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that I was not well; and when this not being well had lasted three or four days, I had my leg wrapped up in a great piece of flannel, and laid upon a stool, and there I was lame of the gout; and this served for about six weeks, when my wife told me she had given it out, that my gout was rather rheumatic than a settled gout, and that I was resolved to take one of my own sloops, and go to Nevis or Antigua, and use the hot baths there for my cure.

All this was very well, and I approved my wife's contrivance as admirably good, both to keep me within doors eight or ten weeks at first, and to convey me away afterwards without any extraordinary bustle to be made about it; but still I did not know what it all tended to, and what the design of it all was, but my wife desired me to leave that to her, so I really did, and she carried it all on with a prudence not to be disputed; and after she had wrapt my legs in flannel almost three months, she came and told me the sloop was ready, and all the goods put on board: And now, my dear, says she, I come to tell you all the rest of my design; for, added she, I hope you will not think I am going to kidnap you, and transport you from Virginia, as other people are transported to it, or that I am going to get you sent away and leave myself in possession of your estate; but you shall find me the same faithful creature, which I should have been if I had been still your slave, and not had any hopes of being your wife, and that in all my scheme which I have laid for your safety, in this new exigence, I have not proposed your going one step but where I shall go and be always with you, to assist and serve you on all occasions, and to take my portion with you, of what kind soever our lot may be.

This was so generous, and so handsome a declaration of her fidelity, and so great a token too of the goodness of her judgment, in considering of the things which were before her, and of what my present circumstances called for, that, from that time forward, I gave myself cheerfully up to her management, without any hesitation in the least, and after about ten days preparation, we embarked in a large sloop of my own of about sixty tons.

I should have mentioned here, that I had still my faithful tutor, as I called him, at the head of my affairs; and, as he knew who to correspond with, and how to manage the

correspondence in England, we left all that part to him, as I had done before; and I did this with a full satisfaction in his ability as well as in his integrity: it is true, he had been a little chagrined in that affair of my wife, who, as I hinted before, had married me, after telling him, in answer to his solicitations, that she had a husband alive.

Now, though this was literally true, yet, as it was a secret not fit to be opened to him, I was obliged to put him off with other reasons, as well as I could, perhaps not much to the purpose, and perhaps not much to his satisfaction, so that I reckoned he looked on himself as not very kindly used several ways.

But he began to get over it, and to be easy, especially at our going away, when he found that the trust of every thing was still left in his hands, as it was before.

When my wife had thus communicated every thing of the voyage to me, and we began to be ready to go off, she came to me one morning, and, with her usual cheerfulness, told me, she now came to tell me the rest of her measures for the completing my deliverance; and this was, that while we made this trip, as she called it, to the hot springs at Nevis, she would write to a particular friend at London, whom she could depend upon, to try to get a pardon for a person on account of the late rebellion, with all the circumstances which my case was attended with, viz., of having acted nothing among them, but being three days in the place; and, while we were thus absent, she did not question but to have an answer, which she would direct to come so many ways, that we would be sure to have the first of it, as soon as it was possible the vessels could go and come; and in the mean time the expense should be very small, for she would have an answer to the grand question first, whether it could be obtained or no; and then an account of the expense of it, that so I might judge for myself, whether I would part with the needful sum or no, before any money was disbursed on my

account.

I could not but be thoroughly satisfied with her contrivance in this particular, and I had nothing to add to it, but that I would not have her limit her friend so strictly, but that if he saw the way clear, and that he was sure to obtain it, he should go through stitch with it, if within the expense of two, or three, or four hundred pounds, and that upon advice

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of its being practicable, he should have bills payable by such a person on delivery of the warrant for the thing.

To fortify this, I enclosed in her packet a letter to one of my correspondents, who I could particularly trust, with a credit for the money, on such and such conditions; but the honesty and integrity of my wife's correspondence was such, as prevented all the expense, and yet I had the wished for security, as if it had been all paid, as you shall hear presently.

All these things being fixed to our minds, and all things left behind in good posture of settlement as usual, we embarked together and put to sea, having the opportunity of an English man-of-war, being on the coast in pursuit of the pirates, and who was just then standing away towards the gulf of Florida, and told us he would see us safe as far as New Providence, or the Bahama islands.

CHAPTER XVIII.

WE ARE CHASED BY A BRIGANTINE AND SLOOP, PRIVATEERS -DURING THE CHASE THEY DISCOVER AN ENGLISH MANOF-WAR, AND SHEER OFF-ARRIVE SAFE AT ANTIGUAMY WIFE RETURNS TO VIRGINIA IN THE SLOOP, TO WAIT NEWS FROM ENGLAND-THE VESSEL RETURNS GUTTED OF ITS CARGO BY PIRATES, BUT WITH NEWS OF MY DELIVERANCE-TRANSACTIONS ON MY VOYAGE TO VIRGINIA.

