The strange and surprising adventures of Robinson Crusoe of York mariner

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The Strange and

Surprising Adventures of

Ko binson Crusoe

of York

~ Mariner

Daniel Defoe



Rewritten for Children

IETS IT eae 0)

BOSTON :
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY.



THE STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES

OF

ROBINSON CRKUSOB

ANY years ago, an English boy, named Robinson Crusoe,
M ran away tosea. It was very wrong for him to do so. His
home was a happy one. His father wished him to go to

school; his mother begged him to stay at home, like a good boy.

But the more he thought about it, the less inclined was he to
listen to his parents’ advice; the more determined was he to be a
sailor.

His father reasoned with him long and earnestly. He told the
boy how much better off he would be at home; how great were the
risks, and how many the dangers that were in the world; how fool-
ish it was for a boy who had a good and comfortable home to go
wandering about the world, and he even begged his son, with tears,
to stay at home to help his father and be a comfort to his mother,
rather than go roaming about, trying to seek a fortune that would
never come.

At first Robinson was affected by his father’s words, but, as I
have told you, he scon put it aside, and, being headstrong and de-



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

termined and full of the desire to go to sea, he resolved to run
away from home. :

A long talk which he had with his mother, did not change this
idea. For, when he told her how set upon going to sea he was,
and that if his father did not consent he would go anyhow, his
mother was very angry with him. She told him he ought to be
ashamed of himself to talk so, and if he did so foolish a thing as
run away, he would be sorry for it. And when she spoke to Robin-
son Crusoe’s father of how determined young Robinson was to go
away, he said, with a sigh: “That boy might be happy, if he would
stay at home; but if he goes abroad, he will be the most miserable
wretch that ever was born. I can give no consent to it.”

Robinson Crusoe thought this was all nonsense then, and was
sure he would have a fine time, if he could only get away to sea.
But the time came when he remembered his father’s words, and
was sorry enough he did not take his advice.

He staid at home for a year longer, not able to make up his
mind to really run away, and yet fretting and complaining because
he had to stay on shore, when he so wished to see the sights and
live the life that came to a man aboard ship.

So things went on until one day, when one of his boy friends
told him that he was going for a short sail on one of his father's
ships, and asked him to come along. Robinson Crusoe said nothing
to his father or his mother, but went on board the ship and sailed
away to London.

At first he was very sea-sick. This made him very unhappy,
for he felt that he was being punished for going away without tell-
ing his parents.

Then a great storm arose, and in the midst of it Robinson



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

made a vow that if he could only get on dry land once again, he
would go straight home to his father and mother, and do just as
they told him.

But when the storm passed over and the sun shone on the
water, and he was no longer sea-sick or frightened, all Robinson
Crusoe’s good resolutions were forgotten, and he thought no more
of going home. |

In a few days another storm arose, and ‘this was so fearful that



the ship was wrecked and the sailors had hard work getting ashore
in their row boat. Then the captain of the ship that had been
wrecked advised Robinson Crusoe to go home, and not try to be a
sailor. He told him it was a hard life, and would only bring him
trouble and hardship; he told him his father’s advice was best, and
if he did not follow it he would be sorry all his life.



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

Robinson Crusoe did not know just what to do. He did not
wish to go back home, and he did not know about going to sea.
So he decided nothing, but when he got to London he met the cap-
tain of a ship that was soon to sail to Africa. The captain askcd
Robinson to sail with him, and showed him how he could make
some money by the trip. So Robinson Crusoe gave up all idea of
going home, and sailed away to Guinea, in Africa, with his new
friend, the captain.

This was a very successful voyage, and the young sailor made
some money by it, but when he sailed away on another trip of the
same kind, a dreadful thing happened. His ship was set upon by
a Moorish pirate, and Robinson Crusoe, and all of his companions
who were not killed in the fight, were taken to a place called Sallee,
and sold as slaves to the Moors.

Then how he wished he had gone home to his father. But
now it was no use, and for more than two years Robinson was a
slave.

His master, however, saw that he was a smart and active
young fellow, so he did not treat him as badly as the other slaves.
He gave him more liberty, and one day he sent Robinson and a
little Moorish boy, named Xury, in a boat to catch some fish for the
table.

While they were out fishing, a thick fog came on, and they
drifted far away from the land. They were out all night and most
of the next day, and, as they had but little food with them, they had
a hard time. But at last, by the help of oars and sail, they got
back to the shore again.

When their master heard how they had lost their way, he said
that when he sent them fishing again, he would have them take a





















STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

larger boat and plenty to eat and drink, so that if they were far from
land, they would not be in so much danger. So he rigged up a
large boat for them, with two cabins, and when again he wished.
Robinson to go fishing, the young fellow thought this might be a
good chance to escape.

His master had furnished the boat well, intending to use it as
a pleasure boat for himself and his friends. There was plenty of
food on board, and Robinson managed to put in some other things
—wine and wax and rope, powder and shot, an axe, a spade, and
anything that he thought might come handy on a long voyage.
Then he, with Xury and another slave, sailed out to fish.

He would not fish long in one place, but would keep pulling
in the lines and trying in another spot. Jn this way he got quite a
ways from land, and then he said: “Let’s have a sail.”

So Xury and the other slave hoisted the sail and Robinson
took the rudder, and they sailed a mile or more from shore. Then
Robinson gave Xury the rudder, and, going to the other slave, sud-
denly seized him, and threw him overboard.

“You can swim,” he said, pointing a gun at him; “now swim
to the shore. If you come near the boat I will shoot you, for I
mean to be a free man from this hour.”

When Xury saw what Robinson had done, he begged Robin-
son not to throw him into the sea, and said that he would do just
what he told him. Robinson knew he could trust the boy, so he
kept Xury with him, and then they sailed away for a hundred and
fifty miles and more.

They had many adventures on the wild African coast. They
shot lions and tigers and other wild beasts, and saw many savages.
At last they were picked up by a Portuguese ship, bound for Brazil.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

There Robinson set Xury free. The captain of the Portuguese ship
gave Robinson Crusoe money for his boat and its cargo and the
skins of the wild animals he had shot. It was enough to start the
young sailor in business when he got to Brazil. So he became a



planter, and for four years he lived in Brazil, raising tobacco and
making much money.

But Robinson Crusoe was a restless young fellow. He did
not like to stay in one place, even when he was doing well asa



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

farmer, so when he heard of a chance to go on a trading trip to
Africa, he was much pleased with the idea, and at last agreed to go
as part owner in a ship sailing to Africa, to buy Negroes, and bring
them back to Brazil, where they could be sold as slaves. and much
money could be made.

That is a dreadful business, and no civilized nation permits
it to be carried on now; but when Robinson Crusoe lived, slave-
trading was considered a good money-making business, and, there-
fore, he sailed away on this new venture very hopefully and gladly.

But alas! Now came the greatest trouble of his life, for when
the ship was still sailing along the coast of South America, near the
mouth of the Orinocco River, a terrible storm arose that kept up for
twelve days, and blew the ship out of its course, so that the captain
did not know where he was.

Then, suddenly, the ship ran aground on a bank of sand. She
Struck so hard that the sailors could not get her off, and, as the
waves began to break over her, they all thought they would be
dashed to pieces if they staid on board. So they all got into the
only boat that was left, for the others had been smashed by the
waves, and tried to get ashore.

But the sea was so angry and the waves so high that, before
they could get to land, the boat’s side was smashed in, and the
men were all thrown into the water.

Robinson Crusoe was a good swimmer, but no one could swim
in that boiling sea. At last one great wave caught him; it buried
him thirty feet deep under the water, and then, with a mighty burst,
flung him ashore, almost dead.

He staggered to his feet, but before he could get out of the
way, another great wave came at him, and dragged him out to sea



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

again, where another wave, just as great, caught him, and threw
him back on the land. This time he clung to a piece of rock, and
the waves did not wash him off. As soon as he got his breath, he
waited for the first chance between the waves, and ran and waded
and swam ashore, where he climbed a cliff and lay down, battered
and bruised and half dead—but alive.

There was Robinson Crusoe, wrecked on a desert island,
the only one of the ship’s crew left alive—for all the rest were
drowned by the overturning of the boat, which threw them into the
sea. And this dreadful shipwreck took place just eight years after
Robinson Crusoe ran away from home.

At first he could only sit and thank God for saving his life.
Then he began to wonder what had become of his companions,
and, after that, as he looked far out to where the ship lay wrecked
on the sand, he wondered how he had ever been able to get to the
shore alive.

Then he began to look about him to see what sort of a place
he had been thrown upon, like a bird in a storm. He felt very
uncomfortable, for he was wet and cold; he had no dry clothes to
put on, no food to eat, and not a friend to help him.

He knew there must be wild beasts about, but he had no gun
to shoot them with or to frighten them away. All he had in his
pockets was a knife and a pipe and a little tobacco. He feared he
would starve to death, or be eaten by wild beasts. He did not —
know but it would have been better, after all, if he had been
drowned with the rest of his companions.

It was growing dark, and he had no place to sleep. He
thought the safest place would be in the branches of a tree, where
he could keep out of harm’s way, even if he could not sleep. So



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

he climbed up into a tree and made himself as comfortable as he
could in the branches and leaves.

the beasts of prey
come at him, and,
fast asleep, just
which he lay had
For, you see, he
When he woke
light. The sky
Wasencalin jauleltc
place in the tree,
left the bank of gle
was wrecked, and

point scarcely a mile away

He climbed down from
about until it was low tide.

could get quite near to the
a narrow stretch of water
land, so he threw off his
to her. And then he found
panions had only staid on
would all have been saved.
rope hanging over the ship’s
pulled himself on board, and
He saw that the
dition, and likely to stay as

vessel.

after he had hunted up some
hunger, he set about making

Then he cut a stick, to keep off





in case they should
pretty soon, he fell
as if the branch on
been a feather bed.
was all tired out.
up it was broad day
was clear, the sea
saw, too, from. his
that the ship had
sand on which it
had) vdnittede tor ja
from him.

the tree and waited
Then he found that he

ship. There was only
and the
clothes, and swam out
that if he and his com-
board of the ship, they
He found a piece of
side. With this he
begun to examine the

between it

ship was in good con-
she was for days. So,
food and satisfied his

a raft, on which to

carry ashore some of the things ne most needed. He made a



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

strong raft out of the spars and top-mast and planks that were on
the ship. Then he loaded this raft with bread and rice and cheese
and meat. He next lowered over a chest of carpenter's tools,and some
guns and pistols, powder and shot, oars and clothing, and, having
tied and lashed everything securely, he pushed away from the ship,
and, as the tide was now high, begun his risky voyage to the shore.

It was risky, for he did not know whether his raft would stand
the trip or not; but the sea was calm, the tide was running in, the
breeze was in his favor, and so it came about that he got his raft
ashore without accident.

After he had rested, he walked about to see what sort of a
place he was in. He found it was a large, hilly and wooded island,
uninhabited; but whether or not there were wild beasts upon it, he
could not tell, He saw many birds, and he shot at one. The
noise of his gun, which was, probably, the first one ever heard on
that island, roused great flocks of birds, who, with loud screams,
flew into the air from all parts of the woods.

Then he went back to his raft and landed his stores, and when
he piled them up, he left a little place in the center, behind the
boards and chests, and there he spent the night.

The next day he went back to the ship and brought off an-
other load. He had many things now that were very useful, if he
had to live on the island—tools and nails and knives and guns-and
powder, shot and lead, and rope and food. He also brought ashore
a dog and two cats, who kept him company.

