Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of ExileMelville, Herman
General
Israel Potter: His Fifty Years of Exile
Melville, Herman
Potter, Israel, 1744-1826? -- Fiction
The officers being landed, some of the crew propose, like merry
Englishmen as they are, to hie to a neighboring ale-house, and have a
cosy pot or two together. Agreed. They start, and Israel with them. As
they enter the ale-house door, our prisoner is suddenly reminded of
still more imperative calls. Unsuspected of any design, he is allowed
to leave the party for a moment. No sooner does Israel see his
companions housed, than putting speed into his feet, and letting grow
all his wings, he starts like a deer. He runs four miles (so he
afterwards affirmed) without halting. He sped towards London; wisely
deeming that once in that crowd detection would be impossible.
Ten miles, as he computed, from where he had left the bargemen,
leisurely passing a public house of a little village on the roadside,
thinking himself now pretty safe—hark, what is this he hears?—
“Ahoy!”
“No ship,” says Israel, hurrying on.
“Stop.”
“If you will attend to your business, I will endeavor to attend to
mine,” replies Israel coolly. And next minute he lets grow his wings
again; flying, one dare say, at the rate of something less than thirty
miles an hour.
“Stop thief!” is now the cry. Numbers rushed from the roadside houses.
After a mile’s chase, the poor panting deer is caught.
Finding it was no use now to prevaricate, Israel boldly confesses
himself a prisoner-of-war. The officer, a good fellow as it turned out,
had him escorted back to the inn; where, observing to the landlord that
this must needs be a true-blooded Yankee, he calls for liquors to
refresh Israel after his run. Two soldiers are then appointed to guard
him for the present. This was towards evening; and up to a late hour at
night, the inn was filled with strangers crowding to see the Yankee
rebel, as they politely termed him. These honest rustics seemed to
think that Yankees were a sort of wild creatures, a species of ’possum
or kangaroo. But Israel is very affable with them. That liquor he drank
from the hand of his foe, has perhaps warmed his heart towards all the
rest of his enemies. Yet this may not be wholly so. We shall see. At
any rate, still he keeps his eye on the main chance—escape. Neither the
jokes nor the insults of the mob does he suffer to molest him. He is
cogitating a little plot to himself.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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