I now took my landlord aside, and giving him a small present of
gunpowder, asked his advice in such critical a situation. He was
decidedly of opinion that I ought not to go to the king: he was fully
convinced, he said, that if the king should discover anything valuable in
my possession, he would not be over scrupulous about the means of
obtaining it.
Towards the evening, as I was sitting upon the bentang chewing straws, an
old female slave, passing by with a basket upon her head, asked me _if
had got my dinner_. As I thought she only laughed at me, I gave her no
answer; but my boy, who was sitting close by, answered for me, and told
her that the king’s people had robbed me of all my money. On hearing
this, the good old woman, with a look of unaffected benevolence,
immediately took the basket from her head, and showing me that it
contained ground nuts, asked me if I could eat them. Being answered in
the affirmative, she presented me with a few handfuls, and walked away
before I had time to thank her for this seasonable supply.
gunpowder, asked his advice in such critical a situation. He was
decidedly of opinion that I ought not to go to the king: he was fully
convinced, he said, that if the king should discover anything valuable in
my possession, he would not be over scrupulous about the means of
obtaining it.
Towards the evening, as I was sitting upon the bentang chewing straws, an
old female slave, passing by with a basket upon her head, asked me _if
had got my dinner_. As I thought she only laughed at me, I gave her no
answer; but my boy, who was sitting close by, answered for me, and told
her that the king’s people had robbed me of all my money. On hearing
this, the good old woman, with a look of unaffected benevolence,
immediately took the basket from her head, and showing me that it
contained ground nuts, asked me if I could eat them. Being answered in
the affirmative, she presented me with a few handfuls, and walked away
before I had time to thank her for this seasonable supply.