For twelve days he worked, bringing all the things he could
from the ship. He brought to land all that one pair of hands could
lift, though if the sea had remained calm, he might have gradually
broken up the whole ship, and brought it ashore piece by piece.



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

But the last time that he swam to the wreck the wind blew so
hard that he made up his mind to go on board next time at low
tide. He found some tea andsome money. The tea he was glad
to find, but the gold coins made him laugh.

“O, drug,’ he said, “you are of no use to me. I do not care
to save you. Stay where you are, and when the ship goes down,
go you with it. You are of no value to anyone.”

Still, he thought it best not to throw anything away—not even
useless gold. So he wrapped it in a piece of sail cloth, and threw
it on the pile of other things he had collected. Then the wind
began to blow and he swam back to shore, intending to come again
at low tide. But the wind blew harder and harder, and, when
Robinson awoke the next morning and looked out to sea, the ship
had disappeared. It had blown away and gone to pieces.

Having now all that he could recover, Robinson Crusoe set
about building him a house. He looked about for a nice spot and
found, half way up the hill, a small flat place, a hundred feet long
and two hundred wide. It looked off to sea, and seemed pleasant
and safe, and there he decided to build his house.

He dug a trench, enclosing a space, perhaps, forty feet square,
backed by a great rock. All around this space he drove a double
row of stakes, about six feet high. He made this a tight and close
fence, and sharpened the tops of the stakes so that no one could
climb over or get through. Then he built a sort of house—half tent,
half hut—against the cliff, at the back of his enclosure, and hol-
lowed a little cave under the rock. He piled the dirt all about his
house into a kind of fort, and put all his things in the hut or the
cave, and then began his housekeeping.

The door of his house was on the top, and he had to climb up







STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

to it by a ladder, which he drew in after him, so that no one else
could come in by the same way. He had to go out but once a
day in search of food. The first time he went he saw some goats,
but they were so shy and swift-footed that he could not get near

them.



So he decided to hunt for them where they lived. He hid
among some rocks, where he could see the goats feeding in a valley
beneath him, and then he shot an old goat, who had a little kid
beside her. When the old goat fell, the kid staid by her till Robin-
son lifted its mother on his back. Then the little one ran by his



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

side, following its mother, and so Robinson took it to his house
to tame it.

He had brought pens and ink and paper from the ship, but for
fear something should happen to thesc, and in order to keep an
account of the days as they passed, he set up a post outside his
house, in the shape of a cross, and on this he carved these words:
“I came on these shores on the 30th day of September, in the year
1659.. And every day he cut a notch on the side of the post, so
that he could keep the run of the days and tell when Sunday came.

He was now fairly comfortable, but he was very lonely. He
was out of the course of ships, and he could not hope for rescue.
But he felt thankful that God had saved his life and he tried to
make the best of things.

After he had lived in this way for about ten months, he began
to try to improve things. He enlarged his cave under the rock,
and fitted it up with shelves, and there he stored away most of his
things.

He made a table and a chair, and, as he had to go to bed at
dark because he had no light, he made a lamp out of a dish filled
with goat's fat and bits of hemp from a bag. This bag had held
the hen’s food on board the ship, and, as he shook it out, before he
cut it up for wicks, some corn and other things fell to the ground.
Soon after, when it began to rain, these things took root in the
warm earth, and one day Robinson Crusoe was surprised to see
that the corn and rice and barley had sprouted, so that before he
knew it, he had a garden.

He was very lonely indeed, for it was dull to such a restless
young fellow to be cast on such a desolate spot, with no one to
love, no one to make him laugh, or even to make him cry; no one,



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

indeed, to make him think. It was dull to roam, day by day, from
the woods to the shore, and from the shore back to the woods
again, with nothing but his own thoughts for company, and no way
to get back to the homes of men.

But, as he kept thinking of his sad case, he found that there
was a bright side to it, as well as a dark one, so he tried to think
of that. :

Here he was, safe on land, while all the rest of his ship's crew
were lost, and he saw that God, who shapes the ways of men, had
led him by the hand and could save him, even now, or perhaps
send some one to be with him. It was true, he said, that he had
been cast on a rough and desolate part of the earth, but there had
come no wild beasts to kill or hurt him. God had sent the ship so
near to him that he had got from it all things to meet his wants for
days and years to come. So, he said, let life be what it may, there
is always something to thank God for. And that is the right way
to look at trouble and worry and loss.

So Robinson soon gave up his dull and bitter thoughts, and,
for a long time, did not even go up to the lookout he had fixed, to
look for a ship which might be sailing toward him on the sea.

But, even with these comforting thoughts, he still had many
things to trouble and terrify him. One day an earthquake shool
the island; then a terrible storm came up, and it rained so hard
that Robinson had to go into the cave to live; soon after, he had
an attack of chills and fever, and was very sick. He thought he
should die, he felt so badly; but he got well, and again he gave
thanks to God for his mercies. For, you see, no one likes to die, even
if he is all alone on a desert island.

After Robinson Crusoe had lived on the island a year, he went



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

off on an exploring expedition all over the island, to see just what
it was like. He found some parts of it very charming, and in one
place, he come upon a beautiful green valley, through which flowed
a stream of pure water, and everything about it so beautiful that he
thought he should like to live there. He did not like to go so far
from the sea, however, for then he might miss the ship, for which he

always kept a sharp lookout. But he went







often to the green valley, put up a tent, and
called it his summer residence.
At first he planted his corn too late, then
he planted it too early; but the third season
he was just right, and he had a fine
crop. It grew up thick and
rich, but the hares lay in it so
much that he had to plant a
hedge about his corn field to
keep them out, and he fastened
the dog beside it at night to
keep them off. He was also
troubled by the birds, who ate
the corn before it was ripe. But, at
_ last, after making a scythe out of one of
the swords he had found on the ship, he
harvested quite a large crop. Then he begun to see how little
people think of the cost at which a loaf of bread is made. He had
no plough to turn up the earth, and no garden spade to dig it with.
But he made one of wood, and he made a rake out of the bough
of a tree. When he had cut the corn, he had to thresh it, separate
the grain from the chaff, and store it away. He had no mill with



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

which to grind it, or sieves to clean it, or yeast to help him make
bread from it. Do you not see how hard it is to make bread when
you have nothing to make it with, but just the corn?

He really did, you sec, carn his bread by the sweat of his
brow. When the rain kept him in doors, he amused himself by
teaching a parrot he had tamed until it could talk; and yet, every-
thing was so speechless about him that sometimes the sound of his
own voice would make him start.

He felt the need of plates and cups and jars, so he worked
until he had made, out of clay, many rude plates and bowls and -
jars to hold things in.

He shot goats for food, and from their skins he made himself
clothes. He caught a parrot, as I have told you, and taught it to
talk, so that he might hear some other voice than his own. He
read his Bible diligently, and thought much about things, and be-
came a very religious man. He made friends of his animals. He
caught and tamed the wild goats until he had a flock of twelve.
When he sat at his table, eating his solitary meals or reading his
Bible, the dog and both the cats and Poll, the parrot, sat beside
him, to keep him company, and so he lived for several years.

When he went out for a walk or on a hunting expedition, he
was a very queer looking man. He wore a tall cap of goat's skin,
made with a long flap at the back, to keep the sun and rain from
his neck. His coat and trousers were also of goat’s skin. Some-
times he went barefoot and sometimes he wore skin shoes. Ina
belt at his waist he carried a saw and an axe. A powder bag hung
at his side, and his beard and hair, which he let grow long, hung
down about him. He carried a great umbrella, made of skin. The
dog and Poll, the parrot, went with him. And thus he took his

































































































































































STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

“lonely walks abroad. He wished very much for a boat to go
sailing in, but it was five years before he was able to build one that
he could use or dare to sail in. :

He tried first to make one from a tree trunk, which he picked
out as just the right size. But when he had scooped it out
it was so heavy that he could not get it down to the water. Then
he dug the ground flat and smooth all the way from the boat to the
sea, so that it might slide down; but this plan did not turn out
well, so he thought he might dig a trench and bring the sea up to
the boat. To do this, however, he would have to dig so deep that
it would take years for one man to dig such a trench, So, when it
was too late, he gave up the scheme upon which he had spent so
much cost of labor and time. -

“Well,” he said to himself, “there is no help for it. I must
give up my boat, and with it all hopes of escape from the island.
But I have this to think of, I am lord of the whole island; in fact,
a king. I have wood enough to build a fleet of ships; I have
grapes and corn to freight it with, even if I have no money, except
a few gold coins. But of what use are they? I would give them
all for a peck of peas and some ink. But what is the use of wish-
ing? It is better to think of what I have, than of what I have not.”

But he would not give up the idea of a boat, and, at last, he
did manage to build one. He made it much smaller than the one
he had first tried to build, and this boat he was able to get to the
water. He made a deck to keep off the waves, and he put ina
mast and fitted up a sail, a rest for his gun and a bin for his food.

When at last the boat was finished, Crusoe was very proud of
his work, and tried it up and down the creek on which he_haa
launched it. :



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Then, when he found he could manage it well, he started out
on a cruise around the island. He took with
him bread and cakes and a pot full of rice,





















some meat and extra covering to put on at
night. But his first voyage proved a danger-
ous one, for, when
he was sailing
along the eastern
side of his island,
about two miles
from the shore, he
run upon a sand-
bar, and came very
near being ship-
wrecked. Indeed,
he almost lost his
life on his trial
trip. He was very
thankful when he
reached dry land
again. He was
very careful not to
go far away from
the island
after that.
When he
had been liv-
ing this sol-
itary life on his island for nearly eleven years, he was walking one



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

day on a part of the beach to which he did not often go, when
suddenly he stopped still in wonder and amazement. And well he
might, for there on the sand before him, he saw the print of a man’s.
foot !

He stood stock still, not daring to move. He had always sup-
posed the island was uninhabited. He had never seen any signs _
of man’s presence there before, and now to come upon the print of
that naked foot in the sand, struck him with surprise and fear.

He looked cautiously about him, but saw no one. He walked
away, but again and again he went back to look at the print of that
human foot. Then a great fear seized him, and, turning, he ran to
his house as fast as his legs would carry him. He climbed over
his fence, for he had no gate in it, drew up his ladder, and hid in
his cave, and could not sleep all night, so great was his terror and
apprehension.

He kept to his house for three days, then his food ran low and
he ventured out. He went down to the beach and fitted his own
foot in the print, to see if it might not be his; but his foot was
much larger, so he knew that there must be men on the island.

He hurried back to his house and set to work to strengthen it,
and make it secure against attacks from savages. Then he hunted
up a safe and secret place in the heart of the island, and fitted upa
little spot to which he could fly for safety.

Gradually, he grew less terrified, and began to go about again,
when one day he came upon a place on the shore where he saw a
fire had been burning, and scattered about it were human bones.
Then he knew that cannibals came sometimes to his island to hold
their horrid feasts

He hurried up to the hill, which was his lookout, and from



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

there he saw four boats or canoes away out to sea. The cannibals
had been on his island and were now on their way home.

This made him timid again. He kept to his home for days,
and did not dare to drive a nail or chop a stick of wood or fire off
a gun. He did his cooking at night, when the smoke could not be
seen.

One day, when he was out hunting for wood, he found a cave.
But as he went in to explore it, he saw two eyes that shone like fire
and almost scared poor Robinsoa out of his wits. But when he
had lighted a torch and gone again into the cave, he saw that the
fiery eyes belonged to a poor old goat, who had crawled into the
cave to die.

