“‘Quick, quick!’ I cried. The rope was brought, and I tied the old boy down, safe and sound, and gagged his mouth as he was muttering curses on us both.
“‘There is only one way of escaping from this place,’ she observed with considerable anxiety in her features, as she saw me preparing to depart.
“‘How? let me know it instantly, for I have not a moment to lose,’ I replied.
“‘You will be stopped at the gate, unless I am with you,’ she added, gazing on me with tears in her eyes.
“‘Well, come then, sweet one,’ said I, hastily; ‘you will lead a dog’s life of it, if you remain here; and I will do the best I can for you when you are out of it.’
“She looked grateful and affectionate; instantly arranged my dress, which had become disordered by the struggle; hastily collected a few valuables; and, opening the door, we went out together. I have lived a good many years since then, but I must acknowledge that I never lived so happily as I did in the little bed-room of the jailer’s daughter. I was striding along the narrow passages of the prison, when she stopped me, and told me that if I proceeded at that rate, I could not avoid being discovered, and bade me, as near as I could, imitate her manner of walking; so I immediately began to tread the ground as if I was picking my way over cherry stones, and after threading a multitude of dreary passages, we arrived at the gate, where, being in company with Virgo, I excited no suspicion, and with merely a word or two of greeting from the attendants, we passed into the street.
“I was now in the open air; I had at last escaped the stifling atmosphere of a prison; and any one, having been used to the freedom of the wide seas and the excitement of a life of enterprise, who has been immured for months within stone walls, enduring the dreary monotony of imprisonment, may imagine what were my feelings when I found myself again in the enjoyment of my liberty; but what to do now I was free was the next consideration. The dress I wore could not conceal me long, especially when, as I knew must be the case, the manner of my escape was made public; and as it would be unsafe for me to remain in the neighbourhood, I saw that it might encumber my flight; and what to do with Virgo was another puzzle: she who had risked so much for me I felt ought not to be abandoned; but I knew it would be impossible for us to remain together. I told her of this, but she begged so hard to be allowed to remain with me, and seemed to despair so completely at the thought of our separation, that I resolved at any rate that we should not part company till all hope of remaining near each other with any safety was destroyed.
“In this dilemma, I thought of a smuggler’s widow, who carried on a little bit of a trade in the outskirts of the town, to whom I had done many a good turn out of regard for her husband, a brave-spirited fellow, who was shot by my side, while defending a cargo from the greedy clutches of the revenue rascals, and to her humble abode I bent my way. Glad, indeed, was she to see me, when I made myself known to her. I never knew a creature who appeared more delighted; and having told her how I was situated, actively she sat about insuring my safety. The next day, as I had anticipated, the particulars of my escape, with many exaggerations, were published all over the country. A price was set upon my head, and every hole and corner was searched, in the hope of finding the fugitive. I never felt more satisfaction than when I cut the petticoats. I was always kicking my shins against them. They hurt my spirit, and almost stifled my manhood. I was now dressed in a suit of sober brown, like a young apprentice, and I passed as the widow’s nephew; serving in her shop, and going about her errands, as knowingly as if I had been a shop-boy all my life. For my sake the widow paid every possible attention to Virgo, who seemed never easy but when I was with her. The fear of discovery was always in her heart. She was restless, anxious, and melancholy.
“After a few months of this kind of life I grew quite as tired of it as I had been of my existence in the little bed-room of the gaoler’s daughter. I longed for the freedom of the open sea. I felt an unconquerable desire to return to a life of enterprise. The chase, I thought, must by this time have been given up in despair; and, consequently, that now I might steer my course wherever I pleased. As I was reflecting upon the most available means of satisfying my desires, while alone pursuing some employment in the widow’s little shop, who should enter, to inquire his direction to a neighbouring street, but the very last person I desired to see—Virgo’s father.