d him my
sword, which hung in a belt at my side. With this he ran up to the man,
and with one stroke cut off his head. When he had done this, he brought
me back my sword with a laugh, and put it down in front of me. I did not
like to see the glee with which he did it, and I did not feel that my
own life was quite safe with such a man.

He, in his turn, could but lift up his large brown hands with awe, to
think that I had put his foe to death, while I stood so far from him.
But as to the sword, he and the rest of his tribe made use of swords of
wood, and this was why he knew so well how to wield mine. He made signs
to me to let him go and see the man who had been shot; and he gave him a
turn round, first on this side, then on that; and when he saw the wound
made in his breast by the shot, he stood quite, still once more, as if
he had lost his wits. I made signs for him to come back, for my fears
told me that the rest of the men might come in search of their friends.

I did not like to take my slave to my house, nor to my cave; so I threw
down some straw from the rice plant for him to sleep on, and gave him
some bread and a bunch of dry grapes to eat. He was a fine man, with
straight strong limbs, tall, and young. His hair was thick, like wool,
and black. His head was large and high; and he had bright black eyes. He
was of a dark brown hue; his face was round, and his nose small, but
not flat; he had a good mouth with thin lips, with which he could give a
soft smile; and his teeth were as white as snow.

I had been to milk my goats in the field close by, and when he saw me,
he ran to me, and lay down on the ground to show me his thanks. He then
put his head on the ground, and set my foot on his head, as he had done
at first. He took all the means he could think of, to let me know that
he would serve me all his life; and I gave a sign to show that I thought
well of him. The next thing was to think of some name to call him by.
I chose that of the sixth day of the week (Friday), as he came to me on
that day. I took care not to lose sight of him all that night, and when
the sun rose, I made signs for him to come to me, that I might give him
some clothes, for he wore none. We then went up to the top of the hill,
to look out for the men; but as we could not see them, or their boats,
it was clear that they had left the isle.

My slave has since told me that they had had a great fight with the
tribe that dwelt next to them; an