The cave was large and deep, and the walls sparkled like
diamonds by his torch-light, and poor Robinson enjoyed them quite
as much as if they had been diamonds.

Things went on quietly with him for a year longer, and some-
times he felt so sick and lonely that he thought he would like to
crawl into the cave to die, just as the old goat did.

One night there came a great storm. As Crusoe sat in his
house, in the midst of the storm, he heard a gun fire off! He
supposed from this that a ship had been driven ashore. So he
made a bonfire on his hill, and after that he heard two more
guns fire.

In the morning he went to the southern side of his island, and
there he saw the wreck of a ship, cast on the rocks in the night.
But he saw no signs of life on her.

O, how he longed to save even one man of that ship's crew,
and bring him ashore for company. As soon as the tide served, he
got into his boat and sailed out to the wreck. What a scene was



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

there! The ship had struck on two rocks. The stern was torn by
the force of the waves, the masts were swept away, ropes and chains
were scattered all about the deck.

As he came toward the wreck, he heard a dog yelp and whine.



Then it jumped overboard and swam to him. Crusoe took the dog
into his boat and gave it bread and water. He was glad to have
another dog, for his had long been dead.

It was a Spanish ship, and there was much gold on board.
Crusoe found, also, the bodies of two of the crew, who had been



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

killed in the shipwreck. But he carried nothing off, except two
chests, in which were bags of gold and powder and shot

So he lived on, and when he had been more than twenty years
on the island, he saw, one day, from his lookout on the hill, six
boats drawn up on the shore.

He used his spyglass, and soon he saw at least thirty savages
on the beach on the eastern side of the island. They were dancing
about a fire, which they had lighted, and, in a little while, Crusoe
saw them drag a man out of the boat.

The poor fellow was tied hand and foot. But as soon as his
captors had cut him loose, the fellow darted off and ran in a bee
line toward Robinson Crusoe’s house.

Robinson, at first, was greatly frightened, for he thought the
savages would surely discover his house and murder him.

They raced after the fugitive to catch him, but he ran like a
deer, and Robinson Crusoe made up his mind to save the runaway’s
life.

He sprang down the hill with two guns, took a short cut
towards the men, and then they saw him.

He motioned to the runaway to come to him. Then he
headed off the two who were giving chase, knocked one of them
down, and before the other could send an arrow at him, Crusoe
leveled his gun and shot the fellow dead.

At the noise of the gun the man who was running away sud-
denly stood still and looked at the smoke, as if he were in a trance.
He did not know what to make of it. But Crusoe shouted to him
that he was a friend, and beckoned to him with such friendly signs
that the fugitive at last came slowly up to him. And when he
reached the spot, he threw himself on the ground at Robinson’s



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

feet, took hold of Crusoe’s foot, and put it on his head, by which he
meant that he was the grateful and obedient slave of the man who
had saved him.

At once Robinson told the man to get up, and made signs for
him to go and look at the fellow who had first been knocked over
and see if he were alive. The runaway understood the signs, and
going over to the wounded man, looked at Crusoe and said some-
thing. Crusoe, of course, did not understand what the man said,
but the sound of a man’s voice, the first he had heard in over
twenty years, gave him as great a shock of joy as the print of the
naked foot in the sand, years before, had given him a shock of fear.

When he saw that the enemy was yet alive, Robinson handed
his sword to the fugitive, who ran at once, and, with a clever blow,
struck off his enemy’s head. Then he brought back the sword, and,
with a smile, laid it down at the feet of his master, for so he
recognized Robinson Crusoe to be.

But he was greatly puzzled to know how Crusoe had killed his
other pursuer. And when he found on the man’s body only the
small round bullet hole, he was more. puzzled than ever, and
believed Robinson Crusoe to be a magician. |

Then Robinson took the man he had rescued up to his house;
but as ne did not dare, at first, to have him come inside, he made
up a bed for him outside the fence and gave him food to eat. But,
gradually, he found that the man was affectionate, honest, and
grateful; that he would do him no harm, but, rather, be of much
help and service. So, at last, he brought the new-comer into his
own house, made him one of the family, made some clothes for
him, and because it was on that day of the week that this comrade
had come to him, he named the man Friday.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Friday was a handsome, brown-skinned, strong ana straight
young fellow, about twenty-six years old. He had thick black hair,
a pleasant face, bright black eyes, a good mouth and fine teeth.
Robinson Crusoe soon grew very fond of him, as indeed he might,
for just think how long he had lived all alone upon that island.
He taught Friday to speak English, to dress like white men, to hate



cannibalism —that is, eating human flesh—to be loving and help-
ful, and to be at once his faithful servant and good companion in
their island home.



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

This, of course, took much time and patience, but a man who
has lived all alone, for more than twenty years, upon an unin-
habited island, learns to be patient, and Robinson Crusoe enjoyed
teaching all these things to his man Friday.

It was some time before Friday could understand about a gun
and powder and shot. When Crusoe first shot a goat, so that
Friday could see how it was killed, Friday was greatly surprised.
He heard the noise, and remembering how the gun had killed the
man who was his enemy, he thought it must now have killed him.
He shook from head to foot, tore off his coat, and felt of himself to
see if he could find a bullet hole, then he dropped to his knees,
and, clasping Crusoe’s legs, begged him to spare his life. _

Then Crusoe showed him the dead goat, and, after that, show-
ing Friday a bird high up in a tree, he took aim and brought down
the bird. This surprised Friday all the more. He thought the
gun must be something marvelous, that could kill man, beast and
bird, by just being pointed at them. For days he would not touch
the gun, but he would stand before it and talk to it as if it were
alive, and, finally, Robinson discovered that Friday was begging
the good gun not to kill him, as it had killed the goat and the bird.

Robinson Crusoe had hard work, also, to teach Friday to wear
clothes, as they pinched and scraped and fretted him; to make him .
learn to like cooked food, and, particularly, the salt that seasoned
it, and which Friday thought was poison; to grind up corn to make
into bread, and, especially, to understand and believe all about God
and heaven, and the good things taught in the Bible.

But Robinson was patient, and Friday was eager to learn, and
at last Crusoe made a bright, intelligent, good and noble man of
the poor savage, a faithful servant and a loving comrade.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Once Crusoe told Friday the story of his life and adventures,
and how long he had been away from his English home. Not
long after, as they stood on the hilltop, one very clear day, Friday
began to dance and shout, and, pointing to a misty headland far
across the water, he told Robinson Crusoe that he could see his
home.

When Crusoe found that Friday was dancing for joy, because
he saw his home in the distance, and wished to go back, he grew
suspicious and jealous, for he feared the good fellow did not love
him so well as he did his savage people across the water, and that,
if he could get back there, he would bring his countrymen back to
the island and kill and eat Crusoe, as they did their other prisoners.

He soon found out how wrong he was, however, for on ques-
tioning Friday, he learned that the poor brown man, though he
loved his native land dearly, only wished to go back there with
Robinson Crusoe in order that his people might learn the white
men’s ways and the white men’s religion, and become better, and
leave off eating human flesh, and give up all their horrid practices.
And when Crusoe told Friday that he would give him a boat, so
that he could sail away to his home, but that he could not go with
him, poor Friday fetched a hatchet, and handing it to Robinson
Crusoe, said to him, “You take, kill Friday; no send him away.”
Then, when Crusoe found how much the good Friday loved him,
he was no more afraid of him, but saw that he only wished to do
good to the land where he had been born, and which he loved as
dearly as any Englishman loved England. For, you see, love of
country belongs to all men everywhere, savage or civilized, English-
men, African or American.

Robinson Crusoe thought that it would be a good plan to



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

make a boat, and, perhaps, sometime, sail away in it to Friday's
people; for, by that means, he might some day find a ship that
could take him home again to England.

So, they went to work to make a boat that would take them



both. The first thing to do was to look out for some large trees
that grew near the shore, so that they could launch the boat when it
was made.

Friday wished to burn out the log to make it the right shape,







ROBINSON CRUSOE.

but Robinson showed him how to hew and cut it out. They
worked away at it for two months, and at last the boat was finished.
It was a good strong boat, but it took both of them a long time to’
get it down to the water. Robinson gave Friday charge of the
boat, and Friday soon learned to row it
nicely.

But it was some time before he
understood about the sail and how to
manage it. But at last it was all com-
plete.

They made a mast out of a cedar
tree, and Robinson stitched together old
pieces of cloth enough to make a three-
cornered sail, and by the end of two
months they had completed a large sail-
boat, large enough to carry twenty
men, complete with masts and _ sails
and rigging, and you may be sure
they felt very proud of their job. Then
they built a dock and a basin to float
the boat in, and began to put stores
into the boat for a voyage.

But, one day, Friday came running
back from the shore with the news that
three great canoes and many men were



coming with prisoners to have just
such a feast as that from which Crusoe had saved Friday. Friday
was greatly frightened at first, for he thought they would also
find him and his master and kill them; but Robinson told





STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

him not to be afraid, but just to do as he told him, and asked him
if he would stand by him, and the good Friday answered, “Me die
when you bid me, master.”

So Robinson took two guns and a sword, and armed Friday
with two guns and an axe, and they went to the hill-top to spy out
the new comers.

Iie saw that the men had landed with their prisoners. He at
once determined to go down and kill them all; for he hated these
cannibals, and was determined to kill them. But as he and Friday
stole down upon them by a roundabout way, Robinson thought to
himself, ““Why should I kill these men? They know no better.
When God commanded, ‘Thou shalt not kill,” He meant it not only
for white men, but for all the world.”

So when he came near to the savages, he bade Friday go and
see what they were doing. Soon Friday came back and said that
the savages had killed one of their prisoners, and that, of the other
two, one was a white man.

This made Crusoe determine to rescue the two prisoners, and
he rushed at the savages and fired off his gun, which scared them

so that they turned and fled to their canoes. Then Robinson
Crusoe went down and cut the white man free. He was a

Spaniard. Crusoe gave him a sword and pistol, and together they
attacked the savages, while Friday did the same, and killed or
drove off all the savages, who paddled away as fast as they could,
leaving one canoe on the shore.

Then Friday and Crusoe ran to this canoe to jump aboard
and pursue the flying savages. But as they did so, they found
another captive lying there, bound hand and foot. He was a
savage, but they pulled him out of the canoe and cut his bonds.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Suddenly Friday looked at the man; then he spoke to him; then
he looked at him again, began to hug and kiss the poor old man,
and dance round him with joy; then he would weep and ring his
hands and beat his own head and face, and then laugh again and
sing and leap.

For a long time he would not speak to Robinson, or tell him
what all these actions meant. But, at last, when Robinson began



to think he had gone crazy, Friday told Robinson that the old man
thus saved from the cannibals was his father.

It would be hard to tell all the funny things Friday did to
show his joy. He went in and out of the boat a dozen times, and
sat down by ‘1is father’s side, and held the old man’s head close to
his breast to warm it, and rubbed his hands and: feet, which were
cold and stiff from the bonds.



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

You may be sure Robinson Crusoe was as delighted as Friday

was. He told Friday to give his father something to eat and
drink. But Friday said, ‘None here; bad dog Friday eat all up

hisself!’’ Then he dashed off to the house, and soon came back
with a jug and bread and cake, with which they fed the cold and
hungry men whom they had saved from death.

They forgot all about the flying savages, whom they intended
to pursue, but gave all their attention to the men they had set free,
and after they had refreshed and strengthened them, they carried
the two men, who were still weak from their captivity and their
bonds, up to the house on the hill. And now Crusoe had plenty
of company, for there were four men on his island. He felt quite
like a king at the head of a kingdom.

