[figure description] Page 229.[end figure description]

One day, walking on the
beach, the Jew looked me &longs;teadily in the
face; and, laying his hand upon my shoulder,
&longs;aid I owe you my life, I owe you
money, which you cannot oblige me to
pay. You think, a Jew will always deceive
in money matters. You are mistaken.
You &longs;hall not wait for your pay in
Algiers; I will pay you here in Alexandria.
I owe you one thou&longs;and dollars on
my father's account. Now, what do you
demand for re&longs;toring me to health?
Nothing replied I, overjoyed at his probity;
re&longs;tore me my money, and you are
welcome to my &longs;ervices. This mu&longs;t not

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be, &longs;aid the &longs;on of Adonah, I have done
wickedly, but mean not only to pay you,
but &longs;atisfy my own con&longs;cience. I will
allow you in addition to the one thou&longs;and
dollars, two thou&longs;and more for your assistance,
as a phy&longs;ician; and then will advance
three thou&longs;and more, which I will
take your word to repay me, when you
are able. I was a&longs;toni&longs;hed. I &longs;eized his
hand and felt his pul&longs;e, to di&longs;cover if he
was not delirious. His pul&longs;e were regular,
and I knew his ability to perform his
promi&longs;e. We will meet here on the
morrow, and I will pay you. I met him
the next day, and he was not ready to
make payment. I now began to doubt
his promi&longs;es, and blame my&longs;elf for the delusions
of hope. By his appointment I
met him the third day, on a retired part of
the beach, we&longs;tward from the port. We
now &longs;aw a man approaching us. That
man, &longs;aid the Jew, will pay you. You
well under&longs;tand, my friend, that your

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ran&longs;om is fixed at &longs;ix thou&longs;and dollars.
Now, whoever gives you your liberty,
really pays you that &longs;um. I have engaged
the per&longs;on, who is approaching, and
who is the ma&longs;ter of a &longs;mall ve&longs;&longs;el, to
tran&longs;port you to Gibraltar, whence you
may find your way home. The man now
joined us and confirmed the words of the
Jew, for whom he profe&longs;&longs;ed a great friendship.
It was concluded, that I &longs;hould
come to that &longs;pot immediately after dark,
where I &longs;hould find a &longs;mall boat waiting
to carry me on board the ve&longs;&longs;el. The
ma&longs;ter of the ve&longs;&longs;el declaring, that he run
a great ri&longs;k, in a&longs;&longs;i&longs;ting in my e&longs;cape;
but was willing to do it out of commiseration
for me, and friend&longs;hip for the Jew;
and reminded me, that I had better pack up
all my property, and bring it with me. I
ha&longs;tened home with the Jew, and collected
all the property I could with propriety
call my own; which con&longs;i&longs;ted of a few
clothes, and to the amount of three

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hundred and twenty dollars in ca&longs;h. As &longs;oon
as it was dark, the Jew accompanied me
to the beach, and then took an affectionate
leave of me, pre&longs;enting me with the
value of ten dollars, as a loan, gravely remarking,
that now I owed him three thousand
and ten dollars, which he hoped I
would tran&longs;port to him as &longs;oon as I arrived
in America. The Jew quitted me,
and I &longs;oon di&longs;covered the approach of
the boat, which I &longs;tept into with a light
heart, congratulating my&longs;elf, that I was again
A FREE MAN. The boat &longs;oon rowed
along &longs;ide of a ve&longs;&longs;el, that was laying
to for us. I jumped on board, and was
directly &longs;eized by two men, who bound
me and hurried me below deck; and, after
robbing me of all my property, left
me in the dark to my own reflections. I
had been &longs;o long the &longs;port of cruel fortune,
that the&longs;e were not &longs;o &longs;evere, as my sympathising
readers may conjecture. Repeated
misfortunes blunt &longs;en&longs;ibility. I

