Robinson Crusoe | Page 7

in the faces even of the seamen themselves. The
master, though vigilant in the business of preserving the ship, yet as he
went in and out of his cabin by me, I could hear him softly to himself
say, several times, "Lord be merciful to us! we shall be all lost! we
shall be all undone!" and the like. During these first hurries I was stupid,
lying still in my cabin, which was in the steerage, and cannot describe
my temper: I could ill resume the first penitence which I had so
apparently trampled upon and hardened myself against: I thought the
bitterness of death had been past, and that this would be nothing like
the first; but when the master himself came by me, as I said just now,
and said we should be all lost, I was dreadfully frighted. I got up out of
my cabin and looked out; but such a dismal sight I never saw: the sea
ran mountains high, and broke upon us every three or four minutes;
when I could look about, I could see nothing but distress round us; two
ships that rode near us, we found, had cut their masts by the board,
being deep laden; and our men cried out that a ship which rode about a
mile ahead of us was foundered. Two more ships, being driven from

their anchors, were run out of the Roads to sea, at all adventures, and
that with not a mast standing. The light ships fared the best, as not so
much labouring in the sea; but two or three of them drove, and came
close by us, running away with only their spritsail out before the wind.
Towards evening the mate and boatswain begged the master of our ship
to let them cut away the fore-mast, which he was very unwilling to do;
but the boatswain protesting to him that if he did not the ship would
founder, he consented; and when they had cut away the fore-mast, the
main-mast stood so loose, and shook the ship so much, they were
obliged to cut that away also, and make a clear deck.
Any one may judge what a condition I must be in at all this, who was
but a young sailor, and who had been in such a fright before at but a
little. But if I can express at this distance the thoughts I had about me at
that time, I was in tenfold more horror of mind upon account of my
former convictions, and the having returned from them to the
resolutions I had wickedly taken at first, than I was at death itself; and
these, added to the terror of the storm, put me into such a condition that
I can by no words describe it. But the worst was not come yet; the
storm continued with such fury that the seamen themselves
acknowledged they had never seen a worse. We had a good ship, but
she was deep laden, and wallowed in the sea, so that the seamen every
now and then cried out she would founder. It was my advantage in one
respect, that I did not know what they meant by FOUNDER till I
inquired. However, the storm was so violent that I saw, what is not
often seen, the master, the boatswain, and some others more sensible
than the rest, at their prayers, and expecting every moment when the
ship would go to the bottom. In the middle of the night, and under all
the rest of our distresses, one of the men that had been down to see
cried out we had sprung a leak; another said there was four feet water
in the hold. Then all hands were called to the pump. At that word, my
heart, as I thought, died within me: and I fell backwards upon the side
of my bed where I sat, into the cabin. However, the men roused me,
and told me that I, that was able to do nothing before, was as well able
to pump as another; at which I stirred up and went to the pump, and
worked very heartily. While this was doing the master, seeing some

light colliers, who, not able to ride out the storm were obliged to slip
and run away to sea, and would come near us, ordered to fire a gun as a
signal of distress. I, who knew nothing what they meant, thought the
ship had broken, or some dreadful thing happened. In a word, I was so
surprised that I fell down in a swoon. As this was a time when
everybody had his own life to think of, nobody minded me, or what
was become of me; but another man stepped up to the pump, and
thrusting me