Thomas became a Quaker. Quakers were people who believed that Christ would speak to them, inside themselves, to show them the right way to live. They would meet together and sit quietly, listening for what God might say to them. Thomas explained it like this: "When you serve on a warship, the first thing they tell you is to be quiet and pay attention. Then they give you your orders and you go do what you're told. It's the same way when you want to serve God. You have to be quiet and pay attention, so that you can find out what God wants you to do."
After Thomas left the warship, he met another Quaker named George Pattison. George was the captain of a merchant ship that carried food and clothes and other things that people needed to live. George made Thomas his first mate. That meant that Thomas helped George by telling all the other sailors what work they should do. There were eight other sailors besides Thomas and George, but none of them were Quakers.
George's ship came to a city called Venice in Italy. They unloaded the things they had on the ship, which would be sold in stores in Venice. They loaded other things on, which they meant to take to Spain.
While Thomas and George were in Venice, they heard people talking about pirates. People said there were a lot of pirates on the sea that summer. These were the famous Barbary Pirates, who came from Algeria in northern Africa. English sailors like Thomas and George called them Turks, because their country was ruled by the Sultan of Turkey. They lived by capturing ships from other countries like England, France, Spain, and Italy, and bringing back all the goods and money that they took. They even brought home the sailors and passengers from the ships and sold them as slaves. In their own country of Algeria the pirates were not counted as outlaws, because they never bothered Algerians or Turks.
When Thomas and George left Venice, Thomas said, "I think we should go to Livorno. If we wait there a while, we will meet other ships from England. Then we can all go home together, and there will be too many of us for the pirates to capture."
But George answered, "We have a lot of business to do. The things we loaded onto our ship at Venice have to go to Spain. In Spain we will find more work to do. If we sit waiting in Livorno, we won't get any work done and we won't earn any money. I don't think we'll meet any pirates. And even if we do, we'll get away from them. Our ship is very fast."
George was the captain, so he got to decide where they were going. He decided to sail to a Spanish island called Mallorca.
Mallorca belonged to Spain, but it wasn't very far from Algeria. So you can guess that there might be a lot of Algerian pirates in the waters nearby. Sure enough, just when George and Thomas were getting close to Mallorca, they met a pirate ship.
Quickly Thomas sent all the sailors hurrying around the ship. There was a lot of work to do. They had to put up all the sails they had, and turn the ship to catch the win. That way the wind would blow them along just as fast as they could go, and they would get away from the pirates.
But something went wrong. The sailors put up more sails than George's ship had ever used at one time before. They put up so many sails that the masts and rigging couldn't hold them all. Ropes and timbers started creaking and cracking from all the weight. Then all at once a lot of the sails broke loose and came flapping and flopping down onto the deck. It made a terrible mess. But what was even worse, it meant that the ship couldn't sail as fast any more. So at last the pirate ship caught up with them.
The pirate ship was bigger than George Pattison's ship, and it had cannons lined up along both sides. George didn't have any cannons on his ship because he was a Quaker and wouldn't fight. The pirates called out to George, "Get in your rowboat and come over here with four of your sailors. If you don't, we'll shoot your ship full of holes." So George and four of his men got in their rowboat, and Thomas and the other sailors let them down over the side on ropes until their boat was in the water. Then George and his men rowed until they came to the pirate ship, and the pirates let down ropes and pulled them up onto the deck. The pirates kept George and his four men on their ship, and fourteen of the pirates got into George's rowboat. There was just barely enough room for them all in the little boat. They came over to George's ship and climbed on board.
What was Thomas thinking all this time? He could have thought, "I told George there were pirates," or "I wish I'd been more careful with the sails." But Thomas was trying hard not to worry about himself. He thought about the other sailors and how frightened they must feel. They were probably afraid that the pirates would take them back to Algeria and sell them to be slaves in a big city called Algiers.
Thomas tried to be very quiet in his mind so that he wouldn't get excited and do something stupid. He asked God to help him be patient. And then God spoke to Thomas. It made him shake all over, just like the other time when God told him not to fight. But this time what God said was, "Don't be afraid. I won't let them take you to Algiers."
