Search -
The surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe
The surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe Author:Daniel Defoe Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: rest of our distresses, one of the men that had been down on purpose to see, cried out we had sprung a leak ; another said, there was four feet water in the hold... more ». Then all hands were called to the pump. At that very word my heart, as I thought, died within me ; and I fell backwards upon the side of the 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 anothei: 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 that meant, was so surprised, that I thought the ship had broke, 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 every body 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 aside with his foot, let me lie, thinking I had been dead ; and it was a great while before I came to myself. We worked on, but the water increasing in the hold, it was apparent that the ship would founder; and though the storm began to abate a little, yet as it was not possible she could swim till we might run into any port, so the master continued firing guns for help ; and a light ship, who had rid it out just ahead of us, ventured a boat out to help us. It was with the utmost hazard the boat came near us; but it was impossible for us to get on board, or for the boat to lie near the ship-side, till at last the men rowing very heartily, and venturing their lives to save ours, our men cast them a rope over t...« less