Дванадцять років рабства
Chapter 5
AneveningortwoafterRobert’sburial,Iwasleaningonthehatchwayneartheforecastle,fullofdespondingthoughts,whenasailorinakindvoiceaskedmewhyIwassodown-hearted. Thetoneandmannerofthemanassuredme,andIanswered,becauseIwasafreeman,andhadbeenkidnapped. Heremarkedthatitwasenoughtomakeanyonedown-hearted,andcontinuedtointerrogatemeuntilhelearnedtheparticularsofmywholehistory. Hewasevidentlymuchinterestedinmybehalf,and,inthebluntspeechofasailor,sworehewouldaidmeallhecould,ifit"splithistimbers." Irequestedhimtofurnishmepen,inkandpaper,inorderthatImightwritetosomeofmyfriends. Hepromisedtoobtainthem—buthowIcouldusethemundiscoveredwasadifficulty. IfIcouldonlygetintotheforecastlewhilehiswatchwasoff,andtheothersailorsasleep,thethingcouldbeaccomplished. Thesmallboatinstantlyoccurredtome. HethoughtwewerenotfarfromtheBalize,atthemouthoftheMississippi,anditwasnecessarythattheletterbewrittensoon,ortheopportunitywouldbelost. Accordingly,byarrangement,Imanagedthenextnighttosecretmyselfagainunderthelong-boat. Hiswatchwasoffattwelve. Isawhimpassintotheforecastle,andinaboutanhourfollowedhim. Hewasnoddingoveratable,halfasleep,onwhichasicklylightwasflickering,andonwhichalsowasapenandsheetofpaper. AsIenteredhearoused,beckonedmetoaseatbesidehim,andpointedtothepaper.