But when he heard that there were other white men on one of
the distant islands, Crusoe thought it well to carry out the plan
which he had in mind when he and Friday built their boat.

So, through the months that followed, Crusoe, with the help of
his companions, raised much barley and rice,and dried many grapes
into raisins, and built a new boat out of planks cut from trees, and
worked so diligently that at last he had built, and stocked with
victuals, quite a seaworthy boat. He determined, however, not to
vo himself, but to keep Friday with him on the island and send
the Spaniard and Friday’s father across to the land where it was
said the white men were, and bring them back to Crusoe’s island,
where they could all finish the big boat, and, finally, sail away to
civilized lands and freedom.

At last, the two men sailed away, and Robinson Crusoe
waited patiently for their return, which he thought would be in a
week or so.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

He had grown to love his fine island, although he was anxious
to leave it.

For no man likes to have to stay in one place, and the thoucht
of at last being able to go back to his own country filled Robin-
son Crusoe with desire.

He had worked hard during all his years of solitude, and
through the years that Friday had been with him, to make a com-
fortable home for himself.

His house on the hill was well defended by the fort he had built,
and was screened from sight by the trees he had planted, and which
had now grown up into quite a grove.

He had a large flock of tame goats, which gave him milk to
drink and meat to eat, while from his garden he obtained grain for
bread, and rice for food, and other things to eat and enjoy.

But still, as I have told you, though he grew comfortably well
off and wanting nothing in the way of food and comfort, he wished
to see his home land again before he died, for he was more than fifty
years old.

All men feel that way, and even though you boys may think it
would be a fine thing to live on a desert island and have a man
Friday as servant and companion, and have pet parrots and pet
goats, and dress in skins, and do just as you pleased, you would
soon find that you would gladly give up all these things if you
could only ect back to your home once more.

Well, when the boat and the two men had been away about
eight days and Crusoe thought it about time for them to be coming
back, Friday came running into the house early one morning and
cried, “Master, Master, they are come! they are come!”

Crusoe hurried on his clothes and rushed out of doors to



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

welcome his friends. Sure enough, he saw a sail boat coming

toward the beach; but it dia not took like their home-made boat.
So, getting his spy-glass, he went to the look-out on the hill

and saw that it was an English long-boat, while outside lay a large



‘English ship, atanchor. He felt very joyful; for here was the chance

to get home at last. And yet he could not see what an English
_ ship would be doing in that out-of-the way spot. So, instead of rush-
ing down to welcome the people, he staid where he was and watched.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Pretty soon the boat grounded, and then Crusoe saw that there
were twelve men in the boat, and that three of them were in chains.

Friday saw this, too, and when the men got out of the boat
and set their captives ashore, Friday told Robinson that now they
would see the Englishman kill and eat their captives, just as the
savages did.

For, though Crusoe had told him that white men never did
this, Friday could not believe otherwise when he saw these prisoners
bound ard treated just as he had been.

But Crusoe saw that there had been a mutiny or some such
terrible crime on the ship, and that these prisoners were to be kil'ed
there or left to starve.

So, when all was quiet and the men in the boat had gone to
look about the island, leaving the prisoners bound beneath a tree,
Crusoe armed himself and Friday with guns and pistols and
cautiously approached the prisoners.

“Who are you, sirs?” he said to the men. They looked at him
in wonder and surprise, as well they might, seeing a white man
dressed so oddly in what they supposed was a desolate place.

But Crusoe said, “Don't be afraid. J am a friend, sent to help
you.”

“You must be from the sky, then,” said one of the men, still
uncertain what to think.

“All help is from above, sir,” Crusoe answered. ‘How can
I help you? What is the trouble?”

Then the man who had spoken told Crusoe that he was the
captain of the English ship, and that one of the other men was his
first mate, and the other a passenger.

He said that his sailors had mutinied, and had set these three



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

ashore, and that they meant to leave them there to die by starva-
tion, as some of the sailors would not agree to have them killed.

Then Crusoe learned that the sailors who had brought them
ashore were somewhere in the woods, waiting for the tide to come
in so that they could go back to the ship, after leaving the captain
and his friends behind.

He determined to rescue these poor prisoners. But first he
made the captain promise that he and his friends must obey him in all
things, and if he was successful and recovered the ship, that the
captain would take himself and Friday to England.

The captain readily promised this, and said, “If you save my
life, you shall do as you like with me and my ship, and take her
where you please.”

So Crusoe unbound the three unfortunates, and sent Friday
to the long-boat, and bade him take from it the oars and the sail
and the guns.

When it was time for the men to go back to their ship, they
came to the shore, and when they found their boat stripped and
their prisoners gone, they were greatly surprised and very angry,
for they could not get back to the ship and did not know who had
found their boat.

Then Crusoe and his men crept down to the shore and fell
upon the men in the dark, for it was night by this time. Some
they killed and some they captured. But soon another boat from
the ship, bringing in it the armed men, came to the shore, searching
for their comrades.

But by this time Crusoe had hauled the long-boat on shore,
smashed a hole in it, so that it could not be used at once, and, with
the captain and his two comrades, with Friday and the four prison-



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

ers, he had gone up to his house, where he told the captain his
surprising story, and showed him his fortified house and all the
arrangements he. had made for comfort and safety.

The English captain was astonished and delighted at all he
saw, and was all the more ready to put his affairs and the recapture
of his ship into Crusoe’s
care. So Robinson set
about the work. He
planned just what to
do, and carried it all out
with so much skill and
vigor, that when the






second boat-load of
men landed on the island
he soon surprised and cap-
tured them, being assisted in
this by three of the prisoners
he had taken, who proved to be
honest fellows, but led away by
fear of the chief conspirator among
the sailors, a desperate fellow named
Will Atkins. In this second endeavor
three of the new comers were killed in the
fight that followed. But when the others
saw that their captain had been released and that the island was not
uninhabited, as they tkought, they surrendered and were put into
the prison that Crusoe made of his cave in the rock.
Then Crusoe and his companions repaired the damaged boat,
and, having found among the prisoners five honest men who were



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

Wing to serve the captain if he would only forgive them and not
have them punished for mutiny, Crusoe and Friday remained on
shore, in charge of the house and the unforgiven prisoners, and
sent the captain with the two boats and the men whom he could
trust to recapture the ship.

This he did very bravely and skilfully, and, having killed the man
who had been made captain by the mutineers, he soon returned with
the rest of the crew prisoners, and, bringing the ship into the harbor,
_ anchored only a mile from the shore.

He brought many delicacies and desirable things from the
ship—flour and sugar, and beef and tobacco, and things that Rob-
inson had not seen nor tasted, but had longed for so many years.
Among other things he brought some fine clothes, so that Crusoe
was soon dressed like an Englishman again, and no longer in goat’s
skins. He was delighted to have these clothes, though he found
himself at first as uncomfortable and awkward in them as Friday
had been in the clothes he first made for him.

Then the captain said to Crusoe, ‘‘ My dear friend and deliverer,
there is your ship; for so she is, and so are we and all that belongs
tomer

So Robinson Crusoe found at last that he could leave his
island home forever. He could scarcely believe his good fortune,
the whole thing seemed so wonderful. But he thanked God for his
deliverance, and set about his departure speedily. He selected
four of the most trustworthy men among the prisoners to go on
the ship and help sail her to England.

To the other men he gave the choice of living on the island or
being carried prisoners to England, to be tried for mutiny.

As these bad sailors knew that if they were taken home to be







STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

tried they would be hanged as pirates, they consented to accept the
“governors ’’ mercy—for they all called Robinson Crusoe the gov-
ernor of the island.

So Crusoe told them the story of his life there, showed them
the house and all its defenses and surroundings; his flock of goats,
his garden and his “country seat.”

He told them how he made his bread and raised his crops,
and turned his grapes into raisins.

He showed them how they could all be comfortable and happy
if they would only behave themselves and not get to quarreling
among themselves.

He told them, also, of the Spaniard and Friday’s father, who
would soon come to the island with the white men they had gone
to rescue.

Then, when he had arranged everything, he took from the
island only his goat-skin cap, the great umbrella, and one of his
parrots, as relics of the island, not forgetting the gold he had saved
from the ship in which he had been wrecked, and the money he had
taken from the other ship, which, you must remember, had also
been wrecked on his island.

Then he and Friday and the English captain and his two
comrades and the sailors whom they had pardoned put off to the
Ship.

But, early next morning, two of the men who had been left on
the island came swimming to the ship and begged to be taken
aboard.

They had rather, they said, be taken aboard and hanged than
be left to live on that lonely island.

So, by Crusoe’s advice, the men were taken aboard, and, after



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

they had been soundly whipped, they were pardoned and added to
the crew.

At noon that day the ship’s anchor was lifted, the sails were
set, and the homeward bound voyage was begun.

It was on the nineteenth of December, in the year 1686, that
Robinson Crusoe said good-
bye to the island in which he












had lived in solitude for
twenty-eight years, two
months and nineteen days.
After a long voyage, he
arrived at last in Eng-
land, and, with his faith-

ful Friday still accom-
panying him, he went

J to his old home, from

which he had run away to

sea thirty-five years before.

His father and mother had

long been dead, and he who

had long before been given up

as lost was a stranger to his former

triends and family. The owners of the ship that he had rescued

made hima handsome payment in money. He found that an honest

man had taken care of his land in Brazil, and when Crusoe had sold
this he was worth quite a little money.

Soon after, he married a worthy woman, and, with Friday still



STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

as his trusty servant, he settled down in England, as he thought,
for the rest of his life. After eight quiet years, however, his wife died,
and Robinson, though now sixty years old, felt the old desire for
roving come back, and he determined to go back and visit the island
upon which he had lived alone so many years.



50, to sea went Crusoe and Friday, bound for a voyage to the
island. And when they arrived there, the first man to greet them
was the Spaniard whom Crusoe had rescued and who was now with
the men he had brought there, living with some of the Englishmen
whom Crusoe had left behind.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

There was a long story to tell of their life and adventures
during the years that Crusoe had been away.

Friday, too, found his father there again and was greatly
delighted. - | 5

There had been troubles and quarrels, and even fighting,
among the men on the island, and it was not yet peaceful there,
but Crusoe made them friends again, and told them he was going
to send more people to the island and make it a prosperous colony.



Then he made a great feast in celebration of his return, and,

after a long visit, he sailed away again.

They wished him to leave Friday on the island, but Crusoe
could not bear to part with his faithful follower, and Friday would
not consent to leave him.

So they started on their homeward voyage; but, one day, they
were set upon by a great fleet of canoes and a thousand savages,
and, in the fight that followed, poor Friday was shot through by
three arrows and killed.



ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Then how sad and sorry Robinson Crusoe was! He mourned
deeply and sincerely for the loss of his faithful follower and friend,
and, after they had fought and driven away the savages and were
sailing peacefully again, poor Friday was buried in the ocean.

Robinson Crusoe continued his voyages for some time longer,
and after traveling in strange lands and queer places he again
returned to England. Here, after a second absence of ten years, he
settled down to spend his old age in plenty and comfort and peace.

He thought, many and many times, of the strange and sur-
prising adventures that had filled his long life; but, more than any
others, he thought of the twenty-seven years that he had spent on
that lonely and far-off island, and, more, even than of this, he loved
to remember the faithful and devoted friend of his captivity and
release —his loved and sincerely-mourned man Priday.

