To his surprise, there was a flash of pleasure across her face; she answered shortly and decidedly, Yes, then snatched her arm away from him, and passed down-stairs.
The American held the small parcel in his hand, but made no motion to give it up.
The new teacher paid no attention to the little scrimmage between LaRose and Billy. He stood on the platform, tall, spare, hard-featured and stern, and let his black eyes bore into the souls of the pupils, one after the other. Not until the silence of suspense was almost unbearable did he speak; then clearing his throat he gave forth in stern tones the following edict:
There had been much befriending and taming of big animalsthe larger carnivora, combed and cleaned, reduced to a milk dietary, emasculated in spirit and altogether be-catted, were petssand ornamentssin Utopia. The almost extinct elephant had increased again and Utopia had saved her giraffes. The brown bear had alwayssbeen disposed to sweetssand vegetarianism and had greatly improved in intelligence. The dog had given up barking and wasscomparatively rare. Sporting dogsswere not used nor small pet animals.
Rather unfortunate, said Mr. Barnstaple.
The boy looked up absently. Did you mean this, sir? He had picked up a letter from the pile and he brought it across, laying it on Simeons desk. Across one corner of it a note was scrawled in Simeons small, crabbed hand.
Windsor Castle ought to be there, said the tall gentleman brightly assif he gave a point in a gambit.
Yes, said I impatiently.
And immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
My dear fellow, he said, taking him aside into a corner, you are behaving in society as if you were at Florine,
Rose out of Chaos: or, if Sion hill
Look, look cried the Tree, the rose is finished nowbut the Nightingale made no answer, for she was lying dead in the long grass, with the thorn in her heart.
Yes, said I impatiently.
There are, said Michel Ardan, just as there are horses, cows, donkeys, and chickens. I bet that we shall find chickens.
And immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
And immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.
That evening Captain Wybrow, returning from a long ride with Miss Assher, went up to his dressing-room, and seated himself with an air of considerable lassitude before his mirror. The reflection there presented of his exquisite self was certainly paler and more worn than usual, and might excuse the anxiety with which he first felt his pulse, and then laid his hand on his heart.
But Eeyore wasnt listening He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back again, as happy as could be
There had been much befriending and taming of big animalsthe larger carnivora, combed and cleaned, reduced to a milk dietary, emasculated in spirit and altogether be-catted, were petssand ornamentssin Utopia. The almost extinct elephant had increased again and Utopia had saved her giraffes. The brown bear had alwayssbeen disposed to sweetssand vegetarianism and had greatly improved in intelligence. The dog had given up barking and wasscomparatively rare. Sporting dogsswere not used nor small pet animals.
So yes, expressswhat you call your most negative feelings, but not destructively.
My dear fellow, he said, taking him aside into a corner, you are behaving in society as if you were at Florine,
There had been much befriending and taming of big animalsthe larger carnivora, combed and cleaned, reduced to a milk dietary, emasculated in spirit and altogether be-catted, were petssand ornamentssin Utopia. The almost extinct elephant had increased again and Utopia had saved her giraffes. The brown bear had alwayssbeen disposed to sweetssand vegetarianism and had greatly improved in intelligence. The dog had given up barking and wasscomparatively rare. Sporting dogsswere not used nor small pet animals.
thoughts had set off at a gallopgalloping round this inheritance to comenay, already in handthis money lurking behind the door, which would walk in quite soon, to-morrow, at a word of consent,
Joan made a swift effort to hide her surprise. She had never heard of her mother having been upon the stage.
You cannot fool your mind. If you are insincere, your mind knowssit, and thatssthat. Youve just ended any chance that your mind can help you in the creative process.
