_Of our bargaining with a Moorish seaman; and of an English slave._
We lost no time, be sure, in going back to Alger, blessing God on the
way for our escape, and vowing most heartily that we would be led into
no future folly, no matter how simple and innocent the temptation might
seem.
And now began again a tedious season of watching on the mole of Alger;
but not to make this business as wearisome to others, I will pass that
over and come at once to that joyful, happy morning, when, with but
scant hope, looking down upon the deck of a galley entering the port, to
our infinite delight and amazement we perceived Richard Godwin waving
his hand to us in sign of recognition. Then sure, mad with joy, we would
have cast ourselves in the sea had we thereby been able to get to him
more quickly. Nor was he much less moved with affection to meet us, and
springing on the quai he took us both in his open arms and embraced us.
But his first word was of Moll. "My beloved wife?" says he, and could
question us no further.
We told him she was safe, whereat he thanks God most fervently, and how
we had spoken with her; and then he tells us of his adventures--how on
getting Don Sanchez's letter he had started forth at once with such help
as Sir Peter Lely generously placed at his disposition, and how coming
to Elche, he found Mrs. Godwin there in great anxiety because we had not
returned, and how Don Sanchez, guessing at our case, had procured money
from Toledo to pay Moll's ransom, and did further charter a neutral
galley to bring him to Alger--which was truly as handsome a thing as any
man could do, be he thief or no thief. All these matters we discussed on
our way to the Cassanabah, where Mr. Godwin furnished himself as we had
with a trader's permit for twenty-eight days.
[Illustration: "ONLY IN THE MIDST OF OUR JOY I PERCEIVED THAT MOHAND OU
MOHAND HAD ENTERED THE ROOM."]
This done, we set out with a team of good mules, and reaching Thadviir
about an hour before sundown, we repaired at once to Ali Oukadi's, who
received us with much civility, although 'twas clear to see he was yet
loath to give up Moll; but the sight of the gold Mr. Godwin laid before
him did smooth the creases from his brow (for these Moors love money
before anything on earth), and having told it carefully he writes an
acknowledgment and fills up a formal sheet of parchment bearing the
Dey's seal, which attested that Moll was henceforth a free subject and
entitled to safe-conduct within the confines of the Dey's
administration. And having delivered these precious documents into Mr.
Godwin's hands, he leaves us for a little space and then returns leading
dear Moll by the hand. And she, not yet apprised of her circumstances,
seeing her husband with us, gives a shrill cry, and like to faint with
happiness totters forward and falls in his ready arms.
I will not attempt to tell further of this meeting and our passionate,
fond embraces, for 'twas past all description; only in the midst of our
joy I perceived that Mohand ou Mohand had entered the room and stood
there, a silent spectator of Moll's tender yielding to her husband's
caresses, his nostrils pinched, and his jaundiced face overcast with a
wicked look of mortification and envy. And Moll seeing him, paled a
little, drawing closer to her husband; for, as I learnt later on, and
'twas no more than I had guessed, he had paid her most assiduous
attentions from the first moment he saw her, and had gone so far as to
swear by Mahomet that death alone should end his burning passion to
possess her. And I observed that when we parted, and Moll in common
civility offered him her hand, he muttered some oath as he raised it to
his lips.
Declining as civilly as we might Ali Oukadi's tender of hospitality, we
rested that night at the large inn or caravansary, and I do think that
the joy of Moll and her husband lying once more within each other's arms
was scarcely less than we felt, Dawson and I, at this happy ending of
our long tribulations; but one thing it is safe to say, we slept as
sound as they.
And how gay were we when we set forth the next morning for Alger--Moll's
eyes twinkling like stars for happiness, and her cheeks all pink with
blushes like any new bride, her husband with not less pride than passion
in his noble countenance, and Dawson and I as blithe and jolly as
schoolboys on a holiday. For now had Moll by this act of heroism and
devotion redeemed not only herself, but us also, and there was no
further reason for concealment or deceit, but all might be themselves
and fear no man.
Thus did joy beguile us into a false sense of security.
Coming to Alger about midday, we were greatly surprised to find that the
sail chartered by Don Sanchez was no longer in the port, and the reason
of this we presently learnt was that the Dey, having information of a
descent being about to be made upon the town by the British fleet at
Tangier, he had commanded, the night before, all alien ships to be gone
from the port by daybreak. This put us to a quake, for in view of this
descent not one single Algerine would venture to put to sea for all the
money Mr. Godwin could offer or promise. So here we were forced to stay
in trepidation and doubt as to how we, being English, might fare if the
town should be bombarded as we expected, and never did we wish our own
countrymen further. Only our Moll and her husband did seem careless in
their happiness; for so they might die in each other's arms, I do think
they would have faced death with a smile upon their faces.
However, a week passing, and no sign of any English flag upon the seas,
the public apprehension subsided; and now we began very seriously to
compass our return to Elche, our trader's passes (that is, Dawson's and
mine) being run out within a week, and we knowing full well that we
should not get them renewed after this late menace of an English attack
upon the town. So, one after the other, we tried every captain in the
port, but all to no purpose. And one of these did openly tell me the Dey
had forbidden any stranger to be carried out of the town, on pain of
having his vessel confiscated and being bastinadoed to his last
endurance.
"And so," says he, lifting his voice, "if you offered me all the gold in
the world, I would not carry you a furlong hence." But at the same time,
turning his back on a janizary who stood hard by, he gave me a most
significant wink and a little beck, as if I were to follow him
presently.
