<SPAN name="VOLUME_THE_THIRD" id="VOLUME_THE_THIRD"></SPAN>
<h2>VOLUME THE THIRD.</h2>
<hr />
<SPAN name="V3_CI" id="V3_CI"></SPAN>
<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
<p>I passed along the lane I have described, without perceiving or being
observed by a human being. The doors were shut, the window-shutters closed,
and all was still as night. I reached the extremity of the lane unmolested.
My pursuers, if they immediately followed, would know that the likelihood
was small, of my having in the interval found shelter in this place; and
would proceed without hesitation, as I on my part was obliged to do, from
the end nearest to the prison to its furthest termination.</p>
<p>The face of the country, in the spot to which I had thus opened myself a
passage, was rude and uncultivated. It was overgrown with brushwood and
furze; the soil was for the most part of a loose sand; and the surface
extremely irregular. I climbed a small eminence, and could perceive, not
very remote in the distance, a few cottages thinly scattered. This prospect
did not altogether please me; I conceived that my safety would, for the
present, be extremely assisted, by keeping myself from the view of any human
being.</p>
<p>I therefore came down again into the valley, and upon a careful
examination perceived that it was interspersed with cavities, some deeper
than others, but all of them so shallow, as neither to be capable of hiding
a man, nor of exciting suspicion as places of possible concealment.
Meanwhile the day had but just begun to dawn; the morning was lowering and
drizzly; and, though the depth of these caverns was of course well known to
the neighbouring inhabitants, the shadows they cast were so black and
impenetrable, as might well have produced wider expectations in the mind of
a stranger. Poor therefore as was the protection they were able to afford, I
thought it right to have recourse to it for the moment, as the best the
emergency would supply. It was for my life; and, the greater was the
jeopardy to which it was exposed, the more dear did that life seem to become
to my affections. The recess I chose, as most secure, was within little more
than a hundred yards of the end of the lane, and the extreme buildings of
the town.</p>
<p>I had not stood up in this manner two minutes, before I heard the sound
of feet, and presently saw the ordinary turnkey and another pass the place
of my retreat. They were so close to me that, if I had stretched out my
hand, I believe I could have caught hold of their clothes, without so much
as changing my posture. As no part of the overhanging earth intervened
between me and them, I could see them entire, though the deepness of the
shade rendered me almost completely invisible. I heard them say to each
other, in tones of vehement asperity, "Curse the rascal! which way can he be
gone?" The reply was, "Damn him! I wish we had him but safe once
again!"—"Never fear!" rejoined the first; "he cannot have above half a
mile the start of us." They were presently out of hearing; for, as to sight,
I dared not advance my body, so much as an inch, to look after them, lest I
should be discovered by my pursuers in some other direction. From the very
short time that elapsed, between my escape and the appearance of these men,
I concluded that they had made their way through the same outlet as I had
done, it being impossible that they could have had time to come, from the
gate of the prison, and so round a considerable part of the town, as they
must otherwise have done.</p>
<p>I was so alarmed at this instance of diligence on the part of the enemy,
that, for some time, I scarcely ventured to proceed an inch from my place of
concealment, or almost to change my posture. The morning, which had been
bleak and drizzly, was succeeded by a day of heavy and incessant rain; and
the gloomy state of the air and surrounding objects, together with the
extreme nearness of my prison, and a total want of food, caused me to pass
the hours in no very agreeable sensations. This inclemency of the weather
however, which generated a feeling of stillness and solitude, encouraged me
by degrees to change my retreat, for another of the same nature, out of
somewhat greater security. I hovered with little variation about a single
spot, as long as the sun continued above the horizon.</p>
<p>Towards evening, the clouds began to disperse, and the moon shone, as on
the preceding night, in full brightness. I had perceived no human creature
during the whole day, except in the instance already mentioned. This had
perhaps been owing to the nature of the day; at all events I considered it
as too hazardous an experiment, to venture from my hiding-place in so clear
and fine a night. I was therefore obliged to wait for the setting of this
luminary, which was not till near five o'clock in the morning. My only
relief during this interval was to allow myself to sink to the bottom of my
cavern, it being scarcely possible for me to continue any longer on my feet.