Why, then, sir," says he, "I will take the liberty you give me;and there are three things, which, if I am right, must stand in theway of God's blessing upon your endeavours here, and which I shouldrejoice, for your sake and their own, to see removed.And, sir, Ipromise myself that you will fully agree with me in them all, assoon as I name them; especially because I shall convince you, thatevery one of them may, with great ease, and very much to yoursatisfaction, be remedied.First, sir," says he, "you have herefour Englishmen, who have fetched women from among the savages, andhave taken them as their wives, and have had many children by themall, and yet are not married to them after any stated legal manner,as the laws of God and man require.To this, sir, I know, you willobject that there was no clergyman or priest of any kind to performthe ceremony; nor any pen and ink, or paper, to write down acontract of marriage, and have it signed between them.And I knowalso, sir, what the Spaniard governor has told you, I mean of theagreement that he obliged them to make when they took those women,viz. that they should choose them out by consent, and keepseparately to them; which, by the way, is nothing of a marriage, noagreement with the women as wives, but only an agreement amongthemselves, to keep them from quarrelling.But, sir, the essenceof the sacrament of matrimony" so he called it, being a Roman"consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to take oneanother as man and wife, but in the formal and legal obligationthat there is in the contract to compel the man and woman, at alltimes, to own and acknowledge each other; obliging the man toabstain from all other women, to engage in no other contract whilethese subsist; and, on all occasions, as ability allows, to providehonestly for them and their children; and to oblige the women tothe same or like conditions, on their side.Now, sir," says he,"these men may, when they please, or when occasion presents,abandon these women, disown their children, leave them to perish,and take other women, and marry them while these are living;" andhere he added, with some warmth, "How, sir, is God honoured in thisunlawful liberty?And how shall a blessing succeed your endeavoursin this place, however good in themselves, and however sincere inyour design, while these men, who at present are your subjects,under your absolute government and dominion, are allowed by you tolive in open adultery?"
He seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational accessto these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word oftheir language, nor they one of his.To remove this difficulty, Itold him Friday's father had learned Spanish, which I found he alsounderstood, and he should serve him as an interpreter.So he wasmuch better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he wouldstay and endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave anothervery happy turn to all this.
I confess I was struck with the thing itself, but much more withthe convincing arguments he supported it with; but I thought tohave got off my young priest by telling him that all that part wasdone when I was not there:and that they had lived so many yearswith them now, that if it was adultery, it was past remedy; nothingcould be done in it now.
Upon this he faced about just before me, as he walked along, andputting me to a full stop, made me a very low bow."I mostheartily thank God and you, sir," said he, "for giving me soevident a call to so blessed a work; and if you think yourselfdischarged from it, and desire me to undertake it, I will mostreadily do it, and think it a happy reward for all the hazards anddifficulties of such a broken, disappointed voyage as I have metwith, that I am dropped at last into so glorious a work."
I was now struck dumb indeed, and had not one word to say.I hadhere the spirit of true Christian zeal for God and religion beforeme.As for me, I had not so much as entertained a thought of thisin my heart before, and I believe I should not have thought of it;for I looked upon these savages as slaves, and people whom, had wenot had any work for them to do, we would have used as such, orwould have been glad to have transported them to any part of theworld; for our business was to get rid of them, and we would allhave been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so theyhad never seen their own.I was confounded at his discourse, andknew not what answer to make him.
He looked earnestly at me, seeing my confusion."Sir," says he, "Ishall be very sorry if what I have said gives you any offence." "No, no," said I,"I am offended with nobody but myself; but I amperfectly confounded, not only to think that I should never takeany notice of this before, but with reflecting what notice I amable to take of it now.You know, sir," said I, "whatcircumstances I am in; I am bound to the East Indies in a shipfreighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an insufferablepiece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying allthis while at victuals and wages on the owners' account.It istrue, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more,I must pay three pounds sterling PER DIEM demurrage; nor can I stayupon demurrage above eight days more, and I have been here thirteenalready; so that I am perfectly unable to engage in this workunless I would suffer myself to be left behind here again; in whichcase, if this single ship should miscarry in any part of hervoyage, I should be just in the same condition that I was left inhere at first, and from which I have been so wonderfullydelivered."He owned the case was very hard upon me as to myvoyage; but laid it home upon my conscience whether the blessing ofsaving thirtyseven souls was not worth venturing all I had in theworld for.I was not so sensible of that as he was.I replied tohim thus:"Why, sir, it is a valuable thing, indeed, to be aninstrument in God's hand to convert thirtyseven heathens to theknowledge of Christ:but as you are an ecclesiastic, and are givenover to the work, so it seems so naturally to fall in the way ofyour profession; how is it, then, that you do not rather offeryourself to undertake it than to press me to do it?"
