Cast the Jonah
overboard and let him try his evil eye upon the sharks.'
'So be it,' answered the other man, and finished striking off my
fetters. 'Those who have come to a cup of water each a day, do not press
their guests to share it. They show them the door. Say your prayers,
Englishman, and may they do you more good than they have done for most
on this accursed ship. Here, this is the stuff to make drowning easy,
and there is more of it on board than of water,' and he handed me the
flask of spirit. I took it and drank deep, and it comforted me a little.
Then they put the rope round me and at a signal those on the deck above
began to haul till I swung loose beneath the hatchway. As I passed
that Spaniard to whom I had been given in slavery, and who but now had
counselled my casting away, I saw his face well in the light of the
lantern, and there were signs on it that a physician could read clearly.
'Farewell,' I said to him, 'we may soon meet again. Fool, why do you
labour? Take your rest, for the plague is on you. In six hours you will
be dead!'
His jaw dropped with terror at my words, and for a moment he stood
speechless. Then he uttered a fearful oath and aimed a blow at me with
the hammer he held, which would swiftly have put an end to my sufferings
had I not at that moment been lifted from his reach by those who pulled
above.
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