THE END,



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The Strange and

Surprising Adventures of

Ko binson Crusoe

of York

~ Mariner

Daniel Defoe



Rewritten for Children

IETS IT eae 0)

BOSTON :
LOTHROP PUBLISHING COMPANY.
THE STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES

OF

ROBINSON CRKUSOB

ANY years ago, an English boy, named Robinson Crusoe,
M ran away tosea. It was very wrong for him to do so. His
home was a happy one. His father wished him to go to

school; his mother begged him to stay at home, like a good boy.

But the more he thought about it, the less inclined was he to
listen to his parents’ advice; the more determined was he to be a
sailor.

His father reasoned with him long and earnestly. He told the
boy how much better off he would be at home; how great were the
risks, and how many the dangers that were in the world; how fool-
ish it was for a boy who had a good and comfortable home to go
wandering about the world, and he even begged his son, with tears,
to stay at home to help his father and be a comfort to his mother,
rather than go roaming about, trying to seek a fortune that would
never come.

At first Robinson was affected by his father’s words, but, as I
have told you, he scon put it aside, and, being headstrong and de-
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

termined and full of the desire to go to sea, he resolved to run
away from home. :

A long talk which he had with his mother, did not change this
idea. For, when he told her how set upon going to sea he was,
and that if his father did not consent he would go anyhow, his
mother was very angry with him. She told him he ought to be
ashamed of himself to talk so, and if he did so foolish a thing as
run away, he would be sorry for it. And when she spoke to Robin-
son Crusoe’s father of how determined young Robinson was to go
away, he said, with a sigh: “That boy might be happy, if he would
stay at home; but if he goes abroad, he will be the most miserable
wretch that ever was born. I can give no consent to it.”

Robinson Crusoe thought this was all nonsense then, and was
sure he would have a fine time, if he could only get away to sea.
But the time came when he remembered his father’s words, and
was sorry enough he did not take his advice.

He staid at home for a year longer, not able to make up his
mind to really run away, and yet fretting and complaining because
he had to stay on shore, when he so wished to see the sights and
live the life that came to a man aboard ship.

So things went on until one day, when one of his boy friends
told him that he was going for a short sail on one of his father's
ships, and asked him to come along. Robinson Crusoe said nothing
to his father or his mother, but went on board the ship and sailed
away to London.

At first he was very sea-sick. This made him very unhappy,
for he felt that he was being punished for going away without tell-
ing his parents.

Then a great storm arose, and in the midst of it Robinson
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

made a vow that if he could only get on dry land once again, he
would go straight home to his father and mother, and do just as
they told him.

But when the storm passed over and the sun shone on the
water, and he was no longer sea-sick or frightened, all Robinson
Crusoe’s good resolutions were forgotten, and he thought no more
of going home. |

In a few days another storm arose, and ‘this was so fearful that



the ship was wrecked and the sailors had hard work getting ashore
in their row boat. Then the captain of the ship that had been
wrecked advised Robinson Crusoe to go home, and not try to be a
sailor. He told him it was a hard life, and would only bring him
trouble and hardship; he told him his father’s advice was best, and
if he did not follow it he would be sorry all his life.
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

Robinson Crusoe did not know just what to do. He did not
wish to go back home, and he did not know about going to sea.
So he decided nothing, but when he got to London he met the cap-
tain of a ship that was soon to sail to Africa. The captain askcd
Robinson to sail with him, and showed him how he could make
some money by the trip. So Robinson Crusoe gave up all idea of
going home, and sailed away to Guinea, in Africa, with his new
friend, the captain.

This was a very successful voyage, and the young sailor made
some money by it, but when he sailed away on another trip of the
same kind, a dreadful thing happened. His ship was set upon by
a Moorish pirate, and Robinson Crusoe, and all of his companions
who were not killed in the fight, were taken to a place called Sallee,
and sold as slaves to the Moors.

Then how he wished he had gone home to his father. But
now it was no use, and for more than two years Robinson was a
slave.

His master, however, saw that he was a smart and active
young fellow, so he did not treat him as badly as the other slaves.
He gave him more liberty, and one day he sent Robinson and a
little Moorish boy, named Xury, in a boat to catch some fish for the
table.

While they were out fishing, a thick fog came on, and they
drifted far away from the land. They were out all night and most
of the next day, and, as they had but little food with them, they had
a hard time. But at last, by the help of oars and sail, they got
back to the shore again.

When their master heard how they had lost their way, he said
that when he sent them fishing again, he would have them take a















STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

larger boat and plenty to eat and drink, so that if they were far from
land, they would not be in so much danger. So he rigged up a
large boat for them, with two cabins, and when again he wished.
Robinson to go fishing, the young fellow thought this might be a
good chance to escape.

His master had furnished the boat well, intending to use it as
a pleasure boat for himself and his friends. There was plenty of
food on board, and Robinson managed to put in some other things
—wine and wax and rope, powder and shot, an axe, a spade, and
anything that he thought might come handy on a long voyage.
Then he, with Xury and another slave, sailed out to fish.

He would not fish long in one place, but would keep pulling
in the lines and trying in another spot. Jn this way he got quite a
ways from land, and then he said: “Let’s have a sail.”

So Xury and the other slave hoisted the sail and Robinson
took the rudder, and they sailed a mile or more from shore. Then
Robinson gave Xury the rudder, and, going to the other slave, sud-
denly seized him, and threw him overboard.

“You can swim,” he said, pointing a gun at him; “now swim
to the shore. If you come near the boat I will shoot you, for I
mean to be a free man from this hour.”

When Xury saw what Robinson had done, he begged Robin-
son not to throw him into the sea, and said that he would do just
what he told him. Robinson knew he could trust the boy, so he
kept Xury with him, and then they sailed away for a hundred and
fifty miles and more.

They had many adventures on the wild African coast. They
shot lions and tigers and other wild beasts, and saw many savages.
At last they were picked up by a Portuguese ship, bound for Brazil.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

There Robinson set Xury free. The captain of the Portuguese ship
gave Robinson Crusoe money for his boat and its cargo and the
skins of the wild animals he had shot. It was enough to start the
young sailor in business when he got to Brazil. So he became a



planter, and for four years he lived in Brazil, raising tobacco and
making much money.

But Robinson Crusoe was a restless young fellow. He did
not like to stay in one place, even when he was doing well asa
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

farmer, so when he heard of a chance to go on a trading trip to
Africa, he was much pleased with the idea, and at last agreed to go
as part owner in a ship sailing to Africa, to buy Negroes, and bring
them back to Brazil, where they could be sold as slaves. and much
money could be made.

That is a dreadful business, and no civilized nation permits
it to be carried on now; but when Robinson Crusoe lived, slave-
trading was considered a good money-making business, and, there-
fore, he sailed away on this new venture very hopefully and gladly.

But alas! Now came the greatest trouble of his life, for when
the ship was still sailing along the coast of South America, near the
mouth of the Orinocco River, a terrible storm arose that kept up for
twelve days, and blew the ship out of its course, so that the captain
did not know where he was.

Then, suddenly, the ship ran aground on a bank of sand. She
Struck so hard that the sailors could not get her off, and, as the
waves began to break over her, they all thought they would be
dashed to pieces if they staid on board. So they all got into the
only boat that was left, for the others had been smashed by the
waves, and tried to get ashore.

But the sea was so angry and the waves so high that, before
they could get to land, the boat’s side was smashed in, and the
men were all thrown into the water.

Robinson Crusoe was a good swimmer, but no one could swim
in that boiling sea. At last one great wave caught him; it buried
him thirty feet deep under the water, and then, with a mighty burst,
flung him ashore, almost dead.

He staggered to his feet, but before he could get out of the
way, another great wave came at him, and dragged him out to sea
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

again, where another wave, just as great, caught him, and threw
him back on the land. This time he clung to a piece of rock, and
the waves did not wash him off. As soon as he got his breath, he
waited for the first chance between the waves, and ran and waded
and swam ashore, where he climbed a cliff and lay down, battered
and bruised and half dead—but alive.

There was Robinson Crusoe, wrecked on a desert island,
the only one of the ship’s crew left alive—for all the rest were
drowned by the overturning of the boat, which threw them into the
sea. And this dreadful shipwreck took place just eight years after
Robinson Crusoe ran away from home.

At first he could only sit and thank God for saving his life.
Then he began to wonder what had become of his companions,
and, after that, as he looked far out to where the ship lay wrecked
on the sand, he wondered how he had ever been able to get to the
shore alive.

Then he began to look about him to see what sort of a place
he had been thrown upon, like a bird in a storm. He felt very
uncomfortable, for he was wet and cold; he had no dry clothes to
put on, no food to eat, and not a friend to help him.

He knew there must be wild beasts about, but he had no gun
to shoot them with or to frighten them away. All he had in his
pockets was a knife and a pipe and a little tobacco. He feared he
would starve to death, or be eaten by wild beasts. He did not —
know but it would have been better, after all, if he had been
drowned with the rest of his companions.

It was growing dark, and he had no place to sleep. He
thought the safest place would be in the branches of a tree, where
he could keep out of harm’s way, even if he could not sleep. So
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

he climbed up into a tree and made himself as comfortable as he
could in the branches and leaves.

the beasts of prey
come at him, and,
fast asleep, just
which he lay had
For, you see, he
When he woke
light. The sky
Wasencalin jauleltc
place in the tree,
left the bank of gle
was wrecked, and

point scarcely a mile away

He climbed down from
about until it was low tide.

could get quite near to the
a narrow stretch of water
land, so he threw off his
to her. And then he found
panions had only staid on
would all have been saved.
rope hanging over the ship’s
pulled himself on board, and
He saw that the
dition, and likely to stay as

vessel.

after he had hunted up some
hunger, he set about making

Then he cut a stick, to keep off





in case they should
pretty soon, he fell
as if the branch on
been a feather bed.
was all tired out.
up it was broad day
was clear, the sea
saw, too, from. his
that the ship had
sand on which it
had) vdnittede tor ja
from him.

the tree and waited
Then he found that he

ship. There was only
and the
clothes, and swam out
that if he and his com-
board of the ship, they
He found a piece of
side. With this he
begun to examine the

between it

ship was in good con-
she was for days. So,
food and satisfied his

a raft, on which to

carry ashore some of the things ne most needed. He made a
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

strong raft out of the spars and top-mast and planks that were on
the ship. Then he loaded this raft with bread and rice and cheese
and meat. He next lowered over a chest of carpenter's tools,and some
guns and pistols, powder and shot, oars and clothing, and, having
tied and lashed everything securely, he pushed away from the ship,
and, as the tide was now high, begun his risky voyage to the shore.

It was risky, for he did not know whether his raft would stand
the trip or not; but the sea was calm, the tide was running in, the
breeze was in his favor, and so it came about that he got his raft
ashore without accident.

After he had rested, he walked about to see what sort of a
place he was in. He found it was a large, hilly and wooded island,
uninhabited; but whether or not there were wild beasts upon it, he
could not tell, He saw many birds, and he shot at one. The
noise of his gun, which was, probably, the first one ever heard on
that island, roused great flocks of birds, who, with loud screams,
flew into the air from all parts of the woods.

Then he went back to his raft and landed his stores, and when
he piled them up, he left a little place in the center, behind the
boards and chests, and there he spent the night.

The next day he went back to the ship and brought off an-
other load. He had many things now that were very useful, if he
had to live on the island—tools and nails and knives and guns-and
powder, shot and lead, and rope and food. He also brought ashore
a dog and two cats, who kept him company.