I confess I was struck with the thing itself, but much more withthe convincing arguments he supported it with; but I thought tohave got off my young priest by telling him that all that part wasdone when I was not there:and that they had lived so many yearswith them now, that if it was adultery, it was past remedy; nothingcould be done in it now.
I confess I was struck with the thing itself, but much more withthe convincing arguments he supported it with; but I thought tohave got off my young priest by telling him that all that part wasdone when I was not there:and that they had lived so many yearswith them now, that if it was adultery, it was past remedy; nothingcould be done in it now.
Why, then, sir," says he, "I will take the liberty you give me;and there are three things, which, if I am right, must stand in theway of God's blessing upon your endeavours here, and which I shouldrejoice, for your sake and their own, to see removed.And, sir, Ipromise myself that you will fully agree with me in them all, assoon as I name them; especially because I shall convince you, thatevery one of them may, with great ease, and very much to yoursatisfaction, be remedied.First, sir," says he, "you have herefour Englishmen, who have fetched women from among the savages, andhave taken them as their wives, and have had many children by themall, and yet are not married to them after any stated legal manner,as the laws of God and man require.To this, sir, I know, you willobject that there was no clergyman or priest of any kind to performthe ceremony; nor any pen and ink, or paper, to write down acontract of marriage, and have it signed between them.And I knowalso, sir, what the Spaniard governor has told you, I mean of theagreement that he obliged them to make when they took those women,viz. that they should choose them out by consent, and keepseparately to them; which, by the way, is nothing of a marriage, noagreement with the women as wives, but only an agreement amongthemselves, to keep them from quarrelling.But, sir, the essenceof the sacrament of matrimony" so he called it, being a Roman"consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to take oneanother as man and wife, but in the formal and legal obligationthat there is in the contract to compel the man and woman, at alltimes, to own and acknowledge each other; obliging the man toabstain from all other women, to engage in no other contract whilethese subsist; and, on all occasions, as ability allows, to providehonestly for them and their children; and to oblige the women tothe same or like conditions, on their side.Now, sir," says he,"these men may, when they please, or when occasion presents,abandon these women, disown their children, leave them to perish,and take other women, and marry them while these are living;" andhere he added, with some warmth, "How, sir, is God honoured in thisunlawful liberty?And how shall a blessing succeed your endeavoursin this place, however good in themselves, and however sincere inyour design, while these men, who at present are your subjects,under your absolute government and dominion, are allowed by you tolive in open adultery?"
He seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational accessto these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word oftheir language, nor they one of his.To remove this difficulty, Itold him Friday's father had learned Spanish, which I found he alsounderstood, and he should serve him as an interpreter.So he wasmuch better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he wouldstay and endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave anothervery happy turn to all this.
Sir," says he, "asking your pardon for such freedom, you are rightin this, that, it being done in your absence, you could not becharged with that part of the crime; but, I beseech you, flatternot yourself that you are not, therefore, under an obligation to doyour utmost now to put an end to it.You should legally andeffectually marry them; and as, sir, my way of marrying may not beeasy to reconcile them to, though it will be effectual, even byyour own laws, so your way may be as well before God, and as validamong men.I mean by a written contract signed by both man andwoman, and by all the witnesses present, which all the laws ofEurope would decree to be valid."
I am persuaded," says he, "had those men lived in the savagecountry whence their wives came, the savages would have taken morepains to have brought them to be idolaters, and to worship thedevil, than any of these men, so far as I can see, have taken withthem to teach the knowledge of the true God.Now, sir," said he,"though I do not acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet wewould be glad to see the devil's servants and the subjects of hiskingdom taught to know religion; and that they might, at least,hear of God and a Redeemer, and the resurrection, and of a futurestate things which we all believe; that they might, at least, beso much nearer coming into the bosom of the true Church than theyare now in the public profession of idolatry and devilworship."
