CHAPTER THIRTEEN

An Unexpected Event

Eight days later, an extremely strange thing happened.

In the morning I woke up to hear Friday shouting, "Master, Master! They have come! They have come!"

I jumped up and ran through the trees to a place where I could see the ocean. I suddenly realized I had left my house without a gun. This was strange because I do not remember the last time I had left home without a gun.

When I looked out to sea, I saw a large boat sailing towards the shore.

The boat was not coming from the direction of Friday's country. It seemed to have come from the southern point of the island. I called Friday over and told him to hide. I was sure this could not be Friday's father and the Spaniard.

I ran to the top of the hill to get a better view. When I reached the top of the hill, I saw an even bigger ship sitting in the water. Because of their shapes, I knew both of these boats were English boats.

I did not know what to think or do—the idea that English people were nearby made me happy. But I wanted to be careful. "Why would an English ship sail into this area? This is not their territory," I thought. England did not trade with people in this part of the world. If any ship was to sail into this area, I thought, it should be a Spanish or Portuguese ship.

I said to myself, "perhaps the ship is lost." But then I realized that there had been no storm.

I decided that, whether the ship was English or not, we should not go and welcome the people. We should wait and see what happened, because there might be some danger for us.

The crew was clearly looking for a good place to land. I was sure they thought that no one lived on this island. Finally they landed their boat about half a mile from where I was.

Eleven men came onto the beach. From their faces, clothes and hair, I saw that they were English men. Three of the men were tied up—clearly, they were prisoners. As we watched, we saw that one of the prisoners seemed to be asking the leader for something.

Friday said, "Master! White men also eat prisoners, like savages?"

"No!" I said. "I think that they will kill the prisoners, but I am sure they will not eat them!"

Worried, I watched as one of the men raised his sword. I thought he would kill the prisoners at that moment. But he seemed to want only to scare his prisoners with the sword, not to kill them. At least, for that time!

After a few minutes, they let the prisoners go. It was amazing that the men did not try to run away. When the other people left to explore the island, the prisoners just sat on the beach and looked around them.

These three prisoners looked terribly scared. The looks on their faces reminded me of my first day on the island, when I had been sure I was going to die.

Friday and I stayed where we were. We watched the water go out with the tide. When the water went out, the boat was left sitting on soft sand. Then the men returned from their exploring.

One of the men called out a name, and a moment later two men stood up in the boat. I could see that they were holding bottles, so they must have been drinking liquor. I saw also that from the way they were standing, they had been drinking too much of it!

"You stupid fools!" the men shouted, running across the beach to the boat. "I told you to watch the boat!"

Then the men tried to push the boat back into the water.

"Leave the ship alone, Jack," one of the drunk men said, laughing. "It will float when the water comes back!"

While all this was happening, Friday and I had not moved at all. From my experience I knew we had ten hours until the tide of water came back in. Quietly, I told Friday to follow me back to the house. We were careful not to let the men on the beach see us.

As we came near to the house, I was happy that it was so well hidden. The trees and bushes had grown around it for twenty-five years! When we got to the house, we got some guns and went back to our place on the hill to watch the men.

I wanted to try to save the prisoners. They were English men, and I did not want anything to happen to them. When we looked down at the beach again, I saw that the leaders were asleep! They were probably drunk, and not used to the heat on the island. Their three prisoners were sitting quietly under a tree nearby. Now was our chance to save them!

Quickly and quietly, we walked over to the prisoners. Friday and I must have looked very strange, with our goat skin clothing, and all our weapons. I did not know what they would think of us.

"Hello!" I called softly.

The three men turned around, looking amazed when they saw me.

"Don't be afraid, gentlemen," I said. "I am a friend."

(end of section)