Chapter 57
I told the captain my plan for taking over the ship. We decided to tie and leave the most dangerous prisoners bound in the cave where we had left several men some hours ago. We spent the night on the beach with the rest of the men.
In the morning the captain returned to those bound in the cave and explained the situation. If they returned to England, they would be punished for treason, but if they helped us take over the ship, we would reconsider what to do with them. They did not hesitate to offer their help in recovering the ship and promised to serve the captain unconditionally.
We could not trust them fully yet, so I ordered the captain to return to the cave and take five of them to be his assistants. The others would be kept hostages and would be punished if the assistants turn against the captain. This order convinced everyone that they had to behave as they had promised us to do.
Now we were twelve men and we had the bound hostages left in the cave. Friday and I remained on the island to look after the hostages, while the captain and his sailors set about repairing the two boats.