He looked earnestly at me, seeing my confusion."Sir," says he, "Ishall be very sorry if what I have said gives you any offence." "No, no," said I,"I am offended with nobody but myself; but I amperfectly confounded, not only to think that I should never takeany notice of this before, but with reflecting what notice I amable to take of it now.You know, sir," said I, "whatcircumstances I am in; I am bound to the East Indies in a shipfreighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an insufferablepiece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying allthis while at victuals and wages on the owners' account.It istrue, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more,I must pay three pounds sterling PER DIEM demurrage; nor can I stayupon demurrage above eight days more, and I have been here thirteenalready; so that I am perfectly unable to engage in this workunless I would suffer myself to be left behind here again; in whichcase, if this single ship should miscarry in any part of hervoyage, I should be just in the same condition that I was left inhere at first, and from which I have been so wonderfullydelivered."He owned the case was very hard upon me as to myvoyage; but laid it home upon my conscience whether the blessing ofsaving thirtyseven souls was not worth venturing all I had in theworld for.I was not so sensible of that as he was.I replied tohim thus:"Why, sir, it is a valuable thing, indeed, to be aninstrument in God's hand to convert thirtyseven heathens to theknowledge of Christ:but as you are an ecclesiastic, and are givenover to the work, so it seems so naturally to fall in the way ofyour profession; how is it, then, that you do not rather offeryourself to undertake it than to press me to do it?"
I was now struck dumb indeed, and had not one word to say.I hadhere the spirit of true Christian zeal for God and religion beforeme.As for me, I had not so much as entertained a thought of thisin my heart before, and I believe I should not have thought of it;for I looked upon these savages as slaves, and people whom, had wenot had any work for them to do, we would have used as such, orwould have been glad to have transported them to any part of theworld; for our business was to get rid of them, and we would allhave been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so theyhad never seen their own.I was confounded at his discourse, andknew not what answer to make him.
Upon this he faced about just before me, as he walked along, andputting me to a full stop, made me a very low bow."I mostheartily thank God and you, sir," said he, "for giving me soevident a call to so blessed a work; and if you think yourselfdischarged from it, and desire me to undertake it, I will mostreadily do it, and think it a happy reward for all the hazards anddifficulties of such a broken, disappointed voyage as I have metwith, that I am dropped at last into so glorious a work."
Sir," says he, "asking your pardon for such freedom, you are rightin this, that, it being done in your absence, you could not becharged with that part of the crime; but, I beseech you, flatternot yourself that you are not, therefore, under an obligation to doyour utmost now to put an end to it.You should legally andeffectually marry them; and as, sir, my way of marrying may not beeasy to reconcile them to, though it will be effectual, even byyour own laws, so your way may be as well before God, and as validamong men.I mean by a written contract signed by both man andwoman, and by all the witnesses present, which all the laws ofEurope would decree to be valid."
Upon this he faced about just before me, as he walked along, andputting me to a full stop, made me a very low bow."I mostheartily thank God and you, sir," said he, "for giving me soevident a call to so blessed a work; and if you think yourselfdischarged from it, and desire me to undertake it, I will mostreadily do it, and think it a happy reward for all the hazards anddifficulties of such a broken, disappointed voyage as I have metwith, that I am dropped at last into so glorious a work."
He seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational accessto these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word oftheir language, nor they one of his.To remove this difficulty, Itold him Friday's father had learned Spanish, which I found he alsounderstood, and he should serve him as an interpreter.So he wasmuch better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he wouldstay and endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave anothervery happy turn to all this.
I am persuaded," says he, "had those men lived in the savagecountry whence their wives came, the savages would have taken morepains to have brought them to be idolaters, and to worship thedevil, than any of these men, so far as I can see, have taken withthem to teach the knowledge of the true God.Now, sir," said he,"though I do not acknowledge your religion, or you mine, yet wewould be glad to see the devil's servants and the subjects of hiskingdom taught to know religion; and that they might, at least,hear of God and a Redeemer, and the resurrection, and of a futurestate things which we all believe; that they might, at least, beso much nearer coming into the bosom of the true Church than theyare now in the public profession of idolatry and devilworship."
I was now struck dumb indeed, and had not one word to say.I hadhere the spirit of true Christian zeal for God and religion beforeme.As for me, I had not so much as entertained a thought of thisin my heart before, and I believe I should not have thought of it;for I looked upon these savages as slaves, and people whom, had wenot had any work for them to do, we would have used as such, orwould have been glad to have transported them to any part of theworld; for our business was to get rid of them, and we would allhave been satisfied if they had been sent to any country, so theyhad never seen their own.I was confounded at his discourse, andknew not what answer to make him.
