It now occurred to me that the time of my deliverance was come, and that it would be easy to bring these fellows in to be hearty in getting possession of the ship.  And so it proved, for, the ship being boarded next morning, and the new rebel captain shot, the rest yielded without any more lives lost.

When I saw my deliverance then put visibly into my hands, I was ready to sink down with the surprise, and it was a good while before I could speak a word to the captain, who was in as great an ecstasy as I. After some time, I came dressed in a new habit of the captain’s, being still called governor.  Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused the prisoners to be brought before me, told them I had got a full account of their villainous behaviour to the captain, and asked of them what they had to say why I should not execute them as pirates.  I told them I had resolved to quit the island, but that they, if they went, could only go as prisoners in irons; so that I could not tell what was the best for them, unless they had a mind to take their fate in the island.  They seemed thankful for this, and said they would much rather venture to stay than be carried to England to be hanged.  So I left it on that issue.  When the captain was gone I sent for the men up to me in my apartment and let them into the story of my living there; showed them my fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn; and, in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy.  I told them the story, also of the Spaniards that were to be expected, and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves.

I left the next day and went on board the ship with Friday.  And thus I left the island the 19th of December, in the year 1686, after eight and twenty years, and, after a long voyage, I arrived in England, the 11th of June, 1687, having been thirty-five years absent.

* * * * *

Captain Singleton

      Defoe was fifty-nine when he published this remarkable book,
     in 1720.  “Robinson Crusoe” had appeared in the previous year,
     and “Moll Flanders” came out in 1722.  Shrewdness and wit, the
     study of character, vividness of imagination, and, beyond
     these, the pure literary style, make “Captain Singleton” a
     classic in English literature.  William the Quaker, the first
     Quaker in English fiction, has never been surpassed in any
     later novel, and remains an immortal creation.  The clear
     common sense of this man, the combination of business ability
     and a real humaneness, the quiet humour which prevails over
     the stupid barbarity of his pirate companions—­who but Defoe
     could have drawn such a character as the guide, philosopher,
     and friend of a crew of pirates?  Bob Singleton himself, who
     tells the story with a frankness of extraordinary charm,