Securing Valuables
During this dialogue, the narrator clothes himself in his bed apparel, girds on his hanger, sticks his loaded pistols in his belt, and disposes of all his valuable moveables about his person. He then comes upon deck with a resolution to take the first opportunity to get on shore.
Escaping the Sloop
When day breaks, the shore appears at a distance of three miles ahead. Crampley, finding his efforts to get the ship off ineffectual, determines to save himself by entering the boat. The ship’s company follows so fast that the boat would have sunk alongside, had not someone wiser cut the rope and put off. The narrator makes several attempts to get into the boat but is always balked by Crampley, who excludes him with singular determination. Enraged at this inhuman partiality and seeing the rope cut, the narrator pulls a pistol, cocks it, and swears to shoot any man who obstructs his entrance. He leaps with full exertion and gets into the boat, though he loses the skin of his shins in the descent. Crampley strikes at him several times with a cutlass and orders the men to throw him overboard, but they are too anxious about their own safety to heed him.
Reaching the Shore
Though the boat is deeply loaded and the sea is terribly high, they manage to reach dry land in less than an hour after parting from the sloop.
Challenging Crampley to Combat
As soon as the narrator sets foot on terra firma, his long-boiling indignation against Crampley erupts. He immediately challenges the captain to single combat, presenting his pistols so that Crampley may take his choice of weapons.
The original text of this work is in the public domain. This page focuses on a guided summary article, reading notes, selected quotes, and visual learning materials for educational purposes.