；but as he had taken me in his Arms，I held fast by him，or I should have fallen to the Ground.

He perceived the Surprize，and immediately pulls a Bottle out of his Pocket，and gave me a Dram of Cordial，which he had brought on Purpose for me；after I had drank it，I sat down upon the Ground；and though it brought me to my self，yet it was a good while before I could speak a Word to him.

All this while the poor Man was in as great an Extasy as I，only not under any Surprize，as I was；and he said a thousand kind tender things to me，to compose me and bring me to my self；but such was the Flood of Joy in my Breast，that it put all my Spirits into Confusion，at last it broke out into Tears，and in a little while after，I recovered my Speech.

Then I took my Turn，and embrac'd him as my Deliverer；and we rejoyc'd together. I told him，I look upon him as a Man sent from Heaven to deliver me，and that the whole Transaction seemed to be a Chain of Wonders；that such things as these were the Testimonies we had of a secret Hand of Providence governing the World，and an Evidence，that the Eyes of an infinite Power could search into the remotest Corner of the World，and send Help to the Miserable whenever he pleased.

I forgot not to lift up my Heart in Thankfulness to Heaven，and what Heart could forbear to bless him，who had not only in a miraculous Manner provided for one in such a Wilderness，and in such a desolate Condition，but from whom every Deliverance must always be acknowledged to proceed.

When we had talk'd a while，the Captain told me，he had brought me some little Refreshment，such as the Ship afforded，and such as the Wretches that had been so long his Master had not plunder'd him of：Upon this he call'd aloud to the Boat，and bid his Men bring the things ashore that were for the Governour；and indeed it was a Present，as if I had been one not that was to be carry'd away along with them，but as if I had been to dwell upon the Island still，and they were to go without me.