her who pursued him stopped, as if he had been
frightened, and I advanced towards him: but as I came nearer, I perceived
presently he had a bow and arrow, and was fitting it to shoot at me: so I
was then obliged to shoot at him first, which I did, and killed him at
the first shot. The poor savage who fled, but had stopped, though he saw
both his enemies fallen and killed, as he thought, yet was so frightened
with the fire and noise of my piece that he stood stock still, and
neither came forward nor went backward, though he seemed rather inclined
still to fly than to come on. I hallooed again to him, and made signs to
come forward, which he easily understood, and came a little way; then
stopped again, and then a little farther, and stopped again; and I could
then perceive that he stood trembling, as if he had been taken prisoner,
and had just been to be killed, as his two enemies were. I beckoned to
him again to come to me, and gave him all the signs of encouragement that
I could think of; and he came nearer and nearer, kneeling down every ten
or twelve steps, in token of acknowledgment for saving his life. I
smiled at him, and looked pleasantly, and beckoned to him to come still
nearer; at length he came close to me; and then he kneeled down again,
kissed the ground, and laid his head upon the ground, and taking me by
the foot, set my foot upon his head; this, it seems, was in token of
swearing to be my slave for ever. I took him up and made much of him,
and encouraged him all I could. But there was more work to do yet; for I
perceived the savage whom I had knocked down was not killed, but stunned
with the blow, and began to come to himself: so I pointed to him, and
showed him the savage, that he was not dead; upon this he spoke some
words to me, and though I could not understand them, yet I thought they
were pleasant to hear; for they were the first sound of a man's voice
that I had heard, my own excepted, for above twenty-five years. But
there was no time for such reflections now; the savage who was knocked
down recovered himself so far as to sit up upon the ground, and I
perceived that my savage began to be afraid; but when I saw that, I
presented my other piece at the man, as if I would shoot him: upon this
my savage, for so I call him now, made a motion to me to lend him my
sword, which hung naked in a belt by my side, which I did. He no sooner
had it, but he runs to his enemy, and at one blow cut off his head