The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 02 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 434 pages of information about The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 02.

The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 02 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 434 pages of information about The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 02.

Rod.  Would I were from them.

2 Serv.  ’Tis impossible To attempt it now; you have not strength enough To walk.

Rod.  That venture must be mine:  We’re lost, If we stay here to-morrow.

2 Serv.  I hope better.

1 Serv.  One whom I saw among ’em, to my knowledge, Is a notorious robber.

2 Serv.  He looked so like a gentleman, I could not know him then.

Rod.  What became of Julia when I fell?

1 Serv.  We left her weeping over you, till we Were beaten off; but she, and those with her, Were gone when we returned.

Rod.  Too late I find,
I wronged her in my thoughts.  I’m every way
A wretched man:—­
Something we must resolve on, ere we sleep;
Draw in the bed, I feel the cold.

[Bed drawn in.  Exeunt.

SCENE II.

Enter GONSALVO, MANUEL, HIPPOLITO and AMIDEO.

Hip.  Nay, ’tis too true; for, peeping through a chink,
I saw Don Roderick lying on a bed,
Not dead, as we supposed, but only hurt;
So waited on as spoke him master here.

Man.  Was there ever so fatal an adventure! 
To fly into that very ship, for refuge,
Where the only person, we would shun, commands! 
This mischief is so strange, it could not happen,
But was the plot and juggle of our fate,
To free itself, and cast the blame on us.

Gons.  This is not yet our fortune’s utmost malice;
The gall remains behind.  This ship was that,
Which yesterday was mine; I can see nothing
Round me, but what’s familiar to my eyes;
Only the persons new:  Which makes me think,
Twas seized upon by Roderick, to revenge
Himself on me.

Man.  Tis wonderful indeed.

Amid.  The only comfort is, we are not known; For when we entered it was dark.

Hip.  That comfort
Is of as short continuance as the night;
The day will soon discover us.

Man.  Some way must be invented to get out.

Hip.  Fair Julia, sadly pining by herself. 
Sits on her bed; tears falling from her eyes,
As silently as dews in dead of night. 
All we consult of must be kept from her: 
That moment, that she knows of Roderick’s life,
Dooms us to certain death.

Man.  ’Tis well considered.

Gons.  For my part, were not you and she concerned,
I look upon my life, like an estate,
So charged with debts, it is not worth the keeping. 
We cannot long be undiscovered by them;
Let us then rush upon them on the sudden,
(All hope of safety placed in our despair)
And gain quick victory, or speedy death.

Man.  Consider first, the impossibility
Of the attempt; four men, and two poor boys,
(Which, added to our number, make us weaker)
Against ten villains, more resolved for death,
Than any ten among our holiest priests. 
Stay but a little longer, till they all
Disperse to rest within their several cabins;
Then more securely we may set upon them,
And kill them half, before the rest can wake: 
By this means too, the boys are useful for us,
For they can cut the throats of sleeping men.

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The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 02 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.