"Would to God you had, sir; for the story was true enough; and among them, I heard, were two young ladies of quality and their confessor, who came to their ends for reproving out of Scripture the filthy and loathsome living of those parts, which, as I saw well enough and too well, is liker to Sodom than to a Christian town; but God will avenge His saints, and their sins.Amen.""Amen," said Sir Richard: "but on with thy tale, for it is as strange as ever man heard.""Well, gentlemen, when I heard that I must end my days in that galley, I was for awhile like a madman: but in a day or two there came over me, I know not how, a full assurance of salvation, both for this life and the life to come, such as I had never had before;and it was revealed to me (I speak the truth, gentlemen, before Heaven) that now I had been tried to the uttermost, and that my deliverance was at hand.
"And all the way up to Panama (that was after we had laden the 'Cacafuogo') I cast in my mind how to escape, and found no way: but just as I was beginning to lose heart again, a door was opened by the Lord's own hand; for (I know not why) we were marched across from Panama to Nombre, which had never happened before, and there put all together into a great barranco close by the quay-side, shackled, as is the fashion, to one long bar that ran the whole length of the house.And the very first night that we were there, I, looking out of the window, spied, lying close aboard of the quay, a good-sized caravel well armed and just loading for sea; and the land breeze blew off very strong, so that the sailors were laying out a fresh warp to hold her to the shore.And it came into my mind, that if we were aboard of her, we should be at sea in five minutes; and looking at the quay, I saw all the soldiers who had guarded us scattered about drinking and gambling, and some going into taverns to refresh themselves after their journey.That was just at sundown; and half an hour after, in comes the gaoler to take a last look at us for the night, and his keys at his girdle.
Whereon, sirs (whether by madness, or whether by the spirit which gave Samson strength to rend the lion), I rose against him as he passed me, without forethought or treachery of any kind, chained though I was, caught him by the head, and threw him there and then against the wall, that he never spoke word after; and then with his keys freed myself and every soul in that room, and bid them follow me, vowing to kill any man who disobeyed my commands.They followed, as men astounded and leaping out of night into day, and death into life, and so aboard that caravel and out of the harbor (the Lord only knows how, who blinded the eyes of the idolaters), 'with no more hurt than a few chance-shot from the soldiers on the quay.But my tale has been over-long already, gentlemen--""Go on till midnight, my good fellow, if you will.""Well, sirs, they chose me for captain, and a certain Genoese for lieutenant, and away to go.I would fain have gone ashore after all, and back to Panama to hear news of the little maid: but that would have been but a fool's errand.Some wanted to turn pirates:
but I, and the Genoese too, who was a prudent man, though an evil one, persuaded them to run for England and get employment in the Netherland wars, assuring them that there would be no safety in the Spanish Main, when once our escape got wind.And the more part being of one mind, for England we sailed, watering at the Barbadoes because it was desolate; and so eastward toward the Canaries.In which voyage what we endured (being taken by long calms), by scurvy, calentures, hunger, and thirst, no tongue can tell.Many a time were we glad to lay out sheets at night to catch the dew, and suck them in the morning; and he that had a noggin of rain-water out of the scuppers was as much sought to as if he had been Adelantado of all the Indies; till of a hundred and forty poor wretches a hundred and ten were dead, blaspheming God and man, and above all me and the Genoese, for taking the Europe voyage, as if Ihad not sins enough of my own already.And last of all, when we thought ourselves safe, we were wrecked by southwesters on the coast of Brittany, near to Cape Race, from which but nine souls of us came ashore with their lives; and so to Brest, where I found a Flushinger who carried me to Falmouth and so ends my tale, in which if I have said one word more or less than truth, I can wish myself no worse, than to have it all to undergo a second time."And his voice, as he finished, sank from very weariness of soul;while Sir Richard sat opposite him in silence, his elbows on the table, his cheeks on his doubled fists, looking him through and through with kindling eyes.No one spoke for several minutes; and then--"Amyas, you have heard this story.You believe it?""Every word, sir, or I should not have the heart of a Christian man.""So do I.Anthony!"
The butler entered.
"Take this man to the buttery; clothe him comfortably, and feed him with the best; and bid the knaves treat him as if he were their own father."But Yeo lingered.
"If I might be so bold as to ask your worship a favor?--""Anything in reason, my brave fellow."
"If your worship could put me in the way of another adventure to the Indies?""Another! Hast not had enough of the Spaniards already?""Never enough, sir, while one of the idolatrous tyrants is left unhanged," said he, with a right bitter smile."But it's not for that only, sir: but my little maid--Oh, sir! my little maid, that Iswore to Mr.Oxenham to look to, and never saw her from that day to this! I must find her, sir, or I shall go mad, I believe.Not a night but she comes and calls to me in my dreams, the poor darling;and not a morning but when I wake there is my oath lying on my soul, like a great black cloud, and I no nearer the keeping of it.
