The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders

These she put on board in her own name, took his bills of loading for

them, and endorsed those bills of loading to my husband, insuring the

cargo afterwards in her own name, by our order; so that we were

provided for all events, and for all disasters.

I should have told you that my husband gave her all his whole stock of

#108, which, as I have said, he had about him in gold, to lay out thus,

and I gave her a good sum besides; so that I did not break into the

stock which I had left in her hands at all, but after we had sorted out

our whole cargo, we had yet near #200 in money, which was more than

enough for our purpose.

In this condition, very cheerful, and indeed joyful at being so happily

accommodated as we were, we set sail from Bugby's Hole to Gravesend,

where the ship lay about ten more days, and where the captain came on

board for good and all. Here the captain offered us a civility, which

indeed we had no reason to expect, namely, to let us go on shore and

refresh ourselves, upon giving our words in a solemn manner that we

would not go from him, and that we would return peaceably on board

again. This was such an evidence of his confidence in us, that it

overcame my husband, who, in a mere principle of gratitude, told him,

as he could not be in any capacity to make a suitable return for such a

favour, so he could not think of accepting of it, nor could he be easy

that the captain should run such a risk. After some mutual civilities,

I gave my husband a purse, in which was eighty guineas, and he put in

into the captain's hand. 'There, captain,' says he, 'there's part of a

pledge for our fidelity; if we deal dishonestly with you on any

account, 'tis your own.' And on this we went on shore.

Indeed, the captain had assurance enough of our resolutions to go, for

that having made such provision to settle there, it did not seem

rational that we would choose to remain here at the expense and peril

of life, for such it must have been if we had been taken again. In a

word, we went all on shore with the captain, and supped together in

Gravesend, where we were very merry, stayed all night, lay at the house

where we supped, and came all very honestly on board again with him in

the morning. Here we bought ten dozen bottles of good beer, some wine,

some fowls, and such things as we thought might be acceptable on board.