you did not
expect it." "He must be sent directly from heaven then," said one of
them very gravely to me, and pulling off his hat at the same time to me;
"for our condition is past the help of man." "All help is from heaven,
sir," said I, "but can you put a stranger in the way to help you? for you
seem to be in some great distress. I saw you when you landed; and when
you seemed to make application to the brutes that came with you, I saw
one of them lift up his sword to kill you."

The poor man, with tears running down his face, and trembling, looking
like one astonished, returned, "Am I talking to God or man? Is it a real
man or an angel?" "Be in no fear about that, sir," said I; "if God had
sent an angel to relieve you, he would have come better clothed, and
armed after another manner than you see me; pray lay aside your fears; I
am a man, an Englishman, and disposed to assist you; you see I have one
servant only; we have arms and ammunition; tell us freely, can we serve
you? What is your case?" "Our case, sir," said he, "is too long to tell
you while our murderers are so near us; but, in short, sir, I was
commander of that ship--my men have mutinied against me; they have been
hardly prevailed on not to murder me, and, at last, have set me on shore
in this desolate place, with these two men with me--one my mate, the
other a passenger--where we expected to perish, believing the place to be
uninhabited, and know not yet what to think of it." "Where are these
brutes, your enemies?" said I; "do you know where they are gone? There
they lie, sir," said he, pointing to a thicket of trees; "my heart
trembles for fear they have seen us and heard you speak; if they have,
they will certainly murder us all." "Have they any firearms?" said I.
He answered, "They had only two pieces, one of which they left in the
boat." "Well, then," said I, "leave the rest to me; I see they are all
asleep; it is an easy thing to kill them all; but shall we rather take
them prisoners?" He told me there were two desperate villains among them
that it was scarce safe to show any mercy to; but if they were secured,
he believed all the rest would return to their duty. I asked him which
they were. He told me he could not at that distance distinguish them,
but he would obey my orders in anything I would direct. "Well," says I,
"let us retreat out of their view or hearing, lest they awake, and we
will resolve further." So they willingly went b