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perceived that I had been played a villanous
trick, and exchanged a tolerable
&longs;lavery, for one perhaps more insupportable;
but &longs;hould have been perfectly resigned
to my fate, if the dread of being
returned to Algiers and &longs;uffering the
dreadful puni&longs;hment, already related, had
not pre&longs;ented it&longs;elf. In the morning, I
reque&longs;ted to &longs;ee the captain; and, by his
orders, was brought upon deck; to my
&longs;urpri&longs;e, it was not the &longs;ame per&longs;on who
had decoyed me on board. I was confounded.
I intended to have expostulated;
but could I tell a &longs;tranger, a man,
who appeared a Mu&longs;&longs;ulman by his garb,
that I was a runaway &longs;lave? While I was
perplexing my&longs;elf what to &longs;ay, the man,
who had decoyed me on board, appeared.
He was a pa&longs;&longs;enger, and claimed me as his
&longs;lave, having purcha&longs;ed me, as he &longs;aid, for
four hundred zequins of a Jew, my former
ma&longs;ter, and meant to carry me with
him to Tunis. I was now awakened to

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all the horrours of my &longs;ituation. I dared
not irritate my new ma&longs;ter by contradictions,
and acquie&longs;ced in his &longs;tory in
dumb de&longs;pair. On the eighth day, after
we departed from Scandaroon, the ve&longs;&longs;el
made cape Bona, and expected &longs;oon to
anchor in the port of Tunis. My ma&longs;ter
had a Portugue&longs;e &longs;lave on board, who
&longs;lept in the birth with me. He &longs;poke a
little broken Engli&longs;h, having been formerly
a &longs;ailor on board a ve&longs;&longs;el of that
nation. He gave me the mo&longs;t alarming
apprehen&longs;ions of the cruelty of our master,
but flattered me by &longs;aying that the
Tuni&longs;e in general were more mild with
their &longs;laves than the Algerines, and allowed
a freer intercour&longs;e with the European
merchants; and, by their interference,
we might obtain our liberty. While my
fellow &longs;lave &longs;lept, I lay agonizing with
the dread of entering the port of Tunis.
Often did I wi&longs;h that &longs;ome friendly rock
or kindly leak would &longs;ink me, and my

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misfortunes, in perpetual oblivion; and
I was nigh being gratified in my desperate
wi&longs;hes; for, the &longs;ame night, a tremendous
&longs;torm aro&longs;e, and the gale &longs;truck
us with &longs;uch violence, that our &longs;ails were
in&longs;tantly flittered into rags. We could
not &longs;hew a yard of canva&longs;s, and were obliged
to &longs;cud under bare poles. The
night was exce&longs;&longs;ively dark; and, to increase
our di&longs;tre&longs;s, our balla&longs;t &longs;hifted and
we were obliged to cut away our ma&longs;ts
by the board, to &longs;ave us from foundering.
The ve&longs;&longs;el righted, but being &longs;trong and
light, and the hatchways being well secured,
our captain was only fearful of
being driven on &longs;ome chri&longs;tian coa&longs;t.
The next night, the wind lulled; and
the morning after, the &longs;un aro&longs;e clear, and
we found our&longs;elves off the coa&longs;t of Sardinia,
and within gun &longs;hot of an armed
ve&longs;&longs;el. She proved to be a Portugue&longs;e
frigate. To the confu&longs;ion and di&longs;may of
our captain and pa&longs;&longs;enger, and to the great

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joy of my&longs;elf and fellow &longs;lave. The frigate
hoi&longs;ted her colours, manned her boats,
and boarded us. No &longs;ooner was his national
flag di&longs;played, than the overjoyed
Portugue&longs;e ran below and liberated me
from my fetters, hugged me in raptures,
and hauling me upon deck, the fir&longs;t man
we met was our ma&longs;ter, whom he &longs;aluted
with a kick, and then &longs;pit in his face. I
mu&longs;t confe&longs;s that this rever&longs;e of fortune
made me feel for the wretched Mussulman,
who &longs;tood quivering with apprehensions
of in&longs;tant death; nor could I refrain
from preventing the Portugue&longs;e from avenging
him&longs;elf for the cruelties, he had
&longs;uffered, under this barbarian. The boats
&longs;oon boarded us, and &longs;ecured the captain
and crew, whom they treated with
as much bitter contempt, as my fellow had
exerci&longs;ed toward our late ma&longs;ter. This
poor fellow &longs;oon introduced me to his
countrymen, with a brief account of my
country and misfortunes.

p407-460

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