boat and brought away the oars and the sails.
Soon the three men who had gone down the shore came hurrying back to see what
was the matter.
When they saw how matters stood, they at once gave themselves up and were
bound with the rest. So our victory was complete.
We now retired to the castle.
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The prisoners were led into the back part of the cave that I had first dug, and were
left there with Friday as their guard.
With the captain, the mate, and the passenger, I went into my best room, where
we all refreshed ourselves with such food as I had at hand.
We had now time to talk over the past and make plans for the future.
I told the captain my whole history just as I have told it to you. He, in his turn,
related to me the story of his voyage from England to the West Indies, and how his crew,
wishing to become pirates, had seized upon the ship and made him their prisoner.
"There are still twenty-six men on board," he said. "They are no doubt wondering
what has become of their fellows. After a while some of them will be likely to come on
shore to find out what is the matter."
"Let them come," I said. "We will be ready for them."
We therefore went down to the shore where the boat was still lying.
We found in it some rum, a few biscuits, a horn of powder, and five or six pounds
of sugar. This last was very welcome to me, for I had not tasted sugar for several years.
All these things we carried on shore. Then we knocked a big hole in the bottom of
the boat.
To tell the truth, I had but little hope that we would ever recover the ship. But I
thought that after she had sailed away we might repair the boat. Then we could no doubt
make our way to the Spanish settlements on the mainland.
About an hour before sunset, we heard a gun fired from the ship.
"It is as I told you," said the captain.
We saw a signal waving from the mast. Then several other shots were fired.
At last, when there was no answer either to the signals or to the guns there was a
great stir on board, and the other boat was launched.
I watched them with my spyglass.
As the boat neared the shore, we saw that there were ten men in her and that they
were all armed with muskets.
The sun shone in their faces and we had a good sight of them as they came.
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The captain knew them all. He said that there were three very honest fellows
among them who had gone into this business against their will. All the rest, however,
were bad men who were ready to do any wicked deed.
We now set free two of our prisoners, for they seemed to be trustworthy men and
glad that matters had turned in the captain's favor.
"Can we trust them, Captain?" I asked.
"I will stand good for them," said the captain.
I gave them each a gun. We had now seven armed men to meet the ten who were
coming to the shore.
But we kept ourselves hidden and waited to see what they would do.
As soon as they reached the shore they ran to see the other boat. What was their
surprise to find her stripped of everything and a hole in her bottom.
They shouted, but no one answered.
They fired off their muskets, making the woods ring with their echoes. But still
there was no answer.
Then they launched their boat again, and all started to the ship.
But on the way they changed their minds. It would never do, they thought, to
leave their friends on the island without so much as hunting for them.
They therefore rowed back to the shore. Three men were left with the boat as
guards, and the rest started out into the country to seek their lost companions.
We should have been glad if they had come our way, so that we might have fired
on them; but this they failed to do.
Night was fast coming on, and they did not dare to go far from the shore.
By and by they came back to the boat again.
We feared that they had given up the search and would now return to the ship.
The sun was setting, and darkness would soon cover both land and sea.
I AM CALLED GOVERNOR (назначен губернатором)
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BY my orders (по моим приказам), Friday and the captain's mate hurried
through the woods to the little river where I had landed so long ago with my rafts
(Пятница и друг капитана поспешили через лес к маленькой реке, где я причалил
так давно = когда-то с моими плотами).
When they had reached the place, they shouted as loudly as they could (они
закричали так громко, как /только/ могли).
The men who were just getting into the boat heard them (услышали их). They
answered (ответили), and ran along the shore toward the little river (побежали вдоль
берега к маленькой реке).
The three who had been left in the boat also rowed around toward the same place
(погребли к тому же месту). Near the mouth of the river (около устья реки), however,
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they came to land again (вновь высадились на землю), and one of them ran along the
bank of the stream to meet his fellows (вдоль берега потока, чтобы встретить своих
товарищей).
At this moment I rushed forward with the captain (поспешил вперед с
капитаном; to rush — броситься, устремиться), and seized the boat (захватил лодку)
before the two fellows who were in it could save themselves (прежде чем два приятеля,
которые были в ней, смогли спастись /бегством/).
It was now almost dark (почти темно), and we had nothing to do but wait till the
seamen came back to the shore to look for their boat (искать свою лодку).
Soon Friday and the captain's mate rejoined us (вновь присоединились к нам),
and I stood at the head of my little army (во главе своей малой армии), listening to the
seamen as they made their way through the bushes (прислушиваясь, как моряки
прокладывали путь через кусты).
We could hear them calling to one another (могли слышать, как они звали друг
друга). We could hear them telling how lame (усталыми: «хромыми, плохо
владеющими ногами») and tired they were. We could hear them saying that they were
in an enchanted island (на заколдованном острове) where there were witches (где были
ведьмы) and other kinds of uncanny things (зловещие, сверхъестественные вещи). All
this pleased us very much.