“Where are those brutes, your enemies?” said I; “do you know where they are gone?” “There they are, sir,” said he, pointing to a thicket of trees; “my heart trembles for fear they have seen us, and heard you speak; if they have, they will certainly murder us all.”
“Have they any fire-arms?” said I. He answered, “They had only two pieces, and one which they left in the boat.” “Well, then,” said I, “leave the rest to me; I see they are asleep; it is an easy thing to kill them all, but shall we rather take them prisoners?” He told me there were two desperate villains among them, that it was scarce safe to show any mercy to; but if they were secured, he believed all the rest would return to their duty: I asked him which they were? He told me he could not at that distance describe them; but he would obey my orders in any thing I would direct. “Well,” said I, “let us retreat out of their view or hearing, lest they awake, and we will resolve farther;” so they willingly went back with me, till the woods covered us from them.
“Look you, sir,” said I, “if I venture upon your deliverance, are you willing to make two conditions with me?” He anticipated my proposals by telling me, that both he and the ship, if recovered, should be wholly directed and commanded by me in every thing; and if the ship was not recovered, he would live and die with me in what part of the world soever I would send him; and the two other men said the same.
“Well,” said I, “my conditions are but two: First, That while you stay on this island with me, you will not pretend to any authority here; and if I put arms into your hands, you will upon all occasions give them up to me, and do no prejudice to me or mine, upon this island, and in the meantime to be governed by orders. Second, That if the ship is, or may be, recovered, you will carry me and my man to England passage free.”
He gave me all the assurance that the invention or faith of a man could devise, that he would comply with these most reasonable demands; and besides would owe his life to me, and acknowledge it upon all occasions as long as he lived.
“Well, then,” said I, “here are three muskets for you, with powder and ball; tell me next what you think is proper to be done.” He showed all the testimony of his gratitude that he was able, but offered to be wholly guided by me: I told him I thought it was hard venturing any thing, but the best method I could think of was, to fire upon them at once as they lay; and if any were not killed at the first volley, and offered to submit, we might save them, and put it wholly upon God’s providence to direct the shot.
He said, very modestly, that he was loath to kill them if he could help it; but that those two were incorrigible villains, and had been the authors of all the mutiny in the ship, and, if they escaped, we should be undone still; for they would go on board, and bring the whole ship’s company and destroy us all. “Well, then,” said I, “necessity legitimates my advice; for it is the only way to save our lives.” However, seeing him still cautious of shedding blood, I told him they should go themselves, and manage as they found convenient.
In the middle of this discourse, we heard some of them awake, and soon after we saw two of them on their feet. I asked him if either of them were the men who he had said were the heads of the mutiny? He said, “No.” “Well, then,” said I, “you may let them escape, and Providence seems to have wakened them on purpose to save themselves. Now,” said I, “if the rest escape you, it is your fault.”
Animated with this he took the musket I had given him in his hand, and pistol in his belt, and his two comrades with him, with each man a piece in his hand; the two men who were with him going first, made some noise, at which one of the seamen, who was awake, turned about, and, seeing them coming, cried out to the rest; but it was too late then, for the moment he cried out they fired, I mean the two men, the captain wisely reserving his own piece; they had so well aimed their shot at the men they knew, that one of them was killed on the spot, and the other very much wounded; but not being dead, he started up on his feet and called eagerly for help to the other; but the captain stepping to him, told him it was too late to cry for help, he should call upon God to forgive his villany; and with that word knocked him down with the stock of his musket, so that he never spoke more; there were three more in the company, and one of them was also slightly wounded. By this time I was come; and when they saw their danger, and that it was in vain to resist, they begged for mercy. The captain told them he would spare their lives, if they would give him any assurance of their abhorrence of the treachery they had been guilty of, and would swear to be faithful to him in recovering the ship, and afterwards in carrying her back to Jamaica, from whence they came. They gave him all the protestations of their sincerity that could be desired, and he was willing to believe them, and spare their lives, which I was not against; only I obliged him to keep them bound, hand and foot, while they were upon the island.