So Thomas wasn't afraid any more. He remembered his other adventures, when God had saved him from all kinds of dangers, and he believed what God told him.
When the pirates climbed on board, Thomas said hello to them very nicely, just as if they were his friends. He answered all their questions and showed them all around the ship so they could see everything they wanted to. The pirates were very happy because they had caught such a nice ship. When they saw how polite Thomas was, they were polite too. They didn't shout or swing their swords or point their guns. They thought they would get everything they wanted without having to fight.
When the pirates stopped asking questions, Thomas talked to his own sailors who were still with him on the ship. "Don't be afraid," he said. "God won't let them take us to Algiers. But there is one thing I want you all to do. You've always done everything I told you to. Now I want you to obey these Turks just as well. That will make them think there is nothing to worry about, and then they will be careless."
Then six of the pirates went back to their own ship. They took a few things with them from George's ship, but they didn't bother to take everything they wanted because they meant to take the whole ship home with them anyway. That left only eight pirates on board with Thomas.
Thomas was sure everything would be all right for himself and the four sailors who were still with him. But he was worried about George and the four sailors on the pirate ship. He couldn't think of any way to help them. But he could pray. "God," he said, "please get the pirates to send George and the sailors back to us."
And they did. I don't know what the pirates said to each other, but they decided to send George and all his men back to his own ship. Two of the pirates went with them. When they all came on board, Thomas was very happy. He was sure God would do everything he had promised.
One of the pirates told the rest of them what to do. He was the pirate captain. He made sure that George always slept in the same room with him, with another pirate to stand guard. That was to make sure that George wouldn't tell his men to fight the pirates. He wasn't worried about Thomas because Thomas was so polite and friendly.
Thomas and the other sailors, all but George, got together and talked. "What a strange man you are, Thomas," the sailors said. "You were afraid of pirates before we met any. Now that they've caught us, you aren't afraid at all!"
Thomas answered, "God told me he wouldn't let them take me to Algiers. If you will all do what I tell you, I'll try to make sure you don't go to Algiers either. Now listen. What if we capture these pirates and go on to Mallorca like we meant to?" Thomas didn't want to fight. He knew God had told him not to. But he wanted to make the sailors think.
"Hurray!" said one sailor. "I'll kill one or two of them."
"I'll kill as many Turks as you tell me to," said another sailor.
"No," said Thomas. "Don't even try, or I'll warn the pirates myself. We're going to do this without anybody getting killed. The first step is this. Whatever the Turks tell you to do, do it quickly and don't grumble. Then they will let us meet together." And all the sailors agreed.
Then Thomas went to George and told him his plan. George said, "It won't work. If you try to get back the ship, the pirates will burn us all alive."
"It will work," said Thomas. "God will help me. He knows I'd never kill even one of these pirates. I'd rather go to Algiers and be a slave than do that. I'm sure God will help."
"Well, all right," said George. "Go ahead. But make sure you do it without fighting. Nobody is to be killed."
That night it rained. There was wind, too, and high waves. The two ships went skidding up and down the waves this way and that. And in all that dark and rain, nobody could see very far. Nobody on either ship could see the other. No one knew if the two ships were coming closer together and would crash, or if they were moving further and further apart.
Finally morning came and the rain stopped. Everyone on George's ship looked around. The pirate ship wasn't anywhere to be seen! The storm had moved the two ships so far apart that they lost each other. Thomas and George and their eight sailors were all alone with ten pirates in the middle of a wide sea.
All day Thomas's men were very friendly and helpful to the pirates, just as Thomas had told them to be. They did everything the pirates wanted. The pirates were happy. They talked and made jokes and sat around doing nothing. They thought it would be easy to go home to Algiers with such a helpful crew.
The next night it rained again. The pirate captain went to George's room to sleep again. He took George with him, and another pirate to stand guard. The other pirates were standing here and there on the deck, watching to make sure everything was all right.
Thomas quietly walked over to one of the pirates. "Awfully wet tonight, isn't it?" he said.
"Yup," said the pirate.
"No fun standing here, is it?" said Thomas.
"Nope," said the pirate.
