(Continuing from Part 53)
When the English ship carried me away from my island, I felt as though I had awakened from a long dream.
For twenty-eight years, I had lived apart from the world. Now I was surrounded by sailors, ropes, sails, and all the familiar sounds of a ship.
Friday remained with me.
Everything aboard was new and wonderful to him. He watched the sailors at work and asked many questions.
I was pleased to explain what I could.
The captain treated us with great kindness. He had not forgotten that we had helped him recover his vessel.
We sailed toward England, and I watched the sea with feelings I could scarcely describe.
For so many years, the ocean had been the wall of my prison.
Now it was the road that would carry me home.
The voyage was successful, and at last we reached England.
It was the eleventh day of June, 1687.
I had been absent from my country for thirty-five years.
I stepped ashore with a strange feeling.
Everything was familiar, yet much had changed.
I heard English spoken all around me.
I saw streets, houses, shops, and crowds of people.
These ordinary sights seemed extraordinary after my long solitude.
But I soon discovered that returning home did not mean recovering the life I had left behind.
I had gone away as a young man.
Now I was middle-aged.
The people I had known had grown old or died.
I went to discover what had become of my family.
I learned that my father and mother were both dead.
Most of my relatives were gone as well.
Two of my sisters were still living, and I found that some members of my family remembered me.
But they had long believed that I was dead.
I could hardly blame them.
For thirty-five years, they had received no reliable news of me.
I had disappeared into the world, and no one knew whether I had survived.
I was glad to find any family remaining.
Yet I felt like a stranger among people who had once been close to me.
The years could not be restored.
I also discovered that I had little money in England.
Although I had possessed a considerable estate in Brazil before my last disastrous voyage, I had no clear knowledge of what had become of it.
I did not know whether the plantation still existed.
I did not know whether my former partners had continued managing it.
And I did not know whether anyone would recognize my claim after so many years.
For a time, I was uncertain what to do.
I had escaped from the island, but I was not yet secure.
The captain had helped me generously, and I was grateful for his kindness.
Still, I did not wish to depend upon others forever.
I began thinking about the people who had known me before my shipwreck.
One person came especially to mind.
Many years earlier, a Portuguese captain had rescued me from the sea after I escaped from slavery.
He had treated me with extraordinary generosity.
He had taken me to Brazil and helped me establish my plantation.
I remembered him with deep affection.
If he were still alive, perhaps he could tell me what had happened to my property.
I decided to travel to Lisbon.
Friday accompanied me.
I did not wish to leave him behind, and he remained willing to follow me.
We made the journey to Portugal.
When I arrived in Lisbon, I began searching for my old friend.
I wondered whether he could possibly still be living.
Many years had passed since we had last met.
At last, I discovered that he was alive.
He was now an elderly man.
His strength had declined, and he no longer commanded ships as he once had.
But when I found him, I recognized the same kind character I had remembered.
I told him who I was.
At first, he could hardly believe me.
He had long supposed that I had died at sea.
When he understood that I truly was Robinson Crusoe, he welcomed me warmly.
Our meeting moved us both.
I thanked him again for the kindness he had shown me when I was young.
Without his help, I might never have escaped my earlier troubles.
Then I told him the story of my shipwreck and my years on the island.
He listened with amazement.
He asked many questions about how I had survived.
I explained how I had saved supplies from the wreck, built a shelter, planted grain, and raised goats.
I told him about Friday and the English ship that had finally rescued us.
The old captain was deeply interested.
When I had finished, I asked him about my plantation in Brazil.
He told me that it had continued to operate after my disappearance.
For many years, people had believed that I was dead.
The income from my property had been handled according to arrangements made in my absence.
Some of it had been given to religious and charitable purposes.
Other portions had been managed by the authorities and those responsible for the estate.
But the most important news was that my plantation had become highly valuable.
The land had been cultivated and improved.
Its production had increased greatly.
I listened in astonishment.
I had spent years struggling to obtain a little food and shelter.
Meanwhile, the property I had left behind had continued producing wealth.
I asked whether I could recover what belonged to me.
The captain explained that I would need to establish my identity and prove that I was alive.
He believed that this could be done.
He also told me that my former business connections could provide information about the estate.
I was encouraged.
For the first time since returning to Europe, I began to hope that I might possess enough money to live comfortably.
But I also felt uncertain.
Wealth had once seemed extremely important to me.
As a young man, I had crossed the sea in search of it.
That desire had helped lead me into danger.
On the island, money had been almost useless.
I had possessed coins that could not buy bread, clothing, or freedom.
Now I was being told that I might be a wealthy man.
The contrast seemed extraordinary.
I thanked the old captain for his help.
He promised to assist me in recovering my property.
I knew that I could trust him.
He had proved his honesty long before, when I was poor and helpless.
I left our meeting with renewed hope.
My return to England had brought sadness because so many people I loved were gone.
But in Lisbon, I had found an old friend and learned that my life before the shipwreck had not disappeared entirely.
There were still matters to settle.
I needed to learn the true value of my plantation and discover what money was owed to me.
And I was about to receive news that would surprise me even more than the old captain’s first account.