I Took Occasion From The Observations Of The Captain On My Sketchings,
To Fall Into Conversation With Him.
I found him sociable and
communicative.
By degrees I became completely at my ease with him. I
had fancied I perceived about him a degree of self-love, which I
determined to make use of. I assumed an air of careless frankness, and
told him that, as artist, I pretended to the power of judging of the
physiognomy; that I thought I perceived something in his features and
demeanor which announced him worthy of higher fortunes. That he was not
formed to exercise the profession to which he had abandoned himself;
that he had talents and qualities fitted for a nobler sphere of action;
that he had but to change his course of life, and in a legitimate
career, the same courage and endowments which now made him an object of
terror, would ensure him the applause and admiration of society.
I had not mistaken my man. My discourse both touched and excited him.
He seized my hand, pressed it, and replied with strong emotion, "You
have guessed the truth; you have judged me rightly." He remained for a
moment silent; then with a kind of effort he resumed. "I will tell you
some particulars of my life, and you will perceive that it was the
oppression of others, rather than my own crimes, that drove me to the
mountains. I sought to serve my fellow-men, and they have persecuted me
from among them." We seated ourselves on the grass, and the robber gave
me the following anecdotes of his history.
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