[00:00.95]8 Escape from the island
[00:06.98]I was now in my twenty—seventh year on the island，
[00:11.80]And I did not want to be there for another year.
[00:14.72]We worked hard to get the corn in，and to make a lot of bread.
[00:21.57]We had dried fruit and salted meat，and big pots to keep water in.
[00:28.92]One evening Friday went out to look for a turtle for meat and eggs.
[00:36.36]But in less than an hour he was back，and he looked very afraid.
[00:44.07]'Master！Master！'he cried.
[00:48.39]'There's a great ship near the island，and men are coming to the shore in a boat！'
[00:56.01]I jumped up and ran with him down to the shore.
[01:02.24]To my great surprise，I saw that it was an English ship！But why was it here？
[01:11.41]English ships never came this way.Perhaps they were pirates！
[01:19.02]'Don't let them see you，Friday！'I called.'We'll hide in the trees and watch.'
[01:26.94]There were eleven men in the boat，but three of them were prisoners.
[01:34.12]Their arms were tied with rope，but their legs were free and they could walk.
[01:41.30]The other sailors pushed the three prisoners up the beach，
[01:47.00]Laughing and shouting and hitting them.
[01:50.38]Then some of them sat down on the sand and began to drink.
[01:57.03]Others walked away to look at the island，and two men stayed to watch the boat.
[02:05.78]The three prisoners walked slowly along the beach
[02:12.19]And sat down under a tree，not far from us.They looked very unhappy.
[02:19.75]Very quietly，I came up behind them through the trees，
[02:26.79]And called out to them in English.
[02:30.03]'Don't be afraid，'I said.'I'm an English man.Perhaps I can help you.'
[02:39.60]The three men turned and looked at me.
[02:44.54]They did not answer at once；they were too surprised.
[02:49.31]Perhaps they thought I was a wild man myself，
[02:55.14]In my strange homemade clothes of animals'skins，
[02:59.92]And with my long hair and beard.Then the oldeast man spoke.
[03:06.84]'I am the captain of that ship，'he said，
[03:11.85]'And these two men are my first and second officers.
[03:17.09]Last night there was a mutiny，and the seamen took the ship from me.
[03:23.22]Now they're going to leave the three of us here，to die on this island.'
[03:30.00]'De these mutineers have guns？'
[03:34.11]'Only two，'he answered，'and they've left those on the boat.'
[03:39.57]'All right，'I said.'We'll fight them，but if we get your ship back for you，
[03:47.11]You must take me back to England.'
[03:50.69]The captain agreed immediately and thanked me very warmly for my help.
[03:58.49]Friday ran back to my house to get all the guns，and the captain and I made a plan.
[04:07.56]The first part was easy because the seamen were not ready for a fight.
[04:15.51]We shot the two men at the boat，and the captain shot another man.
[04:22.35]This man,Tom Smith,was the worst of them all and he began the mutiny on the ship.
[04:30.33]Then the captain talked to the other five men，and they agreed to help him.
[04:38.01]They did not really want to be mutineers，but they were afraid of Tom Smith.
[04:44.48]'Now，'I said to the captain，'we must get back your ship.
[04:50.46]How many men are on it？'
[04:53.39]'Twenty－six，'the captain replied，
[04:57.04]'And they will fight hard because they won't want to go home.
[05:02.36]It is death for all mutineers in England.But not all the men are bad.
[05:09.01]I'm sure that some of them will help me.'
[05:13.25]Just then we saw another boat，which was coming from the ship to the shore.
[05:19.40]There were ten men in it，and they all had guns.We ran into the trees and waited.
[05:28.30]It was a long hard fight，but by now it was dark and this helped us very much.
[05:37.11]We ran here and there in the trees，calling and shouting.
[05:42.47]The seamen could not see us and did not know how many men they were fighting.
[05:49.57]In the end the first officer shouted to them：
[05:54.30]'Put down your guns and stop fightng！
[05:58.92]The captain has fifty island people to help him.We can kill you all！'
[06:07.03]So the seamen stopped fighting and we took their guns.
[06:14.04]Three of the men agreed to come back to the captain，
[06:18.71]And we put the others in my cave.
[06:22.14]Friday and I stayed to watch the prisoners，
[06:27.85]While the captain and his men went back to fight for the ship.
[06:33.62]All night we listened to the sound of guns and shouting，but in the morning，
[06:42.54]When the sun came up，the captain was master of his ship again.
[06:48.20]I went down to the shore to meet him.
[06:52.69]'My dear friend，'he cried，'There's your ship！
[06:59.09]I'll take you to the ends of the world in it！'
[07:03.18]I put my arms round him，and we laughed and cried together.
[07:09.33]How happy I was to leave the ialand！
[07:13.26]My good friend Friday came with me，of course，
[07:19.17]But we left the mutineers on the island.
[07:23.56]We decided not to kill them；they could begin a new life on the island.
[07:30.32]I showed them my three houses，my cornfields and my goats，and all my tools.
[07:38.50]Their life would he easy because of all my hard work for so many years.
[07:45.15]And so，on the nineteenth of December 1689—
[07:51.34]After twenty-seven years，two months and nineteen days—
[07:57.61]I said good-bye to my island and sailed home to England.