"Nice dry bed in my room," said Thomas.
"Um," said the pirate.
"I can keep watch out here," said Thomas.
"Maybe," said the pirate. "Where did you say that bed was?"
So Thomas showed the pirate where the bed was, and the pirate lay down. Thomas went out and closed the door. Coming back a little while later, he could hear the pirate snoring.
Later on, Thomas talked with another pirate. "Awfully wet tonight, isn't it?" he said. Before long that pirate was in bed too.
Thomas did the same thing over and over. At last he got all the pirates put to bed. When he was sure they were all asleep, he went around quietly and locked all the doors. He collected all their guns and swords and locked those in another room. Then he called all his own sailors together and told them what had happened.
"We've captured the pirates," he said. "Now I don't want you to hurt any of them. But now that they are locked up, we will keep them locked up, and we'll sail for Mallorca like we meant to do." Then Thomas told some of his men to stand in front of the doors, and never let more than one or two pirates come out at the same time.
Thomas steered the ship around, away from Algiers where the pirates wanted to go, and headed for Mallorca. There was a strong wind blowing that way, so the ship moved quickly. When morning came, they could see the island of Mallorca ahead of them in the distance.
One of the pirates woke up. The sailors let him out of his room, and he went up on deck. He thought he would see the coast of Algeria stretching across the horizon. Instead he saw a little island, and he knew it was Mallorca. Then he understood what had happened.
The pirate wanted to go back to his friends. Thomas let him into a room where several of the pirates were sleeping. "Now watch the door," Thomas said to his men. "When the Turks learn what we've done, they may all try to rush out at once. We mustn't let them do that."
But the pirates didn't rush for the door. They just all sat down and cried.
They really did! I know it seems strange to think of pirates crying. I don't think these pirates would have cried if they had had to fight for their lives against ten times as many men. They were used to fighting. But getting caught without a fight was a thing they had never heard of before. They didn't know what to do about it.
The last one to hear the news was the pirate captain. He cried too. Then he turned to George, who had slept in the same room with him. "Please," he said, "don't sell us to be slaves." Of course he had meant to sell George and Thomas and all their sailors to be slaves in Algiers. But he had never thought that he might be a slave himself someday.
"I won't sell you," said George. "I promise."
"Look," said Thomas. "When we get to Mallorca, the Spanish will come to see the ship. When they see these pirates, they will be very angry. The Spanish hate the Turks because the Turkish pirates have robbed so many Spanish ships. They will take the pirates away from us and sell them as slaves, or else kill them. We must find a way to hide the Turks."
So Thomas and the sailors built a special hiding place down in the bottom of the ship. It was big enough for all the pirates to hide in it. Then the ship came to Mallorca, and the pirates all went down to their hiding place so the Spanish wouldn't see them.
Another ship from England was in the port at Mallorca that day. Its captain was a friend of George's. He came to George's ship for a visit when the day's work of loading and unloading was done.
"Can you keep a secret?" George asked his friend. The other captain promised not to tell anyone. So George and Thomas told him all about how they had captured the pirates.
"I'd like to buy two or three of those Turks from you," said George's friend. "I'd pay you two hundred pieces of eight for each of them." He meant that he wanted to keep them as slaves, so they would have to work for him without pay, or so he could sell them again in England for even more money."
"We won't sell them," said George and Thomas. "Not for a thousand pieces of eight. We want to send them home and let them go. We promised not to sell them."
"What a stupid thing to do," said George's friend.
The next morning George's friend broke his promise. Instead of keeping the secret about the pirates, he went to the Spanish governor of the island and told him the whole story. Of course the governor was very angry at the pirates, because Algerian pirates had often captured ships that were coming to his island. He was angry at Thomas and George too for hiding the pirates from him. He sent some soldiers down to the docks to take the pirates off the ship and bring them up to the castle.
A man who was working at the docks saw the soldiers coming. He ran to tell George and Thomas.
"We must get out of here fast," said George.
Thomas ran down to the pirates' hiding place. "Hurry," he said. "You must come out and help us get the ship moving. If we don't leave Mallorca right away the soldiers will come and catch you."