And this I did as soon as the janizary was gone, following him at a
distance through the town and out into the suburbs, at an idle,
sauntering gait. When we had got out beyond the houses, to the side of
the river I have mentioned, he sits him down on the bank, and I, coming
up, sit down beside him as if for a passing chat. Then he, having
glanced to the right and left, to make sure we were not observed, asks
me what we would give to be taken to Elche; and I answered that we would
give him his price so we could be conveyed shortly.
"When would you go?" asks he.
"Why," says I, "our passes expire at sundown after the day of Ramadah,
so we must get hence, by hook or by crook, before that."
"That falls as pat as I would have it," returns he (but not in these
words), "for all the world will be up at the Cassanabah on that day, to
the feast the Dey gives to honour his son's coming of age. Moreover, the
moon by then will not rise before two in the morning. So all being in
our favour, I'm minded to venture on this business. But you must
understand that I dare not take you aboard in the port, where I must
make a pretence of going out a-fishing with my three sons, and give the
janizaries good assurance that no one else is aboard, that I may not
fall into trouble on my return."
"That's reasonable enough," says I, "but where will you take us aboard?"
"I'll show you," returns he, "if you will stroll down this bank with me,
for my sons and I have discussed this matter ever since we heard you
were seeking a ship for this project, and we have it all cut and dried
properly."
So up we get and saunter along the bank leisurely, till we reached a
part where the river spreads out very broad and shallow.
"You see that rock," says he, nodding at a huge boulder lapped by the
incoming sea. "There shall you be at midnight. We shall lie about a half
a mile out to sea, and two of my sons will pull to the shore and take
you up; so may all go well and nought be known, if you are commonly
secret, for never a soul is seen here after sundown." I told him I would
consult with my friends and give him our decision the next day, meeting
him at this spot.
"Good," says he, "and ere you decide, you may cast an eye at my ship,
which you shall know by a white moon painted on her beam; 'tis as fast a
ship as any that sails from Alger, though she carry but one mast, and so
be we agree to this venture, you shall find the cabin fitted for your
lady and everything for your comfort."
On this we separated presently, and I, joining my friends at our inn,
laid the matter before them. There being still some light, we then went
forth on the mole, and there we quickly spied the White Moon, which,
though a small craft, looked very clean, and with a fair cabin house,
built up in the Moorish fashion upon the stern. And here, sitting down,
we all agreed to accept this offer, Mr. Godwin being not less eager for
the venture than we, who had so much more to dread by letting it slip,
though his pass had yet a fortnight to run.
So the next day I repaired to the rock, and meeting Haroun (as he was
called), I closed with him, and put a couple of ducats in his hand for
earnest money.
"'Tis well," says he, pocketing the money, after kissing it and looking
up to heaven with a "Dill an," which means "It is from God." "We will
not meet again till the day of Ramadah at midnight, lest we fall under
suspicion. Farewell."
We parted as we did before, he going his way, and I mine; but, looking
back by accident before I had gone a couple of hundred yards, I
perceived a fellow stealing forth from a thicket of canes that stood in
the marshy ground near the spot where I had lately stood with Haroun,
and turning again presently, I perceived this man following in my steps.
Then, fairly alarmed, I gradually hastened my pace (but not so quick
neither as to seem to fly), making for the town, where I hoped to escape
pursuit in the labyrinth of little, crooked, winding alleys. As I
rounded a corner, I perceived him out of the tail of my eye, still
following, but now within fifty yards of me, he having run to thus
overreach me; and ere I had turned up a couple of alleys he was on my
heels and twitching me by the sleeve.
"Lord love you, Master," says he, in very good English, but gasping for
breath. "Hold hard a moment, for I've a thing or two to say to you as is
worth your hearing."
So I, mightily surprised by these words, stop; and he seeing the alley
quite empty and deserted, sits down on a doorstep, and I do likewise,
both of us being spent with our exertions.
"Was that man you were talking with a little while back named Haroun?"
asks he, when he could fetch his breath. I nodded.
"Did he offer to take you and three others to Elche, aboard a craft
called the White Moon?"
I nodded again, astonished at his information, for we had not discussed
our design to-day, Haroun and I.
"Did he offer to carry you off in a boat to his craft from the rock on
the mouth?"
Once more I nodded.
"Can you guess what will happen if you agree to this?"
Now I shook my head.
"The villain," says he, "will run you on a shoal, and there will he be
overhauled by the janizaries, and you be carried prisoners back to
Alger. Your freedom will be forfeited, and you will be sold for slaves.
And that's not all," adds he; "the lass you have with you will be taken
from you and given to Mohand ou Mohand, who has laid this trap for your
destruction and the gratification of his lust."
I fell a-shaking only to think of this crowning calamity, and could only
utter broken, unintelligible sounds to express my gratitude for this
warning.
"Listen, Master, if you cannot speak," said he; "for I must quit you in
a few minutes, or get my soles thrashed when I return home. What I have
told you is true, as there is a God in heaven; 'twas overheard by my
comrade, who is a slave in Mohand's household. If you escape this trap,
you will fall in another, for there is no bounds to Mohand's devilish
cunning. I say, if you stay here you are doomed to share our miserable
lot, by one device or another. But I will show you how you may turn the
tables on this villain, and get to a Christian country ere you are a
week older, if you have but one spark of courage amongst you."