In a word, they all
laid down their arms and begged their lives; and I sent the man
that had parleyed with them, and two more, who bound them all; and
then my great army of fifty men, which, with those three, were in
all but eight, came up and seized upon them, and upon their boat;
only that I kept myself and one more out of sight for reasons of
state.
Our next work was to repair the boat, and think of seizing the
ship: and as for the captain, now he had leisure to parley with
them, he expostulated with them upon the villainy of their
practices with him, and upon the further wickedness of their
design, and how certainly it must bring them to misery and distress
in the end, and perhaps to the gallows. They all appeared very
penitent, and begged hard for their lives. As for that, he told
them they were not his prisoners, but the commander's of the
island; that they thought they had set him on shore in a barren,
uninhabited island; but it had pleased God so to direct them that
it was inhabited, and that the governor was an Englishman; that he
might hang them all there, if he pleased; but as he had given them
all quarter, he supposed he would send them to England, to be dealt
with there as justice required, except Atkins, whom he was
commanded by the governor to advise to prepare for death, for that
he would be hanged in the morning.
Pages:
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439