The Adventures of Roderick Random

Confirming the Assassin

When the narrator returned home in a chair about ten o’clock in the morning, the chairman supported him into the house, where he met Captain O’Donnell in the passage. The captain started back upon seeing him and displayed evident signs of guilty confusion. The narrator’s master had him carried upstairs to bed. Later, while in his chamber, the master’s daughter visited, expressing sympathy and asking if he suspected anyone. When he fixed his eyes upon her and answered “Yes,” she displayed no confusion but suggested he take out a warrant, even offering to lend him money. Her frankness cured him of suspicion regarding her and staggered his belief concerning the captain.

The narrator pretended uncertainty about the identity of his attacker, fearing the captain might flee before he could be in condition to requite him. After two days, he was able to do business again. His first step toward confirming his secret enemy was to examine O’Donnell’s sword while the captain was abroad. The broken point of the sword exactly matched the fragment found sticking in his body, leaving no room for doubt. All that remained was to devise a scheme of revenge.

Executing Revenge

For eight nights and days, the narrator’s meditation focused on revenge. He considered killing O’Donnell outright but his honour opposed this as cowardice. He thought of demanding honorable satisfaction but dismissed this due to uncertainty of the outcome and the nature of the injury. At last he determined upon a middle course.

Having secured the assistance of Strap and two of his acquaintances, they provided themselves with disguises. The narrator composed a letter signed with the name of an apothecary’s wife in Chelsea, of whom O’Donnell was known to be an admirer, inviting him to visit while her husband was away at Bagshot. The letter was delivered by one of their associates in livery on a Sunday evening. Everything succeeded as planned. The captain hastened to the appointed place, where he was encountered at the very spot where he had assaulted the narrator. They rushed upon him together, secured his sword, stripped off his clothes, and scourged him with nettles until he was blistered from head to foot, despite all his tears and supplications. When satisfied with the stripes, they carried off his clothes, hid them in a nearby hedge, and left him naked to find his way home.