prove, that when thieves fall out honest men come by their
own.

There is one adage whose truth I needed no further proof of.
Its first line apostrophises the 'Gods and little fishes.'

My chief need was for the garment which completes the rhyme.
Indians, having no use for corduroy small clothes, I speedily

donned mine. Next I quietly but quickly snatched up
William's rifle, and presented it to Robinson Crusoe, patting

him on the back as if with honours of knighthood. The
dispossessed was not well pleased, but Sir Robinson was; and,

to all appearances, he was a man of leading, if of darkness.
While words were passing between the two, I sauntered round

to the gentleman who sat cross-legged upon my weapon. He was
as heedless of me as I, outwardly, of him. When well within

reach, mindful that 'DE L'AUDACE' is no bad motto, in love
and war, I suddenly placed my foot upon his chest, tightened

the extensor muscle of my leg, and sent him heels over head.
In an instant the rifle was mine, and both barrels cocked.

After yesterday's immersion it might not have gone off, but
the offended Indian, though furious, doubtless inferred from

the histrionic attitude which I at once struck, that I felt
confident it would. With my rifle in hand, with my suite

looking to me to transfer the plunder to them, my position
was now secure. I put on a shirt - the only one left to me,

by the way - my shoes and stockings, and my shooting coat;
and picking out William's effects, divided these, with his

ammunition, his carpet-bag, and his blankets, amongst my
original friends. I was beginning to gather my own things

together, when Samson, leading my horse, unexpectedly rode
into the midst of us. The night was far advanced. The

Indians took their leave; and added to the obligation by
bequeathing us a large fresh salmon, which served us for many

a day to come.
As a postscript I may add that I found poor Mary's address on

one of her letters, and faithfully kept my promise as soon as
I reached pen and ink.

CHAPTER XXVIII
WHAT remains to be told will not take long. Hardships

naturally increased as the means of bearing them diminished.
I have said the salmon held out for many days. We cut it in

strips, and dried it as well as we could; but the flies and
maggots robbed us of a large portion of it. At length we

were reduced to two small hams; nothing else except a little
tea. Guessing the distance we had yet to go, and taking into

account our slow rate of travelling, I calculated the number
of days which, with the greatest economy, these could be made

to last. Allowing only one meal a day, and that of the
scantiest, I scored the hams as a cook scores a leg of roast

pork, determined under no circumstances to exceed the daily
ration.

No little discipline was requisite to adhere to this
resolution. Samson broke down under the exposure and

privation; superadded dysentery rendered him all but
helpless, and even affected his mind. The whole labour of

the camp then devolved on me. I never roused him in the
morning till the mules were packed - with all but his blanket

and the pannikin for his tea - and until I had saddled his
horse for him. Not till we halted at night did we get our

ration of ham. This he ate, or rather bolted, raw, like a
wild beast. My share I never touched till after I lay down

to sleep. And so tired have I been, that once or twice I
woke in the morning with my hand at my mouth, the unswallowed

morsel between my teeth. For three weeks we went on in this
way, never exchanging a word. I cannot say how I might have

behaved had Fred been in Samson's place. I hope I should
have been at least humane. But I was labouring for my life,

and was not over tender-hearted.
Certainly there was enough to try the patience of a better

man. Take an instance. Unable one morning to find my own
horse, I saddled his and started him off, so as not to waste

time, with his spare animal and the three mules. It so
happened that our line of march was rather tortuous, owing to

some hills we had to round. Still, as there were high
mountains in the distance which we were making for, it seemed

impossible that anyone could miss his way. It was twenty
minutes, perhaps, before I found my horse; this would give

him about a mile or more start of me. I hurried on, but
failed to overtake him. At the end of an hour I rode to the

top of a hill which commanded a view of the course he should
have taken. Not a moving speck was to be seen. I knew then

that he had gone astray. But in which direction?
My heart sank within me. The provisions and blankets were

with him. I do not think that at any point of my journey I
had ever felt fear - panic that is - till now. Starvation

stared me in the face. My wits refused to suggest a line of
action. I was stunned. I felt then what I have often felt

since, what I still feel, that it is possible to wrestle
successfully with every difficulty that man has overcome, but

not with that supreme difficulty - man's stupidity. It did
not then occur to me to give a name to the impatience that

seeks to gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles.
I turned back, retraced my steps till I came to the track of

the mules. Luckily the ground retained the footprints,
though sometimes these would be lost for a hundred yards or

so. Just as I anticipated - Samson had wound round the base
of the very first hill he came to; then, instead of

correcting the deviation, and steering for the mountains, had
simply followed his nose, and was now travelling due east, -

in other words, was going back over our track of the day
before. It was past noon when I overtook him, so that a

precious day's labour was lost.
I said little, but that little was a sentence of death.

'After to-day,' I began, 'we will travel separately.'
At first he seemed hardly to take in my meaning. I explained

it.
'As well as I can make out, before we get to the Dalles,

where we ought to find the American outposts, we have only
about 150 miles to go. This should not take more than eight

or nine days. I can do it in a week alone, but not with you.
I have come to the conclusion that with you I may not be able

to do it at all. We have still those mountains' - pointing
to the Blue Mountain range in the distance - 'to cross. They

are covered with snow, as you see. We may find them
troublesome. In any case our food will only last eight or

nine days more, even at the present rate. You shall have the
largest half of what is left, for you require more than I do.

But I cannot, and will not, sacrifice my life for your sake.
I have made up my mind to leave you.'

It must always be a terrible thing for a judge to pass the
sentence of death. But then he is fulfilling a duty, merely

carrying out a law which is not of his making. Moreover, he
has no option - the responsibility rests with the jury; last

of all, the sufferer is a criminal. Between the judge's case
and mine there was no analogy. My act was a purely selfish

one - justifiable I still think, though certainly not
magnanimous. I was quite aware of this at the time, but a

starving man is not burdened with generosity.
I dismounted, and, without unsaddling the mules, took off

their packs, now reduced to a few pounds, which was all the
wretched, raw-backed, and half-dead, animals could stagger

under; and, putting my blanket, the remains of a ham, and a
little packet of tea - some eight or ten tea-spoonfuls - on