CHAPTER FOUR

Escape from Slavery

One morning when I was cleaning the house for what seemed like the thousandth time, the Turk came to me and said, "Robinson, many important people will dine at my house tonight. I would like to serve them fish."

"Will we take the boat out, sir?" I asked.

"I am much too busy to think about fishing," he said. "So you and Xury will go."

I was always trying to find ways to escape the Turk, and I thought about my chances now. The Turk must have known what I was thinking, for he smiled and said, "If you would like to escape, Robinson, I am afraid you will have a very hard time trying. My head servant, Ismael, will be with you."

I knew Ismael, a Moor, very well. He was the most feared of the Turk's servants. I had listened to conversations about him and I knew he was a very cruel man.

I found Xury, and the two of us went down to the water, where Ismael was waiting for us. He seemed angry that he had to watch us. "You, boy—you untie the sails!" He said to Xury. "And you untie the rope," he said, pointing at me.

"Sir, do we have food and drink with us?" I asked.

"There's some on the boat already," he said.

"But sir, those are my master's," I said. Slowly, I was getting an idea. "Surely, we would not dare to use his food and water."

Ismael looked even angrier, but he said, "you're right," and told me to find some supplies.

By the time we began to sail, we had found many useful things besides food and water. We also found some guns and tools and also powder for shooting the guns.

We traveled in the boat until I found a special place near the coast. I knew we would find no fish there. I pretended to be surprised when we drew up our lines and saw no fish there.

"Sir, I am afraid we must go into deeper water if we want to please our master," I said. I was pretending to be as nice to him as possible.

It was already afternoon when I threw my fishing lines into the water once again. After I did that, I slowly walked over and stood just behind Ismael. I bent down very quietly, pretending to pick something up from the floor of the boat. As I stood up, I gave him a push, and he fell into the water with a loud noise.

"You stupid fool!" Ismael yelled. He swam to the boat slowly. "Here, help me get in!"

But by this time I had a gun in my hand. "If you touch this boat, I'll shoot!" I said, pointing the gun at him.

"You little worm, I'll have you killed for this! Help me back in this boat or you'll suffer for it," Ismael shouted.

I looked at Xury, who was staring at me with his mouth open. I had always been such a good and quiet servant. He did not know what kind of man I was!

"Are you with me?" I asked him.

He nodded his head.

"And do you promise to be loyal to me?"

Again, he nodded.

"Well then, boy, we'll be leaving soon!"

"I can't swim," Ismael screamed from the water.

"Don't worry, sir. It's not far to the shore. Well, goodbye!" I said cheerfully.

I knew that Ismael would look to see which way we sailed. He thought we would sail north, towards Spain. Only a crazy man would sail south, to the lands of the savages. These savages were men to be feared. When they saw you, they would capture you and cook you over a fire and eat you up, just as if you were a piece of meat!

However, since I didn't want Ismael to know where we were going, I sailed north until nighttime. Then I turned the boat and we sailed south, then east.

We quickly sailed far away from Morocco. After five days we found the beginning of a little river and sailed into it. Soon we put an anchor into the water and stopped to eat and rest.

Xury and I decided to stay in the boat until it was dark, and then try to find some fresh water in the forest. But when darkness came, we heard many animals walking around. They were probably lions and tigers, so we decided to stay in the boat.

When morning came, we were very thirsty. We did not know if there were any savages around, so we decided to leave the boat. We hid the boat as well as we could and then went into the forest, carrying two water jars and two guns with us.

I was afraid to go far from the boat, but Xury was not. I watched as he disappeared into the forest.

Suddenly, I heard a gun shot. A few moments later,Xury came running towards me.

I thought I would see a whole group of savages chasing him, but there was no one. When Xury came close I saw he had a large rabbit with him.

"Look what I shot!" he said proudly.

"Good for you, boy! Did you find fresh water?" I was very happy when he said yes. He also told me he had seen no savages in the forest.

I did not know exactly where we were. I thought we might be somewhere between Morocco and the green jungles of Africa, in the south.

We took as much fresh water as we could and sailed south on down the coast. We saw many beautiful places, but no people on their shores. So we sailed on down the coast of Africa, stopping only when we needed more fresh water.

I wanted to reach the Cape Verde Islands before we ran out of food. Ships from Europe sometimes stopped there when they came from the countries of Guinea, East Indies, and Brazil. If we could find one of those ships, we might have more adventures.

One day I was in the cabin when I heard Xury shout, "Master! I see a ship with a sail!"

I rushed to the helm and saw a Portuguese ship. It was slowing down to let us catch up with it. I saw many smiling faces as we sailed up next to the ship.

I explained to the Portuguese captain that I had just escaped from the Turks and told him my story. He liked us, so he took Xury and me aboard his ship.

(end of section)