I heard afterwards it was not an unusual practice in
this land of robbers for one party to get up an attack
upon a caravan, and then another one, getting wind of
their design, to project a plan of despoiling them as
soon as they shall be in such a disconcerted mêlée that
they would not be able to act in concert to support
one another.
Whilst they were away, three fine-looking men came,
with some of our soldiers’ sabres ; and one, standing
over me, threatened, with ferocious determination in
his countenance, to cut me in two. Twice he lifted
his sword above his head, and brought it down with
violence to within an inch or two of my side, and each
time withdrew it, as if suddenly repenting of his purpose.
I stared him earnestly in the face, but neither
flinched nor uttered any noise. They then left me,
and went to join the other forty thieves. I conceive
this demonstration was made with a view of testing
my pluck, and had I cried or implored for mercy, I
should inevitably have been killed upon the spot. The
last and worst scene in this tragedy was now to be
performed.
My jailer, who was still holding the string, stepped
up close to me, and coolly stabbed me with his spear.
I then raised my body a little in defence, when he
knocked me down by jobbing his spear violently on
my shoulder, almost cutting the jugular arteries. I
rose again as he poised his spear, and caught the
next prod, which was intended for my heart, on the
back of one of my shackled hands ; this gouged the
flesh up to the bone. The cruel villain now stepped
back a pace or two, to get me off my guard, and dashed
his spear down to the bone of my left thigh. I seized
it violently with both my hands, and would not relinquish
the gripe until he drew a shillelah from his
girdle, and gave me such a violent blow on my left
arm, I thought the bone was broken, and the spear fell
helplessly from my hands. Finding his spear too
blunt for running me through by a simple job when
standing still, he now dropped the rope-end, walked
back a dozen paces, and, rushing on me with savage
fury, plunged his spear through the thick part of my
right thigh into the ground, passing it between the
thigh-bone and large sinew below.
With the action of lightning, seeing that death was
inevitable if I remained lying there a moment longer,
I sprang upon my legs, and gave the miscreant such a
sharp back-hander in the face with my double-bound
fists that he lost his presence of mind, and gave me a
moment’s opportunity to run away; which, by the
Lord, I lost no time in doing, taking very good care,
by holding my hands on one side, not to allow the
dangling rope to trip me up. I was almost naked,
and quite bare upon the feet, but I ran over the shingly
beach towards the sea like wildfire. The man followed
me a little way, but, finding I had the foot of him,
threw his spear like a javelin, but did not strike me,
for I bobbed, and allowed it to pass safely over my
head; he then gave up the chase. Still I had at least
forty more men to pass through, who were scattered