AND now having fair weather and a pleasant voyage, and my flannels taken off my legs, I must hint a little what cargo I had with me; for as my circumstances were very good in that country, so I did not go such a voyage as this, and with a particular reserve of fortunes whatever might afterwards happen, without a sufficient cargo for our support, and whatever exigence might happen.

Our sloop, as I said, was of about sixty or seventy tons; and as tobacco, which is the general produce of the country, was no merchandize at Nevis, that is to say, for a great quantity, so we carried very little, but loaded the sloop with corn, pease, meal, and some barrels of pork, and an excellent cargo it was, most of it being the produce of my own plantation;

we took also a considerable sum of money with us in Spanish gold, which was, as above, not for trade, but for all events. I also ordered another sloop to be hired, and to be sent after me, loaden with the same goods, as soon as they should have advice from me that I was safe arrived.

We came to the latitude of the island of Antigua, which was very near to that of Nevis, whither we intended to go, on the 18th day after our passing the Capes of Virginia, but had no sight of the island, only our master said he was sure, if he stood the same course as he then was, and the gale held, I say he told me, he was sure he should make the island in less than five hour's sail; so he stood on fair for the islands. However his account had failed him, for we held on all the evening, made no land, and likewise all night, when in the grey of the morning, we discovered, from the topmast head, a brigantine and a sloop making sail after us, at the distance of about six leagues, fair weather, and the wind fresh at S.E.

Our master soon understood what they were, and came down into the cabin to me, to let me know it. I was much surprised you may be sure at the danger, but my poor wife took from me all the concern for myself to take care of her, for she was frightened to that degree, that I thought we should not have been able to keep life in her.

While we were thus under the first hurry, and surprise of the thing, suddenly another noise from the deck called us up to look out, and that was, Land! land! The master and I, for by this time I had gotten out of my cabin, run upon the deck, and there we saw the state of our case very plain. The two rogues that stood after us, laid on all the canvas they could carry, and crowdod after us amain; but at the distance, as I have said, of about six leagues, rather more than less; on the other hand, the land discovered lay about nine leagues right ahead; so that, if the pirates could gain on us, so as to sail three foot for our two, it was evident they would be up with us before we could make the island; if not, we should escape them and get in; but even then, we had no great hope to do any more than to run the ship ashore to save our lives, and so, stranding our vessel, spoil both sloop and cargo.

When we were making this calculation, our master came in cheerfully, and told me he had crowded on more sail, and

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found the sloop carried it very well, and that he did not find the rogues gained much upon us, and that especially, if one of them did not, that was the sloop, he found he could go away from the brigantine as he pleased. Thus we gave them what they call a stern chase, and they worked hard to come up with us till towards noon, when on a sudden they both stood away, and gave us over, to our great satisfaction you may be sure.

We did not, it seems, so easily see the occasion of our deliverance, as the pirate did; for while we went spooning away large with the wind for one of the islands, with those two spurs in our heels, that is, with the two thieves at our sterns, there lay an English man-of-war in the road of Nevis, which was the same island from whence, they espied the pirates, but the land lying between, we could not see them.

As the man-of-war discovered them, she immediately slipped her cable, and put herself under sail in chase of the rogues, and they as soon perceived her; and, being windward, put themselves upon a wind to escape her; and thus we were delivered, and in half an hour more we knew who was our deliverer, seeing the man-of-war stretch ahead clear of the island, and stand directly after the pirates, who now crowded from us as fast as they crowded after us before, and thus we got safe into Antigua, after the terrible apprehension we had been in of being taken. Our apprehensions of being taken now were much more than they would have been on board a loaden ship, from, or to London, where the most they ordinarily do is to rifle the ship, take what is valuable and portable, and let her go; but ours being but a sloop, and all our loading being good provisions, such as they wanted, to be sure, for their ship's store, they would certainly have carried us away, ship and all, taken out the cargo and the men, and perhaps have set the sloop on fire; so that, as to our cargo of gold, it had been inevitably lost, and we hurried away, nobody knows where, and used as such barbarous fellows are wont to use innocent people as fall into their hands.

But we were now out of their hands, and had the satisfaction, a few days after, to hear that the man-of-war pursued them so close, notwithstanding they changed their course in the night, that the next day they were obliged to separate, and shift for themselves; so the man-of-war took one of them,