Page:Paine--Lost ships and lonely seas.djvu/183

Rh cook sufficient stew for the evening meal he felled her with a club and proceeded to beat her to death by way of reproof.

"I will see if my orders cannot be obeyed," he remarked to Ahamed, who viewed it as no affair of his.

An exchange of gossip persuaded Ahamed to seek the little Moorish sea-port of Saint Cruz, or Agadir, and try to dispose of them to the best advantage. Four months after the wreck of the Oswego, Captain Judah Paddock beheld a harbor and ships riding at anchor. The governor of Agadir, a portly, courteous Moor, commanded Ahamed to take his captives to Mogador without delay and deliver them up to the British consul. To Captain Paddock he declared:

"These Arabs are a set of thieves, robbers, and murderers, and from time immemorial they have been at war with the Moors and with all others within their reach. If there is any more trouble, I will keep you here a few days, when I shall be going myself to Mogador."

The warlike Ahamed was somewhat abashed by this reception, but he made great haste to obey the governor's decree. Mounted on camels, the party crossed the mountain trails, and then halted to consider breaking back into the desert with the captives