So all the pirates and sailors worked together. They hoisted the sails and pulled up the anchor. Just as the ship was moving away from the dock, the Spanish soldiers came running up. But they were too late. The ship got away, pirates and all.
After they left Mallorca, there wasn't much wind. So the ship couldn't go very fast. They spent a whole week at sea and hardly got anywhere.
All that time Thomas never bothered to lock the pirates up again. He had let them out so they could help with the sailing, and once they were out they stayed out. I don't know why Thomas left them loose. Maybe he thought there would be a fight if he tried to lock them up again.
Some of the sailors didn't like it. They said to Thomas, "You take better care of the Turks than you do of us."
"They're strangers," said Thomas. "You have to be nice to strangers."
But one day all ten pirates were on deck with Thomas and George, and most of the sailors were asleep down below. The pirates got into an argument with George. They were afraid George might not take them home after all. They got very angry at him. They all crowded around him and started shouting.
Thomas saw what was happening. He thought maybe the pirates would try to throw George overboard. So he stamped hard with his foot on the deck, over and over. That made enough of a noise down below that the sailors all woke up.
The sailors came running up. One of them had an ax, and another had a crowbar. They were ready to smash the pirates' heads. They all came to where Thomas was standing.
"Let's lock them up again," said Thomas. "We've let them run around loose too long. But first put down the ax and the crowbar. Let's show them we're not afraid of them." Thomas said that because he didn't want the sailors to kill the pirates. "Come on," he said, "I'll grab their captain."
So Thomas took hold of the pirate captain. "Time for you all to go downstairs," he said.
When the pirate captain saw that he had lost his chance to throw George overboard, he stopped shouting. He didn't fight. He just went quietly to where Thomas took him. The sailors brought all the other pirates too, and Thomas locked them all in.
"Look," said one of the sailors. "Those two have long knives hidden under their coats."
"Oh!" said Thomas. "We never saw that before. We haven't been careful enough. They could have stabbed us with those."
Thomas didn't take away the knives because the pirates were locked up now anyway. But a little later, the two pirates argued about something and took out their knives to fight each other. The pirate captain stopped them. He took the knives away and gave them to Thomas. He didn't want his own men killing each other.
Thomas and George talked about how to take the pirates back to Algeria. The pirates came from the big city of Algiers. Lots of pirates came from there, and there were always pirate ships at the docks. George and Thomas and their English sailors couldn't go there, because if they did, the first pirates who saw them would catch them. No one in Algiers would rescue them, because people in Algiers liked the pirates. That was because the pirates always brought them nice things from the ships that they robbed.
Thomas and George decided to find a lonely spot on the shore of Algeria, far away from the city. That way they would not meet any more pirates. They could just leave their own pirates on the shore and get away.
Finally they came within sight of Algeria. Then the wind stopped completely, so the ship couldn't move any farther. There was still a long way to go to get to shore. It was too far for the pirates to swim. The only way to get there was in the rowboat.
Thomas thought about how to get the pirates ashore. It was a puzzle.
Could he give the pirates the rowboat and just let them go? No. They might find some guns when they got ashore. Then they could take the rowboat and come back out to the ship and try to capture it again.
Could he take some of his own men in the rowboat and take the pirates ashore? It was a small boat, and there were ten pirates. It would be hard to fit enough people in.
Could he make two trips? Take five pirates ashore, and then come back for the rest? No. The first five pirates might go find some of their friends, and when Thomas came back with the last five pirates, they might capture him and the boat too.
What if he tried to take all ten pirates ashore in one trip? There wouldn't be much room in the boat. He couldn't take enough men along to keep the pirates quiet.
Could he tie the pirates up? Thomas didn't think so. He thought the pirates would fight for their lives before they would let themselves be tied up. A lot of people might be killed on both sides if there was a fight.
Finally Thomas thought of a way to do it. He asked three sailors to go with him in the boat. They were afraid at first, because Thomas wouldn't tie the pirates up. But they stopped being afraid when they saw how Thomas made the pirates get into the boat.
