138 AUDUBON THE NATURALIST. 
am glad that the villains who wounded me were 
not my conquerors. I want no pardon from 
any one—give me some water, and let me die 
alone.” 
With the hope that I might learn from his 
conversation something that might lead to the 
capture of his guilty associates; I returned from 
the creek with another capful of water, nearly 
the whole of which I managed to introduce into 
his parched mouth, and begged him, for the sake 
of his future peace, to disclose his history to me. 
“Tt is impossible,” said he, “there will be no 
time, the beatings of my heart tell meso. Long 
before day these sinewy limbs will be motion- 
less. Nay, there will hardly be a drop of blood 
in my body. My wounds are mortal, and I must 
and will die without what you call confession.” 
The moon rose in the east. The majesty of 
her placid beauty impressed me with reverence. 
I pointed towards her, and asked the pirate if 
he could not recognize the hand of God there. 
“ Friend, I see what you are driving at,” was 
his answer, “you, like the rest of our enemies, 
feel the desire of murdering us all. Well—be 
it so—to die is, after all, nothing more than a 
jest, and were it not for the pain, no one, in my 
opinion, need care a jot about it. But as you 
have really befriended me I will tell you all that 
is proper.” 
