So the two poor men had to live as well as they could by hard work, and
they set up their tents on the north shore of the isle, to be out of the
way of the wild men, who were wont to land on the east side. Here they
built them two huts, one to lodge in, and one to lay up their stores
in; and the men from Spain gave them some corn for seed, as well as some
peas which I had left them. They soon learned to dig, and plant, and
hedge in their land, in the mode which I had set for them, and in short,
to lead good lives, so that I shall now call them the "two good men."
But when the three bad men saw, this, they were full of spite, and came
one day to tease and vex them. They told them that the isle was their
own, and that no one else had a right to build on it, if they did not
pay rent. The two good men thought at first that they were in jest, and
told them to come and sit down, and see what fine homes they had built,
and say what rent they would ask.
But one of the three said they should soon see that they were not in
jest, and took a torch in his hand, and put it to the roof of the but,
and would have set it on fire, had not one of the two good men trod the
fire out with his feet. The bad man was in such a rage at this, that he
ran at him with a pole he had in his hand, and this brought on a fight,
the end of which was that the three men had to stand off. But in a short
time they came back, and trod down the corn, and shot the goats and
young kids, which the poor men had got to bring up tame for their store.
One day when the two men were out, they came to their home, and said,
"Ha! there's the nest, but the birds are flown." They then set to work
to pull down both the huts, and left not a stick, nor scarce a sign on
the ground to show where the tents had stood. They tore up, too, all the
goods and stock that they could find, and when they had done this, they
told it all to the men of Spain, and said, "You, sirs, shall have the
same sauce, if you do not mend your ways."
They then fell to blows and hard words, but Carl had them bound in
cords, and took their arms from them. The men of Spain then said they
would do them no harm, and if they would live at peace they would help
them, and that they should live with them as they had done till that
time, but they could not give them back their arms for three or four
months.
One night Carl--whom I shall call "the chief," as he took the lead of
all the rest--felt a great weight on his mind, and could get no sleep,
though he was quite well in health. He lay still for some time, but as
he, did not feel at case, he got up, and took a look out. But as it was
too dark to see far, and he heard no noise, he went back to his bed.
Still it was all one, he could not sleep; and though he knew not why,
his thoughts would give him no rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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