In this I was mistaken, for the wind was contrary to our purpose,
and we lay in the Downs near six weeks, while Master Hunt, the
preacher, who had joined the company that he might labor for the
good of our souls; lay so nigh unto death in the cabin of the Susan
Constant, that I listened during all the waking hours of the night,
fearing to hear the tolling of the ship's bell, which would tell
that he had gone from among the living.
It was on the second night, after we were come to anchor in the
Downs awaiting a favorable wind, that I, having fallen asleep while
wishing Nathaniel Peacock might have been with us, was awakened
by the pressure of a cold hand upon my cheek. I was near to crying
aloud with fear, for the first thought that came was that Master
Hunt had gone from this world, and was summoning me; but before
the cry could escape my lips, I heard the whispered words: "It is
me, Nate Peacock!"
It can well be guessed that I was sitting bolt upright in the
narrow bed, which sailors call a bunk, by the time this had been
said, and in the gloom of the seamen's living place I saw a head
close to mine.
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