Thomas made the pirate captain sit down at the back of the boat. Then he made another pirate sit on the captain's lap. Then he made two more pirates sit next to the captain, and two more on their laps. So when Thomas got all ten pirates into the boat, they were all piled on top of each other. It would be had for them to jump up and start a fight.
Thomas and his three sailors got into the front of the boat. They loaded onto the boat everything they had that belonged to the pirates, which was mostly guns and swords. They kept these in a big bundle at their own end, away from the pirates. They loaded a lot of bread, too, and some matches for building fires, because the pirates might have to walk a long way.
Thomas and his men said goodbye to their friends on the ship, just in case something went wrong after all and they never came back. They all prayed to God to keep them safe. Then they started to row, and the rowboat moved away from the ship.
They had to row a long way. Halfway there, Thomas's men started to get frightened. Every time they saw a rock they thought it might be a boat with more Turkish pirates in it. They complained that Thomas was playing a silly game. Thomas kept saying, "Be brave, we'll get there soon." But they didn't feel any better.
At last they came close to shore. Thomas turned around to throw out the anchor. Before he could throw it, one of the sailors shouting, "Help! There are Turks in the bushes!"
That frightened Thomas. And when the pirates saw that Thomas was frightened, they all stood up. Of course it took them a while to do it, because they were all piled up, and they had to be careful not to tip the boat over.
Thomas looked around. He saw that there was nobody in the bushes, so he wasn't afraid about that any more. But now he was afraid there would be a fight, and he thought somebody would get killed. It might be the pirates, or it might be his own men. But Thomas didn't want any of them hurt.
Thomas took the oars and put them across the middle of the boat between his men and the pirates. He stood there facing the pirates, and then he talked to his men.
"Don't move," he said. "Give me a chance to handle this myself." And he scolded his men for being afraid of the rocks and bushes.
All this time nobody moved. The pirates stood there at the back of the boat. Thomas's men stood at the front. Thomas stood in the middle and thought about what to do next. He prayed quietly and hoped God would show him what to do.
Finally Thomas started to feel brave again. He thought, "It's better to hit a man than to cut his arm off or break his head open."
Thomas picked up a boat-hook and looked at the pirates. The one closest to him was the smallest. He didn't want to hit the smallest pirate.
Quickly Thomas stepped forward and hit the pirate captain with the boat-hook. "Sit down!" he said.
The pirate captain sat down. Then the other pirates sat down. After that Thomas's men sat down.
Thomas looked at the shore and picked out a good spot to land. He and his men brought the boat close in and threw out the anchor.
"The water's not very deep here," said Thomas to the pirates. "You can wade ashore."
And then, one at a time, all the pirates stepped forward to Thomas and gave him a goodbye hug. Thomas hugged them back. Then they jumped out of the boat and waded ashore. Their shoes got wet, but they didn't mind because they were close to home now.
Thomas picked up the big bundle with the pirates' guns and swords in it. He threw it ashore to the pirates. He threw them the bread and matches too.
"I know this place," said the pirate captain. "There is a town close by. I know a good place to eat. Won't you come with us and have supper?"
"I'd love to," said Thomas, "but I think my men would be afraid to go."
Then the pirates picked up all their things and started walking up the hill. When they got to the top, they turned around for a last goodbye. They waved to Thomas and his men with their hats. Thomas and the sailors waved back. Then the pirates went down the far side of the hill and disappeared.
So Thomas pulled up the anchor, and they rowed the little rowboat back out to George's ship. And then a wind came up, a nice strong wind that blew them quickly on their way back home to England.
Little boats met them at the River Thames, and hurried back up the river ahead of them to tell the news about the pirates. Soon everyone in London had heard the news. By the time George's ship reached the dock, King Charles himself and his brother the Duke of York were waiting there to meet them.
King Charles wanted to know all about it. George and Thomas had to tell him the whole story. The king had never heard anything like it before.
"And you really let them go?" the king asked.
"Yes," said Thomas, "we really let them go."
"What a stupid thing to do!" said the king. "You should have brought them back to me. I would have paid you a lot of money for them."
"Well," said Thomas, "I just thought they'd be happier at home."
And King Charles just shook his head, and laughed a little, and walked away.