For twelve days he worked, bringing all the things he could
from the ship. He brought to land all that one pair of hands could
lift, though if the sea had remained calm, he might have gradually
broken up the whole ship, and brought it ashore piece by piece.
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

But the last time that he swam to the wreck the wind blew so
hard that he made up his mind to go on board next time at low
tide. He found some tea andsome money. The tea he was glad
to find, but the gold coins made him laugh.

“O, drug,’ he said, “you are of no use to me. I do not care
to save you. Stay where you are, and when the ship goes down,
go you with it. You are of no value to anyone.”

Still, he thought it best not to throw anything away—not even
useless gold. So he wrapped it in a piece of sail cloth, and threw
it on the pile of other things he had collected. Then the wind
began to blow and he swam back to shore, intending to come again
at low tide. But the wind blew harder and harder, and, when
Robinson awoke the next morning and looked out to sea, the ship
had disappeared. It had blown away and gone to pieces.

Having now all that he could recover, Robinson Crusoe set
about building him a house. He looked about for a nice spot and
found, half way up the hill, a small flat place, a hundred feet long
and two hundred wide. It looked off to sea, and seemed pleasant
and safe, and there he decided to build his house.

He dug a trench, enclosing a space, perhaps, forty feet square,
backed by a great rock. All around this space he drove a double
row of stakes, about six feet high. He made this a tight and close
fence, and sharpened the tops of the stakes so that no one could
climb over or get through. Then he built a sort of house—half tent,
half hut—against the cliff, at the back of his enclosure, and hol-
lowed a little cave under the rock. He piled the dirt all about his
house into a kind of fort, and put all his things in the hut or the
cave, and then began his housekeeping.

The door of his house was on the top, and he had to climb up

STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

to it by a ladder, which he drew in after him, so that no one else
could come in by the same way. He had to go out but once a
day in search of food. The first time he went he saw some goats,
but they were so shy and swift-footed that he could not get near

them.



So he decided to hunt for them where they lived. He hid
among some rocks, where he could see the goats feeding in a valley
beneath him, and then he shot an old goat, who had a little kid
beside her. When the old goat fell, the kid staid by her till Robin-
son lifted its mother on his back. Then the little one ran by his
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

side, following its mother, and so Robinson took it to his house
to tame it.

He had brought pens and ink and paper from the ship, but for
fear something should happen to thesc, and in order to keep an
account of the days as they passed, he set up a post outside his
house, in the shape of a cross, and on this he carved these words:
“I came on these shores on the 30th day of September, in the year
1659.. And every day he cut a notch on the side of the post, so
that he could keep the run of the days and tell when Sunday came.

He was now fairly comfortable, but he was very lonely. He
was out of the course of ships, and he could not hope for rescue.
But he felt thankful that God had saved his life and he tried to
make the best of things.

After he had lived in this way for about ten months, he began
to try to improve things. He enlarged his cave under the rock,
and fitted it up with shelves, and there he stored away most of his
things.

He made a table and a chair, and, as he had to go to bed at
dark because he had no light, he made a lamp out of a dish filled
with goat's fat and bits of hemp from a bag. This bag had held
the hen’s food on board the ship, and, as he shook it out, before he
cut it up for wicks, some corn and other things fell to the ground.
Soon after, when it began to rain, these things took root in the
warm earth, and one day Robinson Crusoe was surprised to see
that the corn and rice and barley had sprouted, so that before he
knew it, he had a garden.

He was very lonely indeed, for it was dull to such a restless
young fellow to be cast on such a desolate spot, with no one to
love, no one to make him laugh, or even to make him cry; no one,
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

indeed, to make him think. It was dull to roam, day by day, from
the woods to the shore, and from the shore back to the woods
again, with nothing but his own thoughts for company, and no way
to get back to the homes of men.

But, as he kept thinking of his sad case, he found that there
was a bright side to it, as well as a dark one, so he tried to think
of that. :

Here he was, safe on land, while all the rest of his ship's crew
were lost, and he saw that God, who shapes the ways of men, had
led him by the hand and could save him, even now, or perhaps
send some one to be with him. It was true, he said, that he had
been cast on a rough and desolate part of the earth, but there had
come no wild beasts to kill or hurt him. God had sent the ship so
near to him that he had got from it all things to meet his wants for
days and years to come. So, he said, let life be what it may, there
is always something to thank God for. And that is the right way
to look at trouble and worry and loss.

So Robinson soon gave up his dull and bitter thoughts, and,
for a long time, did not even go up to the lookout he had fixed, to
look for a ship which might be sailing toward him on the sea.

But, even with these comforting thoughts, he still had many
things to trouble and terrify him. One day an earthquake shool
the island; then a terrible storm came up, and it rained so hard
that Robinson had to go into the cave to live; soon after, he had
an attack of chills and fever, and was very sick. He thought he
should die, he felt so badly; but he got well, and again he gave
thanks to God for his mercies. For, you see, no one likes to die, even
if he is all alone on a desert island.

After Robinson Crusoe had lived on the island a year, he went
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

off on an exploring expedition all over the island, to see just what
it was like. He found some parts of it very charming, and in one
place, he come upon a beautiful green valley, through which flowed
a stream of pure water, and everything about it so beautiful that he
thought he should like to live there. He did not like to go so far
from the sea, however, for then he might miss the ship, for which he

always kept a sharp lookout. But he went







often to the green valley, put up a tent, and
called it his summer residence.
At first he planted his corn too late, then
he planted it too early; but the third season
he was just right, and he had a fine
crop. It grew up thick and
rich, but the hares lay in it so
much that he had to plant a
hedge about his corn field to
keep them out, and he fastened
the dog beside it at night to
keep them off. He was also
troubled by the birds, who ate
the corn before it was ripe. But, at
_ last, after making a scythe out of one of
the swords he had found on the ship, he
harvested quite a large crop. Then he begun to see how little
people think of the cost at which a loaf of bread is made. He had
no plough to turn up the earth, and no garden spade to dig it with.
But he made one of wood, and he made a rake out of the bough
of a tree. When he had cut the corn, he had to thresh it, separate
the grain from the chaff, and store it away. He had no mill with
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

which to grind it, or sieves to clean it, or yeast to help him make
bread from it. Do you not see how hard it is to make bread when
you have nothing to make it with, but just the corn?

He really did, you sec, carn his bread by the sweat of his
brow. When the rain kept him in doors, he amused himself by
teaching a parrot he had tamed until it could talk; and yet, every-
thing was so speechless about him that sometimes the sound of his
own voice would make him start.

He felt the need of plates and cups and jars, so he worked
until he had made, out of clay, many rude plates and bowls and -
jars to hold things in.

He shot goats for food, and from their skins he made himself
clothes. He caught a parrot, as I have told you, and taught it to
talk, so that he might hear some other voice than his own. He
read his Bible diligently, and thought much about things, and be-
came a very religious man. He made friends of his animals. He
caught and tamed the wild goats until he had a flock of twelve.
When he sat at his table, eating his solitary meals or reading his
Bible, the dog and both the cats and Poll, the parrot, sat beside
him, to keep him company, and so he lived for several years.

When he went out for a walk or on a hunting expedition, he
was a very queer looking man. He wore a tall cap of goat's skin,
made with a long flap at the back, to keep the sun and rain from
his neck. His coat and trousers were also of goat’s skin. Some-
times he went barefoot and sometimes he wore skin shoes. Ina
belt at his waist he carried a saw and an axe. A powder bag hung
at his side, and his beard and hair, which he let grow long, hung
down about him. He carried a great umbrella, made of skin. The
dog and Poll, the parrot, went with him. And thus he took his



























































































































































STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

“lonely walks abroad. He wished very much for a boat to go
sailing in, but it was five years before he was able to build one that
he could use or dare to sail in. :

He tried first to make one from a tree trunk, which he picked
out as just the right size. But when he had scooped it out
it was so heavy that he could not get it down to the water. Then
he dug the ground flat and smooth all the way from the boat to the
sea, so that it might slide down; but this plan did not turn out
well, so he thought he might dig a trench and bring the sea up to
the boat. To do this, however, he would have to dig so deep that
it would take years for one man to dig such a trench, So, when it
was too late, he gave up the scheme upon which he had spent so
much cost of labor and time. -

“Well,” he said to himself, “there is no help for it. I must
give up my boat, and with it all hopes of escape from the island.
But I have this to think of, I am lord of the whole island; in fact,
a king. I have wood enough to build a fleet of ships; I have
grapes and corn to freight it with, even if I have no money, except
a few gold coins. But of what use are they? I would give them
all for a peck of peas and some ink. But what is the use of wish-
ing? It is better to think of what I have, than of what I have not.”

But he would not give up the idea of a boat, and, at last, he
did manage to build one. He made it much smaller than the one
he had first tried to build, and this boat he was able to get to the
water. He made a deck to keep off the waves, and he put ina
mast and fitted up a sail, a rest for his gun and a bin for his food.

When at last the boat was finished, Crusoe was very proud of
his work, and tried it up and down the creek on which he_haa
launched it. :
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Then, when he found he could manage it well, he started out
on a cruise around the island. He took with
him bread and cakes and a pot full of rice,





















some meat and extra covering to put on at
night. But his first voyage proved a danger-
ous one, for, when
he was sailing
along the eastern
side of his island,
about two miles
from the shore, he
run upon a sand-
bar, and came very
near being ship-
wrecked. Indeed,
he almost lost his
life on his trial
trip. He was very
thankful when he
reached dry land
again. He was
very careful not to
go far away from
the island
after that.
When he
had been liv-
ing this sol-
itary life on his island for nearly eleven years, he was walking one
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

day on a part of the beach to which he did not often go, when
suddenly he stopped still in wonder and amazement. And well he
might, for there on the sand before him, he saw the print of a man’s.
foot !

He stood stock still, not daring to move. He had always sup-
posed the island was uninhabited. He had never seen any signs _
of man’s presence there before, and now to come upon the print of
that naked foot in the sand, struck him with surprise and fear.

He looked cautiously about him, but saw no one. He walked
away, but again and again he went back to look at the print of that
human foot. Then a great fear seized him, and, turning, he ran to
his house as fast as his legs would carry him. He climbed over
his fence, for he had no gate in it, drew up his ladder, and hid in
his cave, and could not sleep all night, so great was his terror and
apprehension.

He kept to his house for three days, then his food ran low and
he ventured out. He went down to the beach and fitted his own
foot in the print, to see if it might not be his; but his foot was
much larger, so he knew that there must be men on the island.

He hurried back to his house and set to work to strengthen it,
and make it secure against attacks from savages. Then he hunted
up a safe and secret place in the heart of the island, and fitted upa
little spot to which he could fly for safety.

Gradually, he grew less terrified, and began to go about again,
when one day he came upon a place on the shore where he saw a
fire had been burning, and scattered about it were human bones.
Then he knew that cannibals came sometimes to his island to hold
their horrid feasts

He hurried up to the hill, which was his lookout, and from
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

there he saw four boats or canoes away out to sea. The cannibals
had been on his island and were now on their way home.

This made him timid again. He kept to his home for days,
and did not dare to drive a nail or chop a stick of wood or fire off
a gun. He did his cooking at night, when the smoke could not be
seen.

One day, when he was out hunting for wood, he found a cave.
But as he went in to explore it, he saw two eyes that shone like fire
and almost scared poor Robinsoa out of his wits. But when he
had lighted a torch and gone again into the cave, he saw that the
fiery eyes belonged to a poor old goat, who had crawled into the
cave to die.

