I never thought there
was the slightest risk--not a shadow of it--and feeling a bit dozy,
sat down for five minutes' caulk. Seeing that, no doubt the men
thought they might do the same; and this is what has come of it. I
must have slept half an hour at least, for there was no sail in sight
when I went off, and this Moor must have come round the point and
made us out after that.'
"The corsair was lying alongside of us, her shrouds lashed to ours.
There was a long jabbering among the Moors when they had taken off
our hatches and seen that we were pretty well full up with cargo;
then, after a bit, we were kicked, and they made signs for us to get
on our feet and to cross over into their ship. The crew were sent
down into the forward hold, and some men went down with them to tie
them up securely. John Wilkes, Pettigrew, and myself were shoved down
into a bit of a place below the stern cabin. Our legs were tied, as
well as our arms. The trap was shut, and there we were in the dark.
Of course I told Pettigrew that, though he had failed in his duty,
and it had turned out badly, he wasn't to be blamed as if he had gone
to sleep in sight of an enemy.
"'I had never given the Moors a thought myself,' I said, 'and it was
not to be expected that you would. But no sailor, still less an
officer, ought to sleep on his watch, even if his ship is anchored in
a friendly harbour, and you are to blame that you gave way to
drowsiness. Still, even if you hadn't, it might have come to the same
thing in the long run, for the corsair is a large one, and might have
taken us even if you had made her out as she rounded the point.
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