The Perils of Certain English Prisoners — John Shaqi
The Perils of Certain English PrisonersDickens, Charles
General
The Perils of Certain English Prisoners
Dickens, Charles
English fiction -- 19th century
What could I do, with five-and-twenty of them on me, but be tied hand and
foot? So, I was tied hand and foot. It was all over now--boats not come
back--all lost! When I was fast bound and was put up against the wall,
the one-eyed English convict came up with the Portuguese Captain, to have
a look at me.
"See!" says he. "Here's the determined man! If you had slept sounder,
last night, you'd have slept your soundest last night, my determined
man."
The Portuguese Captain laughed in a cool way, and with the flat of his
cutlass, hit me crosswise, as if I was the bough of a tree that he played
with: first on the face, and then across the chest and the wounded arm. I
looked him steady in the face without tumbling while he looked at me, I
am happy to say; but, when they went away, I fell, and lay there.
The sun was up, when I was roused and told to come down to the beach and
be embarked. I was full of aches and pains, and could not at first
remember; but, I remembered quite soon enough. The killed were lying
about all over the place, and the Pirates were burying their dead, and
taking away their wounded on hastily-made litters, to the back of the
Island. As for us prisoners, some of their boats had come round to the
usual harbour, to carry us off. We looked a wretched few, I thought,
when I got down there; still, it was another sign that we had fought
well, and made the enemy suffer.
The Portuguese Captain had all the women already embarked in the boat he
himself commanded, which was just putting off when I got down. Miss
Maryon sat on one side of him, and gave me a moment's look, as full of
quiet courage, and pity, and confidence, as if it had been an hour long.
On the other side of him was poor little Mrs. Fisher, weeping for her
child and her mother. I was shoved into the same boat with Drooce and
Packer, and the remainder of our party of marines: of whom we had lost
two privates, besides Charker, my poor, brave comrade. We all made a
melancholy passage, under the hot sun over to the mainland. There, we
landed in a solitary place, and were mustered on the sea sand. Mr. and
Mrs. Macey and their children were amongst us, Mr. and Mrs. Pordage, Mr.
Kitten, Mr. Fisher, and Mrs. Belltott. We mustered only fourteen men,
fifteen women, and seven children. Those were all that remained of the
English who had lain down to sleep last night, unsuspecting and happy, on
the Island of Silver-Store.
CHAPTER III {1}--THE RAFTS ON THE RIVER
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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