The cave was large and deep, and the walls sparkled like
diamonds by his torch-light, and poor Robinson enjoyed them quite
as much as if they had been diamonds.

Things went on quietly with him for a year longer, and some-
times he felt so sick and lonely that he thought he would like to
crawl into the cave to die, just as the old goat did.

One night there came a great storm. As Crusoe sat in his
house, in the midst of the storm, he heard a gun fire off! He
supposed from this that a ship had been driven ashore. So he
made a bonfire on his hill, and after that he heard two more
guns fire.

In the morning he went to the southern side of his island, and
there he saw the wreck of a ship, cast on the rocks in the night.
But he saw no signs of life on her.

O, how he longed to save even one man of that ship's crew,
and bring him ashore for company. As soon as the tide served, he
got into his boat and sailed out to the wreck. What a scene was
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

there! The ship had struck on two rocks. The stern was torn by
the force of the waves, the masts were swept away, ropes and chains
were scattered all about the deck.

As he came toward the wreck, he heard a dog yelp and whine.



Then it jumped overboard and swam to him. Crusoe took the dog
into his boat and gave it bread and water. He was glad to have
another dog, for his had long been dead.

It was a Spanish ship, and there was much gold on board.
Crusoe found, also, the bodies of two of the crew, who had been
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

killed in the shipwreck. But he carried nothing off, except two
chests, in which were bags of gold and powder and shot

So he lived on, and when he had been more than twenty years
on the island, he saw, one day, from his lookout on the hill, six
boats drawn up on the shore.

He used his spyglass, and soon he saw at least thirty savages
on the beach on the eastern side of the island. They were dancing
about a fire, which they had lighted, and, in a little while, Crusoe
saw them drag a man out of the boat.

The poor fellow was tied hand and foot. But as soon as his
captors had cut him loose, the fellow darted off and ran in a bee
line toward Robinson Crusoe’s house.

Robinson, at first, was greatly frightened, for he thought the
savages would surely discover his house and murder him.

They raced after the fugitive to catch him, but he ran like a
deer, and Robinson Crusoe made up his mind to save the runaway’s
life.

He sprang down the hill with two guns, took a short cut
towards the men, and then they saw him.

He motioned to the runaway to come to him. Then he
headed off the two who were giving chase, knocked one of them
down, and before the other could send an arrow at him, Crusoe
leveled his gun and shot the fellow dead.

At the noise of the gun the man who was running away sud-
denly stood still and looked at the smoke, as if he were in a trance.
He did not know what to make of it. But Crusoe shouted to him
that he was a friend, and beckoned to him with such friendly signs
that the fugitive at last came slowly up to him. And when he
reached the spot, he threw himself on the ground at Robinson’s
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

feet, took hold of Crusoe’s foot, and put it on his head, by which he
meant that he was the grateful and obedient slave of the man who
had saved him.

At once Robinson told the man to get up, and made signs for
him to go and look at the fellow who had first been knocked over
and see if he were alive. The runaway understood the signs, and
going over to the wounded man, looked at Crusoe and said some-
thing. Crusoe, of course, did not understand what the man said,
but the sound of a man’s voice, the first he had heard in over
twenty years, gave him as great a shock of joy as the print of the
naked foot in the sand, years before, had given him a shock of fear.

When he saw that the enemy was yet alive, Robinson handed
his sword to the fugitive, who ran at once, and, with a clever blow,
struck off his enemy’s head. Then he brought back the sword, and,
with a smile, laid it down at the feet of his master, for so he
recognized Robinson Crusoe to be.

But he was greatly puzzled to know how Crusoe had killed his
other pursuer. And when he found on the man’s body only the
small round bullet hole, he was more. puzzled than ever, and
believed Robinson Crusoe to be a magician. |

Then Robinson took the man he had rescued up to his house;
but as ne did not dare, at first, to have him come inside, he made
up a bed for him outside the fence and gave him food to eat. But,
gradually, he found that the man was affectionate, honest, and
grateful; that he would do him no harm, but, rather, be of much
help and service. So, at last, he brought the new-comer into his
own house, made him one of the family, made some clothes for
him, and because it was on that day of the week that this comrade
had come to him, he named the man Friday.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Friday was a handsome, brown-skinned, strong ana straight
young fellow, about twenty-six years old. He had thick black hair,
a pleasant face, bright black eyes, a good mouth and fine teeth.
Robinson Crusoe soon grew very fond of him, as indeed he might,
for just think how long he had lived all alone upon that island.
He taught Friday to speak English, to dress like white men, to hate



cannibalism —that is, eating human flesh—to be loving and help-
ful, and to be at once his faithful servant and good companion in
their island home.
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

This, of course, took much time and patience, but a man who
has lived all alone, for more than twenty years, upon an unin-
habited island, learns to be patient, and Robinson Crusoe enjoyed
teaching all these things to his man Friday.

It was some time before Friday could understand about a gun
and powder and shot. When Crusoe first shot a goat, so that
Friday could see how it was killed, Friday was greatly surprised.
He heard the noise, and remembering how the gun had killed the
man who was his enemy, he thought it must now have killed him.
He shook from head to foot, tore off his coat, and felt of himself to
see if he could find a bullet hole, then he dropped to his knees,
and, clasping Crusoe’s legs, begged him to spare his life. _

Then Crusoe showed him the dead goat, and, after that, show-
ing Friday a bird high up in a tree, he took aim and brought down
the bird. This surprised Friday all the more. He thought the
gun must be something marvelous, that could kill man, beast and
bird, by just being pointed at them. For days he would not touch
the gun, but he would stand before it and talk to it as if it were
alive, and, finally, Robinson discovered that Friday was begging
the good gun not to kill him, as it had killed the goat and the bird.

Robinson Crusoe had hard work, also, to teach Friday to wear
clothes, as they pinched and scraped and fretted him; to make him .
learn to like cooked food, and, particularly, the salt that seasoned
it, and which Friday thought was poison; to grind up corn to make
into bread, and, especially, to understand and believe all about God
and heaven, and the good things taught in the Bible.

But Robinson was patient, and Friday was eager to learn, and
at last Crusoe made a bright, intelligent, good and noble man of
the poor savage, a faithful servant and a loving comrade.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Once Crusoe told Friday the story of his life and adventures,
and how long he had been away from his English home. Not
long after, as they stood on the hilltop, one very clear day, Friday
began to dance and shout, and, pointing to a misty headland far
across the water, he told Robinson Crusoe that he could see his
home.

When Crusoe found that Friday was dancing for joy, because
he saw his home in the distance, and wished to go back, he grew
suspicious and jealous, for he feared the good fellow did not love
him so well as he did his savage people across the water, and that,
if he could get back there, he would bring his countrymen back to
the island and kill and eat Crusoe, as they did their other prisoners.

He soon found out how wrong he was, however, for on ques-
tioning Friday, he learned that the poor brown man, though he
loved his native land dearly, only wished to go back there with
Robinson Crusoe in order that his people might learn the white
men’s ways and the white men’s religion, and become better, and
leave off eating human flesh, and give up all their horrid practices.
And when Crusoe told Friday that he would give him a boat, so
that he could sail away to his home, but that he could not go with
him, poor Friday fetched a hatchet, and handing it to Robinson
Crusoe, said to him, “You take, kill Friday; no send him away.”
Then, when Crusoe found how much the good Friday loved him,
he was no more afraid of him, but saw that he only wished to do
good to the land where he had been born, and which he loved as
dearly as any Englishman loved England. For, you see, love of
country belongs to all men everywhere, savage or civilized, English-
men, African or American.

Robinson Crusoe thought that it would be a good plan to
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

make a boat, and, perhaps, sometime, sail away in it to Friday's
people; for, by that means, he might some day find a ship that
could take him home again to England.

So, they went to work to make a boat that would take them



both. The first thing to do was to look out for some large trees
that grew near the shore, so that they could launch the boat when it
was made.

Friday wished to burn out the log to make it the right shape,

ROBINSON CRUSOE.

but Robinson showed him how to hew and cut it out. They
worked away at it for two months, and at last the boat was finished.
It was a good strong boat, but it took both of them a long time to’
get it down to the water. Robinson gave Friday charge of the
boat, and Friday soon learned to row it
nicely.

But it was some time before he
understood about the sail and how to
manage it. But at last it was all com-
plete.

They made a mast out of a cedar
tree, and Robinson stitched together old
pieces of cloth enough to make a three-
cornered sail, and by the end of two
months they had completed a large sail-
boat, large enough to carry twenty
men, complete with masts and _ sails
and rigging, and you may be sure
they felt very proud of their job. Then
they built a dock and a basin to float
the boat in, and began to put stores
into the boat for a voyage.

But, one day, Friday came running
back from the shore with the news that
three great canoes and many men were



coming with prisoners to have just
such a feast as that from which Crusoe had saved Friday. Friday
was greatly frightened at first, for he thought they would also
find him and his master and kill them; but Robinson told


STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

him not to be afraid, but just to do as he told him, and asked him
if he would stand by him, and the good Friday answered, “Me die
when you bid me, master.”

So Robinson took two guns and a sword, and armed Friday
with two guns and an axe, and they went to the hill-top to spy out
the new comers.

Iie saw that the men had landed with their prisoners. He at
once determined to go down and kill them all; for he hated these
cannibals, and was determined to kill them. But as he and Friday
stole down upon them by a roundabout way, Robinson thought to
himself, ““Why should I kill these men? They know no better.
When God commanded, ‘Thou shalt not kill,” He meant it not only
for white men, but for all the world.”

So when he came near to the savages, he bade Friday go and
see what they were doing. Soon Friday came back and said that
the savages had killed one of their prisoners, and that, of the other
two, one was a white man.

This made Crusoe determine to rescue the two prisoners, and
he rushed at the savages and fired off his gun, which scared them

so that they turned and fled to their canoes. Then Robinson
Crusoe went down and cut the white man free. He was a

Spaniard. Crusoe gave him a sword and pistol, and together they
attacked the savages, while Friday did the same, and killed or
drove off all the savages, who paddled away as fast as they could,
leaving one canoe on the shore.

Then Friday and Crusoe ran to this canoe to jump aboard
and pursue the flying savages. But as they did so, they found
another captive lying there, bound hand and foot. He was a
savage, but they pulled him out of the canoe and cut his bonds.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Suddenly Friday looked at the man; then he spoke to him; then
he looked at him again, began to hug and kiss the poor old man,
and dance round him with joy; then he would weep and ring his
hands and beat his own head and face, and then laugh again and
sing and leap.

For a long time he would not speak to Robinson, or tell him
what all these actions meant. But, at last, when Robinson began



to think he had gone crazy, Friday told Robinson that the old man
thus saved from the cannibals was his father.

It would be hard to tell all the funny things Friday did to
show his joy. He went in and out of the boat a dozen times, and
sat down by ‘1is father’s side, and held the old man’s head close to
his breast to warm it, and rubbed his hands and: feet, which were
cold and stiff from the bonds.
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

You may be sure Robinson Crusoe was as delighted as Friday

was. He told Friday to give his father something to eat and
drink. But Friday said, ‘None here; bad dog Friday eat all up

hisself!’’ Then he dashed off to the house, and soon came back
with a jug and bread and cake, with which they fed the cold and
hungry men whom they had saved from death.

They forgot all about the flying savages, whom they intended
to pursue, but gave all their attention to the men they had set free,
and after they had refreshed and strengthened them, they carried
the two men, who were still weak from their captivity and their
bonds, up to the house on the hill. And now Crusoe had plenty
of company, for there were four men on his island. He felt quite
like a king at the head of a kingdom.

