{"id":"01KG8AM4JN53NE4A159X618QPY","cid":"bafkreifr7ojbdoeocsobbihi4ak3bbig5znrbp36fxcarp4m6jmwrsemhi","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":1883,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:25.200Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","start_line":1819,"text":"their heads to make a convivial meal of a poor devil, who would have\r\nno means of escape or defence: however, there was no help for it. I was\r\nwilling to encounter some risks in order to accomplish my object, and\r\ncounted much upon my ability to elude these prowling cannibals amongst\r\nthe many coverts which the mountains afforded. Besides, the chances\r\nwere ten to one in my favour that they would none of them quit their own\r\nfastnesses.\r\n\r\nI had determined not to communicate my design of withdrawing from the\r\nvessel to any of my shipmates, and least of all to solicit any one to\r\naccompany me in my flight. But it so happened one night, that being upon\r\ndeck, revolving over in my mind various plans of escape, I perceived one\r\nof the ship’s company leaning over the bulwarks, apparently plunged in a\r\nprofound reverie. He was a young fellow about my own age, for whom I\r\nhad all along entertained a great regard; and Toby, such was the name\r\nby which he went among us, for his real name he would never tell us, was\r\nevery way worthy of it. He was active, ready and obliging, of dauntless\r\ncourage, and singularly open and fearless in the expression of his\r\nfeelings. I had on more than one occasion got him out of scrapes into\r\nwhich this had led him; and I know not whether it was from this cause,\r\nor a certain congeniality of sentiment between us, that he had always\r\nshown a partiality for my society. We had battled out many a long watch\r\ntogether, beguiling the weary hours with chat, song, and story, mingled\r\nwith a good many imprecations upon the hard destiny it seemed our common\r\nfortune to encounter.\r\n\r\nToby, like myself, had evidently moved in a different sphere of life,\r\nand his conversation at times betrayed this, although he was anxious\r\nto conceal it. He was one of that class of rovers you sometimes meet\r\nat sea, who never reveal their origin, never allude to home, and go\r\nrambling over the world as if pursued by some mysterious fate they\r\ncannot possibly elude.\r\n\r\nThere was much even in the appearance of Toby calculated to draw me\r\ntowards him, for while the greater part of the crew were as coarse in\r\nperson as in mind, Toby was endowed with a remarkably prepossessing\r\nexterior. Arrayed in his blue frock and duck trousers, he was as smart a\r\nlooking sailor as ever stepped upon a deck; he was singularly small\r\nand slightly made, with great flexibility of limb. His naturally dark\r\ncomplexion had been deepened by exposure to the tropical sun, and a mass\r\nof jetty locks clustered about his temples, and threw a darker shade\r\ninto his large black eyes. He was a strange wayward being, moody,\r\nfitful, and melancholy--at times almost morose. He had a quick and fiery\r\ntemper too, which, when thoroughly roused, transported him into a state\r\nbordering on delirium.\r\n\r\nIt is strange the power that a mind of deep passion has over feebler\r\nnatures. I have seen a brawny, fellow, with no lack of ordinary courage,\r\nfairly quail before this slender stripling, when in one of his curious\r\nfits. But these paroxysms seldom occurred, and in them my big-hearted\r\nshipmate vented the bile which more calm-tempered individuals get rid of\r\nby a continual pettishness at trivial annoyances.\r\n\r\nNo one ever saw Toby laugh. I mean in the hearty abandonment of\r\nbroad-mouthed mirth. He did smile sometimes, it is true; and there was\r\na good deal of dry, sarcastic humour about him, which told the more from\r\nthe imperturbable gravity of his tone and manner.\r\n\r\nLatterly I had observed that Toby’s melancholy had greatly increased,\r\nand I had frequently seen him since our arrival at the island gazing\r\nwistfully upon the shore, when the remainder of the crew would be\r\nrioting below. I was aware that he entertained a cordial detestation\r\nof the ship, and believed that, should a fair chance of escape present\r\nitself, he would embrace it willingly.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJPECK9KDZPGG7HCKP5SK","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JYRSHWXR7JM0HYS9D4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4JNFNF2EK87WT1A3493","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM4JXQNB3900HYVEK0KVK","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:27.221Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:34.044Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}