Here I fell into an interrupted and unrefreshing doze, the consequence of a
laborious night, and a tedious, melancholy day; though I rather sought to
avoid sleep, which, cooperating with the coldness of the season, would tend
more to injury than advantage.</p>
<p>The period of darkness, which I had determined to use for the purpose of
removing to a greater distance from my prison, was, in its whole duration,
something less than three hours. When I rose from my seat, I was weak with
hunger and fatigue, and, which was worse, I seemed, between the dampness of
the preceding day and the sharp, clear frost of the night, to have lost the
command of my limbs. I stood up and shook myself; I leaned against the side
of the hill, impelling in different directions the muscles of the
extremities; and at length recovered in some degree the sense of feeling.
This operation was attended with an incredible aching pain, and required no
common share of resolution to encounter and prosecute it. Having quitted my
retreat, I at first advanced with weak and tottering steps; but, as I
proceeded, increased my pace. The barren heath, which reached to the edge of
the town, was, at least on this side, without a path; but the stars shone,
and, guiding myself by them, I determined to steer as far as possible from
the hateful scene where I had been so long confined. The line I pursued was
of irregular surface, sometimes obliging me to climb a steep ascent, and at
others to go down into a dark and impenetrable dell. I was often compelled,
by the dangerousness of the way, to deviate considerably from the direction
I wished to pursue. In the mean time I advanced with as much rapidity as
these and similar obstacles would permit me to do. The swiftness of the
motion, and the thinness of the air, restored to me my alacrity. I forgot
the inconveniences under which I laboured, and my mind became lively,
spirited, and enthusiastic.</p>
<p>I had now reached the border of the heath, and entered upon what is
usually termed the forest. Strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true,
that, in this conjuncture, exhausted with hunger, destitute of all provision
for the future, and surrounded with the most alarming dangers, my mind
suddenly became glowing, animated, and cheerful. I thought that, by this
time, the most formidable difficulties of my undertaking were surmounted;
and I could not believe that, after having effected so much, I should find
any thing invincible in what remained to be done. I recollected the
confinement I had undergone, and the fate that had impended over me, with
horror. Never did man feel more vividly, than I felt at that moment, the
sweets of liberty. Never did man more strenuously prefer poverty with
independence, to the artificial allurements of a life of slavery. I
stretched forth my arms with rapture; I clapped my hands one upon the other,
and exclaimed, "Ah, this is indeed to be a man! These wrists were lately
galled with fetters; all my motions, whether I rose up or sat down, were
echoed to with the clanking of chains; I was tied down like a wild beast,
and could not move but in a circle of a few feet in circumference. Now I can
run fleet as a greyhound, and leap like a young roe upon the mountains. Oh,
God! (if God there be that condescends to record the lonely beatings of an
anxious heart) thou only canst tell with what delight a prisoner, just broke
forth from his dungeon, hugs the blessings of new-found liberty! Sacred and
indescribable moment, when man regains his rights! But lately I held my life
in jeopardy, because one man was unprincipled enough to assert what he knew
to be false; I was destined to suffer an early and inexorable death from the
hands of others, because none of them had penetration enough to distinguish
from falsehood, what I uttered with the entire conviction of a full-fraught
heart! Strange, that men, from age to age, should consent to hold their
lives at the breath of another, merely that each in his turn may have a
power of acting the tyrant according to law! Oh, God! give me poverty!