But when he heard that there were other white men on one of
the distant islands, Crusoe thought it well to carry out the plan
which he had in mind when he and Friday built their boat.

So, through the months that followed, Crusoe, with the help of
his companions, raised much barley and rice,and dried many grapes
into raisins, and built a new boat out of planks cut from trees, and
worked so diligently that at last he had built, and stocked with
victuals, quite a seaworthy boat. He determined, however, not to
vo himself, but to keep Friday with him on the island and send
the Spaniard and Friday’s father across to the land where it was
said the white men were, and bring them back to Crusoe’s island,
where they could all finish the big boat, and, finally, sail away to
civilized lands and freedom.

At last, the two men sailed away, and Robinson Crusoe
waited patiently for their return, which he thought would be in a
week or so.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

He had grown to love his fine island, although he was anxious
to leave it.

For no man likes to have to stay in one place, and the thoucht
of at last being able to go back to his own country filled Robin-
son Crusoe with desire.

He had worked hard during all his years of solitude, and
through the years that Friday had been with him, to make a com-
fortable home for himself.

His house on the hill was well defended by the fort he had built,
and was screened from sight by the trees he had planted, and which
had now grown up into quite a grove.

He had a large flock of tame goats, which gave him milk to
drink and meat to eat, while from his garden he obtained grain for
bread, and rice for food, and other things to eat and enjoy.

But still, as I have told you, though he grew comfortably well
off and wanting nothing in the way of food and comfort, he wished
to see his home land again before he died, for he was more than fifty
years old.

All men feel that way, and even though you boys may think it
would be a fine thing to live on a desert island and have a man
Friday as servant and companion, and have pet parrots and pet
goats, and dress in skins, and do just as you pleased, you would
soon find that you would gladly give up all these things if you
could only ect back to your home once more.

Well, when the boat and the two men had been away about
eight days and Crusoe thought it about time for them to be coming
back, Friday came running into the house early one morning and
cried, “Master, Master, they are come! they are come!”

Crusoe hurried on his clothes and rushed out of doors to
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

welcome his friends. Sure enough, he saw a sail boat coming

toward the beach; but it dia not took like their home-made boat.
So, getting his spy-glass, he went to the look-out on the hill

and saw that it was an English long-boat, while outside lay a large



‘English ship, atanchor. He felt very joyful; for here was the chance

to get home at last. And yet he could not see what an English
_ ship would be doing in that out-of-the way spot. So, instead of rush-
ing down to welcome the people, he staid where he was and watched.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Pretty soon the boat grounded, and then Crusoe saw that there
were twelve men in the boat, and that three of them were in chains.

Friday saw this, too, and when the men got out of the boat
and set their captives ashore, Friday told Robinson that now they
would see the Englishman kill and eat their captives, just as the
savages did.

For, though Crusoe had told him that white men never did
this, Friday could not believe otherwise when he saw these prisoners
bound ard treated just as he had been.

But Crusoe saw that there had been a mutiny or some such
terrible crime on the ship, and that these prisoners were to be kil'ed
there or left to starve.

So, when all was quiet and the men in the boat had gone to
look about the island, leaving the prisoners bound beneath a tree,
Crusoe armed himself and Friday with guns and pistols and
cautiously approached the prisoners.

“Who are you, sirs?” he said to the men. They looked at him
in wonder and surprise, as well they might, seeing a white man
dressed so oddly in what they supposed was a desolate place.

But Crusoe said, “Don't be afraid. J am a friend, sent to help
you.”

“You must be from the sky, then,” said one of the men, still
uncertain what to think.

“All help is from above, sir,” Crusoe answered. ‘How can
I help you? What is the trouble?”

Then the man who had spoken told Crusoe that he was the
captain of the English ship, and that one of the other men was his
first mate, and the other a passenger.

He said that his sailors had mutinied, and had set these three
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

ashore, and that they meant to leave them there to die by starva-
tion, as some of the sailors would not agree to have them killed.

Then Crusoe learned that the sailors who had brought them
ashore were somewhere in the woods, waiting for the tide to come
in so that they could go back to the ship, after leaving the captain
and his friends behind.

He determined to rescue these poor prisoners. But first he
made the captain promise that he and his friends must obey him in all
things, and if he was successful and recovered the ship, that the
captain would take himself and Friday to England.

The captain readily promised this, and said, “If you save my
life, you shall do as you like with me and my ship, and take her
where you please.”

So Crusoe unbound the three unfortunates, and sent Friday
to the long-boat, and bade him take from it the oars and the sail
and the guns.

When it was time for the men to go back to their ship, they
came to the shore, and when they found their boat stripped and
their prisoners gone, they were greatly surprised and very angry,
for they could not get back to the ship and did not know who had
found their boat.

Then Crusoe and his men crept down to the shore and fell
upon the men in the dark, for it was night by this time. Some
they killed and some they captured. But soon another boat from
the ship, bringing in it the armed men, came to the shore, searching
for their comrades.

But by this time Crusoe had hauled the long-boat on shore,
smashed a hole in it, so that it could not be used at once, and, with
the captain and his two comrades, with Friday and the four prison-
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

ers, he had gone up to his house, where he told the captain his
surprising story, and showed him his fortified house and all the
arrangements he. had made for comfort and safety.

The English captain was astonished and delighted at all he
saw, and was all the more ready to put his affairs and the recapture
of his ship into Crusoe’s
care. So Robinson set
about the work. He
planned just what to
do, and carried it all out
with so much skill and
vigor, that when the






second boat-load of
men landed on the island
he soon surprised and cap-
tured them, being assisted in
this by three of the prisoners
he had taken, who proved to be
honest fellows, but led away by
fear of the chief conspirator among
the sailors, a desperate fellow named
Will Atkins. In this second endeavor
three of the new comers were killed in the
fight that followed. But when the others
saw that their captain had been released and that the island was not
uninhabited, as they tkought, they surrendered and were put into
the prison that Crusoe made of his cave in the rock.
Then Crusoe and his companions repaired the damaged boat,
and, having found among the prisoners five honest men who were
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

Wing to serve the captain if he would only forgive them and not
have them punished for mutiny, Crusoe and Friday remained on
shore, in charge of the house and the unforgiven prisoners, and
sent the captain with the two boats and the men whom he could
trust to recapture the ship.

This he did very bravely and skilfully, and, having killed the man
who had been made captain by the mutineers, he soon returned with
the rest of the crew prisoners, and, bringing the ship into the harbor,
_ anchored only a mile from the shore.

He brought many delicacies and desirable things from the
ship—flour and sugar, and beef and tobacco, and things that Rob-
inson had not seen nor tasted, but had longed for so many years.
Among other things he brought some fine clothes, so that Crusoe
was soon dressed like an Englishman again, and no longer in goat’s
skins. He was delighted to have these clothes, though he found
himself at first as uncomfortable and awkward in them as Friday
had been in the clothes he first made for him.

Then the captain said to Crusoe, ‘‘ My dear friend and deliverer,
there is your ship; for so she is, and so are we and all that belongs
tomer

So Robinson Crusoe found at last that he could leave his
island home forever. He could scarcely believe his good fortune,
the whole thing seemed so wonderful. But he thanked God for his
deliverance, and set about his departure speedily. He selected
four of the most trustworthy men among the prisoners to go on
the ship and help sail her to England.

To the other men he gave the choice of living on the island or
being carried prisoners to England, to be tried for mutiny.

As these bad sailors knew that if they were taken home to be

STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

tried they would be hanged as pirates, they consented to accept the
“governors ’’ mercy—for they all called Robinson Crusoe the gov-
ernor of the island.

So Crusoe told them the story of his life there, showed them
the house and all its defenses and surroundings; his flock of goats,
his garden and his “country seat.”

He told them how he made his bread and raised his crops,
and turned his grapes into raisins.

He showed them how they could all be comfortable and happy
if they would only behave themselves and not get to quarreling
among themselves.

He told them, also, of the Spaniard and Friday’s father, who
would soon come to the island with the white men they had gone
to rescue.

Then, when he had arranged everything, he took from the
island only his goat-skin cap, the great umbrella, and one of his
parrots, as relics of the island, not forgetting the gold he had saved
from the ship in which he had been wrecked, and the money he had
taken from the other ship, which, you must remember, had also
been wrecked on his island.

Then he and Friday and the English captain and his two
comrades and the sailors whom they had pardoned put off to the
Ship.

But, early next morning, two of the men who had been left on
the island came swimming to the ship and begged to be taken
aboard.

They had rather, they said, be taken aboard and hanged than
be left to live on that lonely island.

So, by Crusoe’s advice, the men were taken aboard, and, after
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

they had been soundly whipped, they were pardoned and added to
the crew.

At noon that day the ship’s anchor was lifted, the sails were
set, and the homeward bound voyage was begun.

It was on the nineteenth of December, in the year 1686, that
Robinson Crusoe said good-
bye to the island in which he












had lived in solitude for
twenty-eight years, two
months and nineteen days.
After a long voyage, he
arrived at last in Eng-
land, and, with his faith-

ful Friday still accom-
panying him, he went

J to his old home, from

which he had run away to

sea thirty-five years before.

His father and mother had

long been dead, and he who

had long before been given up

as lost was a stranger to his former

triends and family. The owners of the ship that he had rescued

made hima handsome payment in money. He found that an honest

man had taken care of his land in Brazil, and when Crusoe had sold
this he was worth quite a little money.

Soon after, he married a worthy woman, and, with Friday still
STRANGE AND SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF

as his trusty servant, he settled down in England, as he thought,
for the rest of his life. After eight quiet years, however, his wife died,
and Robinson, though now sixty years old, felt the old desire for
roving come back, and he determined to go back and visit the island
upon which he had lived alone so many years.



50, to sea went Crusoe and Friday, bound for a voyage to the
island. And when they arrived there, the first man to greet them
was the Spaniard whom Crusoe had rescued and who was now with
the men he had brought there, living with some of the Englishmen
whom Crusoe had left behind.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

There was a long story to tell of their life and adventures
during the years that Crusoe had been away.

Friday, too, found his father there again and was greatly
delighted. - | 5

There had been troubles and quarrels, and even fighting,
among the men on the island, and it was not yet peaceful there,
but Crusoe made them friends again, and told them he was going
to send more people to the island and make it a prosperous colony.



Then he made a great feast in celebration of his return, and,

after a long visit, he sailed away again.

They wished him to leave Friday on the island, but Crusoe
could not bear to part with his faithful follower, and Friday would
not consent to leave him.

So they started on their homeward voyage; but, one day, they
were set upon by a great fleet of canoes and a thousand savages,
and, in the fight that followed, poor Friday was shot through by
three arrows and killed.
ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Then how sad and sorry Robinson Crusoe was! He mourned
deeply and sincerely for the loss of his faithful follower and friend,
and, after they had fought and driven away the savages and were
sailing peacefully again, poor Friday was buried in the ocean.

Robinson Crusoe continued his voyages for some time longer,
and after traveling in strange lands and queer places he again
returned to England. Here, after a second absence of ten years, he
settled down to spend his old age in plenty and comfort and peace.

He thought, many and many times, of the strange and sur-
prising adventures that had filled his long life; but, more than any
others, he thought of the twenty-seven years that he had spent on
that lonely and far-off island, and, more, even than of this, he loved
to remember the faithful and devoted friend of his captivity and
release —his loved and sincerely-mourned man Priday.

THE END,
Rete a a aah sme aoe ne eee eee
an
ee
eile RET
peoaae ay