Chapter 27: Our Business Was to Recover the Ship

The Captain is impressed by Crusoe's castle and the fortification he has made. After he and the other two previous prisoners are made comfortable, they all discuss how to recapture the ship, which still holds twenty-six desperate men who know that if they ever reach an English colony or England itself, they will be hanged.

The ship fires many shots and makes signals for the boat with the eleven men to return. When that does not happen, they send another boat out, this time with ten armed men. Crusoe raises the disheartened captain's spirits by pointing out that Providence has preserved him all these years on the island for such an eventuality. Of the five captive mutineers, the two least trustworthy ones are sent to the cave with Friday and one of the captain's men. Two others are kept as prisoners, while another two join hands with Crusoe's group. Crusoe's "army" now numbers seven.

When the second boat reaches shore, three men are left to guard the boat, and seven of the men start searching the island. Crusoe sends Friday and the captain's mate ahead and asks them to shout and draw these men away on a wild goose chase. Due to the commotion, one of the three men guarding the boat gets out and joins the others. The two men left in the boat are quickly overpowered by Crusoe's team. When the other eight mutineers return, they are surprised to find the two men gone.

When it is dark, Crusoe and his men attack the mutineers. The ringleader, the boatswain, and another man are killed. The others are fooled into surrendering when their captain says that the governor of the island (Crusoe) has fifty men in his army. They lay down their arms. Crusoe keeps out of sight and the men beg the captain to intercede on their behalf with the governor.

This is again another action-packed chapter where a battle for control of the island takes place. Crusoe leads his men into battle with ingenuity. His knowledge of the terrain and crafty leadership allows him to easily overcome the mutineers.

When dining in his cave years ago with his pets, Crusoe had humorously remarked that he had power over the life and death of his subjects, who were then only animals. Ironically, his statement now applies to humans, and the mutineers who have been taken prisoners beg the captain to intercede on their behalf with the "governor" of the island.

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