He looked earnestly at me, seeing my confusion."Sir," says he, "Ishall be very sorry if what I have said gives you any offence." "No, no," said I,"I am offended with nobody but myself; but I amperfectly confounded, not only to think that I should never takeany notice of this before, but with reflecting what notice I amable to take of it now.You know, sir," said I, "whatcircumstances I am in; I am bound to the East Indies in a shipfreighted by merchants, and to whom it would be an insufferablepiece of injustice to detain their ship here, the men lying allthis while at victuals and wages on the owners' account.It istrue, I agreed to be allowed twelve days here, and if I stay more,I must pay three pounds sterling PER DIEM demurrage; nor can I stayupon demurrage above eight days more, and I have been here thirteenalready; so that I am perfectly unable to engage in this workunless I would suffer myself to be left behind here again; in whichcase, if this single ship should miscarry in any part of hervoyage, I should be just in the same condition that I was left inhere at first, and from which I have been so wonderfullydelivered."He owned the case was very hard upon me as to myvoyage; but laid it home upon my conscience whether the blessing ofsaving thirtyseven souls was not worth venturing all I had in theworld for.I was not so sensible of that as he was.I replied tohim thus:"Why, sir, it is a valuable thing, indeed, to be aninstrument in God's hand to convert thirtyseven heathens to theknowledge of Christ:but as you are an ecclesiastic, and are givenover to the work, so it seems so naturally to fall in the way ofyour profession; how is it, then, that you do not rather offeryourself to undertake it than to press me to do it?"
Upon this he faced about just before me, as he walked along, andputting me to a full stop, made me a very low bow."I mostheartily thank God and you, sir," said he, "for giving me soevident a call to so blessed a work; and if you think yourselfdischarged from it, and desire me to undertake it, I will mostreadily do it, and think it a happy reward for all the hazards anddifficulties of such a broken, disappointed voyage as I have metwith, that I am dropped at last into so glorious a work."
I was amazed to see so much true piety, and so much sincerity ofzeal, besides the unusual impartiality in his discourse as to hisown party or church, and such true warmth for preserving peoplethat he had no knowledge of or relation to from transgressing thelaws of God.But recollecting what he had said of marrying them bya written contract, which I knew he would stand to, I returned itback upon him, and told him I granted all that he had said to bejust, and on his part very kind; that I would discourse with themen upon the point now, when I came to them; and I knew no reasonwhy they should scruple to let him marry them all, which I knewwell enough would be granted to be as authentic and valid inEngland as if they were married by one of our own clergymen.
He seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational accessto these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word oftheir language, nor they one of his.To remove this difficulty, Itold him Friday's father had learned Spanish, which I found he alsounderstood, and he should serve him as an interpreter.So he wasmuch better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he wouldstay and endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave anothervery happy turn to all this.
I could hold no longer:I took him in my arms and embraced himeagerly."How far," said I to him, "have I been from understandingthe most essential part of a Christian, viz. to love the interestof the Christian Church, and the good of other men's souls do not say so," replied he; "this thing is not your fault." "No," said I; "but why did I never lay it to heart as well as you?" "It is not too late yet," said he; "be not too forward to condemnyourself." "But what can be done now?" said I:"you see I amgoing away." "Will you give me leave to talk with these poor menabout it?" "Yes, with all my heart," said I:"and oblige them togive heed to what you say too." "As to that," said he, "we mustleave them to the mercy of Christ; but it is your business toassist them, encourage them, and instruct them; and if you give meleave, and God His blessing, I do not doubt but the poor ignorantsouls shall be brought home to the great circle of Christianity, ifnot into the particular faith we all embrace, and that even whileyou stay here."Upon this I said, "I shall not only give youleave, but give you a thousand thanks for it."
