My silly brother, said the barber, had done too much to stick at
any thing now. He undressed himself; and, in the mean time, the
young lady was stripped to her shift and under-petticoat, that
she might run the more nimbly. When they were ready to run, the
young lady took the advantage of twenty paces, and then fell a
running with surprising swiftness: my brother followed her as
fast as he could, the slaves in the mean time laughing aloud and
clapping their hands. The young lady, instead of losing ground,
gained upon my brother: she made him run three or four times
round the gallery, and then running into a long dark entry, got
away by a passage which she knew. Backbarah, who still followed
her, having lost sight of her in the entry, was obliged to
slacken his pace, because of the darkness of the place: at last
perceiving a light, he ran towards it, and went out at a door,
which was immediately shut upon him. You may imagine he was
mightily surprised to find himself in a street inhabited by
curriers, and they were no less surprised to see him in his
shirt, his eye-brows painted red, and without beard or mustachos;
they began to clap their hands and shout at him, some of them
even ran after him, and lashed his buttocks with pieces of
leather. Then they stopped, and set him upon an ass, which they
met by chance, and carried him through the town exposed to the
laughter of the people.
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