shower upon me all the imaginary hardships of human life! I will receive
them all with thankfulness. Turn me a prey to the wild beasts of the desert,
so I be never again the victim of man, dressed in the gore-dripping robes of
authority! Suffer me at least to call life, and the pursuits of life, my
own! Let me hold it at the mercy of the elements, of the hunger of beasts,
or the revenge of barbarians, but not of the cold-blooded prudence of
monopolists and kings!"—How enviable was the enthusiasm which could
thus furnish me with energy, in the midst of hunger, poverty, and universal
desertion!</p>
<p>I had now walked at least six miles. At first I carefully avoided the
habitations that lay in my way, and feared to be seen by any of the persons
to whom they belonged, lest it should in any degree furnish a clue to the
researches of my pursuers. As I went forward, I conceived it might be proper
to relax a part of my precaution. At this time I perceived several persons
coming out of a thicket close to me. I immediately considered this
circumstance as rather favourable than the contrary. It was necessary for me
to avoid entering any of the towns and villages in the vicinity. It was
however full time that I should procure for myself some species of
refreshment, and by no means improbable that these men might be in some way
assisting to me in that respect. In my situation it appeared to me
indifferent what might be their employment or profession. I had little to
apprehend from thieves, and I believed that they, as well as honest men,
could not fail to have some compassion for a person under my circumstances.
I therefore rather threw myself in their way than avoided them.</p>
<p>They were thieves. One of the company cried out, "Who goes there? stand!"
I accosted them; "Gentlemen," said I, "I am a poor traveller,
almost"—While I spoke, they came round me; and he that had first
hailed me, said, "Damn me, tip us none of your palaver; we have heard that
story of a poor traveller any time these five years. Come, down with your
dust! let us see what you have got!"—"Sir," I replied, "I have not a
shilling in the world, and am more than half starved beside."—"Not a
shilling!" answered my assailant, "what, I suppose you are as poor as a
thief? But, if you have not money, you have clothes, and those you must
resign."</p>
<p>"My clothes!" rejoined I with indignation, "you cannot desire such a
thing. Is it not enough that I am pennyless? I have been all night upon the
open heath. It is now the second day that I have not eaten a morsel of
bread. Would you strip me naked to the weather in the midst of this
depopulated forest? No, no, you are men! The same hatred of oppression, that
arms you against the insolence of wealth, will teach you to relieve those
who are perishing like me. For God's sake, give me food! do not strip me of
the comforts I still possess!"</p>
<p>While I uttered this apostrophe, the unpremeditated eloquence of
sentiment, I could perceive by their gestures, though the day had not yet
begun to dawn, that the feelings of one or two of the company appeared to
take my part. The man, who had already undertaken to be their spokesman,
perceived the same thing; and, excited either by the brutality of his temper
or the love of command, hastened to anticipate the disgrace of a defeat. He
brushed suddenly up to me, and by main force pushed me several feet from the
place where I stood. The shock I received drove me upon a second of the
gang, not one of those who had listened to my expostulation; and he repeated
the brutality. My indignation was strongly excited by this treatment; and,
after being thrust backward and forward two or three times in this manner, I
broke through my assailants, and turned round to defend myself. The first
that advanced within my reach, was my original enemy. In the present moment
I listened to nothing but the dictates of passion, and I laid him at his
length on the earth. I was immediately assailed with sticks and bludgeons on
all sides, and presently received a blow that almost deprived me of my
senses. The man I had knocked down was now upon his feet again, and aimed a
stroke at me with a cutlass as I fell, which took place in a deep wound upon
my neck and shoulder. He was going to repeat his blow. The two who had
seemed to waver at first in their animosity, afterwards appeared to me to
join in the attack, urged either by animal sympathy or the spirit of
imitation. One of them however, as I afterwards, understood seized the arm
of the man who was going to strike me a second time with his cutlass, and
who would otherwise probably have put an end to my existence. I could hear
the words, "Damn it, enough, enough! that is too bad, Gines!"—"How
so?" replied a second voice; "he will but pine here upon the forest, and die
by inches: it will be an act of charity to put him out of his
pain."—It will be imagined that I was not uninterested in this sort of
debate. I made an effort to speak; my voice failed me. I stretched out one
hand with a gesture of entreaty. "You shall not strike, by God!" said one of
the voices; "why should we be murderers?"—The side of forbearance at
length prevailed. They therefore contented themselves with stripping me of
my coat and waistcoat, and rolling me into a dry ditch. They then left me
totally regardless of my distressed condition, and the plentiful effusion of
blood, which streamed from my wound.</p>
<hr />
<div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />
1 of 2
2 of 2
Previous
Next
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.