woman distracted; she willbe so surprised she will go out of her wits."
"Well," said I, "William, you may do it prudently; send her a billbacked of a hundred pounds, and bid her expect more in a post or two,and that you will send her enough to live on without keeping shop, andthen send her more."
Accordingly William sent her a very kind letter, with a bill upon amerchant in London for a hundred and sixty pounds, and bid her comfortherself with the hope that he should be able in a little time to sendher more. About ten days after, he sent her another bill of five hundredand forty pounds; and a post or two after, another for three hundredpounds, making in all a thousand pounds; and told her he would send hersufficient to leave off her shop, and directed her to take a house asabove.
He waited then till he received an answer to all the three letters, withan account that she had received the money, and, which I did not expect,that she had not let any other acquaintance know that she had receiveda shilling from anybody, or so much as that he was alive, and would nottill she had heard again.
When he showed me this letter, "Well, William," said I, "this woman isfit to be trusted with life or anything; send her the rest of the fivethousand pounds, and I'll venture to England with you, to this woman'shouse, whenever you will."
In a word, we sent her five thousand pounds in good bills; and shereceived them very punctually, and in a little time sent her brotherword that she had pretended to her uncle that she was sickly and couldnot carry on the trade any longer, and that she had taken a large houseabout four miles from London, under pretence of letting lodgings forher livelihood; and, in short, intimated as if she understood that heintended to come over to be _incognito_, assuring him he should be asretired as he pleased.
This was opening the very door for us that we thought had beeneffectually shut for this life; and, in a word, we resolved to venture,but to keep ourselves entirely concealed, both as to name and everyother circumstance; and accordingly William sent his sister word howkindly he took her prudent steps, and that she had guessed right thathe desired to be retired, and that he obliged her not to increase herfigure, but live private, till she might perhaps see him.
He was going to send the letter away. "Come, William," said I, "youshan't send her an empty letter; tell her you have a friend coming withyou that must be as retired as yourself, and I'll send her five thousandpounds more."
So, in short, we made this poor woman's family rich; and yet, when itcame to the point, my heart failed me, and I durst not venture; and forWilliam, he would not stir without me; and so we stayed about two yearsafter this, considering what we should do.
You may think, perhaps, that I was very prodigal of my ill-gotten goods,thus to load a stranger with my bounty, and give a gift like a prince toone that had been able to merit nothing of me, or indeed know me; butmy condition ought to be considered in this case; though I had money toprofusion, yet I was perfectly destitute of a friend in the world, tohave the least obligation or assistance from, or knew not either whereto dispose or trust anything I had while I lived, or whom to give it toif I died.
When I had reflected upon the manner of my getting of it, I wassometimes for giving it all to charitable uses, as a debt due tomankind, though I was no Roman Catholic, and not at all of the opinionthat it would purchase me any repose to my soul; but I thought, as itwas got by a general plunder, and which I could make no satisfactionfor, it was due to the community, and I ought to distribute it for thegeneral good. But still I was at a loss how, and where, and by whom tosettle this charity, not daring to go home to my own country, lest someof my comrades, strolled home, should see and detect me, and for thevery spoil of my money, or the purchase of his own pardon, betray andexpose me to an untimely end.
Being thus destitute, I say, of a friend, I pitched thus upon William'ssister; the kind step of hers to her brother, whom she thought to be indistress, signifying a generous mind and a charitable disposition; andhaving resolved to make her the object of my first bounty, I did notdoubt but I should purchase something of a refuge for myself, and a kindof a centre, to which I should tend in my future actions; for reallya man that has a subsistence, and no residence, no place that has amagnetic influence upon his affections, is in one of the most odd,uneasy conditions in the world, nor is it in the power of all his moneyto make it up to him.
It was, as I told you, two years and upwards that we remained at Veniceand thereabout, in the greatest hesitation imaginable, irresolute andunfixed to the last degree. William's sister importuned us daily to cometo England, and wondered we should not dare to trust her, whom we had tosuch a degree obliged to be faithful; and in a manner lamented her beingsuspected by us.
At last I began to incline; and I said to William, "Come, brotherWilliam," said I (for ever since our discourse at Bassorah I called himbrother), "if you will agree to two or three things with me, I'll gohome to England with all my heart."
Says William, "Let me know what they are."
"Why, first," says I, "you shall not disclose yourself to any of yourrelations in England but your sister--no, not one; secondly, we willnot shave off our mustachios or beards" (for we had all along worn ourbeards after the Grecian manner), "nor leave off our long vests, that wemay pass for Grecians and foreigners; thirdly, that we shall never speakEnglish in public before anybody, your sister excepted; fourthly, thatwe will always live together and pass for brothers."
William said he would agree to them all with all his heart, but that thenot speaking English would be the hardest, but he would do his best forthat too; so, in a word, we agreed to go from Venice to Naples, where weconverted a large sum of money into bales of silk, left a large sum in amerchant's hands at Venice, and another considerable sum at Naples, andtook bills of exchange for a great deal too; and yet we came with sucha cargo to London as few American merchants had done for some years,for we loaded in two ships seventy-three bales of thrown silk, besidesthirteen bales of wrought silks, from the duchy of Milan, shipped atGenoa, with all which I arrived safely; and some time after I married myfaithful protectress, William's sister, with whom I am much more happythan I deserve.
And now, having so plainly told you that I am come to England, after Ihave so boldly owned what life I have led abroad, it is time to leaveoff, and say no more for the present, lest some should be willing toinquire too nicely after your old friend CAPTAIN BOB.
[Transcriber's Note: The words "thae" (Scottish dialect for "those") and"Geat Mogul" ("Great" may be meant) do occur as such in the print copy.]
Thank you for reading books on BookFrom.Net Share this book with friends