"
"But can't we give him something now as earnest of what is to come?
There are our muskets; they will be useful to him, and are worth
some dollars; offer them to him, and assure him on the word of an
Englishman that he shall have the price of his freedom as soon as
ever I can get back to my friends."
He went away with this message, but came back again unsuccessful.
"He say hab plenty guns, and what good guns widout any powder and
shots? He hain't got no powder; de guns hain't worth more'n old
sticks. Hain't Massa got no money? If he seed de look of silver,
now, dat would be somet'ing 'spectable."
But my pockets were empty; all my money had been taken by the
buccaneers. And then, with a start of recollection, I remembered
the crown piece that hung by a riband about my neck, and with the
thought a flash of inspiration shot through my mind. I ran forward
to the spot where Noah was already heaping the sticks for the fire,
and, tearing open my shirt, I displayed the silver coin.
"Look, Noah," I cried, "you shall have this, and five hundred
dollars beside by and by. Listen while I tell you about it."
And then I told how, ever since I had worn that coin about my neck,
I had had the best of good fortune. It had brought me friends, and
raised me from a lowly position. I had been imprisoned and escaped;
I had been shot at, without scathe. I had gained what I prized most
in all the world. I fear I exaggerated; certainly I had never
before ascribed any talismanic power to the coin which I had kept
for no other purpose than to humiliate the man who had humiliated
me.
Pages:
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312