Why, then, sir," says he, "I will take the liberty you give me;and there are three things, which, if I am right, must stand in theway of God's blessing upon your endeavours here, and which I shouldrejoice, for your sake and their own, to see removed.And, sir, Ipromise myself that you will fully agree with me in them all, assoon as I name them; especially because I shall convince you, thatevery one of them may, with great ease, and very much to yoursatisfaction, be remedied.First, sir," says he, "you have herefour Englishmen, who have fetched women from among the savages, andhave taken them as their wives, and have had many children by themall, and yet are not married to them after any stated legal manner,as the laws of God and man require.To this, sir, I know, you willobject that there was no clergyman or priest of any kind to performthe ceremony; nor any pen and ink, or paper, to write down acontract of marriage, and have it signed between them.And I knowalso, sir, what the Spaniard governor has told you, I mean of theagreement that he obliged them to make when they took those women,viz. that they should choose them out by consent, and keepseparately to them; which, by the way, is nothing of a marriage, noagreement with the women as wives, but only an agreement amongthemselves, to keep them from quarrelling.But, sir, the essenceof the sacrament of matrimony" so he called it, being a Roman"consists not only in the mutual consent of the parties to take oneanother as man and wife, but in the formal and legal obligationthat there is in the contract to compel the man and woman, at alltimes, to own and acknowledge each other; obliging the man toabstain from all other women, to engage in no other contract whilethese subsist; and, on all occasions, as ability allows, to providehonestly for them and their children; and to oblige the women tothe same or like conditions, on their side.Now, sir," says he,"these men may, when they please, or when occasion presents,abandon these women, disown their children, leave them to perish,and take other women, and marry them while these are living;" andhere he added, with some warmth, "How, sir, is God honoured in thisunlawful liberty?And how shall a blessing succeed your endeavoursin this place, however good in themselves, and however sincere inyour design, while these men, who at present are your subjects,under your absolute government and dominion, are allowed by you tolive in open adultery?"
I could hold no longer:I took him in my arms and embraced himeagerly."How far," said I to him, "have I been from understandingthe most essential part of a Christian, viz. to love the interestof the Christian Church, and the good of other men's souls do not say so," replied he; "this thing is not your fault." "No," said I; "but why did I never lay it to heart as well as you?" "It is not too late yet," said he; "be not too forward to condemnyourself." "But what can be done now?" said I:"you see I amgoing away." "Will you give me leave to talk with these poor menabout it?" "Yes, with all my heart," said I:"and oblige them togive heed to what you say too." "As to that," said he, "we mustleave them to the mercy of Christ; but it is your business toassist them, encourage them, and instruct them; and if you give meleave, and God His blessing, I do not doubt but the poor ignorantsouls shall be brought home to the great circle of Christianity, ifnot into the particular faith we all embrace, and that even whileyou stay here."Upon this I said, "I shall not only give youleave, but give you a thousand thanks for it."
I discovered a kind of rapture in his face while he spoke this tome; his eyes sparkled like fire; his face glowed, and his colourcame and went; in a word, he was fired with the joy of beingembarked in such a work.I paused a considerable while before Icould tell what to say to him; for I was really surprised to find aman of such sincerity, and who seemed possessed of a zeal beyondthe ordinary rate of men.But after I had considered it a while, Iasked him seriously if he was in earnest, and that he wouldventure, on the single consideration of an attempt to convert thosepoor people, to be locked up in an unplanted island for perhaps hislife, and at last might not know whether he should be able to dothem good or not?He turned short upon me, and asked me what Icalled a venture?"Pray, sir," said he, "what do you think Iconsented to go in your ship to the East Indies for?" "ay," saidI, "that I know not, unless it was to preach to the Indians." "Doubtless it was," said he; "and do you think, if I can convertthese thirtyseven men to the faith of Jesus Christ, it is notworth my time, though I should never be fetched off the islandagain? nay, is it not infinitely of more worth to save so manysouls than my life is, or the life of twenty more of the sameprofession?Yes, sir," says he, "I would give God thanks all mydays if I could be made the happy instrument of saving the souls ofthose poor men, though I were never to get my foot off this islandor see my native country any more.But since you will honour mewith putting me into this work, for which I will pray for you allthe days of my life, I have one humble petition to you besides." "What is that?" said I. "Why," says he, "it is, that you willleave your man Friday with me, to be my interpreter to them, and toassist me; for without some help I cannot speak to them, or they tome."
He seemed very much concerned at it, for he had no rational accessto these poor people, seeing he did not understand one word oftheir language, nor they one of his.To remove this difficulty, Itold him Friday's father had learned Spanish, which I found he alsounderstood, and he should serve him as an interpreter.So he wasmuch better satisfied, and nothing could persuade him but he wouldstay and endeavour to convert them; but Providence gave anothervery happy turn to all this.