Chapter 37
The victim reached the small river where I used to anchor my boat and he had to swim to the other side. He did that, and continued running towards the mainland. Two of the Rsavages followed him while the third one returned to the feast on the beach.
It occurred to me that now was the right moment to save the victim. Taking two guns, I ran down the ladder out of my fortification. I ran to the river and as soon as I reached the two savages I knocked down the first. On seeing this, the second one prepared to shoot an arrow at me, so I had no choice but to shoot him.
The victim they were chasing stopped still when he heard the gunshot. I beckoned to him to come close, but he was shaking with fear. I smiled at him and kept making gestures to invite him nearer, so he approached. He would stop every few steps to kneel to thank me for saving his life. When he reached me he knelt down, kissed the ground and laid his head on it. Then he took my foot and put it on his head.
I lifted him, but there was another danger now. The savage I had hit was recovering. Seeing this, the one I had saved said a few words to me. I did not understand anything, but it was extremely pleasant to hear someone talk to me.
The man I had saved made a gesture to ask for my sword, and taking it, cut off the head of his pursuer. After that he took the head and the sword and laid them both in front of me.
Then he wanted to go to the savage I had shot. Apparently he had never seen a gun before and was astonished by my actions when I had saved him. He went to the body, turned him around and looked at the hole the bullet had left on the breast. He took the bow and arrows from the dead man and returned to me.
He signed to me that we should bury the bodies and I let him do it. He dug out two big holes in the sand and in 15 minutes the bodies were gone.
I took him to my cave. There I gave him bread and raisins and some water. He was so exhausted that as soon as he lay down he fell asleep.