How could I desert the one or the other and call myself a brave man?
What I could not decide, fate decided for me.

The cave below me was guarded by the pirate's men, who clattered their muskets on the stones and kept a keen look-out on all sides for any chance intruder.

To quit my present perch would be certain death.

So I lay and watched the boat as she plied backwards and forwards with the guns, and wondered how soon the task of loading would be done.
It went on all the day, and every hour I felt myself grow fainter and more sick with hunger.

For nearly two days, except last night's crust, I had tasted nothing; and before that, sea-weed had been the chief article of my diet.